Jesus is Lord: Sermon 1 Cornithians 1:1-9

Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

I was driving down the road the other day and I saw a sign outside of a school that read “Lordy, Lordy Mrs. Jones is 40”. I don’t know if Mrs. Jones enjoyed the attention of not. We use that word a lot sometimes don’t we, Lord. We say “Oh my Lord”, when something shocks, saddens, or even angers us. Sometimes our shortest prayers are simply, “Lord, help me.” We see the word used in this week’s Scripture reading. This is Paul’s greeting in his first letter to the church in Corinth. Paul was a highly educated man and so Paul uses a standard Greek greeting used in that time. Paul first introduces himself not as self-made man but as one who has been called by God as an apostle of Christ. Paul then indentifies his recipients in this case it is the church in Corinth and Paul offers them the peace and grace of God in Christ.

That is the reading for today. What does the introduction to 1 Corinthians mean for us today? Shouldn’t we delve deeper into this letter to gain some new spiritual enlightenment? If we look closely at Paul’s use of words in this introduction we can find some insights for our lives today. Paul refers to Jesus as Lord 5 times in these nine verses. The Lord Jesus Christ was a title given by the disciples and carried on through the early Church and into today. It was an important title back then; it was a title of honor and respect. It has lost some of that honor and respect in today’s time. Let’s take a look today at what that title meant for Paul and his contemporaries and also what does Jesus’ title of Lord mean for us today?

Before we can answer these two questions we need to develop a working definition of the word Lord. If you were to look in the good ol’ Merriam-Webster dictionary you would find a definition of the word Lord. The first definition would be “one having power and authority over others”, also “a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and obedience are due”. The second definition is God and Jesus. We can see how these two definitions can come together to give us a clearer picture of what we mean by Lord theologically. Calling Jesus “Lord” means that he has power and authority over our lives and that we owe him service obedience and honor. We use the word Lord in that context often. We have the Lord ’s Prayer, the Lord’s supper, Sunday is often called the Lord’s Day. The word Lord is used over 1,000 times in the Old and New Testaments. Now, Lord, does not always refer to Jesus, sometimes, especially in the OT it refers to God, but as we see God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit as a Trinity, three in one, so in that sense it does refer to Jesus. Referring to Jesus as Lord is not something to be taken lightly nor should in vain. It is a title of honor and respect and should be used as such.

Now that we have a definition of Lord, what did referring to Jesus as Lord mean for Paul and his contemporaries? First we need a reminder of the political culture that Paul lived in. Paul lived in a time of Roman dominance in the world. Rome had conquered most of the then known world from Britain in the west to India in the east. The entire seaboard of the Mediterranean Sea was under Roman control. All those who were under Roman control were expected to pay homage to the emperor, which in the time of Paul as Nero. The emperor was to be lord in the lives of the people. Along with the emperor there were other governors and leaders in the various regions that expected your service and honor. In this time the Emperor not only expected your political allegiance, but also your spiritual allegiance. The later Roman emperors claimed to be a living god on earth. All Roman emperors were deified after death, but a change soon took place and the people were to worship the emperor’s as gods living on earth. This was the way all under Rome’s control were to see the emperor. You could have whatever religion you wanted as long as you paid homage to the emperor as lord and god.

Naturally, this was an impossibility for Christians. Paul and his contemporaries know that they could not serve two masters. As they chose to make Jesus their lord of their lives they took a risk. First, calling Jesus Lord could cause you to lose your reputation. People would think you were nuts. You mean your lord is a Jew, from Nazareth, born to poor parents, who was crucified in Jerusalem. Yeah, ok, whatever. Paul expected this and understood the difficulty. He later said that the good news of Christ was foolishness to those who were perishing; to those who were not Christians the idea of a crucified lord was ludicrous. Calling Jesus Lord could cause you to lose your business or your house or your possessions. All the material things you had were at risk when you made Jesus lord of your life.

