The Three Kings -- And The King Of Kings
Worship
They Came Together In Bethlehem
Messages for the Advent/Christmas Season
Object:
First Sunday After Christmas
Isaiah 9:7; Matthew 2:1-12
They Came Together In Bethlehem:
The Three Kings -- And The King Of Kings
A wealthy couple went on a trip to Hawaii. One afternoon the wife went down to the beach. After a while her husband walked down to the beach. He saw a group of people there trying to help someone. He realized it was his wife. He ran up to them and said, "What are you doing?" They replied, "We're giving her artificial respiration." He said, "Artificial nothing. Give her the real thing. We can afford it!"1
When we read about those three mysterious men from the East we need not be concerned about their long journey, their missing work at home, the expensive gifts they brought with them. They could afford it all. There was nothing artificial in who they were, what they did, or what they brought with them.
All through the Advent season we thought together about the theme, "They Came Together In Bethlehem." We come now to the end of the Christmas story, and today we will look at "The Three Kings -- And The King Of Kings."
Centuries earlier the prophet Isaiah had written about the coming Messiah: "Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this."
Then, in Matthew's Gospel we have this account of the visit to Bethlehem by those who came to see this King. We see coming together in Bethlehem the three kings and the King of kings.
Finally come the wise men. We call them kings. But we are not exactly sure about what they were or who they were.
The Greek word for them is magi. It can mean "wise men," or "astrologers," or "magicians."2 They may have been kings or princes. But they were at least some combination of royal priests who studied the stars. William Barclay, in his Bible commentary, says they were "teachers of Persian kings" and men "of holiness and wisdom."3
Matthew tells us these wise men came from the East to the city of Jerusalem. When they got there they began to ask around, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."
Herod, the maniac king, heard about this, and he became afraid. He was fearful of any threat to his power. And anything that upset Herod upset all of Jerusalem, because no one knew what he would do next. He learns from the priests and the scribes that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. So he calls the three travelers to him, and sends them out to find the newborn king.
Interesting, isn't it, that priests, scribes, Levites and Pharisees, and all the holy men of Israel were not even interested enough to go down to Bethlehem to find out for themselves? It is a trio of Gentile holy men who make the trip for them all.
So these three wise men leave the city to find the King. They had lost sight of the star there in the lights of the city, but they find it again. They follow the light until they see it has come to stop over the place where the child was, and "they were overwhelmed with joy." They went inside and found the Messiah, the Christ child, the King of kings.
What do you do when you go into the presence of a king? This was not just the potentate of a small country, but the long-awaited King of the Jews who would be the Messiah who ushers in the new age of God's Kingdom over all creation. What do you do in the presence of such a King?
As we begin to move away from Christmas we see in these three wise kings what all wise men and women do in the presence of the King of kings.
I
They were wise enough to kneel before him. That is the first thing to remember. They knew that was the appropriate response for them.
Saint Matthew tells us that when they came into the place where the child was "they knelt down." Everybody always knelt down in the presence of a king. It was just the thing to do.
I wonder, would you be willing to do that even now? Would you be willing to kneel before him?
That is always the appropriate response to Christmas, the coming of the King of kings, and his presence with us today.
William Sloane Coffin was the pastor at Riverside Church in New York for a number of years. In a sermon he preached there on this story of the three wise men he pointed out the truths we still find in it today: "That people come from afar and by many ways to worship Christ ... that no place is too lowly to kneel ... that as knowledge grows so too must reverence and love."4
We kneel before Christ from wherever we have come, wherever we are as an expression of our love for him and his ways. That is what Christmas calls us to do.
A man took his granddaughter to see a manger scene. As they looked at it he pointed out to her everything which was a part of the story -- the animals, the shepherds, Joseph and Mary, the manger and the baby, the three wise men. Then he said to her, "And there's the light of the star, but I can't see where the star is." She replied, "You can't see how the light shines in unless you get down and look up."5
One of the kings of England had some of his friends come to a meal with him. When he came in the room they all stood up. He seemed a little embarrassed and said, "Oh, you're my special friends. I'm not the Lord, you know." One of the men replied, "Sir, if you were we would not stand. We would all kneel before you."
