All posts tagged christmas

Jesus Did You Know? John 1 – Sermon Manuscript

-End of our series, looked at Mary, Joseph, Herod, and we’re going to end this week looking at Jesus.

-Not a lot about Jesus’ life to be able to accurately or fully answer this question, the Bible tells us a bit about his birth, we have 1 account of him as a 12 year old in the temple (Luke 2), but then all the accounts jump straight to Him as a 30 year old adult, so we’re somewhat in the realm of speculation when we try to answer this question.

-But I do think it’s important for us to talk about Jesus! If you haven’t figured it out yet, He’s going to come up every week here! He’s literally at the center of all of creation, He’s literally at the center of history, and He’s literally the center, the focal point of all of Scripture. One of the commentators I was reading this week was saying that the fulfillment of the OT isn’t the NT, it’s Jesus. The OT points forward to Jesus, and the NT looks back to Him.

-What’s hard today is what do we do with Jesus? You may have heard this quote attributed to Gandhi:

-On the one hand, this is disappointing because the name “Christian” is meant to signify “Little Christ” aka little representatives of Him, but this is also at the crux of Christianity: we can’t completely be like Christ, which is why He had to become like us!

-But the other component to this quote is that obviously Gandhi wasn’t a Christian, but he liked what Jesus taught. I have yet to meet or talk to anyone that doesn’t like Jesus, or the Jesus they have in their mind, because often people haven’t actually studied much about Him, they go on what other people say, and it’s amazing how much of their interpretations tend to be more of a reflection of themselves than Jesus Himself! So today I want to look at what Jesus’ plan was, what did He know, and why did He enter into His creation? Because the reality is we can’t separate Christmas from eternity!

READ/PRAY

The Word (1-3)

-“In the beginning”

-I hope by now you’re starting to learn that in order to interpret the NT correctly, we need to know the OT. 1 story from beginning to end. Pointing back to Gen. 1, almost as if he knows the other Gospel accounts that start with Jesus, this one tells us the story of Jesus goes back even further than his birth. John is saying: you think the birth is amazing, let me tell you the true beginning!

-Friends, this is what I said earlier: the reality is that the Christmas story begins before the dawn of creation. Our kids often ask where they were at various events in our lives before they came and we tell them it was before they were born, and Cara has trained them to say “When I was just in God’s mind?” That’s exactly right! Before the earth was here, when it was just in God’s mind, Christmas, the arrival of Jesus, the one and only God-man was the plan. This tells us that even when we go back and read Genesis 1 we should read Jesus in that event, which is where John goes next:

-“was the Word.” What word? What is meant by the word “word”? A whole lot, it turns out, because once again that single word contains a host of OT allusions that we need to understand!

-First, the immediate context: what did John mean when he used this word? 1^st cent. context can be essentially distilled down to basically 2 things: inner thoughts of something: some have argued translating this word as “reason” where we get science, bio-logy (study of bios created things), psych-ology (study of the psych) the-ology (study of God). Second option is an external message or speech, like we use WORDS.

-And then, as always, what is meant by this throughout Scripture? How does God use words? Since we’ve already been there, and John’s readers would already be thinking about creation, how does God create? Through words. God’s act of speaking has consequences and demands a response! Out of nothing comes something, it can’t help itself since God spoke it, is MUST happen. God speaks, it happens, there’s no waiting, no fighting of anyone else. Have you ever considered how violent other creation myths are? Think of the Big Bang, the beginning of EVERYTHING is an explosion! Other stories talk about various gods fighting and the wreckage of that fighting is the creation. Here it almost is like someone sitting in a La-Z-Boy playing armchair QB, but in this case the creation actually responds!

-Throughout the OT there’s also references to God revealing Himself through words (prophets), and delivering His people (think of the whole Egypt story where God tells Moses “Go TELL Pharoah MY WORDS”)

-But then the most significant place where we see God’s Words is when God reveals Himself to Moses. They’d been led out of Egypt, God had called Moses to the mountain to tell His words and commands to him (10 commandments written by God on stone), Moses comes down to the people partying and worshipping a golden calf, so he goes back up the mountain to meet with God and beg Him to not destroy the nation. During his conversation with God, Moses asks “Let me see your glory.”

-Does that seem a bit weird to you? What does Moses want? He’s looking to see God fully instead of mediated or clouded (pillar of fire or cloud). Think of the way Jesus is described during the Transfiguration: whiter than the whitest bleach can cause, the disciples can hardly look at Him! And that’s small stuff compared to the full glory of God!

-But notice, how does God say his goodness or glory passes by Moses? By proclaiming His name. God is connected to His name, you can’t separate God from His name, so then when we think of John describing Jesus as the Word, you can hardly find a better word (pun intended) to describe the God! I like the way Carson summarizes this idea:

-All this biblical background with just 1 word! And we’re only on the 6^th word of this whole section, and John goes on to identify this Word as being with God and being God. So not only is there all this wealth of allusions in this word, but John leaves no room for interpretation or misinterpretation about what he’s talking about, he’s clear that this is the 2^nd person of the Godhead, God the Son, who was the agent of creation, which means everything only exists because of Him, apart from Jesus everything would go back to nothing. Yet many people don’t realize all that is contained in this word, which is why John goes on:

The Light (4-13)

-We’ve had the Word to describe Jesus, but says that in Him is LIGHT. Well that has different connotations than the Word!

-John here says that light and darkness can’t coexist, which is true! He is the true light that shines, that reveals where there is darkness.

-Darkness did not overcome: master, comprehend. Darkness can’t comprehend the light, it doesn’t have a way to understand it, the light seems like foolishness to it. So how can the darkness be made aware of the light? Need a witness.

-John: witness, used 3x! “He came as a witness to witness about the light. He came to witness about the light.” I love that word! What are you a witness to?

-Think of that quote from Gandhi that I shared earlier. Does your witness make much of Christ or do you get in the way? Look at the sun (don’t actually look at it) but how can you see anything in the world? Isn’t it because of the shining sun? The sun is so bright that it’s literally the way we see everything in the world, apart from its light we would live in darkness.

-But what about when something gets in between the sun and the earth? Something like the moon? We call that an eclipse, and it’s an eerie experience! We were living in CO when the eclipse came through in 2017 and it was odd to experience darkness during the day! But I think that’s a picture of what we can tend to do with the light of the gospel. How often do we get in the way and refuse to let God’s light shine out because we’re too scared, or because our lives aren’t actually marked by the light of the gospel? Or what about when we add things to the gospel message, things that God didn’t say we needed to do? Look down at vs. 12 – it’s very simple: believe in His name. Trust that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world who came to earth as a baby, but grew and completely and perfectly obeyed God, letting the light of God shine perfectly into the world.

-The Word (that gives light) was in the world, the world only exists because of this Word, but the world wanted to be their own god instead.

-A.W. Pink. (pastor in the early 20^th century) This is what we see in Gandhi! He’s blind to the fact that the Messiah, the Savior who came to save the world from their sins has come to the world. Friends, are you blind, or do you see and acknowledge that Jesus is God?

-This is where we’re already seeing that it’s not enough to just like Jesus as a cool dude. Like if you’ve ever heard the icebreaker question: what 3 people would you have dinner with, dead or alive? Jesus is almost always on the list, right? The thing is we already have a whole bunch of stuff that Jesus said about Himself, and God thinks what we have is enough!

-His own people: we saw that last week. Scribes, rulers knew the right answers, but didn’t follow through on the correct response.

-All those who were supposedly watching completely missed it. If you’ve ever seen a street “magician” (really illusionist) performing you’re aware of this. The whole goal of those people is to distract others from what they’re really doing, which is why it’s often called sleight of hand, they’re essentially forcing you to focus on one thing while they do something else.

-What’s ironic in the Christmas story is that’s not what God did. It’s not like it was a massive secret! He sent angels to shepherd, He sent wise-men to Herod, He sent an angel to Mary and Joseph.

-Children of God: comes only by belief, demands a response “To all who did receive Him.” What’s amazing about that is the only thing it takes is receiving Jesus! Think about the Christmas carol ‘O Little Town’ “Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.” Then you become children of God, that’s all it takes

-What is this birth thing John talks about? He’ll expand on it in chpt 3 (which we don’t have time to go to), but he contrasts it here with 3 things, that feels unnecessarily repetitive and redundant, don’t they? We get it John, it’s only “of God” but what do you think all these things John’s talking about mean?

-Natural descent: this is referring to genealogy. In Jewish circles, genealogy was literally make or break for you! Either you were Jew or you were of the “ethnicities.” So if you were of the wrong blood-line, you weren’t a part of God’s people. But this thought continues today! The assumption that you’re a Christian because you’re American (less so today) or that you’re good because your parents took you to church. Friends, I hate to say it, but your bloodline has no bearing in the kingdom of God.

