Friday, December 28, 2012

A Response to Christmas that Provides an Example to Follow...


During this Christmas season, we have been looking at an account of the Christmas story that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Luke in order to discover what Christmas calls us to as followers of Jesus. Today, I would like for us to look at another account of the Christmas story in our Bible called the gospel of Matthew. And it is in a section of this letter in the Bible that we will discover another response to the birth of Jesus that reveals what Christmas is all about. So let’s look at this section together, beginning in Matthew 2:1:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

Matthew begins by introducing us to a group of men that were known as magi. Most scholars believe that the Magi were learned men who were from the region that is now modern day Iraq. The magi were men who specialized in the study of astrology and the interpretation of dreams. Now these magi had received special revelation from God in the form of what appeared to be a star that announced the birth of the Messiah.

You see, God had previously predicted and proclaimed that from the Jewish people there would be a descendant of Abraham, from the line of David that would be the promised Messiah who would bring the Jewish people back to God and back to prominence in the world. So, the Jewish people had been looking forward and counting the days until God would fulfill His promise to humanity.

And now, these Magi, who had travelled over hundreds of miles, had arrived in the capital city of Jerusalem and announced that they were searching for a baby that they said would be the Messiah that God had promised. We see the response of Jerusalem to the arrival of the magi and their announcement in verse 3:

 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'" Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him."

Herod, who was the ruler of the Jewish people at the time, along with the entire city of Jerusalem, was troubled by the news. Now this word troubled literally means to be disturbed, unsettled, and thrown into confusion. Herod was troubled; Herod was disturbed because Herod viewed the news of this new king as a potential threat to his position and his power.

So Herod concocted a sneaky and shady plan to deal with this potential threat. Herod called the Jewish religious leaders together for a meeting in order to determine where this new threat to his power and position would have been born. After discovering that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, King Herod points the magi to Bethlehem and requests that they report back to him with the baby’s exact location after they find Him. Matthew then records what happens next in verse 9:

After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

After traveling for several months over hundreds of miles to arrive at Jerusalem; after hearing that the Messiah was to be born five miles south of Jerusalem in a small sleepy town called Bethlehem, the magi make the subsequent journey. And as they traveled, we see God guide and lead them in a special and supernatural way to the location of Jesus. Upon arriving in Bethlehem, the magi do not find Jesus in a cave in a feeding cloth for animals. Instead, after the hustle and bustle of the recent census subsided and people returned back to where they had been living, Joseph, Mary and Jesus were able to find a house to live in after the birth of Jesus.

Matthew tells us that after experiencing God’s supernatural revelation and direction, the magi rejoiced exceedingly with great joy upon seeing Jesus.  The magi rejoiced with great joy because that had reached their destination after traveling hundreds of miles over a significant period of time. The magi had sacrificed time away from their families and their country on this journey. And this journey would not have been cheap.

After arriving at this location, Matthew tells us that the magi responded to their encounter with the Child Messiah by falling to the ground and worshipping. And as part of their worship, the magi presented to Jesus, as an act of worship, gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And it is in the story of the magi that we see what Christmas calls us to. It is in the response of the magi that we see what Christmas is all about. You see, it is in the response of the magi that we see that Christmas calls us to worship Christ fully. The magi responded to God’s transformational and supernatural revelation and intervention in history through Jesus by worshipping.

And it is in the story of the magi that we discovered that Christmas calls us to spend less so that we can worship without worry. The magi did not allow other financial concerns to cause worry or distraction from God’s supernatural revelation. Instead the magi were solely focused on encountering this new king Jesus.

It is in the story of the magi that we discovered that Christmas calls us to give more of ourselves as an act of worship that impacts others. Instead of spending the resources that they had on things that they did not necessarily need, the magi spent that first Christmas season making a journey that resulted in an act of giving that would provide the resources that allowed the family of Jesus to escape to Egypt as King Herod attempted to kill every child in Bethlehem in order to secure his power and position as king.

And it is in the story of the magi that we discovered that Christmas calls us to love all as an act of worship that reveals and reflects God’s love for all. Just as the magi responded in love to God’s revelation and intervention in the world, Christmas is about responding in worship to God’s love that is most fully revealed by His Son Jesus by revealing and reflecting the love of God to others.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

The countdown to Christmas calls us to love all as an act of worship that reveals and reflects God’s love for all...


In the days leading up to Christmas, we had spent our time looking at an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in our Bibles called the gospel of Luke, which records what happened that first Christmas. Today, I would like to look at what is without a doubt the most popular passage of the Bible that is read or referred to during Christmas. If your family has a church background, you may have read this passage on Christmas morning before opening your presents. And it is in this passage of the Bible that we will discover a third way that we can be challenged to worship fully during this Christmas season. So let’s look at this passage together beginning in Luke 2:1:

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.

