Goodness and Light

And I think when I’ve had the slightest toothache, I am really glad for the Father. And the Son of Holy Spirit and a dentist. So let me just say thank you for being there and relieving my pain too many times. So the birth of Jesus Christ is presented, all that we know this reliable is presented in two gospels. Matthew and Luke, Mark doesn’t mention it except, he really doesn’t mention John doesn’t at all.

And we looked at something that only Luke described. And we went into detail looking at where did all this excitement come to shepherds who are not used to excitement except to chase off a predator that might be there to have a meal of a lamb in the flock. And we looked deeply into Luke’s presentation of the excitement of the shepherds. And you hear that and you go, I want some of that. I’ll take two scoops of that.

Give me a whole bowl full of that. I want that excitement that the shepherds, not normally given to excitement had. They were, it turns out, the very first people, of course, as we unfolded that last week, the very first people that had learned about the arrival of Jesus. And they were told those things by an angel, Gabriel, and, or presumably Gabriel. And as soon as they kind of digested it in the moment, with a glow on their faces, they made haste from the field into Bethlehem.

And they saw with their own eyes what the angel had said. And it was true. It really was true. And there’s a baby there and he’s wrapped in claws just as that angel told us would be the case and he’s lying in a manger. And we read this, I don’t need to reprieve last Sunday.

I shared this message. I was with some other professionals that aren’t church going people. And I told them my whole message from last Sunday. And it was cool. I mean, what are they going to do?

Kick me out, you know, kind of thing. And it was just fantastic. It was, it was fun for me at least. So, but anyway, they, they were changed these shepherds so much so that it says they went home full of joy. They went home different.

They were changed. And let me, let me just tie something in here. They couldn’t stop talking about what they saw. Why, why would they want to stop talking about this encounter they had with Jesus and it changed their lives. And, and, and really people ever since who meet Jesus, that’s the intended outcome.

It’s not to be amused. It’s not to be impressed. It’s not to be charmed. It’s to be all of the above and then changed. Amen.

Boy, if you’re, if you’re kind of not in that column yet, let me tell you the end game. Okay. It’s that Jesus wants to come and leave the manger and become present in the soul of every human being. He desires all of us to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Said, to Paul to Timothy and Peter as well.

So that’s his purpose. Every time he meets somebody, it’s meant to impact and in fact change their lives. So this week and next I want to notice two features presented not by Luke but by Matthew. They’re only presented by Matthew. My Bible is open to Matthew too if you want to turn there now.

And they are of course the wise men and the star. So thanks to high tech work of Tracy, Rydell and Kevin Adams and others, we have that star or sort of. You get the idea, right? We have a really cool version of the star and the wise men, it would be too crowded in here. So we don’t have them up there today.

But anyway, in both cases though, the star and the wise man, I did what I frequently do and you know this if you’ve listened to me present the words of God to you on a weekly basis. I ask why? Why is this the case? Why does this story get told this way? So let’s do that today as we think about the only silent feature of the story.

And that would be the star. So the presence of the star is described actually in detail in this narrative presented by Matthew. So look on as we read the first 12 verses here. When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people and people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.

In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written. Earlier I mentioned Micah, those words are recorded right here. He’s quoting directly from Micah chapter five, verse two. “We will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” Out of you Bethlehem, nothing ever impressive came from Bethlehem until now.

Reading on verse seven. Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time that the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, And as soon as you find him, report to me so that I too may go and worship him. After they had heard the king, they went on their way and the star they had seen when it rose, went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary. And found and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frank, and sense in myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Do stars have that kind of effect on you?

I got to thinking about stars, pardon the pun, but talk about star power, right? Okay. This really deeply touched them. So question. You know how many stars there are in the sky?

Yeah, lots, right? That’s what you said. Lots. There’s a lot of them. Okay.

How many? How many? Who knows? But here’s the deal. How many of you have had that really cool, joyful memory maybe comes to mind right now of a time or in a place most likely out of a right city where you lay on a grassy field in the summer night and you look up at the sky and it’s just like everywhere you look, the night sky is lit by stars.

Endless, it seems like incalculable numbers of stars. I’m going to have that experience. You’re thinking Eastern Oregon or some cool place. And I have one of those at Tadmore where I came from when I was a counselor in the beginning my years in ministry. And we would go up there and I’d spend the summer counseling there and hanging with my dad who directed the place.

It was magical. We’d go out at night and there weren’t that many lights at camp. We’d shut off all the lights on a particularly clear sky. We’d lay back. There’s a slope down from the forum there.

