Walsoken 08-01-2012
The Magi
Let us open in prayer
Father, I pray that you will anoint my words this morning that they may be words for each of us from you. I ask what I say may be relevant in our Christian lives. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Story: Maddy and I recently moved from Frisby on the Wreake in the Diocese of Leicester to Tilney St Lawrence.
When we started to pack up in Frisby, we came to take the bedroom apart and I was surprised to find a small basket underneath our bed with three eggs and £1000.
I was a bit puzzled and so I called Maddy and asked her what this was all about.
She said: “Well I have to be honest with you. Every time you preached a bad sermon, I put an egg in the basket.”
I thought – well three bad sermons in 3 years – not bad going.
But I was still puzzled – “Well, what is the £1000 about”
She replied, as wives always do : “Every time I got a dozen, I sold them”.
I hope this morning won’t be an egg sermon!!
Today we celebrate Epiphany and our Gospel reading is so well known that it is difficult to find something new to say. But I would like to start with a question
QUESTION 1. Who were the Magi?
Very little is known about the Magi.
Matthew doesn’t even record how many of them there were.
All the Bible tells us is the Magi came from the East to Jerusalem. And so it is more than likely they were NOT Jews.
Tradition has it that they were Magi from Persia, once a mighty country where modern Iran and Iraq now are.
What is known about the names and number comes from legends and what exactly Magi were from information gleaned from history about the Persian kings.
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, frankincense and myrrh.
History tells us that they were astrologers reading the future in the stars
It is generally accepted that “the Magi were a priestly caste (in the Persian Empire), numerous enough to be regarded as one of the six tribes of Media” (based on J.D. Davis Dictionary of the Bible p. 489).
The Magi worshipped the elements of fire, air, earth and water.
But the only temples they had were fire temples, generally on the roofs of houses, where they kept the sacred element burning day and night – a bit like the Eternal Flame in Arlington Cemetery over President John Kennedy’s grave.
And it is from the term Magi that both of our modern words “magician” and “magistrate” are derived.
It seems to me that the Magi were drawn to come and worship Jesus as the result of astrology!!
So why did God speak to those practising astrology
After all astrology is firmly condemned in the OT
Take for example the passage from Lev.19:26
26 You shall not eat anything with the blood; neither shall you use magic, omens, or witchcraft or predict events by horoscope or signs and lucky days. (Amplified Bible)
So if that is so specifically condemned - as being contrary to God’s will – why then does God the Father speak by sending a special star?
Surely, conventional wisdom would suggest, God should speak to the leaders of His own people the Jews than to pagan foreigners?
It seemed to me that the key to the answer of these questions can be found in the attitude of the Magi compared to the attitude of the Jewish King Herod and the Jewish religious leaders.
So let us have a look the attitude of three groups of people in our Gospel lesson
1. The JEWISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS;
One might have expected them to be the last people on earth to miss out on meeting Jesus.
After all the religious leaders knew all about the Messiah from prophecies in the Old Testament.
And that he was going to be born in Bethlehem.
But what did they do about it?
Once they heard the report of the Wise Men - did they go and check Bethlehem out - to see whether this special baby really was God’s Messiah?
No. They missed the Son of God because of indifference.
They had the facts about the baby.
They knew how special he should be.
They knew he was the Messiah sent to save them.
They been waiting for him for 300 years – but perhaps the wait had become a tradition.
But they didn’t really care enough to find out more about the Messiah.
QUESTION I wonder….(pause)
Are they not like so many people today – indifferent to Jesus?.
They may even go to Church on Sunday but Jesus does not impinge on their life the rest of the week.
But let’s take the challenge more personally.
Do we take enough time to pray and to read our Bibles regularly?
The second Group I want to look at is
2. The Jewish King HEROD and his Court
2.1 The history of the man
Let me give you a little background of this “delightful” little man.
The Jews hated Herod because of his successful alliance with Rome.
He had been appointed king by the Roman Senate in 40 BC and had gained control of the country by 37 BC.
So the fact that the Magi called Jesus - King of the Jews was a direct threat to Herod.
And Herod was paranoid.
He had three of his sons, his favourite wife and his mother-in-law put to death because he saw them as threats to his power.
Indeed the Roman Emperor, Augustus once said, “It was safer to be Herod’s pig than his son”.
