In some Christian traditions, Epiphany celebrates the revealing of Jesus to people of all nations and ethnicities.  Isaiah 49:5-7 predicts this: “The Lord says… ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant… to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. … Kings shall see and arise;  princes, and they shall prostrate themselves…’” Matthew 2:1-2 describes the fulfillment of Isaiah’s words: “When Jesus was born… wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.’” 

      Have you ever thought about the unusualness of this story?  The Lord who usually speaks through the words of prophets suddenly makes known his plan to a few non-Jewish people through a star.  We don’t know why or how, but these wise men thought a particularly bright star represented “the king of the Jews,” and somehow they knew this baby ought to be worshipped.  Perhaps God did speak to them.  Perhaps they read the words of the prophets.  But the star seems to be the primary way God guided them: “the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was” (Matthew 2:9).  

      If God can guide people through a star, God can guide people through anything.  And yet, how often do we limit ourselves to talking about God in ways that make sense to us, rather than talking about God in ways that make sense to the person with whom we are conversing?  What would happen if we allowed God to guide us into new metaphors, new explanations, and to really listening to where the other person is coming from?  What would happen if we learned to use terms and actions that are meaningful to the other person?