The Worship of God

January

JANUARY 1

“The Book of the Genealogy” Read Matthew 1:1

An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. – Matthew 1:1

Three names mark key points in God’s salvation work: Abraham, father of the faithful; David, the man after God’s own heart; Jesus, the son of God, who summed up Abraham and David and revealed all that God is for us.

Why are ancestors important?

Prayer: You come, Jesus, out of a history thick with names. Names not dates, not events signal die junctures in which you single out myself and others for personal love and responsibility. Named, I now name your name in trust and gratefulness: Jesus. Amen.

JANUARY 2

‘Of Whom Jesus Was Bom” Read Matthew 1:2-17

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers – Matthew 1:2

The biblical fondness for genealogical lists is not dull obscurantism, it is an insistence on the primacy and continuity of people. Each name is a burnished link connecting God’s promises to his fulfillments in the chain of people who are the story of God’s mercy. Which of these names stands out for you?

Prayer: Some of these names I don’t recognize at all, God. And that is reassuring! I don’t have to be an Abraham or a David to be included in this salvation litany. My ordinariness is as essential as another’s extraordinariness. Thank you. Amen.

JANUARY 3

“By Tamar” Read Matthew 1:3,5,6

… by Tamar,… by Rahab,… by Ruth, … by the wife of Uriah,… – Matthew 1:3,5,6

Four names in the list are a surprise: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba). Each of these names represents a person who was exploited, or downtrodden, or an outsider—the misused, the immoral, the foreign. Jesus’ genealogy doesn’t prove racial or moral purity, but redemptive range. God’s salvation work is inclusive, not exclusive. What do you know of each of these women?

Prayer: Do I have enough confidence, Lord, in your inventive and incorporative will, to believe that you will use unattractive, immoral, and unlovely people as well as the glamorous and virtuous and admirable? That is hard to believe, but the evidence is impressive. Help my unbelief. Amen.

JANUARY 4

“All the Generations” Read Matthew 1:16-17

… Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations. – Matthew 1:16-17

The list concludes with a name (Jesus) plus a tide (Messiah). The forty-two generations conclude with Jesus, who is given the tide Christ (in Hebrew, Messiah), the person whom God anoints to accomplish our salvation. The final name is simultaneously a human life and a divine work. What does the name Jesus Christ mean to you?

Prayer: I see, Father, that you do not simply permit names to accumulate at random, but that you shape lives. There is a design and there is a goal. Enter my earth-conditioned existence and shape eternity in me. Amen.

JANUARY 5

“The Birth of Jesus the Messiah” Read Mattkw 1:18

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. – Matthew 1:18

There is a combination of old and new in this birth story: traditional angels, visions, prophecies; there is also the miraculously irmovative divine spirit. There are historical data; there is also virginal conception.

Why is the virgin birth significant?

Prayer: I am not satisfied with reading about your birth, Lord, I want to be in on it. Take the ancient history of my childhood and religion and put it to use. Make the birth of Christ as vivid and actual in me as it was in Mary. Amen.

JANUARY 6

“Joseph, Being a Righteous Man” Read Matthew 1:19-20

But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife….” – Matthew 1:20

Joseph thought that “righteous” involved doing the proper thing; he is about to find out that it is also being the right person. The word “righteous” changes meaning in this event, a change from loyalty to a moral tradition to obedience to a divine person. Faith crowds out duty and wisdom as the dynamic of the “righteous man.” How would you describe the “righteous person”?

Prayer: Father, with my flat-earth ideas of “righteous,” there is no way I can respond appropriately to your presence unless you break into my imagination “in a dream.” I will pray expectantly, open to your vision. How else will I receive guidance for becoming a righteous person? Amen.

JANUARY 7

“Name Him Jesus” Read Matthew 1:21-22

“She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21

Mary’s work is giving birth; Joseph’s work is naming. Much attention has been given, appropriately enough, to Mary. But why the avoidance of Joseph? He was set apart for the priestly-poetic task of naming a character and defining a destiny. What does the name Jesus mean?

Prayer: Jesus, your name defines the gospel: not a model that I can admire and follow, but a Savior entering the world of my troubled heart and doing something, saving me. Amen.

JANUARY 8

“Spoken … Through the Prophet” Read Matthew 1:22-23

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” – Matthew 1:23

A deep, contrapuntal resonance reverberates between Isaiah’s prophecy and Mary’s pregnancy. Half-formed expectations take shape embryoni-cally. Obscurely imagined messianic hopes get a character and a name. Read and compare – Isaiah 7:1-14.