That is what you do in the presence of this King. I hope you are wise enough to kneel before him.
II
They were also wise enough to worship him. That is the second thing to remember. They knew that was the appropriate response for them.
Saint Matthew tells us when they came into the place where the child was they not only knelt, they also "worshiped him." Some translations say they "paid him homage." Everybody always paid homage to a king. They often worshiped the king. It was the thing to do.
I wonder, would you be willing to do that even now? Would you be willing to pay him homage, to worship him?
That is always the appropriate response to Christmas, the coming of the King of kings, and his presence among us today.
We worship Christ because we accept his kingdom and his ways. That is what Christmas calls us to do.
Saint Augustine wrote these words: "It is love that asks, that seeks, that knocks, that finds, and that is faithful to what it finds."6
To worship Christ, to pay homage to him, is to be faithful to who he was and is, how he lived, what he taught, what he did in his life, death, and resurrection.
Do we not worship Christ most faithfully when we pay him the homage, the honor of imitation?
I saw in a television documentary the story of Father Colby, a Catholic priest in Poland. The Nazis discovered that he had been hiding Jews and protecting them. They arrested him and sent him to one of their death camps. One day someone escaped from the camp, and the Nazis decided that ten people would die because of it. One of the them they selected was a Polish Army sergeant. He begged that he be spared because he had a wife and several children. Father Colby stepped forward and volunteered to take his place. He gave his own life. It was said the camp was filled with light because of what he did.
There was a report on the evening news about a KKK rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Another group was there protesting against them. The two groups began shouting at each other. Then suddenly those protesting the Klan turned on a Klan member who got too close to them. They threw him down and began beating him with sticks. But something happened which was unexpected. A black woman named Kesha Thomas threw herself on the man and protected him with her own body. The other people walked away in silence.
Here are two examples of people willing to worship Christ, to pay him homage, not just by words, but by their deeds. They gave him the highest honor, which is imitation.
That is what you do in the presence of this King. I hope we are wise enough to worship him.
III
They were also wise enough to offer gifts to him. That is the third thing to remember. They knew that was the appropriate response for them. Saint Matthew tells us when they came into the place where the child was they not only knelt and worshiped him, they also opened "their treasures" and "offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh." Everybody always brought gifts to a king. It was the thing to do.
I wonder, would you be willing to do that even now? Would you be willing to bring him gifts?
That is always the appropriate response to Christmas, the coming of the King of kings, and his presence with us today.
We give gifts to Christ because we know he is God's gift to us. That is what Christmas calls us to do.
Love for Christ and his kingdom always calls us to give whatever is needed.
A man went into a pet shop to buy a bird. He was looking at several, which were all inexpensive. Then he saw one which cost several hundred dollars. When asked why the difference, the clerk said it was because this bird could talk. The man bought the bird and took him home. But the bird said nothing. The next day he went back to the shop and told them. He was told he needed to buy a ladder for the bird. He bought it and took it home, but the bird said nothing. The next day he went back to the shop and was told he needed to buy a mirror. He bought it and took it home, but the bird said nothing. The next day he went back to the shop and was told he needed to buy a swing. He bought it and took it home, but the bird said nothing. Late that night the bird took a downturn. The next day the man went back to the shop, and told them the bird did talk just before he died. The people in the shop asked, "What did he say?" The man replied, "He said, 'Don't they sell birdseed down at that store?' "
Love calls us to give whatever is needed. It is our love for the King of kings that calls forth from us the very best we have to give to him. And it calls us to give him our lives -- all that we are, all that we have, all that we ever hope to be.
That is what you do in the presence of this King. I hope we are wise enough to give him the best gifts we have.
