There is an old story about a country doctor who came to a farmhouse late one night to help deliver a child. As the mother labored, her husband assisted the doctor by holding up a gas lamp to illuminate the makeshift delivery room. After a time of courageous labor, the mother delivered a fine baby boy. Then, to the surprise of both parents, the doctor announced that a second child was due to arrive. And, indeed, the mother delivered a fine baby girl…

Her husband was already shaken by this unexpected turn of events, so you can imagine his surprise and astonishment when he heard the doctor say, "Wait! I think there's a third. I think we have triplets!" At this, the father began to back out of the room…. "Come back!" called the doctor…. "Come back here with that lamp." "Oh, no," said the father. "It's the light that attracts them."

Today, as we celebrate Epiphany Sunday (albeit a bit later than usual) we consider both birth and death, darkness and light. Today we imagine & visualize a group of magi who traveled over a long distance following the light of a wondrous star to find the child that the stars predicted… Somehow, the true light born into the world at Bethlehem does change our understanding of birth for Christ brought to each of us a new eternal life possible after our death… Somehow, the light of Christ draws us out of darkness into a new light-filled life and the promise of an eternal life.

If it is true that revelation is not so much about God appearing as it is us coming out of hiding to see God, then it is indeed the light that attracts us!

In these days after Christmas we continue to rejoice in Emmanuel - God with us… God coming to earth to live with us… Epiphany is a season when we consider and celebrate that it is up to us to move toward God.

The magi are the symbols of that journey - that persistent, patient, and ongoing moving toward God to be with God in this world and the next...///

The magi were specialists in studying the stars… These star gazers were highly respected and educated men who knew that something important was going to happen by what the stars told them. These men spent their lives reading and interpreting signs in the heavens as well as signs given in dreams…

Once the stars did align these wise men “saw the light” and they followed the star, trusting that the illumination provided them would bring them in the heavens would bring them to the place where they would find what they looked for…

In T.S. Elliot’s poem about the magi we hear one of them remembering back to that long and arduous journey. Eliot’s magi wonders about the ways that things were changed by that journey & by the child they discovered.… This magi understands that the arrival of the long awaited Messiah changed the world, that old paradigms were shifted, that there was both a birth and a death when Jesus came to live among us. ///

Like the magi of old we too live in unsettled times… Our country is unsettled… The national economy is unsettled… It seems that there is unsettling news every day… The earthquake in Haiti unsettles us… The severe weather of this winter across this country unsettles us… Many of you may feel unsettled here at Rocky Hill Congregational Church during this time of transition… Interim times can be unsettling times as things shift and change…

We also live in a time where there seems to be deep yearning for guidance, for direction, and for leadership. We long to be given advice and counsel about exactly what to do next so that things will turn out all right. So it’s really not a surprise to find that a recent survey indicates that fully 88% of those interviewed knew their astrological sign and 50% read their horoscope at least once a month. Surprisingly only half as many people read the Bible with the same frequency…

Our flirtation with the ancient art of astrology is but one indicator of our desire to be guided by a power outside ourselves. Many of the tools and materials used by New Age practitioners speak to this fascination with mysterious powers, cosmic signs, and the desire for mystical guidance…

Yet side by side with that longing for direction runs our resistance to it… Especially here in New England we confess to a strong fascination with controlling our own destiny and managing our own lives - on our own, “thank you very much”, without heavenly or even divine “interference”! We may wish we had more guidance from “above” but we’d like to pick and choose when we listen to that guidance!

Many cling to the security of claiming a rational faith in a reasonable world. Many of us pride ourselves on not having to check our brain at the door when we come to worship, rejoicing in the solid religious base of Christian scholarship, enlightenment, and knowledge - which built the great universities and spread literacy and launched western civilization…. Yet we need more than reason, analytical thought, and logic…. Something is missing when all is reduced to rational thought alone… As important as it is to bring our intellect, curiosity, and discernment to our faith, we must also be open to the mysterious workings of God which cannot always be analyzed and categorized.

