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Text: Matthew 2:1-12

Doesn't it seem like a long time since Christmas? It's only been eleven days, but it seems that Christmas is long gone. The holiday music is now hushed. The Advent candles have been put away. The Christmas trees are ready for the landfill. The decorations have been stored for another year. The family gatherings already seem like memories from a distant past. Once we pass the New Year's Eve parties and New Year's Day football games, it's time to get back to the work-a-day world. December 25 seems like a long time ago. We have moved on.

But we can't leave the Christmas theme without dealing with the part of the story that was just beginning as the shepherds returned to their sheep. The Magi came from the east and started asking questions. "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? We have followed his rising star, and we have come to honor him."

These Wise Men, as we often call them, add an unusual note to the Christmas story. Who are they? Where do they come from? How did they get word of the birth? And just how did they follow that star? And more importantly, what can we learn from their trek?

We don't really know much about these men. We can only speculate about the details of the Wise Men. We do not really know the nation from which they traveled. We do not really know their religious background. We do not really know their profession. We don't really know how long it was before they arrived.

Many scholars have suggested that they were Zoroastrian priests or Median astrologers. They were apparently well-off financially and highly educated since they could afford to travel such a long distance and were important enough to have a hearing with the king. They brought expensive gifts to present to the Christ child.

Today I want to suggest that there are at least four things that we do know about the Wise Men and that we should also commit to doing these four things.

First, the Wise Men followed a star sent by God. The star was their compelling vision. We too need a compelling vision, a vision of God and God's purpose for our lives.

I have been involved in several presentations lately dealing with the very serious drug problem in our county. Apparently, we have a bigger problem with the abuse of pills than with other hard drugs. Many people are concerned and working to solve the problem. Commonwealth Attorney Rick Bartley puts people in jail every day because of their drug related crimes. The hospital is making plans for a detox unit by the summer. Others are working to bring some kind of rehabilitation center into our community. But everybody agrees that one key solution is to reduce the demand.

As long as there are people wanting to abuse drugs, there will be dealers finding a way to sell it to them. I am convinced that the main reason people turn to drugs is that they lack a real sense of purpose in their lives.

Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." These are people without a vision, drugging themselves into a stupor to forget the meaninglessness of their lives. They need a star to give them purpose.

The Wise Men saw a brilliant, unusual star. Somehow they discovered it's meaning, and then they set out on their grand journey to follow that star.

The problem with many of us is that we have never found our guiding star. What is it that God wants you to do with your life? You are here for a purpose. Quite often I hear people who have recovered from a serious heart attack or other health problem say, "God must have a purpose for leaving he here." Well, God has a purpose for leaving everyone of us here. I believe God calls all of us and gives us gifts to achieve his purposes with our lives.

Abraham had a guiding star. Hebrews 11:8 says, "By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going." Abraham is called a great man of faith because he set out on God's journey. He didn't know where God was leading, but he knew that God was leading him.

The Wise Men had no easy trek traveling across the wilderness for perhaps 1200 miles. It must have taken much preparation and even more determination to make such a journey. But they had caught a vision, and they kept on going until they found it.

Perhaps we have caught our vision, but we don't have the gumption to achieve it. We should let the Wise Men be our examples to make a commitment, to follow our star.

This is the time of year for New Year's Resolutions. I have already shared that I am committed to reading the Bible through as my first book of the year. I will not allow myself to read another book until I finish THE BOOK. Such New Year's Resolutions are simply ways of setting our star before us. We need goals and purposes or life becomes meaningless.

What kind of vision has God given you?

The second thing we can learn from the Wise Men is that they sought the Messiah. This story reminds us that Jesus is someone to be sought. He neither invades our lives nor overtakes us. He is not coercive. Instead, he puts a star before us to entice us to follow him. Like the Wise Men, we need to seek Jesus.

John 12:20-21 records this wonderful scene, "And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus."

I suggested to you on Christmas Eve that the shepherds decided to leave their sheep on that Bethlehem hillside because they felt that the most important thing in the world for them was to see Jesus. This was even more true of the Wise Men. These scholars must have concluded that their trip was absolutely essential. And they were highly committed to the task. They must have encountered great difficulties on their journey, but nothing discouraged them from seeking Jesus.

In this coming year, I challenge you to seek Jesus. It's an old cliché, but true - Wise Men still seek him. You will find him in the daily march of life God puts before you. You will see him in the eyes of others and hear him in the words of those along the way.

If we really want to see God, we should remember the advice of Jesus. Do you remember from the Beatitudes who it is that Jesus says will see God? "The pure in heart shall see God."