His murderous streak didn’t end with his death either.
Just before he died, he ordered that some of Jerusalem’s most distinguished citizens should be arrested on trumped up charges and sentenced to death.
Their execution was to take place the minute he died.
Herod knew no one would mourn his passing, but wanted to make sure that people mourned the day he died.
Part of the reason the Jews were so against him is that they did consider him a pure Jew because he was half Jew and half Idumean (i.e. a non-Jew).
However to curry the favour of the populace, he rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem and he was a terrific architect.
Rabbis often used to say:
"He, who has not seen the Temple, has not seen a beautiful building!"
And if any of you have been to Masada, you will have seen Herod’s magnificent palace - hewn into the side of the mountain – a feat of engineering that is breathtaking even if it had been done this century let alone 2000 years ago.!
By and large, Herod was an evil man, but he did have his moments of kindness.
During the famine of 25 B.C., Herod melted down a gold plate he owned to use to purchase corn to feed the starving people. (Barclay, p. 19)
Which just goes to prove that even an evil man can rise to the occasion and do the right thing.
It is interesting that Herod became king when he was 33 years old – the same age as Jesus was when He died on the Cross.
But what a difference in leadership style.
Jesus’ kingship was a sacrificial kingship, where the king gave his life for his people.
Herod’s kingship in contrast was despotic, where his people gave their lives for the King’s delusions.
His was a kingdom based on cruelty and fear.
Jesus’ kingdom was based on love.
2.2 So what was Herod’s attitude to Jesus?
He saw Jesus, the King of the Jews as a threat to his kingdom.
Some people still see Jesus as a threat to their kingdom.
Story: The Christian author, Paul Little was speaking to a student one day who had many questions about Christianity.
After he had answered the student’s questions to the student’s satisfaction, Paul Little then asked him:
“Would you like to become a Christian?”
“No” the student answered, “It would cramp my style of living”
Jesus was a threat to Herod’s kingdom, a perceived threat to his autonomy.
QUESTION: I wonder………(pause)
Is he a threat to my life style too?
Jim Eliot, one of the missionaries killed in Ecuador in the 1950’s said:
He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep
To gain what he cannot lose.
Herod wanted to hold on to what he had got so much that he missed out on meeting the KING who could have given him the PEACE Herod so desperately sought.
3. THE MAGI
The final group of people I want to look at are the Magi
If we go back to my original question
Why did God reveal Jesus to the Magi – people who practised astrology that was expressed forbidden in the OT?
It seems to me that there are two reasons.
1. My first reason is that the Gospel - that Jesus’ birth heralded - is for all the world – not just to the Jews but also to the non-Jews.
We don’t have to wait until we are living a “morally good life” before God seeks us out.
For if moral perfection was God’s criteria, I doubt any of us would be sitting in church today.
2. My second reason is that these Magi were SEEKING God – indeed their efforts put the Jewish leadership to shame.
King Herod was out to kill Jesus.
The religious leaders – the chief priests and scribes of the people were - at best – ambivalent to Jesus.
But the heathen Magi were actively seeking him out.
God honours an inquiring spirit within a person.
There are in my opinion three remarkable characteristics that the Magi exhibited
3.1. Characteristic No. 1 They followed God’s guidance
The Magi followed God’s guidance. They followed the star
“ We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him” (Mt. 2:2)
They recognised that God was leading them somewhere special with the star.
And even though they didn’t know the destination they were prepared to step out.
3.2. The second characteristic was that ought Jesus for the right reasons
The Magi had was that they came “to worship him” (Mt. 2:2)
This challenges me.
QUESTION: I wonder ……
Why do we come to worship the Lord?
The Magi came to worship the King of the Jews – a little baby in a cradle for WHOM He was.
I think I’ll just park that thought with you.
3.3 They gave Jesus of the very best that they had.-
The third characteristic of the Magi had was that they brought the very best they had.
They bought costly gifts to Jesus
I would like to focus on the gifts they brought, because - if the Scripture bothers to record them so carefully - there must be a reason for doing it.
The gifts were: gold, frankincense (translated in the NIV as incense) and myrrh
1. Gold
Gold indicates Kingship. What is more fitting than gold for a King!
If Jesus is to be the King in my life, then I am challenged by the thought: What gold can I bring to Jesus today?
