Minister
“Star Gifts”
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We have heard some wonderful stories this morning about the meaning that was found in the star gifts received last year, and I know there are many more stories that were discovered along the way, sometimes only in hindsight. I invite you to talk with one another at coffee today about what your star gift last year came to mean for you and your initial reaction to today’s star. And I also know that some of you are quite keen to receive your new star today, so for those who woke up this morning already wondering what word am I going to get this year?… your wait is almost over.
The journey to receive your star gift is not quite as long as the journey the Magi took following their star, no camels required, no border crossings, and thankfully no asking for directions from King Herod.
For them, it was commonly believed that the birth or death of someone great would be marked by a heavenly sign, a rising star. In Matthew’s gospel, the Magi are portrayed as people who pay attention, who respond to what they are shown, who seek no honour for themselves, and who are willing to humble themselves, kneeling before a woman and a child. Not exactly the powerful entrance they may have expected after all that travel.
The word Epiphany means manifestation or appearance. In this story, it is the manifestation of God in a vulnerable, ordinary baby. God is revealed not to the religious insiders or political leaders, but to outsiders, to seekers, travelers, foreigners. God shows up where we least expect it, to people we might not think were on the guest list.
That reminder feels especially important this year. We live in a world that feels heavy with conflict, political division, and uncertainty. Many of us are carrying concern not just for our own lives, but for the wider world. And into all of that, Epiphany quietly insists that God’s light still appears, not in grand displays of power, but in small, surprising ways. Sometimes even… on a little paper star.
When you receive your star gift in a few minutes, it may be a word you immediately love, or one that makes you think, Really, God? That one? But as you let that word guide, challenge, or gently nag you over the year, you may discover that God reveals something unexpected through it.
The Magi who traveled great distances to offer their gifts to the Christ child were responding to a gift they had first received. They encountered God, and then they offered themselves in return. As we remember their journey, we delight in this simple paper star, a small but meaningful reminder of God’s generosity in our lives.
This Epiphany celebration is an invitation to be still in the presence of God and to receive, not because we’ve earned it or figured everything out, but simply because God is generous. And honestly, sometimes God seems to enjoy speaking to us through the simplest things.
Like any other gift, star gifts can be received with joy, or quietly forgotten. They can be tucked reverently into a pocket… or rediscovered months later in the washing machine. We get to choose how we respond.
We encourage you to keep your star gift somewhere visible, on your fridge, in your journal, on your desk, or your bathroom mirror, somewhere it will catch your attention. Look the word up. Sit with it. Let it grow. A word that feels puzzling at first may deepen and change as the year goes on.
We reflect today on a God who continues to encourage and strengthen God’s people, especially in uncertain times. Perhaps that is the quiet delight of star gifts: they really are gifts that keep on giving, long after the decorations are down and we’ve stopped singing Christmas carols.
Epiphany is the celebration of God’s presence breaking through, light shining in the darkness. And today, we rejoice in that generous, revealing God, one small star at a time.