WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 Today we are continuing our short series, The King of Christmas. 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:08.000 And our title this morning is The Worshiped King, 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:14.000 and we're going to read again from the passage in Matthew that Abbey read, verses 9 to 11. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:17.000 After listening to the king, they went in their way and behold, 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:20.000 the star that they had seen when it rose went before them, 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.000 until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:27.000 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:31.000 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:33.000 and they fell down and worshiped him. 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:42.000 Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:50.000 This is the passage that gives us the account of the wise men who came from the east in order to find Jesus. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:53.000 These men were also known as Magi, 00:00:53.000 --> 00:01:02.000 and they were usually some sort of government officials who performed various tasks in the ancient Middle East. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:07.000 So they interpreted dreams, they were sometimes religious priests, 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:10.000 they maybe functioned as physicians, 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:16.000 and here, as is the case, they engaged in some kind of study of the stars, 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:20.000 that may have been some sort of astrology. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:26.000 Back in the Old Testament, Daniel was made chief of the Magi in Babylon. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:33.000 And I sometimes think that a present-day equivalent would maybe be the kind of expert advisers 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:41.000 that the government tends to use, so people like Jason Leitch or Chris Whitty and Jonathan Van Tam. 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:47.000 It's probably important just to note that we don't actually know how many there were, 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:52.000 and they would have probably arrived shortly before Jesus' second birthday, 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:56.000 rather than when he was a newborn baby. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:00.000 There's so much that we could look at in these verses. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:07.000 Today, I want us to just focus on three key words that we find in verses 10 and 11. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:13.000 Rejoiced, worshiped, and offered. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:18.000 The wise men rejoiced when they found Jesus. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:21.000 They worshiped when they recognized Him, 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:27.000 and they offered Him something when they gave their gifts. 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:32.000 And the reason I want to think about these is because I think that they are pointing us 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:37.000 to three of the deepest longings that we have as humans. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:43.000 And as I hope we'll see, these longings are the driving force behind many of the things 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:46.000 that we see filling our news every day. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:52.000 They are the longing for joy, the longing for something to worship, 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:56.000 and the longing to have something to offer. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:02.000 So let's look at these three words and these three longings in turn. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:10.000 So first of all, rejoiced. Verses 9 to 10 describe how the wise men were led by the star 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:18.000 to the place where Jesus was, and when they found Him, they were bursting with joy. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:24.000 And no wonder, because this was the culmination of a very long physical journey of many miles, 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:29.000 but it was also the culmination of a long intellectual journey. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:37.000 These men clearly knew something of the Scriptures because they knew that a king was going to be born to the Jews. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:43.000 And it's highly likely that that knowledge would have come from the influence of people like Daniel or Nehemiah 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:50.000 and other Old Testament believers who had served in the Babylonian and Persian governments. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:53.000 That knowledge has come down to these wise men, 00:03:53.000 --> 00:04:01.000 and coupled to that is that the fact that they've seen this star and they've discerned that it meant something, 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:09.000 and as a result they've gone out looking for a destination that they thought that the star was pointing them towards. 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:16.000 And in doing so, these wise men are a great example of people who've recognized the two great ways in which God reveals Himself 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:26.000 through the general revelation of the creation and through the special revelation of the Scriptures. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:37.000 The key thing that I want us to notice is that Matthew 2 is describing a crucial turning point in the experience of the wise men. 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:43.000 They go from looking to rejoicing. 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:46.000 Verse 10 describes that beautifully. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:57.000 We have that pivotal moment where the weariness and burden of searching is replaced by the overwhelming joy of finding. 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:03.000 And I'm sure, I'm certain that that's something that we can all relate to 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:10.000 because this is pointing us towards one of the deepest cravings that we have as humans. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.000 The longing for joy. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:20.000 And that longing for joy drives us to search, and our search can take us to all sorts of different places. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:29.000 So it takes us to university, to the workplace, to politics, to religions, to relationships, to hobbies, to TV, to parties. 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:34.000 In other words, to all the stuff that fills our news. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:44.000 We all go to these places to find that moment when searching turns into rejoicing. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:50.000 And often we do find that moment, the moment when our studying finally culminates in a degree, 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:57.000 or when our applications finally lead to a job, or when our campaigning finally brings an election victory, 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:02.000 when our research finally brings a vaccine. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:10.000 Humanity craves that moment in our history when searching becomes rejoicing. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:18.000 And of course that searching is what brings some of history's greatest triumphs. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:26.000 But at the same time, it also proves something about humanity that so often we want to hide. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:32.000 It proves that something's wrong with us. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:46.000 Our inescapable longing for joy is there not because we're perfect and whole, but because we're broken, and there's something missing. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:56.000 Now, to reinforce that, I'm going to say something that is possibly going to sound very controversial, and I'm almost hesitant saying it. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:05.000 This is reminding us that we should be thankful for human misery. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:14.000 Now, that sounds awful, and I absolutely do not mean for a moment that we should take pleasure in anyone else's suffering. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:17.000 That's something that we should never, ever be glad about. 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:29.000 What I mean is that when we see the brokenness and pain all around us, thank God that no one looks at that and thinks, oh, this is great. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:33.000 And there's a really powerful example of that for this weekend. 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:40.000 The fact that we are all gutted about another lockdown and all the restrictions that that's going to be, that's all incredibly hard. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:48.000 But it's hard because we all know that community and togetherness really do matter. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:54.000 We should always be thankful that our misery and our frustration shows us that we know something is wrong, 00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:05.000 because the world would be a desperately wicked place if sorrow and brokenness produced nothing but indifference. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:11.000 Thankfully, thank God we are not like that. 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:17.000 And it's proved by the fact that all of us search for joy. 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:28.000 But the difficulty that we all face is that even though we do experience these moments where looking turns to finding, where searching turns to rejoicing, 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:33.000 these moments never last long enough. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:38.000 And we can pick any item from the news to show that. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:45.000 So when you go into the news, either on a website or when you open a newspaper, what's the first thing that you go to look for? 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:54.000 I'll reveal probably too much about myself when I say that the first thing I go to look for in the news is football. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:59.000 And I always go and check what's happening with the football news. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:07.000 So in England, in the English Premier League, I support Arsenal. 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:11.000 The reason for that is my parents long ago lived in London. 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:16.000 My elder brother was born near Highbury, so that was Arsenal's football stadium. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.000 So he supported Arsenal. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:25.000 And I went for that classic life choice strategy of copying your big brother. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:33.000 And so as a result, I support Arsenal and 16 odd years ago, Arsenal won the league without losing a game known as the Invincibles. 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:37.000 And that was in a moment, a moment of great joy. 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:43.000 Today, Arsenal are 15th and are doing rubbish. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:52.000 And the joy of that title winning moment all those years ago does very little to help. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:55.000 And it doesn't even need to be all that long ago. 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:58.000 I don't know if anyone here supports Liverpool. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:03.000 Just six months ago or less, Liverpool won their first title in 30 years. 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:06.000 Does that mean that they're not searching for joy again this season? 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.000 Not at all. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:11.000 And it's the same in every other area of life, same in medicine. 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:16.000 So 100 years ago, a vaccine for tuberculosis was discovered. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.000 That was the disease that accounted for nearly a quarter of all deaths in the 1800s. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:25.000 That must have been a moment of incredible joy when that vaccine was discovered. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:32.000 But does the joy of that moment 100 years ago mean that we stop searching now for a COVID vaccine? 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.000 Not at all. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.000 It's the same in politics. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.000 I'm sure many people rejoiced when the SNP won the last Scottish election. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.000 Not everyone would have, but many people would have. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:46.000 But does that mean that they're not bothered about winning this time? 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:49.000 Of course not. 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:56.000 In all these areas, the moment of joy never lasts long enough. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:00.000 And all too soon it's just replaced with a new search. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:03.000 And I guess that raises the key question. 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:13.000 Is there a moment of joy great enough so that the searching really stops? 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:21.000 And it's easy to think, well, the answer to that is probably no, because in life everything fades eventually. 