A Star in the East – January 7, 2024, Epiphany Sunday.

Isaiah 60:1-3, Matthew 2:1-12
January 7, 2024

“A Star in the East.”  That’s a phrase that has come to be associated with the miraculous.  When I was young, I once asked my next door neighbor’s father if they were going to have any more children. After all, my parents had three of us, and they had only two.  And I didn’t know at the time they were unable to have any more children.  But his response, which I didn’t understand at the time, is funny when I look back on it.  He said, “If we do, you’d better start looking for a star in the east!”

Even without that kind of humor, “A Star in the East” is a phrase that implies the miraculous, because it takes us back to the miraculous nature of Jesus’ birth.  And it’s all because of this story we have for today.  These wise men – no matter how many of them there were – saw this celestial event in the night sky, and they followed it, seeking the newborn king.  And I love the bumper sticker that refers to this story.  Maybe you’ve seen it.  It says, “Wise men still seek him.”  That’s a great play on words!  In other words, “Those who are wise will seek the Christ child.”

So I want you to think about that.  I want you to think about that star.  What would it have been like to see it?  And would any of us have followed it like those wise men?  And while you’re pondering that, ask yourself this.  Where would you look for it?  There’s actually an interesting turn in this sentence here.  The wise men said to Herod, “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?  For we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.”  Think about that.  Did they mean “We have seen his star in the eastern sky”?  Or was it “We saw the star when we were in our country – in the east.”  Do you get that difference?

If you think about it, it has to have been the latter!  Doesn’t it?  It has to be that they were in the east, not the star!  “The east” was referring to them.  “In the days of Herod the king, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.”  That’s what Matthew tells us here.  So they were from the east.  They were from Persia or one of the Arabian countries east of Israel.  Check it out on your Bible maps sometime.  That was to the east.  To the west was only the Mediterranean Sea.  So, if the star led them from the east to Jerusalem it had to be in the western sky.  Didn’t it?

Now, I know it doesn’t affect the story at all, but I believe that’s where these wise men – these astrologers – saw the star.  And whatever it was – and we’ll think about that in a minute – they felt compelled to follow it.  And they seem to be the only ones who did.  The Bible doesn’t say that anyone else came to see the Christ child because of seeing this star.  Now, I’m sure other people saw it.  I’m sure many wondered what it was, or why it was there.  But these guys were the only ones we know of who interpreted it the way they did, and then followed.

As you probably know by now, astronomy is one of my interests.  I love looking up at night and identifying the various objects – both natural and man-made – and watching their progress the sky.  I know many of the stars’ names, many of the constellations, and most, if not all of the visible planets.  And yes, I have apps on my phone that help me find them.  I have several apps to follow the International Space Station, and more recently the Star Link satellites.

I can picture these guys – my fellow star-gazers – looking up at the sky with their own ways of tracking the night objects, and one night, seeing this anomaly.  And then, after what I’m sure was much debate, they decided to go and investigate.  Because to them, things in the sky represented things on earth.

Over the years people have theorized what this star was.  Some have said that there were two objects in the sky – probably planets – one that represented Israel, and one that represented royalty.  And these two objects were in conjunction.  So that made these men think “Israel” and “King.”  Another theory is that this was a comet, perhaps even Halley’s comet.  I’ve heard people try to make a case for that.  Others have suggested it was a supernova, a star that exploded, saying it may have been near the object that represented Israel.

There are many theories about this.  But whatever these guys saw – up there, they decided to follow.  So for them, it was no longer just astronomy or even astrology.  It was action.  It was faith.

And as we begin a New Year, ask yourself, which is it for you?  I wonder how many of us would have seen this star and then just talked about it, and how many would have followed.  There are a lot of people who are content with just talking about faith.  But when it comes to living the faith, when comes to putting their faith in action, when it comes to “hitting the road” and seeking the Christ child, that’s the part they have trouble with.

Then, some have trouble with faith when it calls them to do or to believe things they’re not comfortable with.  Sometimes that makes it hard to put faith into action.  This couldn’t have been an easy journey for these men.  There were a lot of robbers along the roads in those days.  And they were carrying expensive things!  And we can’t leave this story without remembering who these men were. They were from another country.  They were from another religion.  They were Gentiles.  This was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, “Nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

I was thinking the other day, that maybe other people did see the star and follow it to the Christ child.  But they were people who would have been expected to come.  They were maybe people of Israel. But this is the story of the coming of people who were unexpected.

This was the great “Epiphany” – the great “Aha moment” – when the world was seeing Isaiah’s prophecy come true, and when the message of the Christmas angels was indeed that the “Good News of great joy” was “to all people.”  As we said last week, the people of Israel weren’t crazy about such passages.  They were “chosen” to bring the light of God to the world, but instead they had made their faith very exclusive, and they looked down on the rest of the world.  And this visit of these Magi would have been uncomfortable to them!

Think about those priests in Jerusalem.  They would have been very uncomfortable with these “wise men” asking about a new king of the Jews, a king they came to worship.  And the arrival of these wise men, there to see the Christ child, would have been shocking to Mary and Joseph and anybody else who was there at the time.  Again, maybe some others did see the star and come to the Christ child, but maybe they were people who would have been expected to come.  These guys weren’t!

What about us?  Are we ever so exclusive about our faith?  Are we ever so selective about what we are willing to believe, or about what we’re willing to hear when God calls us?  Are we ever reluctant to include someone who is unexpected?  How would we have felt if we were there when these wise men showed up to worship the Christ child?

As we’ve been doing in recent years, we’re using next Sunday as a “Recommitment Sunday.”  Just like the “tradition” of making New Year’s “Resolutions,” we’ve been using that Sunday as a time of “spiritual resolutions.”  We’ve been using the milestone of a new year as a time to think about our commitment to our faith.  And as we do so, may we “resolve” once again to follow the Christ Child, and not just talk about him  May we resolve to listen for God’s call in our lives, and to follow his will for us, and not the other way around – even though it may be uncomfortable at times.

Those things are not easy. But I’d like for you to be thinking about them this week.  And I’d like you to give some thought to what all of that looks like in your life.  And may all of us keep in mind that saying, that indeed, “Wise men still seek him.”

Prayer

Eternal God, help us to know your presence in our lives more deeply, and to hear your voice more clearly.  Give us the strength and courage we need to seek the Christ child in our lives, and to follow where he leads us, as we seek to be the light of the world the way he has called us to be.  For we pray in his name, Amen.