Not only this, making Jesus lord of your life could cost you your life. Paul and his contemporaries were teaching and preaching in the time of Nero, which was a time of Christian persecution. Nero would use the Christians as scapegoats for the things that went wrong in the empire. If there was an outbreak of disease or money problems it was the fault of the Christians. So Christians were hunted down and imprisoned and killed.

Why was making Jesus the lord of your life so offensive to the emperor and therefore so dangerous? One can only have on lord in their lives. One can only serve one master, if Jesus was your lord that meant that Caesar was not your lord. Jesus is lord was a radical, counter-cultural statement back then. It was a statement in defiance of an empire. It took much courage and faith to make such a statement.

We do not have that problem today. Today, we are fortunate enough to live in a country of religious tolerance and freedom. We can thank God and a veteran for that. Our President does not require us to pay homage or to offer a dedication to him. We are blest beyond words to have this kind of freedom. We should thank God for it and pray for our sisters and brothers who do not have such a freedom. So what else does it mean to call Jesus Lord in our times?

Our belief that Jesus is Lord means that we owe service and obedience to him. This means more than just church attendance and Bible study, it includes these for sure. But, we also serve Jesus by doing for the least of these. We help the poor, we speak out against injustice, we live each day more and more like Christ. This is how we offer service to him. We love one another as Jesus loves us. We love our neighbor as ourselves. It is the simplest thing to say and the hardest thing to do. God is love and so to serve God to pay homage to God in Christ we too must love. We love and support one another. Saying that Jesus is Lord is not enough it must be backed up with actions. We must live out our faith each and every day.

Making Jesus Lord of our lives means denying the other “lords” in our lives. These lords are not emperors, barons, or kings. Instead it is greed, selfishness, anger, hate, racism, sexism; all those things that seek to divide us instead of unite us. These lords seek to take the place of Jesus in our hearts. Our love of material things above love for neighbor and God prevents Jesus from becoming lord of our hearts. We have to keep our focus on Jesus through constant vigilance in order to prevent these lords from taking over.

Saying that Jesus is Lord means that we are connected with, we are unified with Christians from around the world. From denomination to denomination we are united together as one body of Christ. We have to put away foolish divisions and bring ourselves together as a unified front facing the darkness of this world. We have spent too many years apart. We all might worship a little differently, we all might sing and pray a little differently, but we are united as children of God under the Lordship of Christ. That is what Jesus is Lord means for us today. It is not just words, but actions and life that matters most. Jesus is Lord. This is a simple statement, but as we have seen it carries with it some heavy connotations and responsibilities. It means joining together; it means acting and behaving in a certain way. It means having the love of Christ in our hearts.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

More Than Just Getting Wet: Sermon Matthew 3:13-17

Dear God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and feet and work through them; take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire for you. Amen

I want to start out this morning with a question. Do you remember your baptism? This might seem like an odd question because it is something that most of us probably do not think about very often. Some of you might not remember it at all because you were infants at the time. Some of you might have been in this very church. Some of you might have been a church camp or at VBS. Some of you might have been baptized in a church or in the creek. Wherever it might have been our baptism is an important moment in our Christian journey, it signifies a starting point, a place from which we begin our journey of sanctification.

Baptism is held sacred among almost all Christian denominations. It is one of two sacraments recognized by the protestant church. We cherish the sacrament of baptism it is full of grace and beauty. Through the ceremony of baptism we welcome new members into our community and family. It is a beautiful thing. However, nothing else causes more controversy and division than baptism. It is a subject that can get two people from different denominations up and fighting. We concern ourselves with the method of baptism. Should baptism be full immersion only, or is pouring and sprinkling acceptable? There are questions of who can baptize, should it be an ordained pastor or could a lay person baptize? Where should baptism take place? Should it be only in the church or can it be done outside the sanctuary? These are questions that divide Christians to the very core. It causes riffs in churches and even in families. One act that should bring us together is one thing that drives us apart. Perhaps to alleviate some of the questions and controversies that go along with baptism we should go back and explore the basics of baptism. Let us look at the origins of baptism, the spiritual and theological meaning behind the physical act of baptism and see how baptism is more than just getting wet.

