In only four days it will be Christmas Day. I hope Christmas shopping hasn’t got you down…fighting the traffic and the crowds at the mall, spending all that money, putting up with unfriendly shoppers & sales clerks…
It was a few days before Christmas on the Oregon coast. Two men whose families lived next door to each other opted to go sailing while their wives went Christmas shopping. An unexpected storm surprised the weekend sailors. Before long, the sea became angry, and the two had a difficult time keeping the sailboat under control. While heading toward the harbor, the craft hit a sandbar and grounded. Both men jumped overboard into the icy water and began to push and shove in an attempt to get the sailboat into deeper water. Knee-deep in mud and repeatedly bounced against the hull by unfriendly waves, the one said to the other, “Sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn’t it?”
If your Christmas experiences have been stressful and unsatisfying up until now let’s see if we can remedy that by looking into the Good News of God’s Word!
Last week we investigated part of Luke’s Christmas story and discovered how we benefit from sharing Christmas greetings of good news, grace and giving affirmation year round. I hope you’ve been practicing these precepts and if you have I’m sure it’s been a boost to your enjoyment of the Christmas season.
Today we’re going to look at part of Matthew’s Christmas story in chapter two of his Good News Account and learn from God’s example once again – but this week we learn how to share Christmas gifts.
1NOW WHEN Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men [astrologers] from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, 2Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east at it’s rising and have come to worship Him.
3When Herod the king heard this, he was disturbed and troubled, and the whole of Jerusalem with him.
4So he called together all the chief priests and learned men (scribes) of the people and anxiously asked them where the Christ was to be born.
5They replied to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are not in any way least or insignificant among the chief cities of Judah; for from you shall come a Ruler (Leader) Who will govern and shepherd My people Israel.
7Then Herod sent for the wise men [astrologers] secretly, and accurately to the last point ascertained from them the time of the appearing of the star [that is, how long the star had made itself visible since its rising in the east].
8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search for the Child carefully and diligently, and when you have found Him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship Him.
9When they had listened to the king, they went their way, and behold, the star which had been seen in the east in its rising went before them until it came and stood over the place where the young Child was.
10When they saw the star, they were thrilled with ecstatic joy.
11And on going into the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then opening their treasure bags, they presented to Him gifts--gold and frankincense and myrrh.
12And receiving an answer to their asking, they were divinely instructed and warned in a dream not to go back to Herod; so they departed to their own country by a different way. (Amplified Bible)
Originally I was planning on using this Scriptural platform to share with you the significance of the gifts of the wise men. But the Holy Spirit changed my mind and instead we’re going to consider gifts from God.
God was the giver of the first Christmas gift when He gave His Son to us. As we unwrap the gift that was given in Jesus we notice that it is multi-faceted. The gift of God’s Son is the greatest gift ever given on so many different levels! That’s what John said about the gift of Jesus in his Good News Account.
14 The Word became a human and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father—and he was full of grace and truth. 16 Because he was full of grace and truth, from him we all received one gift after another. John 1:14,16 (NCV)
Remember when you were a child and Christmas was exciting because you looked under the tree and there were not just one, but several presents with your name on them? The Bible says that God has “one gift after another” with your name on it!
I noticed at least three in the Scripture we just read.
1. Jesus is the gift of worship.
Through Jesus God has given us this wonderful gift of having friendship with Him! We are able to truly come into God’s presence and worship Him because of Jesus’ becoming “God in the flesh” that first Christmas!
The wise men were seeking to worship and God gave them the opportunity in Christ. They asked,
"Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east at it’s rising and have come to worship Him." Matthew 2:2 (Amp)
The wise men seeking Jesus made no bones about their purpose in making their arduous journey. They were overjoyed to get to present Jesus with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Giving stuff to God is a vital part of worship. We give Him our bodies, our abilities, our time, and our resources. The gifts that the wise men brought were particularly insightful.
Gold represented a gift fit for a king. Frankincense represented Christ’s priesthood, since it was a specific incense used by the Jewish priests in the temple. Myrrh foretold Christ’s place as our Savior since it was often used as a burial ointment.
They had come to worship the newborn king who would also be our High Priest and Savior!
You might wonder why I ascribe worship as a gift FROM God. Isn’t worship a gift we give TO God? Well it’s both.
We know that it’s a gift we give to God but how is worship a gift from God? How is it part of God’s gift through Jesus?
