The sermon was the culmination of the Advent/Christmas preaching series. I actually liked the sermon quite a bit. Each point could have been its own sermon, which means the sermon had more breadth than depth.
“Bringing Gifts to the Manger” FPC, Troy
Introduction: When the wise men arrive, they
probably find an empty manger.
Christmas
pageants have the wise men arrive with the shepherds from the fields, but many
biblical scholars believe that the wise men arrived much later. Perhaps after Jesus was crawling around or
maybe even taking his first steps (the decree from King Herod to kill male
babies two years or younger suggests that Jesus is no longer a newborn).
The
wise men probably bring their gifts to an empty manger
Move
1: stop there.
a. Remember that we began Advent with an empty manger.
1. Anticipation of Christ in
our midst.
2. Now we proclaim that the Christ who arrived
in the manger has left its confines and lives among us.
b.
Empty manger also anticipates the return of Christ
1.
The birth of Christ is
not the final chapter
2.
his miracles and
teaching are not the final chapter;
3.
his death is certainly
not the final answer;
4.
his resurrection is not the final chapter;
5.
We anticipate the final chapter when Christ will return.
Move
2: Arrive first at Jerusalem
a. Jerusalem
1. Jerusalem
2. Home
of King Herod.
3. Even the religious power has aligned itself
with King Herod when it notes that “all
of Jerusalem
b. But Jerusalem
1. Go nine miles away from the King Herod’s
throne;
2. Go nine miles from the seat of power
3. Go
nine miles from Jerusalem to some non-descript town called Bethlehem that no
one has heard of, except for some obscure prophetic utterance from generations
before (OT scholar Walter Brueggemann had an article in Christian Century about the wise men that you might find interesting http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=2103
c. Puts the world on notice.
1. The
Savior of the world is not coming to the seat of power, but to other places.
2. Certainly King Herod realizes.
3. Christ
is in our midst, but look for him in those other places.
Move
3:Gifts
a. Wise men brought gifts.
1.
Nice gifts – if you received gold, frankincense, and myrrh, you
would probably be happy. It might take
you awhile to figure out what to do with the frankincense and myrrh, but the
gold could tide you over until you did!
2. Not sure what Jesus
might have done with them
4. But we know that the gifts the wise men bring are not for the
consumption of the worldly powers.
5. The
gifts are not sent to enhance the worldly powers.
6. The
gifts are not sent to continue the status quo.
7.
The pattern f Jesus’ later life would lead us to assume that the
gifts were used for serving others.
b. Begin the New Year considering how you can offer your
gifts for god's use.
Two
thoughts to help you imagine how you offer your gifts.
1.
Armstrong recalls her parents’
experience as
African-American visitors in a largely European-American congregation.
“When my parents heard the choir singing an African-American spiritual
the first time they visited, they said, ‘The choir sure could use help with
that spiritual,’ ” Armstrong says. “My parents were first and foremost seeking
a church where they could use their gifts to serve God, but they were also hoping
to broaden the church by inviting it to receive diversity.”
Because Calvary
Church had extended such a warm and immediate welcome to her parents — and
later to all five Armstrong children, of which CC is the youngest — Armstrong
always saw it as her calling to extend that same welcome to others.(October 27, 2011, pcusa, news and announcements)
2.
Using
their gifts to expand the understanding of who God is and what the body of
Christ is called to be.
b. Quote -- "Rings and jewels are not gifts but
apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of yourself.” Ralph Waldo Emerson; quoted in Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On
and Off the Court, John Wooden with Steve Jamison (11)
1. The wise men bring gifts, but perhaps the
biggest gift they gave was aligning them with the Christ-child and turning away
from King Herod.
2. We
read about the prophet Isaiah who gave himself over to serving God.
3. Perhaps
the best gift we have to give is the gift of ourself.
Conclusion: The
wise men arrive bearing gifts for the Christ-child, and they discover they have
another choice. Do they continue with the status quo and
join ranks with King Herod, or do they give themselves over to Christ.
The wise men say, “We will
follow Christ.” What do you say?
Two articles that I read in
preparing this sermon:
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Five-Things-You-Didnt-Know-About-the-Magi.html
-- interesting tidbits of information about the wise men
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