Seeking Truth: The Magi's Journey to Worship

"And so when we take a step back and we look in a moment like this, I think the reason we are so prone to venerate our leaders is because we were made to worship an ultimate king, whether you call yourself a follower of Jesus or not. But what the Magi show us is that there is only one king worth worshiping." [00:22:53] (22 seconds)


"On the coming of 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, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Herod made his choice. He was going to try and trick the Magi into reporting back on the location of Jesus so that he could go worship him. No one is convinced of that, right? He wanted to eliminate the threat. He would continue with a plan to try and do just that. But the exact time that the star appeared is believed to be when Jesus was born." [00:33:51] (47 seconds)


"Even more than that, even more than the shepherds, right? They would have been much older and likely, just like we talked about with the shepherds, Jesus' earthly ministry would not start for decades. And so it's likely that none of these Magi were alive when Jesus preached his first sermon or performed his first miracle, and they were still confident that he was God. He had done nothing for them, and yet he was worthy of worship. We should pay attention to that. The shepherds and the Magi, they both teach us an incredibly important lesson about worshiping the only thing that is worthy of our worship." [00:38:39] (34 seconds)


"See, we often struggle with God when he doesn't meet our expectations. We are quick to worship God maybe for what we've been given or what he's done for us or what we've been able to accomplish. We, in that situation, are oftentimes not worshiping the giver. We're worshiping the gift, the thing that we want, the thing that we got. But that's not actually worship." [00:39:17] (22 seconds)


"Worship is thanking God for who he is. I want to just give you a couple little facets about this idea of worship that may make you uncomfortable. So if you're like the email me a mean email thing, just get your phone ready. If God never heals you, he's still worth your worship. If God never gives you that job, he's still worthy of your worship. If he never provides that relationship or restores that relationship or puts your family back together, he's still worthy of your worship." [00:39:38] (37 seconds)


"We worship God because we were created by him. We worship God because as a part of that creation, nothing can hold our worship or satisfy our soul. Other than him, we can be so grateful for all these things in our lives that God has provided. But never forget, God is worth your worship, no matter what he has done or not done for you. He's worth your worship because he's God." [00:40:37] (26 seconds)


"So as you reflect on this group of magi, lifetime worshipers of another God who are committed to the truth above everything else, what are you committed to this Christmas? I doubt that you have gold, frankincense, and myrrh underneath the Christmas tree, although if you do, that's cool, right? All the gifts that we have waiting for us and all the gifts you provided for someone else, they are reminders of the ultimate gift that Christmas is really about in Jesus." [00:41:02] (31 seconds)


"Maybe for some of you, I hope that it'll give you a chance to have greater appreciation for inviting a neighbor, a friend, just saying to somebody, do you want to come to Christmas Eve with us, with me? Somebody just told me this last service that they've been building a relationship with a friend who's a strong atheist, doesn't believe in God, and is willing to come to Christmas Eve with us. I hope that you'll have a chance to do that. Christmas Eve with them." [00:45:06] (25 seconds)