Silver and Gold

Recently, my step-kids were up for a visit. While here, they enjoyed watching a semi-marathon of Christmas movies with their Dad. One of the movies was the 1964 Rankin/Bass production of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer – a real classic! Burl Ives is the voice of the chubby, cheerful snowman who sings a song called, “Silver and Gold”. My step-daughter said that she hated that song because she thought that it was promoting materialism and the love of riches. I decided to check out the lyrics for myself to see if her comment was accurate. Here is the first part of the song:

Silver and gold, silver and gold
Ev’ryone wishes for silver and gold
How do you measure its worth?
Just by the pleasure it gives here on earth

I think I can understand where her opinion comes from. The song does say that silver and gold is only worth the pleasures that they can bring. However, I think that she is misunderstanding the context. Rather than meaning the riches are to be used for selfish pleasures, I believe our chubby, cheerful snowman friend is saying that wealth and riches aren’t really worth anything unless they are spent on blessing other people – on giving others pleasure.

 God made silver and gold:

Psa 104:24 O Jehovah, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your riches.

So it can’t be a bad thing to own some. But like everything else that God has given to us, it is how we regard riches and what we do with it them that is important.

You can be one of the wealthiest people on Earth and still be the most bankrupt in the areas of love, grace, wisdom, mercy, etc. Conversely, you could be materially poor but rich in those same areas – the areas that really matter.

Pro 13:7 There are those who act rich, yet have nothing; and those who act poor, yet have great riches.

Accumulating wealth for the express purpose of keeping it for yourself is not good for you.

Ecc 5:12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
Ecc 5:13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for their owners to their hurt.
Ecc 5:14 But those riches perish by evil use.

We are told that we are not supposed to be hoarding our wealth.

Mat 6:19 Do not lay up treasures on earth for yourselves, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.

Rather, we have been instructed to share it or give it away.

Mat 5:42 Give to him who asks of you, and you shall not turn away from him who would borrow from you.

Mat 19:21 Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. 

God wants us to give happily and with love in our hearts.

2Co 9:7 … God loves a cheerful giver.

We never lose by giving. In fact, giving brings great blessings.

Luk 6:38 Give, and it shall be given to you, good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over, they shall give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you measure, it shall be measured to you again.

I think that we have made a serious error with our children in regards to Christmas. We train them to focus on the “silver and gold” things they want to get rather than teaching them that Christmas is about giving. Christmas is all about God giving us His son, Jesus. In turn, Jesus gave us himself, by laying down his life for us, and in so doing, he gave us the greatest gifts of all – forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

We need to teach our children, by example, that at Christmas time, in fact, at all times, it is much better to spend our “silver and gold” on blessing others and bringing others pleasure, rather than accumulating “treasure” for ourselves.

Act 20:35 I have shown you all things, that working in this way we ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Blessings

Three Gifts

Our North American Christmas tradition is not complete without the story of “The Three Wise Men” also known as Magi or Kings of the Orient. Last year I wrote about this Christmas tradition, along with others, in my post Christmas Tradition vs. Christmas Truth.

The Bible does not state how many wise men there were nor does it call them kings. However, it does mention three types of gifts they gave to honour the birth of Jesus – frankincense, gold and myrrh.

Mat 2:11 And coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother. And they fell down and worshiped Him. And opening their treasures, they presented gifts to Him, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

It may seem strange to be giving a baby these kinds of gifts, but the wise men were paying homage to someone they regarded as a king.

Mat 2:1,2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He who is born king of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him.

In the ancient world, frankincense, gold and myrrh were costly gifts offered to honour a king. The wise men bestowed these gifts upon Jesus who would be called the “King of Kings”, not of just an earthly realm but of a spiritual one as well.

Rev 19:16 And He has on His garment, and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Although the Bible does not attribute any particular significance or purpose to the gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh, some scholars think that these gifts had special spiritual meaning in regards to Jesus – gold for his kingship, frankincense to represent his priestly role and myrrh to symbolize his death.