Many Christian believe that the idea behind baptism began as a Christian invention, which all began with John the Baptist. This is not necessarily accurate. The idea of a ritual bathing, which in a sense is part of what baptism is comes from the Jewish tradition. In order for the people to be ceremonially clean they had to go through a series of bathing. This ritual bathing was adopted and changed by John the Baptist and then used by the Christian Church.

In our story from Matthew John is baptizing in the Jordan River for the repentance of sins. This is still the case for today. Part of baptism is the remission and repentance from sin and sinful behavior. In the United Methodist Hymnal, candidates for baptism are asked if they renounce spiritual forces of wickedness and reject the evil powers in this world and repent of your sin. They are also asked if they accept the freedom that God offers them. This is a tradition that stems from the repentant baptism of John. Baptism in this sense begins a new life and ends an old one. Baptism is the first stage of a new life in Christ and in the Christian community. Baptism is out with the old and in with the new. Paul states in his letter to the Corinthians that those who are in Christ are new creations they have died to this world and are born again in Christ. This is a magnificent change that is symbolized in the act of baptism.

This brings up an interesting question, what causes this change? Is it the ceremony itself, is it the water? If so then is water from the Jordan River better than water from the Richland Creek. There are plenty of places on the Internet that will ship you Jordan River for a nominal fee. Does the amount of water matter? This is where a lot of the controversy resides. Should one be fully immersed? I am sure we have friends and neighbors who would say yes. Baptism is only to be done by full immersion, going down into the water represents death and one rises again with Christ. Of course there are those denominations who say different that pouring and sprinkling are acceptable. What kind of baptism did Jesus have? We don’t know it does not state specifically. Some biblical archeologists say that the place where John was baptizing was only 18 inches deep which would not be enough water for full immersion.

What about the person doing the baptizing? Is one person better than another? This was a controversy in the early Church. Those who were baptized by Paul or one of the apostles considered themselves better than others. Paul speaks of this in I Corinthians. He tells how the Christians in Corinth were dividing themselves up by who baptized them. In our church today, is a baptism by a bishop better than one by a local pastor? Is a baptism in a big beautiful cathedral better than one in a simple church?

The answer to all of these questions is no. The water does not matter. It could be water from the Jordan or water from the tap because it is not the water that does the work. It is the Holy Spirit. It does not matter if you use a pool’s worth of water or a cup full, it is not the water that does the work, but the Spirit. It does not matter who is doing the baptizing, a bishop or a pastor because it is not the person there that does the work it is the Spirit. If baptism were a human means of salvation then it might matter. If it was of human origins then it might matter. If it was the water or the person doing the baptism that does the work then it might matter. Because it is God doing the work through the Holy Spirit it does not matter where you are, what water you use, or how much water you use. What matters is the grace of God that flows within the heart of the new believer that is what does the work. It is the grace of God that cleanses the soul of sin, it is the grace of God that allows the Holy Spirit to take its place within our hearts, it is the grace of God that sets our feet on a new path of righteousness. Baptism is first and foremost spiritual, the human ceremony we perform is just a reenactment of the spiritual change that is already taking place. It is not the water that does the work it is the Spirit. We receive the Holy Spirit, this is the true baptism. This is where the change takes place, in the heart.

If the work is just spiritual then why even bother with the human ceremony? Water baptism is an outward sign of an inward change. It is not required for salvation, but it is a public acknowledgement and celebration of what has taken place on the inside. It also means we have inclusion into the Church. When we are baptized we join a community of baptized believers. We worship together, we love together, we rejoice together, we mourn together, we support one another, and we hold each other accountable. This is the Church this is what we united with in water baptism.

