Introduction. "Brian Stewart, award-winning Canadian journalist, admits that when he started his career he had nearly abandoned Christianity and thought the church a rather tiresome irrelevance. But after years of covering news all over the world, he now says: ‘I’ve never reached a war zone, or famine…or crisis anywhere where some church organization was not there long before me…sturdy, remarkable souls usually too kind to ask "what took you so long?"’ When he and a friend from the BBC broke the news of the great famine in Ethiopia in 1984…, TV coverage was given credit for saving millions of lives. But, says Stewart, he went to Ethiopia only because church…groups on the ground there foresaw the famine and begged the media and the world to take notice." (Christian Century, December 14, 2004, pp. 6-7)

Move 1. As Brian Stewart found out in his job as a journalist, life happens, and it’s not always pretty. On a large scale, like the recent tsunami in southeast Asia, and on a small scale in our own little worlds, life happens. According to John Lennon, "Life is what happens while you are making other plans." (Robert Byrne, The 2,548 Best Things Anybody Ever Said, 2003, #31)

Each year between Christmas and New Year’s, our church usually is a quiet place. The office is officially closed, and staff take part of, if not the entire, week off. We place a sign on the door saying that normal office hours resume on January 3^rd.

I’m in the office this past Wednesday, late morning, to get my desk straightened up, tie up a few loose ends, and hopefully write this sermon. Within 15 minutes of my arrival, the phone rings. I pick it up and begin talking with a person who has called needing some advice and guidance. About 10 minutes later, still on the phone, I hear the door to the lobby open and close; it’s someone who needs some immediate rental assistance. I invite her to have a seat and wait a minute. Then the door opens again and it is the plumber, needing to explain a problem he has just fixed at the church-owned home two doors down. I hang up the phone, talk to the plumber, and after finishing with him call the person I was speaking with right back and talk for another 10 minutes, before finally speaking with the person needing rental assistance who has waited patiently.

An hour later I find myself quite annoyed, mostly with myself for answering the phone and leaving the door unlocked. And then I realize, life is happening. I am making my own tidy little plans, but life is not tidy.

Life doesn’t stop between December 25^th and January 1^st. Life doesn’t ever stop, it just keeps rolling along, and it often keeps us from carrying out our best laid plans.

Move 2. People take action in the face of certain circumstances. They make decisions of how to respond to the events of their lives. Sometimes they ignore the events; sometimes they crumble under their weight; many times people act with great courage to deal with life’s happenings.

The wisemen from today’s gospel lesson in Matthew are ones who acted with such courage. The wisemen, sometimes called magi, were ancient astrologers, who studied the stars and noticed even the smallest of changes in the night sky. The magi were probably from Persia, or what is modern day Iran. More than likely they were priests in a religion called Zoroastrianism, and though they probably knew about the nation of Israel where Jesus was born, they most certainly were not Jewish.

They saw a star, and decided to set out on a journey to an uncertain destination. Many who study the Bible say that whether or not this star can be explained by scientific, astronomical data is unimportant; but it is interesting to note one of Kepler’s discoveries in the 16^th century--that around the time of Jesus’ birth, at a time when planets were thought to be moving stars, a convergence occurred. The magi may have witnessed this convergence--Jupiter, thought of as the "king’s star," lining up with Saturn, several times over the course of a few months. They also might have been impressed that the convergence occurred within the constellation of Pisces, which was the sign of the Israeli nation. They may have deduced, based on this event, that something important was happening in Israel. (www.funandgames.org/hunt/jesus.html)

In any case, the wisemen made a choice to set out. They made their way toward a country not their own, to find and give gifts to a newborn king not connected with their own faith. They saw the evidence that the sky was presenting, that life was presenting, and acted.

People can and do act with courage like this all the time–when a child or friend needs an intervention; when an elderly person needs care and comfort; when disaster strikes. People here today are invited to support efforts to provide relief to the tsunami victims as you heard about earlier during the children's sermon (during Sunday School, children developed several projects to raise funds and collect supplies, which they discussed during the Moments with the Children).

Move 3. Following a star, like the wisemen did, is certainly a strange business. When we follow a star, it’s never business as usual.

