Sermon Tone Analysis

Some of you may be wondering, ///Why in the world are the Christmas decorations still up in the sanctuary?

It's the second week of January already!///

I asked that they be left up for a reason.

Most Christians assume that the day after Christmas ends the Christmas Season.

We assume this because everything /Christmasee/ lights, wrapping paper, tinsel, bows, Christmas cards, etc. -- all go on sale.

While some of you were taking advantage of the post-holiday bargains, you probably noticed that the department stores were quickly taking down their Christmas decorations to make way for the Valentines Day decorations.

We assume that the Christmas Season is over because the kids have gone back to school B finally!

We assume that the Christmas Season is over because the decorations in our homes have been boxed up and put in storage, and the Christmas tree is long gone even though you=ll be sweeping up pine needles until March.

We assume that the Christmas Season is over because the parties have ended, the company has gone home and you have started your post-holiday diet.

We assume that the Christmas Season is over because all the Bowl games have ended.

But the reason that I asked that all the decorations be left up is that Christmas really isn't over.

In many other Christian faiths, today is known as /Epiphany Sunday/ and is considered the close of the Christmas Season.

Now, I know that as Baptists, we really don't much care for church tradition B especially ancient church tradition -- and especially ancient church tradition that has anything remotely to do with Catholicism.

But, in my defense, let me quickly say, that: 1) some traditions are good in that they teach us important truth about our faith, and 2) a lot of church tradition predates the Catholic church.

According to tradition, the wise men found the new born king not on Christmas Day, but twelve days after Christmas.

That's where the tradition of the /Twelve Days of Christmas/ that we sing about comes from.

The Sunday that follows the first 12 days after Christmas is called Epiphany.

I love that word -- it's a word that means /to show/ or /to reveal/.

In Western church culture, it celebrates the coming of the wise men bringing gifts to the Christ child.

In doing so, they /reveal/ Jesus to the world as Lord and King and teach us some important spiritual truths about our faith-walk as Christians.

! I. WISE MEN WILL DILIGENTLY SEARCH FOR THE CHRIST

* Matthew 2:1 /"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem"/

#. what significance do we find in this verse?

#. if it is true that these Magi were Persian astronomers, then they were men who had nade a long, and arduous journey

#. the trip from Persia to Palestine is a distance of about 1,100 miles

#. in our day of modern travel where we think nothing of driving a few hundred miles in a day, we forget that their journey would have been fraught with dangers and hardships

#. if they were lucky, they made 10-15 miles a day by Camel caravan making it three-month trip

#. lesser men may well have turned back, but these men had received the revelation that the King whose kingdom would never end had been born

#. they were bound and determined to let nothing stand in their way of expressing their homage to this King

#. their determination teaches us an important lesson 

!! A. CHRISTIANS MUST BE DETERMINED IN THEIR FAITH

#. determination means a /willingness to carry through with a commitment

#. let me be honest with you this morning B the church is currently raising its second generation of /biblically illiterate/, /spiritually incompetent/, /narcissistically self-involved baby saints/, who do not know what it means to be committed to the Lord, Jesus Christ

#. the typical attitude toward church today is /What's in it for me -- what do I get out of it?/

* ILLUS.

Two or three times a year, I'll get a phone call from someone whose family has just moved into the community.

They'll grill me about our programs and ministries.

Sometimes they'll ask about the general tenor of our theology -- are we conservative or moderate or liberal.

But most of the time they'll want details about our children's and youth programs.

Secondary will be what programs and ministries we have going for adults.

Bottom line -- they're asking /What do you have for me, if I come to your church?/

Now, let me say I think it's important that we establish programs to meet the spiritual and ministry needs of our people from preschoolers through senior adults.

But let me tell you of the phone call that Pastors day-dream about.

It would go something like this: /Hello.

My family and I have just moved into your community.

We're looking for a church home that will allow us to use our spiritual gifts and talents to minister to the church and community in a variety of ways.

