What Gift Will I Bring to Jesus? — Part 1

Hi, I'm Rick Warren, and merry Christmas.

You're listening to Daily Hope.

Welcome back to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Hope. We are so glad that you're here with us to help us celebrate this season. You know, on the very first Christmas when Mary was just about ready to give birth to Jesus, she and Joseph were turned away by the innkeeper because there was no room. Well, today Pastor Rick is going to continue his Christmas series, will I Make Room for Jesus? And he shows us how, just like the innkeeper, we can miss out on being part of God's greatest plans if we don't make room for Jesus in our everyday lives. Well, let's get right to Rick for part one of a message called what Gift Will I Bring to Jesus?

Now, this week we're going to look at the wise men's question. And the wise men, to me, are the most fascinating people in the Christmas story. Who were these guys, anyway? Well, the answer is we don't know. We don't really know who the wise men were. The Bible word calls them Magi. And Magi were kind of a combination of philosopher, scientist and astronomer. They were quite wealthy. They were. The Magi of that day were wealthy. They were well educated. They were the Socrates, the Platos, the Aristotles. Those were magi. Kind of a combination scientist, philosopher, intellectual, astronomer, kind of Renaissance people. So that's really about all we know about them. Where did they come from? We don't know. The Bible says they came a long way from the east. Maybe they came from Persia. They could have come from India. They could have come from China. We don't know. We just know that these were very educated and wealthy people and they made a very long trip to Jerusalem from the east. They could have been Chinese. We don't know how many of the wise men were there. Well, everybody always says three. But that's not what the Bible says. The Bible doesn't even say how many wise men there were. There could have been a dozen. There could have been eight. There could have been 10. There could have been 20. There could have had a whole caravan of wise men. The only reason people think a three is because the Bible mentions three gifts that they brought, gold and frankincense and myrrh. But the Bible doesn't tell us that there were three wise men. Now, the story of the wise men is found in the book of Matthew, chapter two. If you'll take out your message notes and look here on the screen, the Bible says this Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time that Herod was king. Now first, Bethlehem is the Hebrew word for house of bread. Beth is the word for house and Lechem is the word for bread. So the bread of life is born in the house of bread. Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. Now, Herod was not really the true king of Israel. He was appointed by the Roman Caesar and everybody hated his guts. He was a puppet king, he was a phony king. He was placed in in residence king by the Roman Empire and all of the Jews hated him. And Herod was scared to death that his throne would be overthrown continually. He was so paranoid about this. He had all of his kids killed, he had his wife killed, he had other relatives killed. He wouldn't let anybody get close enough to the throne cause he was afraid he would be overthrown. So when he hears about a king of Jews being born, that's going to scare him. After Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and they asked, where is the baby who was born to be king of the Jews? Now, there's only one way they could know this. They had to be students of the Bible. So whether they lived in India or Africa or Asia or wherever somewhere in the east wouldn't have been Africa. They evidently had the scriptures, they had the Old Testament and they were studying and they had read all of those prophecies where for thousands of years God had said, I'm going to send a savior to earth. I'm going to send the Messiah, I'm going to send the Christ, I'm going to send someone who's going to pay for all the sins of the world. So they obviously knew this, even though they weren't Jewish. We saw his star in the east and we have come to worship him. Now there's nothing unusual about this. Even today, boats and ships use the stars for guidance. And for thousands of years, whether on land or on sea, travelers have used the star to chart their path and say, okay, we're still heading north, and things like that. So there's nothing unusual about that. Now when King Herod heard this, that the King of the Jews was being born, he was troubled. That's an understatement. The Greek there means he was freaked out. And as well as all the people in Jerusalem, Herod called a meeting of the leading priests and all the teachers of the law. And he asked them where the Christ or the Messiah, the Savior would be born. And they answered in the town of Bethlehem in Judea. Cause the Bible had predicted this thousands of years before. Hundreds and thousands of years. Then Herod had a secret meeting with the wise men. And he learned from them the exact time that they saw the star. And he sent the wise man to Bethlehem saying, look carefully for the child and when you find him, come directly and tell me so I can worship him too. Yeah, right. He wants to kill this baby. He wants to kill off any competition. In fact, he did send his legions to Bethlehem and they killed every baby under the age of two, every baby boy. And by this time, Joseph had been warned in a dream by God and he and Mary and the baby Jesus had escaped and had gone down into Egypt during this time. So Jesus actually lived in Egypt for a while as a young baby. After the wise men heard the king, they left. And the star that they had seen in the east went with them until it stopped above the place where the child was. So, so this is some kind of unique star. It's actually hovering. It's some kind of bright light. We have no indication that anybody else ever saw it. I mean, people have tried to trace it to Halley's comet and all kinds of different other stars. What was the alignment in that 2,000 years ago? But the truth is, we don't really know. God could have just made it up. He could have made up a small light and it could have guided them all the way across the long desert, the to get to Israel. But first it leads them east to Jerusalem and then leads them south to Bethlehem. When they saw the star, it stopped over the place where the child was. And when the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy. Now they came to the house where the child was and they saw him with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Notice they didn't worship Mary, they worshiped him. Now I want you to circle the phrase they came to the house. To the house. Circle that phrase to the house. I want you to notice that Jesus is not in the stable anymore. The baby has been moved to a house. Now I know your entire life, in every nativity scene, every manger