Like any great story, Luke begins the Christmas story by providing us the context for the story. At this time, the land that belonged to the Jewish people was under the control of the Roman Empire, which was the dominant military and political power in the world. And as part of their military and political dominance, the Roman Government required that every person who lived in the Roman Empire over the age of 20 pay a tax that was called the poll tax. 

So to make sure that they were receiving the maximum amount of taxes that they were able to gather, the Roman Empire called for a census. This census required every Jewish family to travel to their ancestral home town to register for the census so that they would be counted for tax purposes. Every Jewish person, in essence, needed to travel to the place where their family tree was planted. And for Joseph and Mary, that meant traveling to Bethlehem, as Joseph came from the family tree of David, who as we have talked about during this series, was the most famous king to ever ruler the Jewish nation. So Joseph and Mary left Nazareth and made the trip to Bethlehem.

Now to understand the significance of this trip, we first need to understand some things about this journey. First, the distance between Nazareth and Bethlehem was 80 miles. Second, there are no cars, buses, or airplanes. So Joseph and Mary walked 80 miles, which would take approximately five days for an average person to travel. But as Luke tells us, Joseph and Mary are not average; Because Mary is with child. When Luke says that Mary is with child, she is with child. Delivery could occur at any moment. Most scholars believe that this trip would have taken at least one week to accomplish. And as we see next, however, Mary is not just with child:

While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

 After arriving in Bethlehem, Mary discovered that she was not just with child; it was time to have the child. There was a problem, however. You see, Bethlehem was not a bustling metropolis filled with hotels and motels; Bethlehem was a small rural community that was busting at the seams as a result of all the out of town visitors that were required to come to register for the census. Bethlehem was not a destination that up and coming people moved to in order to start their careers; Bethlehem was a departure point that people left as soon as they grew up.  So there was no place for people to reside, unless there were close family that still lived in town.

Bethlehem was so crowded that the only place that they could find for Mary to give birth and stay in was with domesticated animals. Most likely this was in a cave on the outskirts of town where animals where kept for their safety. Instead of a crib, all Mary could lay her newborn in was a manger, which was a feeding trough for animals.

Now imagine yourself as Joseph and Mary. How would you be feeling right now? You are in a cave, 80 miles from home, where you have placed your firstborn son in a box that a few minutes ago, farm animals were slobbering in as they ate. And if that is not enough, your son is God in a bod. God, who has taken on flesh, is lying in a feeding trough. And where do you think they got the cloths to wrap baby Jesus in? How would you be feeling? What would you be thinking? Was this how you think Mary envisioned giving birth to her first child?

Now, you might be thinking to yourself “what was God thinking? I mean what would drive God to send His Son Jesus into such a situation? What would motivate God to come up with such a strange way to reveal Himself to humanity? And if Jesus is God in a bod, then what would motivate Jesus to agree to being put in such a situation? What would motivate Jesus to enter into humanity in such a strange way? ”

If those questions are running through your mind, I want to let you know that they are great questions to be asking. And we discover the answers to these questions from the mouth of Jesus Himself. You see, in another account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the gospel of John, Jesus makes a statement that is probably the most familiar verse in the entire Bible. And it is in this single verse that we see Jesus reveal the motivation that drove that first Christmas and that provides for us what Christians call the message of the gospel. So let’s look at this verse together:

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

In this verse, not only do we see what motivated Jesus to enter into humanity that first Christmas: in this verse we see Jesus reveal for us we need to know and what we need to do in order to respond to what Christmas calls us to when it comes to how we can enter into a relationship with God. First, Jesus says for God so loved the world. God sent His Son Jesus to earth that first Christmas not because He was mad at the world; God is in love with the world.

Jesus then tells us that God did what people, who are in love, do. God gave. God sent His Son Jesus because He loved the world. You see, while God created humanity to experience a relationship with Him and a relationship with one another, all of humanity selfishly rebelled and rejected that relationship, instead choosing to love ourselves and do things out of that selfish love that hurt God and others. That selfish love and rebellion is what the Bible calls sin.

God responded to that selfish love and rebellion by giving what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away. God’s love and interest in us was made known and shown in the most powerful way when He sent His unique, one and only Son to earth that first Christmas, who later allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life.

Jesus then explains that God loved and God gave so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish. Now this little phrase believes in, in the language that this letter is written in, is the same word that is translated trust in our Bibles. This word literally means to entrust oneself entrust to someone with complete confidence. To trust is a lot like this stool, while I could say that I believe that this stool can hold my weight, it is only when I sit on the stool that I demonstrate that I trust the stool to hold my weight.

