PLAY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpuQ8lAi8Pg (a clip of the opening scenes from “Ben-Hur”, the 1959 movie starring Charleston Heston and focusing on the arrival of the Wisemen to see Jesus)
Tonight, we’re going to take a journey to find Jesus - but we will not be following the star. Instead, we will be following the wisemen who followed the star. And there are some intriguing things about the wisemen’s search for Jesus.
The 1st thing that caught my attention was that they followed the star to worship Jesus. It was no accident that they saw that star in the sky - for their people had been looking for that star for centuries.
Numbers 24:17 “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel…” That prophecy, and a couple other prophecies would have told them that the new King of Israel had been born. And so they came LOOKING for Jesus. The wisemen made up their minds to find Jesus. The question for you tonight is this: who (or what) did you come to find?
Many people come to church because that’s the religious thing to do. Others come because that’s what their family has always done. Still others come because it makes them feel good. But the wise men came to worship Jesus… because they were looking for God, and they wanted the best that God could offer them.
ILLUS: The famous psychoanalyst, by the name of Carl Jung, was counseling a man who’d been in therapy for 6 months and was getting no better. Finally Jung said, “Friend, I can’t do any more for you. What you need is God.” The man looked to him despair and asked, “But how do I find God, Dr. Jung?” The doctor replied: “I don’t know, but I suspect if you will find a group of people someplace that believe in Him passionately and just spend time with them, you WILL find God.” The man did just that and … he was healed.
So the wise men followed the star to find Jesus - and that’s exactly WHO they found at their journey’s end. My point is this: we should always come to church looking for Jesus - just like wisemen.
2nd - They followed the star… but they didn’t come to worship the star. The star was simply the tool God used to guide these men.
ILLUS: Francis Chan has been a very influential preacher for several years now, and he told of the time he had a friend from India drive him to a speaking engagement in Dallas. When they arrived, his friend heard the music and saw the lights, he said “You Americans are funny. You won’t show up unless there’s a good speaker or band. In India, people get excited just to pray.” He proceeded to tell Chan how believers back in India loved Communion, and how they flock to simple prayer gathers. Chan concluded that he imagined God looking down on the earth and seeing people on one side of the planet gathering expectantly whenever prayer was happening. But in America people showed up only for the most talented people and the “atmosphere.” It’s like – in America – folks have grown used to worshipping the star rather than Jesus.
I also got to thinking: HOW exactly did these wisemen worship Jesus? I mean, did they have bulletins and sit in padded pews/chairs? Did they sing a few songs, say a few prayers, and listen to a sermon? Well no… it seems that they only did TWO THINGS – 1) They brought gifts to Jesus and 2) they knelt before Him. Then they just… got up and left.
Now, I’m not trying to say that there’s anything wrong with singing and praying and preaching. What I am saying is - those activities are (if you will) the STAR that points to Jesus. True worship is when we want to find Jesus… and THEN we give Jesus your gifts and bow down before Him.
A friend of mine once observed: “Whatever you make MOST IMPORTANT in your life is what you worship.” And its possible to sing and pray and listen to a sermon without EVER thinking that Jesus is the most important thing in life. And that would be a tragedy.
One last thought – when the wisemen left Jesus they no longer followed the star. The star is not mentioned again. All we’re told is that the wisemen went home by a different way. But this time they knew where they were going, and they knew WHO they were following. But they weren’t going away the way came.
How should we be affected when we LEAVE Jesus’ presence? The wisemen came to worship the King of Jews… but they left knowing He was their king too!
CLOSE: The movie Ben-Hur (starring Charlton Heston) was a masterpiece. It was a fictional story written by a Civil War General named Gen. Lew Wallace who was determined to prove Christianity wrong. In the process, he was converted to a faith in Jesus. So he wrote Ben-Hur, it was the story of a Jewish man (Judah Ben-Hur) who was filled with bitterness hate and who encountered Jesus in a powerful, life-changing way.
In the movie, one of the 3 wisemen returns to Israel seeking the Messiah - and both he and Ben-Hur are there at the crucifixion of Christ watching Jesus as He died. Ben-Hur says “So, this is where your search has brought you Balthazar. He gave me water, and a heart to live. What has He done to merit this?
And Balthazar replied “He has taken the sins of the world upon Himself. To this end (He said) He was born in that stable in which I first saw Him. For this cause He came into the world… and for THIS beginning.”
That is the Jesus we have come to worship. Born to die… Born to take the sins of the world upon Himself. And born to give us a NEW BEGINNING.