scene that you've seen and you've got up in your house, it's got Jesus and Mary and Joseph and the cows and the sheep and the donkey and the shepherds over here and the wise men over here. The only problem is it didn't happen that way. The shepherds and the wise men never met because the wise men did not come to the stable. They came a few days later. Or maybe even weeks later. By this time, Joseph has moved Mary and the baby to a house. They're no longer in the stable. So there's nothing wrong with it. Keep your manger scenes, okay? Okay. I mean, nothing wrong with it. I'm just saying, the fact is, they both got their Christmas, but they both weren't at the stable. Does that make sense? The wise men, it says, came to the house. Joseph had moved his family into a house by this time, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their gifts and they gave him treasures of gold and frankincense and myrrh. Now, this weekend, I wanna do two things. As we look at the wise men, I wanna ask two questions. First, what made the wise men wise? What made them wise? And the second is, how did they decide on what gift to give Jesus? I mean, what do you give a God who's got everything? And what is the significance behind those three gifts? Now, it's important for you to understand what made the wise men wise? Because the wise men were wise. Because they did five things. And you're gonna need to do these same five things if you wanna be wise. So get out your pens and let's look at these five things that the wise men did if you wanna be wise. Number one, they were seekers of the truth. They were seekers of the truth. And wise people seek the truth. They're not happy with guesses. They're not happy with speculation. They're not happy with just I wonder. They wanna know what's the truth. What's the truth about life? What's the truth about me? What's the truth about God? What's the truth about my past? What's the truth about the future? Wise men and wise women seek the truth. The Bible says in verse two, where is the baby who was born to be king of the Jews? They were seeking Jesus. Wise men still seek Jesus today. Wise women still seek Jesus today. Now, really, friends, there are two kinds of people in life when it comes to truth. There are speculators and there are seekers. Speculators just guess about the truth. They wonder. They conjecture. They guess, they make assumptions. And they say, well, you know what? I think God is like. And I think God is like. And I think God is like. Or they'll say, I like to think of God as well, I'm sorry, but really, that makes no sense at all. Because how you think of God doesn't really matter. What matters is the truth. What is God really like? I could think God is a fuzzy bunny and be Wrong. I could think he's the man in the moon or Elvis reincarnated. What you think about God is irrelevant. What you like to think about God may be comfortable to you, but it's wrong. What you need to know is what is the truth about God. Not what do I think, not what do I guess. What do I speculate. Speculators love to argue. They love to discuss. They love to talk about God. And they go in circular reason, round and round and round. They never make any decision, but. But they just speculate. And they like to get into big talks and arguments and discussions, maybe even debates, but they're just guessing. Cause they don't really want to know the truth. They just wanna keep talking about it. Seekers, genuine seekers, on the other hand. God loves seekers. It's when you take the time and the trouble to find the truth. Now, genuine seekers do three or four things. First, they ask questions. That's what the wise men do. They ask questions. They study. They obviously had studied the text. Cause they knew that a savior was gonna be born. They watch what's happening around them. They saw a star, they're alert. They're looking for signs. And they're willing to do whatever it takes to find the answers. That's a good thing. If you're a seeker. If you haven't yet come to know Jesus, that's okay. This is the church for you. Now, if you have doubts about the Bible, and if you have questions about the Bible and about God, and if you are intellectually honest, that means you don't have any preconceptions, you're not already prejudiced, you've not already closed off your mind to certain possibilities. That makes you a seeker. And that's a good thing. God loves seekers. And we do too. Why? Because the Bible says, if you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. If you are genuinely serious about knowing the truth, you can't miss it. Because God's not gonna let you miss it. If you don't have prejudices in your mind but you are genuinely serious about seeking the truth. I'm absolutely confident you're gonna come to it. Because God loves seekers. Now these wise men were wise cause they sought the truth. But more than that, number two, they were willing to go to any length to find it. And that's wise. They were willing to go to any length to find it. I hope you'll go to any length to find the truth about your finances, to find the truth about your health, to find the truth about God, about life, about living about your family, about the problems that keep you tied to the past, about why those habits of hangups still hang on. These guys are willing to go to any length to find the truth. Verse one says they had come on a long journey from the east. So these guys have traveled thousands of miles at great expense. It costs them a lot of money. Now here's what's ironic. Jesus is born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is six miles from Jerusalem. Jerusalem in the year zero. You know, history split in AD and BC by this event. And here's zero. Jerusalem is the spiritual center of the world. All of the spiritual activity in the world is taking place in Jerusalem. All of the major religious leaders of the world are in Jerusalem, and not one of them were seeking Jesus. It was guys from the outside who got to come to Christmas. Here's an amazing thing. Herod was the king. He missed Christmas. All the political leaders of Jerusalem missed Christmas. All the religious leaders missed Christmas. It was in their back door backyard. All of the business people missed Christmas. Very few actually caught on what was going on that night. I mean, the only people who really knew about the birth of Jesus were Joseph and Mary Elizabeth and Zechariah, who were relatives, and the mother and father, John the Baptist, Simeon the priest, a few shepherds, and then these wise men. You can have Jesus right in your midst and miss him if you're not looking for him. I mean, this is what's going on here. Contrast the wise men. They're making a four to five month trip across the scorching desert because these guys are serious about seeking God. That's wise. Number three. They didn't stop until they met Jesus. That's what made them wise. And if you're wise and you're seeking, you haven't stepped across the line