A pastor and his wife were driving to visit Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas.
Their daughter asked the inevitable question, “Are we almost there?”
The father said, “No, we are still 150 miles away.”
She asked, “Well, how long is that?”
“Well, honey, it’s about three more hours.”
She didn’t say anything for a few moments as she thought about what three hours must be.
She leaned forward from the back seat to the front, making sure she could see her mother’s face and said, “Mommy, is that as long as one of Daddy’s sermons?”
Today won’t be one of those sermons but it is important that on this day we stop and talk about the meaning of this season. What really happened on that day. Too many times when we think of Christmas we simply think of a baby in a manger, but of course we really it was so much more than than because the baby was so much more than that. He was our God and He came down to be with us. That is the whole meaning of this season, that we take the time to celebrate what He did for us, that He is with us still today, because He came to be with us then. I love how John the Evangelist put it in his gospel. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” What a great description of who God is and what a great thing to celebrate.
Here at Madison we’ve dubbed this particular Christmas as a “Season of Worship.” We’ve been looking at how the attitude of worship is reflected in the lives and actions of the people in the Christmas story. Because that is what worship really is. Worship is not limited to singing or playing music, worship is our all that is within me response to all that God is, and says and does. When we really worship it impacts our lives and our actions.
Today we are going to be looking at a familiar passage Luke 2:1-7, “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
How would we respond if we could be transported to that time and that place? What would it be like to see what they felt, to see what they saw? In my heart the overwhelming response when I imagine it is adoration. The kind of love that drops you to your knees in silence as you are overwhelmed with emotion and feeling. Think about what adoration is. Adoration is defined as a feeling of profound love and admiration. That is what I picture feeling that day, and again it is an act of worship. Perhaps it is the most common picture of worship, but it should not be the only one. You see we don’t always respond in the same what because God doesn’t always come to us in the same way and we aren’t always seeing Him in the same way.
One of the images that we’ve been looking at is the picture of God in the temple in Isaiah 6. When the prophet saw God the Lord was high and lifted up, He was so immense and so powerful that the train of His robe filled the entire temple. When Isaiah saw it, He cried out, “Woe is me I am ruined.” It was the response of worshipper because he saw God for who He really is and Isaiah realized the difference between himself and God. The great thing about this picture is that when the prophet was broken in confession, God didn’t leave him there. God sent an angel to restore him. It is a different picture of how God comes to us and it required a different response.
The beauty of Christmas is that ultimately God Himself came to us, because ultimately He was the only one who could pay the price for our sins. So the one who is high and lifted up came down to the manger as a baby so that he could be crucified for our sins and then step out of the grave having conquered sin and death so that He could give us the ultimate gift, eternal life with Him. God comes to us in different ways and so we come to Him in different ways. Let’s look at a few of the ways we come to God as seen in the Christmas story.
The shepherds came in excitement. Why wouldn’t they be excited, I mean in the darkness of night first one angel tells them what God is doing and then an entire choir of angels sing to them about it. Think of the sight they saw. I mean usually when one angel shows up to speak to a person they have to start with saying, “fear not.” Because angels are immense beings of incredible power. These shepherds didn’t just see one angel they were serenaded by an entire choir, and yes they sang. Worship isn’t just singing, but sometimes it definitely is singing. It is a joyful response to what God is doing. It is the overflow of a grateful heart. Look at what Luke 7:15 says, “When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Hopefully this is a response that we can all relate to. Not to being serenaded by a choir of angels, although that would be cool, but to a time when God has moved in your life in such a way that you simply can’t contain it, you have to tell somebody about it and you have to do something about it.