We//'//ll be there every time the doors are opened.

Oh, and by the way, we're tithers./

In 30 years of ministry, I've never had that conversation.

If I had, I'd probably have dropped dead of cardiac arrest.

#. a /determined faith/ is a faith that is committed to our God and His Christ no matter what

* ILLUS.

Most of you know the story of Job in the Old Testament.

We studied him in our adult Sunday School classes just last quarter.

Job was a man who lost everything of earthly importance to him.

In a few catastrophic days, he lost his wealth, his community standing, his family, and his health.

His wife, whom I'm sure was in a state of shock and mourning herself, urged her husband to curse God, lay down and die.

Instead, Job retains his faith and confesses a great confession when he declares, /"And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, 27 Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another.

How my heart yearns within me!"/ (Job 19:26-27)

#.

Job is confessing that even though he has no earthly reason for trusting in God, yet he will do so anyway

#. even if there is nothing tangible in it for him, he will still believe and worship

#. a /determined faith/ is a faith that is committed to our God and His Christ no matter what

#. a /determined faith/ is a faith that is committed to our Christ and to His Body -- the Church -- no matter what

#.

I've discovered after 30 years of ministry, that the vast majority of Christians are absolutely 100% committed to their church -- as long as they've got nothing better to do

* ILLUS.

A couple of years ago, the Northend Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Seattle, had a No-excuse-to-stay-home-Sunday.

The week before, the pastor sent the following letter to each member: Next Sunday, cots will be available for those who say Sunday is their only day to sleep.

Eye drops will be supplied for those who have red eyes from watching late Saturday-night TV shows.

There will be steel helmets for those who say the roof would cave in if they ever went to church, blankets for persons who think the church is too cold, fans for those who say it is too hot, scorecards for those wishing to list all the hypocrites present, TV dinners for those who can=t go to church and also cook dinner.

Lastly, the sanctuary will be decorated with Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who have never seen the church without them.

#. a /determined faith/ is a faith that is committed to our Christ and to His Body -- the Church -- no matter what

#. a /determined faith/ is a faith that is committed to our Christ's church and its ministry no matter what

* ILLUS.

Many churches have a /Beau Geste/ view of ministry.

In that movie, the Arabs were attacking a Legionnaire fort where only four Legionnaires were left alive.

The Arabs were not aware of this, because if they had been, the fort would fall for sure.

Therefore, the Legionnaires devised a plan to disguise their weak condition.

They set up the bodies of their dead comrades along the wall of the fort and ran back and forth, firing off the guns of their dead friends.

From the outside, it all looked very convincing -- but on the inside, there were only four men.

Likewise, in many of our churches, we have a handful of believers who run around and shoot off the guns of the spiritually inactive congregation.

Outwardly the church looks like it is alive and well -- but inwardly there are only a very few people doing the work of the whole body -- everyone else is spiritually dead.

#. these men were determined in their faith and willing to suffer any price in their search for the Christ 

! II.

WISE MEN WILL OFFER THEIR SINCERE WORSHIP TO THE KING

* Matthew 2:1-2 /"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?

We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him./

* Matthew 2:11/ "On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.

... /

#. first and foremost the Magi have come to worship the new born king of the Jews 

!! A. TRUE WORSHIP IS FROM THE HEART AND ADORES GOD FOR WHO HE IS

* Isaiah 42:8 /"I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images."/

#. friends, it is not a matter of what you get out of worship B but what God gets out of worship

#.

He is to be adored, and praised, and magnified, and exalted, and honored, and glorified, and acclaimed, and celebrated

* Revelation 15:3-4 /"... Great and marvellous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!

4Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?

For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship before You, For Your righteous acts have been revealed./

#. if you leave this place not having done any of those things, you've not worshiped

#. in the Gospel of John Jesus has a conversation with a lady who has come to be known as the /Woman at the Well/

#. in that conversation he talks to her about worship and He says ... /Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."/

(John 4:23‑24)