Last week, snow dumped all across North America.  If you were just hanging around with family, as we were, what a beautiful week it was to enjoy the beautiful scenery of snow over trees and landscapes.  In other places, blizzards made for poor driving conditions  but dumped enough snow in the mountains to let ski resorts open full tilt for business. Boarders and skiers crowded the roads and then crowded the downhill runs.

It is in trying to escape those crowds that bolder riders get into trouble. “Back country” boarding and skiing become more popular every year. But it is these off-the-beaten-track excursions where the most serious danger of avalanches looms. When tons of snow starts to slide nothing can stop its blast down a mountainside. You cannot outrun an avalanche.

For those lucky few who have survived being buried in a snowy tomb, the biggest problem every survivor recounts is not knowing which way to dig out.  After tumbling end-over-end, round-and-round, you literally cannot tell “which end is up.” To start frantically digging “down” would be a disaster, worsening an already dire situation.

One survivor remembers moving his head back and forth until he had hollowed out a breathing space. Rather than waste precious breath melting snow, he spit in the hole, knowing that saliva should head downhill, which gave him an idea of which way is up. What his own senses could not tell him the force of gravity could. Even under several feet of snow, water does NOT drip up. Re-oriented to which way was up, the buried boarder was able to dig himself out. It seems a strange survival skill, but if you’re buried in an avalanche, the first thing you need to do is spit so you can determine “which end is up.”

This same not knowing “which end is up” is what killed John F. Kennedy, Jr almost 10 years ago (1999). In the midst of fog and haze, you lose sight of the horizon. And when that happens the distinction between sky and sea became a murky blur. Convinced he was heading into the clouds, John plunged his plane into the ocean instead. You can get killed if you don’t know “which end is up.” It is important to be able to SEE what you need to SEE!

What happens When You Can’t See the Star?  What if the Wise Men never saw the star?

When the Son of God came down to this earth, God put a star in the sky.  An amazing, never-seen-before-star which pointed out that Jesus, the King of kings had been born.

Everyone could have seen that star and understood it, but only the wise men followed it.  Now these wise men were called “wise” because by their profession and study they had mastered books and science and the knowledge of the heavens above.  They were philosophers and astronomers.  They had gotten used to looking above the world of men for guidance and truth.

But the reason they were really wise is that they followed the star.  Who is considered to be wise in our day and age?  Today the majority of the world thinks that wisdom is found apart from faith and religion, in the teachings of men.  Science.  Evolution.  Humanism.  The idea of “God” is for the weak and the foolish.  Oh – they can see the star.  All of their studying and reasoning point them to God and his Star.  But if they choose not to follow it, they are not wise!

Friends, you are wise because you follow the star.  Proverbs tells us that true wisdom is the fear of the Lord.  Everyone can see the Star.  Everyone can see that the world around us points us to God.  And God wants to point us to Jesus.  Let’s be wise and follow that star!  That is what will make you and me truly wise.

You might be Ridiculed for following that Star, but don’t let that stop you.  You gotta know that those kings of the East were ridiculed and scorned when they first announced to their colleagues that they planned to make a long journey to a strange land to worship a new king by following a star!  But aren’t you glad their faith was stronger than their pride?

You have been ridiculed for following that star, haven’t you?  The people in your workplace know you’re different, don’t they?  Why do go to church when you could sleep in?  Why do you give ten percent of your money away?  What a waste!  Why do you follow this silly religion?  You don’t really believe what that Bible says, do you?  C’mon!  Friends, the wise men didn’t let ridicule keep them from following the star and seeing the King!  Don’t you, either!

And Sometimes We Lose the Star.  Did you know the wise men lost the star?  That’s right!  Somewhere in the journey, the star disappeared.  They had it in sight as they began their trip.  It was the appearance of that star that started them across the desert to find the Son of God in the first place.  But they lost it!  When they finally got to Jerusalem, they had to go to Herod and ask where the new King might be.  Only after Herod’s scholars found the OT passage from Micah, were they told that the new King was to be born in Bethlehem.  To Bethlehem they went!

As they walked out of Herod’s palace, they looked into the sky, and once again found the star!  “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” (Matt.2:9-10).  How happy they were to see the star again!!

What makes a star disappear?  How would we ever lose it from sight?  A heavenly vision.  A holy calling.  The beautiful message of the greatest gift we have ever been given!!  How could a star like that ever get lost?
-CLOUDY SKIES COULD BLOCK IT.  Difficulties in our life could block our view.
-DAYS THAT ARE TOO BRIGHT COULD BLOCK IT.  It’s hard to see a star at noon, isn’t it!  When things are going so great, we sometimes miss seeing the star we need to be focusing on!
-DISTRACTIONS MAKE US LOOK AWAY AND LOSE IT.  Sometimes we can become distracted.  We tend to look at other things, and when we look back at the star, it’s gone.  There are so many things that can distract us this time of the year, aren’t there?  We can have this beautiful candlelit moment of focusing on God’s gift, and then we are distracted by a hundred things, and when we look back, it’s gone!

So What Do You Do When You Can’t See the Star?  What do you do when you don’t know which end is up?  Where do you go when you don’t know where you are?  What do you say when you can’t find the way?  Well, you keep going in the direction you were going when you last saw the star.  Just because the star is out of sight, doesn’t mean it’s gone.  And like the wise men, you need to ask God to get re-directed.  You need to look into his Word.  Because his Word is always there – and it tells us where Jesus is – even when we can’t see the star!

It was Bible Sunday.  Bibles were being passed out to the kids, and one long-standing member went up to a little girl and said, “My goodness, what is that you have in your hand?” She said proudly, “A Bible.”  He said, “Can I look at it?”  “Okay, but don’t open it.”  “Why can’t I open it,” he asked. “Because if you open it you’ll let God out!”

I challenge you in 2008 to open your Bibles, open your hearts and minds and bodies, to let God out a bit and help people know which end is up!  I guarantee you that in 2008 you will sometimes feel buried in avalanches of anger, injustice, grief and shame. You will wonder “which end is up.”  I guarantee you that in 2008 the fog of fear, loss, depression, and despair will descend on you, and you will have times when it seems you can’t see the star.

And that’s when you need to go back to his Word and find that star right where it belongs.   Amen.