Wise Men Still Seek Him
Today going to talk about meeting famous people...
are a lot of famous people mentioned in the Bible
don’t mean famous to us today because important
but people very famous during time they lived
Joseph, after being thrown in a pit and sold into
slavery, he eventually became 2nd in command
over all the land of Egypt. Bible says when he rode
in chariot the people required to bow before him.
Joshua, the man chosen by God to become the
leader of the people of Israel after Moses. In Joshua
6, after conquered Jericho and rescued Rahab and
family, v27 says, “So the Lord was with Joshua, and
his fame was in all the land.”
David, who was the guy who killed Goliath with a
slingshot when he was just a teenager. Then when
he was 30, he became king of Israel and reigned for
40 years. Bible says, “Then the fame of David went
out into all the lands; and the Lord brought the fear
of him on all the nations.”
Solomon, whose wisdom surpassed that of anyone
anywhere, and “his fame was known in all the
surrounding nations.” He was so famous even the
Queen of Sheba wanted to come meet him and
check out where he lived and all the stuff he had.
By the way, the Bible says that the Queen brought
numerous and valuable gifts when she came to meet
Solomon. Apparently that’s a pretty good idea if you
want to meet someone famous and make a good
impression.
Proverbs 18:16 (Good News Translation) “Do you
want to meet an important person? Take a gift, and it
will be a lot easier.”
I imagine most all of us like meeting famous people. And
even if we haven’t met many, we like the idea...
My guess is, a lot of you have much better stories about
famous people you’ve met, but I’m gonna tell you some
of my stories anyway. And if you’re polite, you’ll at
least pretend to be impressed!
10 min, if let me brag, promise make imp spiritual app!
Most famous people met have to do with golf/baseball
Payne Stewart (golf ball) Memphis; caddie Rob
Kenny Perry is a member CofC, I once asked him
Few years ago went to PGA tourn in New Orleans...
One of players we followed was Boo Weekley
Boo is from Milton FL; self-proclaimed redneck who
loves to go hunting for white tail deer
He is known for wearing some kind of camo outfit
when he plays; sponsored by Mossy Oak and even
has own line of clothing for both golf + hunting
had just won first tournament + $1m week before
as imagine pretty upbeat and talking to everyone
on one hole he hits ball + it lands about 3’ from
where I’m standing; ball sitting down in rough, but
says EASY, and holds out club to me
This is Shigeki Maruyama (one of best Japanese
golfers; only one to ever shoot 58 in competitive event)
He comes into the story of this tourn 2nd day went
we had clubhouse passes, which we thought meant
could go into dining room + eat with players + wives
on 2nd day one of guys read fine print; not supposed
but I figured we made it once, might as well try again
“Follow me” + walked up to rope, showed pass,
walked to clubhouse dining room, door was locked!
But on the side of door was Shigeki Maruyama
eating lunch; he saw, stood up, opened door + bowed
Womens Golf: For past several years LPGA has had a
tournament in Mobile at golf course almost in back yard.
Suzanne Petterson at practice green; she won!
Brittany Lincicome who loves to fish
Natalie Gulbis who actually tweeted me back
(Hannah has had several people tweet her back)
Paula Creamer is probably most popular female
Michelle Wie “Thanks for coming to Mobile...”
Moving on to baseball: this is Jake Peavy
Jake was pitcher for San Diego Padres 2002-2009
Traded to Chicago White Sox + been there since
4x all-star, won Gold Glove Award, Cy Young Award
but before that played for minor league Baybears
actually from Mobile and still have a home there
right behind 2nd home we had; unfortunately...
Jake + wife Katie have 3 sons, 1 in Sandy’s K3 class
which is why Jake once spoke at a fundraiser
and why we have this picture of Jake/Andrew/Tyler
and this signed baseball in a case made of real...
By now most of you know we are Braves fans...