Prayer: There are promises and longings out of my past, my infancy and childhood, O God, that you fulfill in the birth of Jesus in my life. Complete the fulfillment, being with me in your fullness. Amen.

JANUARY 9

“He Did…” Read Matthew 1:24-25

When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. – Matthew 1:24-25

It is one thing to have dreams, another thing to act on them. Joseph both dreamed and acted—a perfect model of obedience. He affirmed the action of the Holy Spirit in his closest personal relationship, he refrained from interfering in the divine process, and he did what he was told. Why is Joseph important in your life?

Prayer: When I observe the action of this mature, free man, Lord—the reckless involvement, the disciplined restraint, the plain obedience, and all of it woven together in one coherent righteous action—I know that I, too, can live in daring obedience before you. Amen.

JANUARY 10

“Jesus/Herod” Read Matthew 2:1

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was bora in Bethlehem of Judea… – Matthew 2:1

The two names, Jesus and Herod, are in contrast. The general (“in the time of Herod”) gives way to the particular (“Jesus was born”). Kingship comes into focus. Rule is personalized. Geography and politics slip into mere background as Jesus centers all history. What are you most interested in?

Prayer: God, when I see how kings and nations slip into the shadows at Jesus’ birth, I see that I will do well not to become engrossed in either of them. It will not be by excavating Bethlehem or by analyzing Herod, but by worshiping you that my life will find center and purpose. Amen.

JANUARY 11

“Wise Men” Read Matthew 2:1-2

… wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?” – Matthew 2:1-2

The wise men were experts in the movement of the stars and signs in the heavens. Their inquiry thrusts the provincial village into a cosmic concern. It is not scientific data they are searching out, but a person to worship. True wisdom is not gathering information; it is adoration of God’s revealed truth.

What is your favorite story of the wise men?

Prayer: Teach me this wisdom, Lord: I often treat worship as a means to some other end, intellectual or material. But the wise men didn’t come to the Christ as scholars to learn more, or as wealthy tycoons to amass more plunder; they came to worship. Amen.

JANUARY 12

“He Was Frightened” Read Matthew 2:3-5

When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him—- Matthew 2:3

While the magi approached the birth of Jesus with reverential awe, Herod, hearing the news, was full of dread. It is possible to fashion values and goals so defiant of God that any rumor of his reality shakes our foundation. What are your values?

Prayer: Prevent, O God, the Herodian spirit from filtering into my life: the spirit that uses religion to protect itself, and jealous of any hint of rivalry, responds to your Spirit only with suspicious fear. Amen.

JANUARY 13

“By No Means Least” Read Matthew 2:5-6
” ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” – Matthew 2:6

Even obscure items of geography—little Bethlehem, for instance—by prophetic designation play their part in the messianic history. The village is now one of the best known on earth. Significance comes not from size but from the Savior. Where is Bethlehem?

Prayer: “O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel” (Phillips Brooks, “O Litde Town of Bethlehem,” TheHymiibook [Presbyterian Church in the United States, United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., and Reformed Church in America: 1955], 157). Amen.

JANUARY 14

“Search Diligently” Read Matthew 2:7-8

Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligendy for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word” – Matthew 2:8

Herod, impressive and fearful to his contemporaries, looks merely ridiculous to us. His secret, lying intrigues are useless before the ingenuous, unarmed invasion of history in Jesus at Bethlehem.

Who, to you, is the most impressive person in current history?

Prayer: I am so used to being intimidated by conspiratorial evil, God, that I lose touch with the reality that your will is done, that your kingdom comes, and that the rulers of this world have very litde to say about it, one way or the other. All praise to your omnipotent grace, your eternal love. Amen.

JANUARY 15

“Where the Child Was” Read Matthew 2:9-10

… and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. – Matthew 2:9

The dogma of the astrologer is that stars are impersonal cosmic arrangements that determine personal fate; the gospel is that stars are in God’s services “for signs” (Genesis 1:14). This star signals not our fate, but our freedom. Why were the magi glad?

Prayer: “When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou has established; what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4) Amen.

JANUARY 16

“They Knelt Down and Paid Him Homage” Read Matthew 2:11

On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. – Matthew 2:11

The first thing that wise people do in the presence of Jesus is worship: not congratulate themselves on having found him, not ask him questions, not attempt to get something from him, but offer up themselves to him. How do you worship?

Prayer: In your presence, Lord Jesus, I want my life to be changed from getting things, to giving myself, so that I may grow into wholeness. Amen.

