-->At a reception honoring musician Sir Robert Mayer on his one hundredth birthday, elderly British socialite Lady Diana Cooper fell into conversation with a friendly woman who seemed to know her well. Lady Diana’s failing eyesight prevented her from recognizing her fellow guest until she peered more closely at the magnificent diamonds and realized she was talking to Queen Elizabeth! Overcome with embarrassment, Lady Dian curtsied and stammered, “Ma’am, O ma’am, I’m sorry, ma’am. I didn’t recognize you without your crown!”
--Well, the Bible tells us of some wise men who were used to being around royalty, but recognized the true King...even without a crown.
---No, there weren’t three of them...that comes from a wrong legend that has been added to over the years.
---No, they weren’t kings...advisors to kings, yes...regal, rich, upper class, yes, but not kings.
---No, they weren’t from the Orient....again, it might fit well into song lyrics, but it doesn’t fit the facts of the case.
---And no, they didn’t show up at the manger...they came to the house where Mary and Joseph had started staying some time after Jesus’ birth...despite the many Christmas programs we’ve seen with them making a grand tableau coupled with the shepherds and other nativity characters.
<>Courageous travelers, absolutely...in fact their true wisdom is shown in their actions and their gifts.
<>And they are also great teachers...we can learn a lot from them even today.
-I invite you to open a Bible and turn once again to Matthew, chapter two.
--ILL>A few days before Christmas two ladies stood looking into a department store window at the large display of a manger scene with clay figures of baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, wise men and animals. Disgusted, one lady said to the other, “Look at that! The church is trying to horn in on Christmas!”
<>Well, the place to look for the real meaning and lessons of Christmas is not in department stores, on on-line shopping networks.
--The place to look is in the Bible.
--And there are many lessons we can learn from the story of the wise men...the magi...and their trip to and from Bethlehem.
<>THEY ARE ROLE MODELS IN THEIR ACTIONS...
1) THEY NOTICED WHEN GOD SPOKE.
----Matthew 2:2 -- “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east...”
->God got their attention where their interests were...He sent them a “private message” in the skies, among the stars.
---They were “magi,” known to have been astrologers as well as philosophers and advisers to kings.
---They were constantly charting the stars, watching the skies, so God got their attention in the middle of where their attention was.
->They recognized the message as being something important, important enough to personally “check out” its meaning.
->Even with the distractions around them, the distance they were from Jerusalem, etc., they noticed and listened to God speaking to them.
--<>APP>This Christmas season we need to not let the “noise” of the trimmings keep us from giving God our full attention.
2) THEY DID THEIR HOMEWORK.
----Matthew 2:2 -- “Where is He who was born King of the Jews?”...
->They examined the Hebrew Scriptures and believed the “sign” in the skies was speaking of the long-promised King who would be born to the Jews.
---Notice, they weren’t Jews, but they invested their time and effort into reading and examining the Scriptures.
->They planned their trip and brought sufficient provisions, with sufficient security, etc., for such a lengthy trip.
--<>APP>We need to re-read the Christmas story in Scripture, re-examine it, because it’s there that we’ll discover and learn to appreciate the meaning of Christmas.
-----It’s not in store catalogs, on E-bay, not even in family gatherings or traditions.
3) THEY CONTINUED TO LET GOD GUIDE THEM.
----Matthew 2:9-10 -- “After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”
->They followed the star...knew they were heading to the land of Canaan, but they let God guide them day by day and night by night.
---It’s significant that God led them by night...it was much safer traveling at night with all the treasure they were carrying.
---And it means they probably slept in the daytime.
--<>APP>You see, “Pursuing Christmas” is just that...a pursuit...a continual, day-by-day pursuit in obedience and surrender.
4) THEY CAME TO JESUS.
----Matthew 2:11 -- “and they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother.”
->They left the palaces of whatever kings they were serving at the time...and made their way to meet the newborn king.
