They Come From Far and Wide
There’s one more section of my little Christmas song to explore today. It goes like this:
They come from far and wide just to kneel at His side
And worship the newborn Son
As a voice whispers through the darkness
“The reign of Jesus has begun!”
The Humble Beginning
I suppose I was thinking of the wise men, coming from the East, to worship Jesus as a baby. But it's not as if great crowds flocked to that stable. In spite of the angel fanfare and the star shining bright, the whole thing was quite understated – Jesus born in what was essentially a cave, without the great crowds that you might expect for the birth of the most important human being ever.
But of course, His life and death and resurrection proved Him to be who He claimed to be! And while He was walking the land in those years, people came from far and wide to receive the healing and teaching that He gave.
The Global Kingdom
Amazingly, His teaching has spread, and in our day we have people worshipping Jesus from all over the world! A quick Google search has revealed that Christianity is the world's largest religion, making up the majority of the population in 157 countries. Isn't that amazing! God's plan is unfolding! I sang here "a voice whispers in the darkness, the reign of Jesus has begun!" Well as we saw last week in the prophecy from Isaiah, His kingdom shall never end. We can see how it is continuing to expand. Praise God!
When you worship Jesus this Christmas, you are not just worshipping Him yourself. Or with your family. Or with your church. Or with your denomination, or your country. You're worshipping Him with people far and wide, who have come to Jesus and found His life-giving love and grace. Isn't that something?
And friends, those of us in more well-off areas are so lucky. Here in South Africa there are churches on every corner. It is amazing how many opportunities we have to worship here. We don't have to go far to gather with other Christians to worship. This is a wonderful gift – because other Christians in less devout areas really do have to go far to worship. But they do it. And so often, we who have dozens of churches on our doorsteps, we don't even go.
Go To Church This Christmas
Go to church this Christmas! Yes, church is not everything. Yes, you can worship anywhere. But there is power in community. There is power in unity. There is power in togetherness, celebrating with other Christ-lovers even though we might not get along with them! This is when worship really comes to life.
The reign of Jesus has begun – may our lives look like it! Even if it means travelling far and wide to kneel in His presence in the congregation of believers and worship.
