OPEN: I love to watch videos and read articles about outer space. Over the past few years mankind has explored numerous planets, moons and asteroids in our solar system. In fact, more than 40 years ago, American launched two spacecraft named “Voyager” and both of them have gone so far out into space that they’re now in "interstellar space," way beyond Pluto. I find it absolutely intriguing to learn about all the things that have been done, and are yet to be done in Space. Scientists are already talking about Space tourism (where a tourist could vacation in outer space); they’ve talked of landing on meteors and asteroids to mine for precious metals; setting up a base on the moon where we can venture further into space. There have even been plans for even putting men and women on Mars and setting up colonies there.
About 5 years ago, I read an article about a company that had plans to do just that. It was a Dutch company called “Mars One.” The article I read explained that Mars One planned to hold a lottery in 2015 to select 40 people to train for a team to go to Mars. They reported that they intended to start setting up housing structures on that planet in 2023 and would begin sending 4 people each year to colonize Mars. Now there was one catch with their offer. If you signed up with them to go to Mars with this company, you’d never return home again. You’d stay on Mars… forever. So, if you were to volunteer to go to Mars with this company you better want to be there - cause you’re not coming back.
The truth is, that’s always the case with the decisions we make. Robert Frost once wrote:
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth; then took the other…
(then Frost concludes)
“I shall be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence. Two roads diverged in a wood. And I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
Every decision we make, every road we choose, has a destination. A consequence. Every road leads… someplace. So I want to be careful which road I choose because I may not be coming back.
In our story today, we read about Wisemen. They were WISE men. What made them so wise? Well, in this case, they were WISE men because they choose their path wisely.
When we’re 1st introduced to them – they have stopped at Jerusalem and ask: "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." Matthew 2:2
And as they left Jerusalem we’re told “… behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” Matthew 2:9-10
Then… when they left Bethlehem we’re told “… being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.” Matthew 2:12
Now, WHY did they choose the paths they took? Because God led them. God led them by the star to get to Bethlehem, and God led them with a dream to return home another way. And they were wise enough to listen to God when He led them.
It is my belief, and my observation from Scripture, that if we let Him, God will lead us just like He led the Wisemen.
ILLUS: I had a conversation with a young boy who was worried that God wouldn’t let him into heaven. So I told him one of my favorite verses. It’s out of 2 Chronicles 16:9 and says “the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
I explained that He didn’t have to worry about God not wanting him. If he made up his mind to be God’s man, he was the kind boy that God was looking for. God would want him, because he had decided to want God. And if he made up his mind to be committed to God, God would work with and have his back.
Then I told him about one of my other verses: Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance, that we should walk in them.” In other words, once we become Christians God has things planned for us to do. And that’s what God would want for him. God had “good works” already designed just for him.
You see, God didn’t save us so we could sit around and look pretty. Not that you’re not pretty. It's just that that’s not why God saved you and me. God saved us so that our lives would have meaning so that we’d know we have reason to exist. Or as I Corinthians 15:58 says “my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
(PAUSE) Now, let’s return to the story of the Wisemen. Do you suppose that God had anything to do with their desire to follow that star? Of course He did. And He did that because their story would be a powerful part of God’s message.
ILLUS: Someone made an interesting observation about the Gospel of Matthew. He said that “Matthew gave more space in the text to the Magi than he gave to the birth of Jesus. He never mentions the shepherds or the manger. He emphasizes the seekers and the star they sought.”
And I looked it up… and he was right!!! The only mention of Christ’s actual birth in Matthew is one verse Matthew 2:1 “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem” There’s a whole chapter leading up to that statement, but that is the only verse that specifically mentions Christ’s birth. Just one verse and that’s it!!!!
By contrast, there’s 12 verses that tell us the story of the Wise Men. What’s going on here?
Now, granted, I haven’t had a vision from God on this and there’s no explicit statement on why the Wisemen became part of the story… but there is something distinctive about these Magi from the East. These were 1st GENTILES to worship Jesus. And apparently, it’s important for us to know, and I’m convinced that is WHY these Gentiles became a major part of the story.
ILLUS: There are people out there who believe that God had ONLY intended for Jewish people to be part of His church. Many preachers and teachers on TV and radio believe that God had planned on Israel accepting Jesus and that their conversion would usher in a great new earthly Kingdom. That was PLAN A… but it didn’t happen. Somehow, God didn’t foresee that Israel would reject Christ!!! So (they teach) God went with PLAN B - the Gentiles. The Gentiles (according to these teachers) were NOT God’s 1st plan. But the Gentiles would have to do until Israel finally came to their senses and accepted Christ, and THEN the Jews would go back to the head of the line.
BUT THAT’S NOT TRUE.
It’s a repeated theme throughout the New Testament that God had ALWAYS intended the Gentiles to be part of His Church. For example, Paul gave the Roman church a short Bible study on this topic in Romans chapter 15. The Roman church was split between Jews and Gentiles and the Jews needed to be reminded of the fact that Gentiles were part of God’s original plan. In Romans 15 Paul went through four passages from the Old Testament that prophesied about the Gentiles part in the Church. And the last of those 4 prophesies was this from the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 11:10), "The root of Jesse (Jesus) will come, even he who arises to rule the GENTILES; in him will the GENTILES hope" (Romans 15:12). In other words - the gentiles were always part of God’s plan. Jesus came to die for both the Jews AND the Gentiles. There was no PLAN B!
