Christmas Archives - Paula Wiseman

The Gifts: Frankincense

Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11

We’re thinking about the three gifts the wise men brought to Jesus. Matthew calls them treasures which implies the value of the gifts. Last week we opened up the gold.

The second treasure was frankincense.

Why frankincense?
For over 6,000 years frankincense has been traded throughout the Near East. It is dried sap from one particular kind of tree, the Boswellia sacra, that grows in remote locations in places like Oman, Yemen, Ethiopia, and Somalia. The best frankincense is silvery-white in color and was usually reserved for sultans. In fact, pound for pound, the frankincense was probably worth more than the gold. Ancient people valued it because it was thought to have medicinal properties and it could ward off snakes (and evil spirits). But it most noted because it smelled terrific.

The ancient world, the world even a hundred years ago could be a pretty stinky place, and not just from livestock. Trades like leatherwork and fishing were smelly. Burning trash is smelly. Disease and death also have odors. And in a time without deodorant and mouthwash, people were smelly.

Even more important, in Exodus 30:34, frankincense is listed as one of the ingredients in the holy incense to be used in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple. However, the recipe came with a warning that it was for worship only. The incense was a powerful sensory reminder of prayer, constant prayer, that was lifted to God and received as a wonderful aroma.

Last week, we mentioned that if we wanted to be wise, we would follow the wise men’s example. First, we should do everything we can to get ourselves into the presence of Jesus. The next step is to recognize that He is king. The third step is to fall down and worship Him. Last, open our treasures.

What if we haven’t been to Oman lately for a fresh supply of frankincense?
Make this season one of prayer. Prayers of thanksgiving. Prayers of praise and adoration. Prayers of intercession. Paul encouraged the believers in Thessalonica to pray without ceasing. Jesus also encouraged His followers to be faithful in prayer. In fact, Luke 18 begins, “Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up.”

God is honored by our prayers because each one acknowledges Him as the One able to meet our needs and intervene in the situations we lay before Him. Seeking Him in prayer identifies Him as we praise and worship. It attests that we recognize our limits and His complete sufficiency. Prayers are a treasure fit for our Savior and king.

But here’s another treasure. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 that God spreads the aroma of the knowledge of Christ everywhere through us. We are the fragrance of Christ.

So this week as you celebrate Christmas, what sweet fragrance of prayer can you offer? Where can you bring the aroma of the knowledge of Christ? Don’t keep the treasures to yourself.

The Gifts: Gold

By Paula

Over the next three weeks, we’re going to consider the three gifts the wise men brought to Jesus. Matthew calls them treasures which implies the value of the gifts. Now, scripture doesn’t implicitly state how many people came with these treasures. I tend to think it was a collection of wise men, maybe three, maybe a dozen, maybe more, but I also believe these guys had a retinue, an entourage, with them that included people like servants, drivers, and guards. No one in that era would have set off across the dangerous, bandit-filled desert and wilderness with such valuable cargo without some muscle and some weapons. Note, in Matthew 2:3, it says that Herod and all of Jerusalem were troubled when they heard why the wise men were there. Granted, Jerusalem was a gossipy town and news traveled fast, even without social media. But I think the arrival of the wise men was only slightly less ostentatious than the arrival of Prince Ali in Agrabah in Disney’s Aladdin.

The first treasure was gold.

Why gold?
This is the easy one. Since 5000 B.C. people have sought after and used gold. It has intrinsic value and since its discovery, it has always been a measure of wealth. It is beautiful. But it is also possessed by kings. The wise men were coming to see a king and a surefire, can’t miss gift for a king is gold. Some have speculated that the gold was immediately used to fund Joseph, Mary, and Jesus’s escape to Egypt. Further speculating, since it seems the family lived simply if there was gold left after the escape to Egypt, it may have helped Jesus’s brothers when it came time to find wives. Who knows.

What if we want to be wise?

The first steps to being wise like these visitors from the East are to do everything we can to get ourselves into the presence of Jesus. The next step is to recognize that He is king. The third step is to fall down and worship Him. Last, open our treasures.