The gold may have held a practical purpose too, that of financing Joseph, Mary and infant Jesus’ trip to Egypt to escape Herod.

Frankincense is an aromatic resin harvested from a tree. It is highly fragrant when burned and therefore it was used in worship.

Lev 2:2 And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. And he shall take out of it his handful of flour and its oil, with all its frankincense. And the priest shall burn the memorial of it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Jehovah.

It is a symbol of holiness and righteousness. It is thought that the gift of frankincense symbolized Jesus sacrificing himself for us.

Heb 9:25, 26 Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, even as the high priest enters into the Holy of Holies every year with the blood of others (for then He must have suffered often since the foundation of the world), but now once in the end of the world He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Myrrh was a spice also obtained from a tree. It was used in the embalming process and sometimes mixed with wine to make a sedating drink.

Jesus was offered a drink of wine mixed with myrrh when he was being crucified but he refused to drink it.

Mar 15:23 And they gave Him wine mixed with myrrh to drink. But He did not take it.

Myrrh symbolizes bitterness, suffering, and affliction. Jesus certainly experienced all those things for our sake when he was tortured and then crucified.

Isa 53:4 Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and Jehovah has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted;…

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, indeed being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;

It is interesting to note that after Jesus was killed and Joseph of Arimathea had taken Jesus’ body, Nicodemus arrived with myrrh and aloes to help with the preparation of the body for burial.

Joh 19:38 And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus (but secretly for fear of the Jews) begged of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave permission. Then he came and took the body of Jesus.
Joh 19:39 And Nicodemus also came, who at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.
Joh 19:40 Then they took the body of Jesus and wound it with linens with the spices, as is the custom of the Jews to bury.

Frankincense, gold and myrrh. Three gifts given to honour a King. Intentional or not, three gifts with seemingly symbolic meaning and importance. Did the wise men perceive the importance of those gifts? We do not know for sure. But, we know that the first gift giving at the birth of Jesus inspired our tradition of giving gifts on the day we celebrate his birth – Christmas.

I pray that the thoughtful and honouring example set by the wise men guide us as we rush around with our Christmas shopping in this material world.

Blessings

No, Virginia

Today is Christmas Eve!

In 1897, The New York Sun published an editorial in response to 8 year old Virginia’s question, “Is there a Santa?”. The editorial, “Yes, Virginia there is a Santa” has become famous and has led to the publication of children’s books and movies.

It is too bad that when Virginia first asked her father that question, he did not take the high road and tell her the truth. Instead of answering her, Virginia’s father passed the proverbial buck and told her to write a letter to The New York Sun having told her “that if you see it in the Sun, it is so”. (and we all know how truthful and accurate newspaper reports are! [ heavy sarcasm heavily intended])

Rather than be shown for the untruth that is it, that editorial has perpetuated the lie that continues to be upheld even in this cynical, atheistic, technologically advanced society.

When we tell our children that Santa (Easter Bunny, etc.) is real, we are LYING! God has some pretty strong words to say about lying and liars:

Pro 19:9  A false witness shall not be unpunished, and one speaking lies shall perish.

Joh 8:44  You are of the Devil as father, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not abide in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Lying comes from the devil!

While it may be understandable that non-Christians continue to spout the myth of Santa Claus, I find it disturbing that Christians willingly uphold and encourage their children to believe in Santa. After all, Christmas is supposed to be a Christian holiday – you know – ‘CHRIST’mas – Christ being the “reason for the season”!

God gave us the following commands:

Exo 20:3  You shall have no other gods before Me.
Exo 20:4  You shall not make to yourselves any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Exo 20:5  You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them. For I Jehovah your God am a jealous God…

Yet we teach our children to revere, and dare I say it, even worship, the figure of Santa Claus!! Our culture has elevated a fictional character, Santa, to the status of a god!

