By Marek Zabriskie
In November of 2018, Christ Church held an event called “Follow the Star” that featured 70 creches collected by parishioners Kay and Michael Langan while traveling around the world. Each creche depicted the Holy Family and the Wise Men in the traditional costumes of their country. There creches from Africa, Asia, South America, Europe, and even Eskimo creches.
I thought about that event and those lovely creches when our family recently visited Le Musée National des Beaux-Arts in Quebec City. There amid the indigenous art we saw a creche created by an Inuit artist who mixed Christianity with indigenous culture.
The baby Jesus lay in a manger inside an igloo. Mary and Joseph and the Wise Men wore coats made of seal skins. The latter brought typical Inuit gifts instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In lieu of camels and sheep, three sled dogs looked on in amazement.
On Monday, two billion Christians around the world celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany. Most churches marked this event the previous day in their worship services as they retold the story of the Magi’s visit to the Christ child.
Centuries before Christmas was first celebrated, Easter, Pentecost and Epiphany were the three most holiest days in the Church Calendar. In many places around the world, especially in Spain, Italy, and South America, Epiphany, not Christmas, is the day when gifts are exchanged in honor of the Magi who brought gifts to the Christ child.
The Magi were a caste of people in ancient Persia. They were Zoroastrians, who lived in what is today is Iran, and they worshipped the God of Light, Ahura Mazda. They believed that when each of us was born a star appeared in the sky that controlled our destiny. The more we spread goodness and light, the brighter our star appeared, and the brighter our star the greater our potential to spread goodness and light.
Hence, when the Magi, who were a combination of astrologers, magicians, and philosophers, saw an exceptionally bright star in the sky, they knew that someone had been born who was to spread great goodness and light. The star that they saw was actually a constellation that appears once every 800 years when Jupiter, Saturn and Mars former a triangular configuration.
Each of these planets had a significance. One represented the Jewish people. Another signified kingship, and a third noted that an important birth had occurred. Thus, to the Magi, this bright light signaled that a king had been born to the Jews.
And because the star was so bright, they sensed that this great spreader of light and goodness was actually a gift not only for the Jews, but for people everywhere. So, they set out on a 700 mile journey to meet this child bearing gifts fit for a king – gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Matthew’s gospel alone recounts the Magi’s visit to the Christ child, which in many ways has become the Christmas story as Gentiles from afar worship the newborn king. In fact, the earliest paintings of Christmas in the catacombs of Rome show the Magi, not the shepherds, gathered around Jesus. Today, the story of Wise Men from afar being led by a star remains our most beautiful portrayal of the encounter with the Christ child, who is the ultimate gift.
Matthew says that when the travelers arrived, “They were overwhelmed with joy.” Joy pervades the story. In meeting the child laying in a manger the Wise Men found the answer to their lifetime’s longing – love, purpose, a call for them and for the whole human family. The gospel says that they “rejoiced exceedingly with great joy,” because they had encountered the ultimate gift – the Christ child.
Not everyone has this gift. Perhaps you have read Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. In it, there is a woman named Miss Haversham, who was tremendously talented, exceedingly wealthy, and very prominent. But the love of her life stood her up on the day of their wedding. He ran away, and she never fully recovered.
Despite being a beautiful woman with many gifts, Miss Haversham was miserable. She felt neither loved, nor cared for, nor significant or important. Miss Haversham was completely bereft of joy, because she didn’t have the ultimate gift.
Let me contrast her with James C. Wheat, a member of my former church in Richmond, Virginia. While attending the Virginia Military Institute, Jim’s macula began to degenerate and he became completely blind. Upon graduating, his father took pity on him and hired his son to work in his one-man financial firm earning $40 a month. But Jim had a keen business mind.
Despite being blind, he grew his father’s tiny firm into Wheat First Securities with 1,100 employees and 52 offices. He learned how to fox hunt on horseback and duck hunt from a canoe. He became a man with great values, who admired by everyone who knew him.
Unlike Miss Haversham, who faced a great setback and never recovered, Jim discovered great joy. He married the love of his life, raised a wonderful family, and attended church regularly, and gave generously to his community. Jim had the ultimate gift, which is the awareness of all the other gifts that we already have in our lives, and this brought him great joy.
Miss Haversham had so much going for her – beauty, intelligence, talent, prominence, and wealth. But without the ultimate gift, she was miserable. The Wise Men, by contrast, set out on a journey to encounter the ultimate gift, which makes what we already have seem far more than enough.
It is the gift that unleashes incredible joy and meaning in our lives. That is why this story of the Wise Men traveling so far and bearing gifts to the Christ child has captured the imagination of people around the world.
All of us need divine revelation. We need to chart our way to truth and light. The star that guided the Wise Men can guide us as well. The star is a sign, a symbol, and a wonder that brings us to the Christ child. So, we, like them, must follow that star.
The star for Christians is the Bible. Martin Luther wrote, “Scripture is the manger in which the Christ lies.’ As a mother goes to a cradle to find her baby so the Christian goes to the Bible to find Jesus.”
Over 200 members and friends of Christ Church Greenwich are participating in The Bible Challenge – a ministry that I started in 2011 to help people read through the Bible or the New Testament, Proverbs, and Psalms in a year. The former requires 30 minutes of time a day and the latter requires only 10 minutes a day.
I invite you to join us, because it is the greatest book ever written and reading it will transform your life. A few minutes dwelling each day in God’s Word will illumine your life as you follow the star. Just email me at: mzabriskie@christchurchgreenwich.org and I will help you get started.
Regular Bible reading helps us to find the ultimate gift – the Christ child, which leads us to an awareness of all the other gifts that we already possess. Reading the Bible helps us to sense God’s presence in our lives. It brings out the best within us, improves our relationships, gives us a positive outlook and offers us incomparable peace and joy.
Sometimes life can be terribly dark, and you don’t know where you’re headed. Then you must follow the star to the ultimate gift. Sometimes you feel all alone, perhaps even betrayed or abandoned, then you must pick your Bible and follow the star. Sometimes everyone and everything seems to go against you, then you must read the Bible and follow its light until you arrive at the ultimate gift.
You don’t have to quit your job or travel hundreds of miles. You can remain where you are and read a small portion of the Bible each day. It will help you to develop more patience, kindness, and generosity. As you dwell in God’s Word, God’s light will guide you and will shine through you to those around you. May 2025 be the year where you follow the star and receive the ultimate gift, which will give you great peace and joy.
The Rev. Marek Zabriskie is rector of Christ Church Greenwich and is committed to helping people develop a daily spiritual practice of reading the Bible. The has written and edited 11 books on this topic.