-Will of the flesh: this has to do with sincerity. Originally, this is a husband and wife coming together to produce a baby, there’s desire there for children, earnest to earn the gift of a baby. But friends, all the sincerity in the world can’t make you a child of God. You see this with people who assume they’re good because they went through the right motions: I went to church all growing up, I went to Awana all the way through, I did confirmation. Once again, John is telling us here that none of those things can save you, which gets to the third one:

-Will of man: effort. No matter how hard you try you won’t become a child of God. I listened to a podcast this week that was comparing Christianity to other world religions, all of which have some element of effort required to achieve salvation, but Christianity doesn’t have that, which is why so many people struggle with it and add works to salvation.

-There’s only 1 way to become a child of God: But of God. God redeems you and adopts you as His child. That’s it! It’s only by believing in His name! But what did it take for it to be that simple?

The Flesh (14-18)

-Back to the Word, but this is weird, he became flesh and tabernacled (moved into the neighborhood) How can the eternal Word step into time?

-To understand this one, we need to understand both tabernacle and (tabernacling) God dwelling among His people. Throughout the OT, God’s manifest presence was confined to the tabernacle (then the temple), so that His people wouldn’t die. Just as light can’t coexist with darkness, God’s glory can’t coexist with sin. So when we read that the Word, who was with God and IS God, became flesh that would have made NO sense, much less tabernacling among us, if God is with us we’re done for! But John keeps going:

-And we SAW his glory! Remember what we saw with Moses back in Exodus, no one could see God’s glory and live, and here John says WE SAW HIS GLORY! Suddenly, the God who was completely separate, unobtainable, unapproachable is here, walking and talking with us. Do you see why Jews struggled to believe Him?

-Full of what? Grace and truth. We need BOTH! This is the amazing thing about the gospel – we get the truth that we are far worse than we ever dared imagine, but we also get the grace that we are far more loved than we could ever dare to hope. Christianity is the 1 religion that can deal with the complexity of the world, because Christianity is the 1 religion that is true.

-From Him, we have received grace upon grace, better translated as grace instead of grace, grace on top of grace, but it only comes through the truth, the truth that Jesus is God and came to take away the sins of the world, which includes you if you’ve believed in His name.

-Jesus is better even than Moses, which is another reason we should be thinking back to Ex. 33-34 when we read John 1

-Jesus reveals the unseeable God in seeable form. John’s epistle begins this way: beginning, heard, seen, observed, touched, then passed down, JOY

-One of my favorite Christmas songs begins with “Joy to the world the Lord is come.” Joy is possible, but it only comes about be believing in Jesus, who had planned from all eternity to come to earth as a baby boy. To live the perfect life that we could never live, and die the death that we all deserved to die to give us joy and the opportunity to hear Him, to see Him, and to some day touch Him. Joy that nothing can take away, joy that lasts even when you don’t get the Christmas gift you wanted. Joy that can and will last into eternity all because the Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood, which means we now can become children of God.

-And now, as we look forward to celebrating Christmas this week, we have the reminder that we are now the ones who are supposed to move into the neighborhood and shine as lights in the darkness. The Christmas story, the story of Jesus first coming culminates in a second coming where we’ll be with Him forever! And until that second coming, our job each Christmas is to continue overcoming the darkness, through joy.

-So church, by joyful, always.

Herod, Did You Know? – Sermon Manscript

-I shared 2 weeks ago how I feel like a bit of a Grinch at Christmas because it’s so easy to just become numb to it (especially when they put up Christmas decorations in October) But last night, I had a visit from 3 ghosts and I’m now a new man! If you haven’t watched or read A Christmas Carol, that comment makes no sense to you! The best version is the Muppets, and it’s not even close

-Every good story needs an antagonist, a bad guy. Scrooge, Voldemort, Sauron, Thanos, even the new Barbie movie needed the enemy of “the system” (cleverly disguised as Mattel) to fight against!

-And the Christmas story is no exception, except this story is real, with real stakes! No CGI was used in this production. This bad guy is Herod, and he’s really a bad dude!

READ/PRAY

Some Righteous Dudes (1-15)

-Last week we saw the righteousness of Joseph, who was thought to be the father of Jesus (Luke 3:23), he took Jesus and Mary’s shame on himself, willingly.

-We’ll get to Herod after we look at these “wise men.”

-Magi (where we get magic, sorcery), men who were in the upper realms of society and gifted in astrology.

-“From the east” where is the east? We’ve spent a lot of time over the past year tracing how the Bible fits together and the way it alludes to previous stories that we should hear, so when we come across this phrase, Matthew’s picking up on previous themes.