But God tells us:

Isa 45:21  Declare and bring near; yea, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this of old? Who has told it from then? Is it not I, Jehovah? And there is no other God besides Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me.
Isa 45:22  Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

We tell our children that he brings joy, love and peace to the world. If you read my earlier posts on Advent, you will see that it was God, through His son Jesus, who brought joy, love and peace to humankind.

Mic 7:7  Therefore I will look to Jehovah; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me!

How can we, as Christians  be examples of “looking unto God” to our children when we are purposely directing their attention to a fairy tale?!

I wrestled with this question when I was a parent of two young boys. But I read a lesson which taught that we, as parents, should teach our children that our blessings (aka Christmas gifts at this time) come from God.

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning.

In our materialistic, consumer”istic” society, we forget who it is that blesses us with the ability to work and to earn money so that we can afford all those “prezzies”:

Act 7:41  And they made a calf in those days and offered sacrifice to the idol and rejoiced in the work of their own hands.

But when we obey God, He blesses our efforts:

Deu 14:28,29  At the end of three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year, and shall lay it up inside your gates.  And the Levite, because he has no part nor inheritance with you, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are inside your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied, so that Jehovah your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Parents teach children about Santa’s “naughty and nice” list and the consequences of being on the “naughty” list. This has caused some children confusion as they notice that poor children get little to nothing for Christmas. (This is what lead Virginia to write that letter so long ago). It leaves them wondering if being poor means being naughty. Conversely, I have known some very unpleasant children who receive mountains of “stuff” at Christmas. We say that Christmas is about “love”, so does that mean that financially poor parents don’t love their children as much as wealthier parents do?

Unlike Santa with his naughty and nice list, we have a merciful Heavenly Father who sends blessings upon both the naughty and the nice:

Mat 5:45   For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

When I chose to teach my children that Santa was not real but just a fairy tale, I was subjected to criticism and ridicule, especially from family members.But I “stuck to my guns” because I remembered:

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes,

And more importantly:

Mar 8:38  Therefore whoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My Words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man shall also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.

People thought that I was ruining a special time for my children. Yet, the fact that I taught my children that their presents were a result of God blessing Mommy’s and Daddy’s ability to work and earn money to buy those presents, did not take away anything from their enjoyment of the season. They still looked forward, with eager anticipation, to stockings hung on their beds at night and presents round the tree in the morning. Teaching children that there is no Santa with a bottomless bag of toys can also teach children that we, as parents, need to be wise in handling the income God has blessed us with.

We need to teach our children that it is God, not Santa, that provides:

Php 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

And if you, or someone you know, is a parent facing financial difficulties and stress at this time of year, remember the following:

Mat 6:31  Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32  For the nations seek after all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.
Mat 6:33  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.

I exhort you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, that at Christmas, give credit where credit is due and say “No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus, but there is a wonderful Heavenly Father, God and He sent us His most precious gift, His son, Jesus”.

Mat 22:17  Therefore tell us; what do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?

Mat 22:21  They said to Him, Caesar’s. Then He said to them, Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things which are God’s.

I thought that the following poem was very appropriate for this blog post on Christmas Eve:

Twas The Night Before Jesus Came

Anonymous

Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house
not a creature was praying, not one in the house.
Their bibles were lain on the shelf without care,
in hopes that Jesus would not come there.

The children were dressing to crawl into bed,
not once ever kneeling or bowing a head;
And mom in her rocker with baby on her lap,
was watching the late show while I took a nap;

When out of the East there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter;
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
threw open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The light of His face made me cover my head,
it was Jesus returning, just like He said.
And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.

In the book of life, which He held in His hand,
was written the name of every saved man.
He spoke not a word as He searched for my name,
when He said, “It’s not here!” my head hung in shame.

The people whose names had been written with love,
He gathered to take to His Father above.
With those who were ready He rose without a sound,
while all the rest were left standing around.

I fell to my knees, but it was too late:
I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.
I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight.
Oh, if only I had been ready tonight.

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear,
the coming of Jesus is drawing near.
There’s only one life and when the last name is called,
we’ll find that the bible was true after all.