God signaled that truth when He sent the Magi. They were the 1st Gentiles to worship Jesus.
Now, why should that be important to us? Well, it should be important because God used the Magi to send a message. And the message? The Gentiles were part of His plan.
In the same way - when you are committed to Christ - God can USE YOU to send a message. And that message: that once you meet Jesus – your life changes. And that brings me to my next point. There’s a lot of preachers who make a big thing out of the last 8 words here “they departed into their own country another way” (Matthew 2:12). And these preachers will say things like “Once the Wisemen worshipped Jesus… they were changed men. And that change made it so they returned home ‘another way.’”
Now I don’t know if that’s what God intended when that verse was written. My first impulse to suspect they might be stretching the text a little too much. I don’t know if that was really God’s intent when He had those words written down. But I do know that whether that was God’s intention or not… the idea is still true! Once you truly worship Jesus… you go home a different way. You go home a changed person.
In fact, that’s the theme of our sermon series this month. When you meet Jesus, He changes you. This week, we’re focusing on the fact that meeting Jesus can change THE WAY you live. Next week, He can change THE WAY of your worship. The week after that He can change THE WAY of your priorities. And week 4 – He can resurrect THE WAY to a new life for you.
Jesus taught a lot about THE WAY that He wanted us to follow. He said “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the WAY is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. But the gate is narrow and the WAY is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Matthew 7:13-14
In essence, Jesus was saying that there’s only ONE WAY to heaven and it’s going to be hard, and it’s not going to be popular, and not many people will choose THAT way.
ILLUS: Back in 1971, Led Zeppelin performed a song called “STAIRWAY to Heaven.” Then in 1979 AC/DC came out with a song called “HIGHWAY to Hell.” Someone compared those two songs and observed “The fact that there’s a highway to hell, and only a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic patterns.”
Why does the HIGHWAY lead to hell? Because it’s easier. It’s faster. It can even be FUN! Sometimes I want to go Lafayette, IN (about 45 minutes away) and I have two possible ways to take. One of those ways is by back roads. The other a 4 laner called “the Heartland Express.” Which do you think I usually take? Why? Because its smoother and faster. That’s why most folks take the “highway to hell” – it’s smoother, faster, and it doesn’t require any real change in their lives. Riding the highway you can just set your cruise control, you turn on the radio… and enjoy yourself.
But the STAIRWAY to heaven is different. Have you ever been in a building with 3 or 4 stories and climbed the stairs to the top? I have. The courthouse has 4 stories and when I go there I’ll often take the stairs to the 4th floor as fast as I can. By the time I get to the top… I need a breather. It’s tough going. The stairway to heaven can be tough too. You climb, exert yourself… it can be wear you out! But compared to the easy highway to hell, the stairway to Heaven is worth the effort.
Revelation 21:3-5 describes heaven this way: "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."
Yep! Heaven will be worth the effort. The Narrow way may be difficult, but it is our only way to God. And this idea of the following the NARROW WAY was so powerful with early Christians that they often referred to themselves as “followers of the WAY” (mentioned no less than 5 times in Acts). In Acts 9:2, for example, Paul told about the time he persecuted the early church and he said that it was his objective - that if “… he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”
OK. So you might ask “What is this WAY that the Jesus spoke of?” I’m so glad you asked. “Jesus said… ‘I am THE WAY, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” John 14:6
Jesus is the WAY! When we gather here on Sunday’s it’s not for moral lessons. Granted morality is part of what we are committed to, but our main focus is on Jesus. Without Jesus, morality means nothing. It’s Jesus or nothing.
Back in the 1400’s there was a clergyman named Thomas à Kempis who wrote: “Without the way, there is no going; without the truth, there is no knowing; without the life, there is no living.” And he was absolutely right. There is nothing for us if we don’t have Jesus.
That’s why everything about becoming a Christian centers around HIM!!! You have to BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. You have to REPENT of your sins and realize that only the blood of Jesus can forgive you of your past. You have to CONFESS that Jesus will now be your Lord and Master and that everything you own is now His. And you have be BAPTIZED into Jesus – you must share in His Death, His Burial and His Resurrection (that’s what Baptism is all about).
CLOSE: And in order to make that decision you’ve got to decide that you’ll never GO BACK to your old way of life. Buzz Aldrin was the pilot of the first spacecraft to land on the moon (he and Neil Armstrong were the first 2 men to step on the moon). For years, Aldrin maintained that the only way for humans to reach Mars was for them to plan on a one-way mission.
And that’s true for us as well. the only way for us to follow the WAY to Heaven is to plan on a one-way mission following Christ! There’s an old Gospel Hymn that says “I have decided to follow Jesus… NO TURNING BACK.”
INVITATION
