MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS STORY: STAR OF WONDER Rev. Kip Gilts Matthew 2:1-11

 
 

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.

Those words penned by Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure in 1847, seemed to capture the wonder of this night.  I have endured Christmas Eve’s with the Air Conditioner running and enjoyed Christmas Eve’s with the fireplace burning inside, while snow gently fell outside.  I have walked out of the church into cool, cloudless nights and wet, raining nights.  Regardless of how the weather responded I could always see the star of wonder on the night of our dear Savior’s birth.  There is a wonder about this night that distinguishes it from all other nights.  It is a wonder that exceeds expectations of a rotund man magically sliding up and down chimneys, delivering gifts throughout the world in one night.  As exciting as that is, this night is more than that:

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.

You are already familiar with the stories – unsuspecting shepherds sung to by the celestial choir, stargazers searching for something significant that the heavens themselves proclaimed, a King is born and they felt the need to worship Him.  You are familiar with the stories, but do you know them?  Have you experienced the wonder of this night?

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees!

Tonight I encourage you to follow the star of wonder even as the Magi did and when it stops you will find the unexpected, unparalleled joy, and unrestrained generosity. O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.

 

This is the night for the unexpected.

The Magi never expected to see such a fascinating star.  Herod never expected visitors announcing a newborn King.  Jerusalem never expected their city to be thrown into fear that night.  John Calvin wrote of those who were unresponsive to the unexpected, “They were so benumbed and stupefied that the promised redemption and salvation almost stank in their nostrils.”  It was truly a night for the unexpected, and it remains so today.

Last week we billed the Live Nativity as a night with live animals and youth, but all in all it went fairly smoothly.  Such was not the case years ago in Pattison, when the parts of the Magi were played by children.  The first of the Magi was an angry astrologer.  He walked up to the manger and dropped his gift in front of the baby, nearly striking the Christ-child.  The second of the Magi was an apathetic astrologer.  He went along only because his mother told him to do it, but he thought he was much too old for this nonsense.  The third of the Magi was an obedient astrologer.  He approached the manger and tidied things up a bit, gently placing the present of the first gift giver neatly at the manger, along with his.  He then stood beside the angry magi as if to say, “Cheer up, it’s Christmas.”  This seemed to irritate the young wise man.  He walked over to the manger scene and kicked his present down the stairs.  The apathetic astrologer half-heartedly tried to restrain his angry partner as the obedient astrologer returned to straightening up the gifts.  This really seemed to agitate the first magi who felt, I guess, unheard in his dislike for this whole production.  He broke free from the oldest of the magi and kicked all the presents down the stairs.  The orderly stargazer was not to be defeated, he continued to pick up the gifts and rearrange them in front of the manger.  Finally the angry magi threw one of the gifts, perhaps it was the myrrh, hitting the other magi on the side of the head.  The once apathetic astrologer began to laugh as did the rest of the cast - except for the star of the play, my daughter, who continued to recite her well-rehearsed lines while wise men fought before the manger.  At the reception afterward, my daughter looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “They ruined the whole play!”

This is the night for the unexpected.  Those we would expect to be thrilled are troubled and those that we would expect to have little interest are searching with all their souls, “Where is he?  We have seen his star – a star of wonder.” O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth - A night for the unexpected.

 

This is the night for unparalleled joy.

When the magi left Jerusalem and headed toward Bethlehem the star reappeared and they were thrilled.  In fact, the wording is a curious phrase.  Matthew used four words to describe their joy.  He wrote literally, they rejoiced a great joy extremely.  The King James Version translated this phrase with the familiar, “they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.”  All this is to say that this star of wonder evoked a joy that they may have never known before or after.  This was a night for unparalleled joy.

If you want to know what that looks like, ask my son, Zachary, about his new car.  Last month his grandmother fulfilled the promise that she had made many years ago.  She wanted to give a new car to Zachary for his 16^th birthday (which is still a month away, but she couldn’t wait).  He got to pick it out.  Zachary is not known for his expressions of excitement, but he has had a smile on his face in the last month that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before.  If I need to go to the store, he wants to drive me there.  He picks up his key and says, “We can go in my new car.  Have I told you about my new car?”  Then I get to hear how much he likes his new car.  When he drove it off the lot I got a good picture of what the wise men must have looked like when the star of wonder reappeared in the night sky.

Do you ever miss that kind of joy?  I do.  This month has been a very busy month for me, perhaps busier than any December in my life.  I’m afraid I have been more of a Grinch than an ambassador of joy in my hurriedness.  But the other night as I was sitting on the sofa with my entire family, reading a Christmas Story, I got so tickled that I laughed until tears were running down my cheeks.  It was like medicine for my weary soul.  That’s what this night is about – unparalleled joy. O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth - A night for the unexpected, a night for unparalleled joy.

This is the night for unrestrained generosity.

As the star of wonder stood over the place where Jesus was, the wise men went in to see the baby.  When they saw him, they fell on their knees, worshipped him, and opened their treasure chests presenting costly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  There seemed to be no hesitation on their part.  And thus began the custom of gift giving at Christmas.

I know that some of you may be cursing these wise men right now.  You may be thinking, “Thanks a lot, guys.  Do you know what kind of torment you have put me through?”  But let me tell you about another gift that was given at Christmas.  I read about this gift years ago with my family in the book, Christmas in Harmony, by Phillip Gulley.  The story is set in the fictional town of Harmony, Indiana, which the author tells his readers is right behind the staple of the Rand-McNally Atlas.  As Sam Gardner the pastor of Harmony Friends Meeting was tucking his son into bed, he remembered a time 20 years earlier when he found his father out in his grandfather’s garage.  Charlie Gardner was cleaning out the garage after his father had died.  Sam heard a sound that he had never heard before.  It was the sound of his father crying.  Awkwardly, Sam, a college student at the time, placed his hand on his dad’s shoulder.  Without turning his father said, “All these years, all I wanted was for him to tell me he loved me, that he was proud of me and he never did.  And now he never can.  It was the only thing I ever wanted.”

Then Sam’s dad turned toward him and said, “I don’t want you to ever feel this way.  I want you to know I love you, son.  I’m proud of you, awful proud of you.  Have been since the day you were born.” 

Sam Gardner reflected on those words as he tucked his son into bed, “It was the best Christmas present he ever gave me, those words.”  Then he looked at his boy and said, “I love you, son.  I’m proud of you, awful proud of you.  Have been since the day you were born.” 

This is the night for unrestrained generosity, but the gifts were not only given by the magi, they were given to the magi.  That night they received the unexpected, unparalleled joy, and the unrestrained gift of God’s love in the sight of that Christ-Child.  This is the night when if you listen you will hear the whisper of heaven saying, “I love you, my child. I’m proud of you, awful proud of you.  Have been since the day you were born.” To prove it he came to earth in the form of a baby destined to die for a world which long laid in sin and error pining.

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth - A night for the unexpected, a night for unparalleled joy and a night for unrestrained generosity.   Amen.