I. True Worship Centers on God

According to the tradition, the Magi were eastern astrologers. They probably came from Persia. In those days, it would take a long time to travel by camels from the east to Palestine. That would require a lot of efforts on the Magi’s part. Why would the Magi be willing to do that? They had to consider it worthy of their efforts to pay homage to Jesus. And they came to Jerusalem, neither for sightseeing, nor to visit King Herod, but to worship Jesus.

The English word “worship” is a combination of 2 words “worth” and “ship.” It implies that the person we worship has the honor and the worth as the object of our worship.

Only God has the honor and the worth as the object of our worship. We come to Sunday service, neither to meet friends, nor to have fellowship, nor to hear the speaker’s message. We come to Sunday service for a purpose—and one purpose only—to worship God.

What are my purpose and your purpose in attending Sunday service? To fulfill our membership duty? To meet friends? To hear the message? Or to worship God?

II. True Worship Involves Our Whole Being

Verse 11a says, “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.” The Magi’s action of bowing down before baby Jesus shows that true worship involves our whole being.

According to the oriental culture, bowing down is a gesture of homage given to a king. When the Magi came to visit Jesus, they believed that Jesus was the king of the Jews. Their action of bowing down showed their reverence and homage to Jesus.

In the original language, worship indeed means to prostrate oneself in reverence and homage. As our God is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, when we worship him, we must prostrate ourselves in reverence and homage. So worship is not just singing praises or saying prayers with our lips; worship involves our whole being: our hearts, our minds, and even our bodies.

When the Magi saw baby Jesus, they bowed down and worshiped him. In our worship of God, have we prostrated ourselves—may be not with body, but at least with mind and with spirit—in reverence and homage?

III. True Worship Includes Our Offering

Verse 11b says, “Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.” This shows that true worship includes our offering.

The gifts that the Magi offered—gold, incense, and myrrh—were all very expensive items in Jesus’ time. They were the gifts normally offered to a king. By offering these precious gifts to Jesus, the Magi demonstrated their sincerity in paying homage to Jesus.

Nevertheless, as God is the Creator of the universe, he does not lack anything. God has said, “I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it” (Ps. 50:9-12)

The reason we give monetary offering to God is not because God lacks money. Our monetary offering is just a token to express our gratitude to God for what he has given to us. It is a tangible way to show our hearts to God. Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21).

Jesus had commended the poor widow’s offering of two very small copper coins, not because of the amount of money she offered, but because of her heart. Because she “out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4).

It is said, “You can give without love, but you cannot love without giving.” “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16a). God’s love toward us is demonstrated through his gifts to us, so shall be our love toward God. If we truly love God, naturally we would give our monetary offering to God willingly and generously. Our monetary offering is an indicator of our love toward God.

IV. True Worship Requires Our Obedience

Verse 12 says, “And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” The Magi's obedience shows that true worship requires our obedience.

The Magi learned from the star that the king of the Jews was to be born, so they came to Jerusalem. When King Herod heard about their quest, he was disturbed. By checking with the chief priests and teachers of the law, he learned that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. So he called the Magi and sent them to Bethlehem to search for the child and to report back to him, in order that he could kill this king of the Jews to be.

With the guidance of the star, the Magi went to Bethlehem and found Jesus. But they were warned in a dream by God not to go back to King Herod. The Magi obeyed God rather than King Herod. So they returned to their country by another route.

Jesus once presented the parable of the two sons (Matt. 21:28-31). The father asked the first son to work in the vineyard. The first son answered, “I will not,” but later he changed his mind and went. The father also asked the second son the same thing. The second son answered, “I will,” but he did not go. Which son pleased the father? Of course, it was the first son who obeyed the father in action.

True worship requires our obedience. The Bible says, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22). The real test of our hearts to God is not how our worship service is conducted, nor what our gestures in worship are, and not even how much money we offer. The real test of our hearts to God is how much we have obeyed his words in our lives. Therefore, true worship is not just our lip service or outward performance, but our obedience in daily living.

The way the Magi worshipped baby Jesus provides us with a model of true worship. Our worship must center on God. Our worship must involve our whole being. Our worship must include our offering. And our worship must match with our obedience. This kind of worship truly honors God. May our worship honor God as did that of the Magi.