O Star (the fairest one in sight),
We grant your loftiness the right
To some obscurity of cloud –
It will not do to say of night,
Since dark is what brings out your light.
Some mystery becomes the proud.
But to be wholly taciturn
In your reserve is not allowed.
Say something to us we can learn
By heart and when alone repeat.
Say something! And it says "I burn."
-- Robert Frost, "Choose Something Like A Star"

The Star of Bethlehem associated with this holy season was taciturn and mysterious. It was lofty and reserved. Yet this fabled conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in 7 B.C. was thought to be saying considerably more to humanity than simply, "I burn." Stargazers of the ancient Near East watched carefully for signs from the Divine Star Thrower -- astrological signs affecting terrestrial destinies. Within Judaism, Balaam's star prophecy of many centuries earlier had been associated with the Messiah's birth, where he said:

"I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh:

A star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel...." -- Numbers 24:17

Matthew seems to attach this prophecy to the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem. But even more intriguing are the expectations of a coming Messiah suggested by sources outside Judaism. Roman historian Suetonius, in his Life of Vespasian, says, "There had spread all over the Orient an old and established belief, that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judea to rule the world." Tacitus, the historian, writes, "There was a firm persuasion ... that at this very time the East was to grow powerful and rulers coming from Judea were to acquire a universal empire." Therefore, it would not be unusual for these wise men, these Median astrologers of the priestly class of Persia (modern Iran), to note the special significance of the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the desert's brilliant nighttime sky. These fascinating and intriguing ancient experts in medicine, philosophy, and astrology knew this particular heavenly sign had divine significance for Judea and for the world. The Star Thrower of the universe was using this star these nights long ago to tell us something.

And what was that? We might ask. Robert Frost has the answer when he continues about the "fairest star in sight":

It asks a little of us here.
It asks of us a certain height,
So when at times the mob is swayed
To carry praise or blame too far,
We may choose something like a star
To stay our minds on and be staid.

That's it: the Heavenly Star Thrower wants to stay our minds so we carry neither praise nor blame too far.

I

Consider first the matter of praise. One need not look long to see humanity's age-old propensity to carry praise too far. Consider, for example, some of the titles of rulers of the past: Alexander the Great, Herod the Great, Caesar Augustus, Antiochus Epiphanes, meaning the manifestation of the Divine. Can you hear it now? Governor Pataki the Great, or President Bill Clinton, Ephiphanes! Other rulers of history were not overwhelmed with modesty. Some of the Caesars began to demand that they be worshiped as gods. The Emperor of Japan until recent times was thought to be the representation of the Divine on earth. And in the West, as well as the East, the doctrine of the divine right of kings was well in place.

In fact, it was quite well in place with Herod the Great. He had been made King of Judea in 40 B.C. by the Roman Senate. Shrewd, capable, sometimes even magnanimous, Herod was, nevertheless, cruel and ruthless. When he suspected treason on the part of his family members, he murdered his beautiful and beloved wife Marianne and her mother Alexandra. He assassinated his sons, Alexander and Aristobulus. When Caesar Augustus heard about it in Rome he said that, in the Kosher climate of Judea, it was safer to be Herod's pigs (hus) than his sons (huios). Herod's self-praise knew no bounds. And yet most of us know about Herod only because he rides along on the shirttails of Jesus, to whom the Heavenly Star Thrower was pointing with his Star of Bethlehem, which would have arrested the attention of Robert Frost as much as it did that of the Wise Men. Carrying praise too far is a common problem in human history. We westerners came out of the nineteenth century patting ourselves on the back at our own proud achievements. In every way and in every day our world is getting better and better, we told ourselves with our theory of inevitable progress. The twentieth century, said some, would be the "Christian Century," the century when many of the highest Christian ideals would come to fruition.

Arrogance and optimism were high in those days. Perhaps the confident, arrogant mood is best represented in Oscar Wilde's somewhat prideful witticism when he said, "When I went to America, I had two secretaries; one for autographs, the other for locks of hair. Within six months the one had died of writer's cramp, the other was completely bald."

