Will you worship?

What kind of people make the best worshipers of God? You would think it would be people who are already highly committed and who have a good understanding of Scripture. The story of the magi coming to worship Jesus as a child in Matthew 2 actually suggests otherwise! 

The magi, often referred to as “wise men,” were actually pagans from east of Israel. The word “magi” was associated with priestly Babylonian astrologers, counselors,  and interpreters of dreams. Matthew tells us that they saw a star that signaled to them the birth of the King of the Jews, so they went to worship him. 

Apparently the star just led them in the general direction of Jesus, so they naturally went to look for the newborn King in the capital, Jerusalem. King Herod, who was something of an imposter in his role as king of the Jews, called in the Jewish Bible scholars who would know from prophecy where the King was to be born. These scholars correctly identified Bethlehem as the right place, and the star subsequently guided the wise men right to Jesus’ home. There, the wise men found Jesus and worshiped him, including offering gifts suitable for royalty. 

What amazes me about this story is that it shows that God met the magi where they were. The Bible doesn’t condone astrology in the least; in fact, it prohibits it. But God nonetheless gives the magi a sign that they let lead them to worship Jesus.

Herod and the priests, on the other hand, have the Scriptures, the word of God. They know the prophecies about the birth of God’s King. They know the right place to go. They have the proper interpretation. Herod is so convinced of the truth of the birth of the new King that he has the baby boys in the area killed to eliminate all competition for his throne. Yet neither Herod nor any of the priests go to worship Jesus!

These truths make me wonder: Do we in the church often have all the “right” things in place, yet we don’t make the effort we should to go worship Jesus the King? The very question can seem insulting to us who already are followers of Jesus. But the question is still valid. The question must still be answered. We don’t necessarily expect the Herods of this world to worship, but what about us “church people”?

We as believers can easily switch into the mode where we know about Jesus, but we aren’t as inclined to worship him. Maybe we see it in our lack of giving, whereas giving gifts to Jesus was an essential part of the worship of the magi. We see it in our lack of making an effort to come before him in corporate worship—maybe people think, “Why go worship Jesus at church when he’s everywhere already?” The truth is, the average evangelical in America now attends church only once or twice a month! Is that representative of a heart to worship? Have we really replaced corporate worship with some other form of true worship?

Just going to church more isn’t the solution, either. We can go to the right church, one that has the “right” worship style, maybe a pipe organ or a praise band, depending on your perspective. Maybe the right church has the right denominational label. Maybe the right church has all the right beliefs, the right teachings, the right doctrine. All that is important—just as the right interpretation was important for recognizing that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. Right interpretation of Scripture remains a big deal. It’s a major emphasis of Matthew, because it points to Jesus and to the nature of God. Right doctrine is vital for those reasons, no doubt.

But the question of Matthew’s story remains: Will you, who are the caretakers of the word of God, who are the people of God, go to worship our King? I think answering this question is a key to revival. We have to allow the question to move us from an observational experience to a spiritual experience. We have to move from a head experience to a heart experience. Both the magi and the biblical scholars of Jesus’ day had a correct observation; both the star and the Scriptures pointed to a newborn King in Bethlehem. Only the magi, however, had the heart to go and worship.

A popular song of the 1990s revival and worship movement was entitled, “Will You Worship?” 

Will you worship, will you bow down
Before your Lord and King?
Will you love Me, will you give Me your heart,
Your everything?

Will you worship? Will you really worship? It’s a valid question today as we ask God to send another Great Awakening to our land.

Photo by Rachel Coyne on Unsplash.