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.

Over the last five Sundays, I’ve sought to answer the question, Why did God come to Earth in the flesh?

I’ve tried to communicate to you the reasons for the incarnation.

Each of my reasons begins with an “R”.

Why did God come in the flesh?

The Son came to Redeem Us.

He came to cover our sins by paying the ultimate price.

He gave his life as an atonement for sin.

Why did God come in the flesh?

The Son came to Reveal God’s Character and Nature to us.

If you want to know all about God, then simply get to know all about Jesus.

To know the Son is to know the Father.

Why did God come in the flesh?

The Son came to Reconcile us to God.

When God reconciles us to Himself, He re-establishes a close relationship that was broken by sin, but is restored by our faith in Christ.

Why did God come in the flesh?

The Son also came in the flesh to make us Righteous in his sight.

At the moment of our conversion, our sin was imputed to Jesus.

His righteousness was imputed to us.

God declares us righteous in His Son.

Why did God come in the flesh?

The Son came in the flesh so that he might Return to establish his eternal kingdom.

Over these weeks I’ve ignored all the traditional birth narratives.

This morning I want to turn to part of the birth narrative in Matthew’s gospel as we consider the arrival of the Magi, and the lessons we learn from them.

[read Matthew 2:1-12]

I. Lesson #1: WORSHIP IS AT THE HEART OF THE CHRISTIAN’S LIFE

1. the passage before us magnifies the importance of worship

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

1) the text reminds us that worship can be sincere and genuine, or it can be trivial and false

2. in 21st century America, one of the great temptations for the church is to make our worship consumer driven instead of biblically driven

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

1) if worship is not sensational then it is not worthy of our time

a) if the music is not upbeat, and uplifting, if the solo is not of recording artist quality, it’s worship unworthy of our time

b) if the welcome is not warm, if we’re not fawned over, if we don’t get a swag-bag at our first visit, it’s worship unworthy of our time

c) if the lighting is not ‘cool’, if the videos are not entertaining, if the sermon is not all about my ‘felt-needs’, it’s worship unworthy of our time, and we continue shopping around

ILLUS.

We live in a culture were people look for church as a place to go to meet their needs, rather than a base to be sent from to serve their community.

We consider what we got out of a worship service and go home feeling well fed or not.

So, church turns into a mall for consuming goods and services, rather than an equipping station to send us into the world.

3. for too many professing believers in our culture, the bottom line question about worship is "How did it make me feel?" as if worship was somehow “all about us”

a. to put it bluntly, for many Christians the worship experience has become idol worship where worship has become the idol

b. many Christians worship their worship

4. the story of the Magi illustrates for us some basic principles of authentic worship

A. AUTHENTIC WORSHIP SEEKS CHRIST’S PRESENCE

1. the Magi’s identity is uncertain

ILLUS.

Few biblical stories are as well known, yet so clouded by myth and tradition, as the visit of the Magi.

Most of these legends and myths that surround the Magi developed during the Middle Ages.

Tradition says that they were Kings, and there were three—one from India, one from Egypt, and the third from Greece.

Their names are recorded as Melchior, Balthazar, and Caspar.

Legend also has it that the disciple Thomas baptized them and that, years after their death, Helena—mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine and a devout Christian— discovered their burial places, exhumed their bones, and that they now reside in the great cathedral of Cologne, Germany.

a. virtually every tradition about the Magi is false

2. the biblical text is, for many, frustratingly brief

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and 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 2:1–2, NIV84)

a. they are Magi ... they are from somewhere East of Judah ... a star is somehow involved ... they’ve come to worship the new born kind of the Jews

1) that’s it, that’s all we’re told

3. why does Matthew protect their anonymity?

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

4. vs. 2 describes the purpose of the Magi’s journey — a star has portended the birth of a new Jewish king in Judah, and they have made an arduous journey to pay him homage

a. one night during their observations of the heavens, they notice a celestial phenomenon that they have never seen before

b.

it's different than all other stars in their night sky

c. they perceive it as an omen that heralds a momentous occasion — they just didn’t know what

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

2) 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)

3) it compels them to journey to Israel

d. when the Magi arrive in Jerusalem, they immediately head to King Herod’s palace assuming this is were the new king has been born

1) this is, of course, news to Herod and his court, and Judah’s religious elite

2) but something interesting is going on here ... even King Herod is perceptive enough to realize that the ‘king’ the Magi are describing is actually Israel’s long-awaited Messiah

a) this will change everything

e. what does this part of the story teach us?

5. in seeking Christ’s presence our worship braves all obstacles to be in his presence

a. the Magi’s determination to worship the King of the Jews makes our commitment to worship seem small by comparison

1) The Magi Have Come Seventeen Hundred Miles to Find and Worship the New King of the Jews

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

b) 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

2) The Magi Have Traveled Months to Find and Worship the New King of the Jews

a) many church members today work 60 hours a week at their jobs, but whine about the length of the worship if it goes ten minutes past the allotted time?

3) The Magi Have Braved Harsh Conditions and Difficult Circumstances to Find and Worship the New King of the Jews

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

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

b. we act as though worship is all about us ... all about our convenience ... all about our preferences

6. authentic worship seeks Christ’s presence

B. 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 Magi in their journey to Bethlehem

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

2. our worship, for it to be genuine biblical worship, gives heart-felt adoration to the Christ

ILLUS.

J.C. Ryle, a 19th-century Christian who was the Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, wrote a little commentary on Matthew.

On this passage concerning the Magi, he writes, “The Magi saw no miracles to convince them that this baby was the ‘King of the Jews.’

They heard no wise words out of his mouth.

They saw nothing but a newborn infant on the lap of a peasant woman, but they worshiped.