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, my fellow Wisconsin native, was not known for his modesty. As the architect of the age, he typified the arrogance. When an attorney characterized Frank Lloyd Wright as America's greatest architect, Wright confessed to his wife that he could not deny it because he was under oath! But praise had been carried too far. World War I ensued with its massive slaughter. Then came the Great Depression, World War II and massive deaths, the Korean conflict, and the Vietnam War. That is why neo-orthodox theologians like Karl Barth, himself in the trenches in World War I, urged us to look again at the Star of Bethlehem, so as not to carry praise too far.

If we carry praise too far in political systems and ideologies, we tend also to carry it too far in the realm of science and knowledge. In the Middle Ages it was the Church which carried praise too far with respect to its cosmology, so that people like Copernicus were suspect and people like Galileo were excommunicated. How dare they suggest the earth revolved around the sun and not vice versa. The medieval Church needed to look up to the heavens again to look for signs from the Star Thrower so that its arrogance and cruelty might have been humbled.

In our own time, it is not so much the Church that is humbled, but science itself. And just now, astronomers and cosmologists are perplexed about the nature of the cosmos and the direction of the universe. Now able to see fascinating new sights through the Hubble telescope orbiting in space, astronomers are increasingly uncertain about the universe, its age, and its make-up as they watch stars being formed in the far reaches of space.

Is the universe younger than the stars it contains? It seems to be, says astronomer Wendy Freedman of the Carnegie Observatory in Pasadena, California. Is there dark matter out there? Is there an undiscovered basic particle out there? If once we thought we had it all figured out, astronomers and cosmologists now wonder if modern cosmology, the science of the cosmos, is on the verge of collapse. "If you ask me," says astrophysicist Michael Turner of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago, "either we're close to a breakthrough, or we're at our wit's end" (Time magazine, March 6, 1995, p. 76). But astrophysicist John Bahcall, of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, says, "Every time we get slapped down, we can say, 'Thank you, Mother Nature,' because it means we're about to learn something important" (Time, March 6, 1995, p. 84). I think he's right. God always resists the proud, but gives wisdom and grace to the humble.

Centuries ago at this season the Heavenly Star Thrower was getting the world's attention to say with Robert Frost:

So when at times the mob is swayed
To carry praise or blame too far,
We may choose something like a star
To stay our minds on and be staid.

A star like the Star of Bethlehem, the Star of David, the Messiah, who with his humility has humbled all the Herods and Caesars and Kaisers and Kings and philosophers of the world. And he would humble us too.

II

Let us look now at the matter of blame. If on the one hand the Star of Bethlehem signaled the humbling of the proud and arrogant, on the other hand it signaled the encouragement and exaltation of the humble, the poor, the downtrodden, and the outcasts. In her beautiful Magnificat, Jesus' mother, Mary, prophesied it when she sang:

My soul magnifies the Lord... he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. -- Luke 1:46, 52-53

It is true, of course, that Jesus' own Church since the days of Constantine has been often associated with the rich and powerful. If in Europe only five or ten percent of the population, even in Italy, attend church regularly, the church hierarchy is nonetheless often associated with the political powers. But in Latin America, many of the liberation theologians are using the teachings of Jesus and the writings of Karl Marx to break up the "interlocking directorate" of church hierarchy and state aristocracy. Gradually, through the base communities and various reforms, those of low degree are being exalted and the hungry are being fed.

It is to be remembered that much of Jesus' appeal was to those who were blamed too much in their time -- people like prostitutes, tax collectors, sinners, peasants, neglected folk, and all the other multitudes of the great unwashed masses, the hoi polloi. Blame had been carried too far. Were you blind? It was because you or your parents sinned, said the self-righteous. Were you epileptic or neurotic or even psychotic? You had a demon, said the authorities. Were you uneducated and dirt poor? That's your divinely appointed lot in life, said the aristocrats and oligarchs. But the Heavenly Star Thrower gave them something to fix their minds on, to lift them up, to draw them up to a greater self-image and a higher estimate of self-worth when the powers- that-be were carrying blame too far.

