Follow that Star!

Matthew 2:1-12

January 6, 2008 - Epiphany

Open your Bibles, if you will, to Matthew chapter 2.

Today, besides being the 12th Day of Christmas, is a day on the Church calendar known as The Epiphany (Manifestation) of the Lord.  The Epiphany is celebrated each year on January 6, the 12th Day of Christmas. Epiphany means to be made known, and it is an even more ancient celebration among Christians than Christmas itself, and was originally focused on the nativity, incarnation, and baptism of Christ, as his presence was first made known to the Gentiles.

Our celebration focuses on the coming of the three wise men, or magi, who brought gifts to the Christ child. For this reason, in Puerto Rico and in most Latin American countries this day is observed as Three Kings Day or Dia de Los Reyes. For us, it also marks the end of the Christmas Cycle, which began the First Sunday of Advent.

So after today, Christmas is officially over- you can take down your tree.

So we celebrate the magi today. The story of the wise men is a story that is shrouded in mystery. From tradition we seem to know all the facts and details. But as we study the scripture we find that there are a lot of questions we can not answer about the wise men from the Biblical text.

For instance, we’re not sure where they are from, we just say that they are from the east.  We do know that they didn’t arrive Christmas Day like the shepherds did, they arrived several weeks or months or some say as much as two years later. So they obviously didn’t find Jesus in the stable where he was born, they found him in a house that presumably became home to Joseph and Mary after the stable and before their flight to Egypt . And we don’t even know if there were three magi. There were at least two, because “magi” is plural. Maybe there were six, who knows? Three gifts, yes. Three magi, maybe.
But there are the traditions that we were brought up with, and so every Christmas we see three wise men in the manger with the baby Jesus.

I think that I shared this humorous story regarding the wise men with you a couple of years ago.
It was written that if it had been ‘Wise Women’ instead of ‘Wise Men’, they would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought practical gifts from Babies-R-Us, including diapers, wipes, bibs and formula. Now I actually know what these things are.  But that’s an entirely different story…

But regardless of the technicalities, I love what the story of the wise men represents: They were given a special star to capture their attention and to guide them. They followed the star, and it changed everything. An intimate encounter with Jesus has a way of doing that to people, you know.

But picture it: They had a special star shining bright. We imagine the stable illuminated by that very same star. A young woman kneeling by a manger, a new mother’s love radiating from her face. A man standing beside her, gentle and strong. A baby lying in the manger, a few pieces of straw grasped in his tiny fist. A sheep here. A cow there. And we envision three exotic gentlemen bowing before the baby, their faces filled with awe, their hands outstretched with gifts too beautiful and too rich for a stable.
But for them, it all begins with that star.  What an amazing thing then, to be gifted with a special star to capture their attention and to guide them. 

Have you ever seen a television show or a movie that occurs in a city such as New York , where there is a chase scene?  Often times, when the hero is hot on the heels of the villain, they hop into the back of a cab and excitedly shout, “Follow that car!”  They know, and we, as observers know, that something exciting is about to happen, the climax of the show, the scene that will have the whole thing make sense and have meaning, has arrived.

When the magi saw that star, they were excited.  So excited, that they hopped on their camels and shouted, “Follow that star!”, and it changed everything. They were hot on the heels of that which would make sense and bring meaning not only to their lives, but to our lives as well. 

I want to share with you a couple of things that I have learned from the magi’s following of the star.  The first is, you have to actually see the star. This requires keeping your eyes open, and your heart too.

The magi may not have known God, because they were Gentiles, but they knew stars. They knew when something extraordinary was happening in the night sky. They saw the star, and they took note. They investigated. They conferred with one another. The magi were open to evidence that God was doing something special in their world. God sent them a message, and the magi saw it.

The star God sends to you or to me might be something completely different. It might be just the right word from a friend at just the right moment. It might be a vision in a dream. It might be an impression during prayer. It might be an insight from a book. It might be something we see God doing, not necessarily in our own life, but in the life of someone we know.  Whatever it is, we need to be open to evidence that God is doing something special in our world.

Next, once you see the star, you have to follow the star. This requires movement.
When the magi saw the star, they followed it. They didn’t know where it would lead. They didn’t know how long it would take. They rearranged their schedules, found someone to water their plants and feed the cat, and they followed the star.

The magi were willing to rearrange their lives to check out the evidence that God was doing something special in their world. When the star marking the birth of Jesus appeared, the magi followed it.  How often has God sent a star to you or to me, and we were too busy to follow it? 
The star led the magi to Judea . Consulting the experts, the magi learned that this particular newborn king was to be found, not in the obvious place-- Jerusalem , but in a most unlikely place--the little town of Bethlehem . Sometimes in following the star, life takes unexpected turns.  Accordingly, they changed their travel plans.
Equipped with their new information about Bethlehem , the magi left Jerusalem . But still they followed the star that had brought them thus far.

Now remember, the star is only a guide. The purpose of the star is to get your attention and encourage you along your journey. Joy comes from meeting the purpose of the journey—Jesus.  When the star had led the magi to Bethlehem , it had served its purpose. They stopped looking at the star and they looked to Jesus instead. And Matthew says they were overjoyed.

But you know, meeting Jesus is just the beginning. Having made contact with Jesus, the magi acknowledged his Lordship. They bowed down and worshiped him, and presented him with gifts. They didn’t simply pat each other on the back for having made it to their destination. For the magi, and for us, meeting Jesus, no matter how long the journey to that point, is just the beginning. 

The first day of the rest of our new lives.

But to me, here’s the most important point: after they worshipped Jesus, after they presented their gifts, they went home by another way. Something was different. An intimate encounter with Jesus tends to do that to people.  If you have your Bibles open, look at verse twelve with me:
"And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route."  Underline that verse.

You see, when they left Bethlehem , the magi were changed. They weren’t just headed back to where they came from. They were going home, but it was a whole new journey entirely. They went home by another way.

Isn’t it interesting that after they worshiped Jesus that they could not go back the same way that they had come? I find that to be a fact even today. Once you have met God you will never be the same. You just can’t go back the same way.  An encounter with God changes things – it changes you – doesn’t it?

Every time you and I encounter Jesus, we are given the opportunity again to go home another way. To be changed. To be transformed.

So there’s something to learn from this story of the magi, and it’s this: keep your eyes and your heart open, because God just might give you a star to capture your attention and to guide you. And if you follow that star, everything just might change, but that’s okay. We read in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  And believe me, the new is way better than the old!

An intimate encounter with Jesus has a way of doing that to people—whether it’s the first intimate encounter or the fiftieth.

So when you hear or see or feel that prompting from God, follow that star!

COMMUNION