-Daniel tells the story of siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon. Where’s Babylon? To the east! The Jews were taken into exile into the east, but even when they’re in exile God still blesses them. Daniel 1:17 (Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, also known as Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Lion’s Den and fiery furnace), 2:2 (additionally, what was a common practice in Babylon? Magi) Many scholars believe these Magi are in the same lineage as what we see in Daniel. After centuries of oppression of God’s people, those nations who were oppressing them are now coming to worship the one true God.

-Balaam was talked about a few times in Revelation, he’s the one who had a donkey talk to him after being beaten by Balaam. Balaam was hired by the king of Moab to curse Israel, but instead of cursing them, the only thing he can do is bless them. Look at what he says to the king of Moab: Num. 24:17. And where does Balaam come from? 23:7 FROM THE EAST.

-And the last thing we need to know about the east occurs all the way back in Gen. 3:23-24. The Bible begins with everything being very good, in harmony with each other and with God but then our first parents disobeyed God, committing treason against Him and were banished from Eden, but notice which way they were banished, drove the man out, and as he was sent out a cherubim was stationed to prevent him from returning into the garden, they’re sent “East of Eden” as John Steinbeck summarized it. So the significance of wise men coming “from the east” is that God is finally bringing harmony to what was broken all the way back in the beginning.

-Matthew writes this Gospel to demonstrate the way Jesus fulfills all of God’s promises, hence so much quoting of the OT here.

-“Star-led wizards” (Douglas Sean O’Donnell), from the east (where the enemies of God’s people are) who are coming to worship the king of the Jews. That’s a reversal of fortunes from what had happened to the Jews! God’s way of saying that even these wizards can worship the one true God.

-Why did they come to Jerusalem? Apparently they knew some of the OT promises, but not all of them, so they came to the capital of Israel

-Contrast the response of these wizards with the response of the chief priests and scribes.

-Religious and political leaders of the day, they had the right answer, but what did they do with it? Nothing.

-Friends, this is one of my biggest concerns with our world today is ambivalence to the realities of Jesus. I could understand Herod’s response of anger because Jesus means everything changes, what I don’t understand is not caring, and my concern in the church is our hearts aren’t led to worship when we think of Jesus, we check a box that we go to church, or we’re here because our parents made us, but it doesn’t actually affect us. If Jesus came and lived on earth (which he did) then everything in our lives has to change.

-C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity. Something about us has to change, which is true for these Wizard/magicians

-Something different about this star unlike a normal star that we see in the sky: sounds more like the fire that led the Israelites in their wilderness wanderings, something supernatural that God used to guide these people.

-Just as we don’t know much about Joseph, we don’t know much about these guys, but we know they were wealthy, and that they were obedient, they responded with worship.

-Gifts were kingly gifts! Much better than the diapers and blankets babies get today! Not only did these guys understand the stars, they also understood dreams, and when they left they didn’t go back to Jerusalem.

-Just as we saw last week with Joseph’s obedience to the first angel appearing in a dream, same thing here when an angel appears to him in a dream. It seems that he woke up as soon as the dream was done and fled!

-Don’t miss the humanity of this: left home, vocation, extended friends and family, become refugees to save his adopted son. And how do you think they paid for this move? Most likely with the gifts from these wizards.

-Even when it seems like a powerful ruler can thwart God’s plans, he can’t. (Psalm 2) Nations rage and people’s plot against God and His anointed, but God laughs.

An Unrighteous Dude (16-18)

-Did you notice how many times Herod was called a king: vs. 1, 3, 9, contrasted with the king of the Jews

-Herod was a vindictive and jealous man. Killed wives who crossed him, sons who crossed him, as well as any enemies he didn’t like. Was referred to as “The Great” but that was just due to his building programs. Rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem (where Jesus would preach from)

-Look at vs. 3 “Deeply disturbed” better translated as “greatly agitated” or “in turmoil” how would “all Jerusalem” be bothered by this?

-2 proposals: leaders of Jerusalem, or people would be terrified that Herod would go into a rage and kill someone (which he does)

-Herod’s response should have been to actually do what he tells the Magi he’ll do: worship. But that’s not what he does, he responds differently to Jesus: (vs. 16)

-The irony is if Herod was the true king of the Jews, what he should have done was searched the Scriptures and obeyed. See Herod wasn’t even a Jew, so if someone was born who was the in the correct lineage they would have a legitimate claim to the throne – more than Herod would, which is why he flies into a rage, he’s livid!

