INTRODUCTION
Most of life is made up of ordinary moments. You wake up, you head out to work, you must deal with people throughout the day, and no ordinary day would be complete without having to solve a problem or two. Yet, sometimes extraordinary events can break into those ordinary moments. In today, message the religious leaders were going about their various religious duties probably at the temple when King Herod summoned them to inquire about where the Messiah was to be born. This is an extraordinary event, because you couldn’t call Herod, a religious man; he normally would have no interest in the Jewish beliefs, and so for him to ask that question makes it more than just an ordinary moment. So, that question should have aroused in those religious leaders more than just a Scriptural response to Herod’s question. It should have aroused a level of curiosity to go seek information in Bethlehem if indeed the Christ child was born. After all, He was the Jews long awaited Savior.
But they didn’t leave Jerusalem and travel the five point two (5.2) miles to Bethlehem. Why not? I say it was indifference. Indifference is the lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance. In this case, the religious leaders showed a lack of concern for the possibility that the Messiah has been born, the Messiah who their prophets prophesied about for centuries.
And so, just as the religious people were indifferent to Jesus’ first coming; the church is going to be indifferent to His Second coming. Jesus asked about that indifference in Luke 18:8 when He questioned when the Son of Man returns will He find faith on the earth? So, we need to correct our indifference, the question is how.
BIBLE VERSE
Matthew 2:4-6 (NKJV)
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
2 ONE
I NEED TO DO SOME SOUL SEARCHING. ONLY GOD AND I KNOW THAT IF I HAVE FIRE IN MY HEART FOR THE THINGS OF GOD.
The religious leaders on the outside all gave the appearance that all is well with them and God. I am sure that when Herod demanded their presence at the palace, they came dressed in their finest religious garments. When Herod asked the question, “where is the Christ to be born’, the religious leaders did not say that we are going to have to go back to the Temple to research the answer to that question, and we will get back to you. Instead, they quoted from memory Micah 5:2.
They had the right appearance; they had the right answer; but they lacked one thing- there was no fire in their heart for the things of God. I may not know if you have fire in your heart for God; you can fake me out with your outer appearance and your right answers; but you know and more importantly God knows. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 23:27 (NKJV)
27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
We just got finished with revival services at the end of October. The whole purpose of revival is to reignite that fire within. For every one of us in this room there is always the possibility that the fire will lose some of its intensity as we do life and needs to be restoked. Think back to a time when you knew that you were on fire for God. How do you compare yourself now? I pray that you still have that fire, but if not, some indifference has crept in.
3 Two
I NEED TO CHECK BY DEPENDENCY LEVEL. THINK BACK OVER THIS PAST WEEK, HAVE YOU BEEN GOD DEPENDENT OR SELF- SUFFICIENT?
Matthew 2:5 (NKJV)
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
But you know what I did not read. After leaving Herod, the religious leaders went to Bethlehem in search of the Christ child. What the absence of that statement tells me is that they most likely went back to the Temple to do their religious activities. And that shouts out that they felt self-sufficient rather than God dependent. Those religious leaders felt everything was going fine without Jesus in their lives and there was no need to let Him in. They had everything under control. They were self-sufficient. And I am afraid, that is how a lot of people in the year 2021 feel. At this first Christmas, the religious leaders did not openly oppose the Christ child, they just ignored Him, and the same thing will happen this Christmas in homes all across this country. People will ignore Christ and have their holiday celebration without Him.
Let me give you some characteristics of someone who is self-sufficient and see if any of them shout that’s me.
1. More interested in impressing people than serving God.
2. Focus is on the here and now and give little thought about eternity.
3. I rationalize my sin rather than confess them to God.
4. I turn to God only when all else fails.
5. I really don’t see much difference in the way I live as compared to my unsaved friend.
Remember a self-sufficient attitude will make you indifferent to the things of God because that self-sufficient attitude will make you ignore God. The religious leaders were self-sufficient, and they ignored the Christ child. They went back to work rather than traveling to Bethlehem in search of the Christ child.
4 Three
I NEED TO GUARD AGAINST DISTRACTIONS. AM I TOO BUSY DOING LIFE THAT I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR CHRIST?
I can hear the conversation between the religious leaders now. Do you want to go to Bethlehem to check out if the Christ Child has been born? No, don’t you know that we got a lot of work back at the Temple to perform before our time of service is complete. Let’s go back and get back to work, it is bad enough that Herod disrupted us from our task. And Christ is left out.
I can hear the conversations in homes right now. Do you want to go to church this Sunday because this is the Sunday before Christmas? We cannot go to church; you obviously don’t realize all we have yet to do to get ready for your family coming to Christmas and this year my family is coming also. If we work now until Christmas, I don’t think we will have everything ready the way I want it to be. And Christ is left out.
The distractions of work caused the religious leaders to miss Christmas. And in my home scenario, the distractions of all the preparation caused that family to miss Christmas. And why does that happen year after year.
Because we think that we are full time everything else and part time Christians.
Women may think I am a full-time mom and part time Christian.
A husband may think I am a full-time bread winner and part time Christian.
A son or daughter in college might think that I am a full-time student and a part time Christian.
Let me tell you something if you have only enough Jesus to feel safe from the fires of hell, but not enough to change the way you live, you got indifference. And you need to take care of it.
Philippians 1:6 (NKJV)
6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
5 APPLICATION
How do you overcome indifference?
Do something every day that requires faith to get it done. It might be telling a co-worker about Christ. It might be to volunteer to help a widow in your church that needs some small handyman chores done. It might be finding out it any child in the church will be without Christmas and you do something about it.
Those things help with indifference because they push you out of your comfort zone. And if you don’t use your faith, it will not get done. And listen to what God says when you exercise your faith.
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Let us pray!