This is a view of game from where we used to sit
This is a view from where we now usually sit
This is where we were on Aug 3 when 20 went
You’ll recognize H/T/Caleb; if went know Jacque
Actually if you watch Braves on TV you’ve seen
Jacque prob favorite famous person; we met her
She’s been great famous friend ever since
This is from game on Sept 15 several went w/o me.
Had kidney stone so stuck at home watching on TV.
If you follow Braves or baseball, you know that this
year was the first time MLB decided to have a 1 game
wild card playoff...
Hannah wanted to go, but I knew no way; sold out crowd
over 52k, but Jacque called... SRO tickets, found 3 seats
That game will go down in history for bad call, but also
historic because Chipper Jones’ last game. Some of
employees given exclusive buttons; bless heart
On way Hannah: “I hope see or meet someone famous.”
Country singer Travis Tritt sang National Anthem
Ted Turner (former owner Braves) / Jimmy Carter
Then Jacque pointed out Chipper’s mom+dad+sons
Jacque said next time stood up asked if he’d take pic
Sure enough, here she is
As said, Chipper’s sons Tristin + Shea there; Hannah
wanted pic with them, but Jacque never allowed
After game Jacque arrange leave thru Suntrust Club
Hannah sees Chipper’s dad again; “Hey Grandpa...”
This is Chipper after the game...
Takes us thru halls + then ride in elevator back up
and on elevator was Don Sutton, long time
ballplayer for the Dodgers and hall of fame pitcher,
1989 became broadcaster for the Braves
I decided to voice my opinion as to not being in
favor of the new 1 game playoff format, and he
assured me that he + 52k other fans felt same way
Beside golf + baseball, only other famous thing brag
about is a few concerts attended over last year or so...
just couple of months ago went to concert at Civic
Center, saw Eli Young Band
Little Big Town
Rascal Flatts
by the way, actually not have seats, we stood in the
PIT right next to stage, so caught several guitar picks
and Hannah got several high fives...
The concert I really liked though was when I took
Sandy to see Celtic Woman in Biloxi last year (4thR)
If you ask Sandy she’ll tell you that at one point I
said, “Did you see that? Chloe looked right at me
and smiled.” Sandy: “Well then why don’t you just
walk on up there on stage if you really think she’s
all that interested in you?!” I BACKED DOWN :(
And then this past February, I went to Mobile to get
Hannah, and she and I and John and Marsha went to
Atlanta to see them perform
this is view from balcony
This is view from where Hannah and I sat
During 1 song, Lisa Lambe sat on rail right behind us
Finally, I don’t know if my ancestors came over on the
Mayflower, but they do go pretty far back.
Related to Daniel Boone (famous American pioneer
back in 1700s); my 6 great grandfather
Sandy really is royalty; Pocahontas (often referred to
as indian princess born 1595 saved life of John Smith)
This may be the picture you’re more familiar with.
That’s all the famous people I know (or pretend to
know). As I said, I pretty sure a lot of you know a lot
more famous and important people than I do.
Thank you for letting me brag about some of the special
memories in my life...
I shared all this for 3 reasons:
1. to hopefully entertain you just a little bit
2. (More importantly) to remind all of us not to get
overly caught up in this fame thing
Don’t get me wrong: I love knowing some of the
special people I know, and I’m thankful for the fun
memories I have. And I’m glad you have some too...
But if you’re thinking that your life would be so much
better if you were famous, or if you were best friends
with someone who is famous, I think there’s a good
chance you could be wrong. [which brings me to #3]
3. (Most importantly) to tell you about the one
and only person you really need to know
As exciting as it might be to know some of the really
famous people in our world, there is really only one
person that really matters.
Only one person who you really need to know.
This one person is more famous, and certainly far more
important, than any other person you will ever meet!
We all have stories we like to share about the time we
saw someone special / famous / important. This
morning I want to tell you a story about the most
important person you could ever come to know.
And this story is as real and true as you can get! I know
it’s true because I have read it in a book I believe to be
inspired by God’s Holy Spirit Himself. And I want to
read that story to you now.