Kneeling before him, worshiping him, giving him our best gifts will bring us together with him in Bethlehem. And when we come together in Bethlehem with the King of kings all of life is set in order. It comes together. No matter what happens we will serve him, and we will know that he is with us.
This time between Christmas and Epiphany is called Christmastide, or the Christmas season. Sometimes we refer to the twelve days of Christmas. Epiphany is the day the church has long observed as the time of the visit of the wise men to the Christ child.
There is a song we hear called "The Twelve Days Of Christmas," which most of us know as being an old English folk song. You remember, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me ..."
Father William J. Bausch gives us the story of that song in his book, Storytelling The Word. He writes that the song was composed by two Catholic Jesuits in sixteenth century England. By then the Catholic Church and the Catholic faith had been outlawed in England. Death and imprisonment were the punishments for being Catholic. But two Jesuits wrote a song of hope for all Catholics in England. And they sang it to bolster their faith and commitment in a difficult time. Here is the real meaning of that song:
"Twelve drummers drumming" were the twelve beliefs outlined in the Apostles' Creed.
"Eleven pipers piping" were the eleven apostles, minus Judas.
"Ten lords a-leaping" were the Ten Commandments.
"Nine ladies dancing" were the nine choirs of angels.
"Eight maids a-milking" were the Beatitudes.
"Seven swans a-swimming" were the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church.
"Six geese a-laying" were the six precepts of the Church.
"Five golden rings" were the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch.
"Four calling birds" were the four Gospels.
"Three French hens" signified the three gifts the wise men brought.
"Two turtle doves" meant the Old and New Testaments, for the Spirit, the dove, inspired both.
"A partridge in a pear tree" is Jesus Christ who reigns victoriously from the cross.7
So, on Christmas Day my true love, God, gave to me a partridge in a pear tree, his son, Jesus Christ. And he is why we come to Bethlehem, and come together with him. And he is why everything comes together in Bethlehem. We know he is with us no matter what, and that no matter what he will reign forever.
Thanks be to God!
____________
1. James W. Moore, Christmas Gifts That Always Fit (Nashville, Tennessee: Dimensions For Living, 1996), p. 11.
2. M. Eugene Boring, "The Gospel Of Matthew," The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume VIII (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1995), p. 140.
3. William Barclay, The Gospel Of Matthew, Volume 1 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Westminster Press, 1975), p. 26.
4. William Sloane Coffin, Living The Truth In A World Of Illusions (San Francisco, California: Harper & Row, 1985), p. 19.
5. Lamar J. Brooks, "... And On Earth, Peace," Award Winning Sermons, Volume 3 (Nashville, Tennessee: Boardman Press, 1979), p. 33.
6. Susan Newman Hopkins, "What Love Demands," Pulpit Digest, March-April, 1992, p. 5.
7. William J. Bausch, Storytelling The Word (Mystic, Connecticut: Twenty-third Publications, 1996), p. 203.
Christmas 1
Candlelighting And Prayer
Lighting Of All The Candles
Leader: Scripture Reading -- Isaiah 9:7
Leader: These candles we light today, after Christmas remind us to keep the light of Christ burning in our hearts through all the days ahead.
People: Amen.
Prayer
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who is the great creator of all that is and who dared to bend low in the coming of thy Son Jesus Christ, we bow before thee today.
We rejoice in the glad tidings of the Savior's birth. And we pray that we would be protected from the desire to get over Christmas and pack Jesus neatly up and put him away until next year, for Christmas is not even a week old and some of us are weary with it already.
Protect us, O God, from such weary living. Put a new song of joy in our hearts. For truly our lives have been blessed of thee. And we thank thee for thy graciousness toward us, for all the gifts we have received from thee and for all the gifts of love and friendship which others have shared with us.
We thank thee for this old year that is fading away and for the new year that is dawning. Into this new year may we take something of Christmas with us.
Bless those of our church family and community who have special problems. Be with those who are sick and in sorrow. Help them and be the Great Physician for them.
