The Selfishness of Earthly Kings | Kingly Gifts

We continue now with the fourth Sunday in Advent, the fourth Sunday in our sermon series

Kingly Gifts. For those that did not see what S.J. brought up, and I believe we all can

see now his sister really wants to be on the praise team, so that's exciting, so let's

raise her up in that. He brought a heart, because today, though the last three weeks,

we looked at tangible things, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Like I said, on Christmas we're

going to kind of review all of that in light of Christmas Day. What we're going to talk

about today is something that we all have to give, and that is the heart. That the heart,

both in scripture and in practical kind of understanding, really is the center of all

of our being. And the heart, we see God's heart written out throughout the 66 books

of our Bible, that we see God's heart for you and for me, for humanity, like I said,

all the way in the beginning in Genesis chapter 3, when God's heart was broken. When we broke

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

that with sin entering the world, that he knew the way to save the world, that first

gospel, that proto-evangelion, if you will, in Genesis chapter 3, is the person of Jesus

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Christ. And so now we fast forward through all of the prophets, through all of the kings,

all that history book of the Old Testament, pointing to what we will celebrate on December

25th. So as we have kind of one of our final reflections of this Advent sermon series,

we're going to start with the bad heart. That in this story, one that we don't really like

to talk about, because if we were to actually make it a movie, it probably would not be

suitable for children, is what Christmas could look or would have looked like if King Herod

would have gotten his way. Because as we reflect today, we're going to talk about King Herod

and the role he had to play in the scriptures. That what we see is Herod clinging to himself,

his heart clinging to the things of the earth, earthly powers. Yet our call is to surrender

ourselves for not only God's glory, first and foremost, but to do good for others. That

is a heart thing. That is a quest of the heart. Because we see this in church all the time.

We can know all the right things. We could have grown up in church. We could sing all

the songs, probably without any music. We know all these things. We have these experiences.

But until that heart change, until that regeneration, what we talk about in reform circles, when

the Holy Spirit comes in and starts that process of sanctification, which leads to profession

of faith, that heart forever changed. But what we're going to see is Herod hardened

his heart. And hard hearts are actually something common in the scriptures. We see that all

the way back, Pharaoh in Egypt, that his heart was hardened. And I don't want this to sting

so early on in the message that for a lot of us, we can have a hard heart to people,

to situations, to maybe even the church or authority in general. And how this baby king,

this Jesus, calls for a surrender of the heart. So we're going to be in the book of Matthew.

We're going to be in the book of Philippians this morning. And we're going to start with

the very beginning of the book of Matthew, chapter 2, the first eight verses. Now, after

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod, the king, behold, wise men

from the east came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born king of the Jews?

Now pause there. There's a lot of verses here that we're going to get to, but I want to

pause. It's interesting that Herod recognizes him as this. This is what has been foretold

to him by the scribes because of kind of what was being talked about in the Jewish and Israel

understanding of the Messiah, that the Messiah was going to be born. That was not lost on

people. That would have been passed down from generation to generation to generation that

the Messiah would be born. Most of the minor prophets toward the end of the Old Testament

have one or two verses that point to the who, what, when, where, why, how of the birth of

the Messiah, that Bethlehem was going to be the place. So we continue, for we saw his

star when it rose and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was

troubled and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people,

he inquired of them where the Christ child was to be born. They told him in Bethlehem

of Judea, for so it is written in the prophets. And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. For from you shall come a ruler who

will shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained

from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, Go and

search diligently for the child. And when you have found him, bring me word that I too

may come and worship him. Can we go back one slide, so the third slide? Right there. Then

Herod summoned the wise men secretly. I think that's key. So one of the things we see here,

you can leave that up Claire, is that the Magi are coming and it's not a secret. That

they are being drawn to this king of the Jews. They're drawn to this baby being born. Now,

wise men, we assume there's three and the main reason why we assume that is what? Why

do we assume that there's three? Because there's three gifts, right? We try to keep it that

simple. There could have been 70. We have no idea. We know at least three because of

three gifts. Again, that's not salvatic. Don't worry about that when you get to the gates.

But understand that these are wise men coming a long distance following a star. And our

2024 Mindsmates, absolutely no sense. That you have these wise men coming to bring worship

to a king being born. That sentence in of itself doesn't make sense. Because kings aren't

necessarily born and exalted as kings right away. Some, they're princes because dad's

the king. When dad dies, we go on. We have that even in our life today with maybe family

businesses. The hope is that it stays in the family and generation after generation it

goes. This is something completely new that is completely elevated at the very beginning.