yet. You will not stop in your investigation until you meet Jesus face to face. Verse 11, it says they finally came to the place where Jesus was. Have you finally come to the place where Jesus was? If you haven't, I hope you'll meet him this weekend. I hope you'll meet him today in this service. Have you come to that place in your life? If you haven't yet, do not stop seeking. Because it's a fatal mistake to quit the journey too soon before you get to meet Jesus. See, here's what happens when you're growing up along about the last years of high school, maybe in your college years, whether you went to college or not, you start asking as a young adult the major questions of life. Why am I here? Who am I? What Am I here for? Does my life have any meaning? Is life significant? What is my past? What is my future? Is there any purpose or rhyme or reason to life? These are life's ultimate qualities. We talk about them in purpose driven life. But what happens is you start asking these questions as a young adult and then you get really busy and distracted by dating, going to school, getting a job, getting married or having kids or whatever, and all of a sudden you forget the primary questions of life and you stop the journey. That's dumb. You, you need to find the ultimate questions of life. And a lot of people start off heading in life, going, what is the purpose of my life? Who is God? How do I get to know him? What is life all about? And then somehow they get rolled off in the ditch, busy making money, busy improving their golf score, busy trying to be famous, busy having fun, busy impressing other people. And all of a sudden you get distracted by. And you stop the journey before you get to the end. That's not wise, that's dumb. The wise men are seekers of the truth. They're willing to go to any length to know what is the truth about God, about me and about life. And they're willing to keep on going even across a desert. You may be in a desert right now, until they meet Jesus. Now the fourth reason they're smart, they're wise, is they came for the right reason. They came on this search for truth, on this search for Jesus, they came for the right reason. In verse two, they say, we have come to worship him. Why were they looking for Jesus? They were looking to show gratitude, they were looking to show honor. They were looking to worship him. They were looking to express their love. You see, a lot of people today, in fact most people today wanna use Jesus but don't wanna love him. They wanna use Jesus but not love him. We do it all the time. You see, God is not your genie. We wanna use God. I need this right now. Please give it to me right now. And then God, I need that. Please give that to me right now. And we only use God when we have a need. God is not your genie. Where you rub the bottle, pray a prayer and he gives you whatever you want. You serve at his command, not vice versa. You exist for him, God does not exist for you. God is not a vending machine and a lot of people wanna use God and not love him. Politicians use God to win votes and they'll throw in the J word, Jesus or whatever business leaders will use Jesus to get God's blessing on their Business marketers will use Jesus to sell products. Military will use Jesus to justify wars. We use Jesus all the time to justify our self centeredness and to meet our needs. And we wanna use him, but we don't wanna love him. They came for the right reason. We came to worship him. And number five, the fifth reason that they were wise, these wise men, is they gave Jesus the best they had. They gave Jesus the best they had. They didn't give him their leftovers. They didn't give him some worthless item. They didn't give some, you know, trivial thing or some lip service to him. They didn't give him the last minute gift card, which is so warm and tender. It shows so much thought. No, I just ruined your Christmas for some of you. I know that. I realize that. Well, I gotta go turn that one in. At least put a bow on it. Okay. They put serious thought into their gifts. And when they come to Jesus, they come for the right reason. And they give Jesus the very best they. And they planned their gift. Now, every one of the three gifts that the wise men give has significant meaning and symbolism. Verse 11. They bowed down and they worshiped him. Jesus, the baby. Then they opened their treasures. Circle the word treasures. They opened their treasures and they gave him their gifts of gold and frankincense. Heard about a little preschool boy, got this confused. Maggots he called them instead of magi. And he said the maggots brought gold, Frankenstein and Smurfs. Now what is the significance behind gold, frankincense and myrrh? Gold is the gift for kings. In all of antiquity, if you went to go see a king, you brought him it. A tribute of gold. Gold was the most precious metal. They didn't know about platinum in those days, gold was the most precious metal. And when you went to see a king as tribute, you say, here's some gold. So they're saying, he is the king. He is. This little baby is the king of kings. Then they bring frankincense. Frankincense is the incense that that was used in the temple for the worship of God. So they're saying this little baby is no mere baby. We know we've come the long way. It's not some mere baby. He's not only the king of kings, he's God. He's worthy of our worship. And so they're giving him frankincense because that's the gift that that is what they would light in the temple in the worship of God. He's God. Now the third gift is the most Unusual, strange baby gift. Any woman who got this at a baby show would be shocked because myrrh is the spice used in antiquity to embalm dead bodies. It's the burial spice. And when a person had died, they would use myrrh on their body and then wrap them in linen and put them in the grave. And the wise men are saying, this baby's gonna die. He's not just the King of Kings, he's not just the Lord of Lords. He's not just God worthy of worship. He's the Savior who came to die. Jesus did not come to earth to live. He came to earth to die for your sins so you can go to heaven, so you can live a new life, so you can be forgiven. And even before Jesus had spoken his first word, people knew he came to die. And they're presenting in the frankincense the gift that symbolizes what would eventually be the cross. Let's say I planned a birthday party for you and I invited 1 million people. And you're thinking, oh, this is going to be great. And I tell everybody, bring gifts. Buy lots of gifts. So we hold this birthday party for you, and when we get there, I say, okay, everybody give your gifts to each other. And everybody gives their gifts to each other. And you don't get a single gift. How would you feel? Shut out. That's called Christmas. Who gives gifts to the birthday boy? It's his birthday. We give gifts to everybody on the planet except Jesus. And it's his birthday. What are you giving Jesus for his birthday?

