Worshipping Christ

2022-01-02 New Year’s am Matt. 2:1-23 Worshipping Christ

Since today is New Year’s, let me ask, “By a show of hands, how many made a New Year’s Resolution?” The website, www.mytelus.net, asked, “Is running a marathon going to be on your list of New Year’s resolutions?” Not surprisingly, 92% said “no”, 4% said “yes”, and 3% said “maybe”. Now, I’m no runner. I hate running. A marathon is the last thing I’d want to do. I’m quite sure it is the last thing many people want to do. But no matter what kind of a resolution you make, if you want to succeed, you need to plan it well, and have good, achievable goals.

It’s important to know your shortcomings. It’s amazing to realise that you will be able to do much more than you think you can, if you stick it out. Christians, in living the Christian life, need to set goals. We need to make resolutions. This morning we are going to look at the criteria of a Christian resolution.

The first and most obvious aspect of a Christian New Year’s resolution is to make sure it is Biblical. Deciding to run a marathon is not a Biblical resolution. Yes, you can quote to me that the apostle Paul wrote about running the race, running to win the prize, but he was speaking metaphorically about living the Christian life! Deciding to eat healthier is not necessarily a Biblical resolution, though you could argue that you would be honouring the temple of the Holy Spirit, by doing so.

We find a Biblical resolution in Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Now that we’ve found a Biblical resolution, we need to set some goals to attain it. It is one thing to say, “In light of God’s mercy, I’m going to offer my body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—that’s my spiritual act of worship.” That says a lot, but it doesn’t describe how you’re going to do it.

If, for example you decided to run a marathon, saying you’re going to run a marathon won’t help you train. But if you said, “I’m going to run a marathon. I’m going to get up at 5:00 every morning. For the first week, I’m going to run two blocks. The second week, I’m going to run four blocks. In fact, I’m going to keep increasing my distance week after week, until I am in shape and ready to run a marathon. Maybe my training will be good enough to enter this year. Maybe I’ll need to train for two years before entering a marathon. But that is my goal; this is how I’m going to do it.

When we consider setting goals and preparing to achieve them, we can find a good example from the Orientals who came to worship Jesus. But before we get into that, who were these guys, where did they come from and why did they come?

Well to begin with, we don’t know how many there were. People assume there were three because Matthew mentions three specific gifts. They could have brought more than these three gifts; several people could have pooled their gifts together. We just don’t know.

We do know they were from the east (orient means east). We know they were devout men. They earnestly sought after God. They did not have the light of Christ, but they saw the light of Christ in the heavens and they responded to it.

These guys were religious men who studied the stars. But they were not flakes like the so-called astrologers who make up silly horoscopes. These guys studied the stars and the planets to discern God’s will. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of this hands.” Clearly, they noticed something different in the sky and they understood it meant that the King of the Jews had been born.

Maybe it is a little hard for us to understand. Even though the Psalmist testifies to the heavens declaring the glory of the Lord, it seems like so much mumbo jumbo. We’re so conditioned to getting our information through reading books, attending school and so on, that it is hard for us to believe that persons who earned their living by studying the stars could actually learn anything.

It’s hard to believe that these men, by studying the stars could know that the king of the Jews was born. It seems so fantastic. It seems so unreal. And yet for the last few Sundays we’ve believed that Zechariah and Mary saw angels and that an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. If God didn’t hesitate to send His angels, we should not put it past Him to put something in heaven to alert these devout men to what he’d done.

And, like the shepherds who also saw a miraculous sign in heaven, that is the appearance of angels and the manifestation of the presence of God, the wise men immediately set out for Jerusalem. Why did they go to Jerusalem? They expected to find the king in the capital city.

So, the first thing we notice with a Christian resolution is immediate action. Don’t just talk about doing it, do it. But why did the wise men go? What motivated them to go all that way? Why would they be interested in a foreign king?

Well maybe they had nothing better to do. Maybe they were standing around and said, “I’m bored. Let’s go on a road trip. Where shall we go? China? No, too cold this time of year. How about Africa, it’s warm. Nah, too warm, I want to go somewhere that is comfortably warm, but can get the occasional snowfall. Then how about Israel? I hear the Romans have done a great job upgrading the infrastructure. That’ll make travel easier! Yeah let’s go there.

No, the reason they came to Jerusalem, the reason they sought out this newborn king of the Jews was to worship him. The wise men “saw the star in the east and came to worship him.” They witnessed God’s light in heaven, the understood the signs above and acted. They wasted no time. They obeyed God. They worshipped God.

But still we must ask why? Why did they come? They are from another country. Why worship a foreign king? What would it gain them? Israel was a small, occupied country. The birth of a king wouldn’t have a big effect until much later, when he was old enough to be king. Visiting a newborn doesn’t do anything for the newborn, does it? I mean they can’t even remember what happened, isn’t such a visit more for the other people? The moms and dads, or the royal family?

