1. Worship Fully

How would you like to have the best Christmas ever? Now, I need to clarify something. By using the word, “best” you may have some misguided ideas. If the best Christmas ever means that you get everything that you want, then that’s not what I’m talking about. If by “best” you mean that everyone gets along and everyone likes what you get them, well, that’s not what I’m talking about. If by “best” you mean you have enough money to give everyone what they want for Christmas, well that’s not what I’m talking about either. When I make the statement, the best Christmas ever, I’m referring to the joy that comes from celebrating Jesus. I’m talking about the peace Jesus gives when we put him first in our life. I’m talking about the happiness we will experience as we serve others. I’m talking about the content feeling we will have because we didn’t put all of our purchases on the credit card. That’s what I mean when I talk about, the best Christmas ever.

But if you want to have the best Christmas ever you need to prepare. Let me introduce you to the word “advent”. Advent comes from the Latin word adventus and it simply means coming. It has been celebrated by the church as a reminder of Christ’s first coming, as well as a reminder that Christ is coming again. So most traditional churches celebrate each Christmas season, advent, or a celebration of the coming of Christ. This year, traditional advent began on Sunday, November 28 and always ends on Christmas Eve. However, advent isn’t just reserved for preparing to celebrate Christmas, it’s a regular rhythm to our lives as we daily, weekly and monthly prepare for the second coming of Jesus. Maybe “advent” is a mindset we need to embrace on a regular basis?

So, why the need for to practice advent? Well, the truth is, the American version of Christmas has been lost. It has been swallowed up in consumerism, materialism and selfishness. As followers of Jesus we want to live a counter cultural life, a life that looks like Jesus; a life that truly reflects his Kingdom.

You may be thinking, “What do you mean Christmas has been lost?” Trust me, Christmas has been lost. My proof? Black Friday.

Here is a short list of some of the crazy things Black Friday workers have witnessed:

1. "One year I got trapped behind the door when we opened, and I had to wait until the mad rush slowed down so I could climb under the cart rail and escape."

2. "I've had a woman pour her coffee on the ground because we wouldn't give her an extra discount. She maintained eye contact while pouring the coffee."

3. "I've seen shoppers take merchandise from other customers' shopping carts."

4. "Someone punched a security guard in the face because he thought he was a customer skipping to the front of the line. He was just walking in the door to start his shift."

5. "I have witnessed two people fist fight ... over a toaster."

6. "A Guy tried to shove a Panasonic Blu-ray player into the front of his jeans. He was a rather large man, but, dude, its a Blu-ray player ... seriously."

We have lost the power, the joy, the mystery, and the love of Christmas. It has become commercial, and empty. It reminds me of one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes. George Constanza, one of the main characters in the show, his father goes out on a Black Friday to pick up a doll for his son and gets into a fight with another man. After the incident, George’s dad decides to start a new holiday; he calls it Festivus. And the tag line is, Festivus for the rest of us. It’s celebrated on December 23. There isn’t a tree, there is instead an aluminum pole. There is the annual airing of grievances, and of course the feats of strength.

Okay, listen, we aren’t going to be starting a new holiday! Instead we are going to reclaim, and redeem what Christmas was meant to be…thus we are going to focus on Advent, and prepare for the best Christmas ever!

So, what is the starting point for preparing for the best Christmas ever? Worship. If you read through the accounts of Jesus’ birth you find one common link: a whole lot of worship. Whether it was Mary or Joseph, or the angels, or the shepherds or the wise men, or Simon and Anna in the temple. When these people experienced the Christ child for the very first time they worshiped him.

If you have your Bibles or device, turn in them to Luke chapter one. If you are using the YouVersion Bible app, look for Events, then search for Iowa City Church. All the Scriptures, Sermon Notes and a very helpful Advent Bible reading plan will be found there.

While you are finding Luke one, let me you a little back ground. Mary has discovered that she is going to conceive a baby, Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is a bit much for this young 16 year old to get her mind around. Not to mention the fact the Joseph is going to have questions and people are going to begin to question. So she get outs of town and goes south to Judea to be with her cousin Elizabeth, who is carrying this baby in her old age who will be called John. Upon entering Elizabeth’s home, the baby in her womb leaps for joy (a baby in the womb worships, how crazy is that?!) and then Elizabeth begins to praise and worship God for Mary and the baby she is carrying. Then, Mary begins to worship in what is known as Mary’s Magnificat, from the Latin word, to Magnify. Some have asked how could Mary compose such a song, when the reality is the song is a mosaic of OT thoughts, phrases and is very similar to Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2. As we read through the song, you will see that it’s pointed directly at worshiping God. Listen to Mary’s song.

Luke 1:46–56 NIV

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

This is Mary’s Worship Song. She is experiencing Jesus and all that he is to be, and she is humbled that God would choose her to be a part of his plan, and so she worships. If you want to have the best Christmas ever, it starts when you worship Jesus fully.

How do we worship Jesus fully? We as American Christians have a very narrow understanding of worship. We have limited worship to our favorite song or hymn and how it makes us feel. That has ultimately no connection to how worship is described in the Bible. In Scripture, we see that worship is a very broad term, including a very wide variety of practices. There are essentially two prominent words that are used for worship.

