Title: People Around Christmas / Matthew 2:1-12
Content [Introduction]
It is a celebration that a person is born into the world, and it is a blessing to the family. But sometimes I see people complaining that they were born in the wrong age, and that they were born in a spiritually dark age.
Today's text tells us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Judea. That time was the reign of King Herod.
“In the days of King Herod” - In the days of King Herod, the reign of tyranny was unfolding.
Herod made a name for himself by exploiting the labor of many who built the Temple in Jerusalem.
His personality was worse than that of Yeonsangun, who is called a family tyrant among the kings of Korea.
Not only did Herod kill his wife and mother-in-law, he also killed his eldest son and two other sons.
And he had a wife who counted ten people, but he was a person with indescribable impersonality who even committed incest.
Jesus was born in the age of these kings.
From a human point of view, it was a very unfortunate and dark time when Jesus was born, but from a spiritual point of view, we should know that it was the most appropriate time for Jesus to come.
Some even blame the times we live in.
Roundni, Uruguay As the sun goes down, farmers say they can't survive.
However, we must believe that God loves us and will allow us to overcome these changes of the times.
Why did God let us live in this age? And in Korea, especially in Daepyeong Village, which is the land of Gyeongsang-do, did he let him live? We need to think about why the church was built here.
The reason for this is so that we can live by witnessing the Gospel.
If you do not think in relation to the gospel of Christ, there is no answer.
The reason Jesus was born in a difficult time is because those times were rather appropriate for planting and scattering the gospel.
God does not make mistakes.
God decides and works at the most appropriate time.
If you and I have this kind of faith, we will surely be able to fulfill God's dreams and visions for us living today.
[Main subject]
character! As we read today's text, we see three groups of people who react differently to the birth of Jesus Christ.
1. Like King Herod, it is a reaction that welcomes you on the outside but curses you on the inside and shows a hostile attitude.
Today, more and more people are making hostile criticisms of Christianity against the church.
He takes a disrespectful attitude toward Jesus without any qualms of conscience.
While the cross is burned, more and more people are rebelling against the gospel, worshiping Satan, worshiping money, and worshiping idols.
However, such people may be in the church or in the seminary classroom.
There are more and more people who pretend to serve God with “the ax of faith” and deceive the saints and dishonor the name of Jesus.
Even in our dealings with people, we need to be wary of those who are overly flattering.
We Christians should be people who are sincere, both on the outside and on the inside.
Therefore, people who believe in Jesus must be able to be recognized by the world as a sincere and honest person without question.
Looking at the reality of our Korean church, which has not been able to do so, I know that the first thing to do is to launch a movement of honesty and truth.
Today, we are faced with an era of crisis of honesty. No, it would not be an exaggeration to say that it is an era of loss of honesty.
In such a time, I hope that we Christians can be reborn once again as an example of honesty and truth.
In that sense, I hope that our church will be a testing ground for showing the beautiful Christian spirit that trusts, respects, and values each other through actions.
2. This is the indifference reaction of priests and scribes, who are religiously professional.
The scariest thing about the attitude of faith is the attitude of indifference.
When we worship God, we just habitually donate and habitually come out and listen to sermons and serve. This attitude is a terrible enemy of faith.
Such a person seems to have nothing to repent of. Because it's good to go to church!
There is nothing to reflect on, because it seems like you are doing your job well by working hard on the offering!
But when we develop these religious habits, we become indifferent to the Lord's will for us.
They seem to be working because they don't even realize it, but on the contrary, they often do harm.
In a way, they should have been most interested and waiting for Jesus to come, but they were rather indifferent and callous.
The most unfortunate people who come to church today are those who have never been touched by grace.
He is a man who boasted only the medal of believing in Jesus for a long time, never shed tears of repentance, and never touched the bloodstained hands of the Lord.
There are an increasing number of people who think of religion as a recreational activity.
What is the current faith of our members?
Are you really interested in Jesus?
Are we awake to fulfill God's will for us with attachment?
A lot of people do. The problem of the church today is serious because it is not an external problem, but an internal problem!
In the church, there is only a position of service, and there should not be a fight for a certain position.
It doesn't even have to be partisan. Such is a spiritual crime that tears the body of the Lord once again.