Campers on the hillside with counselors and we’d just lay back and look. And it was this incredible. I actually in that moment became acquainted with Abram and that experience that he had. Remember this in Genesis 15 verse 5? He got led him out to a hillside like that.

He said look up and count the stars if you can. And I remember laying there thinking this is incredible. I feel a little bit like Abram in that moment. Because his answer wasn’t 300 billion, 490 trillion, he just went whoa. Just like I did in that moment and Tadmore happens to be somehow in the geography of earth and orbits and all this right on the edge of the Milky Way.

And so you’re there. There’s too many to count. There’s some 250 billion give or take a few. Right there in front of you. But to a group of star gazers aka Magi, wise men, there was a single star.

Think about that. There were no street lights in those days. It was dark and they had a similar experience that I just described from Tadmore for me. And in all of that, they saw a star and it was the star. So this single star has also caught my eye this week.

It’s the Jesus star. Matthew reported that they knew the star that they were looking for. It even had a name. Would you look back at verse two? It’s known by Matthew’s report as his star.

See that? We saw is star referencing Jesus. Who star? Well, Matthew furnishes that too. It’s the star same verse of the king of the Jews.

That’s who he is. So what else does Matthew tell us about this star? Well, it turns out plenty. It bothered the king of the day. He was a pagan king.

That means in practical language, he couldn’t give a rip about God. Or anything to do with God people. His name was Herod and he was pagan to the core. And notice not missed by Matthew. He was his reaction to this news.

He was deep. He was disturbed. New living translation translates verse three, deeply disturbed. Here’s a guy that’s in control, but not really. He paces the floor.

He goes, what just happened? Is this delta here? Are you kidding me? What is this news about this star and this king of the Jews? There’s a king that’s supposed to have it all together.

But somehow the cameras reveal not so much with Herod. He’s in a full-blown panic. He’s deeply disturbed. Again, another why question. Why would that be?

Well, let’s just say the obvious. For sure, he was threatened. He was threatened when he learns about this. And then you’ve got to say with a kind of a really look on your face or in your mind, buy a baby. Seriously, you’re threatened by a baby.

I’ve never walked by a newborn and gone, huh, take it away. You could hurt me. So there’s something more here. I’ve been intimidated. Don’t get me wrong.

I have no idea what I’m doing. I tried to feed one fast and I learned fast. That wasn’t cool. That didn’t go anywhere. So that just added to my intimidation.

You smell something, Debbie? It was like, I don’t know what to do. Where’s the owner’s manual? Those kinds of things. It just wasn’t there.

So I’ve been intimidated, but get this. I’ve never been threatened. There’s a difference. Most guys I know are kind of in that category of, wow, that’s what do I do? But very rarely is someone threatened.

More likely though, Herod knew that of himself that he was not the legitimate king of the Jews. Think about it. He held him with an iron fist. He said, I will control you or else. And they resented it.

And he would call himself, I’m king here and you’re Jews. So that makes me king of the Jews. Herod knew better. He knew he was the illegitimate king of the Jews and this child born five miles south of where Herod was in Bethlehem. This child was causing a king like stir in his mind.

Subjects, according to verse three, not only was Herod disturbed, but all of Jerusalem was a stir. There’s something big here. Let’s not ignore the possibility too that Herod, along with his lock on power, was probably a bona fide egomaniac and a fragile one at that. He didn’t have a star. To put it crudely.

How come he gets a star? Like a spoiled child. Why didn’t I get that toy? And he hears that this baby gets a star and gonna pout ’cause that’s what egomaniacs do when they don’t get their way, right? He didn’t have a star and it stirred in him strong feelings.

Speculation here. Okay, so notice next, the star had a deep touch on the wise men. And it touched them, verse two, to the point of worship. Do you see how the verse ends? They came to worship him.

A little more detail if you cross the page, verse 10. Notice when they saw the star, they were overjoyed. That’s an easy word to say. Everybody say it on count of three. One, two, three.

Now, this time say it like you’re really overjoyed, okay? You don’t just go overjoyed. Ready? Everybody, one, two, three. Some of your actors, you’re really good.

You’re like overjoyed, you know, very perfect, okay? So he’s overjoyed, all right? These three wise men were told and were told later in the same explanation that they in fact came and bowed down to repeat verse two, they worshiped him. They came to worship him and then they worshiped him. So let’s ask the question.

