[podcast]http://www.revkwon.com/podcast/come_worship-bring_gifts.mp3[/podcast] What would a Christmas series be without a sermon on gift giving. In this series we began to explore what it means to come and worship. Moreover, weve begun to explore why we worship. So two weeks ago we talked about why its important for us to lift up our hands in worship. Then last week, we spoke about why its important for us to kneel down in receiving Jesus. This week, I want to teach you all the importance of giving gifts. Its Christmas, and were all out there buying gifts for people going broke and I think very few of us actually know why we even give gifts in the first place. And to assuage your curiosity, its not because youre cute. Lets go to Matthew 2. 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, 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. (Matthew 2:1-2) Weve been reading these two verses for three weeks to set up why were in this series. It is because Christmas represents the birth of the King of Gods chosen people. We come to worship at Christmas because our king has come to be with us, his people. So we come and worship, or pay homage to Lets go down 8 verses, verse 10 and pick it back up. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 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. (Matthew 2:10-11) So these Magi, or wisemen travelled from Persia or modern day Iran all the way to Israel. Thats like 900 miles. If you want to imagine that, its like going from here to Atlanta, by foot. Its easily a 45-day journey one way. When they saw that the star had finally stopped, look at what the Bible says and I think this is so interesting, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. Heres the reason its so interesting. Matthew uses a double superlative to express one ideathe wisemen were elated. The cause of their worship stems from the elation in their hearts that theyve found what theyve been looking for all this time. I want you to know that when you come to church on Sundays and we sing songs and lift our hands up and we start sweating and the room begins to feel warm, its because the elation in our hearts. We sing loudly because there is a double superlative happening within us that causes us to worship. If youre not feeling that every single time you worship, you need to ask yourself, why are you under joyed? I understand that sometimes we come into church cold, and its a small wonder that we even got out of bed in the morning to trek out here. But look at the wisemen, they travelled at least 45 days to get, only God knows where, to worship an infant who is destined to be the king of a people group they were not nearly concerned with. The wisemen were overjoyed and therefore compelled to worship. Are we underjoyed and not as compelled to worship? Im actually going to get into this in more detail next week as we wrap up this series, but I want you to note that today because it is the double superlative of not being able to express the amount of joy within you by the coming of our King which compels us to do what the wisemen do nextthey worship. They worship by bringing gifts. Joy makes them give. Next time you place your offering into the giving plate, you remember that the reason you give is not because somebody told you or because youve always done it, but its because you are compelled by the overflow of joy within your heart to give at the presence of Jesus in your life. Im going to be honest with all of you here. The Christmas season that starts on Black Friday and doesnt end until Christmas is probably one of my most dreaded times of the year. Its shouldnt be either, considering I got married around this time. But it is because there are so many things to pay for and so many things that naturally break that needs to be replaced. Whenever I check my email, its just consistently 100 messages from advertisers reminding me of all the things I want and all the things and people I need to give gifts to. Its often difficult to keep up. Honestly, the last thing I want to do is think about giving to God. However, God, in His infinite wisdom knows how to best preach a sermon that I need to hear on my own, so I am going to tell you that this Christmas season, we must bring our gifts to God in worship of what He did and constantly does for us. Forget about the parties, forget about the insane checkout lines. Focus on why we journeyed this far and for what purposes we live our lives and celebrate this season. There is significance to the gifts that the wisemen brought to Jesus. We all know them, but we may not realize how significant their offerings to an infant Jesus is. The Bible says the wisemen brought gold, frankincense and myrrh, which clearly indicates they knew more about what was happening in the world than is ever explained in this story. The theological significance of the gifts is important to us today as they were 2,000 years ago when the wisemen offered them to Jesus. First, there is gold. Gold is the metal of the kings. When the wisemen presented gold to Jesus, it acknowledged his right to rule as king. The star they followed represented the king of the Jews being born. Secondly, there was Frankincense, which smelled good, but moreover it was used in temple worship. I dont just mean Israelite temples, but all temples. I believe frankincense was used most frequently in India as part of rituals and temple offerings to the hindu gods. Particularly, frankincense in the Bible is a fragrance, when mixed with oil was a pleasing offering to God and was prepared as a thanksgiving. The wisemen gives Jesus this gift as a way to please God, perhaps foreseeing that the king who will soon rule will live a life that is acceptable and pleasing to the God of Heaven. Thirdly, there was myrrh. I could never place this gift. In my research and in my studies, Ive found that myrrh was used in the embalming process in Egypt. I know that the Chinese used myrrh to fix chapped lips and skin and was seen as a natural preservative; however, giving a gift of preservation to a child just born may be offensive. It may be like saying, youre not going to live long. However, perhaps this gift of faith was given because Jesus was offering His life in exchange for ours, and they knew that Jesus would need to be buried as a king who sacrificed everything for our own lives. Whatever the case is for these gifts, it is certain that the gifts the wisemen brought were brought to Jesus in faith out of the joy that compelled them to search for Jesus in the first place. The gifts were an act of worship. When we give to gifts to God we are worshipping God. But the reason we give is not because God wants our gifts like theyre anything to Him. We give gifts as our act of worship because God gave us the greatest gift first. His gift demonstrates the love that overflows into our lives. Look at what John writes in his gospel, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17). What would compel God to give His only Son to people that never knew they wanted it? Is it not the overflowing love that comes from God and the joy, the elation and the peace that comes from allowing love overflow that compels God to give so generously and greatly? We have a hard time putting in our paper money, just imagine what would compel you to sacrifice your only child. For God, it was giving up the second person of the trinity, the one who was and is always sin perfect communion with Him, that He gave us because the joy that would come from this gift of love would be so overwhelming that it had to be done. The Apostle Paul takes this a step forward and says in Romans 5:8, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Our gifting is an act of love that replicates, but can in no way equal Gods gift to us. We give gifts to God, we call this offerings, because God loved and He offered. He set the example and gave us the bar to live up to. If we are afraid to give, we dont yet understand Gods love. Gods love causes us to be overjoyed and that overjoy is expressed by the gifts we give. This is why we tithe. I want you to see how tithing is worship and not an obligation that is set up by religious institutions to get your hard earned money. Lets go to Genesis 14. 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand! And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (Genesis 14:18-20) This Christmas season I want to challenge you to make a decision for 2016. I want to challenge you to bring our first and our best to God and trust God to bless the rest. I dont want you to focus on all the bills you cant pay, all the gifts you have to give other people, I want you to focus on bringing God your gift of faith to Him, whatever it is and however weird it may be and lean on God to bless the rest. When we give to God in worship, and this is apparent throughout history, the power of Gods loves pushes beyond the boundaries of our lives and changes the circumstances of our lives and the lives of the people in our lives. In 2016, I want our church to give out of worship to God so that circumstances of our lives and the lives of the people we touch every single day can be changed. I dont want you dread giving to God. I want you to be overjoyed to give and open up your treasures before God. Im not just talking about money or things, but Im talking about your gifts, skills and time. You see, what you have to know is that while the wisemen brought gifts of their faith to Jesus in response to Gods gift of His son to humanity, we need to offer the very best of ourselves to God. Look at what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 12, 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. Our spiritual act of worship is an offering of the best of ourselves. We come Sunday bringing not the tiredness of the week previously, but the very best of us to give to God so that He blesses the week ahead of us. We bring our treasures to God because His greatest treasure was given up to us as a sacrifice, destined to die in our place. We bring our gifts in overflowing joy at the presence of our king. This is why we come to worship this Christmas season. Lets pray.
Comments are closed