->They knew the proper way to show respect for a king was to come in person and present themselves to him.
--<>APP>Likewise, the gift that God deserves from us, and wants from us...is US.
---------He wants us to present OURSELVES to Him.
5) THEY BOWED BEFORE HIM.
----Matthew 2:11 -- “...and they fell down...”
->The showed the kind of respect due a king...they acknowledged His authority and importance.
->They humbled themselves before Him.
--<>APP>He might look like a baby in a manger, but He is ALMIGHTY GOD...and we should bow before Him.
6) THEY WORSHIPED HIM.
----Matthew 2:11 -- “---and worshiped Him...”
->Humbling themselves, bowing down before kings was the usual way of showing respect.
->However, this time they went beyond the normal...they didn’t just kneel down, they worshiped Him.
->They recognized He wasn’t merely a human being...they were worshiping Jesus as He really is...GOD in the flesh.
--<>APP>This Christmas we need to heed the invitation of the Christmas carol: “O come, let us adore Him.”
7) THEY GAVE OF THEIR TREASURES.
----Matthew 2:11 -- “...opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
->They gave sacrificially.
---These weren’t left-over gifts...they weren’t re-gifting them.
---These were gifts of great value.
->And they recognized that giving is a part of genuine worship.
---ILL>A family chose to celebrate Christmas every year with a birthday party for Jesus. An extra chair of honor at the table became the family’s reminder of Jesus’ presence. A cake with candles, along with the singing of “Happy Birthday” expressed the family’s joy in Jesus’ presence. One year an after-Christmas visitor asked five-year old Ruth: “Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?” After a moment’s hesitation, Ruth answered: “No, but then it’s not my birthday!”
--<>APP>It’s HIS birthday we’re celebrating...we ought to give Him at least as costly a gift as we give anyone else.
<>THERE WAS REAL MEANING IN THEIR GIFTS
---ILL>One of my favorite cartoons shows a little boy listening to his grandpa read the Bible, the Christmas story. The boy looks up at his granddad and says, “Gold, frankincense, and myrrh? I bet what he really wanted was a puppy.”
-a) GOLD.
----Matthew 2:11 -- “...and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold...”
--<>The meaning in the gift: JESUS IS OUR KING.
->The gold in any land was in the keeping of the king....held in the king’s “treasury.”
---The taxes, revenues collected from people in the kingdom were put into the treasure house of the king.
->So the wise men weren’t bringing gifts just to a “good man,” but to royalty...the King of Kings and ruler over all the rulers on earth.
---ILL>During his reign, King Edward VIII of England was especially concerned about social conditions. He once decided to visit some of the homes in a slum section of the waterfront where he was to christen a ship. He stopped first at a house in which lived one of the most disreputable men in the area. He had become a social outcast. Hearing a knock at his door, he shouted in a gruff voice, “Who is it?!” The answer came back, “I am your king. May I come in?” Thinking it was a cruel joke, the man refused to open the door. The king, a gentleman who respected the rights of a man in his own household, would not force his way in, so he turned and left. And this poor man missed seeing his king.
--<>APP>Don’t be confused...He might look like a baby, but that’s just the Creator/King who became flesh to dwell among us.
-b) INCENSE.
----Matthew 2:11 -- “...and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense...”
--<>The meaning in the gift: JESUS IS OUR PRIEST.
->Incense was used as an element of worship...it was lit and spread around the altar by the priests leading worship.
---In Scripture incense represents the prayers of the people...and we’re to pray in Jesus’ name.
->Hebrews tells us He is the only Mediator between us and the Father.
---He’s our High Priest who understands our afflictions, has experienced our temptations.
--<>APP>Don’t let the busy-ness of Christmas keep you from praying, from “connecting” with the Father through praying in Jesus’ name.
-c) MYRRH.
----Matthew 2:11 -- “...and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
--<>The meaning in the gift: JESUS IS OUR SACRIFICE.
->Myrrh was the embalming fluid of its day.
