“Worthy of Worship”
[Matthew 2:1-12]
January 6, 2019, Second Reformed Church
This morning, we heard the history of the visit of the magi – how they prophetically recognize Jesus as the newborn King of Israel. We may remember that the magi were a class of astrologers out of what was then called Persia – modern day Iraq and Iran.
These magi followed a star from Persia to Israel. They understood that the star signifies the birth of a king, so they go to Jerusalem, to the palace to look for the newborn King. But He is not there; they find King Herod.
King Herod was the wicked puppet-king of Rome, and the magi ask him where the newborn King is, that they might worship Him – that is, that they might bow before Him in recognition of His rightful Authority. God had chosen the magi to be witnesses and heralds of the birth of God’s King – and more.
Herod is concerned about his position on the throne, and his supporters are concerned about a rival to the throne, especially with Rome watching. Herod calls for the priests and scribes to tell him where the prophets say such a king will be born, and they find for him a prophecy from the book of Micah, “And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel.”
Herod is not about to let his throne be taken – prophecy or no prophecy, and he meets with the magi in secret and gets them to tell him when the star appears, and he sends them on to Bethlehem, according to the prophecy, and tells them to go and find the Baby that he might also worship the Baby. Herod is no fool. He wants the magi to find the Baby so he will not waste his time and resources looking for Him, and so, when the Baby is found, he will take care of the threat.
The magi leave Herod’s palace, and the star appears before them and leads them towards Bethlehem. And the magi rejoice that they will soon be in the presence of this mighty, newborn King. And the star moves ahead until it stops over the house where Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus are staying.
When the magi enter the house and see the Child with Mary, they fall down and worship Him. They understand He is the newborn King, a mighty authority, and One to Whom they owe respect. Do they understand that He is God the Savior? Probably not.
But the Truth has been revealed to us; we know that Jesus is God the Savior, our King, and the Sacrifice that makes us right with God. Jesus is worthy of our worship because He is God and because He has given Himself for the sake of His people.
How do we worship Jesus? How do we show the worth of Jesus to others and glorify Him for His worth?
We join together in worship – in the services that we hold here in the sanctuary. We join together in prayer and singing, hearing what God has said and meeting with Jesus in the Sacraments. We encourage each other and point out the truths of the Gospel to each other. We rejoice when we have reason to rejoice, and we mourn together when we have reason to mourn.
When we are apart from each other, we still ought to worship Jesus through living lives that are pleasing to Him. We ought to do those things which improve our mind and body and soul and heart. We ought to do those things which are pleasing to God and joyful to us and refrain from doing those things which are against God’s Will. We ought to submit to Jesus as our Sovereign King and let others know that He is our Sovereign – that we trust Him and have our hope in Him, not in the plans and pursuits of humans. And in thanksgiving for what Jesus has done for us, we ought to do all we can to make others’ lives better. We ought to be honest and helpful to those we come in contact with.
Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? I have set some goals for myself for the coming year...
Let us make this resolution together: in all that we do and say and think and are, let us do everything in worship and to the glory of Jesus. How might we do that? Let us get in the habit of asking ourselves – before we act, before we speak – will this attract people to Jesus or turn them away? Will my saying this, doing this, becoming this, attract people to Jesus or turn them away? And, yes, the answer is not always easy. And, yes, we will stumble and fall and not always do those things which attract people to Jesus.
If we have the choice between picking an empty beer bottle up off of our neighbor’s lawn, or looking the other way, what might we do? If we have the opportunity of keeping the extra change we were given at the supermarket, or telling the cashier that he gave us too much money, what might we do? If we have the time to read our Bible or watch another soap opera, what might we do? If we have the opportunity to voice a concern about our town, or assume someone else will do it, what might we do? If we have the opportunity to invite someone to worship, or to just keep quiet, what might we do?
Does it matter that Jesus is King? Does it matter that He is God? Does it matter that He Alone is Savior? Are we thankful for Him? Does our thankfulness make us desire that others would believe in Him?
The magi not only worship Jesus, they bring Him gifts; they bring Him three of the most precious gifts to be found at that time in the Middle East: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They bring Him three gifts that symbolize three reasons that Jesus is worthy of worship – and again, they probably did not realize this as they gave the gifts.