Bring some sense of hope, peace, and goodwill to this earth, and may we find those things in thy well-beloved Son, for we pray in his name. Amen.
Christmas 1
Children's Message
Looking At Our Chrismons: A Crown
Good morning. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas.
Here we are now on the Sunday after Christmas. We have come through the Advent season. Then we came to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And now Christmas is here. We celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is our newborn King.
We are told that when he was born among those people who came to see him were three wise men from the East. We talked about them on Christmas Eve, remember? They followed the light of the star all the way to the place where Jesus was born.
When they found him they fell down on their knees and worshiped him. Then they gave him gifts. They brought to him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These were very expensive gifts. They were the kind of gifts you would give to a king.
He was a king, the newborn king of the Jews. He is still our king today. That is why we have this crown on our tree. It helps us remember that Jesus is our king still today.
Do you know what a king does? A king is a ruler. His people do what he says. He is their leader.
So to say Jesus is our king means we live the way he wants us to live. He is the one we worship and serve. This is why we celebrate his birth. This crown helps us remember these things.
Let us pray. Father, thank you for sending your Son to rule our lives. Amen.
Christmas 1
The Beholders
The Wise Man
The arrangement was simple. The group of astrologers had come to Judea seeking the King of the Jews. King Herod wanted to be spared the bother of hunting for him. Herod wanted us to save him some time.
I knew that the child-king of Israel was to be born in Bethlehem. I had been studying those prophecies and watching the night skies all my life. I was eager to find this royal one, to pay tribute to his authority. Jerusalem is quite a distance from my home in Babylon. But there was great interest in him even there, and not only among the Jews.
Herod summoned us under cover of night. "Tell me where the child is," he had said, "so I can go and worship him, too." His hands were clasped in front of him as though in prayer. He was eager, almost frantic to get to the child. Well, we were going to the child anyway; why not tell Herod where we found him? Besides, Herod had a certain ... reputation. It would not do to refuse him a favor.
Herod suggested we take suitable gifts to the little king -- that was how he put it, "little king." That caught me -- there was something sly in his tone. He showed us the gifts he had prepared. Gold, an appropriate gift for royalty, a sign of the riches awaiting the one to be enthroned. Frankincense, a symbol of divine blessing and protection. I recognized these gifts, of course; they were foretold by the prophet Isaiah. But the third was not right, not appropriate. Myrrh. A burial spice; one mixed it with aloes to prepare a corpse for the tomb. He handed it to me in its elaborately disguised golden box. "Find him for me. I am most eager." Herod was smiling.
All the way into Bethlehem it troubled me. Myrrh? Who gives myrrh to an infant? It was obscene. I remembered Herod's words -- "the little king" -- and the strange look in his eyes. With a jolt, I knew. The child was a rival sovereign. Herod meant to kill him. We found the house in Bethlehem and presented our gifts. The child's mother was gracious, but when I handed her the myrrh, her eyes clouded. What did we see in the stars for her little boy, she asked silently. I was afraid I knew.
I had a dream the night after we visited the child. I saw a crossroad, one road familiar and well-traveled, the other beautiful but unknown and very crooked. As I stood trying to get my bearings and choose a route, a tall, muscular man appeared. He stood in the intersection, one arm raised as if to show me the way. He was gesturing toward the unfamiliar road. It was then that I noticed that his fist was clenched. I became curious; he seemed determined to hold that hand shut. I thought he must be concealing some treasure of great value -- a rare gem or a gold coin. I grabbed his wrist in my hand and pried his fingers open. Inside was no coin, no ruby or diamond. His hand was empty. But his palm had a scar. A hole, as though it had been pierced through with a spike.
I awoke trembling. He was showing me the safe way home. I knew I must not go back to Herod. We left by an alternate route, leaving Herod frustrated, the child still alive.
I don't know what will become of that little boy. But the man from my dream lingers. The road I thought was familiar and safe would have meant certain death. But the way he showed me took me home. We walk it together in my dreams. He does not leave me. And, I think, he will not.
