Star Words

Transcripts are computer-generated and may not be 100% accurate.

Good morning everybody, happy new year. My name is Marta, I'm the pastor of youth ministry here and if you know me at all, if you know me very well for years and years or if you just met me, you can probably tell by looking at me I'm a huge Taylor Swift fan. When we were flying Justin out for his like final candidate interview, a committee—a search committee member was like, "I think you're gonna really like him, he's a really big Swiftie." And so far it's not been a threat to our relationship, it's just made our work even stronger.

How many of you here have seen the new docu-series that came out? The rest of y'all have homework because it's so good. It's a six episode docu-series on the last few concerts of her legacy era's tour and what stuck with me wasn't even necessarily the music which is saying something, it was all the people around her. Her dancers, her bandmates, her background singers and I was really struck by the stories of one of her singers Kamilah Marshall and her mom passed away right before they started tour rehearsals, getting ready for this tour and she said in a speech to her band saying:

"I've been learning to accept and lean into the fact that two different things can be true at one time. If you saw me sobbing somewhere, you would never know that I am the happiest I've ever been in a long time and if you saw my joy, it's also often that I was pretty devastated."

And I remember thinking like, "Yeah, that's exactly what this time of year feels like, this no man's land after Christmas and now we're excited about New Year's resolutions and it's joy and it's grief and energy and exhaustion all happening at the same time."

Glennon Doyle has this really great word that she calls "brutiful." It's a mix of beautiful and brutal. This is where we are right now, right? Christmas happened, the cars were packed up and we head to grandma's and presents ripped open on Christmas morning. There's hot cocoa and matching pajamas and memory making and then we throw away the wrapping paper scraps and instantly, maybe it's just me, but your house suddenly feels way too crowded and how did we live in a house with all this stuff everywhere for six weeks?

That was adrenaline and anticipation—what was the adrenaline of anticipation, now is the adrenaline of overstimulation. We got to put the tree away right now or I'm going to explode. Who gifted the children an entire fleet of emergency vehicles and how do I legally enforce a no toys with batteries before 8 a.m. rule? Taking time off work to spend with extended family resulted in a sliver of a paycheck that suddenly feels a lot less magical than the idea of it did a few weeks ago. The ball drops at midnight and everything's supposed to feel brand new but I'm still vacuuming up tinsel and pine needles both physical and metaphorical from last year that just seep out of my floor. It's beautiful, it's brutal, it's brutal and that feeling is not just on an individual level, right?

We've had that kind of year as a church. There have been new babies that have been born in our church. There's Wyatt and Lucca and Jude and Louis and August and more on the way. There were 44 new members that said yes to calling The Table home in 2025. There's this new building. It's crazy to think that a year ago from right now we were still meeting at night, we were still at Bethlehem Lutheran, Justin wasn't here, right? All these things that just seemed so normal and natural weren't here a year ago and it's being here has been so good both in the ways that we had planned for and hoped for but also even more unexpected ways.

It's been such a good beautiful year and it's been a really brutal year. So many people in this room as I'm looking around experience layoffs, having a really ugly job market staring you down, there are conflicts that required boundaries and friendships that didn't survive them. Illnesses that despite test after test have no diagnosis let alone a treatment plan. School shootings just 2.6 miles from where we're sitting right now. ICE raids affecting families who use this very building just as often as you and I do. And after these milestones we're left asking now what? Who am I now and how do I live like this?

And it's into this reality that we place Mary and the Holy Family on epiphany Sunday. Not the peaceful nativity scene but months later when Mary is finishing breastfeeding and introducing solids into a growing baby into a toddlerdom and Joseph's nervous system is always half on listening for breathing as Jesus sleeps. It's not the major scene on our mantles but this version that we encounter the Magi.

I'm gonna read for you Matthew 2:1-18 from my favorite translation The Voice. It goes like this:

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in the providence of Judea at the time when King Herod reigned. Not long after Jesus was born Magi, wise men or seers from the east made their way from the east to Jerusalem. These wise men made inquiries. Where is this newborn who is the king of the Jews? When we were far away in the east we saw his star and we followed his glisten and gleam all this way to worship him.

King Herod began to hear rumors of the wise men's quest and he and all his followers in Jerusalem were worried. So Herod called all the leading Jewish teachers, the chief priests and the head scribes and he asked them where the Hebrew tradition claimed the long awaited anointed one would be born. The scribes and priests replied an ancient ancient Hebrew prophet, Micah, said this, "But you Bethlehem are in a land of Judah are no poor relation for from your people will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel." Herod called the wise men to him demanding to know the exact time the special star had appeared to them. Then Herod sent them to Bethlehem. "Go to Bethlehem," he said, "and search high and low for the Savior child and as soon as you know where he is, report it to me so that I may go and worship him."

