The Rest of the Story

December 27, 2015
The Rest of the Story   NOTES NOT EDITED
Luke 2:40-50

SIS – For most people, the story of Christmas ends when the tree comes down and decorations are put away, but there is more to the story than a baby in a manger.

One of my favorite radio programs growing up was by Paul Harvey the legendary broadcaster.  He would do a bit titled, “The Rest of the Story.”  He would give familiar facts to popular stories and then say, “You’ve heard the news.  In a moment, you are going to hear, The Rest of the Story.”  Then, after a brief promotional pause Paul Harvey would come back to finish the story with a twist that most people could not imagine—like one segment on the identity of the famed London killer, Jack the Ripper, where he pointed out the true identity of that killer that had escaped Scotland Yard for nearly a century—or, had it?

When it comes to Christmas, most people know the basic facts of the story, but few really understand, “The Rest of the Story.”  I want us to read some of that story together this morning.

READ:  Luke 2:40-50

The other day I read a story a man wrote about his grandmother.  The man was a well-known preacher a couple generations ago.  He used this story as an illustration of the folly of trying to survive and thrive without the light of God in your life.

      A preacher’s grandmother moved to the United States from the former Czechoslovakia.  New York city was much different from her small farming community.  One day she tried to cross the street against the red light–meaning the on-coming traffic had the right of way.  She stepped off the curb right into the path of an on-coming bus before her preacher grandson could stop her.  Fortunately, someone grabbed her and pulled her to safety.  After the preacher composed himself and said a silent prayer of thanks, he scolded his grandmother, “Do NOT walk against the light!”  The stubborn old grandmother snapped back, “But, I thought this was a free country!” 

This is the problem, today.  In fact, this is the basic problem of man.  People feel that freedom means they can do anything they want and get away with it.  This attitude is epidemic in the church.  Our nation, our churches, and our families are discovering, however, that it is impossible to survive and thrive in this world if we insist on “walking against the light of God’s love.”

As we will see this morning, there is more to the story of Jesus than “a Baby in a Manger.”  Since most of our lives are lived outside the cradle, we must develop the spiritual qualities that help us survive, and thrive. Too many people feel that “freedom” means being able to do whatever one wants without any negative consequences.  Too many Christians live as if freedom “in” Christ means freedom “from” responsibility.  This view of freedom is not the biblical view.  In the Bible freedom always comes with increased responsibilities.  We are not free to do as we please, but we are free to do what pleases God.  What pleases God is to live for “the mission.”  The mission is simple:  increase the kingdom of God on earth, as it has already been ordained in heaven.  No life more exemplifies living for the mission than the life of Jesus Christ on earth.  His mission is our mission.  That’s the rest of the story.

What spiritual qualities does one need to accomplish the mission God has for one’s life?  In other words, how does one go from the “manger to the mission” or from the “cradle to the cross?”

We enter this world from the warmth and safety of our mother’s womb.  We spend a few months in a cradle, we graduate to a crib, we get our own bed, and then . . . before you know it, we are out in the cruel world of preschool on our own. We need to learn the skills to thrive and survive outside the cradle to keep from being eaten alive by life.  If we do not allow God to set the mission for our life, circumstances sure will.

This reminds me of a story about a little boy. It’s an old story and many of you are familiar with it.  But, it is a good story and illustrates my point.  This little six-grader had just started elementary school.  Not only was he excited about starting school, but he was excited because his Mom told him they were expecting a baby.  Every day he would tell his teacher about the baby brother or sister that was expected at his house. He obviously did not know where the baby was coming from, but he was excited it was on the way.  One day, his mother let him feel the baby move inside her tummy.  The little boy was a bit confused, a little impressed, but he said nothing.  He also stopped talking about the baby that was expected to come to his home.  In fact, he never talked anymore about it with anyone after feeling it move inside his mommy’s tummy

The teacher became curious.  She sat him on her lap and asked, “Tommy, what has become of that baby brother or sister you were expecting?”  Tommy burst into tears and said sobbingly, “I think Mommy ate it!”  Life can be disturbing at times.