-So he does exactly what he’s done before – kills any and all potential threats to his power, in this case all boys 2 and younger. Just imagine the implications of that: a city where the little boys who used to run around and play in the streets are gone. Boys ripped from their mother’s arms to be killed.

-Once again, I want to point out that you can often tell who the enemy of God is by how they treat the youngest of us, because God is on the side of most vulnerable, which is who we as Christians should care for as well. Just think of God’s commands throughout the Bible: to not pursue power and wealth, but to look to how we can care for others, literally the opposite of what we see here in Herod!

-What’s most ironic to me is that he’s known as Herod the Great, and what does Jesus tell us greatness looks like? Greatness is service in God’s kingdom. If you want to be truly great, it means humbling yourself and looking to serve others instead of looking to get from others and how you can be served.

-Because Herod isn’t living as God intends people to live, the response for this part of the Christmas story is weeping and mourning (quoting from Jer. 31:15)

-I understand some of you may feel this way as we approach Christmas. It’s hard to be joyful when you’re weeping and mourning, and part of the reason we have an Advent season is to remember that in between Jesus’s 2 comings is waiting and longing and mourning. Friends, the Lord knows! Trust in the Lord, He hears every cry and knows the mourning that you’re walking through, so bring it to Him

-One of my favorite components of Christmas is it’s the 1 time of year where we listen to music in a minor (sad) key. It’s (somewhat ironically) the 1 time of year where it’s ok for us to admit we’re not ok.

-I often think of Psalm 23 when I’m struggling: “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me. Your rod and your staff they comfort me.” Even when we’re in the depths of despair, God is with us. His rod and staff both protect us from enemies and help to guide us on the right path, but that means we have to trust in His plans for each step along the way.

God’s Plan (19-23)

-What happened to Herod the Great? He died. How great is a king who ends us as a footnote in the introduction to the story about the true, everlasting King of kings?

-Herod died in 4 BC, and his kingdom was split among 3 sons and his sister (another Herod Antipas who was around during Jesus’s ministry)

-An angel appears to Joseph again and tells him it’s time to move back to Israel, and once again Joseph immediately obeys, but settles in a different place than before: Nazareth.

-We know from Luke 1 and 2 that this was where Mary and Joseph were originally from, but there’s no OT passage that Matthew quotes here, but what he’s most likely doing is pointing out how despised Jesus would be, he’s taking the sum total of how the prophets talked about the coming Messiah and summarized it as “being from Nazareth.” Nazareth was scorned even by people who lived nearby. No one would willingly claim that as their hometown, kind of like when people show up to churches in MN wearing Packers jerseys, they’re asking for the scorn of the people!

-Remember, God’s plan has always been to take seemingly insignificant people and places and use them for His ultimate purposes. He didn’t choose Israel because it was the biggest and best, He chose them in spite of all their external attributes, and it’s the same for us. God chooses what the world despises and then transforms and glorifies it to magnify His name.

-Think about the Christmas Carol – Scrooge is the one who seems to have everything the world wants: money and power. Yet how does that work out for him at the beginning of the book? Not so well! In this story, Herod is the one who has everything the world wants: money and power. And how did that work out for him? 2 words: Herod died. And despite trying to stamp out his opposition, the king that he was aiming to kill is still alive today.

-What we see in the midst of this entire story is the way God’s perfect plan can’t be stopped. Even when it seems like evil has the upper hand, even when it feels like everything is failing around us, God is still at work. Think of what Joseph says to his brothers at the end of Genesis: What you meant for evil God meant for good. What Herod meant for evil, God used for good, the ultimate good or providing salvation for the world!

-Eucatastrophe – a good catastrophe, everything sad will come untrue. God takes even what is intended as evil and somehow and some way uses it as good in our lives, but only if we’re trusting in and walking with Him. Friends, this reminds us that even when it feels like our lives are falling down around us, keep walking with God, because it’s worth it receive God’s gifts at the end.

-We’ve seen 3 responses to Jesus in this story, and as we come to the end the question in front of us is: which response do you have to Jesus? Anger, apathy, or adoration

-Anger: some people are legitimately angry about Jesus, but that isn’t the trend today. You saw that quite a bit in the early 2000s with the so called “4 horsemen of the new atheism” but even they are far less angry now than they used to be! In fact, one of them (Richard Dawkins) has recently come out saying he is a cultural Christian! He said he appreciates much more of what Christianity has brought to the world than any other religion, and he enjoys the cultural trappings, particularly at Christmas and Easter (hymns, decorations, etc)

-And maybe you’re not angry at Jesus broadly, but are there areas in your life where you harbor a “Herod spirit” against Him? This is more than being a Scrooge, this is an area where you’re not completely trusting that He cares about you and you’re angry at Him for not fitting within your plans, refusing to realize that His plans are far better than yours. Tim Keller. Keep praying!