Be turning to Matthew chapter 2... Here the Bible
tells us about the most famous and the most important
person ever to walk on this earth...
In Matthew ch 2 we’re going to read about some of
the first people to ever meet Him.
I want you to take all this meeting famous people stuff
I’ve been talking about and use it to better appreciate
this story.
I want you to think about the thrill of meeting
someone you’ve always wanted to meet, someone
you’ve heard about for a long time, someone so special
it makes feel overwhelmed with excitement.

Matthew 2:1-12
Wise men went looking for the most famous person in
all of history, and they found Him.
The Readers’ Digest once asked this question: What
would have happened if there had been three wise
women instead of three wise men who went looking
for Jesus? They suggested that if there had been three
wise women:
1.
They would have asked for directions locally instead
of going all the way to King Herod.
2. They would have arrived on time and helped deliver
the baby.
3. They would have cleaned the stable and brought
something practical for the family to eat – like a
casserole.
4. And there might have actually been peace on earth!
As you probably know, the Bible doesn’t really tell us
how many wise men there were, nor does it really tell us
all that much about them. All the Bible tells us is that
they came from the East to Jerusalem.
In the 2nd century, a church scholar named Tertullian
suggested that these men were kings because the Old
Testament had predicted that kings would come to
worship the Christ.
He also concluded that there were three kings based on
the number of gifts mentioned, gold, frankincense and
myrrh.
Whether there was one person per gift or not, what is
important is they brought some very costly gifts to
Jesus. They gave Him the very best that they had.
Gold indicated Kingship. What is more fitting than gold
for a King?!
Frankincense was an ingredient used by the priests in
temple worship to blend with the smell of the
sacrifices. Frankincense was brought to symbolize
worship of the one true King.
And then Myrrh. This is kind of a strange gift to give a
baby or a child. It appears to be some kind of an oil or
ointment. But here’s the strange part, or at least would
seem strange if we didn’t know the rest of the story.
You see, in Jesus’ time, people used Myrrh to embalm
their dead. It may have started with the Egyptians as
they used it in wrapping + preserving human mummies.
Most people would consider that a most thoughtless gift
for a baby shower. But not for this baby. You see,
these wise men knew that Jesus was born to die.
Hebrews 10:10 “By this we have been sanctified (made
holy) through the offering (sacrifice) of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all.”
1 Peter 2:24 “He Himself bore our sins in His body on
the cross, that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”
Myrrh reminds us that, as exciting as it was for Jesus to
be born, the reason He came was to die. To die a
terrible death on a cross – so that He could bring all of
us into a marvelous new relationship with God.
I want to tell you one other thing about these wise
men, and then we’ll close..
In the eyes of the Jewish people to whom Matthew
wrote his Gospel, these wise men had two strikes
against them.
The 1st strike against them was that they were
Gentiles – Persians to be precise. The Jews relished
in the thought that they (and they alone) were
God’s chosen people. And the wise men didn’t fit!
The 2nd strike against them might have been even
worse. Most scholars contend that these wise men
were actually (at least in part) astrologers. And
astrology was expressly forbidden – on pain of
death – in the laws of the OT. (see Dt 18:9-14)
So why did God reveal himself to astrologers?
I think the answer is simple: Because they were seeking
after Jesus!
God had actually prophesied over a millenium earlier
by (of all people) Balaam the prophet when he said in
Numbers 24:17 – referring to Jesus: “I see Him, but not
now; I behold Him, but not near. A Star will come out
of Jacob; and a scepter will rise out of Israel.”
And we read it right here in Matthew 2:2; they
said: “We saw His star in the east, and we have come to
worship Him.”
God revealed Jesus to them because they were seeking
after Him. They sought Christ out to worship him.
And I think God will always honor a person who is
filled with that genuine desire to seek after the Lord.
So here’s the title of the lesson; it’s the saying you’ve
heard many times before...
Wise Men Still Seek Him
INV: Do you know my Jesus? Whatever your needs...