I. Introduction

A. Illustration – This Christmas Eve I’d like us to spend a few moments looking at some people who were very involved in the Christmas story, but didn’t appear on the scene until up to two years after Jesus’ birth. They are so much a part of the Christmas story that we can almost imagine what their visit must have been like two thousand years ago. I’m going to read Matthew 2:1-12 from the New International Version.

B. Matthew 2:1-12 from NIV – 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.

C. There are four things that stand out to me in this story.

II.Wise God’s Way

A.The wise men, or magi, came from obscurity. All we know about them is what is recorded in this passage. We know that they were rich and that they came from far away in the east – the star had first appeared to them two years earlier. That’s a lot of travel time. So often we feel like we’ve got to have the right family or the right education or the right background or the right standing if God’s going to use us for His glory. But just like the wise men we can come out of obscurity and bless our Lord with our sacrificial obedience and giving. It matters a who lot less who you are than Who you know – knowing Jesus is everything! The wise men came from obscurity to be used powerfully by God.

B. The wise men moved toward uncertainty. Apparently they had some clue as to who the star was pointing to – they must have been acquainted with some Jewish prophetic writings. But once they got to Jerusalem, they had to stop and ask for directions. They took up to a two year journey without knowing where they’d wind up. They knew Who they were traveling toward but had no idea about where specifically to find Him. So often in our lives we feel as if we’ve got to know the exact destination of where God is taking us before we’re going to even take one step. And we stay put. What the wise men are telling us is that, when we sense God’s leading in a direction, we’ve got to step out in faith, follow that direction, and trust that God will lead us the rest of the way step by step. It takes faith, but we can do it, and the rewards will come. The wise men moved toward uncertainty.

C. The wise men gave their best. They brought on their long journey three commodities that were extremely valuable in that culture – frankincense, myrrh, and gold. Gold we know about. Myrrh is the aromatic sap of a bush that was worth a lot of money. Frankincense was also costly. God called the wise men to give their best, and they did. And those gifts provided the money for Joseph, Mary and Jesus to live on when they escaped to Egypt. If the wise men had not been obedient, we’d be reading about somebody else who gave their best to provide for the young family. God calls on us to give our best to Him – the best of our time, our talents, our treasure, our relationships. When we give God our best, He is freed to give us His best. He already gave us the best of Himself by giving us His Son Jesus. Now He wants to give us the best of life in Him – peace, love, hope, joy – and all those other things that only He can bring us. We’ve got to give our best to God. The wise men gave their best.

D. The wise men obeyed God’s direction to move forward after a mountaintop experience. I mean, what could be more of a mountaintop experience that seeing Jesus live and in person and having the honor of worshiping Him and giving Him your best? If it would have been me, I would have stayed put for a while, basking in the glow of worshiping Jesus and resting up after a long journey. But the wise men didn’t do that. God told them to move, to leave right away, and they did. By leaving right away they safeguarded their own lives, and they safeguarded Jesus’ life since they couldn’t be tortured to reveal where He was. We don’t like leaving mountaintop experiences. But if we don’t, we and those around us will miss out on the blessings of obedience. We never really know what impact our obedience is having on those around us. So we’ve got to move forward after those mountaintop experiences in obeying God’s direction. The wise men did, and blessed the whole world. Who could have known?

E. Maybe there’s an area of your heart and life where you need to be a wise guy God’s way, either by coming out of obscurity, by moving toward uncertainty, by giving your best, and/or by obeying God’s direction to move forward after a mountaintop experience. Remember – the best days in Christ are yet to come.

III. Communion

A. We’re going to take some time to celebrate communion together, the bread and the juice representing Jesus’ body and blood sacrificed for us. The wise men’s obedience helped make that sacrifice possible. As you’re coming forward to take the bread and the juice and then returning to your seats, take a moment to consider whether or not you’re following their example in your own heart and life. Why not make this Christmas the Christmas you give your all to Christ?

B. Let’s pray together.