Isaiah 9:7; Matthew 2:1-12
They Came Together In Bethlehem:
The Three Kings -- And The King Of Kings
A wealthy couple went on a trip to Hawaii. One afternoon the wife went down to the beach. After a while her husband walked down to the beach. He saw a group of people there trying to help someone. He realized it was his wife. He ran up to them and said, "What are you doing?" They replied, "We're giving her artificial respiration." He said, "Artificial nothing. Give her the real thing. We can afford it!"1
When we read about those three mysterious men from the East we need not be concerned about their long journey, their missing work at home, the expensive gifts they brought with them. They could afford it all. There was nothing artificial in who they were, what they did, or what they brought with them.
All through the Advent season we thought together about the theme, "They Came Together In Bethlehem." We come now to the end of the Christmas story, and today we will look at "The Three Kings -- And The King Of Kings."
Centuries earlier the prophet Isaiah had written about the coming Messiah: "Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this."
Then, in Matthew's Gospel we have this account of the visit to Bethlehem by those who came to see this King. We see coming together in Bethlehem the three kings and the King of kings.
Finally come the wise men. We call them kings. But we are not exactly sure about what they were or who they were.
The Greek word for them is magi. It can mean "wise men," or "astrologers," or "magicians."2 They may have been kings or princes. But they were at least some combination of royal priests who studied the stars. William Barclay, in his Bible commentary, says they were "teachers of Persian kings" and men "of holiness and wisdom."3
Matthew tells us these wise men came from the East to the city of Jerusalem. When they got there they began to ask around, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."
Herod, the maniac king, heard about this, and he became afraid. He was fearful of any threat to his power. And anything that upset Herod upset all of Jerusalem, because no one knew what he would do next. He learns from the priests and the scribes that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. So he calls the three travelers to him, and sends them out to find the newborn king.
Interesting, isn't it, that priests, scribes, Levites and Pharisees, and all the holy men of Israel were not even interested enough to go down to Bethlehem to find out for themselves? It is a trio of Gentile holy men who make the trip for them all.
So these three wise men leave the city to find the King. They had lost sight of the star there in the lights of the city, but they find it again. They follow the light until they see it has come to stop over the place where the child was, and "they were overwhelmed with joy." They went inside and found the Messiah, the Christ child, the King of kings.
What do you do when you go into the presence of a king? This was not just the potentate of a small country, but the long-awaited King of the Jews who would be the Messiah who ushers in the new age of God's Kingdom over all creation. What do you do in the presence of such a King?
As we begin to move away from Christmas we see in these three wise kings what all wise men and women do in the presence of the King of kings.
I
They were wise enough to kneel before him. That is the first thing to remember. They knew that was the appropriate response for them.
Saint Matthew tells us that when they came into the place where the child was "they knelt down." Everybody always knelt down in the presence of a king. It was just the thing to do.
I wonder, would you be willing to do that even now? Would you be willing to kneel before him?
That is always the appropriate response to Christmas, the coming of the King of kings, and his presence with us today.
William Sloane Coffin was the pastor at Riverside Church in New York for a number of years. In a sermon he preached there on this story of the three wise men he pointed out the truths we still find in it today: "That people come from afar and by many ways to worship Christ ... that no place is too lowly to kneel ... that as knowledge grows so too must reverence and love."4
We kneel before Christ from wherever we have come, wherever we are as an expression of our love for him and his ways. That is what Christmas calls us to do.
A man took his granddaughter to see a manger scene. As they looked at it he pointed out to her everything which was a part of the story -- the animals, the shepherds, Joseph and Mary, the manger and the baby, the three wise men. Then he said to her, "And there's the light of the star, but I can't see where the star is." She replied, "You can't see how the light shines in unless you get down and look up."5
One of the kings of England had some of his friends come to a meal with him. When he came in the room they all stood up. He seemed a little embarrassed and said, "Oh, you're my special friends. I'm not the Lord, you know." One of the men replied, "Sir, if you were we would not stand. We would all kneel before you."
