Worship Like the Magi – Matthew 2:1-12
December 16, 2001 – Steve Simala Grant
Intro:
“The God of power, as he did ride
In his majestic robes of glorie
Resolv’d to light; and so one day
He did descend, undressing all the way.”
- George Herbert
Context:
I think George Herbert, in that simple verse, captures part of the amazement of God becoming human – of voluntarily stripping Himself of, in Herbert’s words, “majestic robes of glorie” and becoming an human infant.
This is the third Sunday in Advent, and as we walk towards Christmas together we have been preparing to celebrate the birth of our Saviour. We’ve been looking to worship, like the people in the Biblical story. The first Sunday Pastor Sue reminded us that Jesus came as light into a darkened world. Last week we looked at the shepherds, and saw how they enthusiastically searched for the Christ child in order that they might worship, and then left sharing that wonderful news with everyone. Today we are going to look at the Magi, and see how they worshiped. And my hope is that we would find echoes of our journeys in the stories of how the first participants responded in worship to the infant Jesus, and that we would likewise come and worship Him.
Background to the Magi – we don’t really know. There has been lots of speculation, some substantiated by logical suppositions. But we really don’t know anything conclusively outside of what Scripture tells us – which is quite limited. We know: their title – “Magi;” which generally referred to astrologers and magicians, that they were from “the east,” though we don’t really know where (Persia and Babylon are common suggestions), and that the brought gifts fit to honor royalty which obviously demonstrates that they belonged to a priviledged class of society. We don’t know how many there were – our popular conception that there were 3 comes from the fact that there are three specific gifts mentioned, but in fact the Bible doesn’t tell us how many there were.
So they are kind of mysterious. They appear, seemingly out of nowhere, and start asking questions about a new king – to the obvious dismay of the current king, Herod. Their direction comes first from a star – not unexpected from a group of astrologers. There have been all sorts of explanations of what this “star” might have been, including Halley’s comet and an alignment of Jupiter and Saturn. But this raises an interesting question – did God speak to them through astrology? It appears that the answer is yes. Some of us might have difficulty with that – God working through a different faith system, but it seems to me that the point to be taken is not that God is in all religions, but rather that He meets us where we are at and then draws us to Himself. And so God may choose to speak to us in a different way, even through a different religion, in order to draw us to the Light. Secondly they got direction from Scripture – from the prophecy of Micah which the chief priests pointed out. So God spoke through His Word. Third, this star appeared again, to the great joy of the Magi (vs. 10), but this time with a difference – this time it miraculously guided them to the very place that the child was. The star itself moved ahead of them and then stopped over the house. Then finally, they got direction from a dream which warned them not to tell Herod that they found the King. So do you see all the different ways God spoke to them? And can you relate to any of them – can you see how God has spoken to you in any of those same ways? God speaks, and draws Himself to us, really for one purpose: that we might worship.
These foreigners teach us about what it means to worship, and provide a model for us. Maybe you’ll find echoes of your journey in theirs, and perhaps you will see how you can worship like the Magi…
1. The Intention of the Journey (vs. 2):
Right from the very beginning of the story, we know what the goal of the Magi was: to worship the newborn king. That is very plain in vs. 2. To accomplish their goal, they travelled great distances, certainly at great difficulty, possibly facing danger and hardship of various sorts along the way.
I’m struck by how much effort they went through to worship an unknown king. We know they saw a star, concluded by whatever means that this indicated that a king of the Jews was born, and so they set out on a journey of great effort and cost, so that they could simply worship this king. It makes me ask the question: how much effort do I put into worshiping this same King? It is a lot different now – we know who He was, why He came, what He did for us. We know lots of His life and His teaching. We know Him personally – in relationship with Him. So how much effort do we put into worship? Oh, we have to get up on Sunday morning or give up our Saturday night, we have to get in the vehicle and drive a few minutes. Sometimes we have to sit through an un-inspiring sermon, sometimes there are other things we don’t like.
Do you ever wonder about their journey? If it was ever difficult enough that they questioned what they were doing, if they ever got into trouble along the way that made them wonder if it would really be worth it? What would have kept them going? Verse 2 tells us that they came to worship – to see this King, to offer gifts, and to bow in homage before Him.
There is a lesson here for all of us. Are we willing to put aside our likes, our comfort, our desires, our thoughts about how things “should be” in order to focus purely and completely on our Lord? To recognize that in the face of everything that we see and do, the only thing that truly matters is a heart to worship.
I see this in the faith of our children. I know that many are up here because parents want them to be, or because they like to perform, or because everyone else in their class is there. But I also know that underneath that is a simple faith that believes each part of the Gospel story – that believes that God is real and that He hears and answers us – and they simply want to love God. They express that in worship.
I believe that God is honored by our intention to worship Him. Like the Magi, who made it their goal from the start, I believe we are to determine to worship. Regardless of style or distraction or circumstance.
Sometimes it is hard work to worship. Other times it comes easily and naturally and joyfully, but sometimes we really have to put a lot of effort into it. I believe that is good – that worship is something we should put our all into, that we should put everything we have and are into expressing our love for our King.
I wonder if you can relate to these Magi – if you see your journey echoed in theirs. They didn’t have an Angelic host announce the birth of the king. No visit from Gabriel laying out the plan. They simply saw some sort of astrological phenomenon and followed it, believed God’s Word and obeyed it, saw God miraculously guide them, and then heard God speak in a dream. Maybe God’s revelation of Himself has been similar to some of those in your life. Maybe it has been a journey, following a few indications – a few signs that maybe wouldn’t be obvious to others but to you are concrete evidences of the reality of God and of His love for you. I want to encourage you to pursue those. To follow them. To allow them to lead you to worship the King.