That was such an encouraging message from Pastor Rick. And now here's Rick with a very special message.

Merry Christmas, everybody. Do you even know why we give Christmas gifts to each other? It's because God gave the first Christmas gift, the gift of his son. God has been using you and your generous support to literally transform the lives of so many people who've never heard about the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. We couldn't do any of this without.

You, without your support.

You know, I do this for free. I serve Daily Hope for free. We're 100% listener funded. And I wanna thank you for being obedient to God. When he tells you to give to Daily Hope, you might not think you've got a lot to give. It's the regular giving, month after month after month that God multiplies. And thanks to all of you, we are reaching more and more people with the good news every day. So let me just say at this time of the year, I wanna appreciate your partnership in this ministry. Any success that we have is because God is working through us together. Your prayers make a difference. Your giving make a difference and you telling other people about the program makes a difference. Here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. Would you continue to pray for me? I really need your prayers. Pray that God will give me just the right words to say this next year as we go into a year of daily hope, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with people all around the world.

Then let me know how you're doing.

Let me know how we can pray for you. We have a prayer team here. It blesses me to hear from you and so just write me. Rickastorrick.com it's real simple. Rickastorrick.com thanks for listening, thanks for giving, thanks for sharing and thanks for caring.

God bless you.

Be sure to join us next time as we look into God's word for our daily hope. This this program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.