That is what you do in the presence of this King. I hope you are wise enough to kneel before him.
II
They were also wise enough to worship him. That is the second thing to remember. They knew that was the appropriate response for them.
Saint Matthew tells us when they came into the place where the child was they not only knelt, they also "worshiped him." Some translations say they "paid him homage." Everybody always paid homage to a king. They often worshiped the king. It was the thing to do.
I wonder, would you be willing to do that even now? Would you be willing to pay him homage, to worship him?
That is always the appropriate response to Christmas, the coming of the King of kings, and his presence among us today.
We worship Christ because we accept his kingdom and his ways. That is what Christmas calls us to do.
Saint Augustine wrote these words: "It is love that asks, that seeks, that knocks, that finds, and that is faithful to what it finds."6
To worship Christ, to pay homage to him, is to be faithful to who he was and is, how he lived, what he taught, what he did in his life, death, and resurrection.
Do we not worship Christ most faithfully when we pay him the homage, the honor of imitation?
I saw in a television documentary the story of Father Colby, a Catholic priest in Poland. The Nazis discovered that he had been hiding Jews and protecting them. They arrested him and sent him to one of their death camps. One day someone escaped from the camp, and the Nazis decided that ten people would die because of it. One of the them they selected was a Polish Army sergeant. He begged that he be spared because he had a wife and several children. Father Colby stepped forward and volunteered to take his place. He gave his own life. It was said the camp was filled with light because of what he did.
There was a report on the evening news about a KKK rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Another group was there protesting against them. The two groups began shouting at each other. Then suddenly those protesting the Klan turned on a Klan member who got too close to them. They threw him down and began beating him with sticks. But something happened which was unexpected. A black woman named Kesha Thomas threw herself on the man and protected him with her own body. The other people walked away in silence.
Here are two examples of people willing to worship Christ, to pay him homage, not just by words, but by their deeds. They gave him the highest honor, which is imitation.
That is what you do in the presence of this King. I hope we are wise enough to worship him.
III
They were also wise enough to offer gifts to him. That is the third thing to remember. They knew that was the appropriate response for them. Saint Matthew tells us when they came into the place where the child was they not only knelt and worshiped him, they also opened "their treasures" and "offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh." Everybody always brought gifts to a king. It was the thing to do.
I wonder, would you be willing to do that even now? Would you be willing to bring him gifts?
That is always the appropriate response to Christmas, the coming of the King of kings, and his presence with us today.
We give gifts to Christ because we know he is God's gift to us. That is what Christmas calls us to do.
Love for Christ and his kingdom always calls us to give whatever is needed.
A man went into a pet shop to buy a bird. He was looking at several, which were all inexpensive. Then he saw one which cost several hundred dollars. When asked why the difference, the clerk said it was because this bird could talk. The man bought the bird and took him home. But the bird said nothing. The next day he went back to the shop and told them. He was told he needed to buy a ladder for the bird. He bought it and took it home, but the bird said nothing. The next day he went back to the shop and was told he needed to buy a mirror. He bought it and took it home, but the bird said nothing. The next day he went back to the shop and was told he needed to buy a swing. He bought it and took it home, but the bird said nothing. Late that night the bird took a downturn. The next day the man went back to the shop, and told them the bird did talk just before he died. The people in the shop asked, "What did he say?" The man replied, "He said, 'Don't they sell birdseed down at that store?' "
Love calls us to give whatever is needed. It is our love for the King of kings that calls forth from us the very best we have to give to him. And it calls us to give him our lives -- all that we are, all that we have, all that we ever hope to be.
That is what you do in the presence of this King. I hope we are wise enough to give him the best gifts we have.
Kneeling before him, worshiping him, giving him our best gifts will bring us together with him in Bethlehem. And when we come together in Bethlehem with the King of kings all of life is set in order. It comes together. No matter what happens we will serve him, and we will know that he is with us.