-Apathy: this is knowing about Jesus but not letting it change anything about you, and I think this is the most dangerous place to be. You can see this with people who have almost been inoculated against Jesus – they know about Him, they’ve read the Bible, but it hasn’t actually changed anything about their lives. They view Jesus as an optional add on instead of the essential component to everything in life.

-Think of the difference between the Operating System and the Apps on your phone. Without the OS your phone is an expensive paperweight, AND without your OS the apps are pointless. Similarly in our life, without Jesus, everything else in life is pointless. It can seem enjoyable, but that joy only goes so far and eventually you’ll need to chase something else to find that same hit of joy. With Jesus, He literally changes everything about us so that we can finally make sense of our lives, of our joys and sorrows, and help us understand what our lives should look like:

-Adoration: this is what Jesus wants from everyone, and will someday demand from everyone when He comes back again. When we understand who Jesus is, this is the only way we can respond! He helps us to appreciate the gifts He’s given us (food, drink, books, nature, friends, family), He helps us understand that those things aren’t ends in themselves, but they help us to understand His love and care for us.

-There can be a tendency this time of year to shame people for enjoying the sentimentality of Christmas with the reminder that “Jesus is the reason for the season” and while that’s true, the way we experience Jesus today is through the gifts He’s given us, so friends, this Christmas season it’s ok to be sentimental and enjoy all the experiences that come with Christmas, but view those as opportunities to adore Jesus because He came to earth for you!

Luke 1:26-56 – Sermon Manuscript

-Christmas songs tend to make me laugh. As I was growing up my favorite was ‘Joy to the World’ which I found out wasn’t written as a Christmas song! Based on Psalm 98, focused more on Jesus’ second coming than His first.

-As I’ve been in ministry myself for a number of years now, my favorite has become ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ because it gets to the primary focus of the Christmas season: “O come let us adore Him!”

-But now we’ve also got more contemporary Christmas songs, like “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch” or “All I want for Christmas is you.”

-There are 3 songs that make me at least chuckle, if not LOL every year: Little Drummer Boy. After having kids, I don’t think any mother after giving birth would nod to a little drummer boy once the baby is asleep. First, who wants a snare being hit next to a sleeping infant, but secondly have you ever heard a little kid play drums? There is nothing calming or quiet about it!

-Which gets me to my second one: Silent Night. Has anyone ever heard of a silent baby? They’re only quiet when they sleep, but on top of that, the delivery is the opposite of calm and bright. Someday I’ll do a Christmas series ruining Christmas songs for you.

-The last song that makes me laugh is ‘Mary, did you know?’ which is the inspiration for this sermon series, mostly because I see this meme float around every Christmas. Written in 1984 as a poem for a church Christmas musical, it eventually came together as the song we know today in 1991, but it asks a series of questions of Mary, like “did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters, has come to make you new” and the reason I think it’s funny is because Mary is explicitly told the answer to all these questions in today’s text! No, she didn’t know every little detail about Jesus’ future life, but she did know the primary direction His life was going to take!

-Please stand with me, as we read Luke 1 and hear exactly what Mary knew.

PRAY

-I’ve shared this before, but the other thing I think of each Christmas is Bilbo Baggins, who is described in LOTR as “the most unlikely creature imaginable” to find the ring, similarly, Mary is the most unlikely creature imaginable to be chosen as the mother of God’s Son.

The Most Unlikely Creature Imaginable (26-38)

-A couple things I want you to keep in the back of your mind for every Christmas season:

-First is that we’re coming off 400 years of silence

-Second is we’re dealing with real people who had full lives, emotions, hopes and dreams just like we do. It can be easy for us to separate these stories from reality because it’s just words on a page.

-Finally, don’t forget how incredible this is! I at times feel like the Grinch this time of year: I have to go back and preach the same texts I’ve done numerous years in a row, I’ve heard this same story every Christmas as far back as I can remember, it’s way too easy to just slip into sentimentality and gloss over just how significant the incarnation is. God literally took on flesh, the Creator became creature, the author of history entered history. What human would come up with a story like that to provide salvation to the world?