That this king will come and shepherd the people of Israel. So we see shepherd king.

I don't know about you, but if I'm just an everyday Israelite, if I'm just an everyday

Roman, Gentile, when a king comes, I'm not going to look for them to be a shepherd. Shepherd

was a lowly estate. That was a lowly job. At no time when people talked royalty and

kings, were they talking about shepherds. But these wise men knew something in their

heart and Herod recognized that. So notice that Herod summons them secretly. Everything

in the dark gets brought to the light, but the world's work is done in the dark. And

they arrive seeking the king of the Jews. And we see Herod in all of his crazy. And

Herod is not a crazy, he's a part of Herod's story. If you read King Herod or read any

studies on him, he is a unhinged leader. And Herod deceptively tells the Magi to report

back after finding so why. So not only is there secrets, there's also deception because

he wants to worship the king, which is a total farce, we know this. Because there's going

to be a hit put out on all of the newborn male babies. Now we should not be surprised

by that because that was done a long time ago. Where? Egypt. That there was a fear set

in by someone in power that this Jesus was going to usurp their power, their authority.

So what do they do? They try to snuff them out. That is something that we see throughout

the generations. That the only way to stop a king from ruling or starting to rule is

to what? Silence them, to kill them. But it's done in secret and it's done with lies and

deception. So one of the things we're picking up on earthly kings is to get their way more

times than not. Deception, lying is a part of it. He is using his authority but his authority

already tainted. Why? Because he has his own heart in mind, his own kind of royalty, his

own advancement in his heart. He saw this king of the Jews as a threat, which is very

interesting because was Herod Jewish? Don't whisper it, say it out loud. No. Yet the king

of the Jews, Rome had the rule. As long as the Jews kept to themselves, they did their

festivals, they did their feasts, they did their Hanukahs, they did all of these things,

Rome didn't care as long as the trade and the money and the power and authority was

going back to Rome. They didn't care. They could say, okay, do whatever you want. We

just don't want to know about it. You don't need to make any kind of fuss and if you make

a fuss, we're going to end your life. Jesus was just born and look at the fuss that baby

Jesus is making for a Herod. Talk about authority and insecurity going hand in hand. Yet there's

something there for Herod. There's something that is agonizing him, something that is wanting

him to plan secretly to harm this baby. We jump then to verse 13. Now, when they had

departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, rise, take

your child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you. For Herod

is about to search for the child to destroy him and he rose up and took the child and

his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod.

This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophets. Out of Egypt, I called my

son. Leave that up there. There's a lot going on here. So an angel goes to Joseph, not the

first time, and says, hey, you got to go. You need to go somewhere. They go to Egypt.

Why? The prophecy is being fulfilled. Now, I've actually had conversations with some

of you this month that are having trouble with the understanding that the who, what,

when, where, why of Jesus was foretold. I was asked the question, well, what if Jesus

wanted to do it a different way? Nope. That's not a thing. That the way of God is the way.

The way of God's plan being kind of unfolded from Genesis 3 till now is the way. And what

I had that individual do is go back and listen to the book of Revelation, right, to our sermon

series, because God has his way in those chapters. The way of God is the way, and I say this

first to me and then to the rest of you, whether we like it or not. God's way isn't always

easy. God's way isn't always fun. But God's way is the way our lives should go, the way

we should walk our life out. That out of Egypt, I called my son, echoing back to what God

did in Egypt, not foreign to the generational understanding of the Israelites being freed

from slavery. So they flee to Egypt because the prophecy called for this. So a tension

that I want to point out is there was tension even in the prophecy about Jesus' life. Even

early on, and we're going to see, you have this potential hit bringing out on Jesus as

a baby, and then where's the next time we see this hit on Jesus? Anybody? For lunch

in the New Year and a conversation with Pastor Jim, where is the second hit or attempt on

Jesus' life? Nope. Okay, you've got to give me a little more. You're buying at this point.

Someone want to rebound it? He does something very specific, then they do something or try

to do something specific, and then he does that. The scroll from Isaiah, absolutely.

So he reads in Luke chapter 4, I believe, he reads in the temple, the prophet Isaiah,

Luke 4 · chapter mention

and says this prophecy, this scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing. They get

all kinds of mad, and they go and try to throw him off a cliff. And then he passes through

you. He gets the lunch, you're leaving the tip. And understand that then you see the

cross. Now, to Randy's point, I do want to give an honorary mention to Randy's point.

