Not a Star for Wishing

The Gift of Faith vs. the Grace of Faith

Perhaps the best feature about the little condo I’m renting is a big skylight in the center of the vaulted ceiling. When I need a break from writing, I lay on the couch and look up at the passing clouds; or, if it’s nighttime, I turn the lights down and look up at the stars. Yesterday I was reflecting on the strange custom of wishing upon a star. I remember as a child looking up at the skies in search of that first twinkling light at nightfall. I remember the words, whispered like a prayer: “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight…” But a wish is not the same thing as assurance. As we enter the Advent season, I picture the wise men, lifting their eyes to the heavens, and spying that new shining star. Was it a wish that made them set out towards the horizon, or was it a promise?

George Müller, known for his creation of orphanages and schools in Bristol, often references the distinction between wishful thinking and faithful thinking in his autobiography. Müller never asked for money, but trusted God to provide what he needed to care for the orphans and the destitute in his community. Though he was a poor, humble foreigner, Müller provided care for 10,024 orphans and gave a free education to more than 120,000 children by the time of his death in 1898. Many days there was not enough money to provide food and milk for the many children in his care, but through prayer and faith he watched the Lord provide again and again for their every need. 

When asked if this way of life crippled him with anxiety, Müller responded, “This way of living has often been the means of reviving the work of grace in my heart, when I have been getting cold; and it also has been the means of bringing me back again to the Lord, after I have been backsliding…Frequently, too, a fresh answer to prayer, obtained in this way, has been the means of quickening my soul, and filling me with much joy.” Müller goes on to explain the difference between the gift of faith and the grace of faith: “The gift of faith would be needed to believe that a sick person should be restored again, though there is no human probability, for there is no promise to that effect; the grace of faith is needed to believe that the Lord will give me the [necessaries] of life, if I first seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, for there is a promise to that effect.” In Müller’s view, the gift of faith appears where there is a possibility, but the grace of faith appears where there is a promise.

The Grace of Faith and the Wise Men

This distinction speaks volumes in a season of anticipation such as Advent. The star the wise men found was not a star one wishes upon. It was the fulfillment of a promise, and the assurance of this promise is what spurred them on to Jerusalem. Their response to Herod’s questions in Matthew 2 is telling: “Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [Herod] inquired of [the wise men] where the Christ was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” The wise men specifically cite the Jewish Scriptures—specifically the prophecy of Micah—as the reason for their arrival in Jerusalem. 

These men, perhaps from a line of Mesopotamian priests, would have been highly educated and well-versed in the scriptures of the surrounding regions. A prophet from Mesopotamian Babylon, Balaam, foretold a star that would “come out of Jacob,” and he tells of a scepter—a sign of kingship—rising from Israel (Numbers 24:17). Though this prophecy was as ancient in their own day as the story of the magi is for us today, these learned magi would have known the prophecy well. Yet in the text of Matthew 2, we see that these wise men did not simply come to pay homage to a new king. They specifically say they have come to worship him (Matthew 2:2). What could have convinced them that this king was God? Perhaps they had in their minds the words of Isaiah, a contemporary of Micah. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).” 

The magi from the east had likely been traveling a long time to find this new king, which is perhaps why Herod issued a death sentence on all male children under the age of 2 during his slaughter of the innocents. In traditions of the Eastern Church, the magi didn’t arrive in Bethlehem until Christ’s second birthday. They traveled many miles for many months at great cost to themselves. The star of Bethlehem was not a star for wishing upon. It was not a star of possibility, but a star of promise. It was not the general gift of faith that led them onwards into the unknown, but the specific and supernatural grace of faith. The magi sought Jesus with the intention of worship, and the Lord directed their paths. He had not only provided the Scriptures for them, but He continued guiding them with dreams and visions (Matthew 2:12).

In the same way, we can seek Jesus this holiday season with the intention of worship. As we seek Him anew, we have the chance to step into the grace of faith. We are living in a promised land. Not a physical place of fertile fields and protective walls, but a spiritual landscape hemmed in by the promises of God. The pledge of God is true and far surpasses wishful thinking.

Star light, star bright, 

First star I see tonight, 

I know I can, I know I will, 

See God’s promises fulfilled.