Wise Men Still Worship

The third lesson we learn from the Wise Men is that worship needs to be from the heart. Listen again to what Matthew says happened when they arrived in Bethlehem. Matthew 2:11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. When they arrived at the house, the Magi may have been a little surprised. Would not a king be staying in a palace? But they go in and fall down. These grown, Gentile men, fall down before this little Jewish Baby. What humility! Today people like to stand up and clap for someone they admire. But, the Wise Men fell down and worshiped Him, literally, "kissed toward Him." They adored this little Baby and loved Him. Their actions were not just religious rituals, they came from the heart. Now, I don't know what these Magi knew about Jesus. Did they understand that He was the Eternal Son of God? Probably not, but by God's grace they did recognize that He was worthy of worship. Friends, many of us have had the privilege to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ many, many times. We know all about the wonderful things that Jesus did when He was on earth and about His death and resurrection. Our worship of the Lord Jesus really should be much more enthusiastic and full than that of the Magi. But, often it seems we just go through the motions. We sing the songs, but our hearts are unmoved. It is not supposed to be that way. The Wise Men remind us that true worship comes from the heart. Friends, ask the Lord to fill your heart with love for Him so that you can be a true worshiper.

#4) Worshipers give to the Lord. After they fell down and worshiped, the Magi gave the Baby Jesus gifts. Matthew mentions gold, incense and myrrh. Not typical presents for a baby. We would give an infant a stuffed animal or a little hat and mittens, not precious metals and perfumes. Now, some of you may be thinking, "Typical men, they could not pick out an appropriate gift if their lives depended on it." The Magi, however, gave Jesus gifts that were fit for a King. Remember, that is why they had come, to worship a King. And I also suspect that they gave the best that they had. In doing that, they expressed their love and devotion to King Jesus. The Herdmans understood that part of the story:

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We got a little rest then, while the boys sang "We Three Kings of Orient Are," and everybody in the audience shifted around to watch the Wise Men march up the aisle.

"What have they got?" Alice whispered.

I didn't know, but whatever it was, it was heavy -- Leroy almost dropped it. He didn't have his frankincense jar either, and Claude and Ollie didn't have anything although they were supposed to bring the gold and the myrrh.

"I knew this would happen," Alice said for the second time. "I bet it's something awful."

"Like what?"

"Like . . . a burnt offering. You know the Herdmans."

Well, they did burn things, but they hadn't burned this yet. It was a ham -- and right away I knew where it came from. My father was on the church charitable works committee -- they give away food baskets at Christmas, and this was the Herdman's food-basket ham. It still had the ribbon around it, saying Merry Christmas.