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Matthew 2:1-12 "Gifts of the Magi"

Epiphany Yr. B, January 8, 2006

by Clancy Nixon

Church of the Holy Spirit in Ashburn, Virginia

www.holyspiritdulles.org

Two months ago, I asked some leaders of our church to come away with me to

Shepherdstown to look at our core values. God has been shaking some things up in our

church, and I sensed the need to look at whether we were being faithful to our stated

values, and whether we needed to articulate some new ones. The good news is that there

was general agreement that we are indeed living our core values. We are on the right

track. We also discerned that our top value, the most important thing for us, was to

practice the presence of the Lord. Said differently, to Abide in Christ. Experience God.

Worship Him at all times and above all things. I've been spending more time doing that

recently, and as I look at the Magi, I am reminded of how they did that.

The Wise Men brought gifts to Jesus, and in so doing, they are gifts to us as well.

Let's look today at the gifts of the Magi: not so much the gold, frankincense and myrrh,

but their gifts of wisdom and worship. They are wonderful examples for us.

The first gift I'd like you to notice with me is this: 1. The Magi had a gift of

faith. Many other people probably saw the same star the Magi did. But only the Magi

correctly interpreted this star's appearing as a sign of the birth of the Messiah, the

prophesied King of Judah. Now we don't know how many Magi really came three or

fifty - the Bible does not tell us. The tradition of three Kings Caspar, Melchior, and

Belshazzar - came much later, because they brought three gifts. I imagine other Magi

back in Persia disagreed with the Magi who came, and did not read the star in the same

way as a sign from God, or they did not link it to the Hebrew Scriptures. Those who

came believed that God was at work, when other people saw only a strange star, if they

saw anything at all.

God is always speaking to those who have ears of faith to hear him. In chapter 2

of Matthew, God speaks three times through dreams to warn both the Magi and Joseph of

danger. God has used dreams in my own life to get my attention. God used a recurring

anxiety dream to show me several years ago of my need for deliverance from

generational bondages. I sought healing prayer ministry, and thank God, I have been set

free from those evil influences passed down my family line. Pay attention to your dreams.

If God wanted to get your attention, what would He have to do? [pause] Would God

have to do something dramatic, like take your job away, or make you sick, to get your

attention? If you are listening to him in your daily quiet time, if you are reading his

Word and digging into it, God will not have to do anything unusual to get your attention.

Have faith; believe that God will speak to you as you regularly seek him. Wise men still

seek the Christ.

You can spell faith R-I-S-K. To follow this star, the Magi had to leave their

wives and children for a long time and journey in some dangerous places. Sometimes we

have to do that in order to follow the call of God to risk our own safety, and by

extension, that of our family, to spend time away from those we love. Jim Craft is now

back in Afghanistan with the State Department, and his family is here with us, because

God called him out. Joanne Craft told us her story of how God used that distance to heal

her of her fears. Walking in faith means taking risks. This year, I'm reading the Bible

through on the schedule of the devotional book Encounter with God. Last week, God

spoke to me through Noah's faithfulness in the face of scorn, and Abraham's obedience

to go to a strange new land. Noah and Abraham were risk takers, because they were

faithful.

2. The Magi had a gift of humility. The star led the Magi to Jerusalem, but they

weren't sure where to go after that, because the star no longer guided them. They did not

conclude that they could figure it our for themselves; instead they humbly asked the

locals, who ought to know. This caused a stir, verse 3 all Jerusalem was disturbed. They

weren't shocked that a group of men would ask for directions; there was an uneasy buzz

because they knew that Herod would kill anyone who was a threat to his throne. Herod

had already killed two of his wives, and two of his sons. Herod was allied with Rome, so

there was no threat to him from the West. Maybe they feared these Magi were scouts for

an army from the east, like the one that had attacked Jerusalem and sent Herod to exile

several years earlier. Herod told them that they should go to Bethlehem, for that is the

city of David, and the Christ would be David's heir. That Herod did not send an escort

with the Magi to Bethlehem, is a testimony to his own arrogance, and to the Sovereignty

of God, who arranged it all. After the Magi humbled themselves by asking for directions,

then God gave more direct guidance, and the star appeared to them again, and guided

them to the exact house where Jesus was. I believe that there's a spiritual principle here:

the more we ask for help and guidance, the more God will guide us. This is true even

when the authority can't be trusted, as was true for the duplicitous Herod and the

religious leaders of the day. When God sees our humility in asking for help, he is more

likely to speak to us directly, with signs like the star.

When we do get a vision or direction from God, it's easy to go merrily down that

path, pridefully assuming that God has given us all the direction we need. We still need

something like that star, and we need the guidance of mature believers, even when we are

very close to our goal, like the Magi in Jerusalem. Friends, when God calls you to begin

a responsibility, He will give you ongoing guidance to complete it if you will seek it!

