"STAR OF WONDER"
Isaiah 60: 1-6 Ephesians 3: 1-6 Matthew 2: 1-12
On this Epiphany Sunday we remember the visit of some astrologers from the East to a small child named Jesus. Friday, on Epiphany Day, we ended the twelve days of Christmas to bring a new season of the Church Year. The most prominent symbol of this season is the Star. You can see at least two kinds of stars on our Chrismon tree. I know there are five-pointed stars and also seven pointed stars. There could be more——six-pointed ones, twelve-pointed ones———all kinds.
All of these stars symbolize different aspects of our Christian faith. You, of course, have seen the famous six-pointed star, the Star of David, which stands for God the Father. This is on many Jewish temples. I remember seeing it at the Dachau Concentration 8amp in Germany as the badge Jewish prisoners were forced to wear. The seven-pointed star reminds us of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Revelation——power, riches, wisdom, strength., honor, glory, and blessing. If you could figure out how to make a twelve-pointed star, it would stand for the twelve tribes of Israel or the twelve apostles or the closeness of God with humanity.
The star with which we are most familiar, however, is that five-pointed
one on our tree. This is the famous "Star of Bethlehem", "Star of Jacob", or
"Star of Epiphany." The word Epiphany means "showing forth”, and through
that star and the visit of these foreign star-gazers to the young Christ,
God showed himself to all the world. Indeed, the coming of Christ shows God
best to us.
When I think of that Star of Bethlehem, I wonder. Perhaps you do too. I wonder what it was. Scientists have speculated on that problem for years. TIME MAGAZINE recently did a cover story on stars and delved into the Star of Bethlehem query. Was it an exploding star—a supernova? Probably not, because it would have been too spectacular. Was it Halley's Comet? No comet in those times would have been regarded as the bearer of good tidings and great joy. More likely say the experts the Epiphany Star was a conjunction of two planets——Jupiter and Saturn. If we accept this theory, then Christ's actual birth might truly have taken place in December because that is when these two planets came together in 7 B.C.
Beyond this Star of Bethlehem speculation, stars in themselves are cause for mystery and wonder. That TIME article points out all sorts of fascinating facts about these distant entities. Each star has its own birth, life and death. Our universe, in all likelihood is some twenty billion years old, created out of a dark void by the explosion of a giant primordial atom. It is full of supernovas, black holes, white and black dwarfs, nebula, constellations, planets, and galaxies——some ten Trillion of them. If you can imagine it, our universe is so vast it extends for twenty billion light years. (One light year equals the distance traveled by light in one year—--six trillion miles.)
In the midst of these vast distances, there is room for all kinds of speculation. Will the universe die? Or will it regenerate itself? The pessimists tell us that the universe will expand until finally stars consume the vast supply of hydrogen, eventually bringing an end to activity in the universe. Optimists feel that the universe will once again re-form from that primordial atom. Such speculation has brought one cosmologist, Astronomer Geoffrey Burbidge of the University of California at San Diego to the conclusion that "cosmology has much in common with religion; both rely on a very small measure of information and a very large measure of belief.”
We come back to mystery and wonder. "Spangling the night sky, the unattainable stars have always invoked reverence and wonder," And they still do——whether we are a superstitious reader of astrology columns or a degree bedecked scientist in the Mount Palomar Observatory. In this Epiphany season we sing the refrain John H. Hopkins, Jr. wrote in the last century:
0 star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
Yes, the stars, particularly the Star of Bethlehem, make us think of the mysteries and wonders of life. We ourselves wonder. We dream. We search. We are mystified by many things even in this learned age. Some may not like this situation, but I believe it is good. It is good that we wonder, and dream, and search.
We don't know all there is to know about life or the universe or our religion. There are many mysteries. In our Christian faith we can speculate about much if we wish. After my first year in seminary I spent a summer taking Clinical Pastoral Education at Worcester State Hospital in Massachusetts, working under a Jesuit Priest named John Mulroney. We talked about many subjects, and one of them was God. I mentioned my studies and attempts to understand better what God is. My supervisor dismissed this as an impossible venture. We must simply trust God. Speculation about His nature and being are not very fruitful. Yes, God Himself is a mystery.
We often speak of death as the final mystery, the final adventure, the greatest adventure. There is much to wonder about this part of life. Yes, the Bible gives us some hints and glimpses of what is to happen to us, but for the most part we are to trust in God's love and care. The details are not for us to know. We must only wonder.
Wonder certainly is a significant part of life. Wonder pushes us forward and keeps us on our toes. Because we wonder and inquire about all sorts of things we feel we must get out of bed the next day and perhaps come up with some more answers——gather together another piece to the great puzzle. The unanswered questions in life keep us going. With the finish line always before us, we continually have a challenge that has not been achieved. Without this life would be pretty dull. For my part, I'm glad that God has put wonder and mystery into our lives. It's a dimension that makes life more complete.
This wonder also keeps us humble. At various times in the history of our planet people have begun to think they know everything. In fact at one time the confines of knowledge were so limited that one man could consider himself an expert on all there was to know. As knowledge has expanded, we have come to realize that one can't know everything about even the tiniest subject.
The people of Babel in the Book of Genesis thought they had the world by the tail and had complete control. They were supreme. But they found out differently when God spread them to all parts of the world speaking a Babel of languages. With fallen pride they once again learned to acquire that
difficult virtue of humility. Like the people of Babel we also learn that we do not know everything.
In spite of this wonder and mystery throughout life, there are some certainties. We do know some things. Through Jesus, God reveals himself to us, making his will made manifest. In his unique and surprising way Jesus has come to fulfill the dreams of the prophet Isaiah. He is God's promise to us.
Even though his way led to suffering and the cross, Jesus brings us hope and the potential for joy. Isaiah announces a dawning joy to the people suffering in a shattered city. The magi rejoice over Jesus in the midst of Herod's deceit and the impending slaughter of the innocents. The church today rejoices over the power of Christ, which will put an end to the evils that confront humans in the world. In spite of adversity, we can see room for hope because our faith is in a risen Christ, the ultimate mystery. His victory over death is God's great manifestation or epiphany of good will toward us. Because of Jesus Christ we see hope in the middle of wonder and mystery.
Star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy perfect light.