The wise men left Herod's chambers and went on their way. The star they had first seen in the east reappeared, a miracle that of course overjoyed and enraptured the wise men. The star led them to the house where Jesus lay and as soon as the wise men arrived they saw him with his mother Mary and they bowed down and worshiped him. They unpacked their satchels and they gave Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

And then just as Joseph did a few months before the wise men had a dream warning them not to go back to Herod, the wise men heeded the dream ignoring Herod's instructions. They returned to their homes in the east by a different route. And after the wise men left a messenger of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. The messenger said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and head to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you it's safe to leave." For Herod understands that Jesus threatens him in all he stands for. He's planning to search for the child and kill him but you will be safe in Egypt. So Joseph got up in the middle of night, he bundled up Mary and Jesus and they left for Egypt.

A few months had passed and Herod realized he had been tricked. The wise men were not coming back. Herod of course was furious. He simply ordered that all boys who lived in or near Bethlehem and were two years of age and younger be killed. He knew the baby king was this age because of what the wise men told him. Jesus, Joseph and Mary stayed in Egypt until Herod had died.

That's not as cozy as a Christmas program and pageant is and what I always remember when we pull open this story to see what it is. I've said this in sermons before, but in middle school youth group when we meet together after we read the scripture twice we split up into pairs and we ask a question, "What did you notice?" And the biggest thing I noticed in this text is anxiety. Even though they're not centered in this part of the story I can't imagine Mary and Joseph aren't anxious.

Some scholars think that they maybe just stayed put and lived in Bethlehem after Jesus's birth because where else are they supposed to go? Joseph was initially encouraged to leave Mary when she became pregnant out of wedlock. If you think teen pregnancy is stigmatized now it was exponentially worse than. They were no doubt met with scrutiny and judgment not with a baby shower and a meal train. They're navigating a brand new life postpartum into toddler baby life without a support system and they're doing so amidst political anxiety.

The Jewish people are anxious too. When the rumors of the Magi reach Herod the text said Herod and all of his followers were worried and they were most likely worried because they had no idea how their leader was going to respond knowing his anger and frustration can quickly turn into persecution. Herod, this lovely man, was appointed by Rome to rule over Judea therefore literally making him king of the Jews. Because he constantly feared a rebellion he would execute anyone he would remotely deem as a threat to him and his reign including his wife and three of the three of his sons. In addition he was reported to excessively tax his constituents to help support his economic programs that helps make him and his name sound good. All I'm saying is he's the kind of leader that you'd see ranting on Twitter at 3 a.m. and people would think this is the man that has access to the nuclear codes.

There's an idea that another the idea that another king of the Jews is a threat to Herod because it means someone holds authority that isn't him and if that authority is recognized by people who don't live under his rule how long before it's subverted by the people who don't live under his rule the Magi how long before it's subverted by people he's leading. So obviously Herod is anxious but Herod is not confused he's not misguided and he's not acting alone he's acting exactly how empires throughout all of history have acted by gathering information controlling narratives and using violence to maintain power.

And I truly do mean empires throughout all of history because while this story may ring bells of for those of us experiencing empires close at hand for Matthew's original readers the story would have immediately reminded them of the Egyptian Empire and the story of Moses because a lot of times we in our context lump stories about Jesus especially the Christmas story even though it's in two different Gospels we lump them in one bucket in our minds because it's bound together in one volume and it's easy to forget that each gospel has a specific audience and purpose and narrative devices.

This text is from the same gospel that we spent the fall series in the Sermon on the Mount in and as you may remember a few put preachers pointed out that the Sermon on the Mount was the new law that Jesus was giving on the mountaintop to remind us of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. So in this story specifically at the beginning of Jesus's life we're meant to look back to the beginning of Moses's life.

Just like Herod, Pharaoh is a leader consumed with anxiety about losing control. He's willing to do whatever it takes to keep the marginalized in the margins and duplicate his power over and over again. He's issued a decree that all Hebrew baby boys are to be killed. He's fears being overthrown so he does what he can to keep the people weak and Moses our main character survives not because the system changes but because people resist it.

Moses's story exists only because of community care by people who are considered too weak to be a threat to power. Midwives who refuse unjust laws, a mother who hides her child, a sister who watches the water. Moses escapes this political violence not because God or anyone else waved some kind of magic wand to make it disappear but because ordinary people chose courage and justice and inherent rightness over fear of an empire.

Matthew is telling his audience both the original readers and us today to view Jesus as the new Moses and that the empire will vigorously work to be a threat. In these moments of instability inflicted by empire were left asking questions that echo down to our very core.

When it's no longer safe for you to leave your home to do something as simple as get groceries for your family you ask yourself where do I belong? When policies are written about your body, your family, your future without your voice in the room you ask yourself who am I? Do I matter? When programs and aid are defunded and disappear overnight you ask what am I doing here? It's more of an issue it's more of an issue it's more than an issue of policy. These shake people right down to the roots of our identity and it's not just political this seeps down to our bodies on a granular granule level.

When you don't remember life before kids before your identity was exclusively mom or dad you ask yourself who am I? In the days when it gets dark before 5 p.m. and all you do is clock in clock out come home and watch a show and go to bed just to wake up and do it over again you ask yourself what's the point what am I doing here? Friendships at school seemingly change overnight over Christmas break and you're not sure where you're even going to sit at lunch today you ask yourself where do I belong? When the loss of a loved one up roots every morsel of your being you ask yourself what am I doing here? When your personhood is taken from you and you feel more like a human doing than a human being we ask again who am I? Do I matter? What part of me is allowed to exist here?

