The magi were probably learned men who not only knew about the stars, but knew of the prophecy as well. They saw the star and undertook a long and dangerous journey.

Were they the ONLY ones who knew the prophecy?

I don't think so.

Then why were they the only ones who took the journey? There weren't huge groups of stargazers going to visit Jesus, showing up one after another. Maybe the message in this story isn't that the wise men made the journey, but that nobody else did. (Maybe the message in this story is).. that the wise men were the only ones who dropped everything to find and worship the King of the Jews.

Not all stargazers follow their stars. Not all of us act on the epiphanies of our own lives. Too many of us focus on the small, mundane things in our lives and lack the vision and the courage to act upon our stars.

We are all traveling on the road of life, traveling from unknown to unknown. But too often we focus on the destination of our journey instead of the journey itself. We find ourselves thinking all the time, "..at the end of this school year... at the end of this project,...when I pay off this loan..".. and on and on until we stop and realize that years have passed and we're still waiting for something to occur before we do what's REALLY important to us.

The real moments of our lives are right here, right now.

An analogy I like is that we are like people on a train, spending most of our time deciding where to sit, when in reality, the train is already moving.

It's not enough for us to just gaze upon stars. Today, God calls us to be star followers. He wants us to take a journey with Christ.

Soon, some of the youth of this church will be making a journey of their own to Ridgecrest, NC (YouthQuake), which is sort of like the magi's journey. Putting their lives on hold, and traveling hundreds of miles to worship Christ, not knowing what to expect when they get there. Just like the wise men didn't know what to expect when they began their journey.

Too few people today are willing to follow the stars on their horizon. We feel the pull of the star, but we're afraid to act on it. The wisemen from the East weren't afraid. After the wise men paid homage to the Christ child, they were visited by an angel in their dreams who told them to take another way home, since Herod was seeking to kill the new born King. So they left for their own country by a different route. Bethlehem was not their final destination. Their journey continued as ours does.

From now on, try to be a star follower and pay attention when events converge in your life. Just today, go home with courage and by another way.

Amen.