But the appearance of a new and wild light in the nighttime sky made the Wise Men start to wonder long before they started to move. The persistent presence of that fiery star kindled their curiosity, and their hope. The Wise Men's journey was no fool's errand. Years of study and reasoning had led them to the conclusion that a different kind of ruler was about to come into the world. Their minds were fully engaged, but their hearts burned with hope - light from light, a sign shooting from heaven to earth and back again. Hope lifted the Wise Men to their feet and sent them chasing a star, searching for something more.

It is always profitable to wonder and to think. Study and reason are useful tools. But whether we are ancient Wise Men, or modern people who want to know a deeper truth, there comes a point where we just can't see anything more unless we move from our current position. Whether it's a leap of faith or a walk closer to the manger, perhaps this Christmas Eve is meant to be an invitation to that deeper journey for you.

Why not press on? You're already here with Joseph and Mary and all the other occupants of the stable. Epiphany is just around the corner and each season sheds more light. Christmas Eve is a time when many people draw nearer to the manger and it's not a bad place from which to begin the rest of the journey. Come gaze at the babe in the manger but walk with us in the growing light and get to know the man that the baby becomes.

The shepherds in the fields around Bethlehem were no strangers to mangers. Daily they drove their flocks to and from sheepfolds, mangers and feedboxes. The path was well worn. The routine was constant. No matter how the shepherds felt, when it was time to take the flock to graze, they traveled to green pastures. When the flocks were thirsty, the shepherds led them to still water. Going to the manger was nothing new for shepherds. Shepherds could do their work half-asleep and often did. In the beginning, and at the end of the journey, a manger waited - over and over again.

Those of us who come to the altar Sunday after Sunday, either as shepherds or as part of the flock, are prone to sleepwalk and miss the full significance of where we are. The routine takes over and we stand, sit and kneel without thinking why- we hear earth shattering stories and say incredibly powerful words but it all becomes like so much straw pressed under the weight of our every day lives and our work wearied minds and bodies.

But this night- this night the brilliant wild star is above us once again. The light is bright enough to open half-closed eyes. Let us raise our heads and lift up our voices. Even a sleepy shepherd can see that this manger holds far more than straw. The sky is full of angels and singing. The manger is full of surprising sustenance, a baby who will become bread broken for the life of the world; a savior who will in time gather sin and death and subdue them.

We come to the manger with our minds and hearts full - of hope, doubt, fear, expectation, disillusionment, pain, love, confusion, joy and all the other feelings to which we human beings are subject. We can carry these feelings to the babe in the straw and he will accept them all as though they were gifts given in prelude to the coming gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Tonight we see a baby washed in starlight lying still in swaddling cloth. But the manger is not meant to be the centerpiece of a journey in a never-ending circle. The babe in the manger is a sign. But make no mistake, that sign does not say "stop", it says "yield".

We have to let go- of our fears, our preconceptions and our doubts. If we let go, for even a minute, we will find far more than straw in the manger. And the straw in our lives will be spun into gold - in our weakness we will find His strength. The baby will come to be seen as a King and the new road before us will take us to places we could never have seen on our own.

So let us drew near and worship the child. Let us kneel just long enough to offer our gifts and to be re-oriented. Let us offer not just our worries, or even our life and labor, but let us offer our selves - our souls and bodies. Then let's get on our feet and travel, in Christ's name by a different road than the one we came in on. The babe is in the manger but we are being sent on ahead.