Love’s Bright Star

Epiphany is one of my favourite celebrations in the church year. I’m not sure why, I don’t remember any emphasis on it when I was growing up… although I overheard references to ‘Old Christmas’ when we lived close to my mother’s family in southern Manitoba in a community that was primarily German/Ukrainian and Mennonite. Maybe it’s since I started doing Star Words about 10 years ago and the anticipation and excitement of getting a new word to ponder and contemplate in the coming year.

So as I pondered Epiphany all week, alongside the scripture and what’s going on in the world, I came to the realization that the love that is manifest in Jesus’ birth, that bright star, is our guide. It’s summed up some of the words of our closing hymn:

When the song of the angels is stilled
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the shepherds have found their way home
The work of Christmas has begun. (I Am the Light of the World – Jim Strathdee)

But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s listen to today’s scripture reading, it’s found in
Matthew 2: 1-2:

2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem, ²asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east^[b] and have come to pay him homage.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him, ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah^[c] was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet:

⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd^[d] my people Israel.’ ”

⁷Then Herod secretly called for the magi^[e] and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” ⁹When they had heard the king, they set out, and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen in the east,^[f] until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped,^[g] they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

It was the star that the wise ones from the east followed to find Jesus. Whether we think of that journey as symbolic or metaphorical, the story reminds of us to look beyond what is, to what might become. Like many stories in the Bible, sometimes we don’t get much context. We don’t know how long the wise one’s journey was… we don’t know how many there were… we do know that they believed in something amazing was taking place and they packed and set out on a journey to somewhere unknown. With only the star to guide them.

We too have the star to guide us. Sure, we lost, we get distracted, and we lose our way.
The star can be a touchstone… a lodestone… a way to orient ourselves and reorient us when we have lost our way. Our scripture tells us that the wise ones they left for their own country by another road. The wise ones had been warned in a dream to take a new path. In this short sentence is a hint… in order to flourish, in order to live, we must change paths… it’s not saying that the way we’ve been travelling over these last decades was the wrong way… it is saying that when circumstances change, so must the direction of our path.

Remember the Core Values we want to uphold:

United in Faith
Strengthened by Friendship
Building a Community of Love and Justice

None of those say anything about how we worship, which is one of the things that congregations get stuck on. And I’m not saying that the way we worship is wrong or bad, for decades, perhaps even centuries, our basic style of worship has nourished and strengthened by a particular kind of worship. It has strengthened and nourished me. However, if we want the church to continue, if we want the particular ministry that Jesus calls us to in this time and place, we must also embrace other ways of worshipping and being church.

United in Faith
Strengthened by Friendship
Building a Community of Love and Justice

Those can be our bright star… the star that pointed the way to Jesus. Where there is love… and passion… and sacrifice… and commitment… I am going to close with these words from Andrew King, from whom I got my reflection title from. I invite you to close your eyes and let them wash over and into you.

And where have you gone, bright star,
you that shone like an invitation,

like a beckoning, like a summoning,
like a signal of something beginning;

where have you gone in the nighttime,
in the distances of murky darkness

that hides from our eyes the suffering,
the weeping, the praying, the struggling,

our eyes grown weary with watching
for signs of God coming to bless?

We have looked for you again in our hoping,
we have searched for you in our wandering. . .

Could it be, bright star, that we are looking
in wrong places, in the wrong direction,

that you are found no longer in the heavens,
no more in dark meadows of sky,

but instead you rise on horizons
of love’s possibilities within us –

and that we can be the shining signal
for which others are hoping and seeking,

that we can be the radiant beacon
that is sign of God’s presence and caring,

that we can invite the wanderers
toward a warm place of welcome,