At the end of last summer, Jeff’s family came out to see us. We decided to drive to the top of the monument with them, but when we got there, the summit road had closed early for the day. We were disappointed, but we thought we should do something while we were there. A few of us decided to walk along the pathway beyond the wagons and see what we could see. We stopped under a cottonwood tree because Malia noticed the sound of the leaves rustling sounded exactly like ocean waves. She was right, and we all paused to breathe in the beautiful sound and the soothing stillness of it all. 

We continued to walk along the path until we could see the sunset on the horizon. I looked down near my feet, and there was an unusual flower with several blooms partially open. The petals were pointed, the shape of the flowers like stars. It was a different flower than any we had seen before, but what surprised me most was the way the stems of each bloom seemed to be shaking even though there wasn’t really any wind. We all stopped to look at it, and I asked why the flowers were shaking the way they were. None of us knew. But, shortly after, we saw that after a few shakes of the stems, the flowers opened wider. They did this for some time, and soon, the brilliant star-shaped flowers were fully open – like fireworks in the sky. I took a picture of the flowers on my phone, and then we decided to head back to our car before it got any darker.  

On the drive back to my house, we were marveling about the different things we had seen on our hike. But, I couldn’t stop thinking about the strange, bobbing flowers that opened as everything else was closing up for the night. Once at home, I posted a picture of the flower on a plant identification site, and someone commented right away that it was a tenpetal blazingstar. After a little bit of research, we learned that the tenpetal blazingstar is a night blooming flower. They are at their most beautiful when almost no one is around to enjoy them. They wake up when everything else is going to sleep.

We would never have discovered this unusual flower if we had not stopped to wonder: “Why does it move when the wind isn’t blowing?” We turned aside and looked because something unusual caught our attention. As I think back on that moment, I remember the way Moses turned aside to look at the bush. He noticed it because although it was in flames, it did not burn up. And, it was in his noticing that he drew near and listened to the calling voice of God. Curiosity and wonder open our gazes widely so that we can see things we wouldn’t ordinarily see. When we are under stress or are so driven that all we can see is from point A to point B, we miss out on the glimpses of the holy that are sprinkled all around us. 

2020 was a year of re-focusing and of struggle. We lost things that mattered to us – our routines, our physical worship space, even people we love dearly. The year-long struggle made it necessary at times to keep our eyes only in front of us, taking one step after another. As a new year has begun, I wonder if God might be calling us out of our tunnel vision and into the wider gaze of wonder. 

This Sunday, we are kicking off a sermon series called “Star of Wonder,” and our hope is that over the course of these next weeks, God will awaken within each of us curiosity and wonder. As we study the Scripture, we will be exploring the ways wonder transformed the stories in the book that we love – the Bible – and also how wonder can transform our own lives as we walk with Christ. In this new year, we are invited to throw off whatever has been holding us back. We are compelled to embrace what’s new, and we are encouraged to open our hearts and ask God what new thing God might be doing in the world, in our church, and in our hearts.

Today, we gather around two familiar passages – the prophetic words of Isaiah 60, and the story of the wisemen searching for Jesus. In these two passages, wonder looks like asking and it looks like searching. Let’s begin with asking. 

When the wisemen saw the star in the East, they set out on a journey. The beginning of Matthew 2 says it this way: “In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’” The phrase “In the time of King Herod” isn’t just something to help us identify the year or the point in history, but is going to help us make sense of why Herod was so troubled by the visit from the wisemen. They were searching for the one who would be king of the Jews. The Jews, under Roman occupation, did not have a recognized leader of their own. Their leader was supposed to be Caesar, and Herod their King. The birth of Jesus was a direct threat to Herod’s empire, and he knew it. This is why he shook with fear at the news. His seat on the throne was no longer secure.

  Herod’s reaction was not surprising. Most anyone driven by a thirst for power would be afraid to lose the power they’ve amassed for themselves. Herod narrowed his focus to one thing only – getting rid of the one who was a theat to the throne. But, while Herod began to fixate on getting rid of this new baby king, the wisemen’s gaze was widening. 

They were not driven by fear, or by power, or by greed. Instead, they were propelled by wonder. Their journey of wonder began with asking. “In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?’” They had been studying the skies, and when they saw something new, they noticed, they journeyed, and then they asked.

We often stereotype men as being unwilling to ask for directions, but I think deep down most of us struggle with asking. Asking for directions – or for help – can feel like admitting our weaknesses. We might fear others seeing us as incapable. Yet, the truth is that questions are far from weak. Questions are the key that unlocks a world filled with wonder. Questions are what help children take in so much of the world around them. It isn’t that we have fewer things to learn as we get older, we just tend to forget the power of asking questions in the first place. Romanian-French playwright Eugen Ionescu said it this way, “It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.” The wisemen – the magi – were learned men who were skilled at studying and researching. They were brave people who set out on a journey having no idea where it might take them. But, they would never have found what they were looking for if they had not had the courage to ask.

As we embark upon this new year, what questions might we ask? Like the wisemen, I want to ask – where can I find this Jesus? We can ask this question whether we are staying at home, whether we are working, whether we are going to school. We can ask it no matter who we are. Lord, we are looking up where we are. We see that you are moving and working in this world. Where can we find you in our lives and in how we live?

Asking questions opens the door for wonder. After we ask, we must also be willing to search. When Herod learned about the birth of Jesus, he sent for the wisemen, and he said this to them: “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” He told them to search. Wonder asks, and wonder searches. Herod may have had evil intentions, but his instructions to search for Jesus were not wrong. The word that he used here is a word that means to search intently. It’s a word that means digging deep and not quitting until you’ve found what you’re looking for. Basically, Herod told them to go and leave no stone unturned as they looked for Jesus. 

Wonder is about asking, but it is also about searching – and not just searching for what we think we’re looking for, but searching for what God has for us. The wisemen went in search of Jesus, but when they found him, they didn’t stop their searching. They remained open and curious, and their openness is the reason they were attentive to the dream that warned them about Herod. They searched and they listened, and they were willing to change directions once they found something new. 

I used to make New Year’s Resolutions, but the reason I quit making them isn’t because I was terrible at keeping them, but because things change. When our lives change, we can either deny what’s going on around us so we can stick with our plans, or we can remain open to changing with what’s going on around us. For that reason, I’ve grown to love the practice of choosing one word for the year. The way I interpret the word can change as things change around me. A word doesn’t trap me into one resolution or one goal. It is movable and flexible. This year, as we open ourselves up to wonder, we must be willing to ask questions, and we must be willing to search – even if we also find things we didn’t know we were looking for along the way.

In your bulletins, you will find a Star Word for the year. You are welcome to keep the star you received or exchange it for another one. This year, let us be people who look at the skies at wonder. Let us be caught up in curiosity, willing to ask and courageous enough to search. G.K. Chesterton once said, “The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.” We are surrounded by the wonders of God. May we make space for noticing them and for being filled with awe and wonder. Amen.