One of the central themes of Christmas is worship. When Mary entered the house of Elizabeth, she burst into song: My soul magnifies the Lord! Simeon sings that He can depart in peace because his eyes have seen the salvation of the Lord in the infant Jesus. The angel announces the glad tidings to the shepherds, and then a whole army of angels bursts into song: Glory to God in the highest. And then after the shepherds went and found the baby lying in the manger, they return to their flocks glorifying and praising God. And the wisemen, when they found the house where the child was, they came in and fell down and worshipped him, presenting their treasures.
Christmas is all about worship. And so our Christmas hymns agree: O come let us adore Him! Let all mortal flesh keep silence and with fear and trembling stand // Christ our God to earth descendeth, our full homage to demand. Glory to the newborn king! Gloria in excelsis Deo! O ye heights, adore Him! Angel hosts, His praises sing; pow’rs, dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King! Let no tongue on earth be silent, every voice in concert sing! Come and worship, come and worship: worship Christ the newborn King! As with joyful steps they sped to the lowly cradle bed, there to bend the knee before, Him whom Heav’n and earth adore, so may we with willing feet ever seek Thy mercy seat.
The word worship means to fall down, to bow down, to prostrate. In the ancient world, this was literally what subjects did in the presence of their king. This posture represented complete reverence, complete service, complete submission, and often, when there was genuine affection between the subject and the king, it was also heartfelt devotion, loyalty, and love. In the older wedding liturgy, the husband would give his wife a ring and say, “With this Ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow.”
And so, Christmas, rightly understood is an extended Call to Worship. The whole thing, the weeks of Advent leading up to this night are the bells ringing, O Come All Ye Faithful, joyful and triumphant, Come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem: come and behold Him, born the King of angels: O come let us adore Him! Mary sang. Simeon sang. The angels sang. The shepherds praised. The wisemen fell down and worshiped. And so the Call to Worship comes to you. What will you do?
If you are here tonight, you may think: well, I’m here aren’t I? Maybe you go to church every Sunday. You might say, I sing the songs. I kneel down at the confession of sin. But if that was all there was to it, would we really need all these songs, all the festivities, all the gifts, all the food? No. Think about Mary, Simeon, the shepherds, and the wisemen. Notice that all of them are worshipping in the midst of significant interruptions to their lives. Mary is pregnant out of wedlock. Simeon has been waiting many years and is now facing death. The shepherds have left their flocks. The wisemen have traveled far from home. Crisis pregnancy, old age and dying, employment uncertainty, and foreigners far away in strange land. And what are they all doing? They are worshipping.
Despite their circumstances, they have found something more significant, more important, more consuming than everything else. But it’s even more than that. It is actually the child that they are worshiping who has caused the interruptions to their lives. He is the One who has freely come into the world at that moment and burst into their lives. But with the eyes of faith, they are able to see Him as their Lord and King, making all the pain and trouble worth it. It’s like the birth of every baby in this world. It’s painful and bloody and worth it.
So it is with all the trouble in this world, all the pain and heartache. In the Christmas story, Christ comes, bringing all kinds of trials and difficulties and interruptions, and the faithful respond by recognizing Him and worshipping Him. And the same message is now proclaimed to you. Your difficulty, your pain, your uncertainty, your loneliness, your waiting – it is all from the Lord. It is all sent by the King. And so what will you do? Christ is born. The King is come. He rules all things. He has orchestrated every detail of your life: your marriage, your family, your trials, your pain, your situation. The message of the angels is still the message of all gospel preaching: Christ is born. Christ is King. And if you seek Him, you will most certainly find Him.
Herod heard all of this from the wise men, and he said he wanted to worship him. But of course Herod had no intention of worshiping Jesus. He saw Jesus as a threat to his reign, to his kingdom. And when the wisemen didn’t return to tell him where they had found this King, Herod sent and had all the baby boys put to death in Bethlehem. And these really are the only two options: true worship and life or else false worship and murderous destruction.
So what are you doing? You may say you are a worshiper of Christ the King, but are you? Are you growing in peace and joy and obedience? Or are you angry and jealous and stressed? And maybe you say that you want that peace and joy, but you just don’t know how to get it. The answer is this: worship Him. What do I mean? I mean bow down. I mean truly, fully submit everything you are to Him. Tell Him that He is your Lord, your Master, your King. Tell Him that all that you are is His. Tell Him you are His subject, His servant, and that you will humbly accept whatever His assignment is all your days.
The trouble and trials of this life are sometimes sharp and painful, but the heaviest burden of all is fighting against Jesus. As Jesus said to Saul on the road to Damascus: it’s hard for thee to kick against the pricks. So Christmas is all about worship, and by this we mean: bow down. Bend your stiff neck. Kneel down. Fall down. Put your face on the ground. And bring your treasures and present them to the King. Do not hold anything back. What is your gold and frankincense and myrrh? What are you afraid to lose? What are you afraid He might not take away? Lay it down. Lay it all down.
But know this: you are laying it down before the One who was once found by shepherds lying in a manger. Your King has come down. Your King has been born into this world. And when you kneel down in true humility, you find that you have come face to face with your King. You do not serve a King who does not sympathize with you in your weakness. He is a kind and gracious King. He only takes what must be taken so that we might reign with Him. And He only sends the trouble that is required so that we might be born again and live with Him forever. Your King is good, and He ultimately proved it on Calvary; He is worthy of all of your worship. Christ is born. So worship Him.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
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