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Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (vv. 7-11)

Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. It's five-year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

And so began every episode of the television show Star Trek. Although it was not highly successful when it first came out in the 1960s, it went on to spawn four spin-off series and ten theatrical movies.

Star Trek is one of those entities that you either love or hate. Either way, it was still one of the first intelligent attempts at science fiction. Before Star Trek, sci-fi consisted of such movies as The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and Plan 9 From Outer Space and the television show, Lost In Space.

The popularity of Star Trek is due in part to humanity's interest with the solar system. We are curious about the stars. Our fascination was heightened a few years after Star Trek was created when we actually reached the moon. Suddenly, Star Trek was a little more realistic. Star Trek tells us that we are still curious about stars and outer space.

Chapter 2 of Matthew introduces us to some Wise Men who were fascinated with stars -- one star in particular. This is the Sunday that we celebrate Epiphany or the twelfth and final day of Christmas. Epiphany celebrates the Wise Men who followed a star to find the child born the King of the Jews.

Who were these Wise Men fascinated with a star? The popular carol names them "three kings" which is incorrect. The scripture names three gifts but doesn't tell us how many Wise Men traveled in the company. And they weren't kings, either. They were Magi -- Persian priests who were experts in astrology and dream interpretation.

As astrologists, they interpreted the star as a sign of the birth of a king. So they followed the star to "pay homage to" -- that is to worship -- this king. To pay homage, the Magi brought gifts with them. We know all about those gifts, don't we?

A Sunday school teacher asked her students to name the gifts brought to baby Jesus. The answer came back, "Gold, Frankenstein, and Mermaids."

We understand gold, but not frankincense and myrrh. They have little modern significance. They are foreign to us. They were also foreign to Palestine. Frankincense and myrrh are both expensive aromatic gum resins used as incense and perfume. Like the gold, they were gifts literally fit for a king.

But the gifts brought by the Magi are not nearly as important as the gift given to the Magi. That fact that they were led to the baby Jesus is remarkable. See, the Magi were not Jewish. Jesus wasn't their king. The Magi were Persians from Babylonia. Their belief in astrology was occultist by Jewish standards. Religiously speaking, they were pagan Gentiles.

Additionally, the Persians and Jews had a bad history together. Just 300 years before, the Magi's ancestors had enslaved the Israelites. People in the Middle East have held grudges for centuries. It seems a little crazy that the Magi would even seek this Jewish king.

Did they follow the star for astrological curiosity? Did they seek to make peace with the king for political reasons? We don't know about their motives. But we do know about God's. God had called these non-Jewish, occultist men to make a point. Jesus wasn't a king just for the Jews. He was born to restore God's relationship with all people -- even the enemy of God's chosen people.

Just like God reached out to these pagan Persians, God reaches out to us. Theologically, we call it prevenient grace. It is a belief that God seeks people before they seek God.

The gift that the Magi received was a gift of inclusion in God's kingdom. It was a gift of grace -- an invitation to salvation. The pagan Magi had not been a part of God's covenant, but the light of the star they followed took them to the light of new life that Jesus brought to the world -- a new covenant.

The focus of the story is not the Magi, their gifts, or the star. Jesus is the real star because of the new life his birth brought to the world. This is the same gift given to us. Even though we sometimes get distracted with the gifts of gold and even stars, the real gift -- the most important gift -- is our relationship with Christ. That is what really fills the emptiness in our lives.