That's why totalitarians of every age resist widespread distribution of the Bible in the people's language, because the Bible is a revolutionary book. It says each individual, no matter how lowly, is of infinite worth. It assures all the down- and-out of God's love and his intent to exalt them to wholeness and well-being. But high or low in the world, this Star of Bethlehem, this Jesus, has placed high and lofty ideals before us and above us to inspire us. Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring men on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny, said Carl Scharz, in an address in Faneuil Hall in Boston, 1859. To all those trapped in circumstance and landlocked in blame, the Star of Bethlehem inspires adventure with John Masefield, when he writes:

I must go down to the seas again,
to the lonely sea and sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship
and a star to steer her by.... -- "Sea-Fever"

But this Star of Bethlehem, this Jesus who becomes the Christ, beckons to all the defeated, the depressed, the downtrodden, the discouraged, the disheartened, the dispossessed, the displaced, the diseased, the distressed, the disabled, the distraught of every generation -- to all these the Christ beckons us to look skyward to the star, the fairest one in sight, because it asks of us a certain height,

So when at times the mob is swayed
To carry praise or blame too far,
We may choose something like a star
To stay our minds on and be staid.

If the Star Thrower intends to humble the proud and arrogant, perhaps he intends even more to exalt the humble and handicapped. At the recent Special Olympics in Seattle for those with physical and mental disabilities, the youngsters were lined up at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. The starting gun was fired, and they were off -- all except one, who stumbled and fell, and tumbled over a couple of times and began to cry. The other eight heard him, and turned back to help him. One girl with Down's Syndrome bent over and kissed him and said, "This will make it better." Then all nine handicapped children linked arms and walked together to the finish line. The stadium crowd stood and cheered and cheered and cheered. God intends to exalt all those of "low degree." Oh yes, Heavenly Star Thrower, we have seen his Star in the East, and we have come to worship him with our gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

So when at times the mob is swayed
To carry praise or blame too far,
We may choose something like a star
To stay our minds on and to be staid.

Prayer

Eternal God, loving Father, from whose being has come the whole family of humankind, and by whose power we have been brought forth in your image upon the earth, we gather in this sacred space as children returning to the parent's home to honor and adore you, and to be reminded of who we are and whence we have come.

It is in your nature to welcome us back, despite our neglectfulness and prodigality. Once we have turned away from the far country you always come down the road to greet us and to affirm us as your own. We love you, O God, and are glad we are included and accepted into your family. In this season of coming home and getting together, we bring before you the longings of our hearts for harmony and reconciliation. So often the strains and stresses of daily living harden our hearts and distract our minds. We are easily diverted down dark roads of doubt and forgetfulness. Those closest to us are readily taken for granted, and the helpful friends along life's way are allowed to fade into the background.

Speak to us anew this season, loving Father. As we draw closer to you, make us more thoughtful of one another. Save us from the anxiety of always having to be the favorite son or daughter. Release us from the compulsion always to demand from you and others and never to give. Enlarge our souls so at least to embrace anew those nearest and dearest.

Father of us all, speak in fatherly tones to the recalcitrant and wayward. Grant your tender compassion to those who mourn and your healing power to those ill in hospitals struggling with the powers of disease. And we pray for those in all sorts and conditions -- for all children lost and alone, for families fractured by divorce or alienated by present offense or remembered grudge, for immigrants and strangers in the land, for the homeless and unemployed, for the soldiers far from home soon to be in harm's way, and for all souls longing for assurance that love's labor is not lost -- for all these and more, we lift our ardent prayers to you, Loving Father of all the human family, that in your great wisdom and mercy you might grant our requests. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.