JANUARY 17

“Warned in a Dream” Read Matthew 2:12

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. – Matthew 2:12

A meeting with Herod would have been highly dramatic, just the kind of encounter that journalists delight in covering. Yet there is to be no dissipation of the act of worship in satisfying a king’s curiosity, but an immediate return to everyday living in “their own country.” What are some results of worship?

Prayer: God, connect the deepening and centering of life that I experience in moments of worship with the routines and duties of my weekday hours so that all of life will be glorified by your presence. Amen.

JANUARY 18

“Flee to Egypt” Read Matthew 2:13-15

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you” – Matthew 2:13

Herod’s threat, which seems so ominous, is scarcely more than a pretext for accomplishing God’s will. The flight into Egypt, retracing the ancient route of redemption, is part of a finely wrought salvation history.

What associations does Egypt have for you?

Prayer: Lord, I see that Herod is real enough: he opens scenes, he triggers sequences, but he doesn’t cause anything. Evil can’t. Only you, God, cause, and what you cause is salvation, through Jesus, my Lord and Savior. Amen.

JANUARY 19

“Rachel Weeping” Read Matthew 2:16-18

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under—-Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation….” – Matthew 2:16-18

The slaughtered children participate in the messianic birth pangs: Christ enters a world flailing in rebellion. Herod, in a tantrum, hysterically tries to hold on to his kingdom. The voice in Ramah reverberates in history’s echo chambers and gets louder every year.

What is the worst crime you are aware of?

Prayer: Dear God, so much weeping! Such a burden of lamentation! I will not gloss over the terrible pain and sorrow that comes from vanity and anger, but neither will I forget the final word of resurrection. Amen.

JANUARY 20

“Herod Died” Read Matthew 2:19-23

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of srael” There he made his home in a town called Nazareth – Matthew 2:19-20,23

Jesus’ life begins with men seeking to kill him; it ends in a similar atmosphere of conspiracy and violence. But the violence and plotting are as ineffective at the beginning as at the end. The holy family enters the holy land. Salvation gathers to full expression in a nuclear family in a provincial land.

How many dreams has Joseph had?

Prayer: I trace out of my memory, O God, stories that have been fashioned on this old road between Egypt and Israel: stories of Abraham, and of Joseph and Moses; stories of faith and blessing and salvation. Thank you for including me in the stories. Amen.

JANUARY 21

“In the Wilderness… Proclaiming” Read Matthew 3:1-3

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent” – Matthew 3:1-2

The ancient Judean desert is the site of John’s Messiah-readiness preaching. Everything is stark in the desert: the life-and-death contrasts, the vividness of minute details, the absence of the superfluous, the emptiness. “Shall we never permit our hands to be empty so we may grasp what only empty hands can grasp?” (Karl Barth, Epistle to the Romans [London: Oxford University Press, 1933], 380).

What does “at hand” mean?

Prayer: In this moment of silence and emptiness, O God, I wait and listen. Purge my spirit of sloth and train it in alert, messianic expectation. “In the deserts of the heart let the healing fountains start” (W. H. Auden, “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” Collected Poems, Edward Mendelson, ed. [New York: Random House, 1976], 198). Amen.

JANUARY 22

“John” Read Matthew 3:4-6

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. – Matthew 3:4

John’s food and clothing defy fashion. He finds his identity not among market-oriented contemporaries, but among God-oriented prophets. John’s single-mindedness proceeds from a deep immersion in the prophetic imagination and spirit.

Compare John with Elijah the Tishbite (2 Kings 1:8).

Prayer: Lord, are there ways in which I can take the daily necessities of food and clothing and use them to complement and reinforce my relation with you? I will begin by giving thanks for them, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

JANUARY 23

‘Who Warned You to Flee?” Read Matthew 3:7-10

“Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” – Matthew 3:7-8

Fleeing from wrath is not a gospel. The base lives and cowardly souls of the “brood of vipers” are rushing to the Jordan for rescue. But John will not indulge their escapism; he calls them to responsible action: “bear fruit worthy of repentance!” What does repentance mean?

Prayer: I am more comfortable, Father, with an image of you as a gentleman farmer, pruning an occasional branch and raking up a few leaves. But you go to the root. I submit myself to your surgery, and hope in your salvation. Amen.