Life outside the cradle can be puzzling, or even frightful, but it does not have to be.  As in all things, Jesus shows us how to survive and thrive outside the cradle.  The Bible gives us the light of God to help us navigate across the busy and dangerous intersections of life.   Our text gives us five qualities that are necessary for surviving outside the cradle. 

1.  Fulfilling our mission requires NOURISHMENT

“the child grew.”

      This is the natural process of a healthy life.  To get out of the cradle, we must grow.  To grow we must take in food.  Jesus was not born as an adult, but as a vulnerable, developing baby.  He escaped the cradle in the same way we must escape our spiritual cradle: we must eat.  Jesus took in the nourishment of his mother’s milk, and “he grew.”  

When we are born-again, we are not spiritual adults. We begin in God’s nursery.  We need the “milk of the elementary teachings of God’s Word.”  The Book of Peter explains this need:

(1 Pet 2:2)  Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

We all know that you cannot give a newborn baby solid food, because even if the child didn’t choke, she could not process the food and receive the nourishment she needs to survive.  Babies need milk.  Milk is predigested food. A baby needs someone to feed it predigested food, or milk.  Preferably this is the mother, or perhaps the father giving the baby a bottle.

 

A new Christian must immediately begin feeding on the Word of God, beginning with the most elemental doctrines.  Every new believer in a church should have a sponsor, or mentor, who provides these elemental principles for a period of a few months.  Paul identifies some of these basic teachings as, “baptisms (water and spirit); victory over bad habits; laying on of hands (spiritual giftedness); resurrection, and eternal judgment” to name a few (Heb. 6:1,2).

Too many new church members “skip the milk of the word” and never learn to digest the “meat of the word.” The first characteristic to thriving outside the cradle, is to take in as much of the “milk, and then meat, of the Word” as you can, to develop a strong spiritual foundation.

 

2.  Surviving outside the cradle requires spiritual strength.

he “became strong.”

Too often we measure a man’s strength by what he can DO.  Jesus always measured a man’s true strength by what he what he was able to AVOID doing.  Might does not make right.  We should not always do something just because we can do it and get away with it.  Surviving and thriving outside the cradle requires more than brute force.

Our text suggests that Jesus was a big, healthy, good-looking charismatic man that many people would have willingly followed in rebellion against the Romans.  Many times, they tried to make Jesus their King and try to overthrow the Roman oppressors. Jesus was the kind of man people honored and wanted to be around. He was strong physically, emotionally and spiritually.

      But, the strength of Christ was found in his ability to follow perfectly the will of God no matter what the odds.  The Bible says,

^{John 4:34} “My food is to do the will of Him  who sent Me 
and to finish His work,”

Jesus was driven by His mission.  It was more important than even food.  Where did He get such strength?  To build strong muscles requires exercise. To build strong spiritual muscles also requires exercise.  Like Jesus, we must constantly and consistently discipline our will to conform to the will of God.  Jesus feasted on God’s Word and it gave Him strength to focus on God’s mission.  It gave Him the power to say “no” to the world, and “yes” to God.

Every time we say “no” to the world, and “yes” to the Word, we become stronger.  Likewise, every time we give in to temptation, we lose spiritual muscle tone, and we grow weak.  As I said earlier, if we do not allow God’s Word to set the agenda for our lives, someone or something else will set the agenda.

This is why, for example, I am against any sex education that involves giving children condoms.  It makes them weak, not only in matters of sex, but in every important matter of life that follows after high school.  We need to teach our children that the only proper response to temptation is to “just say NO!”  Every temptation they overcome makes them stronger.  The Word gives us the strength to say no to the temptations of the world and yes to God’s mission.

Jesus became strong by exercising physically and spiritually.

3.  Survival outside the cradle requires WISDOM

he “was filled with wisdom.”

Wisdom is the spiritual skill of applying the facts of God’s Word to specific events and circumstances in the world.  

Here again we have created a major problem in the educational system.  When we allowed our public education to be scrubbed clean of any moral or spiritual base, we created three or four generations of educated idiots, or what C.S. Lewis called, “Men without chests,” in his great work, The Abolition of Man.