Where did the wise men get their intel about the star? That’s what’s been on my mind all week long. Where did they get their intel? I mean, we’re not even sure there’s three of them, sorry to blow that part of the story, but that’s cool, let’s call it because there were three gifts, gold, frankincense, okay, so that makes sense. There’s more than one, so one couldn’t have brought all three.

You do some of that deduction and reasoning, but where did they get their intel? Here’s where the story gets very interesting and I’ll just give you, it’s not a spoiler alert, but it will take on a, didn’t see that coming plot twist. But in order to see it for yourself, you’ve got a turn in your Bible’s 1400 years back to the fourth book of the Pentateuch, which is known as the first five books of the Bible or the first five books of the law that is and the fourth book among them is Numbers. Would you find your way to Numbers chapter 22? And as you’re making your way back now, you’re covering a lot of years to 1400 years earlier.

There’s a surprising vision that came through a sorcerer. Remembered for being corrected, this sorcerer was, by a donkey who rebuked him. Looked at contradictory statement in your mind for a minute. A donkey who did what? Kick, buck, I get that.

Rebuked. I’m from the generation, a horse is a horse, of course, of course, of course, unless, the horse is a talking horse, unless the talking horse of fame is Mr. Ed. Remember? Because there are a couple of horses that do talk and Mr.

Ed is one, but this is not a horse even, this is a donkey. This is a beast of burden. A dumb donkey is oftentimes how they’re described. I would have you at least know that if in fact they are dumb, God still used a donkey in this story and he used another donkey in another story. Do you remember that one?

When Jesus himself came riding into Jerusalem on the full of a donkey. He’s a pretty cool connection there, but here we are. This sorcerer’s name is Balaam and his story is found here. It covers two or three chapters. We’re gonna move quickly, but this is the backstory of the Jesus star.

All right, now that gets you excited. So here’s the setting, the king of Israel’s neighbor. So we’re in Israel here. The East, just slightly over the Jordan River to give you your bearings. If this king were smack dab in the middle of his castle and looked west, he’d be looking at Jericho on the west side of the Jordan River.

Everybody good? So you got this king over here. His name is another B name. So you got Balaam, the sorcerer, and then you got Balaek, B-A-L-A-K. Who is this king?

And here’s the setting. The king sees a growing population happening around him and it’s a massing on the east side of this river that on the west side is this land of Canaan, also known as Israel and the Holy Land. But this group of people is so huge, he uses language like, oh my goodness, they’re gonna take over, they’re gonna, they’re like a runaway herd of animals that will consume the grass in the fields. They’re that many of them. He’s describing Israel as it is preparing to move into the land of Canaan.

So Balaek is kind of, he’s a pagan king of Moab, kind of like our Utah city, okay? He’s this pagan king and he is nervous, you know, like a cat and a dog pound at this gathering group of people, millions in size. That’s the setting here, okay? And we’re told, let me read a couple here. Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab, camped along the Jordan, across from Jericho.

Now Balaek’s son of Zippur, I would never admit it if my dad’s name was Zippur. That’s just stupid. I mean, that’s just, that’s weird. I mean, but anyway, so this Balaek’s son of Zippur saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. So there’s a reason for their concern.

And Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites. So that’s kind of what I captured briefly here for you, all right? And so Balaek decides I’ve got to reach out for help and see if I can get a sorcerer who were hired guns to come and bring blessings or curses. Typically curses, they were people in most cases that had no interest in God.

In Balaek’s case, it was a mixed interest. He believed there was one true God, but he believed also in idol worship and other stupid stuff. So in other words, there wasn’t an exclusive focus of Balaek on God. He had mixed loyalties. And it turns out part of his mixed loyalties had to do with money.

Who would pay me more to say what they wanted me to say is pretty much how he went. You ever been around a person like that? Don’t listen, don’t listen. They’re not worth listening to. So an unprincipled sorcerer, we could probably label him fairly.

Okay, now let’s drop down to verse four. “The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, ‘This horde is going to lick up everything around us as an ox licks up the grass of the field.’ So Balaek’s son of Zippur, who was king of Moab at the time, sent messengers to summon Balaek. And his native land, Balaek said, ‘A people has come out of Egypt.’ So this is the word from the king.

They’ve come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the land. They’ve settled next to me. First on these people because they’re too powerful for me. Perhaps then I’ll be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land.

For I know that whoever you bless is blessed and whoever you curse is cursed. Look down just next verse. The elders of Moab and Midian left taking with them the fee for divination. Divination is sorcery. Okay, it’s rebuked in 1 Samuel 15, 22.

