The faith of the Magi

I preached this sermon during the 2008 Christmas Service. The message challenged me and many others who heard it. Just want to share it with all. God Bless.

What do we really know about the wise men / the magi? Not much when you examine the scripture. Where did they come from? “The east” you say. But where in the east? How far east? Africa? Or where? We know they came from the east and they came from a long way away, but we don’t really know where they came from.How many of them were there and what kind of men were they? Again, we don’t know. In the second century, a church father named Tertullian suggested that these men were kings because the Old Testament had predicted that kings would come to worship him. He also concluded that there were three kings based on the number of gifts mentioned, gold, frankesence and myrrh. And the manufacturers of nativity scenes caught on and so in every nativity scene, you see three kings or wise men. But the Bible doesn’t tell us who they were or how many of them came.We don’t even really know that they were wise. In the original manuscripts they are called the “magi” from an ancient Iranian word, “magoi” which was used to describe people who acted in very strange ways, were captivated by astrology, spells and incantation and dressed in a very bizzare manner. The latin word is “magi” from which we get words like “magician.”
So we don’t know who they were, where they came from or even how many of them there were. Why not? Why doesn’t Matthew tell us any of this information? I’m not sure I know with certainty, but I’d suggest that all of this detail is left out of the picture in order that the full emphasis may be placed on the one thing that is central to this story, namely their statement, “we have come to worship.” That’s the main point of this particular story as Matthew tells it to us. “We have come to worship.” And as we look at what Matthew tells us about these men, although they may have been strange little men who dressed weird, they really were wise men.And the challenge for us today, is whether we will be wise men and women. I believe that wise men still seek him. Wise men still serve him and wise men still worship him. Let’s read the text.

[Read Matthew 2.1-2]

1. First, wise men still seek him.

It’s likely that these magi were descendants of the ten tribes of Israel that remained in Babylon after the time of Daniel. Many of the Jews did not return to their homeland but rather chose to remain behind in Babylon. There they were assimilated into the culture and probably adopted many of the religious practices of the pagans. So these magi may not have been very orthodox in their faith, but still, they were looking for the coming messiah. They took literally the statement from Numbers 24.17: “A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” And so they searched the skies for hundreds of years looking for a sign that the messiah had come. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced and came seeking the one who was born king of the Jews. We don’t know exactly how far they traveled, but it is likely that they came from 500 to 1000 miles away. Imagine traveling that far on the back of a camel. And it was a long and difficult trip across the desert. They really wanted to come and worship Jesus. They were serious seekers. They went all out to seek for the Messiah.Contrast them with the chief priests and teachers of the law. They were not the least bit interested. They didn’t care about the star. And they wouldn’t travel 6 little miles down the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to check out what was happening. They knew the right answers. They just weren’t willing to make the effort to see if what they had heard was true. Let me give you a little background about this gospel at this point. Matthew is writing this gospel to Jewish people who are living away from Israel. His purpose is to convince them that Jesus is the Christ predicted in the Old Testament. That’s why he makes so many references to it. And what he is saying to these people to whom he is writing is that they should be like the magi, not like the Jewish religious leaders. Wise men still seek him. Check him out. Do what ever it takes to convince yourself that Jesus really was born King of the Jews.Wise men and women still seek him. What about you? Are you seeking for something to fill the void in your life this morning? What are you seeking for this Christmas? Let me suggest to you that there are a lot of ways to fill that feeling of emptiness. But there’s only one way to fill it in a way that will last. That’s to realize that the emptiness is caused by God in order to bring you to himself. God sent Jesus to fill that void. To built the bridge between God and man. The bridge that was broken because of human sin and disobedience. Jesus brought about the reconciliation and filled the emptiness that was caused by sin. So, Jesus is the best gift for this Christmas. Let us ask ourselves who or what are really seeking for this Christmas.

2. Secondly, wise men still serve him.

The magi came to worship. They stopped in Jerusalem to find out exactly where Jesus could be found. There they met King Herod. He must have been enraged by their question and statement. “Where is he who is born king of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.” “Born king of the Jews?” Kings are not born. Herod had to murder, commit acts of deceit and treachery in order to become king. Who in the world could be born a king? And why would he have a star? And why would these men want to worship a baby? Herod must have been beside himself. But he kept calm and tried to make a deal with the magi. “Tell me where he is so that I too, can come to worship.” The magi knew through supernatural means that he was lying to them. But now they had a choice. Who would they serve? The little tiny helpless baby born king of the Jews or the full grown, murderous treacherous Herod? After all, if they served Herod, he might reward them greatly. Jesus was just a baby. Maybe they could worship and serve him later is life. Maybe they could serve Herod now and Jesus later. Maybe they could have the best of both worlds, have their cake and eat it, too. But that’s not what they did. They went to worship this little tiny baby. And then when God warned them supernaturally in a dream and they understood what he wanted them to do, they were faithful to serve him regardless of the danger of disobeying the murderous King Herod.Wise men still serve Him. Are you serving Him? What has He called you to do? I don’t claim to know specifically, but I do know that serving God involves serving others. There are a lot of opportunities to serve others especially at this time of year. In fact, this year we are serving to an even greater extent than we have in past years. We as Pastors truly believe that God has called our church to serve the poor this time around. Many social activities and funds have been channeled towards this cause. Take this festive season as a great opportunity to serve the poor. By serving the poor and marginalized we serve God (He who gives to the poor lends to the Lord)
But doing good for others doesn’t end with the Christmas season. Again, as part of our commitment to live a life that really matters, we will call ourselves to serve God by doing premeditated acts of kindness to those around us. We’ll call ourselves to give time to serving God either through our church or other avenues of service. God blesses those who serve him. Wise men still serve him.

3. And finally, wise men still worship him.

These men had once come all this way with one purpose in mind. That purpose was to worship the one who was born king of the Jews. They came to worship the Son of God. They did it with confidence. They did it with the certainty of hope. Look at some of the language. “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.” They didn’t just set out for a leisurely ride in the desert, show up in Jerusalem and say, “we heard something was going on in this area. What’s happening? We saw some bright stars and thought maybe they meant something. What do you think?” No. They were definite and they were certain. “Where is he? We have come to worship him.”And they brought with them expensive gifts, gifts fit for a king. They brought gold, a gift of wealth for royalty, frankenscence, a gift for a man living a hard working life, and myrrh, a gift to suited for one’s burial. Did they appreciate the significance of their gifts? We don’t know. But what we do know is that they didn’t just wander out, find a little baby and then decide that they needed to find a mall to pick up a gift. They brought gifts, expensive gifts, because they knew they were going to worship a king. Wise men still worship Him. Are you a wise man or woman? Are you spending time worshipping him? I’m not just talking about attending church. You can attend church and still not worship. Worship involves praising God both in speaking and in singing. Worship involves hearing the word of God taught and responding by changing our lives. And worship involves giving of our gifts to God. How are you doing in your worship? Are you taking time to praise, to confess, to study and to grow? Are you giving generously, extravagantly to God’s work? Giving is an act of worship. As we come to the end of this year, I want to simply ask you whether you are giving gifts to your church that are sacrificial and worthy to be given to the one born a King? In faith they gave gifts to a baby. In faith we give gifts to our risen Lord.

Conclusion

The magi really were wise men. And today, wise men still seek him. Wise men still serve him and wise men still worship him. My prayer for us is that we will be a church of wise men and women, seeking him, serving him and worshipping him as he leads us every day to become more and more a growing family of believers being transformed to wholeness and joy. May this Christmas be celebrated with Christ being our focus. Let us celebrate by seeking Him earnestly, serving Him faithfully and worship Him in truth and Spirit.