Saturday, January 6, 2024  

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Today’s Hymn
What star is this, with beams so bright,
more lovely than the noonday light?
’Tis sent to announce a newborn king,
glad tidings of our God to bring.

’Tis now fulfilled what God decreed,
“From Jacob shall a star proceed”;
and lo! the eastern sages stand
to read in heaven the Lord’s command.

While outward signs the star displays,
an inward light the Lord conveys
and urges them, with tender might,
to seek the giver of the light.

O Jesus, while the star of grace
impels us on to seek your face,
let not our slothful hearts refuse
the guidance of your light to use.

Charles Coffin’s “What Star Is This, with Beams So Bright”
trans. John Chandler
from Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal

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Reflection

With lyrics unmistakably rooted in Matthew’s second chapter, this hymn is often sung each Epiphany as a means of celebration and reflection on the magi’s visit to the newborn Christ. There is much that remains unknown about who exactly the magi were, but for Matthew the importance of their visit is unmistakable.

They were Gentiles — visitors from outside Israel — who in some way embodied the prophet Isaiah’s hopes for Israel’s future nearly 500 years prior: “Nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isaiah 60:3). It is the first hint that Jesus has come not just for those in Israel but for all people — eventually culminating in the “Great Commission” that ends Matthew’s Gospel in Matthew 28:18–20.

But as we celebrate the day of Epiphany today, we remember not only the expansion of God’s covenant promise to all people. We also embrace the call to be bearers and sharers of the light and love seen in the Christ child as well. This hymn beautifully uses that imagery of the star’s light to not only capture what the magi followed but as a symbol of the transformation they were experiencing internally — a sentiment well captured by the text “While outward signs the star displays, an inward light the Lord conveys.”

It is the dawning of something new within them — and us — as we seek to reflect the love shown to us, and we trust it will one day lead to the dawning of a new era for the world around us. So may we too seek “the guidance of [Christ’s] light to use,” both in this Epiphany season and beyond.

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Prayer
Holy God, help me make manifest the light and love you have shown in Christ — both in my own life and in the world around me. Amen.

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Written by Matt Helms, Associate Pastor for Children, Family, and Welcoming Ministries

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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