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It's a great story isn't it? The story of the Magi coming from the East to Jerusalem. Think of the ridicule they must have faced when they saw a star and interpreted that star. They saw a star and went in search of Jerusalem to Worship the King of the Jews. The wonderful imagery of the story. A light drawing people to what is the true light. An event prophesied by Isaiah. We enjoyed the Old Testament reading from Isaiah chapter 60. Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. Read from Isaiah 60. Draw attention to verse 6. Note both bearing gifts as in Matthew and also proclaiming the praise of the Lord. The whole energy of both scriptures is the excitement and the wonder of the light. The exhortation from Isaiah 60 that we should arise and shine that we should be drawn in to this Worship. Note from Ephesians the epistle reading for today "in him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence" Before Christmas we thought about preparing for the coming of Jesus. Now having celebrated his birth we think of worshipping him; our first and most important response to God. The Church if it is not a worshipping Church is nothing. We may be drawn to worship Jesus for a whole number of reasons. But do we actually Worship? What is Worship? There are two main Hebrew words for Worship. The first literally means a bowing down - a prostration before God as a sign of profound respect and humility This aimed to lead people to an immediate and a deeper awareness of the holiness of God and of the sinfulness of man "oh come up, let us Worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our maker! For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand" Psalm 95 In 2 Kings 17: 36 God made a covenant with his people saying to them: "You shall fear the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm; you shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice" And when Jehoshaphat was encouraged by the prophetic word concerning the Lords victory in the forthcoming battle "Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshipping the Lord" In the New Testament, too, there is a frequent link between "bowing down" or "falling down" and worshipping of the Lord e.g. Matthew 2:11, 4: 9 Always we need to spend time humbly realising the greatness and holiness of our God before we can begin to offer him our praise and thanksgiving. We must first be still, in silent adoration, and know that he is God. The second Hebrew word for Worship means service. Thus true worship involves not only praising God with our lips, but also serving him with our lives. This combination is expressed in Psalm 116: 16 "0 Lord I am thy servant; I am thy servant, the son of thy handmaiden. Thou hast loosened my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord" It is the response to God. Thus effectively it is God himself who will initiate Worship. Our Worship is simply a response to all that God has shown us of himself. Indeed until the spirit of truth reveals to us the nature and activity of God, we cannot truly Worship him at all. Jesus said "God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" John 4: 24 True worship must be firmly based on the nature and revelation of God and on his creative and redemptive acts. And what about the Greek word the commonest word for Worship proskuneo means "I come towards to kiss" there has to be an intimacy with God to have this true Worship. Think about Paul and Silas dragged into the market place brought before magistrates stripped and beaten and thrown into prison they were put into the inner cells and their feet were fastened into the stocks. However we find Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns and suddenly a violent earthquake releases them. What else clean about Worship? Well it involves sacrifice. David once said "I'll not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing" 2 Samuel 24: 24 Paul in Romans 12: 1 "I appeal to you therefore, brethren, but the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, Holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual Worship" The idea of living sacrifice would have been especially striking to any Jew, who was familiar with dead sacrifices being offered up to God. It meant the total and unreserved surrender of life to God. In Paul's mind there was nothing vague about this. It involved being constantly transformed into the likeness of Christ, and totally committed to the body of Christ, offering every God given spiritual gift for the benefit of the whole. True Worship is at a cost. This is something that still needs to be learned on a day when we are all in danger of taking church-going lightly. When we only go to Church if it's easy; if the Church is near, if the choir is good, if the preacher is approved, if the congregation is socially acceptable, if the weather isn't bad, if friends haven't dropped in for a visit, and if any of 101 other things haven't stopped us. CT Studd once said "if Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him" There is also the sacrifice of our praise Hebrews 13: 16 through him (Jesus) let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name" We need to look at this carefully, as the music and singing in our churches are not always expressions of true Worship. The Jews had three main words for praise: halal, which is to do with "making a noise"; zamar, which describes the singing or playing of music; and yada, which refers to bodily actions and gestures which often accompany praise. So first we have "making a noise" "Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; seen the glory of his name six; give to Him glorious praise!" Psalm 66 Singing has always been a basic ingredient of praise Jesus sang a hymn with his disciples at the Last Supper. I have already referred to Paul and Silas singing hymns at midnight in jail at Philippi. Paul often wrote about the importance of singing within the fellowship of the church. "When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson...." in a similar vein, he urged the Colossians to "sing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God" "Playing an instrument" Psalm 150 alone speaks of trumpet, lute, harp, timbrel, strings and pipe, and loud clashing cymbals. Elsewhere we read of the psaltery, sackbut, dulcimer, flute, organ, horn, cornet, bells and tabret. In other words of virtually any instrument can be used in praise of God. And what of "moving the body" David danced before the Lord with all his might as the Ark of God was brought in to Jerusalem (even though his wife despised him for doing so - are we prevented from fully giving ourselves to the worship of God for fear of others despising us?) The psalmist exhorted God's people to "praise his name with dancing" Psalm 149 We must not forget that the spirit of God is an active spirit a spirit that blows and moves and burns. Is the formal and static nature of much of our Worship in the Church today a reflection on the nature of the spirit of God? Worship is without doubt the total commitment of ourselves towards God and as we see his nature and understand his being they should be an out flowing of admiration. Talk about: good and bad football matches, good and bad music, good and bad Worship. Talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit the vital need for this for any true Worship. Talk about fear-am I going to be like somebody else who I despise or dislike or whose style I don't like all feel comfortable with? God made each one of us as we are and he intends us to be filled with his spirit therefore we will be as we are not as somebody else is. There are different styles of worship. The whole body excitement of the great goal at football. Contrast this with the person listening totally enraptured to classical music fully immersed, in total adoration, totally relaxed and maybe just the minor nod of the head-and probably a relaxed smile. There isn't a correct style of worship there is however a correct attitude of Worship. If my attitude requires me to raise my hands them to not do so stops me worshipping. If I feel constrained by others then maybe they are constraining me. Are we constrained? Are we fearful? Do we worry about what others may think or say? If we all adopt this attitude of Worship - being humble and prostrate before God then we need have no fear. If you are humble before God you cannot judge your neighbour - that attitude of humility does not permit it. You cannot condemn you cannot be condemned. You are free to adopt the style of worship that suits. Have the attitude of Worship and you have the freedom and confidence to come before God If I see others with hands raised but that is not my style then I may be affected by that. What is vital is that both the football supporter style worshipper and the classical music style worshipper are able to worship together recognising that the others need to use their body as part of their whole being worshipping a God. I would like to do two things for me: - Explain why Sing - "I want to worship the Lord." |