Now, following a star is what some people do in the "celebrity" sense of the phrase. This practice is common among many, and it finds expression in the popularity of People magazine, in attempts to dress or act like a favorite star, in the purchase of front row concert tickets for thousands of dollars. This interest in the lives of the rich and famous says much about human curiosity over and desire for what is perceived to be the good life, whether or not it actually is good.

In a more positive sense, following a star is about a yearning for something beyond the mundane, the regular, the usual. It is about wanting to achieve something, and being willing to do whatever it takes to make a dream come true, being willing to follow a star, at some risk.

Following stars is also what people who base their lives around astrological signs do, studying the stars and planets, or relying upon those who do, in order to see into the future, or to make life decisions. Note that, though astrology is much maligned by many Christians, it is the practice used by the wisemen to find out about a newborn king, and then to find their way to Israel. However, I’m not recommending that you begin making all your decisions based on the daily horoscope, because also note that the practice of astrology could not ultimately lead the wisemen to Jesus; it took the study of scripture to do that. Remember the scribes pointing out to King Herod a scripture from the prophet Micah–"And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah…from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel"–and then Herod passing the information along to the wisemen and sending them to Bethlehem.

Following a star. It certainly can be a dead end occupation. But, it is the pursuit of a dream. It can open up new horizons, wonderful opportunities, and amazing discoveries. It can even be part of our journey toward God.

Move 4. When we follow the star of Jesus, when we go after the glory and radiance of our Lord, we are in for an interesting, eventful, never dull life.

Henry Van Dyke writes the story of The Other Wise Man--a fourth wiseman, Artaban, who like his three friends, studies the stars and is excited by the prospect of a newborn king. When the star appears, Artaban sets out on his horse with three gifts–a sapphire, a ruby, and a pearl–to present to the new king. He rides quickly, because he lives several days away from the other three wisemen, and he is to meet them by a certain time, at a certain place, so they can ride together toward Israel. Unfortunately, just hours before meeting up with them, he spots a man lying in the road. He knows that if he doesn’t keep riding, he will miss meeting up with his three friends; but if he doesn’t stop to help, this man in the road might not live. Artaban makes his decision; he stays with the man, and saves his life. When the man recovers, Artaban rides again and reaches the rendezvous point, but finds only a note from his three friends that they couldn’t wait any longer, that they have already set out across the desert, and that he is to follow as soon as possible. Artaban has few supplies, and needs a camel, not a horse. So, he makes a tough decision to sell one of the gifts, the sapphire, to buy what he needs to cross the desert.

After many weeks, he reaches Bethlehem. He goes to a house with a young mother and her baby, but is told by her not only that the three wisemen have come and gone, but also that the holy family also has left for Egypt, to escape some unknown danger. At that moment, soldiers noisily begin to swarm into the streets, searching houses, looking for infants to slaughter. Artaban meets a soldier at the door of the house, and bribes him with the ruby, thereby saving the mother and baby inside. "O God…," he says, "forgive me for…giving to a man that gift which was to be for You."

The next day, Artaban sets out for Egypt. He doesn’t find the king there, but does help many with food and clothing and medicine. Finally, after many years, he journeys back to Israel, hoping for one last chance to find the one he is seeking. He arrives in Jerusalem to a huge uproar, and finds out that someone claiming to be Son of God, King of the Jews, is about to be crucified. As Artaban races to find this man, hoping he might use his last gift, the pearl, to rescue him, he sees a young woman being dragged through the streets by soldiers, and discovers she is going to be sold as a slave to pay off a debt owed by her father. He is so close to the end of his search, but this need is so real and so present; and so he gives the pearl to the young woman. Suddenly a short but violent earthquake erupts, and Artaban is crushed under the weight of a heavy section of roof crashing down on him. And, he hears a voice–"Artaban…you have been a good and faithful servant. I was hungry and you fed me. I was naked and you brought me clothes. I was in prison and you visited me. Come now to the rest I have prepared for you." "Not so, Lord," whispers Artaban with the last of his strength. "When did I do all these things for you?" And the voice answers, "Whenever you helped one of my people in need, you helped Me." (Henry Van Dyke, The Other Wise Man, retold by Pamela Kennedy, 1989)

Artaban finally finds the king, though not in the way he expected. Indeed, all along his star-struck journey, he was in touch with this divine one the entire time. We, too, are in for quite a journey as we follow this star which is our heritage and our hope.