“Three Kings Kneeling”
“All nations will come to your light. Mighty kings will come to see your radiance.” Isaiah 60:3 NLT
Intro: Larry grew up in a multi site church.
The average Worship attendance was over 6000.
The church had eight different primary worship services.
There was a staff of over 100.
The church budget was almost $110,000 dollar a week.
The senior pastor had just turned 46 years old and had been at the church for eleven years.
The main church building was located in an older well established suburban area
about 10 miles outside the city.
But they had an inner city ministry.
A downtown worship center.
And two other sites located about ten miles apart.
So when Larry moved to Eastern Kentucky
finding a church similar to what he had grew up in was out of the realm of possibilities.
If you had five minutes to talk to Larry and invite him here to join this church what would you say to him?
How many of you still have your Christmas tree and decorations up?
The Church ends the Christian calendar year today
with the final story of the wise men who visit Joseph, Mary and the child Jesus.
I remember as a young kid participating in Christmas pageants.
They would always start the youngest children out as sheep
I suppose when they came on stage they made the most noise
The sheep move around the most.
So it was the perfect role for four and five year olds.
I grew up in such a barbaric age
there was at least one adult shepherd who had a cane or staff
And they were not afraid to use it if the sheep got too loud or out of line.
As kids got a little older they graduated from sheep to angel.
I don’t know if there is a truism in this or not?
It did not matter. Boy or girl.
When you reach about seven or eight you got dressed as one of the angels and had to sing.
Joseph and Mary were always the young couple with the youngest new born baby in the church.
When a young couple announced that they were expecting their first child the pageant director would always congratulate them by saying, “We know who will be playing Joseph and Mary in the Christmas play next year.”
But the characters that every young boy wanted to be were the wise men.
The wise men had the coolest costumes.
There robes weren’t bath robes like the shepherds wore.
The wise men wore robes of purple and blue with gold strips.
And they worn gold color crowns with rubies and emeralds.
The kind of head ban that we only saw on t.v. or the movies.
Plus they got to carry what looked like treasure chests
Bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
There was always a fight among the older boys about who got to be the three wise men.
The ones who lost would end up being a shepherd.
Or worse, the tallest angel, you know the one with a reading part.
There has always been a mystery surrounding the wise men.
The song written in 1857 by John Hopkins, “We Three Kings of Orient Are”
labeled the wise men as Oriental Kings
The 6th Century church named these foreign travelers as Melchoir, Balthasar, and Caspar.
The Western Christians get the Three Kings to Bethlehem early enough to see baby Jesus still lying in the Manger. Maybe because they wanted to end the story on a beautiful starry night.
Not with the scary story of Joseph and Mary and young Jesus having to run for their life into hiding in Egypt.
When Herod found out he had been outwitted by the wise men who left another way without telling him where Jesus was. Herod became so furious he sent soldiers to kill all the boys around Bethlehem.
The death of innocence, and the slaughter of children two years and younger.
A cry of anguish is hear in Ramah—weeping and mourning unrestrained. Rachel weeps for her children refusing to be comforted—for they are dead. The End.
I suppose that in our day of terrorism and chaos and violence and police shootings
that kind of Christmas play ending might not seem so out of the ordinary after all.
In fact it is more rare and uncommon to see “Mighty Kings Kneeling”
“Arise Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all the nations to see! For the glory of the Lord is shinning upon you. Darkness as black as night will cover all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord will shine over you. All nations will come to your light. Mighty kings will come to see your radiance.”Isaiah 60:1-3
I say we are living in the day of this prophecy being fulfilled.
We are living in a generation where darkness is as the night covering all the nations of the earth.
But there is also a light shining for all the nations to see!
The Lord our God may be banned from government buildings
and schools may delete the Christmas scenes of Linus quoting the scripture
and the telling the true meaning of Christmas from the Charlie Brown Christmas plays
But in every dark night of human history there has always been a light shining for all the nations to see
And that is Christ our Lord is born in Bethlehem.
And when darkness fell across the whole land from noon until three o’clock
The light of the sun was gone.
Suddenly the thick veil of the temple was torn apart.
And Jesus shouted, “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
And with those words he drew his last breath.
Jesus body is laid in a tomb.
A rock is rolled in front of the door of the tomb.
Soldiers are charged with guarding the tomb with their life.
The world is filled with doubt and sorrow.
The Christians were in hiding.
The disciples were in fear for their life that they would be next.
The fires of sacrifice are not burning at the temple.
The women have gathered spices to take and place on the body of Jesus.
But early Sunday morning just as the light of the sun begins to rise.