-Friends, we’ve seen this over and over this past year as we’ve walked through Revelation, God is in control, His plans can’t be stopped, His ways are right and good, but it is going to run in conflict with the way the world trains us to think and live. His ways are better, but we are tempted to live by the ways of the world. Christmas is our annual reminder to not become seduced by the dragon, but to live in the way of the sacrificial Lamb, who came not in power or influence, but came in obscurity, with nothing, to a poor family living in a tiny community.

-6^th month refers to Elizabeth, wife of Zechariah who was a priest. An angel had just appeared to him to tell him that in their advanced age, they would have a child (we’ll see them again in the next section), but just as God has a history of redeeming childless wombs, here we see Him doing it again.

-I don’t know if you’ve ever considered this, but the story of Jesus is littered with barren wombs until God intervenes. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to take that idea to mean that you can tell which side God is on by the way someone cares for infants and children. God loves when families grown, and Satan hates it. There’s a reason God has to overcome so many childless women.

-Nazareth: tiny, backwoods town. Didn’t have any extrabiblical accounts of it until the 1960s, so insignificant that no other historical accounts thought it worthy of a mention. There’s a reason Nathaniel says “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” John 1:46.

-Surprisingly little is said about her – we know her name, that she was engaged, and that’s about it.

-Notice that there’s nothing in Mary that makes her worthy of being favored. She didn’t achieve this by doing something special or by being born in the right family or living an exemplary life, what’s most significant about Mary is that she obeyed God’s commands. That’s it. She did what’s possible for all of us to do: hear God’s Word and respond in obedience.

-Friends, you can find favor with God! The key to understand what’s happening here is God speaks, and Mary responds with obedience. This is a picture of what salvation looks like. God speaks through His people, and through His Word, and ultimately through His Spirit as the dead are brought to life. When that happens, suddenly we have favor with God!

-Obedience doesn’t mean Mary has no questions, she knows where babies come from! And she’s never had the opportunity to create a baby.

-But what we view as impossible is nothing to God. The word “overshadow” here is used often in the OT to talk about God’s presence descending on a place. There were times where Moses couldn’t enter the tabernacle because the cloud that signified God’s presence “overshadowed” the tabernacle. This isn’t (as some have argued) the Holy Spirit taking on flesh to have intercourse with Mary, this is a unique creation. Just as God had opened the womb of so many of Israel’s ancestors, what’s going 1 step further and creating new life in a womb?

-Because of this unique conception, He will be called “the holy one” and the Son of God. This was considered fairly normal at the time.

-All Jews thought of themselves as God’s children. In fact, even the name that this child was given was one of the most common names in the 1^st century: Yehoshua (Joshua) Iyasous (Greek) meaning “God saves.” Once again, this is demonstrating the ways God chooses to work in the world is through what we would see as weakness. A normal child with the most common name, born to a poor woman in a tiny town that no one cared about.

-However, this child is unique among all humans because He has no earthly Father, just a heavenly Father.

-This also shows us the way salvation comes about in all our lives. What could you do to save yourself? Nothing! What could you add to merit God’s salvation? Zippo! But what’s impossible with us is nothing to God.

-See most of us are similar to Jesus. Not worth much based on what the world values. Not smart based on worldly standards. Yet God still chooses those exact people to bring them into His family because nothing is impossible with God.

-Connects to a story Jesus tells about how difficult it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven, his disciples say then heaven must be impossible, Jesus replies “with God ALL things are possible.” Think of the hymn ‘Rock of Ages’ “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling.” We trust that Jesus is who He said He is and we are saved.

-This brings us to the next section of this text.

The Second Most Unlikely Creature Imaginable (39-45)

-Mary hurries south to see Elizabeth. Remember the angel had told her that her relative was pregnant, even in her old age, so I think Mary rushes there to see if Elizabeth is truly pregnant, or if the angel was pulling a fast one on her.

-Hurry is a bit of a relative term, couldn’t drive, people would generally walk everywhere, so Mary would have to travel somewhere between 3-4 days (80-100 miles)

-I read onetime that God’s speed is 3 mph, that’s how fast Jesus walked, and some estimates say He spent as much as ¾ of his ministry walking, to Jerusalem, back to Capernaum, back to Jerusalem, and we get frustrated when 70 mph isn’t fast enough!

-Already we see the way people should respond to the arrival of Jesus: John in the womb leaps for joy, and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit.

-Blesses Mary (again, not for anything she’s done, because Mary is obedient) We see that explicitly: (45) she who has believed what the Lord has spoken. That’s the way God works: He speaks, we should respond. But how often do we not respond? How frequently are our hearts too hard to fully obey God? Mark Twain quote.

