Celebrating Christmas when we don’t get what we want
Transition slide
Christmas shopping is in full swing. People are making lists, checking them twice.
In our house we do a grab bag among ourselves. We draw a name out of a hat and buy that person something. We have a running text message that we update with something we might like. We don’t always get what we want, but it is the thought that counts anyway.
Have you ever wanted something, maybe it was for Christmas, or maybe for something else, but you thought that this thing was going to be great, but then it turned out to not be all that great?
Maybe you felt a little like Ralphie in this clip from A Christmas Story
Video of Christmas story – Be Sure to Drink your Ovaltine!
Slide after Video
Sometimes what you want is really not what you want, you just didn’t know it.
But in the moment, it can be really disappointing.
How do you celebrate Christmas when you are facing that kind of disappointment?
How do you celebrate Christmas when you don’t get what you want?
This morning we are going to continue to look at the Christmas story as told through Matthew, and see that sometimes the things we want are not really what we want at all.
Turn with me to Matthew 2:1-12
Slide
We are going to read the story of the wise men and consider the contrast between what King Herod wanted and what the Magi wanted and see how this should affect our lives and what we really want.
Matthew 2:1-12
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6 "’But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’"
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 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 and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Pray
Ok, here we have 2 completely different perspectives and desires from people who were in powerful positions. We have King Herod and the Magi. I think it is important that we understand who these people are to get a better grasp of why they do what they do.
First,
Who is King Herod?
Slide
He was a convert to Judaism
Although he did not live a lifestyle that would endear him to the Jewish people.
He was from a political family and early in his life, he was given some leadership over the Galilee area of Israel, and later, after some political maneuvering and supporting the right people who rose to power,
He was
Elected by the Roman Senate to be “King of the Jews”
Slide
That was a title that he cherished and was won through hard fought political battles and defeating enemies and opponents, but even with this title, the Jewish people were not fans of His because he was a brutal ruler, especially toward the end of his reign.
His concern was for himself.
So, imagine this scenario. You are Herod, King of the Jews. You have desired this and you have killed and fought to obtain this role and this rule.
Now, you have some other prominent men from other countries come and ask you about where the one “who was born King of the Jews is because they have come to worship Him.”
This is not good news. In fact,
This news about a newborn King is Threatening to him
Slide
It is a threat to his reign. This is definitely not what he wants for Christmas.
Transition
Now in contrast, let’s consider who the Magi are.
Scripture really does not have much to say about these men?
Were there 3?
Were they really kings, like the song tells us?
Where we they from?
We don’t know, for sure, but we can learn some things from Scripture and the culture regarding who these men were.
Who are the Magi?
Slide
We know
They came from the east (maybe Babylon)
Why do we think that?
Well, Babylon is the east and in the book of Daniel, we see Daniel and many other Jews taken to Babylon in the exile and there we see that magicians and astrologers were called wise men (Daniel 2:2, 13) and were powerful men and influencers in the government of that area.
We also see in the book of Daniel that Daniel became one of the wise men and had very great influence in the government and would have had great influence among the other wise men as well.
We also know that Daniel was given some very specific prophecies about the coming of the Messiah, the holy one of Israel.
So, with Daniel’s influence and teaching, the wise men of Babylon could have had knowledge of some of the specifics of the coming Holy One of Israel, a future King.
We know that the Magi in the Scripture today,
They had knowledge about a coming “King of the Jews”
Slide
That knowledge could have been handed down from the time of Daniel to future generations. If they had this knowledge, they would have used that knowledge to be looking for any sign or wonder to indicate the King had come.
So, apparently, God gave them a sign to let them know about the birth of the Messiah, through a star, or some bright light that was an indication to these Magi.
And when they saw this indication that the king as born, they made plans to search him out to worship Him.
The news about a newborn King is not threatening to them, but glorious
Slide
The News about the Newborn King is Glorious to them
Transition
Ok, so here we have quite a contrast.
King Herod on the one hand wants Power and glory for himself and will use His power and wealth to search out this King and kill Him
The Magi, on the other hand, use their power and wealth to search out this newborn king in order to worship Him.