The rebellion is as the sin of divination were told as Samuel rebuked Saul the prophet in that story. But anyway, back to this. Here he is. So go get him and give him the fee for divination when they came to him and they told him all that Balaek had said. Okay, that’s the setting.

And Balaam in the meantime is visited by God and told, ‘Don’t you dare curse my people. You may bless them. But don’t curse them.’ Okay, that’s a lot, but I’m capturing it in view of time. So now I want you to drop down to, at first he followed the edict.

Let’s pick up at verse 15. Then Balaek sent other officials because Balaam said, ‘Nope, I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to curse them. I’m going to bless them.’ And Balaek sent other officials more numerous and more distinguished than the first.

And they came to Balaam and said, ‘This is what Balaek’s son of Zippur says, ‘Do not let anything keep you from coming to me because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me.’ But Balaam answered them, ‘Even if Balaek gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God.’ ‘Dude, wouldn’t you say?’ That said, ‘Nope, not going to go there, not going to curse them.’

Now spend the night here so I can find out what else the Lord will tell me. That night God came to Balaam and said, ‘Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.’ In other words, don’t do what they tell you. Do not curse, bless. All right, now you’re set for an amazing moment.

This is like you’re kidding me moment. I heard more money, Balaam is, and this time it worked and he ignores what God had said and let’s pick up on that. Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials, but God was very angry when he went. Not because he went. Remember God said it’s okay to go, but because he knew the intent of his heart to go and what he was likely to say.

So an angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. And this is the first of three moments. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it veered off the highway. It turned off the road into a field.

And Balaam thinks his animals like being insubordinate and crazy. You dumb donkey. He beats him and he beats him long enough or hard enough to get him back on the road. Verse 24, then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards with walls on both sides. This is why I don’t like horseback riding because I’m afraid I’m going to get crushed.

And this is what happened. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord second time, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he did what you kind of did expecting him to do. He beats his donkey. And then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.

And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it just said, okay, I’m done. And it laid down under Balaam. So it’s wheels, it’s wheels just folded, right? And it’s legs rather. And it laid down under Balaam and he was really hot.

And he beat him with his staff. And then this is the moment that the rest of the Bible talks a lot about because clearly for Peter, for other New Testament writers, they’re like, there is like really as you and I are, right? We go, okay, Mr. Ed was a funny show, but really? This really happened?

Yeah, the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth and it said, this bee said to Balaam, what have I done to you to make you beat me these three times? It sounds like the narrative just continues here, but there’s certain things missing in Hebrew. Like he had a big stroke right here because he, I’m making this up, but folks picture yourself having issues with a beast. And the bee says, why are you beating me? I don’t know about you, what’s your answer?

You go, you run like crazy, you think I’m hallucinating, you do not think rational thoughts. That’s not included in Hebrew here, but all we get next is Balaam answered the donkey, which says a lot about Balaam, right? You’ve made it full of me. What a ridiculous answer. If only I had a sore in my hand, I would kill you right now.

Okay, the donkey says next to Balaam, am I not your donkey? Which you’ve always, we’ve been pals all this time. Have I been in the habit of doing this to you? No, said Balaam. Then the Lord made a move and opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn.

And he was bright enough to bow down and fall face forward. The angel of the Lord asked him, why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I’ve come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me three times. He did this.

And if he had not done this, I would certainly have cut your head off. I would have killed you by a sword. I would not have spared you. Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me.

Now, if you’re a displeased, I will go back. The angel repeats what God had said earlier. No, you go ahead. Go. I’ll tell you what I tell you anyway.

And he did so. Now, quick takeaway here. If you ever find yourself, like Balaam, don’t tell anybody in the mental health world because you’ll be locked up for a long time. Now, what I want to say is if ever do find yourself way off the path, in his case about to speak false words, a curse, and God does something like this, would you please take to heart the lesson of the donkey? And the lesson of the donkey is simple, as Peter put it, and I’m quoting from 2 Peter 2 verses 15 and 16, if you have wandered off the narrow path of walking with God, he will use whatever means necessary to rebuke and restore you.

To rebuke you, stop you in your tracks and put you back on the path. God did not want to cut Balaam’s head off. God wanted Balaam to wake up and get back where he’s doing what God says. That’s the same thing with people. Today, you and me.

God’s desire is none perish, but all come to repentance. But God’s not going to let you wander off the path without putting resistance in your way. And you might be like Balaam for a while and go, this is just, and you’ll try to take out the resistance. Ever, ever been that person that ever been the donkey in somebody else’s life? Nathan, the prophet comes to mind when God said, okay, David has sinned greatly.