So why does Jesus get baptized? He did not need a baptism of repentance because he was without sin. He does not need John’s baptism. Instead Jesus begins the new baptism, that of the Holy Spirit. Matthew states, ¹⁶And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” It was not the water that changed everything it was the Holy Spirit descending upon him, this becomes the true baptism. Jesus is fulfilling what God had sent him to accomplish. People call Pentecost the birth of the Church and in certain ways this is true. However, I believe that part of the Church was created that day in the Jordan River. The community of baptized believers began with Jesus himself. In that moment, Jesus gave life to the community that he would later die for. This moment is the spark that ignites the Church.

Do you remember you baptism? If not your water baptism, what about your spiritual baptism? This was the moment that you received the Holy Spirit. This was the moment that you united with Christ’s Church. Your water baptism was the outward demonstration of God’s grace working within you. It was more than just getting wet. So, remember you baptism and be thankful.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Out of Egypt: Sermon Matthew 2:13-24

Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

Well the Holidays are winding down. Most of the presents have been opened, the food has been eaten, and the decorations are coming down. Soon the schools will once again be filled with children and we’ll all have to go back to work if we haven’t already. It seems as soon as Christmas gets here it is gone in a flash. But Christmas does give us an exhale from the rat race of life, however brief it might be. For that one day, most of the stores and restaurants are closed and Pulaski is like a ghost town. Everyone is at home or with friends and family celebrating the birth of the Christ child. Perhaps this day is a glimpse into the peace we will experience when Christ comes again, even if it is just for a moment. There are many things we love about Christmas, but most of all we love the stories. We love Twas the Night Before Christmas, but most of all we love the story of the birth of Christ.

Our reading for this morning is part of the Christmas story. However, you won’t see it on a Christmas card, or in a Christmas pageant, or in a movie, or in a carol, but here it is none the less. On the heels of the beautiful Christmas story, right after the birth of our Savior we have this horrid story of the slaughter of children, by a ruthless and jealous ruler. We have many reactions to the birth of Jesus. There are the angels who proclaim that there is good will and peace toward men and glory to God in the highest. There are the shepherds who leave their flocks to seek the child that whose birth had been told to them. There are the Magi, the three wise men who come from distant lands to worship the new born king. Then there is Herod who reacts to the news of a newborn King of the Jews, with the massacre of innocents. Herod is trying to snuff out this new king, this new threat before it can grow in strength and power. In order to receive the full Christmas story we cannot overlook this event.

We can however, ask questions. Why does Matthew ruin a beautiful scene with a story of murder and rage? Why does Matthew record this event? It is not in the other gospels, so why Matthew? Although we do not know for certain because Matthew is not here to explain himself, we can take a guess. There are several reasons why Matthew includes this story in his nativity narrative and each reason can give us insight into our own Christian lives these many years later.

First, Matthew is trying to prove to a Jewish audience that Jesus is the Messiah that they have been looking for. Matthew wants to show the people that he knew would be reading this gospel that Jesus is who he says he is even from the very beginning. Matthew wants to place Jesus as the second Moses. We remember the story of Moses who had to escape death, from a ruthless ruler, as an infant. Moses the deliverer of the Israelites came out of Egypt and so the deliverer of the world also would come out of the land of Egypt. Matthew tells this part of Jesus’ life to illustrate the point that Jesus is nothing new and opposed to the Hebrew Scriptures, but in Jesus the words of God thought the prophets are fulfilled. Matthew is connecting the Old Testament with the New Testament, the new story with the old story. Matthew shows us that there is no new or old, but it is the same story throughout the course of human history. The Word of God is united through the embodiment of the word which is Christ. We must see the Bible as a tapestry of God’s whole interaction with humanity, as a story woven together which demonstrates God’s love for humanity. That love which was made flesh in Christ.

This story also serves to remind us that despite the Christmas cards and movies we see this time of year the world is not perfect. Despite our attempts to escape it, we must realize that we live in a broken world. Even at the birth of the Prince of Peace 2000 years ago the world was not peaceful. Even then there was treachery and evil afoot. Even now as we gathered with friends and family to a hearty meal and presents under the tree, the world is not peaceful. Even as we sing the songs of peace on earth and goodwill toward humanity the world is not peaceful. Despite what the Christmas songs may say not everyone has a Holly Jolly Christmas. We must be aware that there are those who did not have a Christmas dinner. There are children who did not have gifts to open Christmas morning. There are those who didn’t have crackling fires to warm themselves beside. Even as the most beautiful moment was happening, the birth of our Savior, there was tragedy and horror occurring just down the street. Even as we gathered a few days ago to commemorate that beautiful moment, there were and still are horrid things happening just down the street and around the world.