King Herod only wants more and more power and wealth. It seems he cannot get enough and it.
Have you ever wanted something that you thought was going to make you happy, and then it didn’t or it wasn’t enough and then you thought if you just had more of it, that would make you happy? It seems that is what King Herod was facing. Only he was mistaken.
The Magi, on the other hand, were focused on finding this King that they had heard would be coming, this King who was from all eternity, who had all power, and were not interested in taking his power, but in glorying in his presence as they worshiped Him!
I can tell you that Herod, while what he wanted is what he thought would make him happy, realizes today that all the trappings of power and wealth on the earth are just temporary.
On the other hand, the Magi, are realizing today that they got much more than they may have anticipated. They came to worship the Lord for a time and be in his presence, and are now truly experiencing His presence eternally.
Transition
What do you want for Christmas?
Do you just want to fulfill your earthly desires?
A new car that you don’t have to keep fixing? If only I had a new car, then my life would be better!
A new job? Your bosses job? If only I had what he had, then my life would be good.
A new wife or husband? If only my wife looked like that or if my husband treated me better, or made more money, then my life would be good.
Now, don’t misunderstand me. I don’t think it is wrong
to have stuff or buy stuff or
desire to do better in our workplace or
to be treated well by our spouse.
Those are not wrong things and they are not wrong to want.
The problem is not you having stuff or even desiring things to go better. I am certain that the Magi had a lot of wealth and I am sure they worked toward advancement.
No the problem is not having stuff or desires. The problem is when the stuff has you and the desires of this world consume you!
When that is where we are in life, we will never have contentment and never be able to celebrate in a way that is real and long term.
The reality is, is that if we are NOT experiencing a level of contentment and celebration, especially at Christmas, when there is a greater focus on what the Lord has done for us in sending His Son to give us true and full life, then we are wanting and pursuing the wrong things, just like Herod.
But how does that change?
How can we alter our desires for the wrong things and be more like the Magi? How can we have wealth and desires, but not allow them to have us so we can truly be pursuing the right thing and celebrating not only Christmas, but all of life, and finding real contentment?
I think we can learn several things from the Magi to help us Celebrate Christmas and alter our desires so we want the right things and find real contentment and real celebration in life.
First,
We need to Seek after the King
Slide
The Magi were seeking this newborn King. They just didn’t look up and see a star and say, “Oh, we should head to Israel to see a new King!”
No. They had some kind of information already, probably from Daniel, and they were waiting and looking and searching for this Newborn King.
You may be here today and do not know much about Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, but you being here today, you are responding to some information or knowledge that the Lord has given you and you came to church to find out more. That is good. It starts there, with that seeking out.
Slide
Jesus tells us that “everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:8)
The Lord wants you in a relationship with Him. This is why he came as a little baby, born into this world, to live a perfect life and pay the price for your sins so you could experience that relationship for eternity.
If that is you today, and the Lord has led you here this morning and you have sought to follow His leading, won’t you worship Him by receiving Him as Savior and celebrate Christmas and all of life with a new and eternal perspective and hope?
You receive Him by believing in Him and repenting of your sin. I am going to take a moment right here to give you an opportunity to receive Him.
The Bible tells us that “if we confess with our mouth, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
If you have never received Him, then won’t you receive the best gift you will ever receive.
Pray
Welcome to the family.
Keep Seeking
Now, many times, people think that I have received Christ as my Savior and they stop seeking Him. They find Him and then go back about their business. There are probably many here today who fall into that category.
I want to tell you that the seeking can never end. We need to be seeking out, through His word, through prayer, how it is He wants us to follow after Him.
We don’t just come to Him and know all that we need to know.
It is a lifetime of seeking after Him.
Are you seeking after Him? Have you given up seeking after Him thinking you know what you need to know about Him already?
Ask Him today to help you seek after Him with fresh eyes, to see Him in new ways.
“everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds;”
So we all need to be seeking after Him and continue to seek after Him.
But that is not all the Magi were doing.