And for the person who believes, trusts, and follows Jesus, Jesus explains that they shall not perish, but have eternal life. Now eternal life is not simply living forever. You see, everyone lives forever; we are created as eternal beings. The question is not whether or not you are going to live forever, the question is where are you going to live? When Jesus uses this phrase, He is revealing to all humanity that the person who places their confident trust in Jesus life death, and resurrection will not be separated from God as a result of their selfishness and rebellion, but will experience forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God that we were created for.

And that is the good news of the gospel: That first Christmas God loved, God gave, so that those who believe and place their confident trust in Jesus would receive life in relationship with Him.

And it is in the story of Jesus entry into humanity that we see what the countdown to Christmas calls us to. And it is in the response of Jesus in perhaps the most famous verse in the entire Bible that we see what the countdown to Christmas is all about.

You see, Advent, the countdown to Christmas calls us to love all as an act of worship that reveals and reflects God’s love for all. You see, what motivated Jesus to leave the riches of the glory and majesty of Heaven to live life on earth was love. What drove Jesus to enter into humanity as a baby in a feeding trough for animals was His love for all. What motivated Jesus to experience humanity and grow up in a blue collar home of a carpenter was His love for all.

What drove Jesus during His earthly ministry as a homeless itinerant preacher that relied on the support of others for food and shelter was His love for all. And what drove Jesus to allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life was His love for all.

And that is what Christmas is all about. Christmas is about responding in worship to God’s love that is most fully revealed by His Son Jesus by revealing and reflecting the love of God to others. Christmas calls us to love all by focusing on placing others before us by worshipping God fully. Christmas calls us to love all by placing others before us by spending less on the things that will be so easily forgotten so that we can give more of ourselves in a way that impacts others.

Christmas calls us to love all in a way that reveals and reflects God’s love that drove Him to give what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away, so that all humanity might have the opportunity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for by responding to God’s love by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. You see, Christmas reveals the reality that love is a verb.

So, what are you going to do this Christmas season to make love a verb? What are you going to do to respond to God’s love in a way that loves all as an act of worship that reveals and reflects God’s love? What are you going to do to respond to God giving what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away by spending less at the altar of consumerism and instead giving more to those around us who are less fortunate than us in a way that reveals and reflects the love of Christ and the message of Christmas?

Friday, December 21, 2012

Christmas calls us to give more of ourselves as an act of worship that impacts others...


During these days that lead up to Christmas, we are spending our time together in a sermon series entitled the advent conspiracy. During this series, we are looking at an account of the Christmas story that is recorded for us in our Bibles called the gospel of Luke. This week, we are looking at the response of Mary to the announcement of her pregnancy with Jesus.

Wednesday, we saw the Angel Gabriel, announce to a Jr. High virgin named Mary that she would give birth in a supernatural and creative way to God who would be entering into humanity. Just as God would bring forth life from that which had been unable to bring forth life, God was going bring forth life from what had previously never attempted to bring forth life. Today, we will see Luke record Mary’s response in Luke 1:38: 

And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

When Mary uses the word bondslave, this word was used to refer to a female slave. Mary is saying “the Lord is large and in charge, I am willing to do whatever God desires me to do and go through. I place my trust in God and embrace the role that He has given me”.  Now, when we read Mary’s words here, a natural reaction is to say “well of course she would say that. I mean what a privilege. Look at the blessings that she is going to experience to be the mother of Jesus”. So I want to take a minute to look at all the blessings that Mary would have been thinking about and would have experienced as a result of being the mother of Jesus.

First off, let’s imagine the blessings that Mary experienced as she explained to those in the small rural town that she lived in how she became pregnant. Imagine yourself as Mary attempting to explain your pregnancy as a 12-13 year old Jr. High girl:  “How did I become pregnant? Oh, you would not believe what happened. An angel named Gabriel showed up one night and explained that I was pregnant by the Holy Spirit and that I was going to deliver the Messiah”. Can you imagine the response she received: “Yah, sure, isn’t that great. Holy Spirit, Messiah”. “Sinner, Scarlet Letter”.

Second, imagine the blessings that Mary experienced as she explained her pregnancy to Joseph. In another account of Jesus life that is recorded in the Bible called the book of Matthew, we discover that Joseph, being a righteous man, was just going to divorce her quietly instead of having her stoned, as the Law allowed. That is until he had his own encounter with the angel of the Lord.

Third, imagine all the blessings that come from living a life that will be stigmatized and dramatically altered forever as a result of this pregnancy. Imagine trying to have a marriage that is surrounded by the gossip, slander, and rejection. We know that to be the case because later in life, self righteous religious people actual confronted Jesus by stating “we were not born of fornication”. In other words they were saying “at least we know who our dad is; at least we are not a bastard child”.

