Our True Object Of Worship

Last Sunday’s sermon was preached by Pastor Harry on “Our True Object Of Worship” (Luke 2:13-20; Matthew 2:1-12). The sermon and the whole service can be watched on our WIC YouTube Channel.

 

Two readings today – one from Luke, the other from Matthew. Both deal with situations surrounding the birth of Jesus. And they have one underlying theme: worship. In the first reading, the one angel is suddenly joined by a whole host of angels, visible to the shepherds, and all praising God on high! The shepherds hurry off to find the promised Saviour in a stable in nearby Bethlehem, and to worship Him. They tell Mary and Joseph about the angels – everyone is astonished.

 

In the second reading, it’s the wise men from the East who travel first to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem, specially to worship the “new-born king of the Jews”, as they call Him. When they get there – following the star – they too bow down and worship the baby, offering Him the most expensive gifts they could bring. For the shepherds, and for the wise men, worshipping Jesus is their ultimate goal.

 

Now, you might say: “OK – but what’s that got to do with me? Why should I worship Jesus? I can think of more suitable things to worship!” How can we get it across to people that Jesus should be our true object of worship? In fact, why should we worship Him?

 

If you follow the news, you will know that recently there was a terrible massacre on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. Two Islamic terrorists – a father and son – opened fire on a large gathering of over 1,000 Jewish people who were on the beach to celebrate Hanukkah, an important Jewish festival. It’s not connected with anything specifically in the Bible, but it commemorates a Jewish revolt which took place about 150 years before Jesus was born. At that time, what is now Israel and Palestine was ruled by a Greek-speaking dynasty called the Seleucids, stemming from Alexander the Great. The Jews rebelled against these Greeks, and regained control of Jerusalem and the Temple. These events took place in the period between the Old and New Testaments.

 

Now, when the two Muslim fanatics started shooting at all those Jews on Bondi Beach, they killed 15 people, before they themselves were shot by police. The father died, but his son survived, and faces 15 murder charges. It was actually another Muslim who heroically disarmed the father. But there was one more great hero at the start of the shooting, who died tragically. He was a retired Jew, who ran up to the father gunman and pulled the man’s rifle away from him. Unfortunately the terrorist had another gun in his pocket, and killed the Jew and also his wife. But he had been thrown off balance by all this, and his defeat was just a matter of time.

 

Now, it struck me that there’s a parallel between the brave action of the Jewish man, and the sacrifice of Jesus, who gave up His life for us on the cross. The wise men who visited Jesus had supernatural knowledge that Jesus would meet a tragic end; because one of their gifts – myrrh – was an expensive spice meant for a person who was going to die. And yet Jesus had only just been born! God had given the wise men the knowledge that this baby was the Saviour of the world, who would one day sacrifice Himself for us, losing His life in the process.

 

Jesus came into the world to die. He took the blows that were meant to hit and punish us on Himself instead. We should have had to die because of our sins – but Jesus saved so many lives by His self-sacrifice; just like the Jewish man on Bondi Beach.

 

Imagine you were one of the people on the beach. The gunman is getting ready to fire at you and kill you. You’re expecting certain death. But at the last moment, a Jewish man jumps on the gunman and disarms him, taking his rifle away from him. He is killed by the gunman – but you have the chance to escape, and you take it. You’re safe. What’s your outlook going to be? I can imagine that for the rest of your life, you’ll be thanking that man who lost his life for saving you.

 

That is why Jesus Christ should be our true object of worship – because He saves us from eternal death. If He has come into our heart, it’s natural that we will want to worship Him. To the rest of the world, He means nothing. But once you realize that Jesus has shielded you – with His body! – from the one who’s waiting to gun you down and send you to your everlasting death, you’ll never be the same. You won’t want to worship anyone else or anything else again. Only Jesus.

 

And one more thing. Just like the wise men, you’ll bring your gifts to Christ – of gold, frankincense and myrrh! Yes you will! Do you think that sounds crazy? Not at all. Because gold means your recognition of Jesus as your King. Frankincense means your recognition of Jesus as God. And myrrh means your recognition that Jesus died to save you. May we never cease to follow the star – in other words, God’s guidance – that will lead us straight to Bethlehem, and straight to Jesus Christ. Amen. 

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