They sacrificed for the King and
We need to Sacrifice for the King…
Slide
We see the Magi do this in multiple ways.
We need to learn from them and sacrifice for him
…with our comfort
They were willing to leave the comforts of their home and go on this journey. And this was a long journey. Anyone ever drive to a far destination? A trip that might take 2 or 3 days to get there? I have, and it is not a lot of fun being in a car with people for 10 hours a day for 2 or 3 days.
The Magi traveled at least 500 miles, maybe more. Traveling was very dangerous back then as well. Although they were most likely very wealthy so they traveled in a caravan with anywhere from 100 to 300 people. To travel the distance they did was probably going to take at least several weeks of continuous travel. Not fun or very comfortable.
But they did not consider their lack of being comfortable in this journey as too much of a sacrifice. This was a sacrifice for the King of kings. Being able to worship Him was worth any lack of comfort that the journey would bring.
Apply
Are you willing to sacrifice comfort for the Lord?
If worshiping the Lord requires the sacrifice of comfort in some capacity, will you worship Him?
But we see that we not only need to sacrifice with our comfort, but also
…with our Time
Slide
This journey was not only less comfortable than staying home, it required much time.
Considering that this would have been a major endeavor to plan for this caravan to travel, it could have taken months of preparation and the journey one way could have taken easily several weeks, maybe even a month. Then you had to return. This could have been 6 months of dedicated time.
So often we are unwilling to sacrifice small amounts of time.
What if you came to church almost every Sunday and we asked you if you would serve one Sunday per month in some way, but that service would require you to be here early or stay a little later. Would that be acceptable sacrifice?
What if we asked you to serve one time per month, but it pulled you out of the service for the whole time and we asked you to make sure and attend the other service when you were not serving? That would mean that one Sunday a month you were here for 3 hours instead of an hour and a half. Is that too much to sacrifice? 1 hour and 30 minutes more per month?
What if we asked you to come in each week to help set up or breakdown the chairs? It might take about an hour? Is an hour per week acceptable sacrifice?
Time is precious. Every one of us here, know how precious and valuable it is.
Are we willing to sacrifice our time as an act of worship to the King?
The Magi were willing to sacrifice comfort and time to worship Him but we learn that we also need to be willing to sacrifice for the King
…with our Money
Slide
They came and presented Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. But that is not all. The cost of this trip would have been expensive for this number of people.
But they were willing to sacrifice with their money to worship the King.
Are you willing to sacrifice with your money to worship the King? To do so will truly help us to celebrate.
When we give of our financial resources, it helps us be free from materialism that all so often, especially in this country, seeks to be our god.
This is why we encourage people to give to the work of the Lord through this church.
And this is one of the reasons we participate in Advent Conspiracy, not only to help us be free from materialism, but to help those who are in need and use that to be able to share with people their real need of salvation through Jesus Christ.
This does not mean that we necessarily need to give it all away or that we can’t spend money on gifts for our family. Now understand also, that it may mean that for some.
Jesus said to the rich young ruler to sell all he had and give to the poor and then come follow Him. He did not give that same directive to everyone, but to those whose god was their money.
At a minimum, for all of us, it does mean that we make conscious decisions to not pursue money and stuff at the expense of not giving.
It means we don’t buy as much as we could have and instead, SACRIFICE that to worship the Lord by giving it away to help others in need and to help others know about Him.
We are going to close our service this morning with sacrifice, with giving back to the Lord. The worship team is going to come up and begin playing as our ushers come and collect an offering.
But we are going to pray for God to use this sacrifice to help us worship Him and to help others in need.
If you have prayed about your Christmas offering to help out with those in need of clean water or those in need in our won community, you can give that as well (use an envelope and write Christmas or write a check and put Christmas in the memo)
We will be collecting for our Christmas offering through Christmas.
Let’s pray that God would continue to work in our hearts that he might continue to lead and guide us to have a desire for Him and that as he puts that desire in us, we might truly want the best thing, a growing and deepening relationship with Him and that we might be able to truly celebrate Christmas.
Let’s pray.
