Beginnings are really important. Just think about how many great literary works are known by their opening words. Let’s see if you can identify a few of them:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” [A Tale of Two Cities]
“All children, except one, grow up.” [Peter Pan]
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” [Pride and Prejudice]
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” [1984}
“I am Sam. Sam I am” [Green Eggs and Ham]
And good filmmakers understand the importance of grabbing our attention with the opening scene. From my perspective, the opening scenes in most of the James Bond movies best illustrate how the opening sequence in the movie can have us on the edge of our seats, wanting more.
And as we’ve seen for the last couple of weeks, the beginnings of Jesus life set the stage for much of His earthly ministry. So far, we’ve looked at His genealogy in Matthew’s gospel and the accounts of how Mary and Joseph reacted to the news that God was going to entrust them with His Son. This week, we’ll look at two more accounts that record some of the events associated with Jesus’ birth. Let’s begin in Luke chapter 2. I’ll begin reading in verse 8 and you can follow along as I read.
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Luke 2:8-20 (ESV)
Once again, even if we didn’t know we were reading from Luke’s gospel account, we could guess that this passage was from Luke since he focuses on the lowly shepherds and the physical birth of Jesus. In a moment, we’re going to see what we can learn from the reaction of the shepherds to the birth of Jesus, but first let’s read a related account from Matthew’s gospel:
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “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.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “‘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.’”
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them 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.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
Matthew 2:1-12 (ESV)
Before we can begin to draw some principles out of these two passages, we need a little more background information to help us understand this passage in Matthew.
Unfortunately, we tend to get most of our ideas about what is going on here from greeting cards and Christmas pageants rather from the text itself and from valid historical information. So in our nativity scenes and Christmas pageants and on our Christmas cards, we have three kings riding in on camels, presenting their gifts to the baby Jesus who is lying in a manger surrounded by shepherds and animals.
But we know from the text that this event occurs some time after the birth of Jesus. Based on Herod’s edict later in this chapter it may be as much as two years after He is born. The word “child” in verse 11 refers to a young child, but not a newborn. And the family is no longer outside the inn, but they are now in a house. So if you’re going to put these wise men in your nativity scene, you need to put them all the way across your house.
And in spite of the songs we sing, like “These Three Kings”, these wise men are not kings. The word that the ESV translates “wise men” here is the Greek word “magos” from which we get our word magic. It is really an untranslatable word which is probably best transliterated as “magi” as it is in some of our English translations. So that’s the term I’m going to use as I refer to them this morning. And there are not necessarily just three of them. The word is plural so all we know is that there were at least two of them.
We could easily spend the whole morning just investigating the background and history of these magi, but so we have time to draw some practical applications from the passage, I’ll make this as brief as I can.
These magi had their roots in ancient Babylon, and actually even before that. They were basically a pagan, priestly tribe who became interested in astronomy and astrology. Unlike today, there wasn’t a distinct separation between the science of astronomy and the superstition of astrology. We see these magi present in Babylon at the time that Daniel is taken into captivity there. By that time, these magi had become very prominent and powerful in the Babylonian government. That is why they are called to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2. When they are unable to do that and God reveals the dream and its interpretation to Daniel, Daniel is raised to a position of leadership over all these magi:
Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.
Daniel 2:48 (ESV)
It’s not hard to imagine that, as a man of God, Daniel would have taught these magi the Old Testament Scriptures concerning the Messiah. We also know that many of the Jews who had been taken captive and exiled to Babylon remained there and as they began to intermarry and assimilate into that culture, they continued to influence these magi even into the subsequent reigns of the Medes, Persians, Greeks and finally the Romans.
Because of their perceived wisdom and knowledge, these magi maintained great power through all those empires and no one could become king without their approval and support. So even though they were not kings, they certainly were kingmakers.
So when they come riding into Jerusalem looking for the king of the Jews, the title that the Romans had given to Herod, we can understand why Herod was so “troubled”.
Just as an aside, in spite of traditions to the contrary, these magi probably rode on steeds, not on camels, and they would have likely been accompanied by a large cavalry. They probably also wore tall pointed hats, much like what we would picture a wizard wearing.
Once again this morning as we look at these two passages, there are a number of relevant principles that we could draw from them. But I’d like to focus on one aspect that these two accounts share in common – the worship of Jesus. While their encounters with Jesus were certainly quite different, both the shepherds and the magi have much to offer us in our understanding of the kind of worship that pleases God. Again, there are countless applications we could make even if we limit it to just our worship, but we’ll focus on just a few of the more significant ones.
