Christmas In The Rearview Mirror?

CHRISTMAS IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR?

Matthew 2:1-12

INTRODUCTION

A. ILLUSTRATION

1. It was a few days after Christmas. A family was busy cleaning up and putting away the Christmas decorations. As they took down the Christmas tree, the son asked “what are you doing?” The parents said, “We’re putting all our Christmas stuff away.”

2. The boy asked, “Why are you doing that?” The mom answered, “So everything will be back to normal again and the house will be clean. Christmas only lasts a few weeks.” The boy responded, “I don't want things to get back to normal again.”

3. On this first service after Christmas, many of us have that thought too. Christmas is over — let’s pack everything up and bring out our Valentine’s decorations. After all, the stores have already done that. Christmas items are 50-75% off – Valentine’s Day items are out in force.

4. Sometimes, I think we rush away from Christmas too quickly, we’re too good at cleaning up after Christmas and quite possibly we run the risk of removing it from our lives.

5. What if, after Christmas, we could keep the wonder and joy of Jesus’ coming alive for the rest of the year? What if we could really hang onto Christmas & take it with us throughout 2023?

6. Maybe we CAN do that. Now I’m not talking about leaving our Christmas decorations up year-round (which a good number of people actually DO!) But, I wonder if there’s not a happy medium?

7. As Christians, there should be something different about us: we HAVE SEEN the star of wonder, we’ve HEARD the angels sing & the cry of the Baby in the manger, and our HEARTS have been strangely warmed – because God came to us AND has never left us.

8. So tonight, I want us to look at the story of the visit of the Magi, the Wise Men from the east, who came searching for Jesus.

B. TEXT

During the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ...He called [the] chief priests and...asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea...” Then Herod called the Magi...He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child....” They went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Matt. 2:1-12

I. THE MAGI DIDN’T QUICKLY FORGET CHRISTMAS

A. THEY’D BEEN DETERMINED TO SEEK OUT CHRIST

1. The Wise Men had come to give their devotion to the new king and they wouldn’t be turned aside.

2. Distance and time couldn’t stop them, dangers of bandits and wild animals couldn’t stop them, the star disappearing couldn’t stop them, Herod’s jealousy couldn’t stop them, and even the unbelief of the Jewish Priests/leaders couldn’t stop them.

3. What amazing people of faith! There were many reasons they could have turned back, but they were relentless in their search for Christ.

4. In our world of suspicion, skepticism & opposition, it’s easy to let the light of Christ to be extinguished! We must hang onto the spirit of Christ as we move further away from the day of Christmas.

5. So, as we put away the Christmas decorations, let’s hold onto the memories & feelings of Christmas. Like the Wise Men, we need to keep Christ’s coming fresh in our hearts!

B. HUMOR: CHRISTMAS FIREMEN

1. A Northerner saw a ‘Nativity Scene’ in a southern town in which the 3 Wise Men were wearing Firemen’s helmets. Totally unable to come up with an explanation, he went to a "Buckee’s" store and asked the lady behind the counter about the helmets.

2. She exploded with consternation, "You Yankees never do read the Bible!" He assured her that he did, but couldn't recall anything about firemen in the Bible.

3. She jerked her Bible out, flipped to Matthew and jabbed her finger, saying, "See, it says right here, 'The wise man came from afar.'"

II. WHY JESUS REMAINED IN THEIR MINDS/HEARTS

After the Wise Men left baby Jesus that night, you can be sure they didn’t put their Christmas experience away (the next day) and go on about their lives. First, they still had a lengthy return home.