Christmas worship should be epic.
Wednesday I watched a concert livestreamed. The main artist was Andrew Peterson, singing his Behold the Lamb of God album. I highly recommend it. During the first half of the concert, he debuted a new song. It’ll be on the album Resurrection Letters Vol. 1 coming out at Easter. I wish I could link you to the song. It is… powerful. It asks some very difficult questions:
“Do you feel the world is broken?”
“We do.”
“Do you feel the shadows deepen?”
“We do.”
“But do you know that all the dark won’t stop the light from shining through?”
“We do.”
“Do you wish you could see it all made new?”
“We do.”
Those are the opening lines of this incredible song. And as Andrew leaned into the song, speaking about how Jesus answers these longings, how he is worthy of praise and glory and honor… he begins to weep.
He is responding to my Jesus.
Jesus is not someone you talk about. Talking about him is not enough. He is an untamed God who rages against sin and suffering and moves to protect his people, sinful as we are. He bleeds and weeps and vents his fury. He is not boring. He is not safe.
But he is good.
As this song continued cycling through my mind, I turned to the devotions I had prepared for Christmas Eve worship.
They talk about Jesus a lot. They explain Law and Gospel. They point to the fact that the baby in the manger is God born to die for sinners. For all this, it is good.
But… they talk about Jesus.
It is the difference between speaking about a friend and actually introducing someone to them. It is not enough to talk about Jesus.
I want the people who come to worship to know him.
The story of Christmas is the opening act of the saga that changes eternity. It is God making himself nothing for us. Christmas worship should reflect that.
Christmas worship should be epic.
And so I rewrote those devotions. Yes, they still hold Jesus at their center… but now they are not about him. They take us to his throne, to see what he gave up. They take us to a manger, to breathe in the air as God becomes one of us. They take us to the cross, to see what this baby came to do.
They take us through darkness and light.
They take us from suffering to peace.
And in all this, I point to Jesus. He is the one you want to know. He is the one who has done so much for us.
I pray that as I continue to figure out the best way to share Jesus… I stop talking about him and continue introducing him directly to people. I pray I convey how epic the story of our salvation is.
It’s not boring.
It’s not safe.
But it is good.
Advertisements Share this:
