This post was not in the plan or outline for my topical Worship Series, but I believe the LORD unexpectedly gave me the revelation, to further celebrate the Christmas season. He essentially showed me that the subject of worship is woven all through the nativity story.
Examples are:
Zacharias (Zechariah) was selected to burn incense in the Holy Place.
- As a reminder, “Zechariah was…’the Husband of Elizabeth and father of John the Baptist, a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Event: The angel Gabriel appeared to him in the Temple, announcing his wife would bear a son (John). Zechariah doubted and was temporarily silenced. Resolution: Upon writing ‘His name is John,’ his speech returned, and he prophesied.” (Google AI Response)
- (Note: The burning of incense is a divine command. God gave Moses and Aaron detailed instructions for the times, places, and methods of burning incense. It was to be burned perpetually before the Lord, and it was a holy act of worship (Exodus 30))1.
- Although Zechariah’s initial response to Gabriel was fear, he did not have a worshipful response to the angel himself–which was a good thing. However, he also did not have a worshipful response to God either, in the sense that he quickly challenged the veracity of His message. The LORD immediately put Zacharias in his place by clarifying Gabriel’s position in the heavenly hierarchy.
- In another Holy Ghost coincidence, in this holiday season, I was blessed to watch a new documentary, The First Christmas. One of the commentators in the video described what should have been the appropriate response to the angelic being. That is, Zacharias should have recognized that…”This was an extraordinary moment…because, in salvation history, whenever a human being came in contact with an angel, the human being would exhibit reverence toward the angel…because the angel is resplendent with grace…because the angel sees God face to face.”
- Having established that Zacharias was not a worshipper, we could also say that the angel Gabriel is not depicted as a worshipper in this passage. In Luke 1:19, he says, “I am Gabriel the one standing before God.” Per Bible Hub, the Greek word, parístēmi (from 3844 /pará, “from close-beside” and 2476 /hístēmi, “to stand”) means “properly, stand close beside, i.e. ready to present (exhibit).” This would be in contrast to proskynéō (from 4314 /prós, “towards” and kyneo, “to kiss”) – properly, to kiss the ground when prostrating before a superior; to worship, ready “to fall down/prostrate oneself to adore on one’s knees” (DNTT); to “do obeisance” (BAGD)..
Also in the nativity account, we find someone else who is the absolute antithesis of a worshipper–Herod the Great–although he represented himself as someone with a sincere desire to worship the newborn King.
- “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” Matt 2:8
- In actuality, Herod wanted everyone to worship himself as king. And, as a side note, the worship that Herod demanded would have been a totally different brand than the worship that Herod claimed he would offer. History shows us that to Herod, worship meant slavish loyalty and acceptance of/obedience to every insane demand/command. Instead of worshipping the child, Herod would have immediately eliminated him.
- This is in contrast to the wise men who set out to worship the newborn King when their faith was kindled by miraculous events in the heavenlies.
The wise men demonstratively worshipped the newborn King. They bowed low with extravagant gifts. They also rejected Herod’s brand of worship.
The shepherds had a similarly spectacular revelation about God which propelled them to worship.
In studying the shepherd’s brand of worship, I believe that I discovered a complete jewel–the exemplification of worship in its purest form.
The movie producers used graphical animation to portray the experience of disenfranchised shepherds experiencing heaven’s finest–seen in a multitude of angels. It was an amazing scene with the angelic host having a nebulous, ethereal quality and a blaze of heavenly hues–accompanied with beautiful Schumann-resonance music. The shepherds were spellbound by the sheer beauty and overwhelming magnitude of the display–and the potent message they received, i.e., that the saviour of all mankind had been born. The production came as close to the Biblical account as I’ve seen anywhere in multimedia. It was done in such a technically excellent way that we could vicariously share in the shepherd’s awe. And when this moment happened thousands of years ago in actual real-time, (Luke 2:16), I believe that God Himself positioned the shepherds for true worship.
Back to the documentary plot…en-masse, the lowly shepherds ran to the stable/cave, and when they were cleared to approach the Baby Jesus, they worshipped–with every fibre of their beings. They knelt while gazing up, speechless/adoring/awestruck at the face of Jesus–fully understanding the power and import of this matchless moment–focused only on Him and absolutely nothing else…No matter what distractions might have come, the shepherds would not have dropped their gaze. I believe they felt this profound (shared) feeling of exclusive reverence because they had just received a major revelation of the vastness and all-pervasive peace/infinite agape of God the Father.
Somehow, only God and the director know how, they were able to get several shots of the tiny infant actor looking back at them with soft loving eyes…smiling!…as if the baby understood and was basking in the worship. (I also thought it might have been digitally enhanced.)
However, if that intense degree of the communal, adoring heart-response of the shepherds could ever be achieved in a church service, perhaps that too would put a smile on God’s face. And that’s what I call “worship.”
Further, I believe that in a sense, and in this case, the producers’ role exemplified the ideal role of a church’s worship leader. Worship leaders are meant to help create an environment that engenders worshipful hearts. This is accomplished by minimizing anything that would distract from the pure and undistilled Glory of God, i.e., anything that would, knowingly or unknowingly, seek to elevate man. And this, of course, derives from having a worshipful heart themselves, in the purest sense.
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