(This sermon was preached following a Christmas cantata, and time constraints forced us to sing only one congregational Christmas song. To compensate for this, I included 3 Christmas carols/hymns in the sermon).
OPEN: Someone sent an e-mail that made a list of Christmas Signs they’d seen in their city:
- Outside a church was a sign that read: “The original Christmas Club.”
- A Toy Store declared: “Ho, ho, ho is spoken here.”
- In a Bridal Boutique: “Marry Christmas.”
- A reducing salon proclaimed: “24 Shaping Days until Christmas.”
- A jewelry store advertised: “Diamond tiaras: $70,000. Three for $200,000.
- And on an Office Supply Store sign: “For the man who has everything: A calendar to remind him when payments are due.”
(From: Mikey’s Funnies mikeys-funnies-owner@YouthSpecialties.com)
One of the biggest challenges of Christmas is finding just the right gift for a person you love. When I buy a gift, I try NOT to buy “gift cards” unless that’s what they want.
I’d rather buy:
- something personal
- something I believe they’d want
- something that I’d want if I were them. That way, if they don’t want it, they can give it back to me.
In Matthew 2, we read the story of a group of Wisemen who’ve traveled a great distance to find a new born king and give Him special gifts that they’d picked out just for Him.
There’s an old Hymn called “We 3 Kings Of Orient Are”
(SING IT WITH ME)
“We 3 kings of Orient are – bearing gifts, we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star
O, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading still proceeding, guide us with thy perfect light”
The song goes on to tell of the 3 gifts that the Wisemen offered…
The 2nd verse says: “Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain, gold I bring to crown Him again”
Then the 3rd verse: “Frankincense to offer have I - Incense owns a Deity nigh. Prayer and praising all men raising worship Him God most High.”
And the 4th “Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom. Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding dying, sealed in the stone cold tomb.”
The song points out that each of the gifts the Wisemen brought had a special message:
• The gold spoke of Jesus being the King of Kings, for gold was the kind of gift you gave to kings.
• The Frankincense was offered to Him as unto God. For this was a perfume that the Israelites offered in their offerings at the Temple TO God. And scripture tells us that Jesus was to be called “Immanuel” which means “God with us.”
• And the Myrrh was a perfume that was used as part of the embalming process, and it predicted the reason Jesus came – to die on the cross for our sins.
There’s a saying that “it’s the thought that counts”.
And the Wisemen gave a lot of thought – not only to their gifts - but to the journey they were undertaking in their search for this newborn King. Bear in mind, they had no idea where this king was born, nor how long it would take to find him.
In fact, being Wise men – when they arrived at Jerusalem – they asked for directions. Matthew 2:2 tells us the Wisemen asked Herod: “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”
So, they gave a great deal of thought to this new King as they searched the skies looking for the star. And they gave a great deal of thought to making their preparations for the long journey to find Him. And they especially gave a great deal of thought to the gifts they brought to this child, because they knew - from the prophecies - that He would be a great King.
Now, I don’t know if the Wisemen fully understood the significance of the gifts they brought, but I do know that God was so impressed with their gifts that He recorded what was brought in the pages of His Scriptures. And I believe this was not only done because of the symbolic nature of the gifts, but also that WE might realize their value to God, and how deeply moved He was that they brought these gifts to His Son.
Now, there might be those who believe that it was the earthly value of these gifts that impressed God. But of course, that’s absurd. God owns the Cattle on a 1000 hills – He didn’t need their money and more than He needs yours or mine.
The repeated theme throughout Scripture is that God many times prefers the poor to the rich. God constantly warns His people
* to be kind to those in need.
* to protect the widows and orphans.
* to defend the cause of those who can’t defend themselves.
In fact, IN the story of Christ’s birth, it’s not the Wise men who are serenaded by a host of angels who proclaim “For unto you this day is born, in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord”.
The wise men weren’t treated to this angelic choir. No. It was a group of shepherds who were so poor they probably didn’t even own the sheep they watched.
God doesn’t need our money.
And He’s not impressed by the size of our bank accounts
He’s more impressed by the size of our hearts.
God is impressed with anyone – no matter what their social status - who gives the best that they have to Jesus.
ILLUS: I once read a poem that goes this way:
"What can I give Him - poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd I would bring Him a lamb;
If I were a wise man, I would do my part,--
Yet what I can give Him - I’ll give Him my heart."
