"What Star is This"
In the church of my boyhood — I am not kidding — one of the paintings of Old Testament figures was of Balaam, that prophet for hire, who had to be warned by his donkey to stop in his tracks, because an angel with a sword was ahead of them, and the angel was not pleased. Balak, king of the Moabites, wanted to squeeze out of Balaam a curse on the Hebrews who were passing through Moab, but Balaam could not do it. “I shall see him, but not now,” said Balaam, “I shall behold him, but not nigh; there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter out of Israel.” For a long time I wondered what on earth Balaam was doing there when Jacob himself wasn’t, but now I see what the pastor, who directed the Italian painter, had in mind. If you go down to the catacomb of Priscilla, outside of Rome, you can see a rough fresco painting of Mary and the infant Jesus, and a rather tubby prophet pointing toward a star. That would be Balaam, and the meaning is clear. Jesus fulfills that prophecy, and reverses the curse that Balak wanted Balaam to utter. It isn’t just that Balaam blesses Israel rather than cursing her. It is that Israel becomes a blessing to all the world — to every land of Moab that does not yet know of the Lord God and his love. And I guess Rome was about as “Moabite” as you can get!
Our hymn this week, What Star Is This?, written in Latin by the French priest Charles Coffin in 1736, can be found in many hymnals, with texts more or less based upon an English translation by John Chandler, in 1837. It is best sung to the simple and yet soaring Renaissance melody, Puer Nobis. You don’t usually find all six stanzas, and there are variations, too, most of them by editors from the old days who knew what poetry was all about. We’re giving you the six that we’ve sung from the Hymnal 1940.
Now, what makes Coffin’s poem so beautiful is that it takes the journey of the Magi and brings it home to us in a deeply personal way. We are all to be like those eastern sages, especially since we do know the Lord whom we are looking for, while they had only a vague idea, a hope that burned in their hearts and that broke forth as light, more brilliant than the star they saw in the heavens. If they did that, leaving behind all the familiar things of home, what prevents us from seeking the face of Christ? Not hundreds of miles, no dangerous roads beset with robbers, no mountains or deserts, but only the dry stretches of our own hearts. Then let us be up and on the way.
What star is this, with beams so bright, More beauteous than the noonday light? It shines to herald forth the King, And Gentiles to his crib to bring. True spake the prophet from afar Who told the rise of Jacob’s star; And eastern sages with amaze Upon the wondrous token gaze. The guiding star above is bright; Within them shines a clearer light, And leads them on with power benign To seek the Giver of the sign. Their love can brook no dull delay, Though toil and danger block the way; Home, kindred, fatherland, and all, They leave at their Creator’s call. O Jesus, while the star of grace Impels us on to seek thy face, Let not our slothful hearts refuse The guidance of thy light to use. To God the Father, heavenly Light, To Christ, revealed in earthly night, To God the Holy Ghost we raise Our equal and unceasing praise.