13 December, 1998
INTRODUCTION
You have probably noticed that there is a reoccurring theme that runs through the most, if not all, of the Christmas hymns that we sing. It is the same theme that also reoccurs throughout the narratives surrounding the announcement of and birth of Christ. That theme is worship. Over and over again we are called to worship the newborn king. Over and over again, those who witnessed and were part of the nativity account, worshipped, praised and glorified God. Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah, the Shepherds, the Magi and even the heavenly host who appeared to the shepherds all gave exclamations of worship and glory to God in the highest.
And shouldn't that be our response and attitude, especially at this time of the year? Shouldn't we be a people who are not so caught up in all that we are caught up in that we neglect to worship the Lord of glory.
I would venture to say that we have a lot to learn about worship. I will also go out on a limb to say that, for many, what is done on a given Sunday morning is not worship but is merely going through the motions of going to church. I believe that we all have a lot to learn about what it means to genuinely worship God.
I believe that those we read about in the nativity narratives found themselves expressing hearts of genuine worship and I believe we can learn from them what it means to worship God and what it is that prompts genuine worship. And to do that we will begin with the Song of Mary of Luke 1:46-55.
Background
Mary's song, which is known as "The Magnificat" is certainly a song and heart-felt expression of worship. It is a song that is filled with Old Testament poetry and references and particularly resembles the Song of Hannah found in 1 Samuel chapter 2.
When you carefully read the words of Mary's song, it is not hard to see what it was that prompted her to offer such an expression of worship. Maybe we could learn a lot from this teenage peasant girl as to what should be prompting us to genuine, heart-felt worship.
The first thing I see here that prompted Mary to worship God was....
1. A Life Changing Experience With God - 1:46-48
Mary certainly had a unique experience with God. As a matter of fact, God had intervened in her life like He never had before and unlike He has intervened in anyone else's life in the pages of history. And even though it was an angel of the Lord that had spoken to her and told her what was to come, it was God who had met her in a real way. It is assumed that by the time she offers this song of worship, the Holy Spirit and the Christ-child had been conceived. In other words, the Holy Spirit had come upon her in a way He had not come upon anyone else. And her life would never be the same. And it was that life changing experience with God that prompted her to genuinely worship God.
When you experience God the way Mary did, as the others in the nativity narrative did, you cannot help but surrender your heart to God the way Mary did. Mary's words to the angel of the Lord, "May it be to me as you have said" is certainly that - total surrender and submission. And that is the essence of worship.
William Barclay states that "true worship is when man, through his spirit, attains to friendship and intimacy with God. Genuine worship does not consist in coming to a certain place nor in going through certain rituals or liturgy nor even in bringing certain gifts. True worship is when the spirit, the immortal and the invisible part of man speaks to and meets with God, (who) Himself is immortal and invisible."
Worship is something that is sometimes hard to measure. And so often we tend to do just that - measure a person's worship by the manner in which they worship. But worship is certainly more than just singing a hymn or a chorus. Anyone can sing a hymn or a chorus and not worship. And sadly, many are measured by that standard. Worship certainly does include songs, hymns and spiritual songs but worship is a matter of the heart and that is something that none of us can see. Worship is also way of life and that is something that will be obvious.
Certainly we should involve ourselves in genuine worship with the family of believers as we gather together. But it goes much more beyond that.
And when we are a people who genuinely worship God with all that we are, it will be something we continue to do even after the benediction is announced. Because it is with the heart of a person that has had a life changing experience with God that God will be truly worshipped - whether we are sitting in the pew or sitting behind a desk at the office or driving down the expressway on your way to your job. When you have had a life changing experience with God, your life will be God focused - and that is what worship is.
Mary's life was as God-focused as it gets. And that came as a result of this life-changing experience with God and that is what prompted her to worship in the presence of Elizabeth and probably even after she went on her way.
2. An Awareness of What God Has Done - 1:49
Let's consider what the "Mighty One" had done for Mary:
In other words, God had already done such a work of grace in her life regardless of her social status or even spiritual status. He had done in her and for her that which she realizes she did not deserve. Mary was a young, peasant girl who was not all that significant in the society in which she lived - and yet God chose her to bring Himself into this world.
I like how Max Lucado defines worship in his book In the Eye of the Storm: "Worship is when you're aware that what you've been given is far greater than what you can give. Worship is the awareness that were it not for His touch, you'd still be hobbling and hurting, bitter and broken. Worship is the half-glazed expression on the parched face of the desert pilgrim as he discovers that the oasis is not a mirage. Worship is the 'thank you' that refuses to be silenced. Worship is the voluntary act of gratitude offered by the saved to the Savior, by the healed to the Healer, and by the delivered to the Deliverer. And if you and I can go days without feeling an urge to say 'thank you' to the One who saved, healed and delivered us, then we'd do well to remember what He did." (Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm, p. 225)
Let me point you to a few people we read about in the gospels who had a life changing experience with God and had a real awareness of what God had done in their lives and let's see how they responded:
The Paralytic - Matthew 9:1-8
The Disciples - Matthew 14:22-33
The Widow of Nain - Luke 7:11-16
Genuine worship comes from the awareness that God has done a work that is beyond any human capability. It comes from the awareness that "nothing is impossible with God" and how He has done the "impossible" in your life. And that is what I believe prompted Mary and these others to genuine worship.
