THE COMMITMENT of WORSHIP

Matthew 2:1–12 “1 Now when Jesus was born in Beth-lehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Beth-lehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Beth-lehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Beth-lehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9  When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11  And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 12  And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. 

THE COMMITMENT of WORSHIP

The purpose of this message is to understand that God is worthy of our full commitment to Him. Such a commitment will mean a commitment of our time, a commitment of our talents, a commitment of our treasures, and a commitment of our trust. In our worship, we bring all these before Him.

INTRODUCTION: Some passages of

Scripture are too rich in content to be

limited to study at one time of the

year. This passage about the visit of

the wise men is normally looked at

only during the Christmas season. But

it has a message about worship that is

relevant all year long. When you need

to determine the value of your home,

the person you need to call is the

appraiser. He or she has been trained

to evaluate what a piece of property is

worth. They consider the

neighborhood in which your home is

located, take into account its age and

condition, and carefully inspect every

inch of your dwelling, paying attention

to all the modifications and upgrades

you have made or the places where

neglect has brought about

deterioration. Once they have all that

data in hand, they can make an

estimate of the value of your home.

In worship, something like that comes

into play. When I think of appraisers

and appraising, I think of worship. For

God has invited each of us to appraise

Him—to examine Him and assess His

worth. When we do that, He knows the

conclusion to which we must come.

He knows that in all honesty we can

never give a low appraisal of God and

His work. In fact, the Bible instructs us

to “taste and see that the Lord is good”

(Psalm 34:8). That is an appraisal. He

says, in effect, “come and check it out

for yourself. Find out whether I am

worthy of praise. Make an appraisal of

My actions, My character and My very

being, and see whether you think I am

deserving of praise and worship.” God

is asking us for a commitment, and He

can do that because He can be

appraised. And when we appraise

Him, we discover that He is

abundantly worthy and deserving of

everything we can offer Him—

everything He asks from us. Such an

appraisal calls for an ever-deepening

commitment to our God. One of the

outcomes of spending time in God’s

presence is that we discover that our

appraisal will lead us to worship with

all our hearts. When we look at the

story of the wise men (the Magi) who

come from halfway around the world

to kneel before the toddler King of

kings, as found in our text today, we

can learn some important lessons

about the commitments we need to

make in relation to worship. Let’s look

at four crucial commitments of

worship that we find in this text.

SERMON POINTS: 1. GOD IS WORTHY OF A COMMITMENT OF YOUR TIME.

• You cannot worship without a

commitment of your time. • The Magi

made a long and time-consuming

journey to come and worship Jesus. •

The example they set for us should be

clear: they were willing to cover

whatever distance was necessary to

get them to the place where the

Savior was. • The Magi were busy

people, with many responsibilities,

and yet they set everything aside and

adjusted their schedules to seek Him.

• David wrote in the Psalms that he

meditated on God day and night. In

Psalm 145 he says that every day he

blessed the name of the Lord. •

Making the effort to come and worship

with others will mean making a choice

about how you are going to use your time. *

GOD IS WORTHY OF A COMMITMENT OF YOUR TIME.

2. GOD IS WORTHY OF A COMMITMENT OF YOUR TALENTS.

• We commonly refer to the Magi as

“the wise men.” They were intelligent

and highly educated in the areas of

science and law. They were scholars

who carefully studied the movement

of heavenly bodies, similar to

astronomers or astrologers. • The

Magi were highly religious people, but

their religion was not the true faith.

Still, when they came to understand

who Jesus was, they bowed down to

Him. * They were rich and educated

and powerful, but these Magi bowed

down before a toddler. * They

overcame their religious

misunderstandings because of what

the true God revealed to them. • When

we come before Jesus, we must

humble ourselves as the wise men

did. * We must put our own successes

and gifts and talents on the altar,

bowing down in humility and offering

them to God. * We should give honor

where honor is due, but remember

that even the most esteemed must

bow before Him. * We should not be

threatened by the Herods who have

power in our lives. The wise men

feared God and His will more than

they feared Herod. * You are never too

much of a big shot that you do not

need to bow down! *

GOD IS WORTHY OF A COMMITMENT OF YOUR TALENTS.