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:27.000 Christianity's answer to that question is yes. 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:30.000 And this is it. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:38.000 The coming of Jesus Christ is the single moment in history that has changed everything. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:41.000 There has been a crucial historical shift. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:43.000 The waiting has stopped. 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:45.000 The searching is over. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.000 Our Savior has actually come. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:53.000 And that's why Christianity is just unique. 00:11:53.000 --> 00:12:02.000 And it's why Christianity is so amazing, because every other search for joy is looking forward for something. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:05.000 So some people are looking forward for Brexit. 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:08.000 Others may be looking forward for independence. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:14.000 Others looking forward for that job or for that husband or wife or for that house. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.000 Everybody's looking forward for something. 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:25.000 Christianity is saying that in our search for joy, we need to look back at something. 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:33.000 We look back and see that Jesus has come, that he was born, that he did die, and he did rise again. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:43.000 It has all actually happened and an irreversible historical shift has taken place in the history of the world. 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:54.000 And when we see that for ourselves and when we put our trust in Jesus, that irreversible change happens in us too. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:00.000 Now, I can't fully describe that, but I can 100% testify to that. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:05.000 I can't say the exact moment when I became a Christian, very few people can. 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:23.000 And I can't say that I've never had any problems since, but I can absolutely say to you that Jesus Christ has changed my life in a way that has meant that I never have to search again. 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:33.000 And that is because trusting in Jesus brings a peace and a security and a settledness to life that changes everything. 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:45.000 The searching stops and irreversible change has happened and it is so good. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:54.000 In Jesus, searching is turned to rejoicing. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:57.000 Our second word is worshipped. 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:00.000 Verse 11 gives a very important description of what happens next. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:06.000 It says that the wise men saw the child and they fell down and worshipped him. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:13.000 The men, the wise men, worshipped Jesus when they recognized him. 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:16.000 And in doing so, they recognized his authority. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:26.000 They were searching for a king and when they found him, they bowed down knowing that even though he was only a child, he was born to be ruler. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:31.000 And they also recognized his worth. 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:44.000 And that's really what lies at the heart of the whole concept of worship, recognizing that we are standing before something whose worth is worthy of our worship. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:57.000 And these wise men knew that even though Jesus was before them as a child, he was also before them as something far bigger, something that the whole Bible and the whole of creation was pointing towards. 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:14.000 And all of that is reminding us that to worship something is to recognize its worth and to say, I will bow before this because it matters more than me. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:22.000 And understood in those terms, we realize that worship is a constant activity of humans. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:28.000 And that's because humanity longs to find something to worship. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:42.000 That's why all around us, people are bowing down to things and acknowledging that that thing, which is the object of their worship, is bigger than them and matters more than them. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:52.000 And that longing to worship is virtually inescapable. The only way to avoid it is to either say that worth doesn't exist, but I'm not sure any living human being actually thinks that. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:16:01.000 Or it is to make ourselves the object of worship. And that's just a hideous display of self-centeredness that usually leads to the destruction of others. 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:07.000 And if you read the rest of Matthew chapter 2, you'll see Herod as a tragic example of that. 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:14.000 The prevailing human behavior is to find something to worship. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:21.000 Something that's more important than us to which we will bow. 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:27.000 And usually, it's the stuff that we see in the news. 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:35.000 So football is definitely another example of that. So too is wealth, ideologies, success. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:43.000 We can pick two examples in a little bit more detail. One is animals. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:17:03.000 So it's crucial that we value the animal kingdom, but many people take it to the point where certain animals, rarely all animals, often certain animals are raised to such a level that we bow before them and venerate them as though they were of more worth than us. 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:11.000 I think that the archbishop of that religion is the whale, which isn't the poor whale's fault. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:21.000 But I'm always struck by the fact that in the Western world, we will drop everything to save a stranded whale. 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:25.000 And of course, at one level, that is brilliant. I love whales. They're one of my favorite animals. 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:43.000 But why is it that a community will rush to the shore to crowd around a dying whale when nobody even blinks, when a homeless man or woman lies washed up on the pavement? 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:53.000 The second example is the arts. Again, the arts are to be deeply valued. That's the great realm where humanity displays its God-given creativity. 