God provided an angel and God provided a star.
Do not forget that God provided a star to the Wiseman, to lead them to Jesus. I am going to repeat this again and again to myself, as a reminder in these dark days. God provided an angel and God provided a star.
Now, I will tell you straight up that I had every intention of preaching something very different in the beginning of the week. I had every intention of focusing on anything but the darkness of our world. I wanted to provide a word from the scriptures that would allow us to escape from the craziness of the world for a while, and would allow us to imagine the world that could be; a world ruled by the grace of Jesus Christ.
The sermon was well underway, taking form when Wednesday happened, and we all watched and listened to national media as people attempted to use force to overtake our nation’s seat of power.
The corrupt world always has a way of breaking into what we would hope to be a comfortable and joyous week, and comfortable and joyous life.
Take Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus. They hardly are able to breathe in the fresh scents of the frankincense and myrrh that the Wisemen provide as gifts to the Christ child before, in the very next story, an insecure ruler King Herod seeks to kill the child.
Talk about whiplash: being brought from a high of adoration as the newborn king, to a new low of being a refugee and asylum seeker, forced to escape home. Kind of like the whiplash of a joyous New Year’s Eve, dreaming of new possibilities, and dropping down to the culture shaking events of January 7th.
But, God provided an angel and God provided a star.
I bring that to mind, again and again. God provided an angel to Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus. And, that angel led them safety to Egypt, away from the violent and murderous ranting of King Herod.
And, to the Wisemen who sought the truth of the world by looking to the skies, God provided a star. And, that star led them to the way, the truth, and the life: Jesus Christ.
The Bible teaches this lesson, again and again: that when evil turns its ugly head, God provides an angel, or a star, or a friend, or a community. Whenever evil turns its ugly head, God provides.
1 Corinthian 10:13 reminds us: “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and God will not let you-all be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing God will also provide the way out so that you-all may be able to endure it.” And, we see that truth playing out right here is this Epiphany story. God provides an angel, and God provides a star.
But, do not mistake this star for a wishing star. It is not the kind of star that you pray to in order to get what you desire: a boyfriend, a new car, a new house, cleaned out rain gutters, a free subscription to cable TV, a life-time supply of Reese Peanut Butter Cups…you know, some of our deepest desires. Christians are not people who to pray to stars or angels or rulers or anything else that is less than God. But, Christians are people who will follow a star if it leads to Jesus.
God provides an angel and God provides a star, and they lead us to the safety and grace of Jesus.
You know what is amazing about the Wisemen’s story? It is that the Wisemen are not members of God’s holy people. They are astrologers. They are like today’s tarot card readers. They are similar to today’s horoscope writers. They seek answers in the stars. They seek answers from places other than God. They are definitely not the people of God. They would be considered as pagans and sinners. Yet, God provides a star.
Do you see what God is doing here? God does not hate the Wisemen for their lack of devotion. God does not hate the Wisemen because they are different or believe different. Instead, God provides a star. God provides them something that they understand, in order to lead them to Jesus.
And, follow the star to Jesus they did. And, fall down before Jesus they did. God led these wise ones to the savior of the world.
Leaders like Herod kill the innocent for their own gain, and destroy those who are not loyal, but God leads through grace and God saves. In fact, the gift of myrrh that Jesus smells in early childhood is the very scent that is likely present in his death and burial. This burial spice is what he will smell over thirty years later as he stands up in the grave and saves the whole world by raising it to new life.
The stars and the angels lead us to Jesus Christ, who alone is worthy of thanks and praise. It is this servant of love, Jesus, this servant of others, Jesus, who is worthy of praising and emulating until life’s end. When we start to stray into the dark, God provides an angel, and God provides a star.
For a few years now our church has had the tradition of handing out Epiphany stars. These are stars that have words written on them like “love” and “joy” and “patience” and “peace.” The intention of these stars is that they will lead us closer to Jesus, just like that first star. They have words, chosen by God for us, that will shape us through the year and lead us closer to Jesus.
Now, I do not know why you receive the word that you do written on your star. Is it a confirmation of your faith? Is it a challenge for you to overcome? Is it a new direction in faith that you had never considered? The answer to those questions will be between you and God. But, I do hope that maybe, as we try to figure out life in these dark days, our star will lead us to a deep understanding and faith. After-all, God provides an angel, and God provides a star.
A couple of years ago, my young daughter grabbed the star that read, “Courage.” That was a trait that she lacked in her life. It makes sense because she was a late walker and was unstable on her feet for a long, long time. But, the star, which she kept at the dinner table and looked at during every meal, led her into the depths of courage.
One day at the pool, she overcame her fear and started jumping into the waters on her own. This was a particularly strong fear which had previously left her on the edge of the pool, and left her out of a lot of family fun. But, the guidance of the star led her in ways of courage.
Not only is she swimming around in pools without a lifejacket now, but this essential element of faith has also has the side-effect of providing her the courage to stick her neck out for other kids. Maybe, the fearless swimming is the side-effect. Either way, she is now a person of courage. She does not fear showing others love and grace when they dearly need it.
Does that sound like Jesus? It all started with a star.
God provides an angel, and God provides a star. Especially in these dark times, God provides the guidance that we need as the people of God. Look up in the sky and see the star. It is a sign of God’s love.
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