In order to condemn each other, we need a heart to love each other and to build the body of the church beautifully in Christ, not to find out faults.
We want to have interest rather than indifference. In interest, we want to have interest in love and service.
3. This is the response of the wise men from the East who came from a long way with their lives.
They worshiped Jesus with emotion and joy.
But they knelt down and worshiped the baby Jesus, but no one applauded him for doing a good job.
They silently offered worship and devotion to the Lord.
We can learn three lessons from the appearance of these wise men.
First,
The Wise Men from the East have come a long way, giving up on everything, at the cost of death.
Everyone! Worship is not just a religious ritual. It is a decision and devotion to meet God by sacrificing life. As prophesied, the wise men from the East gave up their lives and gave up everything to worship the Messiah, who was born as King of the Jews, and came to Bethlehem a long way.
What was their purpose? As shown in verse 2, it is only for ‘worship’.
Without this dedication, without true worship, it is impossible for us to meet God.
They risked all kinds of danger to worship Jesus, who came to this earth to wash away human sins on the High Throne.
Many people are flocking to the Korean church today.
However, the amount or quality of receiving grace differs depending on the attitude of worshiping God.
Grace is not determined by how well a preacher preaches, but is determined by how he or she comes to meet God.
Everyone! How did you come to church today?
I believe that you have come to worship God with all your heart and sincerity.
Have you ever felt that God is far away from you?
It is because there is no strong desire to meet God. because it has become dull.
(Jeremiah 29:13) If you seek and seek me with all your heart, you will find me.
Seek God with all your heart starting today!
Find it in prayer!
Hear the voice of the Lord in the Word!
Communicate with the Lord through praise!
Express your joy in service!
Show your neighbors the grace you received through evangelism!
When we are prepared for everything and seek it with our whole heart, God will find us.
That will be our Christian's greatest happiness and joy.
Second,
The wise men prepared gifts.
Here we can learn the attitude of worship.
True worship brings glory to God by offering sincere gifts.
The offerings offered by the wise men are the same as the offerings we give during worship today.
When we give, it doesn't really matter whether we give too much or too little.
The question is whether the offering contains tears of repentance and prayers of thanksgiving.
It is not the right spirit of donation if our donations are reduced to the same as the tuition paid by the students simply without gratitude or emotion.
Just as our hearts go to where we have material things, the offering we give during worship is an expression of our faith that we give to God together with our hearts.
Voluntary offerings to God become fragrant gifts and please God.
Third,
The wise men obeyed.
Verse 12 says, “And being instructed in a dream not to return to Herod, he returned to his homeland by a different way.”
The wise men finally followed the directions of the stars to the place where Jesus was born.
So, he worshiped with the gifts he had carefully prepared, and after being instructed by an angel in a dream, he did not go to Herod, but returned to his homeland.
Your obedience is better than sacrifice.
True worship is expressed in obedience to God's Word and is completed by obedience.
I must not try to believe in Jesus according to my own personality.
Serving and serving the church in my own way creates friction with each other. Every time they gather, they make a loud noise and cause discord.
But a person who obeys the principles of the Word and serves will always create peace wherever he goes.
Even though it may seem like a fool at times, when you obey the Word, miracles happen.
So everyone!
The conclusion of our life of faith is determined by whether or not we have obedience in our personality.
There are some people who obey with tears of service, prayer, and service even in difficult circumstances.
I don't care if anyone knows or not, but only humbly obey the Lord's work.
His love for God is greater than difficult circumstances or circumstances, and he is gladly obedient and loyal.
Dear all!
There are many people, but not all worshiped God equally.
People like King Herod are different from the outside!
The indifference and hypocrisy of religious people like the scribes and Pharisees!
The lives of these people were consequently those who oppose God.
However, the wise men of the East had an attitude of true worship toward Jesus.
They overcame difficult circumstances and did their best to worship Jesus.
They expressed their sincerity by giving gifts.
Through obedience, the worship of Jesus was perfected.
I hope
In the name of the Lord, we, Daepyeong First Church members, imitate the attitude of worship shown by the Magi and live a life of complete worship to God who has given us an opportunity to worship. Please.