3. A Certainty of What God Is Going to Do - 1:34-38, 45, 46-49
We have already considered certain parts of Mary's response to the angel's message to her - specifically that of her question, "How will this be since I am a virgin." And as I have already pointed out, this was not a question of doubt but a question of how. Mary was fully aware and certain of the coming Messiah and she accepted the word to her that she would be the agent by which the Messiah would come into the world. By the time she visited Elizabeth, it had obviously sunk in what God was going to do in and through her life:
Consider with me two other people in the nativity narrative that was prompted to praise God because of their confidence in what God was going to do:
Zechariah - Luke 1:67-75
Simeon - Luke 2:28-32
All of these were prompted to give God all the glory because they had a life changing experience with God and because they were confident in what God was going to do.
Do you realize what God is going to do?
Does the realization of all that do anything for you? It should! When our confidence is in the Lord and what He is able to do and is actually going to do in this world and even in our lives, I believe we must give Him all the glory. And I believe that genuine worship will come from the heart and life of a person who is confident of what God is going to do.
4. An Awareness that God Works Through Weakness - 1:48-50
Mary was just a young peasant girl from a town in a remote corner of the country that had no reputation of religion or learning. She had little, if any, formal education, and was most likely "uncultured." And yet, God had chosen her to bring forth into this world, the Messiah. And it was this realization that ignited her heart to genuine worship.
And consider the shepherds. Even though the shepherds had a very significant job, that of keeping watch over the sheep that would used in the temple offerings, they were very often not trusted and considered to be wild. And yet God came to them first with the news of the birth of the Messiah. And in response to that good news, they gave all glory to God.
Why is it that God chooses to use people of such insignificance and weakness?
So that it will be obvious that it is Him! That it is His power! His grace! His enabling! That it is all Him! God works through weak vessels so that no one claim any credit other than God.
When we come to grips with the fact that we are those weak vessels that God uses to accomplish His purpose, it should humble us to a point of genuine worship and adoration. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:27-31
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-- and the things that are not-- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." (NIV)
Paul's perspective on how God uses the weak things of the world caused him to boast in the Lord and that is the attitude we should have in worship. We should give God all the glory for how He works through people like you and me. And that is what I believe prompted Mary to sing her song of worship.
Conclusion
Now comes two questions we need to ask ourselves:
1. Who or what is the object of our worship? Everyone of us in this room worships something or someone.
It may be your job. It may be your money. It may be all your possessions. It may be yourself and how good you think you look. It may be your recreation. It may be another person.
The question is, who or what is the object of your worship? And who or what you worship will determine what kind of person you are.
James Michener, writing in his book, The Source, tells the story of a man named Urbaal, who was a farmer living about 2200 B.C. He worshipped two gods, one a god of death, the other a goddess of fertility. One day, the temple priests tell Urbaal to bring his young son to the temple for sacrifice--if he wants good crops. Urbaal obeys, and on the appointed day drags his wife and boy to the scene of the boy's "religious execution" by fire to the god of death. After the sacrifice of Urbaal's boy and several others, the priests announce that one of the fathers will spend the next week in the temple, with a new temple prostitute. Urbaal's wife is stunned as she notices a desire written more intensely across his face than she had seen before, and she is overwhelmed to see him eagerly lunge forward when his name is called. The ceremony over, she walks out of the temple with her head swimming, concluding that "if he had different gods, he would have been a different man." (Pastor to Pastor, Erwin Lutzer, p. 89ff)
Who or what you worship will determine what kind of person you are.
2. What is it that prompts us to worship? When we enter these doors on a Sunday morning, do we think about things like this? Do we worship God out of fear or a hope that He will look upon us with more favor than He already does or are our hearts and minds focused on the fact that we have had a life changing experience with God? Do we focus on all the things we don't agree with at church or do we focus on all that God has done and all that He is going to do? Do we think about how He uses people like you and me to accomplish His purpose? I believe if we would focus our hearts and minds on these certainties about God, our worship experience on Sunday mornings would be radically different. I believe if our focus was God rather than other insignificant things, our worship would be different. And I believe our lives would be different as well.
May we be a people whose lives are so focused on God that we who are genuine worshippers of God in spirit and in truth, whether we are in church or out and about our daily ordinary lives.