Monday, December 7
We saw his star when it rose and we have come to worship him. Matthew 2:2 

If I were inclined to write post-Christmas meditations, this one would appear approximately twelve days after Christmas when much of the Christian church celebrates Epiphany, the coming of the Wise Men to worship Jesus. The more accurate date of their arrival would be eighteen to twenty-four months after Christ’s birth as one scholar writes: The Magi’s trip had to have taken a few months through rough mountains and deserts. They would have been in danger of bandits, wild animals, and the elements. …it took them almost two years from the spotting of the star till they arrived in Jerusalem…

These men were astrologers, probably from Persia (modern Iran), always seeking new things in the heavens. The scholar continues: A new star would be a cataclysmic event… What did it mean?… In this unbelievably significant moment in their lives, God interrupts their status quo, attempting to communicate with them.

Stars surround us during these days and not just in the heavens. For several years I’ve been shopping for the perfect (i.e., affordable!) Moravian star to hang on our patio to declare the wonders of Christmas. Our tree topper is a star. Children paste gold stars on handmade cards. We sing star of wonder, star of night… 

Could this be the year God is seeking to communicate with us via significant moments, interrupting our status quo with a virus, with political upheaval?  The Magi were determined to discover truth, in a sense they lived the truth of Jesus’ later promise: Seek and you shall find. 2020 events have been cataclysmic. We dare not let them pass without close examination of what God might be saying to each of us. Are you coming with devout intention to worship? Have you been seeking? What are you finding? About God? About yourself?

Take time today to write answers to those questions. You may discover whispers of God that will profoundly influence the unknown days ahead.