From where I am, the amazing part of the Biblical story for this day (see Matthew 2) is not the star, nor the Wise Men - but the very notion that God chooses to reveal the Son in such incredible ways.
First, it is the shepherds who receive a heavenly concert on the night when Jesus is born and, now, a star leads Wise Men from the East to Bethlehem, where Jesus lay with his mother, Mary. From the very beginning, God makes it clear that Jesus' life and ministry will be intimately tied to the lives of those who are often marginalized by the 'established' religious community. Vagabond shepherds and 'outsider' Wise Men are the first to be invited to witness the coming of the Savior - and they rush to accept the gracious invitation, bearing the best of gifts in hand to worship the newborn King . . . while those on the 'inside' despise him, seek to discredit him, and watch for an opportunity to kill him.
Herod slaughters the innocents in an effort to kill Jesus, making the Savior a refugee before he becomes a Nazorean.
What is it that God so values in you and me that God is poured out into our world in the presence of Jesus that we might know life in the midst of such horrific scenes of death and destruction? Bottom line, I believe God sees the 'good' in each person, the good which has been there from the very beginning of time, and God is willing to put God's own life on the line that we not despise our own birthright by living in fear of that which cannot claim us.
Herod's come and go, but the love of God goes on and on and on. Let the good God has placed in you respond to the generous gift of life God has given us all in Jesus. Live the faith.
God has it right: institutional religion has no room for a Savior, but for those who are seeking Him out in unexpected places . . . well, Jesus said it best, "Knock and it shall be opened. Seek and you shall find. Ask and it shall be given unto you." Live the faith, for God has faith in you: the birth of Jesus is our proof, and you are invited to see Him.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Don
Sign for the Week:
Before 'On-Star'
there was 'The Star'.
Follow it to Jesus.
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