The first word, and the most common word for worship means: To worship - to prostrate, to bow down. To prostrate means to fall down in submission or humility to someone or something of worth. It means that you recognize that you are a servant or less than whoever you are worshiping.

The reality is we all worship something. We humble ourselves, prostrate ourselves to things in our lives that we deem as worthy.

If I went to your home, it wouldn’t take me very long to figure out what was important, or valuable in your life. Play a little Sherlock Holmes you walk into a room for the first time and notice what is important to them. You might see pictures of family members on the wall. You might see a TV with all the chairs faced towards it. You may see a certain piece of art hung over the mantle. There might be a particular car covered in the garage while the others vehicles sit outside. Maybe there are stacks and stacks of things all over the place.

What if we followed you all day and recorded your activities? It wouldn’t take very long to see what you worship, what you prostrate yourself for. You see we worship what we give our time to, what we give our money to.

In Mary’s song, the worship is directed to God. When we talk about our worship we not only worship God the Father, we worship Jesus our savior, the God who took on flesh and lived among us. Who died on the cross for our sins. The one who was resurrected and lives today as King of kings and Lord of lords. We are less than, we are not worthy, and so we worship the one who is.

And this would describe Mary as she tries to get her mind around all the events she is experiencing. Look at the words in her song that describe her humility, her prostrate position before her God. And look at how God interacts with those who are humble themselves before him.

One of the reasons we totally miss it at Christmas time is because we do not humble ourselves before God. In fact, I would suggest that we are instead the ones who do not fear Him, we are Americans and we are strong. We are the proud, why would we need God. We are the rich, dependent upon our own means and strength. That is why we miss out on Christmas each year. We fail to humble ourselves before the King of kings and worship him.

If you want to have the best Christmas ever, it starts with worship, it’s starts with a humble heart and a broken spirit. Let me give you two exercises to begin to submit to the Jesus and worship him.

Advent Fast - one of the long time church traditions was to fast during advent, in preparation for Christmas. As many of you know, we have spent the last few weeks talking about fasting and the way it helps us hit reset in our lives. It pushes us to humbles ourselves and once again seek God for our dependence. Pick a day and fast or remove a regular item, food, or social media from your life over the next two weeks and in that void, worship.

Advent Bible Reading Plan - again, this is making space in your schedule to stop, breathe, and seek Scripture to see, marvel and worship our great God and his plan to redeem us. If you are looking for a good Advent Reading plan, the YouVersion Bible app has a number. If you need help, talk to me and I will help set you up with one.

Worship starts by making space for the one who is worthy of our worship.

Now I said that there are two major words used for worship, the second one means to serve. We worship God by humbling our selves before him, and in serving him. The word has connected to the work or the duty carried out by the priests in the temple. It’s also used as people worked or served in the church. So this makes sense, worship is a humbling or our hearts, and the work of our hands. Are you seeing how broad this word worship is? There is so much more to worship than simply singing songs. Worship is a matter of the heart and the hands.

So what is the connection with Christmas? If we are to experience Jesus this advent, then our worship needs to also be service. Look back at Mary’s worship song. There is a phrase I want you to zero in on. Mary sings, “He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.”

Or worship means that we are to serve in the manner our Lord serves. If we are his true worshippers then we would likewise be called to carry out the work of our King. God is involved in filling the hungry with good things. We worship when we serve by filling those who are empty. Now, I think that that phrase has two meanings, one literally is referring to those who are physically hungry. Those who have no food, when we supply them with food we worship. The second meaning is spiritual food. When we supply the Word of God to people who hunger and thirst for it, we are worshipping God as well. But the point is, we worship when we serve, taking people food.

But it’s the second part of that verse that I want to take your eyes to. Mary sings, “but has sent the rich away empty.” You do know who the rich are don’t you? That is you and I. That is our culture. The reason we find Christmas to be so empty is because it is. If Christmas is just built on giving cards and cheap plastic stuff, then it is empty and worthless. I don’t want your Christmas to be worthless and meaningless. I don’t want your life to be meaningless. No, I want your life to be full of worship of Jesus. If you want to worship Jesus more fully this Christmas season, then you need a serve him—you need something to do for him.

So here is my challenge, you need to find an Advent service project. How can you serve someone this advent season? I can’t give you one, you need to allow God to direct you to someone that you can love, that you can serve and in so doing, worship fully Jesus. So what projects of worship are out there for you? While you are praying and fasting, ask God to direct you to a way to serve. Serving meals to the homeless? Taking a meal to the widow across the street? Giving some gift cards to the single mom down the street? Maybe it’s helping a neighbor with car repairs. I have no idea, but God does. Ask him, ask him how you can worship him through ministry this Christmas season. When you worship Jesus fully you will have the best Christmas ever.

About ten years ago, my grandma was about 83 and living alone. On Christmas morning she heard a knock at the door and a man from church named Bob Barnes was at the door wishing her a Merry Christmas and delivering a plate of cinnamon rolls. He was doing that for all the widows in the church. It was simple, but it was worship and it left a big impression on Grandma, and it left a big impression on me.

When you worship Jesus fully, you will have the best Christmas ever.