A good example of this phenomenon took place a few years or so ago.  A woman “set a new world record” for the most babies delivered: octuplets.  She is now world famous as “Octo Mom!”  Yet, she is more to be pitied than to be envied.  Now, even the medical establishment is questioning the wisdom of this type of “fertility manipulation.”  With all sorts of genetic engineering, cloning, and other technological Frankensteinian projects, people are beginning to question the wisdom of unbridled technology.  Julian Huxley wrote about the evils of unbridled technology in Brave New World, as did Alvin Toffler in Future Shock.

Knowledge is the ability to manipulate facts.  Wisdom is the Godly use of facts and information to bring glory to God and wholeness to man.  Knowledge leads to the creation of Frankenstein.  Wisdom leads to a righteousness that brings blessing.

Without wisdom, man acquires the technological information to build a nuclear bomb, but does not possess the self-control to keep from using it.

Survival outside the cradle requires a Godly wisdom, based upon a complete understanding of God’s Word to know how what to do in a given situation.  Wisdom is “applied knowledge” guided by God’s Word that glorifies God and brings wholeness to man. 

4.  Survival beyond the cradle requires GRACE

“The grace of God was upon Him.”

This is a summary statement about the life of Jesus Christ, and by extension, the life of anyone “upon whom God’s favor rests.”  A Godly person is covered with grace.  Grace is an essential quality of life if we are to survive and thrive outside the cradle.  Grace, more than any other quality, identifies a person as one “upon whom God’s favor rests.”

In Greek, grace and joy are related. They are formed from the same root.  A gracious person is a happy person; a kind person; a person of goodwill; a gifted person; and a grateful person.  Jesus was “smothered” with grace.

The opposite of grace is awkwardness, vulgarity, and harshness.  An ungracious person is someone who must always be right.  Thus, they are not fun to be around and they usually end up with ulcers, and giving ulcers to those that cannot avoid them.  Ungracious people are people who light up a room . . . when they leave it!

God wants to smother us with grace. The Old Testament roots for the concept of grace came from a word meaning, “to bend or stoop,” like one person bending down to help lift someone who has fallen.  Grace is gentle justice—or a “hand-up” to someone in need.

Sir Edward C. Burne-Jones was prominent artist in England over a century ago.  He was a gracious, kind gentleman.  I’ve always liked the story I’m about to tell, but now that I am a grandfather, I think I understand it at a whole new level.  One day he was at the home of his daughter having a formal, English dinner.  As a special treat his young granddaughter was allowed to join them at the table–something uncommon in well-established English homes.  At the table she misbehaved.  Her mother required that she stand in the corner, facing the wall as punishment.  Sir Edward, being a wise grandfather, did not interfere with his granddaughter’s training.  But, he was obviously distressed by the event.

The next morning he arrived at his daughter’s home with paints and a palette.  He went to the wall where his granddaughter had stood in punishment and began to paint wonderful pictures—a kitten chasing its tail; lambs in a field; goldfish swimming.  His paintings were marvelous and brought an aire of delight to the room by painting that corner.  Sir Edward figured that should his granddaughter need correction in the future (and she no doubt would) her punishment would be both effective, and at the same time, pleasant.  That is grace.

God will not let us go without correction—but his correction is tempered with the beautiful artistry of His grace.

God’s grace allows us to leave a beautiful mark even on the most dismal of circumstances.

To thrive and survive outside the cradle, we must be smothered with the grace–the unmerited favor of God. You cannot do anything without God’s favor upon you and flowing through you.

5. For your mission beyond the manger you will need to
    SACRIFICE (Lk. 2:41)

⁴¹ Every year His parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival.  ⁴² When He was 12 years old, they went up according to the custom of the festival.

You will notice your Bible starts a new section with verse 41.  But, a very important aspect of the life of Jesus is revealed by reading verse 41 as continuing verse 40.  Remember, there were no chapters or verses in the Greek manuscripts.  As we continue the discussion of the development of the character of the Lord Jesus Christ we find him at a Jewish festival.  Passover is one of the three mandated festivals Jews were obligated to attend each year.  Notice how the text ties Christmas, the birth of Christ, with Easter time, or the death of Christ represented by Passover. 

The Feast of Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles were all mandated activities for Jewish families.  If a family was too poor to attend all three, Passover was the most important for it commemorated the most important event in the lives of the Jews—being freed from slavery in Egypt.  Passover was also a prophetic foreshadowing of Jesus dying to free us from slavery to sin.