WHAT WE CAN LEARN ABOUT WORSHIP FROM THE SHEPHERDS AND THE MAGI
Worship that is pleasing to God requires us to:
• Receive
Worship always begins when we receive a revelation from God. For the shepherds that revelation came from the angels – first from the single angel who announced the birth of Jesus and then later by a whole angel army giving glory to God.
For the magi, that revelation had likely come from the influence of Daniel and subsequent generations of Jews who had proclaimed the Scriptures concerning the coming of the Messiah. So when these stargazers viewed a bright new star in the sky, they understood it to be further revelation from God.
Today, God doesn’t often reveal Himself through the appearance of angels or new stars that appear in the sky. But He is still in the business of revealing Himself and He does that in a multitude of ways – through His creation, through the testimonies of the lives that He impacts, through music, through His Holy Spirit and most often through His written Word.
But even though that revelation is available to all, not everyone chooses to take advantage of it or even pay any attention to it. In the case of the magi, I’m sure that there were a whole lot of their fellow stargazers who saw the same star, but didn’t recognize it as God’s revelation. And the glory of God that appeared to the shepherds must have been so bright that others would have seen it and yet none of them recognized it as God’s revelation either.
So how do we make sure that we don’t miss God’s revelation in our lives? God’s words to the prophet Jeremiah provide us with the answer to that question:
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV)
God promises us that if we’ll seek Him with all of our heart that we’ll find Him – we’ll recognize and receive that revelation that He has made available to us.
I know that I’ve shared this quote with you before, but it bears repeating again this morning. In his book, The Air I Breathe, Louie Giglio writes:
Trust me, church is a lot better when our gatherings are filled with people who have been pursuing God for six days before they get there.
The life of our corporate worship on Sunday morning each week is not nearly as dependent on the skills of the worship team, or the quality of the sermon, or the mood we set as it is on how persistent all of us have been in seeking God throughout the week.
There is nothing God would rather do than reveal Himself to us. But we have to give God something to work with. We have to be willing to pursue Him in all those places where His revelation is available to us – especially in His Word.
Worship always begins with God and His revelation to us. But then once we have that revelation, worship requires our response. The remaining four aspects of worship that is pleasing to God all involve our response to that revelation.
• Revere
When the angel appeared to the shepherds, they were filled with fear. But the angel reassures them and tells them to “fear not”. The phrases “fear not”, “do not be afraid” and “do not fear” appear over 100 times in the Bible and in almost every case, that instruction is given to those to whom God has revealed Himself in some way – either by an audible voice or by the appearance of an angel, like we see with the shepherds, or in some other way.
Although the word fear isn’t used in the account of the magi, we certainly see that they have a healthy fear of God as well. We don’t exactly whether these magi were truly committed to following God, but they certainly had enough fear of Him to heed the warning that they were given in a dream and not return to Herod.
This reaction of fear, or maybe it would be more accurately termed reverent awe, to the revelation of God is one that we see demonstrated throughout the Bible. Perhaps the most striking example is that of Isaiah. When he is transported into the presence of God, here is how he responds:
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Isaiah 6:5 (ESV)
Now certainly there is a sense in which those of us who have committed our lives to Jesus can come confidently into the presence of God because Jesus has made us righteous in His sight. But at the same time, we also need to maintain a sense of reverent awe of God in our worship. The writer of Hebrews stresses the importance of maintaining reverence and awe in our worship:
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:28, 29 (ESV)
The word “reverence” literally means “to approach cautiously” and the word “awe” literally means “to take a step back”. The Bible does not require just one worship style. Sometimes worship is quiet and meditative and other times it is loud and exuberant and joyful. But regardless of style, we need to be careful not to approach our worship too casually. As we come into the presence of God we must always take that step back and approach Him with caution.
• Rejoice
Both the shepherds and the magi responded to the revelation that God gave them with rejoicing. That was the natural outflow of the revelation that they had received from God.
Earlier this morning we sang the song “How Can I Keep from Singing” and that song is a perfect illustration of this aspect of our worship. Now I understand that not all of you are into music and singing, and singing is certainly not the only way that we can rejoice in God. But when we see God as He really is, it certainly ought to make our hearts want to sing, even if our voices don’t necessarily match the enthusiasm in our hearts.
