Worshipping
in Faith
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from
God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Throughout
Advent, God promised to give us a gift.
At Christmas, the gift of gift was given to us. And, now, throughout Epiphany the gift is
unwrapped.
Epiphany means to
make manifest, reveal, uncover.
Sometimes we say, “I just had an epiphany,” meaning that we just thought
of something that we hadn’t realized before, something was “revealed” to
us. Epiphany is all about Jesus
revealing Himself to the world as God incarnate, God in the flesh. Standard texts of Epiphany are: Jesus’
baptism, His first sign at the wedding at Cana, and concluding the season of
Epiphany with the ultimate revealing of His divine nature with His
transfiguration. But, today, we’re told
of His being revealed to the Magi, or the Wise men, we might call them
scholars.
These
Magi come from the east, where the nation of Israel had once been taken into
captivity. Israel was forced from the
land that God had given to them to a land called Babylon where any utterance of
God’s Word didn’t exist. But as the Israelites
were hauled off to Babylon they brought with them God’s Word and the confession
of their faith in the one true God.
Remember when Daniel, Shadrach Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship
King Nebakanezer’s idols?
See
how God works out salvation for His people?
Because Israel had gone into captivity into this foreign land, so long
ago, and brought with the Scriptures, these Magi, read from God’s Word. They read of the promises God had made. They read and studied about the Messiah who
was to come to save the world from its sins.
And a miracle happens. God’s Word
creates faith in these gentile Magi. And
what does faith do? It seeks to worship.
In
our text for this morning, we learn a lot about true worship and false
worship. We learn about a worship that
flows from faith and we learn of a worship that flows from sin. We learn about a worship that has Christ at
the center and a worship that has the self at the center. So, lets’ get to it.
The Magi get the
prize for traveling the farthest distance to worship Jesus. They know that the King of Kings has been
born, so they go to where such a king should be found; Jerusalem. But they, instead, find Herod. They say to him, ‘Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have
come to worship Him.”
Troubled,
paranoid, and sensing completion Herod assembled his wise men, the chief priests and scribes, who studied the
Scriptures and reported to him that the King of the Jews was to be born in
Bethlehem. “And he sent [the magi] to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently
for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come
and worship him.’”
A
false worship. Herod has no intention of
believing in Jesus as His Savior. Oh,
sure, Herod knows the Scriptures but he doesn’t have trust in them. He uses the Magi for his own evil
purposes. Feeling threatened by this
child who is the King of the Jews, he’s out to eliminate the competition. You won’t learn what true worship is all about
from Herod. He knows what the Scriptures
say, he even knows that this child born is the child of whom the Scriptures
have prophesied. But he lacks
something. Something important. Something critical. Something you have to have in order to
worship God rightly. He lacks
faith. Knowledge and faith are two
different things. Herod has the
knowledge, but doesn’t have the faith, the belief, the trust. He’s more interested in mob-style hits than
true worship.
But
the Magi, having read and believed all that the Scriptures have to offer, the
Word of God creates faith. They can’t help
but get up and go to see this gift that’s been born for them. They make their search, the follow the star,
which leads them to the light of lights, the Epiphany Light. And there He is, the light who has penetrated
this darkened world. He has come for
these gentile Magi. He comes for you.
He
comes as the suffering servant that the Magi, no doubt, read of in Isaiah’s
prophecy. He comes as the one that all
of the Old Testament points to. He comes
for the salvation of the world. He comes
to reveal Himself as God in the flesh; the Savior. He comes for your salvation by offering
Himself as a gift to you on the cross.
He comes to lighten the darkness of
the blackened, sinful heart of the Magi, yours and mine with His own perfect
light.
He’s
the king the Magi have come to worship.
And so have you. What’s the
highest form of worship? What does God
expect of you when you come for worship?
What does this baby that the Magi have come to worship require? Faith.
Simple faith. A trust in Him and
what He has done for you. A trust holds
fast to all that He suffered, and died and that He did it for you. A trust that the salvation that He has won,
He’s won it for you. Faith is a hand
that reaches out and grasps the promises of God.
That’s
true worship. A worship that’s done out
of faith. A worship in which God acts
in His graciousness and mercy and we receive the gift. A worship that has God giving His good gifts
that we, by faith, hold out our hand and receive. To believe Jesus and trust in His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation
is the highest form of worship. Gifts
that He gives again and again and again because we need His gifts of
forgiveness again and again and again.
We don’t come here
to, primarily, give God something, but to receive from God. God acts first in mercy and we respond with
our praise and thanksgiving, with words that He has already given us. The Lord
hears our confession and forgives our sins and we respond with an Introit
Psalm. The Lord has heard our cries for
mercy and we respond with singing, “Glory to God in the Highest…” That’s the
rhythm of worship, God gives His gifts and then faith responds with
thanksgiving.
The
Magi respond to the gift of Jesus with Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. But even these gifts confess something about
Jesus. Gold, a kingly gift for the King
of kings. Frankincense, a spice that was
used in the temple that points to the Priest of priests who will offer the final
sacrifice. Myrrh. Do you know what myrrh was often used
for? It’s a burial spice. Remember Nicodemus, who comes to Jesus by
night at the beginning of John’s Gospel?
Well, he shows up at Jesus burial in chapter 19 with a mixture of aloes
and myrrh. Myrrh for the Sacrifice of
sacrifices, who goes to the altar of the cross for the Magi and for you.
These
gifts that the Magi bring flow from faith that has received God’s gifts. Faith wants to give. So it is for us. We don’t give our praise because we’re
compelled to, but that’s what faith in Christ naturally does. Faith gives the gifts of time, talents, and
treasures; not because we have to, not because we’re compelled to, but because
that’s what faith seeks to do, because we’re free to. Not because God will love you more but it’s a
joyous response to the gifts that God has given to you.
The
Magi come to behold the gift of Jesus that has been given to them and that’s
why we’re here. To receive the
gifts. To put out our hands like the
beggars that we are and receive from God all that good gifts that He has to
give. The highest form of worship is to,
by faith, receive from God all that He has to give through His Son whom He sent
to die on the cross for the world and for you.
May this worship always be in our midst.
Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life
everlasting. Amen.