3. GOD IS WORTHY OF A COMMITMENT OF YOUR TREASURES.

• In verse 11, the wise men offer very

significant gifts to Jesus. * Gold is the

most valuable commodity that exists.

It is the gift you give to royalty.

Through this gift, they recognize His

kingship. * Frankincense is a fragrant

scent that would be poured on the

altar whenever an offering was made

to God in Leviticus 2:2 it covered

the smell of the burning of the

sacrificial animal and transformed it

into a sweeter smell. Through this gift,

they recognized His divinity. He is the

One who makes us sweet in the

presence of God through His own

sacrifice. * Myrrh is both an

embalming fluid and a painkiller. On

the cross Jesus was offered wine

mixed with myrrh (Mark 15:23), but He

refused it. He went through the agony

of the crucifixion without any pain

relievers. Through this gift, they

recognized that He was born to die. *

When you know who Jesus is, you

bring your gifts and treasures with you

and lay them at His feet. * The Magi

give their best because they are giving

to the best .

GOD IS WORTHY OF A COMMITMENT OF YOUR TREASURES.

4. GOD IS WORTHY OF A COMMITMENT OF YOUR TRUST.

• The Magi see the unique star—a

personalized star—and they know it is

like no other. • Numbers 24:17 said

that there would be a star that would

come from the nation of Israel for all

God’s people. • Theologians believe

that this star was a manifestation of

God’s shekinah glory—a visible

manifestation of the presence of God.

A place where God shows up and you

can see His glory. • The Magi respond

to the revelation of God that they see

in the unique star. • The star doesn’t

give them all the details. But they

recognize it as a sign. They don’t have

all the specific information they

desire, but they take a step of faith to

follow. • In fact, the Magi get further

guidance to find Jesus from sinners.

Sometimes Jesus uses sinners to help

us get to Him. • Sometimes guidance

is supernatural, but sometimes it

comes from a very natural source. God

uses people. • Then God’s guidance

comes in a dream to warn the Magi.

God’s guidance is not only for leading,

but for protection. • God’s direction

often takes us in a different direction

than we planned on going. You have

to be ready for your plans to be

interrupted. • At every step the wise

men have to trust in God. And to obey

His leading. • God is worthy of our

time, our talents, our treasures and

our trust.

GOD IS WORTHY OF A COMMITMENT OF YOUR TRUST.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION: CROSS THE GOAL LINE The Magi were a little like a football player who is trying to get to the end zone. The ball carrier is the one who is always aiming for the end zone and making every effort to get there. They will push through, using every ounce of strength to cross that goal line. The Magi went through many struggles along the way to reach their goal of finding Jesus, and so should we. Keep your eye on the prize. Keep your eyes on the Jesus!

Jesus has given us a never to-be-repeated gift.

He has given Himself.

“We live in the time of instant

gradefication. Instant oatmeal. Instant

cereal. Microwavable food. You pop it

in, pop it out, and you have got it.

God’s presence doesn’t work that way.

The effort and the wait are worth your

while and worth your effort.”

“Is there any skill, any victory, any

talent, any knowledge, any degree,

any giftedness that you still own? Or

have you bowed down? Have you

thrown them all down at His feet in

recognition of who He is?”

“Trust me, God has got a hundred and

one ways to buckle your knees. That is

why the Bible says to humble yourself

beneath the mighty hand of God and

He will exalt you. Because if you don’t

humble yourself, He will have to do

the humbling for you.”

“The will of God knows exactly where

it is going.”

1. GOD IS WORTHY OF A COMMITMENT OF YOUR TIME.

2. GOD IS WORTHY OF A COMMITMENT OF YOUR TALENTS.

3. GOD IS WORTHY OF A COMMITMENT OF YOUR TREASURES.

4. GOD IS WORTHY OF A COMMITMENT OF YOUR TRUST.