The key component in the character of Jesus can be summed up in one word, “sacrifice.” His family dutifully sacrificed to get Jesus to the Jewish festivals.  Jesus lived a disciplined life of extreme sacrifice, and died as the ultimate sacrifice.  Christmas loses its foundational meaning if the birth of Christ is separated from His mission to die as a once-for-all sacrifice for all mankind.  You cannot separate the manger of Christ from the mission of Christ without gutting Christmas of its true meaning.  Christmas is about sacrifice.  Jesus’ sacrificed all the glory of heaven to come to earth.  His birth in a lowly manger, His life as an itinerant preacher, and His death on the cross all show the great sacrifice God made so we could have eternal life.

Sacrifice and death are not ideas usually associated with Christmas, but Luke associates them here by continuing the nativity story into the Passover season.  Sacrifice is far too disturbing a concept for people to think much about, especially during Christmas.  But, as the Star of Bethlehem shone over the manger it cast the shadow of the cross.

As believers, we cannot fulfill our mission without a great deal of sacrifice:  of our time, our talents, and our treasures.  A missionary in Brazil visited a market on a religious holiday.  In one shop’s window was a sign advertising, “Cheap crosses for sale.”  There are not cheap crosses for the Christian.  Many would like a Christianity without the emphasis on Christ’s death and sacrifice, but a Christianity with a “cheap cross” is not true Christianity.  It is a lie—the worst kind of lie.

Our salvation cost the Lord Jesus Christ absolutely everything He had and everything He was to complete His mission.  For that mission to continue through us, it will cost us all we have as well.

It is so sad . . . that so many Christians stop at Christmas.  They leave Jesus in the cradle and crawl in with him.  They never develop the skills and character qualities to survive and thrive outside the cradle.  This coming year, follow Jesus’ example ---- GROW UP!  

This will require spiritual nourishment; exercising spiritual muscles; developing wisdom; being smothered with grace; and making great sacrifices of our time, talents, and treasures.

You can—and you must—fulfill God’s mission for your life.  But just like Jesus, you have to GROW UP!  There is more to the story of Christmas than great songs, glittering lights and gifts under a tree--much more!  There is an example of what a life fully devoted to God looks like--the life Jesus lived and the life He gave so we might live eternally.  Don't pack up God and put Him away until next year.  Live like Jesus!

Advent 2015 Joy

December 20, 2015

Advent 2015—It’s a Wonderful Joy     NOTES NOT EDITED

Matthew 2:1-12

SIS--  Each of us determines our level of joy in life.

“Joy” is not a feeling.  It’s not even an attitude.  It doesn’t depend on circumstances.  Joy is a “decision.”  It is a decision to experience God by accepting Him for Who He is:  the Messiah.  The Savior.  The Deliverer. 

Joy is really all about “anticipation.”  Joy is a decision to live today in hopeful anticipation of a great reward tomorrow.  Just like the anticipation of a child on Christmas Eve.  The anticipation is so great it consumes all other thoughts.  That “joy.”  A decision to live today in great anticipation of a reward tomorrow. 

One ancient writer called joy, “being in self-transport” as on a journey anticipating one’s arrival at a glorious destination.

People miss the true joy of Christmas because they seek the wrong thing, look in the wrong places, and respond in the wrong way.  The Christmas story demonstrates how to experience true joy every day for all eternity.  Let’s read the story of Christmas together.  We can never read it too many times.

MATTHEW 2:1-12

Now, here’s the part of that story we want to focus on this morning, the Fourth Sunday of Advent:

¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure.

Literally, they were overjoyed with exceedingly, great joy. This is an emphatic description of an “ecstatic” response to finding the object of their quest.  This brings us to the first aspect of discovering “True Joy.”

1.  What we Seek (vv 1,2)

Everybody is searching for “joy”.  Consider the Wise Men.

Wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem,  ² saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we saw His star in the east  ^l and have come to worship Him.”

The Wise Men, as I said last week, are important characters in the Christmas story. Obviously, something they desired more than anything else compelled them to make a very long, very dangerous and very costly journey.  All men are on a quest for “something” that will bring them “joy.”

