Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

I think pretty much everybody knows today’s gospel story at least a little bit. A number of wise men, not kings, and not necessarily three, but a number of wise men, set off out of a land east of Jerusalem, following a star that they saw appear at Christ’s birth. We don’t know how they knew to follow the star…they were probably astrologers and paid attention to what happened in the sky, but why they chased this one down, we don’t know. Our response, which is the same as to the question of what kind of star it was, is simply to recognize that God is in control of the heavens and the earth, and whether through natural or miraculous means, we know that He guided those men out of the East.

At any rate, they followed the star, and it led them, not first to Bethlehem, but to Jerusalem. There they asked the current king, Herod, where they might find the newborn king, no doubt much to his surprise and disappointment. His own wise men, that is to say his priests and scribes, knew what was going on, because they new the scriptures, and they quoted from Micah chapter five, saying that the child was in Bethlehem. There Herod sent the wise men, having them promise to report back so that he could “go and worship also.”

The story goes, now that they had been told to go to Bethlehem, the star reappeared and they followed it until it came to rest over the house where Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were staying. They bowed down to him, gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and having been warned in a dream not to go to back to Herod, they went home another way. We of course know that since Herod could not find Jesus himself, he had all the infant boys in Bethlehem killed in an effort to avoid losing his throne. These children would come to be called the Holy Innocents. But that lesson is for another day. Let’s focus on the wise men for now.

They, like so many people today, were not “born and raised” in the church. Not being descendants of Israel, they weren’t among God’s chosen people and didn’t have a lifetime of hearing his promises in the synagogue to trust in. It may be that they had part of the Old Testament, since Israel had been at one time in captivity in Babylon, and Daniel had served the king in Persia as a wise man and dream interpreter. But it was not for them what it was for, for example, Mary and Joseph. The God of the Old Testament was not their god, and His Word was not revered as the Living Word of the Living God. In this they were very much like people today, who know what the bible is, who know stories like those of the birth of Jesus or the coming of the wise men or the flood or creation, but don’t realize what they are.

Many people live in darkness, without faith, simply because no one has explained to them what these stories contain, what message they indeed bring. They are like the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts who was traveling along reading an Isaiah scroll and not understanding it. “How can I [understand], unless someone explains it to me,” he asked. But no one has. Philip hasn’t come to them, and they’ve been left in the darkness. Knowing the story of God flooding the world isn’t the same as knowing that in that flood he washed away sin, just as He would do for them in baptism. Knowing that Jesus was born 2000 years ago isn’t the same as knowing that the Son of God became a man, so that they could become God’s children.

Now, the wise men had something special – the star. Why God gave them the star we don’t know, but by His Holy Spirit He did for them with the star what He does for people today with His pastors who preach and all of His people who share the gospel. The star guided them through His Word to the Christ. It’s important that they were directed first off-route through Jerusalem. It was there, as the star left them, that they were forced to inquire, where is this newborn king? The answer was found in the Old Testament, as the scribed and priests of Herod quoted to them, “but you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.” Bethlehem was where the prophecy pointed. There they would go.

And as a guide on the route laid out by the Word, the star then returned, so that they were able to follow it as it faithfully led them to place of the promise, to Bethlehem, until it stood directly over the house of Mary and Joseph, over the newborn King. Without the star, it’s doubtful that they’d have known the way to Bethlehem. They weren’t exactly locals. And had they made it without the star, they would have been reduced to knocking on doors and asking, “Does the king live here? No, not Herod, the newborn King.” Like as not they’d have given up long before finding Him. But God didn’t leave them to their own devices. And that isn’t His plan now either. For those people who we see, who don’t know where they’re going, but are trying to get somewhere, He’s made us to be that star, that light shining in a dark place, that guide. He’s given the task to us of leading people to Bethlehem, to the Christ child. Bethlehem means House of Bread, and appropriately so, for it is the Bread of Life which came down from Heaven that is found there, along with the Living Water which wells up to eternal life.

That, and no less, is what they found as the star came to rest over the house. Matthew reports that they rejoice exceedingly with great joy. It takes him four words to describe how excited they were to have found what they were looking for. And there was no question. They knew that they had it. Their search wasn’t like the unguided casting about that so many suffer from today, trying to find an answer, thinking they’ve found the answer, watching it fail them. They knew it when they saw it, for they were guided. And so they went in and worshipped Him. This is of course the response of someone who has been led by the Holy Spirit to the Christ. It is one of pure joy and humility. Who were they that they should be allowed to see the Christ. What could they do but bow down before Him and give Him gifts? They are like Mary who, when she hears that she will give birth to Jesus, responds with amazement that God would stoop to use her. It’s that recognition the we are by no means deserving of that which we have been given which leads us also to realize that we could never have obtained it in the first place. Mary could never have earned the position of mother of God. The wise men could never have found Jesus without the scriptures and the star. And so has it also been passed down to us through the church. We are given God’s Word, and it is preached, so that we might understand it. We are then led to Christ, and so also God, by His grace alone, deigns to use us to lead others by His Word to Christ.

We need not fear that we will fail in our efforts to guide people. God is capable of using us just as precisely as He used the star. He will give us the words to say as the time comes. It’s no question of knowing enough for us either. It’s sufficient that we know from the creed, that Jesus Christ was “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried,” and that he “descended into hell, and on the third day rose again from the dead.” This finally is the message of all the scriptures, and as we truly speak of our faith, we cannot but speak of this truth, for it stands above all others as the source of, reason for, and maintainer of our eternal life.

Dear Friends in Christ, Epiphany is sometimes called the Gentile Christmas because it is the first time that people outside of Israel met their Lord, who was born as much for them as for those in Israel. As we in the Christian Church are God’s people today, it represents for us a time to reflect on the continuing mission of bringing the message of God’s grace through the truth of His Word to all people, that they also may come to be the children of Him who created them and loves them.

This mission work is the task of each of us, but in many different ways. We are not all called to be full time missionaries, or even to try to preach to everyone that we see. But God has placed us in the lives of family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers who do not have a saving knowledge of Him, and would use us to be the star shining in their darkness, leading them to Bethlehem and the Bread of Life. We do this not blindly, but using His Word, just as the star led the wise men first to Jerusalem, and then to Bethlehem. It is finally that Word which can prevail against unbelief, as it also has against our own, and that Word which brings Christ and everlasting life, as it has also for us. For that let us, with the wise men, rejoice, exceedingly and with great joy.

Amen.

Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.