"Worship Fully"

We spend billions of dollars each year hoping that the latest and greatest gift will fulfill us and those we give gifts to. We race around trying to find that perfect gift to express our love because we crave to be loved in return. We shop til we drop so we can finally rest and then we sit in church disconnected from the real story because we’ve become so consumed with materialism that we've drifted too far away from the manger. We find ourselves in the cycle of "You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.”

When Jesus was born, the Bible says that the Magi came to worship him. One way they did this was by bringing Him expensive gifts, but this was not setting a precedent that we should be buying expensive gifts for one another. The Magi did this because it was customary to do so for a king. In fact there were no gifts exchanged. Only three gifts were given directly to Jesus. Except maybe the Magi did receive a gift - the best gift - Jesus as Savior of the world.

We have grown so accustomed to Jesus’ birth narrative, that we have lost sight of the power of the moment. Worship is at the core of Jesus' birth. It’s at the heart of the story and it is something that we must recapture for our contemporary congregations. Does the way we spend our time, money and energy during this season testify that we worship God incarnate, Immanuel or some other god?

We become what we worship. We are all worshippers. Even people who don’t believe in God are still worshippers. It’s been said you can often find out who or what a person worships by taking a look inside their checkbook …or their home. What they spend their money on — or who — is a good indication of what the priorities in their life really are. If we fail to worship God, we always find a substitute even if it ends up being ourselves. This is also a significant issue for the church’s witness in the world.

It is impossible for the church to live prophetically in a consumer culture while simultaneously mimicking that culture’s godlessness. The Old Testament is full of reminders that the followers of God will lose their way if they bow to the gods of the nations around them. “It is therefore imperative to our spiritual formation and the witness of the church that we reclaim the story of advent and learn to celebrate in a way that is consistent with the incarnation of Jesus”. The church’s voice is weakened when we speak of the Lord who came into the world with nothing yet we have hands full of material wealth, bank accounts depleted, and loads of debt.

If we can learn to fully Worship Jesus our King (God), then all other Kingdoms (gods) will fade away. If you were the Magi and you had the opportunity to worship the king, what would you bring? What do you think Jesus would want from you? What will you do to fully worship Jesus? Let’s take our worship of Jesus seriously and begin to desire the same things that move his heart. Let our worship drive us from the enclosure of church walls out into the painful places that cry for God’s liberation.