This story tells us that people do not always react well to the Good News of Christ. Some will ignore it, some will reject it, and still others will react with violence and hatred. Spreading the gospel means speaking truth to power. The fulfillment of the gospel means that the rich and powerful will fall and the poor and meek will inherit the earth. Herod heard the good news that the King of kings and the Lord of lords had been born and his reaction was to attempt to exterminate the problem before it could grow despite what other damage might be done. Herod did not care about the thousand of innocents that were slaughtered; he only cared about upholding the status quo.

There are those here today that do not want the status quo changed. They want to hold on to their money and power and they will not go without a fight. Sometimes that means persecution and sometimes that means death. We do not see it much in our own country, but in many other places it is an all too common occurrence. This threat cannot prevent us from spreading the gospel. This cannot prevent us from speaking truth to power despite what consequences it might bring.

Fred Craddock, the preacher, tells the story about going back to his hometown in rural north Georgia where he would often go for breakfast in the café run by one of the members of his church. It was a restaurant in what’s called a “shotgun house” – a long slender house with a door at each end. In this case one door opened onto the front street. The other door, the back door, opened onto the alley.
One day when Craddock arrived the owner, a man named George, who was a member of Craddock’s church, said, “Let’s go for a cup of coffee.” Craddock was surprised. “You don’t have coffee?” But George insisted. They went to a nearby fast food restaurant and sat down with their drinks.

“You know the curtain?” George asked.
“Yes,” said Craddock. The curtain George referred to was stretched out across the middle of his café, between the two doors of the shotgun house. It was there to segregate. White folks entered the restaurant by the front door from the main street. Black folks entered from the alley. The curtain separated them.
“The curtain’s got to come down,” said. George.
“Then take it down,” said Craddock.
“But if I take it down there’s a lot of folks who won’t like it,” said George.

“Then leave it up,” said Craddock.
“If I take it down I may lose my business,” said George. “But if I leave it up I lose my soul.”

We must stand up for what is right no matter what the cost might be even if we are labeled as loons and nut-jobs, even if we are persecuted by our friends and family; even if we loss our businesses or jobs, even if we are thrown in jail unjustly. We must stand with the gospel. We must stand with what the Christ child represents, peace, justice, and equality to all of God’s people.

Sometimes we want to ignore this part of Matthew’s gospel. To be honest I really did not want to preach on the subject. We want to forget about the brokenness of the world and sit in the safety of isolation that is until our security blanket is ripped from us and the chaos of the outside world comes in to stark reality. We want the Christmas story with no baggage, just a nice little story that we hear once a year. But Matthew won’t let us do that. Matthew pulls us out of our daydreams and into the coldness of the world.

Now so far this has been kind of depressing. We shouldn’t be depressed until mid-January when the credit card bills arrive. So what good news can we find in this story? Is there any good news in this story? Yes. The good news in this is that hope did not die. Hope could not be killed. As the Christ child survived so did our hope for salvation. Hope could not be killed in the manger of Bethlehem and it could not be killed on the cross of Calvary. It is this hope that allows us to carry on in the midst of a broken world. It is this hope that supports us when we are weak, even in the valley of the shadow of death. Our hope in God will endure until that hope becomes reality, until our Advent becomes the present. When true peace will cover the earth and the fullness of God love will be known to us. This is the hope of the Christmas story, this is the hope of the Gospel.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Three Kings, Three Gifts: Sermon Matthew 2:1-12

Dear God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and feet and work through them; take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire for you. Amen

You know what would have happened if there had been three wise WOMEN instead of three wise MEN, don’t you? The three wise WOMEN would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the Baby, cleaned the stable, and made a casserole, and brought diapers, wipes and formula as gifts.