In 1940 King George used the following poem in his Christmas speech. I think it is appropriate for us today as well:

I said to the man at the gate of the Year,

"Give me a light that I may go forth into the unknown."

And he replied, "Go out into the darkness

And Put your hand into the Hand of God.

That shall be to thee better than a light,

And safer than a known way. (1)

Third, let us notice that the Wise Men brought gifts to Christ. We too should come placing our gifts before him.

We don't really know how many Wise Men there were. We assume there were three because there were three gifts – gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Many people have suggested symbolic meanings for the gifts. Some say the gold was for riches, the frankincense for peace, and the myrrh for healing and comfort. Others have suggested that the gold was to honor his kingship, and frankincense to honor his Divinity, and myrrh to honor his humanity.

Regardless of their meaning, the point may simply be that they brought him gifts. Let us bring him our gifts also. We need to bring our material gifts, our possessions, our valuables to Christ.

When we read through the Bible, we find from beginning to end that the first impulse of a person caught by a vision of God is to tithe. Tithing is Biblical. We may attempt to rationalize our way around it, but when we read the Bible, we can't get away from it. Here the Wise Men give their best gifts to the Christ child.

Their gifts are a recognition of Lordship. This was a recognition that Jesus was not only the Lord of the Jews, but the Lord of the Kings as well. The most popular movie of this Christmas season is the second movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. For my sermon title, I have used a play on the words of that movie title. Christ is not Lord of the Rings, but he is Lord of the Kings. And if he is our Lord, we too will have this natural impulse to give our best to him.

On December 28 in nearby West Virginia, Andrew "Jack" Whittaker came forward as the winner of the Powerball lottery. His chose to take his prize money in a lump sum of $113 million. He gave quite a witness to the whole country when he promised to tithe. Like the Wise Men of old, his first impulse was to give his best gift to God.

The first of the year is the time to make new financial commitments to the church. I hope you will do as our family will and sit down together and decide how much you will increase your giving to the church. We should never be satisfied with our giving, until we are giving 10%, and even then, we should strive to grow in the grace of giving.

If you find that you have given 2% or 3% last year, make a commitment to increase by a percentage or two. Set yourself a goal of working toward a full tithe. If he is our Lord, we will give our best gifts to him.

But we need to bring more than our material gifts. Let us bring ourselves. We need to give our talents, our time, our energy. Perhaps one gift you can give is the commitment to be present in church more often than you were last year. That is no insignificant gift! Or you may commit to serve on a committee or volunteer in the church. Our church depends on the volunteer efforts of church members to do our ministry. Give your best self to God.

What gifts will you offer Jesus this year?

Fourth, we know that the Wise Men returned home another way. They recognized the evil intent of Herod and decided not to go back by Jerusalem. After worshipping at the feet of the Christ child, they were changed men. Christ had made a new life out of an old one. They had a new destiny. The Wise Men went home a different way.

But the truth is that no one who ever really meets Christ, returns home the same way. When we have encountered God in Christ, our life changes.

Someone wrote, "When you meet ugliness, you can be sure those you confront are not returning from a visit to the Messiah. They are still traveling in the wrong direction, right back to the palace of Herod and right into the midst of deviltry." (2)

Throughout the Bible, we find the word "repentance" associated with coming to Christ. Acts 3:19 says, "Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."

Repentance means a change of direction. Imagine you are driving in the dark, and you are worried about the route you are to take. But you finally discover the right highway number - #82. Relaxed that you are finally on the right road, you speed along. However, you do not find the expected towns at the right time. Apprehension mounts, until finally your worst fears are confirmed when you find a sign that indicates you are approaching a town in the opposite direction. You are on exactly the right road but were going in exactly the wrong direction.

What do you do? Do you say to yourself, "Well, maybe if I just keep going I will get to the right place?" No, we know there is nothing to do but turn around and head back the other way.

This is a perfect picture of what repentance means - a turning around of life from going in the wrong direction to going in the right direction. Today at the beginning of the year is the right time to turn around and go with God. Like the Wise Men, go home from this Christmas another way.

Let us remember these lessons from the Wise Men: Follow your compelling vision from God. Seek Jesus. Bring him your best gifts. Change the direction of your life.

Endnotes:

1) Ralph Milton's email newsletter, Rumors, 1/5/03.

2) Richard Andersen, Star Struck and Travel Ready, Best Sermons 7, edited by James Cox, HarperSanFrancisco, 1994, p. p. 29.