OPEN: Yogi Berra was a very famous baseball player back in the 40s, 50s & 60s. Outside of being an big league catcher he was known for some interesting sayings. One of those famous sayings was this: “If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”
Back when I was a teenager, I got the chance to be one of the wisemen in our church play. My home church was huge – 600 people could sit inside the building that had four sections of pews that ran back about 12 rows in the main section, with a curtained off area with another 2 sections of pews… and there were two big balconies that rang along the sides of the auditorium.
Because the congregation was so big, our Christmas pageant was big as well. We had about 40 or 50 kids all dressed up as angels, shepherds, wisemen and (of course) Mary and Joseph. When our turn (as wisemen) came, we entered through the curtains in the back. As the audience sang “We Three Kings Of Orient Are” we made our way along the aisle for 40 or 50 feet - all decked out in regal robes and carrying our expensive presents – and ultimately made it to the stage where Mary and Joseph sat with the baby Jesus in a manger. We’d practiced this 3 or 4 times, and we knew where we were going. And we knew exactly when we got to our destination.
But the wisemen in our story today… didn’t! They didn’t really know where they were going. They were following a star that had appeared - over there someplace. They knew the general direction they had to go, but when the star seemingly disappeared, they had to stop and ask directions.
Matthew 2:1-2 “wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, 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.’”
They really didn’t know where they were going.
But here’s the thing - they did know what their destination was. They had come to find the child… the King of the Jews. They knew what they were looking for.
Now, the question for us this morning is this (PAUSE): Do you know what you’re looking for?
Now, before we answer that question we need to consider a few things. First, the wisemen had put a lot of effort into this trip. Some scholars believe Wisemen traveled about 1000 miles by time they got to Jerusalem, and they speculate it might have taken them 2 to 3 months just to prepare for the journey. And it wasn't a “safe” journey. There were thieves and robbers all along the route and so these Wisemen probably traveled in a huge caravan. There may have been as many as 300 in their group.
THEN … THEY ARRIVED AT JERUSALEM.
Now, Jerusalem had kind of been kept out of the loop on this birth of Christ. It’s been nearly TWO years since Jesus was born, and it looks like nobody in the city of Jerusalem knows about Him. “When Herod the king heard this (the question about the child), he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.” Matthew 2:3-4
Everybody was “troubled”… but nobody seems to know anything about this child, which seems a bit odd. Luke 2 tells us that “When (the shepherds) had seen (Jesus… 2 yrs before) they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” Luke 2:17-18
The shepherds had gone EVERYWHERE spreading the news of Jesus’ birth. And they only lived about 5 miles outside of Jerusalem. Wouldn't you think they’d spread the good news there? Of course they would! So why didn’t anybody in Jerusalem seem to know about the child? Because they hadn’t bothered LOOKING for Him.
Now, it’s not like they weren’t religious people. Jerusalem was where the Temple was at. This is where the Priests, Scribes, and a lot of the Pharisees lived there. These folks were in church all the time!!! So why didn’t know where Jesus was? Again… because they hadn’t bothered to go looking for Him.
But why not? Why hadn’t they gone looking for Jesus? Well, because – like many folks today, even church folk - there were other things that took up their time and competed for their attention. Jesus got left out because there were other things they seemed more important.
ILLUS: I read about a teacher who stood before his class and picked up a large clear plastic jar and proceeded to fill it with ROCKS; then he asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed it was. So the teacher then picked up a box of PEBBLES and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. And the pebbles, rolled into the open areas, then asked the students again if the jar was full. The students laughed, and agreed that it was. Then the teacher picked up a box of SAND and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
"Now," said the teacher, "I want you to recognize that this jar IS YOUR LIFE. The rocks are the important things – things in your life that are so important to you that if you lost them you would be nearly destroyed. The pebbles are other things that matter like your job, your house, car. It would hurt to lose those, but you could still survive. The sand is everything else – the sand is the small stuff.
