Sermon Tone Analysis
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I AM EXCITED AND READY TO BEGIN OUR ADVENT JOURNEY TOGETHER AS WE MARCH TOWARD CHRISTMAS DAY, WHICH IS ON SUNDAY THIS YEAR.
HOW EXCITING IS THAT! SOME HAVE ALREADY ASKED “ARE WE HAVING WORSHIP SERVICE ON CHRISTMAS DAY?” OF COURSE WE ARE.
AND I ANTICIPATE A HIGH WORSHIP EXPERIENCE.
• TODAY WE COME TO THE NARRATIVE OF THE WISE MEN, WHO VERY CLEARLY BEAR WITNESS THAT JESUS IS THE KING
THE STORY OF THE WISE MEN (MAGI) COMING FROM THE EAST TO WORSHIP THE NEWBORN KING OF THE JEWS IS TRIBUTE TO THEIR DECISION, DETERMINATION AND DEDICATION.
THEY MADE A JOURNEY TO SEE AND WORSHIP A KING BASED ON THE STAR THEY SAW AND THEIR INTERPRETATION OF ITS SIGNIFICANCE.
THIS INTERPRETATION THEY MOST LIKELY DETERMINED BY KNOWLEDGE OBTAINED THROUGH STUDIES OF ANCIENT WRITINGS IN THEIR POSSESSION OR AVAILABLE TO THEM.
THIS NARRATIVE FOUND IN OUR TEXT OF THE WISE MEN IS A NARRATIVE THAT IS HIDDEN IN MYSTERY.
FROM TRADITION WE SEEM TO KNOW ALL THE FACTS AND DETAILS.
BUT AS WE STUDY THE SCRIPTURE, WE FIND THERE ARE A LOT OF QUESTIONS WE CANNOT ANSWER ABOUT THE WISE MEN FROM THE BIBLICAL TEXT.
FOR EXAMPLE –
• HOW MANY WERE THERE? - WE DON’T KNOW
• WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? - WE DON’T KNOW
• HOW LONG DID THEIR JOURNEY TAKE? - WE DON’T KNOW
THEY SEEM TO JUST SHOW UP MYSTERIOUSLY – AND JUST AS MYSTERIOUSLY THEY ARE GONE.
VS. 1 TELLS US THEY WERE “MAGI FROM THE EAST.”
NOTHING ELSE IS SAID ABOUT THEIR ORIGIN HERE.
THE WORD USED FOR MAGI IS THE SAME GREEK WORD FROM WHICH WE GET THE WORD “MAGICIAN.”
• A SIMILAR GROUP OF PEOPLE IS MENTIONED IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL
• THEY ARE THE GROUP OF ADVISERS TO THE KINGS OF BABYLON AND PERSIA
• THE KING CALLS UPON THEM TO SOLVE DIFFICULT MYSTERIES – RIDDLES - DREAMS
• DANIEL HIMSELF BELONGED TO THIS GROUP
IN OUR JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE WE CAN LEARN MUCH FROM THE WISE MEN'S JOURNEY TO SEE THE CHRIST NEWLY BORN KING OF THE JEWS.
EVERY DAY THAT PASSES WE WILL BE FACED WITH DECISIONS TO MAKE LITTLE OR BIG JOURNEYS OF FAITH.
THESE JOURNEYS MUST BE BASED ON THE PROMISES AND THE PROPHETIC WORD OF GOD.
WE NEED TO BE WISE.
LET’S LOOK AT A FEW FACTS THAT WE CAN GLEAN FROM THE NARRATIVE OF THE WISE MEN THIS MORNING.
MY FIRST OBSERVATION - A WISE MAN’S JOURNEY IS ONE OF FAITH.
WHAT WOULD PROMPT SOMEONE TO LEAVE THE COMFORT OF THEIR HOMES TO GO ON A DANGEROUS JOURNEY?
• ROMANCE? - YES
• WEALTH? - MOST DEFINITELY
• BUT FAITH?
YES – FAITH
“WHERE IS THE CHILD WHO HAS BEEN BORN THE KING OF THE JEWS?”
WHAT A PROBING QUESTION – THERE IS NO DOUBT IN THEIR LANGUAGE THAT HE HAD BEEN BORN – THE QUESTION IS “WHERE IS HE?”
THEY HAD SEEN THE STAR – THE EVIDENCE WAS REAL – NOW WHERE IS HE?
THEY HAD FAITH THAT HE WAS ALIVE – THAT HE EXISTED – NOW ALL THEY NEEDED TO DO WAS TO FIND HIM.
THEIR PURPOSE WAS ESTABLISHED – FIND HIM.
• SO THEY WERE WILLING TO RISK EVERYTHING TO FIND HIM
• THEY WERE WILLING TO LEAVE THE SAFETY OF THEIR HOMES – TO RISK A PEARLIEST JOURNEY TO SEEK A KING
CAN YOU IMAGINE THEIR NEIGHBOR’S REACTION?
• ARE YOU GOING ON A JOURNEY? - YES
• WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
-- WE DON’T KNOW FOR SURE
• HOW FAR IS IT? -- WELL WE DON’T KNOW THAT EITHER
• HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO BE GONE? --
WELL WERE NOT QUITE SURE ON THAT EITHER
• BOY FOR WISE MEN YOU GUYS SURE DON’T KNOW MUCH, DO YOU?