But what if we don’t have bags of gold lying around?
We may not have gold, but we are richly blessed. This is a time when we can give generously, even sacrificially, to the work of spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom this Christmas. But beyond that, and more personally, what do we have that has intrinsic value? What do we have that’s beautiful, sought after? Let me suggest one that is a little abstract. Our time. It is a precious commodity, especially this month. What if we spent it on Jesus? Learning about Him? Connecting with Him? Laying our plans, our finances, our families at His feet, seeking His wisdom and His guidance?

Christmas for the wise men was to drop everything and put their lives on hold to seek and worship the King. When they found Him, they gave Him the best they had. Most of us have found Jesus already. What treasure will you, will I, open this week?

The Worship of the Wise Men

By Paula

And when they [the Wise Men] had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11

There’s always someone who will point at your nativity set and inform you that the Wise Men were not there for the birth of Christ. That’s true. If the Magi were headquartered in Babylon, the journey they made would have taken something on the order of six weeks, at least. But I don’t think they are in the nativity sets for the sake of factual accuracy but rather because they play an important role in the story. A role worth emulating.

They were alert to the working of God. Although they didn’t know Yahweh, they knew that star-thing was unlike anything they had observed before. Scholars speculate that they had access to Daniel’s writings and connected the dots that the supernatural celestial events pointed to the King Daniel had foreseen.

They sacrificed. Those gifts they brought were not cheap. Even if the Magi were as wealthy as they are typically depicted, the gifts were lavish.

They were committed. Not only did they make an arduous trip to Jerusalem, they asked everybody they encountered where the newborn King was. They were not giving up until they saw Him.

They were genuine. They rejoiced when the star reappeared. They humbled themselves and fell down before the baby and worshiped Him.

The Wise Men prove that the joy and wonder of the birth of Christ aren’t confined to that one night. It extends to everyone who is aware of the working of God, who commits to confronting the reality of the King who came (and is coming again), to everyone willing to turn over their best and genuinely experience the joy of worship.

Hundreds of years before, Isaiah the prophet wrote of Gentiles, coming to the kingdom, bringing gold and incense with them (Isa. 60:5-6). These guys were the first. We, too, are part of that procession to a Kingdom that, for now, is not of this world (John 18:36) but will soon come in power and glory.

That’s a message we need to carry out this Christmas and beyond. Maybe it would go something like this:

I still feel the joy and wonder at the birth of Christ like the Wise Men. Granted I haven’t traveled a long distance or brought expensive gifts, but I try to worship Christ by being active in my church and trying to live a life that honors Him. You see, Jesus isn’t just a baby or a teacher, He’s a king. The invitation to be part of that kingdom is open to everyone.

May the reality of Christ with us touch you with fresh wonder and urgency this Christmas and may you be ever more aware of God’ rich blessings in the new year. I’ll see you then!

The Excitement of the Shepherds

By Paula

Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. Luke 2:17

Credibility. Attorneys want it from their witnesses. Marketers need it from their spokespeople. We expect it from the people we consult with. We wouldn’t follow an exercise routine developed by someone out of shape. We wouldn’t take medical advice from someone who was clearly ill. We wouldn’t hire a roofer whose own home had damage from persistent leaks.

In first-century Israel, shepherds were social outcasts. In fact, as a class, their reputation for dishonesty and their lack of integrity was so widely known that their testimony was not admissible in court.

So why on earth did God entrust this most momentous message to a bunch of guys who were known to be untrustworthy?

Perhaps it was so that the hearers were moved by the message itself and not by the credibility of the messenger. Maybe their response gives some clues.

They immediately acted on the information the angels gave them.
Verse 16 says they “made haste”. They hurried. They ran to find the manger with the baby.

They told everyone they came in contact with.
Verse 17 says they spread the word.

They glorified and praised God for the whole experience.
Verse 20 says they went back to their regular jobs but profoundly impacted.

And the shepherds just got the birth message. We have the entire redemption story to tell. Maybe we can learn from the shepherds’ example.

Does the reality that God entrusted His message of salvation to us prompt us to action? Do we tell everyone we come in contact with? Are our daily lives changed because of the experience?

