The Wise Men: Motivated By A Vision
Introduction
Matthew 2:1-12
Years ago, underneath the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side, there stood an old deserted tobacco warehouse. It had become a shelter to hundreds of derelicts of the city - people down on their luck and had given up on life.
The city of New York asked the Salvation Army to do something for them. Provided bowls of soup and coffee. One day, Joseph Sizoo, who was a minister, was asked to speak to them. As he spoke, those broken pieces of humanity just gazed at him with empty eyes.
After the service, one man came up to him and said, “Do you read Greek?” Sizoo said, “Yes, I do.” “Do you know how to read the Greek New Testament?” “Yes, I do, lets read it together.” At first the man protested, then he shared his story.
This fellow with the long hair, a stubby beard, and a very shabby coat held together by a string and a nail had at one time been a teacher of New Testament Greek at a prominent college. He was an excellent teacher and had become the dean of the faculty. He had a lovely wife and three children and was a very active person in his community and his church.
But something happened to him. He lost sight of the right values. he lost perspective about what life was all about. Life took a turn, and he turned to the bottle and before long was an alcoholic. Here he was in New York city in this tobacco warehouse, with no family, no friends, no money, no work, and what seemed to him no hope.
Unfortunately, there are this Christmas too many sad stories just like that. There are people who have made a mess of their lives, people who have been hurt and not recovered, people who have had their dreams and hopes dashed to pieces.
Did you know that can happen to any of us here this morning? You may even be here this morning and be struggling desperately to find something worthwhile and meaningful in life. You may be depressed or angry because of the way life has treated you. You may be tempted to give up, to forget it, to leave it all behind. You may be wandering aimlessly, searching for life but not knowing where to find it.
How can life become alive for you again? What is the secret? Where is the key?
The Christ of Christmas is the key, and the Wise men in the Christmas story will show us the way.
We know little about them. We don’t really know how many there were. The Bible doesn’t tell us. We assume it was three by the number of gifts.
We don’t know who they were. Most scholars feel they were Persian priests who studied astrology. We don’t even know when they got there to see the Christ Child. Matthew tells us they saw him in a house. It may have been that night or up to two years after his birth.
But what we know is this. They had a vision, that they followed it, and nothing would stop them until they found the Christ Child.
This is the key for every one of our lives this holiday season. If you and I really want to live and to keep from becoming those broken pieces of humanity, then we need to be motivated by the same vision. Christmas comes each year to remind us and to motivate us once again to seek and to find Christ.
Notice three things about their vision:
I. It was a vision that was worthy to live for.
A. Do you have a vision worth living for?
What is that which you shape your life around? We were all meant to have some vision, some purpose, some God that we will seek.
B. What vision guides your life?
The world offers possessions, prestige, power, and pleasure. What vision guides your life?
Bill Hybels tells an encouraging story in his book, Who are you when No one is Looking?
“It started like so many evenings. Mom and Dad at home and Jimmy playing after dinner. Mom and Dad were absorbed with jobs and did not notice the time. It was a full moon and some of the light seeped through the windows. Then Mom glanced at the clock. "Jimmy, it's time to go to bed. Go up now and I'll come and settle you later." Unlike usual, Jimmy went straight upstairs to his room. An hour or so later his mother came up to check if all was well, and to her astonishment found that her son was staring quietly out of his window at the moonlit scenery. "What are you doing, Jimmy?" "I'm looking at the moon, Mommy." "Well, it's time to go to bed now." As one reluctant boy settled down, he said, "Mommy, you know one day I'm going to walk on the moon." Who could have known that the boy in whom the dream was planted that night would survive a near fatal motorbike crash which broke almost every bone in his body, and would bring to fruition this dream 32 years later when James Irwin stepped on the moon's surface, just one of the 12 representatives of the human race to have done so?”
C. Christmas comes to remind us
Christmas comes to remind us that it is Christ and the kingdom of God that is worth living for. God’s kingdom should add substance to our vision.
II. It was a vision that would not die.
A. The trip was a long one for the wise men.
It was not an overnight trip. They did not stop until they found the Christ. The Bible tells us they stopped in Jerusalem to inquire, but they kept going. I’m sure they got tired, weary, and wanted to quit. Many people face obstacles that make them want to quit in life. I like the story of Roy Riggles. Perhaps you have heard it. It was New Year’s Day, 1929, and Georgia Tech. and UCLA were battling it out in the Rose Bowl. Georgia Tech. fumbled the football late in the first half. Roy Riggles recovered for California. Picking up the fumbled ball, the confused Riggles ran 65 yards in the wrong direction. Benny Lorn, another UCLA player, tackled him before he scored for the opposing team. UCLA was forced to punt. The punt was blocked, and Georgia Tech scored a safety.
Roy Riggles went into the locker room at half-time, a very miserable young man. He sat down in a corner, head in hands, and cried like a baby. UCLA’s coach, Nibbs Price, said little in the locker room that day. Finally, just before leaving the locker room to return to the field, Coach Price said, "Men, the same team that played the first half will start the second."
The players headed for the field, all but Riggles. "Roy, didn’t you hear me? The same team that started the first half will start the second."
"Coach," he said, "I can’t do it. I’ve ruined you. I’ve ruined the University of California. I’ve ruined myself. I couldn’t face the crowd in the stadium to save my life." Then Coach Price put his hand on Riggle’s shoulder and said. "Roy, get up and go on back. The game is only half over." Riggles returned to the game and played like he’d never played before.
B. My prayer for all here this morning
My prayer for all here this morning is that you will have a vision of living for Christ that will not die.
I pray you will maintain a vision for Christ that will keep you playing on the Jesus team until the end.
III. If we keep the vision going, we will reach it.
A. The wise men found the Christ Child.
B. Their vision did not disappoint them.
One of my favorite stories about vision happened about 350 years ago when a shipload of travelers landed on the northeast coast of America. The first year they established a town. The next year they elected a town government. The third year the town government planned to build a road five miles westward into the wilderness.
In the fourth year the people tried to impeach their town government because they thought it was a waste of public funds to build a road extending five miles westward into a wilderness. Who needed to go there, anyway?
Here were people who had the vision to see three thousand miles across an ocean and overcome great hardships to get there, but in just a few years they could not see even five miles out of town. They had lost their vision. With a clear vision of what we can become in Christ, no ocean of struggle is too great. Without it, we rarely move beyond our current limits.
Conclusion
The trouble with the man in the tobacco warehouse was that he had lost his dreams, there was no vision, he lived a broken and shattered life. But there was still hope for him. Christmas comes to remind us that there is still hope. My friends, the star is still shining. Christ can still be found, and dreams can be recaptured and followed again.
Perhaps this morning you need to sift through the ashes of your broken dreams. Maybe there needs to be born again in our lives a new determination, to find Christ, to live for him, to serve him.
Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” It is Christmas, and Christmas can remind us of our spiritual dreams.