Worshipping the Christ Child

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary
and they bowed down and presented him with gifts
of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Matthew 11:2

We come with the wise men to the Christ Child.  We quiet ourselves. We bow down.

We bow before this child, given to us.  Vulnerable.  God-with-us.  Mystery.

We worship the God who pursues us with love.  The God who comes to us in unimaginable ways.  Our minds reel.  It seems too good to be true.  This love is what we have longed for.  It is far more than we ever let ourselves hope could be.

We bow down with a sense of breathless wonder.

Like the wise men, we, too, want to bring precious gifts to this child as a way of saying thank you—as a way of reaching back to God’s hand extended to us in the gift of this child.

We realize that what we have that is precious are the very things we tend to resist letting go of.  These are the gifts we choose now to lay down at his feet.

And, to our surprise  we find that with each gift we release, God responds with unexpected gifts in return.

We bring our loved ones—letting go of our fierce attempts to protect or control or change.  And God gives us serenity.

We bring our riches—offering to share our time, our money, our lives with people in need.  And as we do, God frees us from the heavy load of fear and greed.

We bring our hearts—wounded, defended, missing the mark—and God gives us boundless forgiveness and the comfort and help of God’s presence with us.

We bring our self-reliance and self-will.  And God gives us the gift of God’s loving will for us —the amazing gift of God’s unfolding work of beauty in our lives.

We bring our gratitude and praise and God fills us full of joy.

Christ Child,
I worship you today
in stunned wonder
that you are God come to be with us.
I want to say yes to your offer of love.
I want to reach my hand out to meet your hand
extended to me and to us all.
I want to give you the treasures
I hold most dear.
I bring you the people in my life—
I entrust them to your care.
I bring you the riches of my time and money and energy—
all of which are only mine
because you have given them to me—
may they become a blessing in this world.
I give you my self-reliance and self-will,
may your loving will be done instead.
I bring you my wounded, defended heart—
for you to heal and set free.
I bring you my gratitude and praise—
for your love undoes me
and makes me new.