If it weren’t for Jesus we couldn’t even come into God’s presence to worship! There is no true worship of God apart from Jesus.
God was letting us know by the gift of His Son that we now could enjoy a friendship relationship with Him that would not be possible without Jesus. He is the only One qualified to be our King, High Priest and Savior.
And because He is there is some Good News attached!
14Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has [already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith in Him]. 15For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning. 16Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]. Hebrews 4:14-16 (Amp)
What good news! Because God gave His Son Jesus we can now come to God. Not only can we come to God – we can come FEARLESSLY AND CONFIDENTLY AND BOLDLY!
Gordon McDonald tells the story of a Nigerian woman who is a physician at a great teaching hospital in the United States. She came out of the crowd one day in response to a lecture he had given and introduced herself using an American name.
“What’s your African name?” he asked. She immediately told him. It was several syllables long and had a musical sound to it. “What did this name mean,” he wondered. She answered, “It means, ‘Child who takes the anger away.’”
When he inquired why she was given such a name her response was this: “My parents had been forbidden by their parents to marry. But they loved each other so much that they defied the family opinions and married anyway. For several years they were ostracized from both their families. Then my mother became pregnant with me. And when the grandparents held me in their arms for the first time, the walls of hostility came down. I became the one who swept the anger away. And that’s the name my mother and father gave me.”
McDonald concluded. It occurred to me that her name would be a suitable one for Jesus.”
God’s a holy God. He is angry about sin because our sins hurt us and they hurt others. But through Jesus God turns away from His anger at our sin and accepts us on the basis of Christ’s righteousness that is applied to us when we make a faith commitment to Christ! SO NOW – BECAUSE OF JESUS WE CAN HAVE ACCESS TO GOD!
Worship is a natural response to God’s love. We don’t HAVE to worship. We GET to worship! It’s a gift that’s been given to us by God Himself. We get to worship because God in His gracious nature decided to let us participate in a friendship relationship with Him. But without His son Jesus that wouldn’t be possible.
There is true worship and false worship. The wise men were true worshippers and Herod was a hypocrite. The religious leaders in Jerusalem were worshippers but they were false worshippers.
Jesus said that if we worship God correctly we must do so “in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)
Unwrap this gift of worship every day! Don’t just wait until Sunday. Worship is a great gift from God through Jesus but we must receive it in order for it to enrich our lives.
Secondly…
2. Jesus is the gift of witness.
When I use the word witness we think of our place as Christ followers to be witnesses to the world of the Good News about Jesus.
But has it occurred to you that God is the first witness of the Good News?
And the story of God’s witness to the wise men is particularly enlightening!
God had already witnessed to Mary and Joseph; He would witness to the shepherds (which we’ll consider next Sunday); He witnessed to Simeon at the temple and Anna when Joseph and Mary took Christ there for his consecration as a firstborn son. (Luke 2) But the witness to the wise men was unique because they were non-Jews and astrologers to boot!
Was God showing His approval of astrology by leading these eastern seekers to Christ by using a star? I don’t think so. I think what God was doing, in keeping with the rest of His Word, was showing us that the Good News about Jesus is not limited to people who have been brought up in Christian and church backgrounds. God is willing to find people where they’re at. These men didn’t have to become proselytes to the Jewish religion in order to have a personal relationship with God now that Jesus had come!
People don’t have to become a Baptist, a Lutheran, Methodist, etc. in order to know God today. They simply have to come to Christ by faith as these wise men did. Astrology is basically a pseudo-science and certainly not a successful way to reach God. These men were not reaching God through astrology. They were reaching God through worshipping Jesus. God just wanted it to be known that worshipping Christ is not a closed system.
Joseph and Mary didn’t refuse the opportunity to worship Jesus to the wise men. They knew that God had directed them there by the star. They were sincere seekers of the truth and GOD ALWAYS HELPS PEOPLE FIND HIM WHO ARE SINCERELY INTERESTED IN DOING SO!
"But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]." Hebrews 11:6 (Amp)
Why did they see and follow the star when others did not? Who sees God’s glory? People who are searching for God! These wise men were searching for God. They were far more sincere in their search than the religious leaders in Jerusalem – the chief priests and scribes who could read Micah 5:2:
"But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, you are little to be among the clans of Judah; [yet] out of you shall One come forth for Me Who is to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth have been from of old, from ancient days (eternity)." Micah 5:2 (Amp)
Micah prophesied that place of Christ’s birth would be the very tiny village of Christ’s birth 700 years before it occurred! The chief priests and scriptural experts in Jerusalem were well aware of this yet they did not join the wise men in their pilgrimage to Bethlehem! Neither did Herod.