But there was no such situation. Herod was a puppet king over Israel, tolerated by the Romans and despised by the Jews. What benefit was there? Humanly speaking, there was none. The wise men gained nothing for their country. It did nothing for their status. It didn’t help them win anyone over in the Jewish leadership, or the Roman leadership for that matter. In fact, what they did was completely outside the box. They acted completely counter-cultural.

They came out of obedience to the one who created them. The creator took on creation, took on human flesh, and these men came to worship that event. They understood the signs, they acted in obedience and they worshipped him.

So, they arrived in Jerusalem, inquired to the location of the king. Herod was totally unaware of what was going on. He was not at all happy about it. Already he was planning to kill this so-called king. He called the religious leaders. They knew right away, where Jesus was. Did they go to see him? Did they offer worship? No. They were so politically aware, so politically correct, and so world-conscious, that they could not afford to do anything that would rock their unsteady boat. They understood the frailty of their society. They understood that the slightest little thing, as though a real king of the Jews would set Herod off and he would kill many people.

So, perhaps the religious leaders were aware that Jesus was born. Maybe they knew the truth but chose not to act on it. Maybe they were scared of Herod—they had good reasons! Maybe they didn’t care. Perhaps they were too comfortable in the life they’d built for themselves. We just don’t know, but it makes us wonder.

Undeterred, perhaps confused by the lack of interest, the wise men travelled to Bethlehem to visit the king. They arrived and they worshipped him. Now this is a curious thing. How did they worship? Did they strike up a band and sing some praise songs? Did they pull out their portable organ and sing some hymns? Did they stand around, read scripture, pray and listen to a sermon?

Ahhh, no, they gave gifts! They opened the gifts they’d given, and they presented them to Jesus. So, true worship is giving. From now on, we’re going to skip everything else in the service and only take offerings. Well, that is the only expression of worship recorded here. Isn’t that enough? Oh, okay, I suppose we ought to keep our other, Biblical elements of worship, like singing, reading scripture, praying, confessing sin, and hearing sermons.

But maybe we’d do well to think about giving. These guys traveled from far away. That cost them time and money. They presented gifts. These were expensive, extravagant, over the top kinds of gifts. They didn’t settle for 3%. They didn’t settle for 10%. They gave close to 100%. Why? Because they understood, that Jesus is worth it.

Our offerings are part of worship, just as the gifts the wise men gave were worship. The offering isn’t a break. The musicians play during the offering, not because they want to provide background music for our conversations about what we got for Christmas, or what our holiday plans are, or whatever people talk about during the offering. The musicians don’t play in order to show off their musical ability, either. They play because the offering is part of worship. They play to encourage us to worship through their music that the tune might bring to mind words of praise and adoration. They play so that we can concentrate on praying.

When the wise men came to Jesus, they “fell down, and worshipped him.” They physically demonstrated their feelings, their honour and respect for the baby Jesus. Then they opened and presented their gifts to him. They opened them to show the value, the sacrifice of their gifts. Perhaps they recognised that this baby would sacrifice himself for them. Perhaps they knew that the one who sacrificed everything for the world, was worthy of a costly sacrifice from them.

How does our giving differ from theirs? Do we open our gifts before God, or do we keep them wrapped up. We don’t give to Christ the things we value greatly, but the things that we can most easily afford money, time, presence, and talents, whatever. We give our second best. We have yet to learn that the gifts that cost us nothing are worth precisely what they cost.

Think about it. What are you giving to the one who didn’t consider equality with God something to be grasped, or stolen? What are you giving to the one who completely humbled himself and gave his very life for you? Are you hoping to get away with a cheap gift? Are you hoping to give just a little and receive a lot?

We don’t want to pay the price for anything anymore. We want the cheapest price available. If something costs beyond what we want to pay, then we don’t think it is worth our money. We’ve come to believe that our money is worth something. It is worth more than this product at that price. It is ours. We get to do with it as we think best.

But when we worship God, what does that say about us. Does it reveal that we are more like descendants of Cain or Abel? Are we putting our second best, our last fruits, our rejects and leftovers on God’s holy altar? If we are, what does that say about us? What does that say about God? Isn’t God worthy of our very best? The Wise men seemed to think so, and they weren’t even “in the loop” so to speak.

So, now I’ve told you all kinds of information. I’ve reminded you again that giving is important. I’ve reminded you that giving isn’t just a break in the worship service. Giving isn’t just about money, time or talents. Giving means giving our whole lives to Christ. That’s our New Year’s, New Life in Christ, resolution.

For the next ten weeks, we’re going to look at ten goals, ten ways we can give our lives to Christ. I’ll give you a hint; we’ll find them in the book of Exodus. Today we saw two different responses to God’s light. The Wise men saw the light and they acted on it. They knew the truth, and they put that truth into action, worshipping Christ. The Pharisees saw God’s light but chose not to act on it. There is a difference between knowing the truth and acting on the truth. Don’t be content to know the truth, act on it! Amen.