STAR POWER

January 3, 2010
Feast of the Epiphany

From perhaps the beginning of time, human beings have been and still are attracted by the stars. Of course there are various types of stars.

There are those in the heavens like the North star, the sun itself is a star. Such stars provide not just beauty and light, but guidance and direction. They were the original GPSss! How important are those heavenly stars.

Another type of star, are the one that are on the ground. Human stars...men and women who excel in their field, the outliers, the rich and the famous. And we all know and have those type of stars. What a power they have, men and women, teams or brands that have tremendous respect, talent and appeal. No doubt, even those type of stars have great power over us.

Finally, there are the stars that lie within each and everyone of us. The stars of hopes, dreams, goals, and calls that lie within...and which we all have. To be the 5 star dad, or priest, to be the best or brightest on the block or at work.

Whatever the type of star, all stars have tremendous power, appeal and all stars give direction. Stars help us look up and out of ourself...star-power is indeed great.

Today, on this Feast of the 3 Kings, Epiphany...we are told of course of the star that led these wise men. This was not just any star, but this was the star prophesied and long ago spoken of in Israel. The star that would rise over Bethlehem, foreshadowing the newborn King, and that would draw all peoples to Him.

These wise men had been looking for this star, and it was as though their whole life had been wrapped up in this star. They had banked their life on it. And when they finally spotted it, they followed. And thus, they found, the one they had been looking for, not a star Himself, but Jesus, the Savior.

We are told that they found him and worshiped. They gave him their gifts, their very livelihood, they gave him their all. And then, we are told that they went home differently. How true! They went home not just along a different way, geographically, but different totally, for they had seen Jesus and their lives were changed forever.

My friends, this beautiful feast invites us, in this New Year to do the same, that is, to encounter Jesus. And this feast shows us how that meeting can take place.

This feast invites us to take a look at the stars that have power in our lives. For some of us it might be the star on the side of a football helment which we will be watching later today! The Dallas Cowboys! What power is in that star...a new mega-stadium, a team that will have two huge cities talking for the rest of the week!

Maybe the star power in our lives may come from human stars. How many people I have spoken with the past month, sharing their disappointment in Tiger Woods...again the power of a star.

Or maybe the star power in our lives may come from the more subtle stars that lie within, that we worship...i.e. perfectionism, materialism, individualism.

Today's feast reminds us that stars are good, they lead us, draw us out of ourselves and attract us. But we need to be aware of how they do this. We need WISDOM, the wisdom of the wise men...to worship not the star but the one who created them, and who created us. Jesus...the one whom we worhsip, the one we live for and die for and spend our lives for. Jesus, the one who rises above every star!

My friends, this week, let us do 3 things....#1) let us Thank God for the stars in our lives, what gifts they are that we have been given! #2) Let us be aware of what these stars are and how they draw us, i.e. their power over us. #3) Let us worship the one who created all of them. In this way our lives will be different, we will possess the wisdom of the Wise Men. Our week will be different, our lives will be different and like the wise men, we will find the fulfillment that truly satisfies. We will find Jesus, our all in all.