“Joy to the world my Amazon package has come, let VISA and MasterCard sing.” Not familiar with that Christmas song? You should, cause that’s exactly what most Americans sing about on Christmas. Joy, happiness, gladness, whatever you want to call it, it’s what everyone is searching for this Christmas. For most people, Christmas season officially kicks off the day after Thanksgiving. It has now become a sacred day in our nation, we know it as “Black Friday”. That’s the day when Americans begin their pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Walmart searching for this joy in the form of a plasma t.v. or the latest iPhone, or tablet. And it’s amazing how much sacrifice is involved in the process. I talked to a co-worker who drove two and a half hours for a gift just to buy her daughter. Nothing wrong with that but it’s just amazing how we will go through great lengths to find joy or to give joy to someone else through stuff. Stuff that is only temporary and will maybe make one happy for the moment but never really lasts. How about this song, “Joy to the world my mother in law didn’t come, let everyone else at my Christmas party sing!” Some people let their joy be impacted by others. Hollywood preaches to us that Christmas is about spending time with their families and loved ones. Again not necessarily a bad thing but if all our happiness is in other people than what happens when a family member fails to show up for the Christmas party and they let us down? What if a loved one suddenly dies or a marriage falls apart? Where’s the joy in that? I guarantee you it won’t be the “most wonderful time of year”. Yet we still keep searching down the aisles of this life, shopping for joy in all the wrong places and instead of singing “Joy to the World”, our hearts are singing “Joy from this World,” and as a result we are never satisfied and at real peace. Often times even as believers we forget that the word Christmas starts with Christ. Nothing wrong with buying gifts or being with family but everything must start with Christ. When we set our hearts on the goal to seek Christ more than anything else, we will find ourselves filled with an abundance of joy that only Christ can give. We see this in Matthew with the account of the Magi or the Wise Men who came from the East to worship Jesus. When Jesus was two years of age, these men who were probably astrologers, left their homelands from far off, probably Babylon and headed their way to Bethlehem of Judea. I love how devoted they were in seeking out Jesus. First of all they had faith in Jesus as their king. For when they came to Herod the Great for help they asked him, “where is he who is born the king of the Jews?”. Their question shows us how they viewed Christ as already born king of the Jews. To them He was their king and their intentions were to worship Jesus and show their respects. Their faith was further evidenced by their full out surrender and sacrifice just to seek Jesus. Notice they went to extremely great lengths. They left the comforts of their homes to travel a long distance through rough desert terrain, risking their lives and enduring the hot days and cold desert nights. When they found the boy Jesus, they gave up their finest of treasures and they bowed down and worshipped Him. The Bible says that when they found Jesus they were filled with “exceedingly great joy”! Their faith was rewarded. For us to experience this joy that comes from Christ alone, we must have the same faith as the Magi. A faith that puts Christ on the throne of our lives as Lord and king. Too many of us however live our lives where we are seated on the throne. Contrast the faith of the Magi to that of Herod the Great. You see Herod was all about Herod and his motives for seeking Jesus were self centered. He was afraid of losing his power and more concerned about his earthly kingdom and so Jesus was a threat to him. As a result instead of experiencing great joy, the Bible says he was “greatly troubled”. When we are the king of our lives and the center of our universe rather than Jesus, we will never be satisfied, or be at peace. Nothing wrong with being rich or having a position of power, for the Magi were rich and of high status too but they knew where to lay their treasures. Herod could never truly experience real joy because it was centered around a temporary kingdom instead of an everlasting one founded in Christ. Sometimes we may miss out on real joy because we don’t seek Jesus with all our hearts, we just seek Him occasionally, a curiosity more than anything. Herod asked his scribes and religious leaders to search out the scriptures and find the passage which describes the coming of the Messiah and where to find Him. They did just that but why didn’t they go with the Magi? Instead their seeking of Jesus stopped after reading about Him. It’s so sad that many people this Christmas may hear the Christmas story, sing some carols, maybe even attend a church service but still miss out on experiencing God’s best. Simply put it’s just head knowledge and religious duty nothing more. So, how about you? Do you find yourself like me sometimes going through another holiday season without real joy? I have to admit as a believer in Christ sometimes I wish I was more like the Magi but most of the time I find myself in the Herod the Great category. You know, where its all about me and my dreams and I’m seeking God only for Him to bless me for my selfish purposes. Sometimes sadly, I fall into the category of the religious leaders and scribes. Where seeking Jesus is just going through the motions, reading a chapter in the Bible, attending church, writing another cute blog which sounds so awesome and theological but that’s just it. It’s all up here in the head and not translated into a selfless love for Jesus and for others. But thanks be to God there’s grace. Jesus is the Messiah and because of His great love for us, He is patient, forgiving, and kind. He would never ask us to do anything that He hasn’t done already for us. He gave up His throne in heaven for a manger in a stable. He gave His life for you and me by dying on the cross. Why would we not want to give Him everything in return? God is so good. May we dwell on His love for us this Christmas. Dear Heavenly Father, may you give us the strength to trust you. May we seek You with all our hearts, may we surrender our earthly thrones to you, may we lay our treasures at your feet. Holy Spirit be our guiding star of Bethlehem and fill us with all joy, that we overflow into the next year and may our hearts sing loudly than ever before, “Joy to the world the Lord has come, let earth receive her king”! Amen.
Matthew 2:1-12