Sermon Tone Analysis

Christmas was over almost two weeks ago.

New Year’s has come and gone, and the vast majority of us are back to our “normal routine”.

However, the Season of Advent does not officially end until midnight tonight.

Some of you who grew up in a faith-tradition other than Baptist may know that this is the 12th day after Christmas—meaning that it is Epiphany Sunday or also known as Three Kings Day.

It is a Sunday that for over seventeen hundred years of church history has represented the introduction of the Christ to the Gentile nations and celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus.

The word Epiphany means "to reveal," or "to make manifest."

It is used several times in the New Testament, most notably by the Apostle Paul in his second letter to Timothy:

/“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner.

But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.

This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”/

(2 Timothy 1:8–10, NIV84)

Why is the visit of the Magi important to us?

What does this passage of Scripture have to teach us?

Few biblical stories are as well known, yet so clouded by myth and tradition, as that of the magi, or wise men, mentioned by Matthew.

Most of these legends and myths that surround the Magi developed during the Middle Ages.

Tradition says that they were three Kings—one from India, one from Egypt, and the third from Greece.

Their names are recorded as Melchor, Balthazar, and Caspar.

Legend also has it that the disciple Thomas baptized them and that, years after their death, Helena—mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine and a devout Christian—rediscovered their bones and that they now reside in the great cathedral of Cologne, Germany.

The vast majority of such Yuletide lore is legendary in nature.

There is little, if any, truth to the tales which have grown up around these men.

Such stories often cloud the original purpose of the story.

In all actuality we are left almost completely in the dark about these men.

What can we really know?

* The Magi were primarily known as the priestly-political class of the Parthians who lived to the east of Palestine in what is today the country of Iran.

This view is supported by the earliest Christian art which always portrays these travelers wearing Persian robes.

Many of the early theologians and scholars of the church also agree that these "wise men" came from Persia.

* They were known as skilled astrologers/astronomers, mathematicians, and scientists.

* That they were "wise" in the literal sense means that they were "learned" men who were well educated in the philosophies and political sciences of their time.

They were advisers to the kings of Persia and Babylon.

* Because they presented the Christ child with three gifts tradition has maintained that there were only three Magi.

Again, the Bible is silent as to the actual number.

My personal opinion is that there was an entire caravan of these Magi.

Three men inquiring about the birth of a baby—even one born ‘King of the Jews’—in an obscure Judean village would hardly have caused the stir in Jerusalem that evidently took place upon their arrival and inquiry (verse 3).

* They were probably very familiar with the Jewish scriptures and their prophesies since Persia at that time contained a large Jewish population.

Bottom line: These are all simply educated guesses.

We are told very little about the sojourners who have come to worship the Baby Jesus.

The details are left in the shadows in order that, against the dark background of their obscurity, the light of truth may shine forth all the more brilliantly.

These wise men, whoever they were, wherever they came from, came to worship the Anointed One of Israel who was also the Light of the Gentiles!

What can we learn from their journey and their homage?

We learn that truly wise man still come to Jesus to meet the most pressing spiritual needs of life.!

!

I. WISE MEN WILL DILIGENTLY SEARCH FOR THE CHRIST

/"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem"/ (Matthew 2:1, NIV)

#. what significance do we find in this verse?

#. if it is true that these Magi were Persian astronomers, then they were men who had made a long, and arduous journey

#. the trip from Persia to Palestine is a distance of about 1,100 miles

#. in our day of modern travel where we think nothing of driving a few hundred miles in a day, we forget that their journey would have been fraught with dangers and hardships

#. if they were lucky, they made 10-15 miles a day by Camel caravan making it three-month trip

#. lesser men may well have turned back, but these men had received the revelation that the King whose kingdom would never end had been born

#. they were bound and determined to let nothing stand in their way of expressing their homage to this King

#. their determination teaches us an important lesson

!! A. CHRISTIANS MUST BE DETERMINED IN THEIR FAITH

#. determination means a willingness to carry through with a commitment

#. let me be honest with you this evening; the church is currently raising its second generation of biblically illiterate, spiritually incompetent, narcissistically self-involved baby saints, who do not know what it means to be committed to the Lord, Jesus Christ

#. the typical attitude toward church today is /"What's in it for me?

What do I get out of it if I go?" “What’s the payoff?”/

* ILLUS.

Back in September, I got a phone call from a women who was searching for a ‘church home’.

I get one or two, perhaps three of those calls a year.

Usually it’s from someone whose family has just moved into the community.

They'll grill me about our programs and ministries.

Sometimes they'll ask about the general tenor of our theology—are we conservative or moderate or liberal.

But most of the time they'll want details about our children's and youth programs.

Secondary will be what programs and ministries we have going for adults.

Bottom line—they're asking /"What do you have for me, if I come to your church?"/

Now, let me say—I think it's important that we establish programs to meet the spiritual and ministry needs of our people from preschoolers through senior adults.

But let me tell you of the phone call that Pastors day-dream about.

It would go something like this: /"Hello.

My family and I have just moved into your community.

We're looking for a church home that will allow us to use our spiritual gifts and talents to minister to the church and community in a variety of ways.

We'll be there every time the doors are opened.

Oh, and by the way, we're tithers."/

In 30 years of ministry, I've never had that conversation.

If I had, I'd probably have dropped dead of cardiac arrest.

#. a determined faith is a faith that is committed to our God and His Christ no matter what

* ILLUS.

Most of you know the story of Job in the Old Testament.

Job was a man who lost everything of earthly importance to him.

In a few catastrophic days, he lost his wealth, his community standing, his family, and his health.

His wife, whom I'm sure was in a state of shock and mourning herself, urged her husband to curse God, lay down and die.

Instead, Job retains his faith and confesses a great confession when he declares, /"And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,27 Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another.

How my heart yearns within me!"/ (Job 19:26-27)

#.

Job is confessing that even though he has no earthly reason for trusting in God, yet he will do so anyway

#. even if there is nothing tangible in it for him, he will still believe and worship

#. a determined faith is a faith that is committed to our God and His Christ no matter what

#. a determined faith is a faith that is committed to our Christ and to His Body—the Church—no matter what

#.

I've discovered after 30 years of ministry, that the vast majority of Christians are absolutely 100% committed to their church—as long as they've got nothing better to do

* ILLUS.

A couple of years ago, the Northend Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Seattle, had a /"No-excuse-to-stay-home-Sunday."/

The week before, the pastor sent the following letter to each member: /"Next Sunday, cots will be available for those who say Sunday is their only day to sleep.

Eye drops will be supplied for those who have red eyes from watching late Saturday-night TV shows.

There will be steel helmets for those who say the roof would cave in if they ever went to church, blankets for persons who think the church is too cold, fans for those who say it is too hot, scorecards for those wishing to list all the hypocrites present, TV dinners for those who can't go to church and also cook dinner.

Lastly, the sanctuary will be decorated with Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who have never seen the church without them."/

#. a determined faith is a faith that is committed to our Christ and to His Body—the Church—no matter what

#. a determined faith is a faith that is committed to our Christ, and to Christ's church and ministry no matter what

* ILLUS.

Many churches have a Beau Geste view of ministry.

In that movie, the Arabs were attacking a Legionnaire fort where only four Legionnaires were left alive.

The Arabs were not aware of this, because if they had been, the fort would fall for sure.

Therefore, the surviving Legionnaires devised a plan to disguise their weak condition.

They set up the bodies of their dead comrades along the wall of the fort and ran back and forth, firing off the guns of their dead friends.