The Longing to Worship

When I walk in the hills around my house every evening, I am moved to an ever deeper awareness of the beauty of the relationships that make our world function.  The glaciers melt and provide the water for the river in the valley. The salmon spawn in the rivers, providing food for bears and Eagles, which leave the uneaten parts in the forests to decay and fertilize the soil.  The plants flourish in amazing abundance, nourished by the soil as well as the fungi and other micro-organisms that are necessary to upload nutrients for the benefit of the plants.  The humans in this region have set aside this land as a state park, where only certain areas are to be used for human habitation and the rest is a nature preserve.  All of it is about relationships, in which what one creature does affects all others, resulting in a complex, and marvelous ecosystem.

The amazingly relational nature of God's creation offers a window on the nature of Christ's birth, as well.  As we come to the manger at Christmas, we are called to come with eyes of faith, recognizing that in this tiny babe “the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:19).  This is an important statement, because one of the faith aspects in approaching the manger is one of awe and worship.  For a person of faith it is not enough to approach the manger only interested in “the story” that has been passed on.  Wise stories are valuable, to be sure, but worship results in the realization that something more than a well-constructed human story is at work here.  Worship recognizes that God is present among us by choice, choosing to exist and respond in relationship with (and among the relationships of) all creation.  We approach the manger with wonder and awe, because the manger cradles a baby, and that baby is a sue sign that it is God's choice to be personally involved in the "real life" of God's creation.

Quite honestly, though, I need to state this awareness more personally.  Because I believe God’s advent in the child, Jesus, is a sign of God’s choice to be in relationship with creation I am drawn also to believe that God must be aware of individual persons, and specific moments.  That is, the appearance of God in the birth of a specific child helps me to understand why it is that I believe God loves me…and you, and each creature God created.  It is in God’s nature to create the whole universe, yet to love personally.  

Note that I am simply trying to describe what I believe.  It is not a belief I have manufactured.  It is a belief I have that I am trying to describe.  It is as if the belief were born in me and resides in the manger of my heart, whether I wanted it or not.  My work, then, is to try to learn from it, describe it, and live it...and, in those inevitable periods of doubt, to wrestle with it until God clarifies more clearly why it is that this faith persists beyond the doubt.

So, as always, I am asking myself what my response should be…as I approach the manger at Christmas, what should my acts of worship be?  I am asking myself questions like these:

·      How does my life reflect the God who created me and loves me?

·      How well do make sure I am truly present in own relationships, as God was in Jesus and continues to be in the Spirit?  

·      How do I show or communicate what an honor it is to be in this amazing relationship with God?

·      How well do I somehow show or communicate what an honor it is to participate in these amazing relationships among the people and the creatures that God loves?

·      How well do I join with and support others as they, also, respond to God?

Colossians 1:15-17

¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.