Following a Star (or something like one"

A Sermon for Epiphany
The Rev. Melanie Morel-Ensminger
First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans
Sunday, January 8, 2012

This morning we come to the end of our holiday series, which took us through Buddhist Bodhi Day, Hindu Divali, Jewish Hanukkah, Pagan Yule, African-American Kwanzaa, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. (Don’t forget our Jazz Funeral for the Old Year on January 22, when the UUA Board will be our special guests.) Today’s service highlights what in the Greek and Russian Orthodox religious traditions is considered their Christmas, and in the New Orleans cultural tradition is considered the start of Carnival, and it’s also been the customary day to take down your Christmas tree. That day is January 6th, variously known as the Epiphany, the Feast of the Magi, Three Kings Day, and the Twelfth Day of Christmas.

The holiday commemorates the familiar episode in the nativity story related in the gospel of Matthew, in which wise men from the East, called magi (a Persian word that is the root of the word as “magic,” which means priests of the Zoroaster), follow a star that leads them to baby Jesus, whom they present with rich and highly symbolic gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. That 3 gifts that are mentioned led to a tradition that there were 3 men, but the Bible story does not give a number for the traveling wise men, nor were they kings, but hey, that’s the way myths develop. To help us celebrate in true New Orleans style, we will have authentic New Orleans kingcake at Coffeehour. Look out for the little plastic babydoll baked inside the cake – if you get it, it means you’re the king or queen of the day! The custom is that whoever gets the baby brings the kingcake next week, but don't feel obligated.

Over the holidays, I watched a program on PBS on the historical and scientific scholarship on the story of the magi – about where the wise men might have come from, how long their journey must have taken, whether they followed an actual star, or whether it could have been an unusual alignment of planets. It was fascinating, and I learned some things I didn’t already know, and someday, I just may preach about all that stuff – the back story, if you will, of the holiday myth.

But this is not that Sunday. Right now, today, I don’t care 2 figs if the story of the wise men and the star they followed is true is any verifiable sense, or if there’s a scientific explanation of the star that may or may not have been leading whatever number of wise men from wherever the hell they might have been from. That’s not important to me right now. What’s important is here’s this lovely story that millions of people have been telling for close to 2 thousand years, about some folks who were led on a long and difficult journey toward something they judged so important that they called it sacred, something that made them leave their comfort zones, something that drew them onward and outward to a place of hope and joy.

All of us need something in our lives – a touchstone, a lodestar – that points beyond ourselves and our own selfish needs and immediate concerns. The North Star was once considered essential for navigation and direction; it was called by sailors and explorers the lodestar; in the centuries since then, the term has come to refer to anything that leads or guides, that serves as inspiration or model. All of us need something to help direct us, to propel us forward when life’s events batter us and challenge our hopes for the future.

For some of us, that star might be another person. It might be our partner. Some of us were fortunate to find life mates early, when both were young and just forming, adult lives just beginning. Others of us found the loves of our lives only after years of mistakes and lonely wandering. Either way, when you have united with the right person, you have someone who watches your back, who supports and encourages you, someone whose loving critique call you back to your best self when you are tempted to lose your way. When you have found such a person, you might well sing to them, “You are my lucky star.”

For others of us, our lucky star might be a child, our own or a grandchild or a beloved niece or nephew or just a child we are close to. For short periods, we are granted the gift of seeing life through their eyes, and can behold, however briefly, the glory and beauty and wonder of the most prosaic things. We find inspiration in their optimism, their sense of possibility, their unconditional love; we are energized by their unquenchable spirits. We are inspired by the purity of their vision.

There are those among us for whom the guiding star is an ideal, like justice or peace. Our star always goes before us, lighting a way that has never been before, guiding and directing us, inspiring us to ever-greater feats of strength and courage. While we may sometimes falter, our star twinkles in a dark sky, and we find ourselves once again on the long path to recreate the world as a better place. And then there are those of us who feel guided by a relationship with the Infinite or Spirit of Life or God or Higher Power. Whether we feel this connection through prayer or through formal meditation or during devotional reading of sacred books or in natural settings, alone or in groups, we feel refreshed and renewed by our contact with the spirit that animates the universe. When we are low, we draw on that power and find it inexhaustible, leading us onward to greater meaning and purpose.

Many of us, like me, have found ourselves with different guiding stars at different times in our lives. Maybe we had no partner and we found our life’s purpose in important causes or in our spiritual lives. Maybe a time came when we had or adopted a child, or became connected to one through another relationship, and we unexpectedly found inspiration in that child’s trust and confidence. Maybe the love of a child brought us almost without volition to consider religion. Maybe a time came in our lives when we found a person to share ourselves with and suddenly it was as though every-thing fit together at long last. Or perhaps you are a person with more than one lodestar – there’s no law that says you can have only one!

What is the star in your life? What light do you follow? What shines before you and draws you ever onward? Each of us has something in our lives we consider larger and more important than ourselves, something that gives our lives hope and joy and meaning, something that shines in the dark-ness and brings us out of our times of despair and alienation. Everyone follows a star, or something like a star, even though not all of us describe it that way.

But not all stars are created equal – beware what it is that you give priority to in your life, what you make into your guiding light. Hedonism, personal pleasure, is ultimately empty and leads inevitably to the crushing burden of financial debt, substance abuse, or meaningless sex without authentic intimacy. You cannot buy or drink or party your way into fulfillment and wholeness. It never works, it always backfires. Even the love and commitment to another person, your spouse or your child, can be selfish and limiting; it will not work as a guiding star unless that more personal love leads to a wider compassion and love for other people, other children.

In the Monty Python spoof of the Christian story, The Life of Brian, the wise men get bad directions and end up at the wrong house in Bethlehem, and hilarious complications ensue. But in real life, following the wrong star can have drastic and tragic consequences. When you faithfully follow your true star, your life is deepened, and while you still encounter losses and challenges, you are better able to deal with what life deals out. That is the measure of whether the star you are following is the right one – are you better or less equipped to handle anger, grief, and setbacks? Do you generally feel more or less whole and healthy and fulfilled as a person? If you cannot answer these questions in positively, then it is time to re-think the direction in which you are going. It is time to choose another lodestar.

The wise men faithfully followed a star, and found what they were looking for, and it was for the good of all people. May the stars we follow be the same for us. AMEN – ASHE – SHALOM – SALAAM – NAMASTE – BLESSED BE!