He committed adultery and murder to cover his tracks. I got a job for you to do, Nathan. Go and tell the king that I saw it all and his sin is great. And he must repent because I want him back walking with me. Would you please take that to whoever needs to hear it?

Would you start with yourself today? Because God doesn’t want to smoke you, he doesn’t want to annihilate you, he doesn’t want to bring an end to you. He wants to bring the right beginning to you. He wants to put you here in the middle walking that narrow road that Jesus talked about with him. Y’all, this is huge gospel stuff.

You say, what’s God that want to do? He wants to be that baby that’s no longer in the manger, but living in your heart. Okay, so from this inauspicious beginning incident, we learned the story of the Jesus star. And you’re saying, I haven’t heard it yet, pastor. Balaam has now reformed.

Trust me, he’s a changed man. And he’s told to deliver seven messages. And the fourth message I want you to notice, and it’s where the identity of this star is revealed. It’s in chapter, you have to turn the page chapter 24, the fourth message is verse 15. Then Balaam spoke his message.

This is the prophecy verse 16 of one who hears the words of God, not my own stupid, cursed words. I have knowledge from the most high who sees a vision. This is him describing himself. I see a vision from the Almighty. I fall prostrate and my eyes are now open.

And then you’re ready for the identity of this star. I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel.

That’s what drove the wise men all the way back here in Matthew to come at that time to that place and find the baby. Back in Matthew two, which is where I turned while I was talking there, it appears that the Magi arrived in Jerusalem to celebrate the coming of the king. And they did so knowing something about the star. And that explains why they traveled so far. Traveled thousands of miles in a first century world, which is not like hopping on a plane and going to DC.

This was a major decision on their part. They wandered a long way and they traveled far. I believe because of what we just read from one and a half millennia before. So unwittingly, back to this Matthew two finish. When Herod convened a meeting of the chief priests, we read this already, but it’s in verses four to six.

And the teachers, he did so to ascertain the details of the Messiah. And the answer, and I find this fascinating that came from Herod, verse eight, was he sent them to Bethlehem. I don’t think he knew what he was saying. He sent them to Bethlehem. He was in Jerusalem five miles north.

He says, go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child as soon as you find him, report him to me and his false reason was so that I can come and worship him as well. But the walk for these wise men was worth it. The star, his star guided them to goodness, and light. And the same thing happens today. I want to ask you as you close your Bibles a couple of, let that ambulance pass by.

I want to ask you a question about your search. Today, right now, 2018, nearly Christmas. Are you in the searching process where, maybe today you’re going, yeah, that story’s way out there, but I kind of like how it came together. Or I’ve been around people that seem to have found their way to the Jesus. And he’s not a distant figure for them.

He’s a right now ruler in their lives. I can see it. Maybe you’re one of those people. ‘Cause that’s the intended outcome of the search. It’s like people say, do you like traveling?

Some people like the destination. Some people like the journey. I like both. Sometimes I don’t really like the journey as much as I want to get there. I will search for something, but I want to find it.

Remember the days of geocaching? It’s where you use your GPS and you find your way to hidden treasures that are all over the place. And that was really fun until we found a hidden treasure in some poison oak and didn’t know it. And it wrecked the fun, but it was fun searching. But the search is always after something, isn’t it?

A search is after, in this case, a son. A savior. Jeremiah said it this way and I’ll close with his words. It’s an appeal to you and me. And me when you search for me with all of your heart, for I will be found by you, declares the Lord.

And when you meet him, like searching wise men of old, your joy is gonna abound. It really will. And you with them will worship Jesus, the Lord, the Son of God. I like you to bow your heads as we prepare to sing a final song, Jesus, the Son of God. It’s a song of, I found the thing I’m searching for.

And maybe today that’s gonna be sung by you in a different way. I hope so. God, today we come to you as people that are earth bound. Well, we too can, like the wise men of old, look up to the skies and see different attributes. And you’ll use a donkey, you’ll use a star, you’ll do whatever it takes to lead us to you.

I wanna pray for the people here today who need to seek for you and find you as they search with all their hearts. I pray for people that aren’t here, but we know who they are. They’re in our families and they’re at work where we work. They’re our dentists, they’re our friends. They’re people that need to hear if you search for him with all your heart, you will find him.

Though he’s not far from anyone. So we give you our thanks for coming, Jesus. Thank you for a star that lit the way. Guide us forward from this morning, accept our worship, our songs, our gifts to you now in Jesus name.

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 5,673 words.