Does Christmas move your heart to worship? We love the traditions, the carols, the time with family and friends, the giving and receiving gifts, and the reading of the Christmas story. But is your heart moved to worship?
It is hard to speak of any of the works of God as being more amazing than another, but if one would make a list of the most amazing things, surely the incarnation should be at the top of the list. Stephen Charnock helps us consider just a few of the amazing things that happened in the incarnation, things that should move us to awe filled worship.
“What a wonder is it that two natures infinitely distant should be more intimately united than anything in the world, and yet without any confusion! That the same person should have both a glory and a grief; an infinite joy in the Deity, and an inexpressible sorrow in the humanity; that a God upon a throne should be an infant in a cradle; the thundering Creator be a weeping babe and a suffering man. These are such expressions of mighty power, as well as condescending love, that they astonish men upon earth and angels in heaven.”
What Charnock describes as “astonishing men upon earth and angels in heaven,” is exactly what we see with the announcement of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds in Luke 2:8-20. Consider the worship of the three characters in this account. The worship described in this passage should inform our worship at Christmas and throughout the year.
The Worship of the angels. The incarnation is announced by a heavenly host. What are they doing in this announcement? They’re worshipping. The entrance of the eternal second person of the Trinity into time and space must be announced in such a way that it displays its awesome majesty.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
Luke 2:13-14
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
With the announcement of the angels, we need to see that the spiritual realm worships God for the wonder of the incarnation. The worship of the angels is that worship which has happened for all eternity and at this moment has broken into time and space. As we worship, understand we’re joining in with the eternal song of praise that happens day and night around the throne of God.
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th’angelic hosts proclaim,
”Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
The shepherds worship with their actions. Upon seeing this great angelic sight, the shepherds must go. They said, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” (Lk 2:15). We worship with our words and actions in response to divine truth having been revealed. The shepherds go and see the Christ child, and then Luke records their response after seeing the baby: “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” (Lk 2:20). The Shepherds worship in their going to see the Christ, but it seems that their praise escalates to a whole new level as they have come to see God’s Word fulfilled.
The shepherds inform our worship, as true worship cannot remain silent. Worship must be expressed, for praising what we profess to worship is the consummation of our worship. Not only that, worship will affect our actions. The shepherds went to see the Christ child and then returned to their sheep. On their way back they’re verbally praising God and certainly telling others of what they had seen and heard.
Mary worships by pondering. “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Lk 2:19) Verse 19 stands out because you have a stark contrast between the worship of the angels and shepherds and Mary’s worship. The angelic choir sings and lights up the sky. The shepherds excitedly go to see the Christ child, and then on their return, they boisterously and loudly rejoice over all they’ve seen. But both of these scenes stand in contrast to what seems to be silent worship in the heart and mind of Mary. She treasures up, or preserves, all these things. What things? Well, since Luke was not an eyewitness of these events, Mary would have more than likely shared these details with Luke as he compiled his orderly account (Luke. 1:1-4). Mary would have preserved and treasured and pondered the angelic announcement, first to her and then to the shepherds. She would have preserved in her mind the shepherds being the first to visit the newborn king. Certainly, she would have pondered all of these events as Jesus began his ministry and then when he died on the cross only to rise again from the dead.
Mary’s pondering and treasuring informs our worship. Our worship is according to truth, it is intellectual, as well as emotional. Worship deepens as we consider and meditate and treasure what God has done and what he has revealed it to us.
As we enter Christmas week, let us not forget that Christmas is about worship.