They found the stone rolled back
Suddenly there were two angels standing before them in dazzling robes.
These angels said unto them,
Why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive?
He is not here for he has risen!
He has risen from the dead!
We’ve a story to tell to the nations
That shall turn their hearts to the right
A story of truth and mercy
A story of peace and light,
For the darkness shall turn to dawning
And the dawning to noon day bright
And Christ kingdom shall come on earth,
The kingdom of love and light.
In this life there will be struggles,
There will be storms,
There will be trials and tyranny
We are either in the dark
Just coming out of darkness
Or going toward darkness ahead.
Jesus is here but he is also at the church across the street.
It is all more about what is happening inside you than what is happening around you.
In every storm there is a calm
In every dark moment there is a peace
In ever difficulty we face there is a presence of Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost!
Matthew 14:25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified.
“It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Later, Simon Peter said, Lord if it is really you. Tell me to come to you by walking on the water also.” Matthew 14:28.
Peter wasn’t putting Jesus to the test for we are told not to tempt the Lord our God.
But instead he was the only one in the boat who was willing to step out in faith.
Peter was willing to demonstrate the power of God.
As Peter walked on the water he took his eyes off Jesus and started focusing on the waves
And he began to sink.
We probably will never walk on water
But we will walk through difficult and tough situations in life.
Never let what you can’t do interfere with what you can do.
You will have hopes that will never become a reality
You will have dreams that you will never be able to accomplish
Places where you will never go.
Things you will never be able to do.
But don’t let the inference keep you from doing the things you can do.
You can do some things.
There are some accomplishments we can reach
There are some relationships we can build.
There are hurts that can be healed
There are people we can help
There are broken places in our life that can be fixed.
The God who created the universe out of nothing can make something out of us!
Never let what we can’t do get in the way of what we can do.
Focus less on your grief and more on your blessings.
Let me ask you a question: How far are you willing to go to see Jesus?
“Field and fountain moor and mountain following yonder star.”
Through the dessert heat of the day
Through the cold chill of the night
Through the fields
Across the rivers
Over the mountains
I have sat on camels and had my picture taken.
I have been on trial rides on horseback.
I guess in ancient times
A camel was probably a pretty fashionable way to travel.
But can you imagine the sun beating down upon your head.
The sand burning your eyes and throat
Nothing was going to come between them and following that star.
It takes a lot of determination to see Jesus.
I mean there have been situations in my life
When I have looked around and asked God why?
Why did this happen to me?
Sometimes I can see the decisions that I made resulted in the conflict I was in.
But there have been other times when I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
No matter how I got there
I would look around and try to see where is God in this mess?
How can goodness and light and rising come out of this tragedy?
He who lives and reigns within you and the Holy Spirit
Lives and is now and is forever.
Here is an answer to life’s problems.
Make Christ part of every day of your life
Ask Jesus to help you make your decisions
Trust God to be in control of your day
You can even be a mighty King
You can be wise man or wise woman.
God will use what you give Him to make something great out of your life.
But the deciding factor is are you willing to bow down and kneel at the manger of Jesus?
Will you kneel at the cross?
Will you kneel before His Majesty?
Will you present your best to the Lord?
Other than the Isaiah 60:3 passage there is nothing to substantiate that these wise men were kings.
Nothing in the bible tells us there were only three.
We know it is more likely that they didn’t make it in time to be at the manger.
But there is still something about bible students following at star
And bringing gifts that symbolize Christ’s identity.
Gold the gift for a king.
Frankincense was the gift for deity.
Myrrh was the spice used to anoint a body for burial.
The action of these wise men and the gifts that they brought are the essence of true worship
Honoring Christ.
Worshiping because he is worthy to be worshipped.
Today fewer and fewer people are searching for Jesus.
Less and less time is spent seeking a Saviour.
If the church doesn’t present Christ in the first fifteen minutes of a worship service
People like Larry will go someplace else or not go to church at all.
Every sermon, every song, each responsive reading,
All the actions from both the pulpit and the pew must be our very best.
Never let an opportunity to shake a hand go to waste.
Never let a chance to smile be passed by.
Never allow gloominess to replace the Good News
Never deny the uplifting of the Holy Spirit a place in your heart and in your worship.
Because we only have a few minutes, minutes, to tell a lifetime worth of the story of Jesus.
Hear the invitation: Lord let me find you as I come and kneel at the altar.
As I start this New Year I want you to be the ruler of my Life. I acknowledge you as the King of Kings.
I repent of my sin. I accept your forgiveness. I bow in awe and worship and communion with you.
Lord I come. Lord I bow down at your feet. Lord I worship you.