I want to tell you a story I heard a long time ago from a pastor in Sioux Falls South Dakota. I looked it up this week and I found a few different versions of it but I'm going to tell it to you the way I heard it. There once was a rabbi in first century Rome he was walking through the city weighed down by the suffering of his people and what they were going through he thought about his studies and pondered what and if they had anything to do with his community unsure if they still mattered unsure if he was able to make sense of everything he walked and walked for hours until it was dark and he was far from home and he accidentally walked into a military fortress.

Suddenly a booming voice yells down to him “Who are you? What are you doing here?” Rabbi looks up and sees a Roman guard, says, “What did you say?” The guard repeated himself “Who are you? What are you doing here?” Instead of answering the rabbi asked how much are you paid to stand there and ask those questions. The guard is confused and replies with his daily salary amount and the rabbi says, “I will pay you double that amount if you stand outside my house and ask me those same questions every morning.”

The very same question asked in different ways has shockingly different connotations. When the Empire asks you these questions it's accusatory it's meant to keep you small, to intimidate you to cause doubt in your own dignity and keep you out of the light and locked into spaces of darkness. But when you ask these questions who are you what are you doing here with the heart of an Emmanuel God who is with you? We're brought back to our origin stories of a beloved child of God. We are redirected to our purpose of love of to be loved and to love others. It brings us back to ourselves and back to each other. When we put down the script of Empire and reread the story of salvation we're invited to partner with a God who has been at work as through people as ordinary as the midwives and as mystical as the Magi in subversive acts of justice and in faithful works of sacrifice.

And these gifts that the Magi bring are not those of a utility but those of identity. Right? They don't bring a diaper genie and a bottle warmer. They bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold, something expensive to honor Jesus's kingship. Frankincense, a fragrance used for worship, for his holiness, and myrrh, an embalming spice to be used at burial for his mortality, for his personhood. Before this toddling Emmanuel does anything of note in his ministry, he's drawn back to his identity. God with us. The King is with us. The Holy One is with us. The person of God is with us.

And this is pure imagination on my part but I like to picture Mary keeping these gifts up on the mantle of their home as Jesus grew up. Reminding Jesus through all the troubles of middle school and apprenticeship to draw him back to his identity. To Mary, back to the things that she treasured up and pondered in her heart the back at that night on the stable when the noise and clutter of life distract her. Their own version of a Roman guard standing there each morning asking, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

So today, well I don't have Magi gifts for you. I do want to invite you into the epiphany practice of Star Words. No, not Star Wars. My husband got really excited when I gave him the pitch for this sermon. He goes, "You're doing a Star Wars sermon?" And I'm the wrong person for that. I don't know who on staff. Maybe Maggie would be better at that than me. I'm not the person for you.

But Star Words. You may have seen them at the front of church and at the back of church you'll find a table with nouns, verbs, and adjectives on them. Each one of these stars is different. There's not a single duplicate in this room. They were lovingly cut out by members of our community, my third through fifth grade class, a few middle schoolers, some elementary school and preschool students, other people who lingered with me after the service on the 21st. All the words were handwritten by my family on Christmas Eve Eve with love and and willingly so I didn't force them to. They were covered in love and prayer in hopes that they might direct you towards the light.

The Magi only followed a star because they were paying attention in the first place. As Scott Erickson says, "The deep desire of the Magi was to connect with the Creator of the world and they trusted the Creator to reveal the interior journey of the soul in the exterior world around them.” Just as the Magi followed the star to the Christ, each of us can direct our attention and focus towards something holy already at work. These are not a New Year's resolution. In fact, it's more of a rejection resolution. Instead of prodding and changing yourself, it's a window of opportunity to pay attention to what God is already doing. You can't fail at it. You can only experience it.

These are for every person in this room, young and old. I also invite anyone who's listening online, you can email me and I will send you your own star word so that you can have one electronically. It's my hope that you take these words and you put them somewhere that you see them every day on your fridge, your bathroom mirror, your car dashboard, inside of a journal. I hope that you are surprised by how often this word shows up for you this year and that you find encouragement and direction over and over again.

Just like the Magi followed the star, these words invite us to orient ourselves towards the light. It's not a crystal ball, it's not a fortune cookie, but it is an invitation to hear God'svvoice echo back to you your identity and purpose in 2026, lovingly asking you, "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The epiphany with the Magi story doesn't end neatly. Herod's empire causes persecution and harm. Mary and Joseph flee as refugees to Egypt and as much as we want a clean slate with a new year, new me, the brutality of 2025 doesn't stop just because of the calendar reset and God still shows up, not to erase the pain but to be present inside of it. Not with tidy answers but with a redirection towards love. This is not an neat ending but it's an honest one and honestly that's the kind of hope most of us can use.

Will you pray with me? Holy and present God, we come to you with a tangled mess of Christmas lights unsure how to unknot it. A lot of beautiful and brutal mixed up together and we know you see it all. When fear and empires are loud, draw us back to who we are. Be loved. Guide us with your perfect light to work in our communities to seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly alongside you. Emmanuel, God with us, be near us now. Amen.