On a website dedicated to exploring contemporary worship, Lee Webb
asks us a question:
He asks:
What
do you think of when you think of worship?
What picture comes to mind when you hear the
word ‘worship’ ?
Hearing the word: worship: you might think of the sounds of a pipe organ
accompanying you as you sing one of the great hymns of the faith;
or you might think of a group of men and women singing together with their
eyes closed and hands raised as they sing praise to God.
So - what picture comes to mind when you hear the word ‘worship’ ?
We read this morning from Matthew 2. of the
journey to
However, when we think of what picture comes to mind when we hear the
word worship, we rarely think of the visit of the Three Wise Men..
but actually worship is at the very
heart of the gospel record here…..
we read: they knelt down and worshipped
Him…..
This morning our focus is not simply the fact that they worshipped
Jesus,
but the way they worshipped Him….
Matthew tells us:
they
went into the house, and when they saw the child with His mother Mary, they
knelt down and worshipped Him…
The three wise men, have been
months on the road, looking for a king, who was to be
born. Following the star in the east until they came to the
town of
Now, when they come to visit
this little family, Joseph, Mary and Jesus,
they
know that they have found what they are looking for – despite the stable,
despite the surroundings, they know they have found the king they are looking
for. And what is their first response ? It is recorded
in Matthew 2.11 that the wise men ‘knelt
down and worshipped Him and presented to Him their gifts’.
They knelt down and worshipped
in deepest reverence.
In ways they could not perhaps
explain, perhaps, the wise men see the glory of God despite the poor stable, the wise men recognise who Jesus is and kneel down in worshipful reverence….
that is our focus this morning: reverence, the deepest reverence we
see there,
in these men….
Reverence………
We sing:
David Evans’ lovely hymn
Be still for the presence of
the Lord
the
Holy One is here,
come
bow before Him now,
with reverence and fear
or John Whittier’s hymn
Dear Lord and Father of
mankind
forgive
our foolish ways
reclothe us
in our rightful mind;
in
purer lives thy service find,
in
deeper reverence praise
or with Graham Kendrick
Restore O Lord the honour of
your name!
In works of sovereign power
come
shake the earth again,
that
all may see and come with reverent
fear
But what is reverence ?
The word means ‘to regard
someone or something with high respect.’
from
an old French word – reverer, which means to feel awe in the presence of
someone or something……….
And while in many of the discussions about worship today, reverence is hardly ever spoken of……... yet when the Bible speaks of worship it is always in terms of reverence, deepest reverence for the living God.
Take Exodus 15 for example:
We read there these words: When Moses went up on the mountain, the
cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD settled on
consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain.
And the people stood in awe and reverence in the light of the glory of God that they see there high up on the mountain.
And what is the source of this deep reverence ?
Where does this deep reverence come from ?
What are its deepest wellsprings ?
Well, simply put, the source of
the deep reverence we see in men and women in the Scriptures is to be found in
God’s near presence, it is to be found in who
God is in His Holiness……
This is the source of a profound
reverence that marks the human heart .
The writer of the letter to the
Hebrews: tells us, us…. ‘worship God with reverence
and awe, for our “God is a consuming
fire”; The writer makes it clear who God is – He is, in the glory and beauty of His Holiness, a consuming fire,
therefore, – worship
Him with reverence and awe.
So to sum up: one of the great
marks, one of the great movements in worship, is reverence, which arises in us as the Spirit opens our
eyes to see the living God,
to understand who He is.
And the New Testament goes on to speak of a reverence for God that grows
within us. Paul writes: serve one
another out of reverence for Christ;
care
for one another with sincerity of heart
and reverence for the Lord;
Peter writes: may the mark of your
lives be purity and reverence.
So, reverence still has a place in worship.
So, reverence still has a place in our worship.
That is why we begin worship with a few moments of silence.
Why we stand when the Bible is brought in……..
When the offering is taken up……..
That is why we seek together a reverence that will mark with quiet and
simple dignity our services of worship………..
And this reverence for the living God can only grow deeper within us as
the Lord teaches us more of Himself in the days of the year to come.
This is a reverence for God that will make its mark on our very lives.
AMEN