00:17:53.000 --> 00:18:01.000 But we're so quick to pick a singer or an author or a celebrity and think that they matter more than us. 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:11.000 And it goes to the point where if they like something, we like it. If they believe something, we'll believe it. If they oppose something, we'll oppose it. 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:21.000 If they wear certain clothes, we'll start waiting them. And today we reach the point where we have certain celebrities who are known as influencers. 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:31.000 And I think that's maybe a little bit of a worrying term because you can only be an influencer if you have people under your influence. 00:18:31.000 --> 00:18:38.000 In other words, if you have people bowing down to what you suggest. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:45.000 Now, in all those examples that I've given, we have to remember that some of that, a lot of that can be good. 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:55.000 Much of it is probably harmless, but all of it shows that humanity longs for something to worship. 00:18:55.000 --> 00:19:01.000 And of course, it raises the question, what do you worship? 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:13.000 Or maybe it's better to ask, what do you feel unworthy of? What do you feel is bigger than you? 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:23.000 A celebrity, a job title, an ideology, a campaign, an achievement, a degree? 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:35.000 And you have to ask yourself, are you really unworthy of that? 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:44.000 And our instinctive answer can often be yes. We can very quickly feel that we are unworthy of someone or something. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:51.000 The Bible's answer to that question is no. 00:19:51.000 --> 00:20:06.000 So while yes, the Bible makes it clear that humanity is broken, at the same time, the Bible never, ever allows you to think that as a human being, you are worthless. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:18.000 And this is where I think it's important for us to recognize and to remember that the biblical worldview is based around what we could call a hierarchy of worth. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:23.000 I've just made up that term, but I hope it explains what I mean. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:31.000 At the top is God. God is the creator, sustainer, and ruler of all. 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:36.000 And he, of course, is at the top of the hierarchy of worth. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:48.000 At the bottom is creation. So nature, science, arts, wealth, achievements, sport, politics, all the stuff that you can see there on the screen. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:55.000 All of it is still worth something, but it is in third place. 00:20:55.000 --> 00:21:09.000 In the middle is humanity. Lower than God, because he alone is God, but definitely, definitely higher than everything else. 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:21.000 Humanity is the crown of God's creation. We stand above everything else in a category of our own, only below only God. 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:29.000 And this is where we need to remember that the wise men who worship Jesus were wise men. 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:34.000 Now, what I mean by that is the fact that they were competent intellectually. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:46.000 I'm saying that because if anyone is going to worship anything that's below them in that hierarchy of worth, 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:52.000 in other words, if you're going to worship something that's in the bottom layer, 00:21:52.000 --> 00:22:04.000 the only way you can do that is if you stop being wise and instead become a fool. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:14.000 And that's because saying that you are unworthy of anything below you is actually crazy. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:21.000 It's crazy to say that a football team matters more than you, or that a political victory matters more than you, 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:25.000 or that a celebrity matters more than you. 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:35.000 And the only way we can worship these things is by becoming idiots. 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:46.000 The wise men were wise because they recognized that in front of them was the only thing in existence that is actually above them. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:23:02.000 And that is why the only thing that the Bible ever expects you to worship is the Creator God who is infinite, absolute, and supreme. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:05.000 He is the only thing above you. 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:11.000 And that's why our worship should only ever be directed upwards in that hierarchy. 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:17.000 And to worship anything else is to worship something that is totally beneath you. 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:24.000 And it's reminding us that humanity on the one hand wants to ignore the fact that we're broken, 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:35.000 but on the other hand humanity simultaneously completely fails to recognize how precious and important we are. 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:45.000 And it is for this reason that being a Christian is so intellectually satisfying 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:56.000 because it shows us an object of worship that does not require us to be an idiot. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:11.000 Because you only have to stop and think for 10 seconds that bowing in worship to a political leader or a job title or a fashion craze is totally bonkers. 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:22.000 But if we recognize who God is, that He is our Creator, that He's the absolute of all reality, that He's the origin of all energy and power, 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:29.000 that He's the designer of all order and coherence, He's the foundation of all goodness and truth. 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:38.000 He is the judge of all that is evil and more than anything else, He is the eternal source and overflow of immeasurable love. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:50.000 If we recognize that, then we can fall on our knees and worship, and it makes perfect sense. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:59.000 There is only one way to satisfy our longing for worship and to not be an idiot at the same time, 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:06.000 and that is to worship the God who made us and who placed everything else beneath us. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:17.000 He is the only object of worship who is actually worth it. 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:30.000 But not only that, if our worship is directed in the right way, then we have a reason to care for everything else. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:39.000 Recognizing and worshiping God as our Creator and our King means that we can look at everything in the world around us with deep thanksgiving and appreciation. 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:47.000 We can look at every other human, every single human, and see the image of God in them. 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:55.000 We can look at nature and arts and leisure and sport and wealth and politics and science and all of these things, 00:25:55.000 --> 00:26:01.000 and instead of worshiping it, we worship the one who made all these things and who sustains them, 00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:07.000 and we see the value and the good that God has placed in all of them. 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:14.000 And this also explains why our misdirected worship causes so many problems, 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:22.000 because if we direct our worship downwards in terms of this hierarchy and we choose something to worship, 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:28.000 then we are instantly narrowing the sphere of what we regard as acceptable worship, 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:38.000 and inevitably we start resenting, suspecting, or even hating those who've chosen something different down there to worship. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:48.000 So for example, we might pick a certain political movement or individual as our object of worship. 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:56.000 And because we've made our selection, people who've made a different selection are a threat. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:01.000 And more widely we see it in things like race, where we make an idol of our race. 00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:05.000 People view other races as something to be despised. 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:11.000 People view people with those of different ideologies as those who are to be silenced. 00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:22.000 There was an example of this in the news just two days ago, where the MSP Andy Whiteman resigned from the Scottish Greens 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:34.000 because he was basically, he felt that he was threatened by his party because he was going to vote in a way that didn't follow the party line. 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:45.000 And so he didn't fit anymore into that narrow category of what was acceptable, and for him he felt he had to step down. 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:47.000 And we see examples of that in so many ways. 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:56.000 And all of that is because all these false gods that are below us are too small for all of us. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:28:13.000 It is only when we look upwards to God, the maker of heaven and earth, it is only if we look up that we see an object of worship that is big enough for everyone. 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:23.000 And in appreciating him, we cannot but appreciate everyone and everything that he has made. 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:33.000 And that of course is why the two great commands of Christian living are what? 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:39.000 Love God and love one another. 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:56.000 And when you look at that diagram, it actually becomes blatantly obvious that if you're looking up at God, you cannot simultaneously look down upon everyone else at the same time. 00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:05.000 In Jesus, we find an object of worship that truly is worth it. 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:10.000 Our last word is offered. So the wise men found Jesus and rejoiced. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:17.000 They recognized Jesus and they worshiped. Thirdly, they offered him something when they gave their gifts to him. 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:20.000 Now, I think this is amazing. Here you have the wise men. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:23.000 They followed the start of where the universe was pointing. 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:26.000 They followed the scriptures to the king that they were waiting for. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:29.000 When they find him, they recognize that he is bigger than they are. 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:32.000 They fall down on their knees and worship him. 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:35.000 This is the biggest moment of their lives. 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:43.000 And you would think that at that moment, they would feel at their most insignificant as though they were nothing before him. 00:29:43.000 --> 00:29:54.000 And yet, despite the immensity of the one whom they are worshiping, they come to him with something to offer. 00:29:54.000 --> 00:30:08.000 And these gifts are presented that honor this child's royal status and whether the wise men knew it or not, also pointed forward to Jesus's mission to offer himself in death as our savior. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:14.000 These wise men are totally unworthy and yet they had something to offer. 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:23.000 And yet again, this is pointing to one of our deepest cravings, the longing to have something to offer. 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:31.000 Often people will say that Western society in 2020 is totally consumerist, that we just want stuff. 00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:34.000 And we can see why people would say that. 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:41.000 But I think that the truth is our longing to receive stuff is actually quite superficial. 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:49.000 I don't think it runs that deep because the longing that goes much deeper is not the longing to have something. 00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:54.000 It is the longing to be able to offer something. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:31:06.000 And that I think explains why when people are depressed, we don't tend to say, I'm depressed because I think I'm penniless. 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:13.000 We say, I'm depressed because I think I'm useless. 00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:21.000 As humans, we have a deep longing to offer something. 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:25.000 And that displays itself in all the things we keep mentioning. 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:28.000 We want to offer something in support of an ideology. 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:31.000 We want to offer something to help a campaign. 00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:33.000 We want to align ourselves with our team. 00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:35.000 We want to cheer in front of our favorite singer. 