JANUARY 24

“He Will Baptize You” Read Matthew 3:11-12

“I baptize you with water for repentance. … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” – Matthew 3:11

Two aspects of Jesus’ baptism are described under the images of wind and fire. The wind brings something to us (the very breath of God), the fire takes something away from us (the worthless chaff of our sins). Threshing is not always pleasant business, especially when we are the grain. But the results are good. Who wants to be mixed with chaff forever?

Contrast the two baptisms.

Prayer: I am grateful, God, that you take me with such seriousness and labor over me with such care. I see myself now thrown into the air by your direshing shovel, sifted and cleansed by the wind of your Spirit, ready for use in your granaries. Amen.

JANUARY 25

“Baptized” Read Matthew 3:13-17

And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. – Matthew 3:16

Baptism personalizes the primordial Genesis beginnings. Just as the Spirit brooded birdlike over the ancient ocean deeps, so the Spirit “descending like a dove” is poised over the baptismal waters. The “it is good” of creation is completed by the “well-pleased” in Christ. What does your baptism mean?

Prayer: I praise you, Almighty God, for speaking creative and eternity-shaping words over me, for showing me the goodness of your creation, and blessing me with the peace of your acceptance in Christ. Amen.

JANUARY 26

“He Fasted Forty Days” Read Matthew 4:1-2

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. – Matthew 4:1

Moses was forty days on the mountain, in preparation for God’s revelation; Elijah was forty days in the desert, in preparation for God’s still small voice; Jesus is forty days in the wilderness, prepared for the testing that will qualify him for the work of salvation.

What is the purpose of fasting?

Prayer: What testing will you lead me into today, Lord? Prepare my heart so that I hear your word, and am led by your Spirit. Show me how to meet each test with energy and faith, trusting your victory in Christ. Amen

JANUARY 27

“Loaves of Bread” Read Matthew 4:3-4

The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” – Matthew 4:3

Bread, necessary though it is, is not primary: God is primary. Jesus will let nothing, not even necessary things, interfere with that primacy. Jesus will not use God to get what he wants; he submits himself to being what God wants. How do you face this temptation?

Prayer: Not what I want, but what you want, O God. Guard me from all temptations to use you to satisfy my appetites. What I want mosdy is to acquire new appetites, a hunger for righteousness, that will be satisfied by your word. Amen.

JANUARY 28

“The Pinnacle of the Temple” Read Matthew 4:5-7

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down” – Matthew 4:5-6

Miracles, attractive as they are, are not primary: God is primary. Jesus will not engage in a miracle-making that dazzles and entertains. Jesus will not use God as a means of showing off, or attracting admirers. He has far more important things to do, working love and salvation.

How do you face this temptation?

Prayer: Lord, protect me from being distracted by the sensational, from being diverted by the extraordinary. Keep me faithful in the daily round, attending to the common details of mercy and holiness. Amen.

JANUARY 29

“A Very High Mountain” Read Matthew 4:8-10

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor…. – Matthew 4:8

Power, important as it is, is not primary: God is primary. Jesus will not negotiate for power, even though he would be able to use the power benevolently. Goodness must not be compelled; love may not be coerced. The kingdom will come into being “not by might nor by power, but by Thy Spirit.”

How do you face this temptation?

Prayer: Lord, how often I face this temptation, the temptation to make people be good, to force them into the ways of righteousness. I always know so well what is good for others! Forgive me, Father, and give me the quiet, determined patience to love in mercy, to wait in hope. Amen.

JANUARY 30

“Jesus Began to Proclaim” Read Matthew 4:11-17

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” – Matthew 4:17

Thoroughly prepared by the temptations, Jesus begins his ministry. Isaiah provides the text, Capernaum the pulpit. The message calls everyone to alert response: God is at hand doing the work of making his will a present reality in salvation. Compare Jesus’ sermon with John the Baptist’s.

Prayer: What power, God, in these words! What life-changing truth, what mercy-releasing grace. I live in your presence, not the hope of your presence; I participate in what is happening even now, not in what I wish would happen. Amen.

JANUARY 31

“As He Walked by the Sea” Read Matthew 4:18-22

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers…. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” – Matthew 4:18-19

Jesus begins his work along the Galilean Sea, not at the Jerusalem Temple. The world of common work, not the world of religious ritual, is where discipleship starts. And fishermen, not priests, are the first disciples. Jesus comes to us, where we are, and initiates the work of kingdom-making. What does Jesus call you from?

Prayer: As you speak your commands to me, O Christ, complete your will in me. Convert me from a way of life bound to things to a life related to persons. The nets have absorbed my attention long enough; lead me into your way of being human. Amen.