But, “what” is it?  What do people seek that will bring them joy.  Some men and women feel that great “riches” will bring great joy.  I meet people like this nearly every day.  These people spend hours upon hours earning more and more to buy more and more.  People who seek joy through riches have one thing in common – they seldom find it.

Solomon was wise and said, “Whoever loves money will never be satisfied with money.  Whoever loves wealth will never be satisfied with income.  This is futile” (Eccl. 5:10).

Seeking joy through riches is a futile search.

Some seek joy through “pleasures.”  We now have several generations which have battled with addictions – that is, seeking joy through “pleasure,” or physical gratification.  We live in a world addicted to just about everything you can imagine from shooting up heroine, to snorting cocaine, to “huffing paint.”  Many are addicted to sexual pleasure in one form or the other.  The porn industry is a multi-billion dollar a year industry – an industry that leaves broken, unfulfilled lives in its wake. 

Solomon also had something to say about seeking fulfillment or joy through pleasure:

Eccl. 2:1  I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure;  enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile.

All people want joy, but “What” they feel will bring joy, more often brings disappointment.

What was it that the Wise Men were seeking to “bring them exceedingly great joy?” What drove them to leave their homeland and make such and arduous and dangerous journey? The reason for their long, dangerous trek was spiritual—a “spiritual quest.”  What they were seeking was “worship experience.”

One of the most significant characteristics of humanity is that man is inherently “spiritual.”  Encyclopedia.com has an entry titled, “Homo Religiosus,” defining man as inherently religious.  One blogger concurs with this by writing, “Anthropologists routinely define man as homo religiosus— incurably religious.” Man may seem materialistic, especially in our days when even toddlers have cell phones and teens have designer everything. Materialism is simply a secular expression of worship—worship of “things.” 

Kids today live in a sea of materialism.  A kid considers it being “deprived” if he or she has to actually get off the couch to change the channel on the T.V. because someone misplaced the remote!

But, even in our materialistic society in America, one thing has not changed.  Man is “inherently” (by nature) spiritual.  Everybody is seeking ultimate meaning in some way—including the anti-religious atheist who worships science and human wisdom.

The text clearly tells us that the Wise Men were on a “spiritual quest.”  They were looking for Someone to “worship” (verse 2c).

This is the first aspect of “finding true joy.”  You need to ask, “What” will bring me the greatest fulfillment in life?  If it is not riches?  If it is not sensual pleasures?  What is it one must seek to find true joy. The “What” is actually a “Who.”  Joy will come only come through a “spiritual quest.”  Look at verse 11:

¹¹ Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.

This brings us to the next aspect on how to discover “true joy.”

2.  Second, joy comes by Where we Look (1)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem,

It is not enough to know “What,” is the source of true joy, but we must know “where” to look to find it.

Now, let me be clear of one thing, on our own without the faith that God Himself gives us, we would never find Him.  In fact, we would never even think to look for Him.  There is a bit of irony to Christianity that I don’t fully understand.  We don’t find Jesus—He finds us—the irony being, “we find Jesus” even when we are not even looking for Him.  The Bible says, “No man can come to the father unless the Spirit of God draws Him” (Jn. 6:44).  But the Word also says, “Seek and you will find” (Mt. 7:7) 

God must give us the very faith He requires of us in order for us to be saved.  Christmas is all about gifts, and God is the greatest of all gift-givers.

So, I’m going to assume that since you are here today, in a church, you are on a Spiritual Quest—whether you know it or not.  I pray that God will open your heart and shine His light into your soul so that you will first, seek Him, and secondly Look for Him in the right place.

In other words, had the Wise Men travelled north, or south, or east they would never have found the object of their quest—no matter how sincerely they would have searched.  V1 tells us they travelled, “to Jerusalem,” because that is where, logically, one would expect the “King of the Jews” to be found.

It is very significant that they looked in Jerusalem.  That was—and is—the Holy City of God. One would expect to find the King in the Holy Palace in the Royal City.  But God’s logic is not our logic.  God’s ways are not man’s ways.  Isaiah declares (55:9):

“For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

They were “close.” Jerusalem is only about 6 miles from Bethlehem to the north.  But, they were looking in the wrong place:  they were looking for a king on a throne, not in a Manger.

