Following Your Star

“Behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.  Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews?  For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him…….and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.  And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him:  and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” Matthew 1:1-2, 9-11

This passage has always fascinated me.  I think about the magi or wisemen, and how they left the comforts of their own home and followed a sign in the sky, a star, or comet, or something.  Scholars say they would have been familiar with the night sky.  They were likely astronomers, scientists, who studied the cosmos, probably making calculations about when spring would return, when the right time to plant was, when the next eclipse would occur and so forth.  But this sign would have been out of the ordinary. The amazing thing is that they knew what it’s portent was.  And even more amazing, they followed it right to where Jesus was, and to me this is the most amazing thing of all:  they fell down and worshipped him!  Perhaps now older then a baby, maybe a toddler.  These three kings, these three scholars fell to the ground and worshipped this little one.  What did they know?  Did they know he was God in the flesh?  I am certain Mary knew something, but from scripture we are not even sure how much she knew.   And yet these kings it says ‘rejoiced when they saw the star’.  The star would have been something they understood.  They studied the stars.  They knew about signs in the sky.  That was their specialty.  But to know that this star was special?  I can only think by divine revelation.  To fall down and worship another human being? Yes, people would bow to kings, but to ‘fall down’ and worship? A little child? Probably a child in rather humble circumstances as well.  And this without someone saying ‘that’s a king, you better honor him’.  This came natural to them, no one prodded them to do this.  No one forced them to bow.  They seemed to know who He was.

I think about these things because I ask myself, ‘what is the sign that God has sent in my life’?  And actually it is plural, ‘What are the signs’?  And am I following these signs?  And if I do recognize the signs and follow them, do I fall before the Christ and worship?  I think the signs can be different for all of us.  We share the common ones; baptism, communion, reading the Word, prayer, etc.  But I think there are others.  Appreciating a glorious sunrise, camping by a lake, hiking in the mountains, watching the stars at night (like the wisemen), listening to beautiful music, loving our families, cooking a meal for friends, visiting a shut in, helping the elderly with a task, doing an errand for someone, letting someone in front of you who got in the wrong lane, smiling at a mother in a checkout lane who is wrestling a toddler and letting them know ‘you have been there too’, and so on.  This list could grow into thousands of pages as it would in the final analysis, be infinite.  Why?  Because God is infinite.  His goodness knows no limitations.  And He made us in His image, to imitate Him.  It is His will for us to be like Him, and when we follow the ‘signs’ by doing good, being like Him, it gives Him pleasure.  It brings ‘the Kingdom to earth, just as it is in Heaven’.  And what a delight for God, what a blessing, when we recognize that we ‘did it unto Him’.  It is the ‘worship that is in spirit and in truth’.  Even participating in those things that are not necessarily benefitting someone else, the ‘listening to music’, sunrises and sunsets, etc; these also bless Him.  Why? Because we are appreciating the beauty, the majesty, the creation, the imagination; His creation!  He who created all things also gave us the senses to appreciate them.  He gave us the ability to create and invent like Him.  It is recognizing that we can ‘feel His pleasure’ when we use our abilities and talents and gifts to their fullest extent. It blesses Him.  He is the one who is honored.  And we get to share in His delight, as He really does allow us to ‘feel His pleasure’. (Eric Liddell, ‘Chariots of Fire’).  So be like the wisemen, follow the ‘stars’ that God has put before you.  They lead to Him, and He will gladly receive our worship!

Remember, the servant that hid the ‘talent’ in the ground?  His offense was that he did nothing with what the Master had given him.  He handed it back at the end and thought he had done well.  But the Master called him wicked and lazy.  He basically said ‘you should have let someone else use it for you’.  God wants us to appreciate, be generous, to love, to honor, to bring increase, to follow that thing (like the wisemen’s star) that in the end brings us to Him.  Matthew 25: 14-30.

Merry Christmas!