God calls people to great things when he can trust them to humbly check with him for

mid-course corrections, and even end-course corrections. It is humbling to ask for much

advice. Proverbs says, in many counselors, there is wisdom.

3. The Magi saw the Lord themselves. They were given the gift of an

Epiphany, a manifestation of God. The light was one thing; it was just a sign. A sign

points somewhere else. The star pointed to Jesus. When they came to his house after

their long journey, they got to see the Lord for themselves. Like the Wise Men, we need

to see Jesus for ourselves. It does help to have others point us to Jesus, to paint their own

pictures of Jesus for us so we can understand more of what he is like. I get that help

every day when I read sermons and articles by writers I respect. It helps, but it is not

enough. Each of us needs regular unmediated experiences with God. You need to look

at the Lord through your own eyes, not my eyes, not your parents' or friends' eyes. Matt

Redman, the songwriter and worship leader, needed to learn to worship God without any

music at all. That experience produced the song, The Heart of Worship. Sometimes you

need to turn the music off. God is very real. Encounter Him through the Bible picture

the Lord in your mind. Picture yourself entering the story, like the story of the Magi.

Imagine how you would react if you were in the Bible story as you read. What would

your thoughts and feelings be if you were a Magi the wife or child of one? A religious

leader? If you were Mary? Herod? Who in the story do you most identify with? Look at

the Lord yourself.

4. The Magi brought physical gifts. They did not come empty handed, but they

took the time to procure gifts with special meaning. Each gift symbolizes something

important about Christ, and their meaning for us goes beyond how the Magi themselves

might have understood their gifts. Frankincense represents the divinity of Christ, for you

burn incense in worship to God. Myrrh, the embalming spice, is a gift for one who is to

die. It reminds us of Christ's death on the cross for us, which made possible our

reconciliation with God. Gold is the king of metals - a gift fit for a king. Gold points to

Jesus as the King of the Jews, but more important for us, he is our King. He is a King

who rules, not by force, but by love.

5. The Magi gave the gift of sacrificial worship. They were not ashamed to tell

people what they were up to; they were willing to sacrifice their reputations on both their

faith in the Hebrew Scriptures, and their startling reading of the heavens and Scriptures

together. The Magi knew that worship involves sacrifice. They journeyed over an

unpredictable, long and dangerous road. They gave up their income stream for several

months to travel to Judah all that way and back. They likely paid hefty sums to purchase

their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They probably hired attendants and

bodyguards to accompany them. They sacrificed much to come. They left their wives and

children at home while they traveled, and I'm sure these women and children missed

their husbands and fathers. The Magi gave their time, their money and their reputations

over to the worship of our king.

They knew that worship involves sacrifice. Worship must cost you something

significant, or it is not worship. The Jews knew that, too, as the system of animal

sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple demonstrated for them in a most concrete way. A

dove or a lamb might be sacrificed as a sin offering, or a thank offering. Our worship is

an act of giving to God, who has already given us everything we possess. There can be no

worship without sacrifice.

One of Ginger's favorite Christmas stories by O'Henry is called "The Gift of the

Magi," and it illustrates this point. "Della whispered a prayer: "Please God, make him

think I am still pretty." Della's knee-length, beautiful brown hair was her most prized

possession, but she has just cut it off to sell to a wigmaker. She does it so she will have

money to buy a Christmas present for her beloved husband, Jim. With the money from

the sale of her hair, she will be able to buy a gold watch chain on which Jim can hang his

most treasured possession, the gold watch that had been his father's and grandfather's.

"Della and Jim are a young newlywed couple living in poverty. They have no

money for extravagant Christmas gifts. Jim will come home on Christmas Eve to find

Della shorn of her beautiful hair, all to buy the gold chain for him that he cannot possibly

afford to buy for himself. Will he still think she is pretty?

"The twist in this classic story by is that Jim has sold his cherished watch to buy a

set of tortoise shell combs with jeweled rims for his beloved wife's beautiful hair the

very combs she has yearned over for so long, but could not hope to buy for herself.

"Della's hair is gone, but she now has the finest gift her husband could sacrifice to

buy. Jim now has no watch, but he has the most precious gift his young bride could

sacrifice to bring him." Yes, she is even more beautiful to him now. (summary by John

Wilkins, NIV Application Commentary)

O. Henry concludes by writing this: "Two foolish children unwisely sacrificed for

each other the greatest treasures of their house... But of all who give and receive gifts,

one such as they are the wisest. They are the Magi."

Sacrificial giving is a good definition of love. Sacrificial gifts of time and

treasure to Jesus will produce sacrificial love of one another. I invite you to enter in to the

worship of God in spirit and in truth. Give yourselves completely over to Him in

wholehearted worship. Give all yout attention. Put your troubles aside for now; let this

time be all about God. Let's pray.