-The Bible’s purpose isn’t just to comfort us (although at times it does that) in many cases the Bible’s purpose is to make us UNcomfortable because it asks something from us. Think of Rom. 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All. That includes me! That tells me I’m a sinner, I have fallen short, thankfully it doesn’t stop there because it goes on to say “and are justified by his grace as a gift” That means there’s hope, and that I need to live differently.

Respond with Praise (46-56)

-Magnifies: to make greater. The blessing given to Mary is an opportunity for her to continue praising God.

-If you think about it, that’s a great way to summarize the point of worship: to make greater. But it’s not make yourself greater, it’s acknowledging that Jesus is the greater one, that He’s the only one who deserves being made greater. Greater than what? Everything. The whole book of Hebrews is a long explanation of how Jesus is better than everything that came before in God’s plan. He’s better than the sacrificial system, better than any priest, better than Moses, better than the angels, He’s better than everything, and because of that we must respond with worship.

-But why is she looking to make God greater? Because He looked with favor on her humble/poor condition. She recognizes that in God’s view she has nothing.

-This is an example for how we should approach God, humbly and not entitled.

-Kent Hughes.

-Friends, do you approach Christmas as the poor and humble or as proud and self-sufficient? Be honest. Each year we have times and seasons to take time to reflect on certain things, Christmas is our annual reminder that Jesus came for the poor, humble, and lowly, that’s inherent to the gospel message. This is why Jesus said it’s so hard for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God, it requires admitting that you can’t do it on your own.

-Not only can you not be saved on your own, you can’t continue growing as a Christian on your own:

-From generation to generation – this has been God’s plan all along.

-What God does when He saves us is adopt us into a new family. This new family provides as place for you to truly be yourself, a place to find belonging and direction to your entire life. I don’t want to stretch this imagery too far, but the fact that we’re adopted means it at times is going to feel unnatural to us, just like someone who’s adopted is going to at times struggle to figure out their new family rhythms and routines. I don’t know about you, but I often struggle at holidays because my routines are thrown off! God is trying to teach us a new way of living in His family, which is different from the way the world teaches us to live.

-This new way of living is shown through God’s mighty deeds, and as we saw throughout Revelation, it’s the opposite of the way we expect the world to work:

-scattered the proud: those who think they’re self-sufficient, that they’re able to do whatever they want in their own power and strength, like the tower of Babel

-toppled the mighty: who can stand against God? No one! Trust in Him!

-Satisfied the hungry: God provides the solution to the deepest longings of your heart, only when you trust in Him can you be completely satisfied

-Kept His word: God has made promises and delivered on every single one of them. Trust in Him because His ways are good and true. If God has said He’ll do something it’s guaranteed to happen.

-Just like Mary, we are the most unlikely people imaginable to be chosen by God to be his children, if we trust in what He’s said.

-That doesn’t mean life will be easy, or that you’ll always trust and obey God perfectly. I remember growing up reading the Bible stories and thinking to myself “If I experienced these kinds of things I would NEVER have questions or doubts in my faith.” But friends, everyone has questions and doubts at some point in their life, even Mary.

-In Mark’s Gospel, we read that early in his ministry, as His fame was spreading, news reached His family, and here’s what they thought. But surely not Mary, right? She had this amazing visit from an angel, you’d think that everyday she’d be reminded to keep faith because Jesus was right there in front of her! Her miracle child! But just a few verses later, Mark says who was there. His mother and his brothers. See, even a visit from an angel eventually wears off. This is why the “camp high” needs to be connected to the truth. Emotions fade, experiences get less potent, but God’s Word remains the same.

-As we enter this Christmas season and look at these 4 characters of Christmas together, I’d like you to think back to why you are a Christian, and if you’re not a Christian, what’s holding you back? Questions and doubts are normal for Christians and non-Christians. If Mary, the mother of Jesus, can have doubts, so can you. But don’t just leave them there. Explore them, doubt your doubts! One of the best things about Christianity is the wealth of knowledge to draw from in studying and researching.

-But do something. One of our mottos here is 1 step closer: what step are you going to take this Christmas season to grow closer to Jesus? Read a new devotional, read a book on the incarnation (Athanasius, written in the early 300s), read a reflect on Matt. 1-2 or Luke 1-2.

-Or maybe you need help doubting your doubts. Reach out to me, I’m guessing I have a book or resource on whatever question you’re facing, because Christians have been wrestling with this faith for centuries.

Pastor Mike's Musings

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