I am willing to bet that most of us at some time this Christmas season have come across a Nativity scene. Some of us might have attended a living Nativity or even had a scene in our homes and yards. Some of these Nativity scenes are not entirely accurate. We see Mary and Joseph, shepherds, and various animals and of course baby Jesus in the Manger. However some Nativities show the three wise men or Magi as being there at the birth. Most scholars would agree the visit of the Magi occurred days or even months after the birth of Jesus. This, of course, is the reason why we celebrate Epiphany separate and distinct from Christmas. The story that we read this morning contains 4 parts that I want to explore. One is the star of Bethlehem, second is the Magi and their gifts, third is King Herod, and fourth is the child Jesus himself.

One of the most enduring symbols of the Christmas and Magi stories is the star. The star leads the wise men to the place where Jesus laid with his mother in Bethlehem. Scientists have debated and theorized on what the star could have been and most do agree that if it did occur that it probably wasn’t a star at all but some other phenomena. You might have seen a special on this on the History channel or Discovery channel this holiday season. One theory states is that it was a supernova, which is a star collapsing and exploding causing a bright light to be visible in the sky for a period of time. Another idea is that it was a comet, such as Halley’s Comet that comes to visit this neck of the woods ever so often. In the ancient times a comet was an omen of evil or impending tragedy not the symbol for the birth of a new king and the Magi, whose name means astrologer as well as wise man in Greek would have known that. Another theory that has been tossed around is that the star was a meteor but this is not really plausible because a meteor streaks across the sky for only a short time, just like a shooting star. Among scientists the most realistic answer is that the star was what is known as a planetary conjuncture. That is an event where a planet comes into a special alignment. These events, we know from history, where noticed by scholars and astrologers in the ancient world, and certain type of conjunctures where known to herald the coming of a new ruler.

Although these theories attempt to explain the miracle of the star through human understanding, there do leave some important unanswered questions. If it was a planetary alignment how can one explain the precise movement leading the Magi to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem? How can one explain how this star or whatever it was stopped directly over the precise spot? The only explanation is that there is no explanation. The only way to understand it is to accept this as the work of God that lead these Magi directly to where He wanted them to go. These people were star gazers and astrologers so God sent a sign in a way that they would understand. These three people looked to the sky for signs and omens and this is where God spoke to them. Does God communicate with us like that today? The answer is resounding yes. God leads people in ways that they can understand and uses guides that people will follow. How would God speak today? Would he send an e-mail? Maybe a text message? Or on His spiritual cell phone? Maybe God speaks through strangers on the street, maybe through children, maybe even through a television show. Don’t expect a burning bush but quiet yourself and try to pick up on the subtle clues that God leaves for us.

The second pert of the story is the Magi themselves. Which brings up the question, who were these guys? As I stated before the word Magi is Greek for wise man or astrologer. More than likely they worked for kings in the east, but they were not kings like the song says. These men were from the East, maybe in the kingdom of Persia and they were sent on a mission to pay homage to the newborn king. These men were guided by the star in order to worship Jesus they were drawn to Him in order to worship him. They traveled a dangerous and long road in order to fulfill their need for worship.

We all know that they brought gifts to the baby Jesus and although those gifts might seem impractical they did carry with them special meaning. First was gold. Gold is a precious, valuable metal, which is a gift fit for a king. That is that the gold represented the kingship and royalty of Jesus. Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords and a gift of gold is very fitting for royalty.

The second gift was frankincense or incense. This is a resin from a tree sap that is mixed with other herbs and spices in order to form many different aromas. Incense was use in the Temple in Jerusalem to cover up the odor of the sacrifices and is still used in certain churches as a symbol of prayer. The smoke rising symbolizes our prayers rising to heaven and the sweet smell represents the sweetness of prayer. In either case incense was and is used by priests. It was presented to Jesus because He is the High Priest of God. Incense was and is used in holy places and so incense was given also because Jesus is Holy Son of God.

