Advent Lutheran Church

"I Always Wanted to be a Star (Day of Epiphany)"

Grace and peace to you from God the Creator, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

Well, this year’s Twelve Days of Christmas has been full of surprises – from the most snowfall on Christmas day in Kansas City since 1895, to the “Blue Moon” on New Year’s Eve.  A blue moon is the second full moon within a month, and is a fairly rare occurrence; hence, the phrase, “once in a blue moon.”  Add to that, what someone mentioned to me earlier this morning, that yesterday’s date was a palindrome:  01-02-2010 is the same whether you read it backwards or forwards.  Goodness!  Portents in the heavens!  It’s almost enough to make you believe in virgin birth, miraculous journeys and stars pointing the way to the birthplace of God’s son.

It is a fact that the famous star shone on everyone, all over the world.  However, there were two distinct responses to that star recorded in the additional Christmas story in Matthew’s gospel.  First we have Herod – the “King of the Jews” whose reign had been established by Rome.  In fact, you may have heard of the famous Roman who assisted Herod when he wrested control of Jerusalem. It was Marc Antony who assisted his rise to power, which lasted from 37 B.C. to 4 A.D.  Herod, this powerful leader of Israel’s most famous city, responded to the star and the announcement of Jesus’ birth, with fear.

In comparison to Herod are the Magi – variously depicted in our traditions as “wise men” or three kings named Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar.  They hailed from Persia (modern day Iran/Iraq) and they were interpreters of dreams.  Today they would work on Psychic hotlines, they would be fortune tellers, readers of tarot cards, star-gazers.  They were not, as is commonly thought, scientists or religious professionals by any stretch of the imagination.  In fact, “magi” is the root for our words magic and magician.

            Neither Herod nor the Magi were great “witnesses” to the Christ event:  Herod was a Roman parasite and the Magi were Gentiles, non-religious heretics.  And yet their response was one of hope.  And we all know that where fear and hope intersect, there God will be in the middle of it.  And God was indeed there, in the truths beyond the traditions that surround this story:  the truth is that the Magi were heretics who understood what the star was all about; that Mary was a virgin who was willing to let God use her body; that Joseph was a carpenter, who listened to God in his dreams.

But why is it that some believed unswervingly, while others could only see with eyes of fear and distrust?  Perhaps, it was because God came TO the Magi, as the Star appeared to them IN THE EAST, where they were.  Or, perhaps, like the shepherds who must have been bathed in the light from that Star, they were simply WATCHING THEIR FLOCKS, doing their job when the Star came upon them. 

What were the stars that appeared to you that have helped you believe?  What were the signs?  And what are the stars and the signs for the people outside these walls, the un-churched, and those who have no religious faith?  How does God get where they are?  Could God intend for us to be a sign, a star reflecting God’s light to everyone, right where they are?

You know, folks have been shouting for generations, “Why in God’s name doesn’t God show up?” usually when the moment seems to demand a force to do good.  “If you are God, do something!”  But we forget that asking God to show up in those moments is asking GOD to show up, not a bigger, better version of “how we would do it.”  And part of our problem, from the human point of view, is that God does not act the way that we would act.  As the prophet Isaiah says, “God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, our ways are not God’s ways.”

Case in point:  who, but God, would provide the event where, “The Word became flesh and dwelled among us?”  But this was not his home forever; nor is it ours.  And nobody stays home forever…not even on Xmas vacation!  We go “back” to work, back to school, and at some point, even back to God.  Meantime, there is work to be done.  We are to be about “being” signs, being stars that can be seen by people where they already are.  We are to be, as former President George H.W. Bush often said, one of “a thousand points of light.”

So how can we use our gifts to be those lights, those signs for others? Well, since the holidays have a way of bringing families and groups of friends together, “reconciliation” comes to mind!  So what if we decided to do nothing else this year but God’s work of reconciliation?  What would that mean for us?  Well, first, we would have to make sure that we believe that WE have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. This is not easy - because we so often fall back into self-doubt and self-rejection, and we need to be constantly reminded through God's Word, through the Sacraments, and through the love of our community of faith - that we are indeed beloved and not judged by God.  We are, in fact, reconciled.

Now, if we can really accept that down in the deepest parts of ourselves, then we can be messengers of startling good news:  God is not interested in judgment!  God is not counting your sins!  God is only concerned about loving you!  And that is a “sign” worth bringing to our world.  However, there is one caution:  we must understand that we are not sent into the world to save it, nor judge it, nor condemn, nor evaluate, classify, or label it.  Even though the world keeps asking us to decide about people, who is valuable and who is worthless, we are to accomplish what seems nearly impossible.  And, if we can balance our call and the world’s agenda, our nonjudgmental attitude will be one of the most beautiful fruits of a deeply spiritual life and will be easily recognized.  Just like that star in the heavens.

In the past few weeks we have heard a number of stories about GPS mishaps – no less than three stories from the Pacific Northwest – in which folks took the “shortest” route calculated, only to get stuck in snow drifts in the mountains.  These stories reminded me of a wonderful illustration which was shared during a recent funeral at Overland Park Lutheran Church.  Pastor Nate told of receiving a GPS unit from his parents, after his broke down.  Unfortunately, the hand-me-down unit was older than Nate’s former one, and there were no directions included.  So Nate programmed the basics.  But, if Nate wanted to go to the hospital, the GPS calculated the way home.  If he turned left into the church lot, the GPS told him to make a u-turn, and calculated the way home.  No matter where he went (or intended to go) the little GPS was happily “recalculating” the way home - guiding the way, redirecting the path, keeping the focus on the best way home.  Sort of like following a star…  Amen.