First, the magi gave Jesus gold. We know what gold is. Gold has always has a value and an economic stability about it. Gold is a gift for a king – it symbolizes kingship, wealth, and power.
We remember what the angel said to Mary, “And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:30-33, ESV).
What is your greatest treasure? Of all the material wealth you have – of all the gifts and blessings and abilities God has gifted you with – what do you consider the greatest, the most valuable to you? What is the last thing you would want to see taken away from you? Do you have something – or maybe even someone – in mind?
How are you using your “gold” to worship the King, to give thanks, and to acknowledge before the world that He is your King? If you don’t know how, ask me – ask another Christian – let us help one another.
Second, the magi brought frankincense. What is frankincense? Frankincense is a type of incense that was burned in the worship of God.
Now, we are not a tradition that burns incense in worship, and it is not mandatory in the Scripture that we burn incense in our worship. However, there is a way that we can offer up incense to God, even without physically burning incense: John writes, “And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Revelation 5:8, ESV). Our prayers are received as incense before God – they are sweet smelling in the nostrils of God. God loves to smell our prayers coming before Him.
And we pray during the worship service. Do you pray during the week? Alone and with others? It is a good practice to begin the day with prayer – asking God for all those things we want to accomplish that day, asking that God would be glorified in our day, that He would forgive us for the sins we have committed in the previous day, that He would guide us and protect us, leading us in the paths that He has prepared before us. Do you have someone you can pray with? Do you have someone who will pray for you? Do we pray for each other and those on our prayer list?
God is pleased to hear our prayers when they are according to His Will. We have seen before that prayer is the practicing of aligning our minds and desires with God. Prayer is not a magic formula to get what we want from God, it is the way in which we learn what God wills and how to ask God for what God wills. And we have the promise that if we pray for anything that God wants, God will do it – without fail.
For example, God wants us to witness to the Kingship and the Salvation of His Son, Jesus. And if we pray that God will help us to witness to Him in word and deed and character – with everything that we are – God will help us to become the witnesses that He wants us to be.
We worship the King when we offer up prayers asking that we might be and do all that He would have for us.
The third gift of the magi is myrrh. Myrrh is a spice for embalming the dead – a rather strange gift to give to a newborn. They gave it because of its worth, but it also foreshadowed the death of Jesus and the embalming He would receive – part of His becoming our Savior.
Jesus, our King, gave His Life for us, and He has called us to live our lives for Him – even to death. Are we sure enough of Who Jesus is to die for Him? Are we sure He is the Sovereign King of all Creation? Are we sure that He will raise us from the dead to live forever with Him? Is life with Jesus worth more than everything on earth?
Jesus said, “And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:38-39, ESV). That’s not an easy word, is it?
I hope no one here is trying to find a way to die. I hope we are all seeking to live as long as we can and as well as we can. We live in a relatively safe nation, but there are countries around the world where converts to Christianity are put to death. We may never be called to that, still, are we willing to live and even die for Jesus – to show Him to be Who He is?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who was executed by Hitler, wrote, “When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die.” What Bonhoeffer is saying is that when God calls us to Salvation in Jesus Alone, He calls us to die to ourselves, to live for Jesus and His Gospel, and to be willing to give up our lives for the sake of the Gospel.
As we begin this year, let us remember what is revealed to us in the visit of the magi: Jesus is the King, the rightful heir of the Throne of David. Jesus is God, the One God Who is worthy of all worship. Jesus is the One Savior, Who died to save us and make us right with God now and forever. In thanksgiving for Who He is and what He has done, let us worship Him, trusting Him with the things that are most valuable to us, through praying according to His Will, seeking that we might become more like Him, and through living for Him, as witnesses to Him, in the way He has called us to live, that we might joyfully die for Him, whenever He calls us.
Let us come to the table of our Lord, remembering what He did for us, receiving the bread and the cup, meeting spiritually with Jesus, receiving grace and strength and wisdom from Him in that meeting, and believing, looking forward in hope, that this year – and all time and space – is under Jesus’ Sovereign Rule. He is our King, He is our God, His is our Savior, and so we are safe in His Hands. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, on this Epiphany Sunday, as we remember the visit of the magi and the gifts they brought in worship of the newborn King, we ask that You would continue to make us into the likeness of Your Son. Help us to live lives of worship to You – that we would always find Jesus worthy of worship for all that He is. And may Jesus Christ be praised, Amen.
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