“If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff you won’t have room for the things that are important. Unless that which is important gets FIRST PLACE in your life, the small things will pour in and consume our time and leave no room for that which is truly valuable.”
So, I got to thinking. What are the small things in our lives? And I came up with a list of some of those items that could crowd out more important items in life: TV programs; sports (either on TV, or at an arena); surfing the internet (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc.); and, of course, computer games. I once had a computer game I really enjoyed playing. It would take 4 or 5 days to complete the game, but it captured my attention. Eventually, though, I had get rid of the game. Do you know why? It was taking up all my free time. I couldn’t justify wasting so much of my time on a silly computer game.
Now, I could go on and on about different time wasters that can dominate our lives… but you get the idea. And I’m not trying to say we shouldn’t just kick back and have a little fun now and again. But I am pointing out that the “small things” – time wasters – can rob us of the time we could give the more important things in my life.
Now, how do I know what the most important things are in my life? Well, here are a few questions that might help you identify those: What do you spend the most time thinking about? What do you spend the most money investing in? What do you spend the most effort to obtain?
Back to our text: what do you think the most important thing was for the wise men? That’s right – finding Jesus. They spent nearly 2 years preparing for their trip; they spent a huge amount of money for supplies and transportation (not to mention all the gifts they bought); and they traveled nearly 1000 miles to find Jesus. Jesus was the most important thing in their lives!!!
ILLUS: Now, I came up with a GREAT illustration to explain my point this morning. Do see this child on the screen (I had a picture of 1 ½ year old grandson shown on screen)? This is my grandson, Benjamin. Isn’t he the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? He’s handsome, clever, and lights up my life. But more importantly- he’s about the age Jesus was when the Wise Men found Him. Jesus was a toddler.
Now here’s my point: as cute as Benjamin is, would you pay several $1000 to buy him Christmas presents? (Gold, frankincense and myrrh were very expensive gifts). Would you travel thousands miles just to spend time with him? Would you devout the better part of 2 years of your life just to come see him? Of course not. You MIGHT for your grandson… but not for mine. And that doesn’t bother me because, as cute as Benjamin is, he’s not important to you!!! And I wouldn’t expect him to be.
But the question this morning is this: Is JESUS THAT important to you? Do you spend a great portion of your time PRAYING to & THINKING about Him? Do you spend a fair portion of your money INVESTING in things that matter to Him? Do you put forth a fair amount of effort to DO things He’d want you to do?
Now, I don’t mean to make this a guilt thing, because I brag all the time about you folks. This isn’t about trying to go on a guilt trip. The thing is: even in the greatest of churches some folk need to be challenged about their priorities now and again. Even I do. Now, I have an advantage you folks don’t have. I prepare my sermons every week, and I have to apply it to myself long before I preach it to you. If it doesn’t address issues in my life, it won’t make any impact on yours. But in order for us to wrap our lives around Jesus we need to constantly remind ourselves of what He means to us.
We do that every Sunday at the Communion table (I took the lid off the communion trays). Every Sunday, we eat a piece of bread and drink from a cup. Why? Because this reminds us that Jesus died for US… He dies for your sins and mine.
And, over here is the baptistry. When someone is baptized into Christ, they die to their sins, are buried in the waters and raise up walk in “newness of life.” Why? Because in baptism we’re reminded of Christ, dying, being buried, and rising from the grave for the forgiveness of our sins.
And the Bible repeatedly reminds of the blessings we receive because of Jesus. I’ve chosen 5 of those passages to show this morning. In John 14:27, (Jesus said) “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Jesus gives us His peace. His presence in our lives helps us not to be afraid or troubled in a harsh world.
Hebrews 9:14 tells us “… the blood of Christ … cleanses our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” Christ’s blood cleanses us of our past shame and guilt so that we can serve God without any hindrances.
1 Peter 1:3 says (God) “has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” We have a “living hope” – a new life that holds a promise of a great tomorrow.
Romans 3:24 declares “(we) are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Jesus “justifies” us. As one person said “Justified means ‘just as if I’d never sinned.’”