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.000 We want to come home to our family and for them to be proud. 00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:46.000 And all of that is good. It's good to look at the world around us and to think I've got something to offer. 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:55.000 But the amazing thing about being a Christian is that as you stand before God Almighty, 00:31:55.000 --> 00:32:02.000 the infinite Creator and sustainer of all, as you stand before Him, He looks at you and He says, 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:07.000 you have got something to offer. 00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:14.000 And that's because God does not call a crowd of worshipers just to stand and admire Him, do His thing. 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:22.000 He is calling a kingdom of workers through whom He's going to accomplish His purposes. 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:26.000 And that's an amazing reminder that if you are a Christian or if you become one, 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:31.000 then it is a theological fact that you have something to offer. 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:37.000 The useless Christian is a theological impossibility. 00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:41.000 And that's because you are God's handiwork. 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:43.000 He's made you as a human. 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:49.000 He's made you a Christian if you are one and He will make you one if you aren't yet. 00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:57.000 And having made you as a human and remade you as a Christian now, He will use you. 00:32:57.000 --> 00:33:02.000 And that makes tomorrow morning blooming exciting. 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:06.000 Because even though things are changing and even though lockdown is coming 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:09.000 and even though we don't know what the next few weeks are going to bring, 00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:13.000 God looks at you and says, you've still got so much to offer. 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:15.000 So go for it this week. 00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.000 Go into Monday and Tuesday and the rest of the week following Jesus, 00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:27.000 listening to Him, serving Him and displaying His goodness through your good works. 00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:33.000 Because God is standing looking at you today saying, you have got something to offer. 00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:42.000 God accomplishes His purposes through people like you. 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:50.000 And so you can offer something to your family, to your colleagues, to your community. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:34:01.000 You can offer something that is of eternal value and which makes God Himself smile. 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:06.000 And I think that's an incredibly important thing to remember that I don't know about you, 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:09.000 but so often I do stuff. 00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:13.000 You're doing stuff in life, you're trying to work, you're trying to get things done. 00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:18.000 And you go to bed at night with a feeling that you just haven't done things particularly well 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:26.000 and that you've made a mess of things and you haven't been able to accomplish everything that you wanted to do. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:34.000 And as a result, I think often we are going to bed frowning at what we've done or not done or failed to do. 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:45.000 I think God is reminding us today and saying, while you are frowning, I am smiling. 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:50.000 Because I'm working in you and through you. 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:56.000 You are mine and you have something to offer. 00:34:56.000 --> 00:35:01.000 So the wise men rejoiced when they found Jesus. 00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:07.000 They worshiped when they recognized Jesus. They offered Him something when they gave their gifts. 00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:13.000 These correspond to our deepest longings, our longing for joy, our longing for something to worship, 00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:15.000 our longing to have something to offer. 00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:20.000 As I close, I want you to remember something incredibly important. 00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:32.000 It is impossible to escape these longings, but it is incredibly easy to anesthetize them. 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:39.000 So you can easily go to all the stuff that we see in the news and you can find things that will relieve these longings, 00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:42.000 but only temporarily. 00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:46.000 Anesthetic takes away pain. 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:50.000 It doesn't do anything to actually cure you. 00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:56.000 Jesus has not come to anesthetize these longings. 00:35:56.000 --> 00:36:01.000 He has come to totally satisfy them. 00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:06.000 And He went all the way to the cross to do it. 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:12.000 And so we close by coming back to the words that we started with. 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:17.000 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:22.000 let us also lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely, 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:28.000 and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:34.000 the founder and perfected of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, 00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:38.000 despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:44.000 Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:53.000 so that you may not grow weary or faint hearted. 00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:59.000 I don't know about you, but that's what I need to hear this week. 00:36:59.000 --> 00:37:03.000 Amen. 00:37:03.000 --> 00:37:08.000 Father, we thank You so much for Your Son, our Lord Jesus, 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:13.000 the One who gives us joy that's indescribable, 00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:18.000 the One who is our object of worship and who is totally worth it, 00:37:18.000 --> 00:37:23.000 and the One in whom and through whom we have something to offer, 00:37:23.000 --> 00:37:27.000 and help us all to see these great truths. 00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:32.000 And may we come to You to find our longings satisfied. 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:34.000 Amen.