Have you ever thought of all the things that these wise men (these magi) did not know? Like other Biblical figures before them, these wise men set out on a journey, not knowing where it would take them. These magi had no idea how long their trip would take, they did not have any GPS systems to guide them, nor cell phones, nor advance registrations, nor freeze dried foods to eat along the way… When they were compelled to follow that bright star in the sky they did not know how they would be received in far away & foreign lands. They did not know what others kings they might encounter or other religious or political authorities they might come up against. They didn’t even know when or if they would ever return home. Yet they still chose to make the journey in spite of all the unknowns…

Following the light of God is a journey of similar faith…. We often feel that we don't know where our journey will lead us…We certainly do not know what we will find along the way nor is it always clear which road to take...

The magi were drawn onward even though they did not have all of the answers they sought. They journeyed, risking danger and disappointment, without knowing where they were being led. Likewise, if we are to know God, we must trust God to guide us and lead us. It is up to us to trust that God goes before us and walks with us, and that the journey is not in vain… Only then can we set off after the star that shines for us…

And there is a star for each one of us to follow - a purpose to our lives, a way to make a contribution, a meaning to our existence. In order to see that star, we must look up, we must keep alert and awake!

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of a 16 year-old boy in Bishop, Texas who began sky-watching with a homemade telescope that cost him only $7.50 to build. On his third night of watching the night sky, this teenager named Mark Whitaker discovered a new comet! With the help of a professional astronomer from Harvard, the comet was confirmed. The comet was named Whitaker-Thomas to recognize this extraordinary accomplishment.

The magi were star-watchers by trade; that is how they earned their living. When God wanted to give them a message, God used the medium with which they were most familiar… Perhaps our stars appear in our everyday lives, in our work, in our homes, in our favorite activities… Perhaps we each have stars that are present all along - guiding us onward, calling us to truth, beckoning us onward… toward God.

As you leave this worship space today, each of you will receive an Epiphany Star gift - a simple star on which is written one word - one quality or attribute or characteristic… I did not invent this tradition of the Star gift but I have introduced it with all of the churches I have served. Your Star gift can serve as a reminder of the gifts which come into our lives unexpectedly from God - gifts which provide meaning and guidance. In many churches who have shared Star Gifts for years, as each Epiphany Sunday comes around again, folks share how their Star gift has impacted or changed their life in the year past. I look forward to hearing your experiences and how your star impacts on your life in this new year…

The gift on your Star may be something you already possess in abundance… The gift may be a capacity in you which is yet to be developed. Let the Star gift provide food for thought in this new year! Let your Star gift be a reminder of the new birth which comes to us with the Light of Jesus Christ each year.

Put your Star gift on the refrigerator door, by your bathroom mirror, on your computer, or on a bulletin board near your back door… Put your Star gift somewhere you can see it daily… Let it encourage you to consider how God provides for you… Let it encourage you to ponder the gifts God gives you so generously… Let your Star gift invite you to go where God guides you through the events and challenges of your life.

I want to be clear about what we are doing with these Star gifts. We are not playing at prophecy here…. This is not magic nor a parlor game… There is an element of fun and anticipation in comparing Star gifts. The star gift is simply a reminder to each of us that God does speak to us, in many and various ways, that God does communicate with us sometimes in surprising ways.

As you depart today’s worship service today, at either door, take a star out of the basket... Don’t choose it… Let it choose you! Read it… Breathe with it… Be open to accept that there might be a message there for you… The message may not come immediately; the message may come later…. It may be unexpected… It may come to you as a nudge or as an encouragement…

Be warned: Following a star can bring unexpected changes of direction!
Following a star can bring unexpected changes in your life…
Following a star may bring unexpected changes to this church!
Remember that after the magi followed the star to see the Christ child, they went home by a different route, changed by their experience…

Go forth this day and let the star guide you! Amen