Worship in the Waiting 2020 Advent Series
Have your kids done this? Have they asked you to recount the same story over and over? Mine have. They come with a wistful sparkle in their eyes asking “Momma can you tell me when you adopted me/when you and Daddy fell in love/when I was born?” They are delighted to hear it again and again. It’s as if this time is the first time when you see their animated expressions throughout the arch of your family’s little story. Eventually, it becomes so well known that they correct you when you forget a detail or they finish your sentences when you get to the best parts.
Isn’t this exactly what we do during advent? As Christmas draws near, we recite the elements of God’s big story in the story of a one-of-a-kind baby that was promised long ago. Our hearts yearn to hear, once again, the unwed young woman, the angel’s visit, Mary’s song of praise, the shepherds awakened, the heavenly choir, and the rush of shepherds to see the baby lying in a manager. Each gospel writer tells the story from a different perspective, adding details as if they are all peering at different facets of the same precious jewel. They call us to make much of God by remembering the story. It’s a story that echoes with who he is and what He has done.
In his book Delighting in God, A.W. Tozer states “It is simply not enough to know about God. We must know God in increasing levels of intimacy that lifts us up above reason and into the world of adoration and praise.” When we consider the Christmas story, the birth of Jesus, many of us know it well. Tozer is challenging us to not just know the Christmas story, but to know, intimately, our God who is the key player in the story. When we know Him and not just facts about Him, adoration and praise flow from us. Like a champagne bottle, shaken up, and uncorked, we cannot help but burst into worship. It is the outcome of deep knowledge of God. Our kids do it too with our family stories. At first, they simply listen, but as the years pass their intimate knowledge expresses itself in delight that cannot help but well up and burst out of them in exclamations of “This is my favorite part!” or the addition of details they don’t want to forget. May we all approach the Christmas story this very way! This is advent worship: remembering and retelling the story of Christmas with delight in our hearts that bursts forth in praise.
Read Luke 2:8-20. As you do, mine this passage for knowledge about who God is and what He has done.
“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”
What kind of picture does this story within the bigger story of the Bible paint of who God is? First, we see God as the initiator in His relationship with us. He keeps pursuing us. It is He who sends angels to tell the Shepherds what has happened. We also see Him initiating relationship with us, as Philippians 2:7 describes, when He was “born in the likeness of men”, becoming like us so that we may be more easily receptive to Him. Second, coming in the form of a human baby shows his desire to be approachable. All I can think of is the Genie in Aladdin when he says, “Phenomenal cosmic powers…itty-bitty living space.” God is like that: all-powerful, eternal, limitless, and yet, He is packed into the body of a human baby. This is amazing because He deserves more, but He chooses humility in order to reach our hearts. The Philippians 2 passage goes on to express it this way, “though he was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.” Thirdly, God is knowable. Just as the Shepherds listened and learned, and sought & found Jesus, we can too. We may not have a message to delivered to us in person by angels from God, but we do have a whole book where God reveals Himself to us. Fourthly, God is still worthy of our worship. We see this depicted in both the angels’ worship of Him, and the shepherds. Lastly, we learn that God is faithful. The angelic announcement essentially told the shepherds that what was previously promised in Old Testament passages, like Jeremiah 23 & Micah 5, had come to pass. What He said He would do, He has done. The Messiah is here, and He is born in the city and from the lineage of David as was foretold.
Let’s wrap up with a concluding thought. Worship is remembering The Story, the one truest story, reciting it over and over, preaching it to our own hearts. Worship is declaring to one another again and again. Worship is not just knowing facts about Him by heart. Repeating the story spurs us on to know Him deeply, by heart. Knowing Him by heart looks like being inclined to His ways in our will, emotions, intellect, and decisions. Knowing Him by heart produces authentic praise, praise that cannot help but resound in our hearts, pour out of lips and into the lives around us.
Questions for Reflection
1. Read through the Luke passage again. Make a list of who God is (character) and what He has done (works) in the story.
2. How does the account of Jesus’ birth connect to the Old Testament? Why is the birth of Jesus necessary for the gospel?
3. Spend 5 minutes in worship/praise of God from your study.
Click the button below for a corresponding video on how to remember the story as a family:
*Resources used for reference: www.blueletterbible.org (Including, Strong’s, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, Thayer’s Greek Lexicon) and the ESV Bible translation.