What if I told you were already enough?

Good enough. Smart enough. Healthy enough.

Just, you know, enough.

So much so that you don’t have to resolve to be anything other than who you already are?

What if I told you that all the rushing around trying to perfect your life - especially at this time of year - is actually a massive distraction from what God has already equipped you to do?

What if I told you that all the pressure to improve yourself right now is actually a deep denial of who God has already created you to be?

Would you believe me? I mean is it even possible that you - the you that is sitting here right now in your stretchiest pants, still a little groggy and disoriented from all the eggnog and cheesy movies you enjoyed over the holidays - are perfect just the way you are…. that you are already exactly who you need to be as we enter in to this new year?

Stay with me here, because I know this is a radical thought, but I think the answer may well be, yes. Yes you are.

Furthermore, I’m starting to think that if we opt out of the whole New Year/New You Resolution model we’ve been conditioned to revert to at this time of year, we might just free up some precious time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere, especially right now.

Which is why I’m really excited about the Star Words this year, because the truth is, when we did this for the first time last year I automatically slotted my Star Word into the self-improvement part of my brain. God’s going to give me a word - I thought - and I’m going to use that word to become a better person.

But if 2025 taught me anything, it’s that the world doesn’t need me to be a better person.

(GASP!)

I know, it feels almost heretical to say that out loud, but I suspect it may be true.

The world doesn’t need me to be a better person. What the world needs is for me to be a more present person. Not a person capable of showing up in my tightest skirt with my bestest sermon, lower blood pressure and perfect cholesterol, but a person who just shows up…period.

I mean, don’t tell anybody I said this, but I’m beginning to suspect that the treadmill of relentless self-improvement we’ve all been sold tickets to, may be nothing more than a capitalist ploy running on the fumes of the good ol’ Protestant work ethic in a crass attempt to make more money for corporations rather than make any of us healthier or happier people. (Just spitballing here.)

And today I am hoping that this story and these stars might help us focus more on what needs to change in the world around us, then on what we wish we could change about ourselves…because -spoiler alert - I think you folks are pretty fabulous just the way you are.

I do think you are enough, already. And I know first hand how you -  showing up just the way you are - already make a huge difference.

So what if this year, instead of resolving to exercise more or snack less, we simply re-solved to invest in caftans and fancy bathrobes and be more like the magi in today’s story? Seriously, they’re quite comfortable and very forgiving. We’d all look fabulous! No, I’m just kidding. At least about the fashion. But I’m not kidding about being more like the Magi…. more like the Magi in 3 ways. What if we make 2026 the year of:

1. Less navel gazing and more star gazing.

2. (the year of) practicing presence over perfection &

3. (the year where we) always, always, always, protect the little ones.

Roll with me here as I explain….

Number 1: Less navel gazing and more star gazing. What I love about the magi is that they are astrologers, but their focus is upward and outward.  The Magi are awake in the dark both literally and metaphorically. They are charting the stars, attentive to what God is doing in creation.

But unlike so many people who engage in these kinds of arts, it is not so they can understand or achieve or acquire more for themselves - but so that they can show up to give and serve in those places where God is already at work and breaking through.

I know astrology can be fun and we’re all endlessly curious about what the future holds or what the stars can tell us about ourselves, but the Magi are a wonderful reminder that life isn’t just about unique precious little you, but about what unique, precious little you can do to help heal the world.

The Magi show us how to use the signs and wonders of creation and our intuition not simply to know ourselves, but to get outside of ourselves so we can show up for each other.

So head’s up as we enter 2026. Less navel gazing and more stargazing. Be attentive. Watch and wait for the signs and I have no doubt that God will break through and show you where God wants you to go next.

Two: practice presence over perfection. We all know that 80% of life is showing up and showing up matters. But let’s talk about how we show up. Scholars have long pointed out that Matthew uses this story of the Magi from a foreign land to show us that the baby Jesus, the messiah, the savior, did not just show up for the Jews but for everyone; even outsiders, gentiles, people of other lands and religions. But I think the reverse is equally true.

