Year Round Christmas
Matthew 2:1-12
January 6, 2013
It was a few days after Christmas. A family was busy cleaning up the Christmas mess and putting everything away. 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.”
He asked, “Why are you doing that?” She answered, “So everything will be back to normal again.” The boy said, “I don't want things to get back to normal again.”
On this second Sunday after Christmas, many of us have that thought too, Christmas is over — let’s pack everything up and bring out our Valentine’s decorations. But, I think we rush away from it too quickly, we do too good a job at cleaning up after Christmas, and we run the risk of removing it from our lives.
What if 12 days after Christmas we could keep life from getting back to normal again? What if we could really hang onto Christmas and take it with us into the good days ahead of us in 2013?
I want to suggest that we can do just that. By that, I don’t mean everything is going to be perfect, or always go our way. Nor do I mean we will be able to escape the same routine, the same schedule, the same responsibilities, we had before Christmas. Nor to keep our Christmas trees up year round.
But, I wonder if there is that happy medium, maybe even more than that because there should be something different about us, because we’ve been able to see a star of wonder, to hear the angels sing, to hear the cry of a babe, and have our hearts strangely warmed because God came to us.
Today, I want to look at the story of the visit of the Magi, a visit of some Wise Men from the east – – who came searching for Jesus.
Traditionally, the church has remembered the visit of the Magi, twelve days after Christmas, on the day of Epiphany (which means “ a sudden and great revelation.”) Listen now to the words of Matthew ~
1 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.
These men came into Jerusalem looking for a king, but they met another king who immediately felt threatened when he found out what they were doing. Herod became suspicious of them and this new king and began to plot the death of any who would threaten his kingdom. The Wise Men came to give their devotion to the new king and wouldn’t be turned aside. They were focused on finding the King.
In our world today, there is still a lot of suspicion and skepticism. It can poison relationships, goals, noble-endeavors, groups, and ideals. In that darkness, we can’t allow the light of Christ to be extinguished.
Hang onto the light of Christ as we move further away from Christmas.
As you put the Christmas decorations away, maybe take a little longer and hold onto the memories. Usually we don’t think about the memories so soon after Christmas, but take the time to remember. Maybe write them down, take them out as the year moves on. Maybe read the Christmas story in the Spring.
Let the memory of that night continue to live in your heart. We need to keep Christ as the object of our devotion.
In these men, we see a devotion to Jesus. They came from far away, presumably riding camels, just to see this child and bring Him gifts, to a child they didn’t know and parents they wouldn’t have recognized walking down the street. Jesus was the object of their devotion. Is He the object of your devotion?
The Magi came with one question on their minds, 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.”
The point is clear. They came all that way for one reason and one reason only, to worship Him, to make Jesus the object of their devotion.
This is one of those things we must recognize and hold onto. If we don’t see this, we don’t see Christmas, we don’t understand it, and it makes no sense. If we don’t see this, we will quickly forget the joy of Christmas, and what it means.
What I’m getting at is the fact that we will lose the deeper meaning of Christmas. It wasn’t about all the presents you received or gave away. It wasn’t about all the parties, the food, and egg nog. We lose sight of who Jesus really is! He is THE One and only Son of God. The God who loves us so much that He sent Jesus here, right here, for you and I, so that we could experience His presence, His promise, and His love and grace.
If we lose sight of all this, then our weekly worship attendance is worth nothing. Our acts of service mean nothing. These become another item on our calendar. Instead, we should approach Sunday the way we might approach Christmas Eve worship, with excitement and passion. Maybe even with a little intensity, because we know just how important, how meaningful Christmas is!
When you’re participating in a sporting event, don’t you get yourself ready, your teammates ready. You get psyched, you get intense, you get focused. Watch how a couple of football teams get ready for a game.
VIDEO of athletes preparing for a game. The video shows their emotions and excitement.
You may say, well these are professional athletes. And that’s the point, they’ve been through this so many times, yet, in that last video you saw Drew Brees leading the New Orleans Saints before a game. He only makes $20 million per season.
Now, you may not be into sports, but imagine if before every worship, we, the participants, got ourselves all excited about what we were just about to go and do ~ worship Jesus. Can you imagine the passion that would spill over afterwards. The exictement that might continue throughout the week? That’s what I’m talking about.
I’m sure the Magi had roadblocks along the way, but they didn’t let that stop them. They continued until the met the King of kings.
Take this with you into this new year. If you want your life to be better in the new year, keep Christ as the object of your devotion.
As Jesus is the object of your devotion, give Him the best you have.
Because the Magi, came and worshiped Jesus and gave Him gifts, so should we. Gold was a gift fit for a king. It was costly, treasured, and sought after. Frankincense was an expensive fragrance, representing a personal treasure. It was a fine perfume. Myrrh was a precious ointment used in the preparation for death. It was tinged with sadness. All of these gifts were expensive treasures in that day and in that part of the world. These gifts were given to Jesus. It was part of their worship. It was a sign of their dedication.
Would you give the best you have, and if you did, what might that be? What might you give to the King during 2013? Will you give Him the best you have.
Henry Van Dyke was a pastor in the late 1800's and early 1900's. He wrote these words about Christmas ~
Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and remember what other people have done for you; to ignore what the world owes you, and think what you owe the world; to put your rights in the background, and your duties in the foreground; to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give life; to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness; are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.1
You can keep Christmas and you can take a new direction. You can carry with you into this new year the greatest blessings of this season. You can carry ~
Its love can live in our lives, and we can share it.
Its hope can hold us up, and give us patience.
Its joy can fill our hearts, and overflow into our relationships.
Its power can fill our weakness, and lead us to strengthen others.
Its light can brighten our paths, and help us find our way.
A pastor went to see a couple in his church. It was early March. As he sat talking with them, he noticed a Christmas ornament hanging from a bookshelf. The lady saw him look at it and she said, "No, we did not forget. Every year when I put all the decorations away, I choose one to leave behind on purpose to remind me that Christmas is not just one day, or one season. For me, Christmas is a lifetime. That ornament is a reminder that Jesus walks with me every day."2
What a great reminder. Maybe if you’ve put all your decorations away, you can take one out and remind you and your family; and any visitors, that the Christ of Christmas has not been forgotten about, that He is alive and well and lives with us.
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1 Charles L. Allen and Charles L. Wallis, Christmas (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1957), p, 42.
2 James C. Cantrell, III, "Left Behind On Purpose," Chapel Notes, St. James United Methodist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, December 31, 1995.