2. When they arrived, how did they worship?
A. “They bowed down and worshiped” (vs. 11a):
It is quite an amazing thought – here is a group of respected, likely wealthy, strangers – bowing and worshiping the child of a poor Hebrew teenager with a questionable past. Can you imagine the talk of the neighbours?
We see the fulfillment of their goal of worship here in this simple act of bowing. We don’t see much bowing in our culture any more. It has historically been a recognition of the superior status of someone, and that is certainly something unpopular in our culture. The act of bowing is an act of humility and an indication of servanthood. And that is how these prominent kings responded upon meeting the Christ child. Philippians 2:10 tells us that one day, every knee will bow before Jesus – every living thing will recognize that Jesus is the King of Kings, just like these Magi.
Will you bow before Him today? Yield your life, your will, your hurts and your joys? Determine to acknowledge Jesus as King and you as His servant, and then live with Him truly as Lord of your life? The example of the Magi call us to this.
B. They brought gifts (vs. 11b):
I find it significant that Scripture mentions this act of bowing before the Christ child first, and only then talks about the gifts. It is as if Matthew is making the point that our hearts are of paramount concern, that God is more interested in the condition of our hearts than the size of our check. That our first and most important gift is the spiritual act of worship.
Verse 11 continues “they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts.” For the wise men these were gifts of gold and rare spices – gifts which certainly underlined the conviction of the givers that the recipient was truly a King, for these were royal gifts.
This is another place where I believe our paths intersect with the Magi. For we, too, have gifts to give. Many of us have been blessed with material abundance and thus can give lavishly, can give great gifts that are fitting to a King. Others of us have fewer financial resources and thus bring other gifts. And some have nothing material.
Christina Rossetti penned the words of a familiar carol:
“What can I give him, poor as I am
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.
If I were a wise man, I would do my part.
Yet what can I give him? Give my heart.”
What does God desire – what gift can we give the One who has everything? I think Rossetti captured it for us – regardless of what else you may be able to give, God’s first desire is our hearts. It is our love. It is our worship. And as God has blessed you in other ways, bring those to Him with gladness and celebration also. Be generous! Be giving!! And remember in the midst of all the giving of this season that the most important thing is that our hearts and our worship are focussed on Christ.
I sometimes wonder if giving of our resources is as much an act of worship as it is meant to be – if most of us view it more as a financial transaction rather than an act of worship. It is a financial transaction – yes – but more than that it is an expression of the truth that we only have because God has blessed us, and so we are really just giving back to Him out of that which He has first given us. It is an act of thankfulness for God’s blessing. It is, for some of us, an act of sacrifice – of conciously giving up resources which we desired to use somewhere else. (Mustard Seed money instead of birthday gifts illustration). The point is simply that we include an offering time in our worship services not merely so that we can meet the goals and obligations that we have as a congregation, but because it truly is an act of worship.
I’ve been focussed on material giving here because that is the parallel to the gifts of the Magi, but that is certainly not all there is to it by any stretch. In fact, this past week we had a meeting of our administrative board where we were considering next year’s budget, among other things. We spent more time at that meeting talking about the need for us as a congregation to give of our time and to give gifts of ministry to one another and our community than we talked about monetary needs. I think from there it is not too great a stretch to say, with deferrence to the financial update earlier, that our greater need as a congregation is for gifts of time and ministry. So if you want to truly bring a significant gift to worship, consider adding to your financial giving a shift in the nursery, or a spot on our finance committee, to being in a small group forming deep relationships, or by becoming a mentor to a teen or child. Make that an offer of worship.
C. They Obeyed (vs 12):
The final way in which the Magi worshiped was through their obedience. We saw this in their initial journey, we see it more clearly after they have met Jesus and are ready to return home. The text tells us that they were warned in a dream to not report back to Herod, but to take a different route. And so they did.
If you were to push me really hard for a simple definition of worship, I would have to come up with something along the lines of simple obedience. Yes sometimes worship is emotional, sometimes it involves songs, sometimes it is quiet and personal and other times it is joyous and even loud and shared far and wide. But the heart of worship is living daily in obedience to the King. Doing the things God has instructed us and called us to do. We often think of worship as singing songs, but it really is far more than that. It is the act of recognizing who the King is – and that fact effects every decision we make all week long, in every situation. So, like the Magi who obeyed the warning in a dream and acted differently because of that, I believe that worshiping like the Magi means that we live daily in obedience to God.
Conclusion:
In his book The Ultimate Priority John MacArthur reflects on a story in the Chicago Tribune about an amazing tortilla. A New Mexico woman was making tortillas when she noticed that the skillet marks on one of the tortillas looked like Jesus. She showed it to her husband and neighbors, and they all agreed that Jesus’ face was burnt into the tortilla.
She took the tortilla to have it blessed by her priest. She testified that the tortilla had changed her life, and her husband agreed that she had been a happier, more peaceful and submissive wife since the tortilla had arrived.
After the reluctant priest blessed the tortilla, she took it home, put it in a glass case with piles of cotton to make it look like it was floating on clouds, built an altar for it and opened the shrine to visitors. Within a few months more than eight thousand people made pilgrimages to worship at the shrine of the Jesus of the Tortilla. Everyone agreed that the burn marks on the tortilla looked like Jesus, except for one anti-religious newspaper reporter who thought it looked like former heavyweight boxer Leon Spinks.
I’m not going to bow down to a taco chip. I want to worship the King of Kings, as George Herbert described Him and as the Magi found him. I want to have an intention to worship which, like the Magi, will be the purpose of my whole journey. I want to bow before Jesus, my King. I want to bring my gifts and lay them at God’s feet, gifts of money yes but more so of time and of ministry. And I want to walk in obedience. I invite you to do likewise – to worship like the Magi.
