by Donna Streufert

I've been thinking a lot about stars lately. A recent trip to the Cascade Mountains in Washington state gave me the opportunity to stand on a hillside and lift my face to the night sky-to watch the twinkling points of light and realize they are really pulsing with heat and energy-ignited by the Creator and set in place just as He pleased.

The scene reminded me of St. Paul's imperative to his Christian friends in Philippi. Writing to the men and women of the church in Philippi (it began with Lydia and her household) Paul encourages them to shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the Word of life (Philippians 2:15-16). "Be like stars!" Paul says.

Now, surely not in the sense of modern thinking or modern values. Usually when I know I'll be sitting waiting somewhere I have a book along. Recently, however, I left my book in the car and patiently stared into space until someone handed me a PEOPLE magazine. I don't see it often. What an eye-opener. It certainly was filled with stars-the celebrity culture was celebrated on every page.

When St. Paul challenges us to shine like stars in the universe, He's not suggesting we draw attention to ourselves or demand (or even expect) recognition or compensation. Rather, Paul urges us to shine-that is, to guide, lead, reflect Jesus as we hold out the Word of life to the people of the world.

Ancient mariners relied on the stars to lead them to a safe harbor and their destination-to bring them home. The Apollo 13 astronauts, when their navigation system failed, sought the stars to guide them and give them their bearings. God used a star to lead the wise men to Jesus. Jesus Himself, in Revelation 22:16, is called our Morning Star, the fulfillment of prophecy who shines within our hearts empowering our witness and our leadership.

Almost ten years ago I was challenged by the women in our local congregation to help them learn more about the service of women. Thus began an ever-continuing search for the story of real flesh and blood women who grace the pages of church history with their incredible gifts and examples of leadership. I discovered dozens of women who truly did shine like stars in the universe.

One day the meaning of my reading and research all came together for me from the window of an airplane. As I looked down on that clear day, coming in for landing, I saw a highway stretching off to the horizon. I could even see the segments of the highway laid out one after another. Each segment reminded me of each century since Bible times when our sisters in Christ were made bold by the Spirit to serve God and shine like stars, leading others to the Word of life in whatever way their gifts and their culture allowed. I began to see that all of us have only a few moments of our own century to follow their example and do the same.

Who were these women leaders? Who did shine like stars, holding out the Word of life?

Women like ... Marcella (325-410), a wealthy Roman matron who converted to Christianity in 382 AD and opened her home to other women for study of Scripture and encouragement in the faith. This group assisted and advised Jerome as he worked out his translation of Scripture into the language of the people, producing the Latin Vulgate from which the King James Version of the Bible was derived.

Women like ... Paula (347-404) the younger friend of Marcella, who joined Marcella's Bible class and went on to accompany Jerome to Bethlehem, along with her daughter, Eustocium, assisting him in his translation work. Paula established three schools, a hospice and an orphanage in the holy land and is buried near the Church of the Nativity. Jerome defended his associations with these women and their assistance to him when his brethren objected.

Women like ... Katherine Zell (1497-1562) who at the time of the Reformation used her pen to write letters and tracts to influence attitudes and encourage pastors' wives harassed for marrying clergy. Katherine also compiled an important collection of hymns for congregations to sing in worship.

Women like ... Argula von Grumbach (1492-1563), a contemporary of Katherine Zell, who made a significant impact on the Reformation by being a "thorn in the flesh" to church leaders she felt were opposing God's Word. She wrote letters of protest in defense of a young instructor at Ingelstodt University who had been terrorized with threat of imprisonment and burning at the stake if he did not give up his Lutheran theology. She challenged university administrators and professors to a debate, saying: "when no man will or can speak, I am driven by the word of the Lord when He said, He who confesses me on earth, him will I confess and he who denies me, him will I deny. She wrote to Luther and Melancthon, too, studied their works and circulated their books. Luther wrote glowingly of her to his friends.

Women like ... Sarah Osborne, who in 1741 in Rhode Island taught black and white, rich and poor, young and old how to read the Bible-all in spite of criticism that she should stay home and keep her house clean. She worked full time as a school teacher to support her disabled husband and two children. She saw her Bible reading classes grow to 525 by 1767.

Women like ... Joanna Bethune (1770-1860) who along with her husband and her mother, Isabella Graham, started Sunday schools in New York City among the urban poor. The numbers grew from 136 students in 1816 to 7000 students and 600 teachers in just six years.

Women like ... Rosa Young, a young African-American teacher, who appealed to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in the early 1920s to set up preaching stations in small towns around Rosebud, Alabama. Twenty-five small Lutheran schools were quickly established to serve the needs of black children and eventually led to the founding of Alabama Lutheran Academy and College in Selma, Alabama ­ Concordia College Selma today. (You can read Rosa Young's story in her autobiography, Light in the Dark Belt, published in 1950 and newly reissued by Concordia Publishing House.)

And finally, women like ... Anna Beck who gave up a good paying job in St. Louis in 1947 to direct full time a year-round Vacation Bible School program in the inner city. For over 20 years Anna Beck and the Lutheran Community Center reached out to the poor with the gospel and with love.

These are just brief sketches of incredible Christian women whose personalities and lives deserve to be explored for our learning. And there are hundreds more to meet and learn from for all they can teach us.

Stars in the universe burn with an inner fire. Our Creator God ignites the stars. So also the Spirit puts within us a living fire-a fire intended to draw the eyes of the world to Christ. Don't sell the Spirit short. Don't shrink from what God has planned for you to do or deny your Spirit-driven ability to shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the Word of life.

Donna Streufert is Editor-in-Chief of Lutheran Woman's Quarterly.