This time between Christmas and Epiphany is called Christmastide, or the Christmas season. Sometimes we refer to the twelve days of Christmas. Epiphany is the day the church has long observed as the time of the visit of the wise men to the Christ child.
There is a song we hear called "The Twelve Days Of Christmas," which most of us know as being an old English folk song. You remember, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me ..."
Father William J. Bausch gives us the story of that song in his book, Storytelling The Word. He writes that the song was composed by two Catholic Jesuits in sixteenth century England. By then the Catholic Church and the Catholic faith had been outlawed in England. Death and imprisonment were the punishments for being Catholic. But two Jesuits wrote a song of hope for all Catholics in England. And they sang it to bolster their faith and commitment in a difficult time. Here is the real meaning of that song:
"Twelve drummers drumming" were the twelve beliefs outlined in the Apostles' Creed.
"Eleven pipers piping" were the eleven apostles, minus Judas.
"Ten lords a-leaping" were the Ten Commandments.
"Nine ladies dancing" were the nine choirs of angels.
"Eight maids a-milking" were the Beatitudes.
"Seven swans a-swimming" were the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church.
"Six geese a-laying" were the six precepts of the Church.
"Five golden rings" were the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch.
"Four calling birds" were the four Gospels.
"Three French hens" signified the three gifts the wise men brought.
"Two turtle doves" meant the Old and New Testaments, for the Spirit, the dove, inspired both.
"A partridge in a pear tree" is Jesus Christ who reigns victoriously from the cross.7
So, on Christmas Day my true love, God, gave to me a partridge in a pear tree, his son, Jesus Christ. And he is why we come to Bethlehem, and come together with him. And he is why everything comes together in Bethlehem. We know he is with us no matter what, and that no matter what he will reign forever.
Thanks be to God!
____________
1. James W. Moore, Christmas Gifts That Always Fit (Nashville, Tennessee: Dimensions For Living, 1996), p. 11.
2. M. Eugene Boring, "The Gospel Of Matthew," The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume VIII (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1995), p. 140.
3. William Barclay, The Gospel Of Matthew, Volume 1 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Westminster Press, 1975), p. 26.
4. William Sloane Coffin, Living The Truth In A World Of Illusions (San Francisco, California: Harper & Row, 1985), p. 19.
5. Lamar J. Brooks, "... And On Earth, Peace," Award Winning Sermons, Volume 3 (Nashville, Tennessee: Boardman Press, 1979), p. 33.
6. Susan Newman Hopkins, "What Love Demands," Pulpit Digest, March-April, 1992, p. 5.
7. William J. Bausch, Storytelling The Word (Mystic, Connecticut: Twenty-third Publications, 1996), p. 203.
Christmas 1
Candlelighting And Prayer
Lighting Of All The Candles
Leader: Scripture Reading -- Isaiah 9:7
Leader: These candles we light today, after Christmas remind us to keep the light of Christ burning in our hearts through all the days ahead.
People: Amen.
Prayer
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who is the great creator of all that is and who dared to bend low in the coming of thy Son Jesus Christ, we bow before thee today.
We rejoice in the glad tidings of the Savior's birth. And we pray that we would be protected from the desire to get over Christmas and pack Jesus neatly up and put him away until next year, for Christmas is not even a week old and some of us are weary with it already.
Protect us, O God, from such weary living. Put a new song of joy in our hearts. For truly our lives have been blessed of thee. And we thank thee for thy graciousness toward us, for all the gifts we have received from thee and for all the gifts of love and friendship which others have shared with us.
We thank thee for this old year that is fading away and for the new year that is dawning. Into this new year may we take something of Christmas with us.
Bless those of our church family and community who have special problems. Be with those who are sick and in sorrow. Help them and be the Great Physician for them.
Bring some sense of hope, peace, and goodwill to this earth, and may we find those things in thy well-beloved Son, for we pray in his name. Amen.
