As we look forward to New Year, we see its promise and its opportunity. Many of us are asking the question: “What can I do to make 2011 different?”
In some cases, you want 2011 to be better, maybe 2010 was really a rotten year, and you want things to change for the better.
In some cases, you gained more momentum in your life and you want to move even farther forward.
In some other cases, you look at the kind of “ho-hum” existence and you don’t think a New Year is going to make that much of a difference at all—but, since you’re talking about it—yeah, you would like for it to be better… somehow.
What can we do to make this year different?
Every year we celebrate Christmas.
We remember through the stories, and the dramas, and the songs—the birth of the little baby named Jesus. He was born in a stable in Bethlehem. He came to “save his people from their sin.” (Mt 1:21, ESV)
Each year we look forward to Christmas—it is a wonderful celebration of peace and joy in the world. It is a time of silent nights and all is calm—all is well.
But Christmas is not something that we should look forward to and then forget. It is a starting point.
What we’ve done with Christmas–is the same thing we have done with weddings.
Many dream all their life for the perfect wedding. People spend tens of thousands of dollars on dresses, dinners, and dances. We know how to throw party – – but all too often there is little thought about what happens after the parties are over.
With Christmas we start in October – – sometimes earlier – – looking forward to the big day. We hang lights, buy presents, travel to see friends, and hold our parties.
And then it’s over.
This is not the story of the Bible. The Christmas story is the beginning of the story of Jesus’ life. Throughout the year, we should be looking at moving forward from Christmas and not trying to simply look forward to an event.
That is why it is so fitting that the story of the wise men is the first Sunday of the year—because, as we look to the wise men, we see what to do with life after Christmas.
Matthew 2:1-2 says;
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Mt 2:1-2, ESV)
1. The Wiseman saw a star, specifically “His star” and wanted to find Jesus.
And this is one of the key elements to living life after Christmas and making life meaningful this year and that is that we seek him.
Seeking him comes in two different forms.
The first is that we seeking him whom have never known before.
Do you know God’s Son this morning? Do you know Jesus today?
The Bible says all have sinned against God and are condemned to die because of that sin. But,
John 3: 16 says;
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (Jn 3:16, ESV)
Jesus paid the penalty of death for us by his death on a cross and accepting this payment you have eternal life.
We forget this many times at Christmastime. We think that his death for our sin is something we wait to talk about during Easter. We don’t want to talk about the hard stuff at Christmas. But without the cross—there would be no Christmas. Without the cross—he would be simply another man.
But it is at Christmas that we first hear that Jesus came to save us from our sin!
We heard it mentioned as Joseph was contemplating quietly divorcing Mary in Matthew 1: 20-21.
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Mt 1: 20-12, ESV)
And we see from the message of the angel the foreshadowing of the glorious story of Christmas—that this precious baby came to Earth for one primary mission—and that was to die in our place—paying the penalty of death on a cross.
And as we hear of the story of Christmas—our first responsibility is to seek him for our salvation.
This is the response that the wise men made—to seek him.
And this morning, you may have never sought Jesus or have never come to know him in a personal way—never accepting his payment for your sin. But, today you can do that. You can accept him where you are and who you are.
I invite you to do that today. As Christ is knocking on the door of your heart—would ask him in?
This is the first kind of seeking when you find the Savior of your soul –and you accept him –and are rescued from hell because of his grace.
The second kind of seeking happens after you’ve accepted his payment and have welcomed him into your life. You then seek to know more about him.
You begin to test him and trust him.
You begin to give him your problems and rest in him.
You begin to grow in your daily walk with him as in a friend.
Many of us here have sought him for salvation but have you sought him for Lordship?
To make this year different – – to look at life after Christmas – – we’ll need to seek him. This comes through prayer, through Bible study, and walking in faith.
2. But seeking him leads to finding him and celebrating him.
Look at Matthew 2:9 – 10.
9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. (Mt 2:9-10, ESV)
When the Wiseman saw Jesus they celebrated! And they celebrated after Christmas!
This is something that we forget to do. We get so busy in the year that once after the party is all over, would put all the decorations away, and we don’t pull them out until the next year.
We don’t even sing Christmas carols again until December. What could happen if we sang “O Holy Night” in the middle of the summer?
Could we truly sing?
Fall on your knees! O hear the angels’ voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine. (John Sullivan Dwight’s Version, Wikipedia)
Could we also sing God rest ye merry Gentlemen?
God rest ye merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ our Savior
Was born upon this day,
To save us all from Satan’s power
When we were gone astray:
O tidings of comfort and joy,
comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy. (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Wikipedia)
What about ;
Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing. (Joy to the World, Wikipedia)
We need to celebrate after Christmas.
We need to remember that Christ was born.
We need to move past this idea that celebrating Christ is only for four weeks in December.
So when we seek him and find him and celebrate him we still need to do more to truly make this year different. Look with me at Matthew 2:11
11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (Mt 2:11, ESV)
3. The wise men served him.
This little baby – – they brought him treasures.
What little treasures do you have to bring?
I find it interesting that the Wiseman brought gifts instead of simply writing a check.
In our society, we have in our minds that if we cannot write the check we have nothing to give. But we all have treasures much more valuable than money.
We all have time. We can take time to serve. Jesus said;
“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Mt25:40, ESV)
We can serve Jesus forgiving of our time. Probably the most precious of all treasures.
We all have skills and talents. We see this displayed every Sunday here in the choir and they would welcome you to come and sing as well. You may be skilled with electronics and can help with their sound board. Every Sunday we are welcomed by the wonderful ushers of the service there is another place for you to serve. The options are endless. We just simply need to find what our gifts are what are talents are what our skills are with what God has already given us.
We all have hope. We are bombarded with the suicide rates within our nation and, more specifically, our Army. We can offer our hope in Christ. Christ is the answer to the suicide problem, because Christ gives hope. Every day without you even knowing it we cross people who are searching for hope. There are people that you meet every day who are hurting. Christ offers hope. And you can serve our Lord by sharing that hope with others.
And there are so many other opportunities to serve Jesus. It doesn’t always have to be about money—but to make this year different, look for opportunities to serve.
Every year high schools and colleges hold graduations.
The students have worked for four years studying and preparing for that day. The families travel in. There are parties. There are caps and gowns. And there are photos taken.
At the ceremony there is a special processional and a special speaker then comes the time of reading each name and the handing out of diplomas.
And then it is over.
So much is placed on those ceremonies and getting the piece of paper that certifies us that we have received a certain amount of training or education.
Each of those certificates represent that the person passed a certain amount of tests or performed a certain amount of tasks to meet the standards of the school—as it should be.
But how often do we think about what happens next?
We talk about jobs—we talk about further education—but for any of that to happen we must take the initiative and to do it.
We’ve got to go apply for jobs and apply for further education—but it is up to us.
So what are we going to do about life after Christmas? How is 2011 going to be different for you?
It is up to us to move forward from Christmas—always remembering what the significance Christmas is in our lives.
This year we can make a difference by looking forward from Christmas by seeking Jesus, by celebrating Jesus and by serving Jesus.
That is your choice today and your challenge.
2011 can be different for you it is full of hope and full of promise. It is a great opportunity for us to make Christmas a year-long event celebrating serving and seeking him.
We hear all of time would be nice for Christmas to last all year long and the funny thing is that it should but our sin gets in the way. But this year– make it different.
This year make a decision to have life after Christmas.
Let us pray.
This sermon was preached at Memorial Chapel at Fort Lee, VA on 2 JAN 11. All scripture marked ESV is from the English Standard Version of the Holy Bible.