Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Matthew 2:1-12

Theme: True worship does not originate with plans and programs, but starts in a heart that has experienced the saving grace of God.

Worship is essentially our response to God's grace.

The context of the Christmas narrative in the Gospel of Matthew magnifies the importance of worship.

It's what the Magi have come to do and what Herod feigns to do.

The text reminds us that worship can be sincere and genuine, or it can be trivial and false.

As a minister, one of my great concerns is the temptation that we will let our worship become consumer driven instead of biblically driven.

Sadly, for many Americans, "worship" has become just another commodity for which people shop around seeking the best bargain for their buck.

If worship is not sensational then it is not worthy of our time.

If the music is not upbeat, and uplifting, if the solo is not of recording artist quality, if the welcome is not warm, if the lighting is not ‘cool’, if the videos are not entertaining, if the sermon is not all about my ‘felt-needs’, then we continue shopping around.

And if we can’t find it in our local community, well certainly we can find it on TV, and Andy Stanley can become my media pastor.

For many in our culture, the bottom line question about worship is "How did it make me feel?" as if worship was somehow all about us.

We have witnessed a phenomenon in our society that is utterly amazing.

In our quest for "feel good religion" many professing Christians have come to worship praise and praise worship, but they’ve not yet learned to praise and worship God in Christ Jesus.

The songs, the dance, the banners, the hymns, the specials, and even the preaching have been accepted as worship instead of being considered a means of expressing worship and bringing us into the presence of God.

In other words, for many Christians the worship experience has become an idol.

True worship starts in a heart that has experienced the saving grace of God.

It is our heartfelt response to a God who emptied Himself of divine glory and became a man who took upon Himself the sins of the world.

ILLUS. in his book, Readings in St. John’s Gospel, William Temple wrote this about worship, “ … Worship is the submission of all our nature to God ... It is the quickening of our conscience by his Holiness; the nourishment of our mind with his truth; the purifying of our imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of our will to his purpose — all this gathered up in adoration.”

The response of the wise men to the presence of our Lord gives us a clue as to what real worship is all about.

I. AUTHENTIC WORSHIP SEEKS CHRIST’S PRESENCE

1. the wise men's identity is uncertain

a. tradition has left us with the ideas that they were kings and that there were three

b. the expression wise men is derived from the Greek word magoi (the plural of magi), and bears some relationship to our English word magician

c. the phrase from the east indicates their place of origin

d. the weight of evidence supports the conclusion that these men were probably from ancient Persia and were experts in astronomy and the physical sciences

e. this is all we fundamentally know about these visitors

2. why do the Scriptures protect their anonymity?

a. because the focus is on the Son of Man, not the wise men

A. IN SEEKING CHRIST’S PRESENCE OUR WORSHIP MUST FOCUS EXCLUSIVELY ON HIM

1. now that seems like a silly statement

a. of course our worship focuses on God, doesn't it?

b. not necessarily — think about the magi for a moment

2. one night during their observations of the heavens, they notice a conjunction of stars and planets that they have never seen

a. it's different than all the rest for it's luminosity is brighter and seem to moves

1) like so many pagans of their day, they could have chosen to worship this star and assumed it was a new god passing through the heavens as did Mars, and Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter

3. but they don't worship the star — they perceive it as an omen that heralds a momentous occasion

a. they begin to pour over the known literature of their day seeking a clue as to the star's meaning

b. they find their answer in the Hebrew Scriptures

“ “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near.

A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.

... .”

(Numbers 24:17, NIV84)

4. notice that upon their arrival in Herod's capitol that their focus is not on the star, but on the one whom the star has revealed to them

a. their question is "Where is he who is born King of the Jews... for we have come to worship him!"

b. in an era of history when worship of the stars was common, these men have focused their attention on the one who made the stars and to worship him

B. IN SEEKING CHRIST’S PRESENCE OUR WORSHIP BRAVES ALL OBSTACLES TO BE IN HIS PRESENCE

1. the wise men's journey meandered across rocky slopes and parched desert

a. their journey covered a distance of over 1,000 miles

b. their arrival in Jerusalem causes no slight stir

“When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.”

(Matthew 2:3, CSB)

2. their determination to worship the King of the Jews makes our efforts at worship seem small by comparison

a. the Magi Have Come a Thousand Miles to Find and Worship the New King of the Jews

1) many church members today won't even travel across town to worship if they don't feel up to it

2) and if the weather is bad, forget it, that's the most convenient excuse not to come—although they would not dare think about missing work on the same pretense

b. the Magi Have Traveled Months to Find and Worship the New King of the Jews

1) many church members today whine about the length of the worship of the church service they driven twenty minutes to get to

c. the Magi Have Braved Harsh Conditions and Difficult Circumstances to Find and Worship the New King of the Jews

1) many church members today grouse that the church it too hot or too cold

2) or the music is too loud, or not their preferred style

ILLUS.

Sometimes were like the little boy who was invited by his friend to go to church one Sunday.

The boy who was invited declined his friend's offer.

"/ don't want to go to your church," he said.

"It's too violent."

"What do you mean it's too violent?"

asked the boy who had invited his friend.

"Well, "the friend replied, "the other night when I was over here for dinner, I heard you dad talking about the church.

He said that the choir had murdered the anthem, the soloist had butchered her number and that the preacher was stepping on everyone's toes!"

3. the wise men teach us that worship is not dependent upon the outward trappings of worship, but upon our heart's desire to be in the presence of the King

a. the Psalmist wrote: "seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually" (Psalm 105:4)\

II.

AUTHENTIC WORSHIP BOWS BEFORE THE KING

1. the wise men stand in marked contrast to the religious and political elite of Jerusalem

a. the priests and scribes knew where the Messiah would be born, yet none of them joined the wise men in their journey to Bethlehem

2. pride and apathy had a strong grip of Jerusalem’s religious leaders and choked out their spiritual life

a. the priests and scribes could talk about their love for God and His law, but they would not venture the six miles to Bethlehem to verify that love

3. the wise men, however, put their faith to work and discovered the Savior

A. TRUE WORSHIP EMPTIES OURSELVES OF SELF AS WE HUMBLY COME BEFORE THE LORD

1. the first response of the wise men was to fall down before the Christ child

a. they humbly knelt in Jesus' presence

b. they may even have lain prostrate before Him, stretching themselves out in an act of submission before the King of kings and Lord of lords

2. the whole scene of the wise men before our Lord is painted with spiritual significance

a. worship is the act of ascribing ultimate value to something in a way that energizes and engages your whole person

b. worship is something that engages every aspect of your personality—mind, will, and emotions ... consider the words of the 95th Psalm

“Come, let us shout joyfully to the LORD, shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!

2 Let us enter his presence with thanksgiving; let us shout triumphantly to him in song.

3 For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods.

4 The depths of the earth are in his hand, and the mountain peaks are his.

5 The sea is his; he made it.

His hands formed the dry land.

6 Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep under his care.

Today, if you hear his voice: 8 Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on that day at Massah in the wilderness” (Psalm 95:1–8, CSB)

1) vs. 1-2 call out to our emotion ... shout joyfully ... shout triumphantly ... shout triumphantly to him in song

2) vs. 6 calls out to our will ... let us worship ... bow down ... kneel before the Lord our Maker

3) vs. 8 calls out to our mind ... do not harden

c. if you attend a worship service, and leave without ever experiencing in your inner being a ravishing sense of beauty and joy it's not worship

1) worship means giving ultimate value to God—not seeking an emotional euphoria for it’s own sake

2) the euphoria of the Magi’s worship comes from submission to and worship of the King, not from the soloist silhouetted by colored lights and immersed in artificial fog