Christmas 1
Children's Message
Looking At Our Chrismons: A Crown
Good morning. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas.
Here we are now on the Sunday after Christmas. We have come through the Advent season. Then we came to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And now Christmas is here. We celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is our newborn King.
We are told that when he was born among those people who came to see him were three wise men from the East. We talked about them on Christmas Eve, remember? They followed the light of the star all the way to the place where Jesus was born.
When they found him they fell down on their knees and worshiped him. Then they gave him gifts. They brought to him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These were very expensive gifts. They were the kind of gifts you would give to a king.
He was a king, the newborn king of the Jews. He is still our king today. That is why we have this crown on our tree. It helps us remember that Jesus is our king still today.
Do you know what a king does? A king is a ruler. His people do what he says. He is their leader.
So to say Jesus is our king means we live the way he wants us to live. He is the one we worship and serve. This is why we celebrate his birth. This crown helps us remember these things.
Let us pray. Father, thank you for sending your Son to rule our lives. Amen.
Christmas 1
The Beholders
The Wise Man
The arrangement was simple. The group of astrologers had come to Judea seeking the King of the Jews. King Herod wanted to be spared the bother of hunting for him. Herod wanted us to save him some time.
I knew that the child-king of Israel was to be born in Bethlehem. I had been studying those prophecies and watching the night skies all my life. I was eager to find this royal one, to pay tribute to his authority. Jerusalem is quite a distance from my home in Babylon. But there was great interest in him even there, and not only among the Jews.
Herod summoned us under cover of night. "Tell me where the child is," he had said, "so I can go and worship him, too." His hands were clasped in front of him as though in prayer. He was eager, almost frantic to get to the child. Well, we were going to the child anyway; why not tell Herod where we found him? Besides, Herod had a certain ... reputation. It would not do to refuse him a favor.
Herod suggested we take suitable gifts to the little king -- that was how he put it, "little king." That caught me -- there was something sly in his tone. He showed us the gifts he had prepared. Gold, an appropriate gift for royalty, a sign of the riches awaiting the one to be enthroned. Frankincense, a symbol of divine blessing and protection. I recognized these gifts, of course; they were foretold by the prophet Isaiah. But the third was not right, not appropriate. Myrrh. A burial spice; one mixed it with aloes to prepare a corpse for the tomb. He handed it to me in its elaborately disguised golden box. "Find him for me. I am most eager." Herod was smiling.
All the way into Bethlehem it troubled me. Myrrh? Who gives myrrh to an infant? It was obscene. I remembered Herod's words -- "the little king" -- and the strange look in his eyes. With a jolt, I knew. The child was a rival sovereign. Herod meant to kill him. We found the house in Bethlehem and presented our gifts. The child's mother was gracious, but when I handed her the myrrh, her eyes clouded. What did we see in the stars for her little boy, she asked silently. I was afraid I knew.
I had a dream the night after we visited the child. I saw a crossroad, one road familiar and well-traveled, the other beautiful but unknown and very crooked. As I stood trying to get my bearings and choose a route, a tall, muscular man appeared. He stood in the intersection, one arm raised as if to show me the way. He was gesturing toward the unfamiliar road. It was then that I noticed that his fist was clenched. I became curious; he seemed determined to hold that hand shut. I thought he must be concealing some treasure of great value -- a rare gem or a gold coin. I grabbed his wrist in my hand and pried his fingers open. Inside was no coin, no ruby or diamond. His hand was empty. But his palm had a scar. A hole, as though it had been pierced through with a spike.
I awoke trembling. He was showing me the safe way home. I knew I must not go back to Herod. We left by an alternate route, leaving Herod frustrated, the child still alive.
I don't know what will become of that little boy. But the man from my dream lingers. The road I thought was familiar and safe would have meant certain death. But the way he showed me took me home. We walk it together in my dreams. He does not leave me. And, I think, he will not.