BUT YOU KNOW THE SAME THING MUST HAVE BEEN SAID TO ABRAHAM WHEN HE LEFT HIS HOME FOR THE PROMISED LAND.
THEY MUST HAVE SAID THE SAME THINGS TO NOAH WHO WAS BUILDING AN ARK – EVEN THOUGH IT HAD NEVER RAINED IN THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH UP TILL THAT POINT.
THEY MUST HAVE SAID THE SAME KIND OF THINGS TO PETER, ANDREW, JOHN AND JAMES WHEN THEY LEFT THE FISHING NETS TO BECOME FISHERS OF MEN.
• WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY?
• ARE YOU INSANE?
• ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS?
• NO NOT CRAZY – NOT INSANE – NOT OUT OF THEIR MINDS
• MEN OF FAITH
GOD’S JOURNEYS ALWAYS INVOLVE FAITH.
HEBREWS 11:6 “BUT WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM, FOR HE WHO COMES TO GOD MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS, AND THAT HE IS A REWARDER OF THOSE WHO DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.”
IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD APART FROM FAITH.
WHY?
BECAUSE ANYONE WHO WANTS TO APPROACH GOD MUST BELIEVE BOTH THAT HE EXISTS AND THAT HE CARES ENOUGH TO RESPOND TO THOSE WHO SEEK HIM.
CHRISTIANITY IS A FAITH WALK.
THE WISE MEN DIDN’T HAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION IN FRONT OF THEM.
THOUGH THERE WAS EVIDENCE IN SCRIPTURE AND THE STAR ITSELF…..
THERE WAS NO 100% PROOF THAT THEY WOULD FIND THE KING THEY WERE LOOKING FOR.
BUT THEY BELIEVED.
WE SEE EVIDENCE OF THIS IN THEIR JOURNEY AND ALSO IN VS. 2 WHEN THEY ASK HEROD’
“WHERE IS THE CHILD WHO HAS BEEN BORN KING OF THE JEWS?
FOR WE SAW HIS STAR IN THE EAST AND HAVE COME TO WORSHIP HIM.”
• THEY BELIEVED THAT JESUS IS THE KING OF JEWS AND THAT THIS STAR WOULD LEAD THEM TO HIM
• THEY WERE NOT THE ONLY ONES TO SEE THE STAR, BUT MOST PEOPLE IGNORED IT WHILE THEY TOOK ACTION
• THEY HAD FAITH THAT IT WAS A SIGN FROM GOD ANNOUNCING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST
• THEY SEEMED TO KNOW SOME OF THE SCRIPTURES AND WHAT THE PROPHETS HAD SAID ABOUT HIM AND BELIEVED
THIS BELIEF LED TO ACTION.
• THEY WERE WILLING TO SACRIFICE COMFORT AND SECURITY TO SEE AND WORSHIP HIM
• THEY WERE WILLING TO FACE THE RIDICULE OF THEIR FRIENDS
• THEY WERE WILLING TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES, THEIR PLACES OF COMFORT
• IT WOULD SEEM THEY WERE ALSO WILLING TO FOREGO THEIR MEANS OF MAKING MONEY FOR THIS PERIOD OF TIME
• NOT ONLY WERE THEY NOT PAID, BUT THEY BROUGHT EXPENSIVE GIFTS WITH THEM
• WHY? - BECAUSE OF FAITH
THE SECOND POINT I WANT TO MAKE IS -- A WISE MAN’S JOURNEY IS ONE OF WORSHIP.
WHEN THE WISE MEN CAME ON THEIR JOURNEY IT WAS FOR ONE PURPOSE - THE PURPOSE OF WORSHIP.
THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM GIFTS OF GOLD - FRANKINCENSE - MYRRH.
GIFTS ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF CHRISTMAS.
THEY DEMONSTRATE HOW WE LOVE - CARE FOR - AND VALUE OTHERS.
IN PART, THE TRADITION OF GIVING CHRISTMAS GIFTS GOES BACK TO THE WISE MEN.
IN THE ORIGINAL CHRISTMAS NARRATIVE, THEY ARE BEST KNOWN FOR THE GIFTS THEY BROUGHT TO THE BABY JESUS…
AS THEY RECOGNIZED WHO HE WAS AND WHY HIS BIRTH MATTERED.
THESE GIFTS HAVE A LOT OF SYMBOLISM ASSOCIATED WITH THEM.
• GOLD REPRESENTS WEALTH
• IT IS A GIFT FIT FOR A KING - JESUS IS THE KING OF KINGS
• FRANKINCENSE IS THE SAP OF A TREE THAT WAS DRIED AND HARDENED AND USED AS INCENSE TO WORSHIP GOD
• THUS WE SEE A GIFT FOR HIS DEITY - JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD
• MYRRH IS A FRAGRANT PERFUME THAT WAS USED TO ANOINT THE DEAD – TO EMBALM AND PRESERVE THEM - JESUS IS THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB
BUT THERE IS MORE TO WORSHIP THEN GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, OR MYRRH.
• WORSHIP ALWAYS INVOLVES SACRIFICE
• WAS THERE A PRICE TO BE PAID FOR THE WISE MEN’S WORSHIP?
• THEY HAD WENT ON THIS JOURNEY
TRAVEL IN THOSE DAYS WAS NOT VERY COMFORTABLE – IN FACT IT COULD BE DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS.
THE WISE MEN HAD SACRIFICED THEIR OWN COMFORT TO FIND THE KING AND WORSHIP HIM.
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