The Wise Men were “so close.”  This is the most heart-breaking realization in my life as a preacher:  so many people are so close to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, but whether you miss heaven by an inch or by a mile you miss it for eternity.

So many people are on a spiritual quest to find God and they get so close.  They live “good” lives by human standards.  Many are devoutly religious.  But, being good or being religious will never be paths to “being saved.” 

Hell will be populated by a great many good, religious people who LOOKED for God in all the wrong places.  Some of these people will have even looked for God “in church,” but will not find Him. 

One Sunday Evening a little boy from a very religious family knelt by his bedside to pray.  This family went to church every time the doors were open.  The little boy had literally grown up in church.  His prayer stabs me like a dagger in my heart.  The little boy prayed, “Dear God, we had a good time in church today!  I wish you had been there!”

Sadly, many times the most unlikely place to find God is in church.

Many men and women have come to realize that “what” will bring them joy is “spiritual,” not emotional, physical, or material.  But, they don’t know where to LOOK to find that fulfillment to their spiritual quest.  Like the Wise Men they look in the obvious place—the religious place; Jerusalem, the Holy City.  The Wise Men, at first, were like so many people today.  They are “so close,” but also “so very far away.”  They look for fulfillment of their spiritual longings in the “wrong” place.  Knowing “where” to LOOK to find true joy is really the key to everything.

You won’t find the King of Kings in a palace, but in a stable.  You won’t find the Great High Priest in a temple, but on the streets among the people.  A key to finding true joy is knowing “Where to Look.”  It is not in the obvious places, but in the right place.

Look again at verse 6. It says, ⁶ And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah: because out of you will come a leader  who will shepherd My people Israel.”

There could not have been a least likely town in all the world for the King of Glory to born – from a logical, human perspective – than the little town of Bethlehem.  Bethlehem at that time was a town located at the crossroad between “insignificance and obscurity.” This little, inconsequential speck of real estate was thrust into eternal prominence by being the humble birthplace of the savior. 

Where do you find true joy?  Where the Wise Men ultimately found it:  in the “ruler who is a shepherd.”

This term “ruler who is a shepherd” reminds us of at least two other great “shepherds” in the Bible:  Moses and David.  Moses is the great shepherd leader who delivered God’s people out bondage and slavery in Egypt.  David is the “Shepherd King” who reigned over the most prosperous time in the history of Israel.  Now, One like unto Moses and David, has come to “deliver mankind from sin.”

That brought great joy – overjoyed with exceedingly great joy – to the Wise Men.  Joy comes to us when What—more importantly Who—we seek in our spiritual quest is the True God of Israel, Jesus Christ.  There is not hope, no peace, and no joy to be found in one’s spiritual quest unless What, or Who you are seeking is the One Who can deliver you from your sins.

Prosperity won’t bring you joy.  Faith in a false god won’t bring you joy.  Most assuredly, being the most religious person on the planet will not bring you joy.  Joy comes when one’s spiritual quest brings one face to face with God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Look at verse 11:

¹¹ Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.

Too many people have “lost sight of the child in the manger” That Baby is what Christmas is all about.  Presents under the tree have replaced a baby in the manger as the most important gift.  The delightful smells of Christmas dinner have replaced the pungent odor of the lowly stable.  The lights and tinsel on the Christmas tree have blinded us to the brilliance of that first Christmas star.  People miss the true joy of Christmas because they look in the wrong place.

What you are seeking to bring you joy, and where you look to discover joy are two key aspects to finding true and lasting joy. Also of great importance is:

3.  How you Give (9-11), or what you do with joy when you find it.

⁹ After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen in the east!  It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure. ¹¹ Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

I’m sure you have heard many sermons on those wonderful gifts of the Wise Men:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Many of us probably have gotten a gift of gold, or even the gift of perfume, like frankincense.  Not many have probably gotten a gift of the sticky, tar-like substance called myrrh. 

Gold made sense for the baby who was King of the Jews.  Frankincense was a perfume burned in the service of priests, and Jesus was the Great High Priest.  That seems appropriate.  But myrrh?  This was an ingredient used in the preparation of a dead body for burial.  How is something related to death appropriate for a baby or young child with his entire life ahead of him.

