Seeing the Stars (Ninth Sunday after Pentecost)
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So I tried it, and I can do it! It wasn’t even all that hard and didn’t take that long. And the answer is 15!
At least, that’s what I got when I tried the exercise that God gave to Abraham. God brought Abraham “outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’” Now of course, Abraham was probably in a desert, and it was 4000 years ago, not Gaithersburg in the early 21st century. And so for Abraham, that was a WAY more daunting challenge than it is for us today!
When Abraham looked up at the sky at night – in fact, until a hundred years ago when almost anybody looked up at the night sky – they were able to see a starfield that most of us can only see today if we take a trip to very remote place far away from any human civilization. And that’s getting harder and harder to find.
In fact, the International Dark-Sky Association estimates that 99% of the population of the US and Europe live in places where we can’t experience a true night sky because of the effects of artificial light in the places we live.
In some respects, the abundance of artificial light has helped us a lot. We can be more efficient because we can work after dark. Baseball, football and soccer games can all be played after dark. And safety at night is greatly increased because of artificial lighting.
But there are also concerns about the effects of too much artificial light on our health. There’s concern about the amount of energy that’s being wasted when the light is directed upwards instead of on the streets where it’s needed. And of course, artificial light impairs our ability to see the rest of the universe, so much so that one of the things the International Dark-Sky Association does is to register places that you can go and still see a real night sky.
So for most of us, today’s first reading doesn’t have the effect that it had on Abraham, or any previous generation. To get the real effect, you have to look at a picture, or go to a dark sky place. You need to be in a place where you can see such an amazing number of stars that you can’t even count them.
But for Abraham, seeing the stars in the sky was a regular event. Every night, he could look up and be reminded of the unimaginable promise of God. Every night, he could look up and see a sign of God’s commitment to him. Every night, he could look up and know that God’s love was present for him, even in difficult times.
The stars were a sign and a metaphor of the greatness of God’s love and presence and promise in his life. They were much better than the rainbow God gave Noah, because the stars were always going to be there, even when they were obscured by the daylight or the clouds.
And I suspect that being able to see the stars was one of the things that gave Abraham strength to continue on the journey of faith that God called him to make. Abraham could look up at the stars and remember God’s promise when everything seemed to be going wrong in the world. Abraham could look up at the stars and feel the presence of God, even when the world felt threatening and lonely. Abraham could look up at the stars and find strength to keep going, because he knew that setbacks and problems were not the most important reality in his life.
And that always gets me to thinking about the stars in our lives. Even if you can’t see many stars in the night sky, what are the “stars” that remind you of God’s promises in your life? What are the “stars” that are signs of God’s love and presence to you in moments of doubt and confusion? What are the “stars” that you look for in times of trouble that assure you that God is still there, even when things seem dark in the world?
Like any individual “star”, some of those “stars” may be little things. It may be the comforting word of a family member or friend. It may be the experience of God’s presence in worship or prayer. It may be those things which give you a momentary glimpse of beauty in the midst of an otherwise ugly situation.
But we all need those “stars”, just as Abraham did. Yet sometimes, the stars can be hard to see in our lives. Like the stars, the signs of God’s love, God’s presence and God’s promises to us are always there, but sometimes for all of us, they can become obscured.
So what are the things that block out the “stars” in our lives? At least for me, I sometimes find that what obscures the “stars” is:
- The Light – it may sound counter-intuitive, but sometimes when things are going really well, I don’t look for God; and when I feel pretty strong and capable of handling things myself, I’m less aware of how God is helping me, or even that I still need that help! Even relatively dim light can obscure stars, like the moon, which I learned a few years ago is a “natural light” enemy of night sky observation…! But even without the moon, “artificial light” obscures the stars around here. And like those things, sometimes my “artificial belief” that I’ve got everything under control all by myself blocks my ability to even look for God’s promises; so just as the daylight blocked out the stars for Abraham, sometimes even the light in my life can obscure the stars…
- The Clouds – even for Abraham, on a dark night, if there was cloud cover, he couldn’t see the stars…; I remember a few years ago being in a “dark sky” place, and it wasn’t as bright as it should have been. The next morning, I was reminded that smoke from hundreds of miles away can also mess with being able to see the stars. And sometimes, for each of us, when there are times of deep personal pain or grief, or even when events in the world are like a background smoke that’s constantly present whether you’re actively aware of it or not, can be like clouds and smoke which prevent us from seeing the stars of God’s promise and presence…
- The Tent – you almost miss it in the story, but Abraham is apparently in his tent when God “brought him outside.” In spite of how bright and clear the night may be, if you’re in your tent, you can’t see the stars. And sometimes, we can get stuck in our “tent” – it might be the tent of our routines, or simply the “tent” of our social media feeds; or sometimes the social “silos” in which we live; which can consume us with one particular way of looking at things, and easily obscure everything else…; So maybe to see the stars, we also have to listen for God’s call to take a few steps out of whatever “tent” we’ve become accustomed to and take a new look, and observe a universe that’s not just life inside our particular tents …
So what are the stars God gives you in your life? And what sometimes keeps you from seeing the stars?
Today’s story from Genesis is a reminder to keep looking for the stars that God gives us. It’s a reminder to not lose hope when the clouds and smoke of life obscure the stars. And it’s a reminder that sometimes we need to get out of our “tents” to see what God wants us to see.
Whatever your stars may be, the good news for all of us is that – just as for Abraham – the stars are always there, even when they’re obscured from our view by the light, the clouds or the tents in our lives. The good news for us, as for Abraham, is that there really are lots of stars, even when we can only see 15 of them! And most importantly, what the stars represent – God’s love, God’s promise and God’s presence – will always be there for us, whether we can see the stars or not.
Amen.