In this story we see how people of another land and religion also show up for him. We see that what separates us, what makes us different - not perfectly aligned in belief or practice, if you will - need not make us into enemies of one another, but can in fact enable us to be co-conspirators for an even greater good.

Which means that we don’t have to change each other or force people to conform to our faith or expectations in order to love and honor them. Erna Kim Hackett praises this quality in the Magi (https://www.instagram.com/p/DSVo5M7E_Ck/?img_index=1). She praises them for showing up with what she describes as some serious non-colonialist energy, and she is not wrong. The Magi are extraordinary in this respect.

Notice how they go to great lengths to simply show up for another people. They arrive in a foreign land to honor a king who has no power over them and a people whose religion they don’t believe in or understand.

The Magi don’t need to agree with these people in order to rejoice with them and be generous with them. They share their resources with these people rather than extract resources from these people, and then they leave. “Leaving is very non-colonizer energy,” says Erna.

I think it’s worth remembering that these folks are literally wise ones, the ones who have every right to think they know better. It’s in their name! But they don’t see this as a license to teach or take over.

They don’t tell Mary and Joseph how to use the gifts they bring or keep their receipts for future audits. They simply entrust the gifts they have to offer to Mary and Joseph with no strings attached. This is how I understand presence over perfection. The Magi show up, give what they have to give, and then they let go of the outcome.

And it turns out that Joseph and Mary know exactly how to use the gifts they’ve been given when the time comes. I have no doubt that they used the gold, frankincense and myrrh to finance their flight to Egypt, where they settled as refugees to escape the violence of Herod.

Which brings us to the heart of this story. When in doubt, be like the Magi, and protect the little ones. When things go sideways, be like the Magi and protect the little ones. When lines are drawn - with all you are and all you have and all you know - always, always, always protect the little ones.

The Magi resist the law and order of the land in order to keep Jesus and his family together. They refuse to comply with the unjust orders of a volatile and violent king who would order the slaughter of innocents in order to keep his grip on power.

The Magi, once again, are awake in the dark and attuned to the the movements of God. They are willing to take a risk, change their plans, and go way out of their way to find another road home, if it means keeping Jesus and his family safe.

As I said before, Matthew includes this story as a way of showing us that Jesus has not just come to save his own people but all people. But the inverse is also true. Matthew’s story also shows us that there are good people everywhere who will do what they can to try and save Jesus.

Friends, the Magi remind us that we belong to each other, no matter how other we might seem. The Magi remind us that we have a divine calling to welcome each other and a responsibility to protect each other: protect every family fleeing violence, protect every child at risk from war or unrest, protect every little one whose life is in danger, the way the Magi protected Jesus.

The Magi’s love for a baby who wasn’t theirs reminds us that there is no such things as other people’s children. They all belongs to us. We all belong to each other.

And friends, I know you know this, which is why I know that you, just as you are, are enough already… enough for now….enough for this moment. Dear Ones, you are not a problem that needs to be solved with more exercise or supplements or the next life hack du jour. You are wise and powerful and compassionate and equipped right now to help address the real problems in this world.

So as we come to the threshold of a new year and to this table full of stars to guide us and bread and wine to sustain us for the days ahead, my hope is that you will receive this star word not as a sign of what needs to change in you, but as a sign of the change God is calling you to be in the world. I don’t know exactly how that will work. But I trust that with the example of the Magi before us, we can enter this new year less self-centered and more other focused, trusting that God can use us just as we are.

So just as I invited the children to choose a star, soon I will invite you all to choose a star as well. But first, I want to pray with you and I want to give you some time to pray as well.

You’ll notice there is a blank piece of paper in your bulletin. Hopefully there is a pen or pencil somewhere in your pew or your pockets or one of our ushers can bring you one.

As we leave the old year behind and step into this new one, I want to give you the opportunity to write down something you want to leave behind, something that you know in your heart is leading you nowhere, or at least nowhere good.