What do I hold onto as precious that I can give to the Lord.
Story: About fifteen years ago, the Gold that I felt I had to give to Jesus was my secular career.
I was a patent attorney and at the top of my profession
At the time, I was Head of the Group Patents Department of a blue chip multinational - Reckitt and Colman
In March 1997, I felt that God was asking me to become an Anglican priest.
When I told Maddy she said: “Great! - the Lord showed me that two months ago but I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to hear from God yourself”.
Aren’t wives wonderful!
The selection process took about a year until the final ABM selection conference in June 1998.
During that year, I had three confirmatory prophecies from people who did not know that I was thinking of going into the Church.
I’ll just tell you about one
Two weeks before the final ABM selection Conference, I came into the evening service at Christchurch and I prayed to myself as I walked in:
“Lord give me a confirmation that I am doing the right thing”
That Sunday we had an outside speaker who I had never met, Bruce Collins - then Vicar of Harrow.
As Bruce got up to preach he said: “I have been bothered by this all through the service.
Pointing at me he said “You in the blue jumper” and I said “Me?”
“Yes you – the Lord is calling you into deeper leadership.”
I went to ABM and was recommended for training for the Anglican ministry and was ordained in 2001
For me – my precious job – was the gold that I brought to the Lord in 1997.
QUESTION A thought: I wonder if the Lord is calling any of you to offer up your “gold” today?
2. Frankincense
Why did they give frankincense to Jesus?
Frankincense was an ingredient used by the priests in temple worship to blend with the smell of the sacrifices.
To me it signifies Jesus’ priestly role.
Jesus was the King of kings, but he was also the "great high priest."
Hebrews 2:17 puts it well when the writer says,
"For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people."
Jesus wants us to offer up our lives as a sacrifice holy and acceptable to God (Rom 12:1).
QUESTION: A thought. What is the sacrifice God wants.
For me, it speaks of my quiet time – the time I spend with Jesus - in praying and Bible Study.
This is the hardest time I find to find.
As we live busy lives, this is the first thing that gets pushed to the bottom of the pile.
Most things we do are tangible – but prayer doesn’t seem to be.
And we like to do things that we can measure
Yet prayer – and our Quiet Time - is the one priestly offering that God is delighted with.
Just as He was delighted with the frankincense of the Magi.
3. Myrrh
In Jesus’ time, people used Myrrh to embalm their dead. A thoughtless gift, you might say for a baby shower?
Not for this baby.
I wonder of the Magi knew that Jesus was born to die for the sins of the world - because it was God’s preordained will
Hebrews 10:10 says, "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
When I think of myrrh, I am challenged to consider mission.
We might find sharing the Good News uncomfortable at times – because of the fear of looking foolish in the sight of our family and friends.
Mission is all about letting people know the Good News of Jesus and what his death has done for us.
4. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I’d like to leave you with a few ideas from the presents that the Magi brought to Jesus.
What are the presents that we can bring to Jesus - our gold, frankincense and myrrh?
1. Gold
Let’s consider the “gold” that we can bring to Jesus.
How tightly do we hold onto those things that we treasure
Have we learnt yet to hold loosely onto the good things God has given us – like we might hold an egg in our hand
Or do we hold on to the gifts God gives us so tenaciously that we miss the blessing when He asks us to give them up?.
2. Frankincense
Let’s consider the “frankincense that we can bring.
What sacrifice can we bring to God who has given us everything?
For me the greatest challenge is to spend more time with Jesus,
• in prayer – for myself and praying for others and
• in Bible Study.
As the 80’s car sticker said: "Wise men still seek him"
Do you want to seek him?
3. Myrrh
Myrrh reminds me that Jesus came to die on a Cross – to bring all of us into a new relationship with God.
Jesus’ death opened the way for all who are willing to receive Him to become sons and daughters of God.
St John puts it very succinctly when he recorded Jesus words
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
He has given his Church only one commission - and I spend my time telling my churches that it is NOT celebrating Holy Communion on Sunday mornings!!
He has given his church the task of to preach the Gospel in their local communities – we call that EVANGELISM
D.T Niles put it well when he said:
“Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.”
I wonder…………..
Is this the gift that you can bring to God today
Your willingness to tell your friends, your family, in the workplace and in your clubs what Jesus means to you.