He was talking about Jesus' temptation by Satan. That was a temptation, not an attempt.

So the reason why Randy's buying his own lunch is because this was to show that Jesus' authority

was over Satan already. He didn't need the cross to do that. So understand that the attempt

on Jesus' life, this is a regular occurrence at least three times, the third one being

the cross of his death. So the thing we see here, we see this prophecy being laid out,

and I know for some of you there's tension because God has prophecy that means the end

of his son's life. And some of us may want to go, what in the world? Why in the world

would a dad do that? Because that was the sacrificial plan to save you and I, our heart,

from the death of sin. So let's round out the book of Matthew in verse 16 and 17. We

have the escape to Egypt, and then we see in verse 16, then Herod, when he saw that

he had been tricked by the wise men, so then the wise men in a dream, they go another way,

became furious. He sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and all that region

who were two years old or younger or under, according to the time that he had ascertained

from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. A voice

was heard in Ramah, weeping in loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children. She refused

to be comforted because they had no more. So we see now in his authority, in Herod's

heart, we now see death of innocence. That King Herod so wound up in his crazy, so wound

up in his defensiveness, so wound up in his lust for authority and power, now, which I

find interesting, two years and younger. Why in the world would we have to kill even a

six month old at this time? Yet two years and younger, because there was doubt, there

was chaos, there was, he was looking for a reason. This is what happens when worldly

authority and power get lusted for in our hearts. When we lust for the things of the

earth, when we desire and yearn for them, we will throw a character and integrity out

the window. That Herod and earthly kings rule in a very, very hard way. So Claire, you know

how we were working on slides and we had those three points toward the end? They're actually

coming now, so get ready for those. Because Herod and earthly kings, and what I'm going

to say is Herod and us are earthly powers. When we desire that in your business, in your

schooling, in your status online, whatever it is, three things come out if we follow

earthly realms. That earthly kings rule selfishly. That selfishness comes out when it's about

what we can protect, what we can own. Well, Pastor, what does this look like? What happens

when your bank account starts to dip and dip and dip? That all of a sudden that water heater

goes out. All of a sudden this thing breaks. All of a sudden that thing breaks and payday

hasn't come yet and you just see that go down and down. Do we not get tempted then to go,

well, I don't need to give to that any, I don't need to give to that this month, I don't

need to give to that this month, I'm just going to keep it for myself. When all of a

sudden there's practical selfishness that takes over our finances, that takes over our

mind, our thoughts and our minds, when you're sitting there at night and can't sleep, is

it because you are thinking about all the goodness of God and all the ways that He has

blessed your life? No. When that anxiety comes right as your head hits the pillow, it's because

of our fears, it's because of the temptations, it's because of the mistakes or whatever that

were replaying, the sports that are not top ten in our head, that's what's keeping us

from sleep. The roots of that is selfishness. Herod the Great was known for his ruthless

quest for power. We see this. All of a sudden everything in the world around Herod and us,

when we get like this, everything becomes a threat. Sit with that for a minute. When

we get in our selfishness, when we grasp for that power, when we grasp to make our name

great or whatever, everything becomes a threat. Now, kings, they can do something about that.

Us non-royalty, we don't. And if we do, it's never anything good. But when we perceive

that everything is a threat, what are we robbing ourselves of? Sitting in the peace and comfort

of God. I am prone to start going through my Rolodex, and if you're under the age of

20, ask someone over the age of 20 what that is later. But I go through that Rolodex of

the things that keep me up at night, mistakes I've made in the past, anxiety, finances,

all these things. And I remember Mike Murphy, he was a counselor-pastor I worked with two

churches ago, and he gave me what he calls mind of Christ exercises. And he's the one,

and I know I've said this to you before, this is a little bit of a rabbit trail, but he

said, Jim, do you ever want to know why this was called the double-edged sword? And I was

like, no, he goes, because you don't have to be a master swordsman to use it, you just

have to shake it around and it will do damage. And when the flaming arrows of the evil one

come, he says we need to go back to scripture, you need to have a set of verses in your head

that when those lies, those arrows, that anxiety, the selfishness, the authority, all of those

things come, and the saint doesn't fight fair, he doesn't give you one thing, let's see how

he handles this, then he gets another. No, it could come as 30 at one time, you just

have to start using it. You just have to start using God's word. And so that's where Colossians

3, 1, and 2, that's my go-to, that's my sword in those moments. If then Christ is seated

at the right hand of God, set my mind on things above, not on the things of earth, that those

things help center me on the goodness of God amidst my selfishness. Because that selfishness

when it's realized is the second thing, is that earthly kings, they grasp for power.

