A pastor and author has stated (Tony Campolo) that his wife is a brilliant woman. She has a PHD & is capable of pursuing a very profitable career. But she elected to stay home with her children when they were young. Her decision didn’t bother her at all except when other women would ask, “What do you do?” She would answer, “I’m a homemaker. I stay home & take care of my children & my husband.” They would usually respond with “Oh” & then ignore her from then on.
So his wife (Mrs. Campolo) came up with this response when she was asked what she did: “I’m socializing two Homo-sapiens in Judeo-Christian values so they’ll appropriate the eschatological values of utopia. What do you do?” They would often blurt out “I’m a doctor” or “I’m a lawyer” & then wander off with a dazed look in their eyes.
We all make various sacrifices throughout our lives to different degrees. Some seem more worthy than others. What about the sacrifices you have made? Why have you made these sacrifices?
We must sharpen our focus on the Lord to clarify why we make the sacrifices we make!
The Wise Men Sacrificed Treasures, Traditions, Reputations, & Pride (2:11)
Surprised to see an empty seat at the super bowl stadium, a diehard fan remarked about it to a man sitting nearby. “It was my wife’s,” the man explained, “But she died.” “Oh! I’m very sorry to hear that,” said the man. “Yet I’m really surprised that another relative, or friend, didn’t jump at the chance to take the seat reserved for her.” “Beats me,” he said. “They all insisted on going to the funeral.” (Source: Unknown…Submitted by Gabriel Ruhl)
You are probably thinking, “That guy is horrible!” If you are thinking that you are correct. He is horrible! It’s just a joke, however, even the joke feels wrong. Why? Because this husband overwhelmingly chose the wrong sacrifice! We sometimes get “Third Things First” – instead of “First Things First!” The wise men understood the need for “First Things First” … and so does the wise believer! Look at the order of sacrifices the magi made in Matthew 2:11.
First Response – “They fell down before Him.” They sacrificed their pride and reputations as astute wise men and fell to the ground. This would have been a move reserved for leaders greater than themselves and a move that signified submission…to a child!
First Act – “They worshipped Him.” The magi had traveled about 8 to 900 miles from Persia. With their knowledge of the prophecies from Daniel (9:24-27) or Balaam (Num. 24:17), they cast aside their cultural traditions and worshipped Jesus. They sacrificed personal traditions for scripture.
First Gift – The magi brought sacrificial gifts. The gifts were prepared and ready.
Gold – many believe symbolizing as for a King
Incense – many believe symbolizing as for God
Myrrh — many believe symbolizing the need to anoint the dead
Sometimes we have a hard time coming to church to worship Jesus because we would rather sleep, or we would rather work, or the preaching is too long. Sometimes we have a hard time coming to church to worship Jesus because, if we are honest with ourselves, we just don’t want to. So, we get it backwards and sacrifice times of worship for times of pleasure or time of self-promotion. However, shouldn’t we sacrifice times of pleasure for times of worship? Are we willing to sacrifice our money, our traditions, our reputations, and our pride in order to seek out and to worship Jesus?
The Wise Men Sacrificed Old Ways for New Paths (2:12)
The story is told about a mom & dad with a son who was a freshman in college. The son blew off his freshman year. He wasn’t very responsible. He didn’t make good grades. He squandered his parent’s money and finally came back home. His parents told him, “If you go back to school you’ll have to pay your own way.”
So, he had to work that summer and not go on the family vacation. That was part of his punishment. The family went to Greece that year and the mom sent him a postcard, “Dear Son,” she wrote. “Today we stood on the mountains where ancient Spartan women sacrificed their defective children. Wish you were here.”
Wow! This mother was very upset that her son made the wrong sacrifices and wasted the money she and her husband sacrificed to provide for their son. Our sacrifices will often impact others! Some are willing to sacrifice their old ways for much better future paths, but others see the old destructive path as better than any other option available. Look at the path the wise men took!
o God rewards the wise men with new direction & protection
o God leads His children to leave the old path (Eph. 4:22-24) and follow a new path
During World War II a young soldier named David Webster of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne wrote his mother: "Stop worrying about me. I joined the parachutists to fight. I intend to fight. If necessary, I shall die fighting, but don’t worry about this because no war can be won without young men dying. Those things which are precious are saved only by sacrifice." Source: Band of Brothers, Stephen E. Ambrose
Scripture often refers to the Christian life as an all-out war…a spiritual battlefield. Too often the modern-day church equates times of ease as the only means of God’s blessings.
The presence of struggle does not mean the absence of Divine blessing.
So, a powerful reality is that there is no victory apart from sacrifice. We long for victorious Christian living in our marriages, in our homes, and in our personal lives – but such victory will require the right sacrifices made. The struggle we face is the longing to have victory without sacrifice. Not possible.
We all make sacrifices. The question is, are we making the right sacrifices? Are we making sacrifices like wise men (Matt. 7:24)? Our current culture presses society to make sacrifices for the wrong goals with impure motives. So, be still for a moment and genuinely learn from these 5 wise sacrifices the wise men made in Matthew 2:11-12:
1. Honor God with your money. (I Cor. 4:2)
2. Never equate your traditions to righteousness. (Prov. 30:5-6)
3. Leave your reputation with God to guard and choose God above every other choice. (Matt. 6:33)
4. Live your life as a servant of God. Choose humility. (James 4:10)
5. Leave your “old ways” (before relationship with Jesus) behind. (Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 4:22-24; Eph. 5:3-8; Col. 3:5-11)
Sharpen your focus on the Lord and clarify in your own mind why you make the sacrifices you make!