Well, we know the significance of the myrrh.  We know the story of Jesus.  He was born to die.  He was born under the shadow of the cross to one day be sacrificed by God in payment for all the sins of man.  By His death, we can have eternal life.  Jesus was born to die for the sins of mankind.

So, myrrh was as appropriate as the gold and frankincense.

But, I’m more concerned this day not on the gifts themselves, but on the “attitude” of those giving the gifts – exquisite and expensive gifts.  Notice again verse 11, the middle part:

Then they opened their treasures.

This Christmas as I read that text, my mind stuck to that word, “opened.”  The common meaning of the Greek word is just as with the English, “they opened their bag of gifts.”  But, I got much more out of that word this year.

As exquisite and expensive as the gifts were, “How” they gave them seems much more important in light of the fact that God had “opened” heaven and stepped into a manger.  The Word, “opened” is a compound word and it can mean “open up” or to “make opened up.”  The prefix of the word causes one to Look upward.

The attitude of the Wise Men was one of “worship” or “openness” to God.  Get this, it is perhaps the most important key to getting true joy.

The Wise Men “opened themselves up completely to God and gave everything they had in honor and devotion to Jesus.”

What would our families, our church, and our world look like if we as God’s people “opened ourselves up and poured ourselves completely and sacrificially out in service to God?”  That is a heart-breaking question for me to ask because I know many of you in this room have not “opened yourselves up” to God in such a way. 

How we give ourselves to God and to others in Christian service will have more to do with the joy we experience in life than perhaps anything else we do.  It’s not so much “what” we give that matters, but “HOW” we give—with absolute openness to God.

Years ago I read the story of a man’s miraculous transformation at Christmas time.  It was 1964.  The man had taken his first, full time job.  He would be away from home for Christmas for the first time.  This night was Christmas Eve.  He was a stranger in town.  He was on his way back to his motel after working late to spend Christmas Eve alone with a T.V. dinner.  On the way home he remembered a co-worker had mentioned his church was having a “drive-by nativity.”  He decided to stop by.  He found the church and got out of the car.  There was the live nativity:  Joseph, Mary, the Shepherds all in costume; and a fidgety donkey tied up nearby.  The man had been there just a few minutes when his co-worker came by.  “Hey! We’ve got a problem.  One of our wise men got sick and couldn’t make it.”

Could you stand in for him?”  The man was not a church-going man, but he agreed and found himself in a flowing robe standing near the manger holding a gold box.  About an hour went by and the man was freezing, thinking he wished he’d said “no.”  But, as he stood there shivering, the scene engulfed him.  He forgot about Christmas presents.  He forgot about Santa Claus.  He even forgot about the cold.  He was captivated by the scene of Mary, Joseph, and the baby in the cold under a starry sky.  Christmas became more real to him at that moment than at any time in his life.  He had found the true meaning of Christmas.  Later, he would thank his friend for asking him to stand in as a Wise Man and would say, “For a brief hour that Christmas I was really a Wise Man.”

Being a wise man, or wise woman, is the key to guaranteeing your life will be one of true joy regardless of the circumstances.  When WHAT you seek is spiritual, not worldly.  This Christmas, when WHAT you seek to bring joy, and WHERE you look to discover joy, and HOW you give yourself completely to God converge in the persons of Jesus Christ, you will experience true joy.

What you are looking for; where you look for it; and most importantly how you give of yourself when you find it, will determine the level of joy you experience in life.

What you should seek is “spiritual.”  Where you should look is in the manger where the Savior lay.  How you should give is by “opening your life” fully to God.  You do this, and singing “Joy to the World”
will have a whole new meaning.

All this Advent we have been following the story of George Bailey, whose life rose to great heights of love and hope, plunged into deep despair that destroyed his peace, and rose again to even greater heights of joy when he discovered that one really can have “A Wonderful Life” when one has a wonderful hope, a wonderful love, a wonderful peace, and most of all, a wonderful joy.  Let’s join George Bailey as he discovered a wonderful joy.

CLIP:  George arrives home.

Yes . . . friends, with the joy of Jesus in our hearts, it really is “A Wonderful life!”