When we are selfish, when we are scared, when we feel our backs against the wall, that's

when the easy way looks a lot better. That's when we start to grasp at power and authority

because the world is ready to give it. The world's going to oversell and under-deliver

all of that. And we can find ourselves in a lot more trouble. Herod represents the pattern

of worldly kings and power who exploit their position for self-gain, self-wealth, and self,

and the lack of self-control. Earthly kings grasp for power. And all the while, God's

plan is being unfolded in a helpless baby in a manger. That though I do believe babies

when they're born, they do have a lot of power. And those cute little eyes, they don't realize

the power they have. Right? That a newborn baby, I see you nodding along, you know this,

you have a little one, you know, they have power over the Gochmans, right? Your baby

does. What kind of power does the baby have? We have not practiced this. I have no idea

what they're going to say. What kind of power does your baby have over you? Our schedules.

Our life. I saw Kyle Hahn, right? Kyle's here, right? What power does your baby have over

you right now? Sleep. Absolutely. Yeah. As much as there's part of us that when that

baby monitor goes off, we want to throw it out the window, we don't because we get it

up even though they're like, they have to learn to cry through it. Then we become grown

parents or grown men and women and I guarantee you just don't cry through it. I don't have

people that come to my office in their 40s, 50s, 60s crying and I go, you got to cry through

it, get out of my office. That's bad pastoring. Though some of you that might be what you

need to hear. That's bad pastoring. But babies do have that kind of power. But that power

is built with something underneath it. What is it? Love? Maybe. Maybe. Innocence. That

baby is completely dependent on mom and dad. They're completely dependent for everything.

But earthly kings, they grasp for that power when their backs are against the wall. That's

the paradox of power, that third point that is so weird in this story because Jesus has

got all the power in the world. He is the son of the living God. He is the word made

flesh sermon for two weeks when we start our new sermon series. That he does it in that

innocent way. While earthly rules cling to possessions, the magi that brought gifts to

honor Jesus as a true king who gives rather than receives. That Jesus will grow up to

teach us that. He will grow up to point out the problems of worldly power. Power that

doesn't care who it hurts in order to gain more. Whose jobs have to be lost in order

for us to get more money and power. And that's the paradox of power because now as we jump

to the book of Philippians, we see the Christmas gift of what power looks like through God's

eyes. We saw it through Herod's eyes but now the paradox is through God's eyes. So we start

in Philippians 2 verses 5 through 7. Have this mind amongst yourselves which is yours

Philippians 2:5–7

in Christ Jesus who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing

to be grasped but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness

of men. Hear that right off the bat. He empties himself. He is God incarnate and he empties

himself of that. That doesn't mean he's not divine. Fully God, fully man. But he lives

in that humanity. He lives with us. The word made flesh. Jesus though fully God does not

exploit his divine status for selfish gain. Think about that. Jesus, all the power, all

creative order in him does not exploit us. He does not exploit his divine status. What

he does, he exploits sin. What I love and we're going to get to it I'm sure in the sermon

series coming up is when he steps out of the boat at Garassoni with the demonic living

in the tombs. Remember that story? I love how triggered the demon gets the minute Jesus

steps on the ground. That Jesus in his divine power and love for humanity exploits the very

things that we can live out if we're going to go Herod's side but his divine glory and

power never has never been and will never be exploited. In contrast to Herod who was

jealousy guarded his earthly throne, Christ willingly laid aside his glory. One of the

things you may have learned in catechism growing up or in the education you had in our Christian

schools is that the reformed theology teaches the humiliation of Christ emphasizing his

obedience becoming man to fulfill God's redemptive plan. Fully God, fully man. There's a paradox

of power right there. That's a whole other sermon series but his obedience even amongst

his humiliation, his final week of life. We see in verse 8 that that humility is on display

and being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death

even death on a cross. Christ's ultimate sacrifice reveals the opposite of selfishness. Where

Herod sought to kill to maintain power, Jesus gave up his life to save sinners. That Christ's

humility fulfills Isaiah 53, that suffering servant. Take this afternoon and read Isaiah

53. It talks through and reflects God's sovereignty and his redemptive plan in the person of Jesus

Christ. And then finally we see in verses 9 through 11. Therefore God has highly exalted

him and bestowed him the name that is above every name so that the name of Jesus every

knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Leave that up there. Does that slide

not give us new light since revelation? That when I saw that, when I read that, when I

wanted that to be a slide I go man this slide means something different to me now. Therefore

God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name and

if you are living in that world and desiring worldly power your name means everything.