(Christina Rossetti; 1830-1894)
Now, if God had been impressed with the value of the GIFTS the Wisemen brought He would probably have spent a great deal of time telling us:
- how many gold pieces were in the box.
- and how much money the frankincense and myrrh cost.
BUT God doesn’t do that.
God doesn’t tell us the earthly value of the gifts. But He does tell us WHY these gifts were so valuable to Him.
Look at Matthew 2:11 “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
Before any of the gifts were even given, these men fell down on their knees before Jesus and THEY WORSHIPPED Him.
And that’s the message throughout Scripture.
God doesn’t care how large your gift is.
All He cares is how large your love is for Him.
That’s why God emphasized that the Wisemen worshipped BEFORE they gave their gifts.
There’s a famous hymn that reminds us of that truth.
Sing it with me!
“O Come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels
O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord
Sing choirs of angels, sing in exultation
O sing all ye bright hosts in heave above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest”
A heart of worship MUST exist before we give any gifts to Jesus. Because if we’re not really worshipping Christ… our gifts are meaningless to Him.
But, there is one more gift I want to talk about this morning. It’s a gift that is of higher value than the gold, frankincense and myrrh. It’s a gift that has even higher value than the worship Wisemen gave Jesus.
Can you guess what it was?
The gift is described this way in Scripture:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
That’s what John 3:16 tells us.
One person described John 3:16 this way:
“GOD – the greatest lover
SO LOVED – the greatest degree
THE WORLD – the greatest number
THAT HE GAVE – the greatest act
HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON – the greatest gift
THAT WHOSOEVER – the greatest invitation
BELIEVETH – the greatest simplicity
IN HIM – the greatest person
SHOULD NOT PERISH – the greatest deliverance
BUT HAVE – the greatest certainty
EVERLASTING LIFE – the greatest possession.”
(I’m not sure who the author was)
The Wisemen left the security of their homes to find this greatest gift.
They didn’t know WHERE they were going
They didn’t know how FAR they had to travel.
They didn’t know how LONG they’d be gone.
All they knew was that when they arrived at their destination they would find the greatest thing that God could ever give to them.
But even as they followed the star to its destination
Even when they arrived and saw Jesus and fell down and worshipped Him
EVEN THEN – they didn’t know what God had done for them.
They didn’t understand what Jesus had been sent to do.
They didn’t realize that this new born King would have to endure.
And they didn’t know what this young child would ultimately accomplish.
And there’s a hymn that describes this truth. Sing it with me:
“One day when heaven was filled with His praises; One day when sin was as black as could be. Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin; Dwelt among men – my example is He!
Living – He loved me,
Dying – He saved me,
Buried He carried my sins far away
Rising – He justified freely, forever
One day He’s coming – O glorious day!”
CLOSE: In Massachusetts, a 2nd grader was sent home because of a picture he drew in class. The teacher had asked the class to draw a picture that described what they thought of when they thought of Christmas so this little boy drew a picture of Jesus on the cross.
For that indiscretion, the boy was sent home and ordered to undergo a psychiatric examination before they’d allow him back in class.
This gives a whole new meaning to the saying
“Can anything good come out of Massachutsetts?”
Now, understandably - that got some people a little upset! But why should we be surprised?
Many people in this world don’t mind a baby Jesus in a manger… just as long as He stays there. But once Jesus gets out of the manger, things get a little complicated. Once Jesus becomes a man some folks begin to get uncomfortable.
And the reason for their discomfort is - the story of Jesus only begins with His birth.
It ends by telling us that we are sinners.
It ends by telling us that Jesus came to remove our sins.
It ends by telling us that the way Jesus forgave our sins was by taking our place. By dying, being buried, and then rising up from the grave.
And it ends by declaring to all mankind:
“You’ve got to make a decision!
You’ve got to decide what you’re going to do with Jesus.
You’ve got decide whether you’re going to try to keep Jesus in the manger, or if you’re going to let Him out so that He can become what He was born to be - “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”.
You’ve got to decide whether or not you are ready to make Him the King of your life, and the Lord of all you have.
The way you do that is by believing that Jesus is the Son of the Living God.
Believing that you are a sinner and you need Jesus to remove that sin.
Believing that you want Him now to become the Lord and master of your life?
And being willing to “seal the deal” by being buried in the waters of Christian baptism and rising up a new creature.
Jesus was the greatest gift God could ever give to us.
And now – this Christmas – you have to decide if you’re willing to give the gift of your life to God in return.