They weren’t interested in true worship. They weren’t seeking God in spirit and in truth as the wise men were. So the wise men found Jesus in their sincere pursuit and King Herod and the religious leaders did not.
But they found God because He witnessed to them through Jesus. He went to the greatest of trouble to witness to us all about His love for us by sending His Son!
In Sharon Jaynes’ book, “Celebrating a Christ-Centered Christmas,” she relates the story of an African boy who listened carefully as his teacher explained why Christians give presents to each other on Christmas. “The gift is an expression of our joy over the birth of Jesus and our friendship for each other,’ she said.
When Christmas day came, the boy brought the teacher a seashell of lustrous beauty. “Where did you ever find such a beautiful shell?” the teacher asked. The youth told her that there was only one spot where such extraordinary shells could be found. When he named the place, a certain bay several miles away, the teacher was left speechless. “Why…why it’s gorgeous…wonderful, but you shouldn’t have gone all that way to get the gift for me.”
His eyes brightening, the boy answered, “Long walk part of gift.”
God came from heaven to a manger, from a manger to a cross, from the cross to a grave and from the grave back to heaven. And we ask, “Why all this trouble, God?” And God says to us, “Long walk part of gift.”
And let’s look quickly at one more gift God gave that first Christmas. A gift that continues today. Jesus is not only the gift of worship and the gift of witness.
3. Jesus is the gift of wholeness.
The term “wholeness” refers to the state of being complete, entire, and unbroken.
Jesus used this concept when He ministered on earth. He said in Matthew 9:12, "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." And the Bible says that "as many as touched Him (Jesus) were made whole." (Mark 6:56)
Jesus would heal people and then say "thy faith hath made thee whole." (Luke 8:48)
He asked the lame man, "Wilt thou be made whole?" (John 5:6) (See also verses 9,11,14,15)
The early church took up this mantle. Peter and John (Acts 4:10); and Peter again (Acts 9:34), restored people to wholeness.
Where is the idea of “wholeness” in the story of the wise men visiting Jesus?
Verse 10 says, "When they saw the star, they were thrilled with ecstatic joy."
The familiar King James Version says "they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."
To “rejoice” means "to be cheerful, happy or well off."
“Exceeding” means “to a high degree.”
“Great” is the Greek word “megas” from which we derive the English prefix, “Mega.” It means “great or large.”
“Joy” means “delight, gladness.”
Their lives had been given true purpose. When they saw the star they realized they weren’t late. Jesus the King was still there. They would get to worship Him because of God’s witness to them through the star.
These wise men went home whole and happy men because they had met and worshipped God’s Son Jesus!
Herod wasn’t whole or happy. Neither were the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Our wholeness, our happiness, depends on whether or not we have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus.
In 1994 two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach morals and ethics (based on Biblical principles) in the public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire and police departments, and a large orphanage. It was nearing the Christmas season, so for the first time in their lives these Russian orphan children heard the Christmas story. They were told about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem and finding no room in the inn, so they stayed in the animals’ quarters, where Jesus was born and placed in the manger, an animal feeding trough.
They were told how, later, the baby Jesus was visited by wise men from the east as they worshipped Jesus with fine gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Throughout the story, the children, according to one of the Americans, “sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word.” As a follow-up activity to the story, each child was given three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was also given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins, which the children tore into strips the paper and carefully laid them in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel from a thrown away nightgown were used for the baby’s blanket. From pieces of tan felt, a doll-like baby was made.
As the American teachers made their way around the room to observe the children one of them noted, “All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat. This little boy looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy’s manger, I was startled to see, not one but two babies in the manger.
Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. The translator then related how Misha very accurately recalled the story that had been told until he came to the part where Mary put Jesus in the manger. Then the little orphaned boy, Misha, started to ad-lib. He made up his own ending to the story and here’s what he said:
“And when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him, ‘I have no momma and I have no papa, so I don’t have any place to stay.’ Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn’t, because I didn’t have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, ‘If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?’ And Jesus told me, ‘If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me.’ So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him – for always.’
As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed.
The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon or abuse him, someone who would stay with him – FOR ALWAYS!
That’s God’s gift to all of us. If we’ll accept it.