The third gift was maybe the strangest gift for a baby and that was myrrh. Myrrh is also a tree resin, but its use was different. It was used as an embalming spice to prepare a body for burial. This might seem a little strange to give a newborn baby and I can imagine Mary and Joseph perhaps being a little uncomfortable at this gift as any parents would be. Imagine receiving formaldehyde as a baby shower gift. However, this was no ordinary baby. This was a baby that was born not only to bring light and hope to the world but to also sacrifice himself to forgive the sins of the world. These three gifts by themselves might be odd but together they symbolize the royalty, holiness, and sacrifice of Jesus.

What gifts do you bring to the newborn king this morning? You might ask, “I don’t have gifts to give” but I don’t believe that for a second. You might say I’m too old or I’m too sick. However, I know for a fact that every person in this sanctuary this morning as something to offer. Take a look a Bill Gates. Bill Gates is, of course, the CEO of Microsoft and has gone from working in his one room apartment to being among the richest people in the world. He has a gift for entrepreneurial success and has taken that gift and served the world by providing vaccines to third world children, saving thousands of lives. He is not a preacher or a missionary but he has taken the gifts God has given to him and served God and God’s children. I know that we have people in our congregation and that have skills and gifts can and should be used to serve God in a variety of ways. One thing that God expects us to do is to use those gifts and to serve where there is need.

Well every good story has to have a bad guy and this one is no exception. The bad guy is King Herod who was king of Judea during the early 1^st century AD. We talked some about him last week. King Herod was, according to most scholars was not a Jew but was an Arab placed as king of Judea and backed by the Roman Government. These two things led him to be very unpopular with the people. This, did not concern Herod because he was not a fan of the people either. The one thing that he did love was the one thing that was threatened by the news of the Magi, and that was power. The news of the birth of the king of the Jews must have been startling and disconcerting, but Herod was a cool character. Instead of letting his temper get the best of him he tried to trick the Magi into revealing information on the location of the newborn king, not because he wanted to worship him but because he wanted to destroy the threat.

How many things in our own lives want to destroy the kingship of Jesus in our own hearts? The world is filled with King Herods, filled with things that seek to sever our relationship with Jesus. God has provided us with a guide, with gifts to give, but we must be wary of those things that seek to hinder our work of Jesus. These things seek to distract and dishearten us. They tell us that the problems are too big and that we should just look out for number 1. They tell us that following Jesus isn’t worth it, to stay home and watch the game instead of coming to church, they tell us that bum on the street deserves what he’s got, instead of what Jesus would say which is that as you do for those people you do for him. We must stay alert for the Herods around us and approach them with love and with patience as Jesus did.

The final and most important piece of the puzzle is of course Jesus. Jesus is not only the reason for the season; he is the reason for everything. He is the reason that we are here the morning and he is the reason that we can say that we are children of God, saved by the blood of Christ and the grace of God. The Son of God, King of kings, Lord of lords, the Prince of peace came not with a thunderous host of angels or trumpets from heaven, although that was his right, he came humbly, born in a stable, laid in a feeding trough for animals. That is not how he will return, in his return there will be angels and trumpets and he will not come humbly but has a conquering king of righteousness.

God does continue to guide his people, maybe not in the stars but in ways that they can understand. God provides us with gifts and then expects us to use those gifts to further His cause and his kingdom. There will be stumbling blocks in our way, the world is filled with Herods wanting to take Jesus’ place as king of our lives and of course there is Jesus the same now as always wanting to come in that make all tings new in our lives.

Today marks the birth of a new year. It is a time that we should all should make an effort to rededicate our lives Jesus and his causes. We always make New Year’s resolutions; to lose weight or to stop smoking and those are good to make and they are good things to do. However, let us all make a resolution to help another, help our neighbors, and help to find peace and justice in our own lives and in the world. If we all work together and give our gifts then we can make 2006 better and can make the future brighter for all of us.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.