Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Other Big Fat Lies

There are no buffalo in North America. Technically, the majestic beasts roaming Yellowstone are actually bison. And lemmings don’t jump off cliffs. They actually become victims of their overwhelming numbers and in their eagerness to move from one place to another, accidentally shove some of their fellow lemmings over the edge. Also stars don’t twinkle. Starlight is diffracted by our atmosphere, ricocheting like a pinball, creating only the illusion of twinkling.

Thanks, Spock. If we want someone to hover over us with nitpicky facts, we’ll let you know.

But maybe the last fact is worth some extra consideration. Stars don’t twinkle. Although the constellations certainly make for a beautiful night sky, those sparkling pinpoints of light can be misjudged. They are much, much more than meet the eye.

Thanks to the Hubble telescope, we can be re-astounded by the incredible glory of the universe. Just the sheer numbers of the stars are enough to make you stand there with your mouth open. In 1989 two Harvard astronomers discovered the “Great Wall” of galaxies. It stretches for 500 million light years and contains about 15,000 galaxies—each with a million stars. The report said that the “Great Wall” was the largest single coherent structure seen so far.”

Three months later, astronomers discovered more groups of galaxies that made the “Great Wall” look small. They don’t capitalize the “great wall” anymore.

So we have finally calculated the number of stars. There are exactly a bunch.

Throw away your calculator.

We are presented with photographs of nebulas, plasma vortexes, and assorted cosmic grandeur stretching across expanses that mock the imagination. Two specific wonders come to mind.

We have discovered a star that is essentially a diamond. It is the size of the earth. In honor of this incredible jewel we might allow that at least one star does indeed twinkle “like a diamond in the sky.”

In order to explain the next star, it is necessary to briefly consider our own personal star—the sun. Our sun is extremely big. It would take 103 earths lined up side by side to stretch across its diameter. All of the stars you see in the night sky are bigger than our sun. By comparison, our sun looks downright cute. But there is one monster star called Canis Majoris that is estimated to be 1,800 times bigger than our sun. It makes all other stars look like fireflies. Canis Majoris is so big, that if you put it in the place of our sun, Canis Majoris would fill out the center of our solar system to the point of swallowing up the orbit of Saturn. 

We greatly underestimate stars. They don’t twinkle. They blaze with wild, galactic fusion. It’s getting hard to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” with a straight face.

There is a similar underestimation of Christianity. At best, the world thinks of Christians as cute, little points of light, neatly lined up in their pews. They are about as relevant and noteworthy as the faint twinkle you may or may not glimpse when night falls.

But there’s more to a Christian than meets the eye. Since they have been baptized into the blood of Jesus, they are essentially indestructible. In a world filled with empty lives, they are the only ones who have a true purpose. And it’s also safe to say, Christians are the only ones who truly know what’s going on and can provide guidance in a dark, dark world. Even though most people only glimpse what they think of as a faint “twinkling” from the average Christian, there are forces of great power involved that are noticeable only with a closer look.  

One of the most important aspects of stars has been navigation. In fact, before compasses, the constellations were the only hope against becoming completely lost. Without the stable patterns of the stars, there would have been no true course. Without them, there would have been only directionless desperation.

One person in particular demonstrated this quality as a man of God. Daniel is primarily remembered for his sleepover with the lions. But that miraculous escape was only an exclamation point in the account of his life. One thing that needs to be noted about Daniel is not just that he survived the lion’s den. When it came to his soul, Daniel was as fixed and immovable as a star.

Surrounded by people who conformed and shifted, Daniel was a man who “made up his mind” to not compromise (Daniel 1:8).Very soon, he was famous for his stability and people came to him for guidance. They knew he had “discretion and discernment” (Daniel 2:14). Like a star, he provided direction for those wandering a dark world.

But Daniel always made it a point to point to God as the source of his insight. “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him” (Daniel 2:22). Daniel made sure the people knew “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries” (Daniel 2:28). The reason Daniel was shining so brightly was because he belonged to the ultimate Light.

Jesus burned brightly for the same reason. “When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). People were certainly drawn to Jesus because He could cure leprosy and even death, but one of the primary aspects of Jesus that made him shine was the simple fact that He was the only one in the room who seemed to have some answers.

So it is for any true Christian today. The Bible provides the same caliber of discernment that Daniel had (Hebrews 5:14). It puts the Christian at a distinct advantage over the world’s flailing attempts to understand existence (Psalm 119:99-100; I Corinthians 1:20). A Christian is the only one who really knows what’s going on.

If you belong to God, despite your mistakes, you become a steady pinpoint of light in the darkness. Unlike the “wandering stars” (Jude 13) who are of no real use in navigating life, you are the star that can help those who are directionless and lost.  

Don’t be fooled. Daniel was a regular guy. But he became extraordinary because he allowed God to make him a stable point of reference. “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3). Divine insight waits for the one who turns to the Word.

This makes you one of the few who are significantly un-lost. That alone could mean the survival of many souls who even now wander a starless existence.