Come to Worship Him

Intro

It is quite remarkable that everyone who comes into contact with the young baby and toddler Jesus that their response is worship. Mary at Elizabeth’s house breaks out into song. John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy. Shepherds in the fields are filled with great joy and worship because of what they heard and saw.

This morning, we are going to take a look at men that have traveled a long ways to come and find the new born King of the Jews.....

The Wise Men from the East.... and as we read you will see them contrasted by Matthew with the King over Jerusalem.... King Herod.

This morning.... we will want to 1)Avoid King Herod..... 2) Learn from the Wise Worship of the Wise Men

That’s the journey we are on this morning.... lets read Matthew 2:1-12

Matthew 2:1–12 ESV

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

1. Avoid King Herod

King Herod is someone you would want to avoid this Christmas..... We do not want to be around him or be like him! He was half Jewish and Half Roman.... he was playing both sides of the political, religious, and social life to make sure that he remained in power...... He wasn’t loved by the Jews and he wasn’t loved by the Roman emperor either.... He wasn’t someone you wanted on your team, but you were stuck with him anyways in Jerusalem......

He was the roman client...“king of the jews”..... so when these wise men rolled into town which may have been a hard to miss entourage..... He is against the idea that there would be a new “king”

3 Reasons to Avoid King Herod

This morning..... we want to avoid being like King Herod..... The Wise men are told in a dream to avoid seeing him on the way home. For us this morning we need to avoid our hearts reaction to be like King Herod.

We don’t want to Give up our throne... Because of our sins, we place our self as god of our own life...... The same sin that Adam and Eve committed in the Garden.... God is wrong, he cannot be trusted so I am taking my life into my own hands..... That is the sin of our heart..... Our life, our will, and our way is most important.... we must protect this thrown.

Herod is Taking out threats to his throne

He was troubled and all of Jersualem too! (v.3)

He became furious and killed all the male children in Bethlehem (v. 16-18)

2. Avoid Hypocrisy in our worship - We play games in our worship of God...... We find ourselves googling Biblical answers instead of reading and knowing the Word of God. We use the right religious words outwardly, but inwardly we are against the very words we say!

Hypocritical Worship

He googled where the birth of the Savior would take place (v.4-6)

Bring me word because I want to come and worship him too… (v.8)

Matthew 15:7-9 “7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ””

Nothing is hidden from God - Herod’s secret scheme with the wise men was doomed to fail under God’s plan..... so will yours.

Hebrews 4:13 “13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Schemes will fail

He secretly spoke with the wise men (v.7)

He lied about his desire to find this child.... He wanted him dead and gone (v.16-18)

While we need to Avoid King Herod this morning, we need to look and learn Wise Worship from these Wise men!

2. Wise Worship by Wise Men

There are so many questions to answer about these wise men, Greek “Magi”.

Where are they really from?

How many were there?

Why were they following that star?

What type of star was it? Meteor, Jupiter, there from the beginning, or newly created by God?

How did this star move?

My answer to these questions are to show you that Matthew doesn’t give them.... instead he gives general answers so that we see their specific Worship of Jesus!..... Gentiles..... coming to Jerusalem, the center of the Jewish faith..... are those that are heralding the birth of Jesus..... the King of the Jews..... and even the religious leaders are told the baby has been born..... and where it would be born..... and they stay put in Jerusalem!

3 Lessons on Wise Worship from the Wise Men:

a. The Wise Men Come With Purpose and a Plan to Worship

They came from the East following a star v. 1-2

They came looking for a specific King of the Jews

They came to worship Jesus

God intervened into their life with the presentation of this star!...... Let that sink in..... whatever their occupation was.... God stepped in with a purpose for them.... a plan for them to follow this star to a new king. Ancient cultures, especially with astrology believed that the stars help predict the future, and that of kings and rulers.

Whatever the motivation was, these men..... wise men sought out to worship Jesus with a purpose and a plan.... provided by God!..... to find this King!

We wish to know everything that is going to happen in our life. What to do in the future, where to live, who to marry, what job to take, when to have children, when to retire, etc......

Long obedience in the same direction...... discipleship...... Eugene Peterson.. These men set out following God’s purpose and plan.... day after day on a journey that they didn’t know how it would end except for worshipping this new king.....

Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

What you do in daily, weekly, and yearly worship of God matters..... even if you don’t remember every step of the journey.... we await the return of Jesus.... we are traveling to our heavenly home.... we know where the eternal Bright Morning Star lives.... in heaven.... Our journey isn’t from the East..... but from being outcasted to the East of Eden to the feet of Jesus in worship for eternity.

Daily, weekly, and moment by moment of worship matters because it is God’s purpose and plan for our lives!

b. The Wise Men Come With Preparation to Worship

They followed the star, but worshipped the Savior v. 9

They enjoyed and rejoiced at the Star v. 10

They found Mary and fell down to worship Jesus v. 11

They had hearts prepared for Worship

The hearts of these wise men were prepped to worship Jesus.... they were focussed on Jesus, so that when they arrived, the star and mary were no distraction to their worship of Jesus!

Long trip going on vacation..... what will you do when you get there?...... Are you a planner or are you a figure it out as you go?....... Either way, you are going to go on vacation....relax, enjoy time off....... You switch your mindset in preparation of the vacation ahead!......

These men, traveled across the globe to go and see Jesus......There worship was prepared for...... their hearts were ready........ We have a weekly opportunity to enter into this moment on Sunday worship..... and I wonder how much time you spent preparing your heart to worship God this morning? Have you preapred your heart to GIVE to God in Worship or to consume something..... to experience something. Worship is an experience, but it is based on our giving to God first and foremost.

Set aside time, money, lodging, food, etc. on their journey!

2. They were ready for distractions!.... they set out and accomplished the goal.... they followed the star to Jesus! with a pit stop with Herod in the way......

Ecclesiastes 5:1 “1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.”

What preparations can you make so that you guard your heart and your steps as you come to worship of God?

Sunday mornings? - Pray, read, meditate....what if you spent the entire week filling up on Scripture so that Sunday morning wasn’t just a refill of God’s word to your life.

What if Amen happened in your life more than over meals and in Bible Study at Church?

What if you saw the distractions of life.... especially at Christmas and could say to them..... Jesus is better!!!! Better than presents.... better than family.... better than food.... better than the traditions of the year!

c. The Wise Men Come With Presents to Worship

Three expensive gifts v.11

Presented, Offered there treasures

Whatever the meaning of these gifts.... given with a purpose!

Gold - Kingship

Frankincense - acknowledging his priesthood

Myrrh - Suffering and Sacrifice

It’s possible it was in God’s plan so that the family could afford to escape to Egypt and return!

These wise men worshipped Jesus with their time, their talents, and their treasures..... They were bringing their best to Jesus..... these gifts were costly.... and they were offered to Jesus as a present. Freely given, in obedience and response of their heart to Jesus.

Giving is a part of our Worship to Jesus!

God needs nothing, Jesus needs nothing, yet we give because he freely gave his life for us.

Acts 17:25 - He needs nothing....”nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

Generosity defines the Christian life..... generous with your time, talents, and treasures.

In 2 Corinthians 9 we see this spelled out over and over again.....

It’s easy to think of giving time....... it’s a repetitive daily gift from God.

It’s easy to think of giving your talents..... it’s a special gifting to use for the kingdom.

It’s hard for us to consistently give of our treasures....it’s a limited resource that impacts our heart and life.

The tithe in the Old Testament was given....not because God needed money, but because the people needed a constant reminder of their heart struggle with money and possesions!

Matthew 6:24 “24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

They traveled with these gifts.....for many miles..... with the purpose of giving them away! They prepared their heart to give long before the moment ever came!

You want to learn Wise Worship.... look to these Wise Men.....

Come to Worship Jesus.... with purpose and a plan, with preparation, and with your presents!

Take aways from the Wise Worship

Make a regular commitment to worship daily individually and weekly with your church family. That is God’s plan for you and the church family!

Prepare your heart for worship. Know what draws you closer in worship and what distracts you from worship.

Be Generous in your giving (especially of your treasures). Generously give God our time, talents, and treasures.

Conclusion

What is God calling you to do this morning? Maybe he has been at work for weeks, years!

Today may be the day to step out in obedience to believe in Jesus for the forgivenss of your sins..... You didn’t follow the star this morning to LCBC but you are following the Holy Spirit’s guidance to believe in Jesus for the forgivenes of your sins or to be baptized!

Today may be the day to join this church membership!

Today may be the day that you admit you are more like King Herod than you knew before....and you want to repent and find yourself worshipping Jesus with your whole heart again!