That’s what the wisemen did, right? They left their old maps behind in order to go home by another way.

Before we come to this table, what is one self-centered or unhelpful expectation that you want to consciously release that will leave you with the energy to focus on helping others? Maybe its

• A negative belief about yourself or an expectation that never came to fruition.

• An old fear or regret

• An obsession or habit

• Is there a burden you no longer need to carry or a demand you have been placing on your self that is sucking the life and energy out of you and keeping you from being who God is inviting you to be?

Whatever it is, after I pray, I invite you to write it down, offer it in prayer to God, and ask God to help you release it and make space for something new. You can fold it up and drop it in one of these baskets on your way to communion.  And then after you take communion, I invite you to come up to the altar and choose a star: a light to guide you, a word to inspire you, a nudge from on high to help you navigate your way to the place where God needs you to shine right now or the gift God wants you to bring to this moment.. Alright? Good. Then let us pray…

Prayer of Release:

Gracious and loving God,

you call to us across the deep

and speak to us through the long,

dark nights of this season

and the long dark nights of our souls. 

Yours is the light which guides us,

the warmth which sustains us,

and the voice which we would follow. 

As we sit here nursing regrets,

clinging to old habits,

rehearsing unhelpful thoughts,

come sit beside us and help us to discern what no longer serves us

that we might be open to what you have in store for us.

Loosen our grip on what is holding us back, distracting us, not helping or creating wholeness in our lives or this world and grant us the grace to let it go…. Let it go and steer a new course

guided by your love and your light. Friends, go ahead and spend some time giving whatever you need to over to God….

CLOSING WORDS

Take a hold of your star (and if you are watching on-line I will put a link on the website where you can download a star, so you can be in on this too).!

I hope you’ll take your star home and place it where you will see it regularly throughout the year as a prompt to consider God’s movement in your life.

I realize that it’s just one star. I realize it is just one word. And that a single star word can feel very small in the face of a whole new year and the long dark nights ahead.

It might also feel weird; like, what could God possibly be trying to say to me through this one word? That’s okay. In fact, the more incongruent or odd that word might feel to you right now, the more important it might be.

The idea here is to stay awake and alert and open to what God is up to in this world and in your life. And remember that there are multiple definitions for many of these words and many ways to approach them.

Maybe the star is an invitation for you to bring more of this to bear on the problems of the world, or less.

Maybe you are meant to find more of this or give away more of this in the days ahead.

Maybe it’s a revelation. Maybe it’s a new direction. It might even be a warning.

I don’t know. That is between you and God,

The beauty of a time and space like this is that it gives us a moment to pause and ponder, wonder and wait and watch… watch to see where God might be present, what God might be up to, what God might be asking of us.  I simply invite you to trust that God can speak to you through this word. And if, in the upcoming weeks, God does and you want to share something of how this word has guided you, I’d love to hear about it.

For now, having been fed at this table and in hope of being led by these stars, let us give thanks as we pray together.

Holy One, a new year always feels like an open door—a threshold between what has been and what could be. We stand on this threshold with a mixture of hope and hesitation. The past year, so full of joys and sorrows, triumphs and disappointments, has left its mark on us and we are wary. As we look ahead, we all wonder what the future will hold. We have very real hopes and very real fears. The challenges in front of us are not imagined or small. The world feels very unstable right now and we don’t know what is coming. And yet, the beginning of a new year reminds us that time keeps moving—and so must we. We are not powerless and we are not alone. You are with us and we trust that with you as our guide, we are enough to face whatever lies ahead.

Today we have each received a star word.For some, these words are full of meaning, challenge, and invitation.For others, these words are a blank canvas—inviting you into our lives.So as a new year dawns, we pray that just as you have spoken to the generations before us, you would speak to us again.May these star words enable us to hear you more clearly.May they guide us, as the star guided the Magi.Help us to trust that you are already at work in us and around us, weaving beauty even in the midst of uncertainty. May your presence and your guidance and these stars fill us with the courage, compassion, and kindness we will need to face the days ahead. Amen