---It’s no wonder the Bible tells us Mary pondered all these things in her heart.
-----What a strange “baby shower” gift!
->The Magi’s gifts were probably given as much as a month to 6 months after Jesus’ birth.
---So the gift of myrrh was a further confirmation of what Mary had heard Anna and Simeon say on the 8th day after Jesus’ birth, when they presented Jesus in the temple to be circumcised...that this Child was born to die.
--<>APP>At Christmas we give attention to the cradle in the manger, but the cradle is meaningless without a cross that followed. So, each time we see the cradle, we should remember that Jesus’ birth would soon be given its full meaning by His death and resurrection.
->Did the Wise Men know all the details and how all these prophecies would unfold? Hardly.
---They were merely allowing the Lord to lead them in what they did, where they came, and what they gave.
ONE MORE ACTION…
8) THEY WENT AWAY DIFFERENTLY THAN HOW THEY ARRIVED.
----Matthew 2:12 -- “And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their own country by another way.”
->The “practical” explanation is that they went back in a way they would not be killed by Herod.
->But the “spiritual” explanation and symbolic proclamation is found in the Jewish tradition of going home through a different gate in Jerusalem than whichever one a person came through when arriving to worship at the Temple.
---It was to signify that they had already and truly worshiped.
->The fact that Matthew records the fact that the Magi went home a different way was not lost on the Jewish readers of the Gospel he was writing to.
---ILL>Years ago at the post office, a man who had been sorrowful and withdrawn from his family since the sudden death of his young son was given a position as the “dead letter man,” the person who was responsible for trying to find the ultimate destination for letters and cards that arrived with undeliverable addresses. At Christmas time there fell into his hands a letter, addressed to Santa Claus. To his surprise, he noticed the letter had actually come from his own daughter. The letter read, “Dear Santa, we are very sad at our house this year, and I don’t want you to bring me anything. My little brother went to heaven last spring. All I want you to do when you come to our house is to take my brother’s toys to him. I’ll leave them in the corner by the kitchen stove; his hobby horse and train and everything. I know he’ll be lost up in heaven without them, most of all his horse; he always liked riding it so much. So you must take them to him, please, and you needn’t mind leaving me anything, but if you could give Daddy something that would make him like he used to be, make him smoke his pipe again and tell me stories. I do wish you would. I heard him say to Mummy once that only Eternity could cure him. Could you bring him some of that, and I will be your good little girl.” -- Marian Bennett
--<>APP>The true way to celebrate Christmas, to worship Christ, is to let Him bring change in your life, a fresh awareness of His love for you, and to allow Him to work His perfect will within you and through you.
BRINGING IT HOME...
-<>This Christmas we need to be wise men and wise women, wise followers and true worshippers of Jesus.
--->Listening for God to speak to us...amid all the hubbub and noise of the holiday, be listening for what God wants to say to us.
--->Bringing our worship to Jesus and only to Jesus.
-----After all, that’s what Christmas really means...the mass (worship) of Christ.
-----Not worshiping tradition...not side-tracked by the tinsel and trappings associated with the holiday.
--->Bowing before Him, humbling ourselves and “extending our efforts,” being willing to give Him of our time and efforts.
--->Adjusting our activity to His will.
------He might not ask us to travel for several month and put our lives at risk....but what if He did?
------Would you be willing...as the wise men were?
--->Giving to Him gifts of value.
------It’s HIS birthday we’re celebrating.
------We ought to give Him at least as costly a gift as we give anyone else!
------Giving through the Special Christmas Offering for International Missions is one way of doing that.
------We ought also to give of our time to benefit others, and give our priority to being present when He’s being worshiped.
--->And letting people see the change He as brought into our lives.
-<>We need to go out differently this Christmas than how the rest of the world goes out.
------We need to be truly known as worshipers of Jesus at Christ-mass.
-<>In pursuing Christmas this year, remember: WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM.
