David Bahn – Reflections

Matthew 2:2, 8, 11

…we have come to worship him.”

And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”

And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

I grew up in the church. My family and I sat in the second pew on the left side of the center section of First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Once in a great while – for reasons that escape me – my parents let me sit in the balcony of this large church building. It is an impressive building with a large auditorium  (Baptists don’t tend to call their worship spaces “naves”). I still have the King James Version Bible that was given to me when I went into the Junior Sunday School department. It’s signed by W.T. Holland the pastor of that church.

My maternal grandfather was also a Baptist preacher, Rev. G. R. Dodson. I’m not certain if it’s significant that both of these formative pastors went by their two initials. But I do know that they left an impression on me. I remember setting up a mini-church one day at my house. I was the preacher and my sister was the congregation. We even had crackers and grape juice (although I didn’t know how to consecrate the elements for the Lord’s Supper).

But I also remember determining as I grew older that I did not want to be a preacher when I grew up. My reasoning? You had to go to church every Sunday. And you had to stand up and yell at everybody (no disrespect intended to Dr. Holland or Granddad Dodson)! That somehow was my impression of church. Not until I attended the seminary did I begin to grasp the importance of worship – even though I still connect deeply with the spoken Word.

To put bluntly I am a church guy. I grew up in the church. I never really left the church. I serve as a pastor in a church. I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church (Nicene Creed). I yearn for people to come to worship at and be a part of the mission of God at St. John (the church I serve). A church full of people is an inspiring and encouraging thing to be part of. It’s comforting and faith-bolstering to realize I’m not alone in gathering for worship. The fellowship of other Jesus followers is a precious thing. The church is the launch pad for God’s mission in the world, and a manifestation of the presence of God’s kingdom.

But the greater manifestation of God’s kingdom is Jesus himself. And where he is people will bow before him and worship. The wise men on this occasion (Epiphany – or the Christmas of the Gentiles) worship Jesus. They fall down. They give him gifts. Then they leave. This is the real difference that worship makes: we leave worship somehow different from when we came. Worship is an encounter with Jesus the King/Shepherd/Savior of the world. And once you’ve encountered Jesus your life is changed. Your moral/spiritual compass is re-calibrated. Your awareness of the intangibles is heightened. It’s not a matter of being yelled at, or even a matter of being in a nave as opposed to an auditorium. It’s a matter of encountering Jesus. I hope you encounter him today and that when you do you worship him.