I was sharing with the guys at lunch on Friday. A few years back one of my childhood friends mothers was in the last stages of cancer. We boys have been friends since 3rd grade and she was one of those parents who always opened her house to us. She wasn’t a Christian and we had shared with her over they years. Now at the end as my friend visited her in the hospital she was finally willing to listen. I know it’s cramming for a final but that’s the beauty of God’s grace. Being the pastor of the group my friend called me to see if I could come out and share with her. But I was tied up and couldn’t not get out that day. I told him you’re a deacon in your church, you share with her and pray with her. He said, “I don’t know how.” I coached him through a simple outline. He called me up a couple of hour’s later. She had prayed with him to accept Christ as her savior. He was so excited that he didn’t just tell me, he was telling everybody. Sometimes God moves in ways that we have to respond to Him with excitement and joy.
Then there is the story of the wise men. The wise men came with obedience. The guys that we think of as the “wise men” were really “magi.” They were part of a priestly caste that studied the stars. When they saw the star that God sent to proclaim the coming of Christ they felt that it was a command, that they had to go and see Him. That is what they were speaking about in Matthew 2:2, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews. We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” It was an act of obedience but even more amazing is that this was consistent obedience. They came to Israel following God’s star but then they continued to be obedient. When God sent them an angel and told them to go back by a different way they did it. It doesn’t sound that remarkable, sitting in church. We’re surrounded by people we believe to be Christians, and all of us have a level of religion. We know we are supposed to be obedient and do what God says. It’s so easy to say that now. The problem is that when the service is over and we go out there. Then it get hard. But obedience is a measure of worship. The decisions you make are a result of what your focus is. Is your focus on your or God, your decisions will answer that question. May be be obedient like the wise men were, not just at the beginning of the story but all the way through.
Finally Mary and Joseph came in prayer. Especially Mary did. Most people don’t pray enough until after they are in trouble from that point of view it’s kinda interesting that her problems didn’t start until after the angel came and told her what was to come. Even more interesting is that her response in prayer is to be thankful for what God was doing. We read part of her prayer in Luke 1, “Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.’” She knew it would be a sacrifice but that the blessing to come was bigger than the sacrifice that was required. We see this same character in Joseph. Even before he had an answer from God he was acting in a manor consistent with the character of God. That is why Matthew notes that he made the decision that he did because he was a righteous man. Prayer is an act of worship. It is the effort to stop and acknowledge that God is the one who can help us and then asking Him to do so. Even more than the active part of prayer is the passive part of prayer. The time that we take waiting for an answer from God. It doesn’t always come in our time, but when we ask God will answer. We need to seek Him, and then be willing to take the time to listen to Him and the do what he says.
Those are some of the ways that we come to God. We see all of them in the Christmas story and hopefully in our lives as well. These are some of the marks of a true worshipper. But God also comes to us. That is the story of Christmas, the beauty of Immanuel, God with us. How amazing is it that God wants to be with us. You know those times when you do something wrong, those times when you are confronted with all of the faults that we all try to keep covered up and you think, man no one could ever love me if they really knew me, no one would want to be with me if they really knew me. But no one knows you better than god, not even you. God knows exactly who you are, He’s known you since before you were born and He’s known me since before I was born, and He still wants to be with us. Not just as a baby 2,000 years ago, but right now He wants to be a part of your life and mine.
To understand how amazing that is, just think about who He is. See God has come in the big things. If you ever want to see how big God is, just go to Isaiah 40 and start reading for a while. Look at what God says in Isaiah 40:12, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor?...Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.”
God is big, He moves in the big things. There is nothing in your life that is too big for Him to handle. As we discussed last week, even if the earth were to fall away, God will still be there and still be able to save. God is big, He comes in the big things sometimes.
But God is also in the small things. When Elijah ran from Ahab and Jezebel, God sent him to mount Horeb, then God sent the wind, and fire and an earthquake, but God wasn’t in any of those things, God was in the whisper, in the still small voice. During the time Isaiah, God could have used any number of things to call Israel back to obedience, but he used a man to warn them. Isaiah wrote in 49, “Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name.” God could have chosen anything to move in but He chose to move in the prophet. He could have come to earth as anything, but He chose to come as the step-son of a carpenter. He launched His invasion into Satan’s territory in the form of a baby. Too many times we are looking for God to move in the big things, and He is moving in the small things.
If you’re waiting for God to speak in your life, here is a good place to start, read your Bible. It doesn’t seem profound, and it isn’t complicated, but it is awesome. When you are reading through the scripture and you come to a verse and you realize that God has given you the promise or comfort that the verse contains. But there is also this, talk with other Godly people and listen to them. God speaks to His people and through His people. One of the best reasons to be a part of a church is so that when the struggles of life come you have Godly people to talk to. People who will not necessarily give you the answer that you want to hear, but who will give you the answer that God has for you.
That is a double edged sword though, because it’s not just that God will speak to you through Godly people, but also that God wants to use you to speak to other people. We need to be praying for God to show us the people that He is putting in our path to share His grace with. But it is not enough to pray, we need to be actively looking for the opportunities and then sharing when the time come. The Gospel message is so simple, God loves you, He died to pay the price for all of your sins, and mine, and if you will just ask Him to forgive you and be a part of your life He will.
It is a simple message but it is one that the world needs to hear, and the ones that God has chosen to send the message is us. It is our job. What is at stake? Eternity? Either you spend it with God or you spend it apart from God. It is our job to let people know that they even have a choice. See God comes in the big things, He comes in the small things, but no matter how God come it is always personal. Your eternity matters. People say, “It’s not personal it’s business.” But everyone who’s ever been on the wrong side of business decision will tell you it’s really personal. Guess what eternity is more. It’s personal and God is a personal God.
Here is what is amazing to me the God who marked off the oceans, the God who measured the Heavens, wants to know you and I. he wants to spend time with us. Look at what He says in Isaiah 57:15, in the midst of answering His challengers and telling Israel that there is no one like Him. In the midst of all of that we find this verse. “For this is what the high and lofty One says - he who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.”
What an awesome promise, when you are broken, when your spirit is low, God wants to be with you. It doesn’t get any more personal than that. It’s not just that God gives us a mission, because first He gave us the greatest gift of all which is a relationship with Him. Worship helps us not only to respond to Him but to appreciate the blessing. See true worship is more than a feeling. Feelings come and go, but God doesn’t. Psalms 46 says that He is an ever present help in time of trouble. God is there, He is always there, we can count on Him. We can turn to Him not just in prayer but in faith. When times our difficult. When things seem bad you can turn you focus to Him and know that He is there. Not as some being way up in the sky, but as the God who came down to be with you.
True worship is more than a feeling because true worship changes you. When we begin to respond to God and all that He is and does we begin to see things differently. The distance that we put between us and God is remove because we realize that He paid the price to remove it years ago. The result is that we come to love Him. Worship is expressed in all of the things that we have said, but ultimately there is adoration, there is profound love, because that is what God has given us, profound love. He loves us in a way that we can not express and paid a price for us that we can not understand. He did it out of love, and when we come to know Him and to walk with Him, the result is that we begin to feel the same love for Him that He has already expressed for us.
We come to God in different ways. The how is not important but the action is. The story is about shepherd who was a youth on that first Christmas night. And now he is old and as his grandson sits on his knee he recalls that night, "A long, long time ago, when I was a little more than a boy, I was out on the Judean hills one night with some other shepherds, keeping watch over the flock. And an angel of the Lord came upon us and the glory of the Lord shone roundabout us. And we were very afraid. But the angel said, "fear not... for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord... you shall find the baby in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
When he had said this the old man’s lips quivered and ceased to move and there was silence. Then the grandson turns and looks with wide, puzzled eyes into his grandfathers face and says, " But, grandfather is that all? What did you do when you heard the good news? Was what the angel said really true? Was the Christ child ever really born?"
The old shepherd sadly shakes his white head and answers, " I never knew. I never went to see. Some say that it is all a myth. Others say they found in Him, the light of God and the power for life. But for me I could never be quite sure. Because I never did go to see."
