As we face a new year, it is customary in America to greet one another with the phrase, "Happy New Year!"

But, New Year’s Day may not be that happy for some. On New Year’s morning, many, many people across our land are not happy with their headaches and hangovers because of the previous evening’s excessive dining, drinking, and dancing. And how can we be happy if the new year is just more of the same old things ... the same poverty, unemployment, inflation, nuclear arms race, sickness, war, and failure? When we reflect upon things even just briefly, we certainly have cause to ask the question, "Just what’s so great, what’s 'happy' about the new year?"

Now, lest we bury our heads in our hands and give up, even before the new year has begun, let’s consider what happened one week ago this morning. You know, Christmas! You remember Christmas, don’t you? It was in all the papers. It’s the biggest holiday of the year. There’s a Christmas tree, lots of presents, Santa Claus comes, it falls on December 25th. Ah, yes, you remember about Christmas, don’t you?

But there is more, much more to Christmas than all that stuff. And that’s what makes the new year happy. "For to you is born in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord!" God has come to show us how to live, how to live together in joy, hope, and peace for all people. He came at Christmas to make a difference in people’s lives - in your life and mine.

One thing is sure: the coming of Jesus as the Babe of Bethlehem certainly made the difference in the lives of those Wise Men from the East. They traveled many, many miles just to offer gifts to the newborn King of the Jews. Let’s have a look and a listen to their story as Matthew tells it in Matthew 2:1-12. [Read the text]

And they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. When we think of gold, we think of riches, wealth, and power. And it is certainly that. In our world, in this society, the person with gold - with money - has wealth, riches, and power. But gold is also a color. Consider the beautiful gold ribbons I gave the youngsters this morning. Gold is bright, the color of sunlight and starlight, the color of straw, all of these reminding us of our Lord’s most humble birth.

And isn’t the coming of the Christ of Christmas the real wealth of the season, the riches of a new year that is just beginning? It is the love of God, Jesus Christ, our Lord!

Those Wise Men were rich. They came bringing with them gifts, treasures fit for a king. The gifts represented much wealth. Yet, when the Magi saw this little baby, poor and humble, in the arms of his mother, a simple young maiden, they fell down and worshiped him. They recognized that in this child, the earth had been blessed in a special way by God. So they humbled themselves, offered their great treasures, knelt and gave homage to Jesus.

And when this same Jesus grew up, he taught people about riches and how they are to be used. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Here our Lord is not speaking of saving money. He’s speaking instead of saving souls. Money, riches, wealth, power, gold is not to become our idol, our god that we put above God. We must be willing to give it up. We are to be Christians, believers in Christ and his love first and foremost.

Some time ago, a man handed me a card with the question on it, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" That makes me stop and think. Are we Christians in our day-to-day living? Are we putting our treasures in heaven? Are we taking a stand against evil and for the right, or are we compromising so well with the world that it is impossible to tell a Christian from a non-Christian?

We can become too "relevant to the world" so that we forget who we are. We loose our distinctiveness as Christians. There was once a man who loved the color yellow. He had yellow carpet in his home. He also had yellow drapes, yellow furniture, a yellow bedspread, and yellow pajamas. But, one day he became very sick. He contracted yellow jaundice. His wife sent for the doctor who went right to his home to examine him. His wife showed the doctor into the man’s bedroom. Shortly, the doctor came out of the room. The wife asked immediately how her husband was doing. The physician replied, "How’s he doing? I don’t know. I couldn’t find him!"

We, likewise, must be careful, watchful, that we do not become lost in the worldly ways of our age. Like the Wise Men of old, we must learn to give our gifts, our gold, away if it is to accomplish the purpose for which God intended. Gifts are, after all, only gifts when they are given to someone else.

Our last color of the Christmas season is gold. As we face the new year, may we learn the golden lesson the Wise Men shared, that to be happy and at peace in this world, we must place our God first, above all things, all gifts, all gold. It is in doing this that we will understand what wealth is. As you begin the new year, as you join with me here at our Lord’s Table, may you receive the most precious gift God offers you this holiday season ... himself. May you find a wealth of happiness and joy in his great love for you. Have a happy, blessed, peaceful, and joyful new year. My friends, Happy New Year!