The fact that rejoicing is to be such an indispensable part of our worship is indicated by the fact that the word rejoice is found over 200 times in the Bible. Let’s look at just a few of them. I’m just going to read these without any comment since none is really needed.
And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.
Deuteronomy 26:11 (ESV)
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
1 Chronicles 16:10 (ESV)
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.
Psalm 5:11 (ESV)
More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Romans 5:11 (ESV)
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
Philippians 4:4 (ESV)
Before we leave this principle, let me just share one word of encouragement. Joy and rejoicing are not the same as happiness. Happiness depends on my circumstances. Joy is that deep abiding satisfaction that comes from knowing God and having a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus. It is never dependent on circumstances because the source of our joy, God Himself, never changes. That is why Paul could pen these words:
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)
• Recount
We see this most clearly with the shepherds. Once they have seen the Savior of the world with their own eyes, they can’t help but go and share that good news with others.
Telling others about what God is doing in our lives is an indispensable part of our worship. That is why we try to include some time in our worship services for people to share what God has been doing in your life. And frankly sometimes it’s pretty discouraging when we have to pull teeth to get a few of us to share those things here in the midst of fellow Christ followers who could be encouraged and who could rejoice in those things. My fear is that if we’re having such a hard time doing that here, we’re probably really struggling to do that outside these walls with those who are not yet Christ followers.
So we need to become more like those shepherds, and like others in the Scriptures who have an encounter with Jesus and can’t wait to go and tell others about it. And, as Peter makes very clear, we need to always be prepared to share our faith in Jesus when the opportunity presents itself:
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)
This past Thursday night we spent some time looking at how to fulfill that command by developing a personal testimony that we can use to tell others about Jesus. As part of that process we looked at some Biblical examples like the Samaritan woman in John 4 and Paul’s testimony to Agrippa in Acts 26 where people worshipped Jesus by sharing how He had worked in their lives. Let’s make sure that we follow their examples.
• Render
This last principle is demonstrated primarily by the magi. When they come to worship Jesus, they don’t come empty handed. They bring gifts that are appropriate for one who is a king. In fact, they had undoubtedly gone to great lengths to bring something of value that they could render to Jesus.
First of all they would have had to gather the gifts. Perhaps they had been doing that all along so they would be ready when the time came to go anoint the King of the Jews. And then they had to make the long, difficult journey from their home to Bethlehem. They couldn’t just get on a jet and be there in a few hours. They had to travel across difficult terrain and deal with natural elements like the weather and manmade perils like bandits.
Neither the shepherds nor the magi came to worship Jesus for what they were going to receive. They didn’t come to “get fed” or “recharge their batteries”. I’m sure that they ended up benefiting from their worship encounters with Jesus, but that was certainly not their primary motive for worshipping.
Once again, these familiar words from Louie Giglio really hit the nail on the head:
Church as a “refill” or “tank-up” is a disaster. Corporate worship works best when we arrive with something to offer God. As opposed to only coming to get something for ourselves from God. Sure, it is true that we are strengthened and refreshed by what happens when we worship with other believers, but leaning on Sunday as our only time of spiritual intake is a recipe for languid worship and anemic body.
Every time we come to worship Jesus, we need to make sure that we aren’t coming to get something for ourselves and make sure we don’t empty handed either. These words of Paul to the church in Corinth are instructive here:
On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.
1 Corinthians 16:2 (ESV)
Although Paul is specifically dealing with financial giving here, we can certainly take the principle and apply it much more broadly. The idea is that those who were coming to worship were to make plans ahead of time to bring something with them when they came to worship – in this case their offerings. But in a broader sense this should apply to all aspects of our worship. We need to plan to bring something to offer God each time we gather together in corporate worship. We can certainly begin with this familiar verse:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Romans 12:1 (ESV)
When you come to worship each week, do you bring your entire life to offer it to God so that He can do with it as He pleases? Do you come with a mind that has been cleared of filth so that we can offer it up to God and ask Him to fill it up with His thoughts? Do you come with a body that you can offer to God to use to serve Him wherever He leads? Do you come with a spirit that is longing for the Holy Spirit to speak to you so that God can convict and reprove and lead you into truth?
The very beginnings of the worship of Jesus by the shepherds and the magi really help us to understand the kind of worship that pleases God – worship that requires us to
• Receive the revelation of God
• Revere Him with reverence and awe
• Rejoice in who He is
• Recount how He is working in our lives
• Render to Him that which He deserves.
