Make sure you look UP this coming Tuesday night, January 6th.
It’s the night of the Star.
The Star of Bethlehem.
On the Church calendar, the 12th day after Christmas (January 6th) is called “Epiphany”. Epiphany celebrates the arrival in Bethlehem of the magi from the East. Their visit with the Holy Family is really important because (a) the EAST was where Israel’s worst enemies dwelled, and (b) the magi themselves were not Jews – not Christians – not even Presbyterians.
Not the kind of people you’d expect God to invite to the birth of his Son.
Yet here they come to Bethlehem. Following that Star.
It’s a real-life EPIPHANY which means an eye-opening discovery! And what is the eye-opening discovery of Epiphany?
God’s love is for EVERYONE, not just for some!
Even non-religious people from the EAST!
Even you.
Even me.
And think about how God pulled off this great feat of sharing his love with these magi from far away.
It started with that Star!
You know, Alpha Centauri is the star cluster nearest earth. It is actually not one, but three stars. The dimmest, Alpha Proxima, is the closest to our planet. The others, Alpha Centauri 1 and 2, are a close binary system, and appear as a single, very bright star. The star system is about 8 TRILLION miles away from us. That’s four and a half light years! And that means something fantastic! The light you and I see when we look up at Alpha Centauri actually left the star four and a half years ago! I wasn’t even eligible for Social Security! You were twenty pounds lighter! My 4-year old granddaughter Avery hadn’t been born yet when that light left Alpha Centauri!
Can you imagine all that?
Now we don’t know what the star was that the Wise Men saw, but we can speculate on something really cool based upon what we know about Alpha Centauri! It must have been at least four and a half years before the Wise Men ever saw that star in the East that God released a pulse of light from it’s surface! And that light traveled over unbelievable distances in space, and through radiation belts and all sorts of interstellar challenges so that, one night – timed to the exact second – that light passed through the earth’s atmosphere just as a hole appeared in the nighttime Persian overcast, and these three guys stepped out of a bowling alley in downtown Tehran to go home for the night. And in that exact instant, that little burst of light from four and a half or more years before struck the corneas of their eyes, passed through the lens which focused it on the retina, stimulating the optic nerve – and …… THEY SAW IT!
“Look!” they shouted.
They saw God’s love shining on THEM! Yes, even THEM – magi – from the East!
And the rest is history!
So when you go outside on the evening of January 6, 2015 – Epiphany – make sure you look up to the stars.
More than four-and-a-half years ago the light left those celestial bodies just so you’d see the stars tonight and get God’s gracious message.
“I love you.”
Thanks for the Epiphany musings. Another thought provoking one! it reminds us all to keep looking up! God bless your family at this special time. we are praying for your brother-that he is making it thru his surgery! And we think of your building your dreamhouse! have a happy blessed new Year. Love toyou all. marlene and Don
Marty~~ I’ve long had a favorite saying of “keep your eye on the horizon” as a prompting to always do one’s best and to achieve the utmost. It’s a great saying to teach grandkids! But now, as we are rapidly moving forward on our most important journey in life, towards our Heavenly home, I think I like your suggestion better. Keep your eyes looking upward, “on the STAR” (??maybe Jesus Christ SuperSTAR??). By being conscious of doing just that, we are constantly reminded of our celestial destination. In the vastness of the universe our “star”is like a beacon which illuminates a little corner of Heaven reserved just for us. All too quickly our earthly bonds will be replaced with an existence in a realm of “starshine”. I only hope we’re ready and blessed beyond measure to revel in such glory.