You know, the birth of Jesus happened just like the angels said, but here’s what else the angels said. The whole reason His name is Jesus is that He came to save us from our sins. God is just. He has to punish sins. Because He is so holy, our sins are unbelievably offensive. I can either try to make up for them myself and fall short or I can accept the death Jesus died on the cross as the punishment. Really, that was a no-brainer. I’m not perfect, but I have never been the same since.

Now’s a good day to start.

Next week: The Wise Men

The Announcement of the Angels

By Paula

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:14

If you’ve ever played with a jack-in-the-box, you know it loses its fascination after just a couple of rounds. We know the song. We know the note right before the thing pops out. We know what it looks like. We don’t even jump.

I wonder sometimes if the Christmas story has become like a jack-in-the-box. We know everyone’s lines. We know the songs. We know what happens. We don’t even react anymore.

Think about this for a minute though. You’re just doing your job. It’s a regular old boring Thursday, just like hundreds of boring Thursdays before. Your job’s not great but it pays the bills. There you sit.

And an angel of the Lord appeared.
Somehow, I don’t think something like a flashbulb went off and then a guy in a white robe was there. (If you don’t know what a flashbulb is … please don’t tell me.)

And the glory of the Lord shone all around.
The shekinah glory, the shining majesty that accompanies God’s presence shone all around these guys. The glory that shone on Sinai. And on the mount of transfiguration. When the glory is revealed, we respond in confession, praise and worship. And sometimes… terror.

And they were terrified!
Why? The shepherds knew they were encountering the representatives of a holy, righteous God. They had an Isaiah 6 moment. “Woe is me! I am undone!” They understood, at least on a gut level, that the only outcome for a sinful man in the presence of God’s glory was death.

And instead, God says peace. Shalom. Peace, His blessed favor. No longer an enemy, but reconciled to His family.

This world needs the glory and presence of God. My, how we need it. The birth of Savior, redeeming mankind … those are glorious. The angels understood that. In fact, a multitude (more than they could count) of the heavenly host (the armies of heaven) couldn’t restrain themselves. They had to praise God for this amazing peace with sinners, sinners with no other recourse or hope to approach a holy God. That peace began in earnest with the birth of Jesus.

So in this season, maybe we need to focus more on the glory of God, the way the angels did, rather than what a thousand cheesy television specials will tell you “Christmas is all about”. Maybe that’s what we need to share. Maybe it would go something like this:

Actually Christmas is all about God. He loved first. He paid the price. He gave the gift. He showed kindness to the unlovable. He invited the worst of us to be part of His family. In fact, I was one of those He showed kindness to. The best way I can thank Him for that gift is to offer it to you.

The good tidings are for all people! I’ll be praying you meet up with those who need them!

Next week: Shepherds

The Promise of a Prophet

By Paula

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.” Deuteronomy 18:15

God will raise up a Prophet. Those words come in the middle of Deuteronomy as Moses recounts the exodus to a new generation of Israel poised to enter the Promised Land. Throughout the account and through the rest of the Old Testament, over and over we see the exodus as proof of God’s power and prerogative. He keeps the promises He makes and nothing will prevent those things from coming to pass.

Including this promise about a Prophet.

A few verses later, God says, “I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.” Deuteronomy 18:18-19.

Those words sound a lot like “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18

The Prophet God promised in Moses’s day came on a Christmas morning years and years later.

We are entering a season of good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. Perhaps as we interact with people, we can follow Moses’s example. Think about the promises has God kept in your life. Maybe you’ll find yourself in a conversation something like this…

When Jesus was born, that fulfilled a promise God made hundreds of years before. But God has also been faithful in keeping promises in my life. (Here’s where you mention them.) The most important promise is the one that if I trusted Jesus’s payment for the things I’ve done wrong, I can live forever in heaven with Him.

Share those good tidings! I’ll be praying for opportunities and open doors for you.

Next week we’ll see how the angels did it.

The Gifts: Frankincense

The second treasure was frankincense.

The Gifts: Gold

The first treasure was gold.

What if we want to be wise?

The Worship of the Wise Men

The Excitement of the Shepherds

The Announcement of the Angels

The Promise of a Prophet

Encounters Series

Covenant of Trust Series

Foundations Series