I struggle with that. That I have a title in my name, Pastor, Reverend, Domine, which

I hate but it is because it just sounds weird, right? But there is a name there. And if we

are being honest we long for titles and names. We long for those positions. We live in those

and when that name gets dinged or tarnished it is our everything gets thrown out the window.

We hate it. That is the weight of title Elder, Deacon, Pastor in the church. But outside

it is all about raising your name. Having your name be raised high by others. But any

worldly power or success pales in compared to a God highly exalting Jesus. That God's

highly exalting is the greatest thing. That we want God's name highly exalted in our life

so in the end he will exalt us with him in glory. That is the only authority and power

we should desire. But it is through obedience. It is through humility. Jesus' selflessness

resulted in exultation showing God's reversal of earthly values. We see that in Jesus'

life all throughout the gospels. Earthly kings seek their own glory but Christ's glory comes

through humility and a word we all hate. Obedience. So one of my final questions this morning

is where are you being obedient in your life as a believer if you are a believer. If you

are here this morning and you are not a believer I have to think that those gears are kind

of churning on you because if we are not following Christ then you are following the world. It

is a this or that. I am sorry it just is. But the things of Christ is humility and obedience.

So where are you being obedient but the more important question today may be where are

you being disobedient in your walk with the Lord. We want our lives to be emphasized by

Christ's being exalted securing our salvation and demonstrating for us the rightful kingship

he has over us. Guess what if Jesus is king of your life guess who is not. You and me.

And that is an okay good place to be. So how do we reject the selfishness of the world.

First we need to start in our own lives. Here its actions reveal a warning to us. Are we

grasping for power for possessions for recognition instead of surrendering to Christ. I will

just be vulnerable for a moment. Christmas day or Christmas Eve depending on the church.

I sit down with pastors especially younger pastors that go how can I just I want to give

the best Christmas day message or Christmas Eve message about Christmas day if that was

the case. Just do Christmas day. Anyway how do I give the best. Just read the story. That

pastors try to zhizh up their messages. Just read the story. Pastors get so caught up in

wanting to put the greatest gift wrapping which I can't stand by the way gift wrapping

I am not very good at it. But understand they want to put this greatest bow ever on the

story of the gospel when the story of the gospel is the greatest story ever told. The

story of Jesus and then I lamented then come a couple months they are doing the same thing

with Easter. There is nothing greater that you can say as a pastor is that in three days

Jesus rose from the dead. Keep it to the text. And how dare the congregations that expect

the pastor to zhizh up a sermon. Read the story be faithful to the text. And so we try

to do that in our own lives as well. Where in your life are you tempted to put yourself

first. Your time your talents your resources your gifts. Because if we are following and

being obedient to Christ then we need to follow his example of humility. Have this mind amongst

yourselves Paul writes. The church of Philippi needed to hear that. Have this mind of Christ

for yourself. Do you sacrificially give your time to serve others and worship God. Are

you using your gifts to build up the church and not just your own success. And do we steward

our resources generously as individuals families and even as a church remembering that all

we have belongs to the king of kings and the Lord of lords. And finally what Philippians

2 draws for us as I land the plane this morning. Philippians 2 shows us that the humility leads

to God exalting in his kingdom economy. That God's kingdom is about exalting the obedient.

He does it with Christ and on the last day we will be raised up those with him. That

the kingdom values is not that of what Herod brought. It's not that of what Pharaoh brought.

It's not that of what Caesar brought. It's not that of anything that the temple was bringing

in Jesus' day because that was perverted and that was cynical. As followers of Christ we

must adopt a servant hearted posture reflecting Jesus' kingship in our life. So where do

we go from here with a gospel focus this morning. That Herod's kingdom reminds us of humanity's

sinful self-centeredness but Christ's humility points us to the gospel. That Herod's kingdom

is about sin. That Christ's kingdom is about salvation. That Jesus leaves his throne to

save selfish sinners like me. Through his death and resurrection we are called to die

to self and live for his glory. And the gospel transforms us with humility, generosity and

kingdom purpose. So here's your challenge this fourth Sunday in Advent. Will you cling

to power and possessions like Herod or will you follow the true king who gave everything

for you? And here's your encouragement as we leave this place. Let the humility of Christ

shape your heart. Give your time, talents and treasures as a gift of worship in and

to him. Let's pray.