And 1 Corinthians 15:57 (We have) “victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” In Jesus Christ we have been transformed. We are no longer victims in this world, we are victorious through the blood Christ.
Of all people, because Jesus has made all these promises, He should be the most important part of our lives.
But now… the Wise Men … they didn’t have all that. They didn’t have those promises. But when they followed the star they did so because they felt this child would change their lives. He may have been born King of the Jews, but somehow this King would make their lives better. The text tells us that after they’d come and worshipped Jesus “they departed to their own country by another way.” (Matthew 2:12). After they worshipped Jesus, their lives were never the same.
CLOSE: I’ve heard this story over and over again. Those who truly meet Jesus, never want to go back to their old way of life. I want to share one of those stories with you this morning about a friend of mine named Matt (I got his permission to share the story).
Matt is the family minister at the Walton Christian church and he meets with several of us every week as talk and pray together. During our meeting this last Thursday, Matt told about his days at Manchester College when a bunch of his friends and he got drunk one night and decided they wanted to find out if they could cook Ramon Noodles in a coffee pot (they put the noodles in the cup that would hold coffee grounds, and turned on the pot). He said it tasted great, but their room mate wasn’t happy because they didn’t clean up his coffee pot.
Somehow, the idea of a family minister getting drunk at college didn’t gel with this committed Christian I was sitting beside, so I asked if he could tell me how changed from being a “party” guy to being a man of God… and this was his story. He said:
“At college, my room was where the parties were usually held. It was THE place to kick back, be goofy… and get drunk. And I was always the life of the party. Everybody seemed to love hanging around me because I was a fun guy. But what they didn’t know was that I always felt worthless, insignificant, and unimportant. I spent vast amounts of time struggling with depression, and feelings of low self-worth. And I was angry… a lot.
When I got married, everything was OK for awhile. I truly loved my wife, but we eventually got to the point where we didn’t really like each other very much. We were just room mates who barely got along with one another. We both did things that irritated the other.”
He said “religiously, I grew up in a family that went to church, but it wasn’t all that important. It was just what was expected. I knew about Jesus, but not personally. Jesus didn’t really mean much to me, so when I got married… we just didn’t go anywhere to church. But then… something changed. My wife started going to church and began to take Jesus seriously, and I decided to go with her. The sermons challenged us, and we decided we’d stop bringing up the past to each other, and work on getting along better. After a couple of months I still wasn’t ‘feeling it.’ I asked if she felt any different. She didn’t. We tried to make things work, but our marriage was still struggling.
“The odd thing was that, even though I had a job with the radio station (he still works at WLKI) that made me well known and although I knew mayors and state senators and other prominent people on a 1st name basis, my depression and self-loathing still haunted me.
Then, one day, I went to a Christian men’s retreat. At the time I was in full on BREAK DOWN mode because all this stuff that I had spent so much of my life pressing down and repressing. It all came busting out at once. I was a mess.”
And then a couple of the men there noticed the unhappiness in Matt’s face and they came up to him and asked if they could pray for him. “Sure whatever,” Matt replied. He went into a room and the other men prayed for him. Seriously prayed for him. No one had ever done that before; no one ever seemed to care enough about him to be interested in his life. And it shook him. He realized these people cared enough to pray FOR him. And they cared… because God cared. That was a watershed moment. From that point on, Matt began to TRULY “worship” Jesus, and ultimately, he became the family minister at the Walton Christian Church.
CLOSE: Now, here’s the deal. The wisemen were changed forever after they worshipped Jesus. And you and I have stories about how Jesus changed our lives. But there are other people out there who need someone like you or I to sense their need. To pray go to them and pray with them. To show them the power of a risen Christ in a life that cares for their hurts and pains. We have the most important thing in the world at our fingertips and we should be so convinced of that that nothing can stop us from sharing Jesus’ love with others.
But if you don’t have Jesus this morning, we offer a time of invitation
INVITATION