And fourth, imagine the blessings that Mary experienced as she watched her first born son grow up to be rejected, despised, and suffer the most humiliating and painful death possible, which was crucifixion. So do we really think that Mary was counting all her blessings as she received this message from God? Yet Mary’s response was to say “Lord, you are large and in charge, I am willing to do whatever You desire me to do and go through.” A few verses later, we see the full extent of Mary’s response to God’s message through the Angel Gabriel in Luke 1:46:

And Mary said: "My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. "For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. "For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. "AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. "He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. "He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. "HE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS; And sent away the rich empty-handed. "He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever."

Mary’s response to God’s message was one of worship. And her response of worship resulted in her giving her life to the role that she had been given in God’s kingdom mission. All of the plans that she had when it came to how she and Joseph were going to spend their lives together were suddenly and radically changed forever. Instead of spending her life for her mission, she gave her life for that advancement of God’s mission in a way that would radically impact all of humanity.

And it is in this story that we see what Christmas calls us to. It is in the response of Mary that we see what the countdown to Christmas is all about. You see, Advent, the countdown to Christmas calls us to give more of ourselves as an act of worship that impacts others. Where we can get off track, however, is when we lose sight of what happened that first Christmas.

The first Christmas was marked by giving, not spending. Instead of spending, Mary spent that first Christmas taking the first steps along a journey of giving her life for the advancement of God’s mission by giving birth to God in a supernatural and unique way that would radically impact all of humanity. Instead of spending, Jesus spent that first Christmas taking His first breathes as God in a bod that would lead Him to give His life by allowing Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. However, we can find ourselves getting off track by focusing on the culture’s call to spend more during the countdown to Christmas.

Instead of spending more, what would happen if we spent the countdown to Christmas by giving more of ourselves as an act of worship that impacts others? What would happen if instead of spending more money that we do not have in order to impress people with gifts that they probably won’t even remember, we gave more of the time, talents, and treasure that we do have to impact the lives of others?

Now you might be wondering “What are you talking about? What do you mean spend less and give more? Who or what am I supposed to give more to in order to impact more?” If that question is running through your mind, let me give you three practical ways that you can spend less and give more during the countdown to Christmas. The first way is by adopting a child or family through the Angel Tree program. Angel Tree because provides a practical way to give more to local families who are suffering as a result of the incarceration of a family member in a way that provides the opportunity to develop an ongoing relationship that can impact that family.

A second way is by partnering with Living Water International in its efforts to end the clean water crisis. With more than a billion people lacking access to clean water and sanitation, the need to support those who are bringing new hope to these communities by drilling wells is both apparent and critical. A third way is by partnering with International Justice Mission in its efforts to bring rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.

So here is the challenge for us as individuals and as a church during this countdown to Christmas. This Christmas season, would you become a part of the Advent conspiracy by giving more of yourself as an act of worship that impacts others? Would you spend less and give more by leveraging your time, talents, and treasure to one of these efforts?

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Supernatural Creativity in the Face of Impossibility...


During these days that lead up to Christmas, we are spending our time together in a sermon series entitled the advent conspiracy. During this series, we are looking at an account of the Christmas story that is recorded for us in our Bibles called the gospel of Luke. This week, we are looking at the response of Mary to the announcement of her pregnancy with Jesus. Yesterday, we saw the Angel Gabriel, announce to a Jr. High virgin named Mary that she would give birth to God who will rule and reign as He reveals and establishes the kingdom of Heaven for all eternity.

Today, imagine yourself as Mary hearing that you are going to become pregnant and give birth to God: What would you be thinking? How would you respond? Probably just like Mary did in verse 34:

Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"

In other words, Mary is asking “how is this possible?” This is not a question of doubt or a lack of faith. Instead, this is a question that flowed from a desire to understand. Mary is asking “How am I going to get pregnant and have a child if I have never had sex before? I mean, usually you have to have sex before you get pregnant. I have not had sex and I am not married, so how am I going to become pregnant with God?” We see the angel Gabriel’s response in verse 35:

 The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

To understand the angel Gabriel’s response, we first need to define some terms. When the Angel Gabriel says "The Holy Spirit will come upon you”, this phrase literally means that the Holy Spirit will come and move upon you. The phrase “the power of the Most High will overshadow you” literally means that the power of God would cover you. In other words, Mary would become pregnant as a result of the supernatural power of God as displayed through the Holy Spirit, who would creatively and supernaturally bring about the physical conception of Jesus. In church mumbo jumbo talk, this is referred to as the Immaculate Conception and the virgin birth.

You see, Mary did not become pregnant because God had sex with Mary. God moved in a supernatural and unique way, displaying His power through the Holy Spirit, to bring the second member of the Trinity into humanity as the only begotten son of God. That is why Gabriel states that the holy Child shall be called the son of God.

In the Bible, the Son of God is not a term that is used to simply describe one’s place in a family tree. The Son of God is a title that is used to describe Jesus association with God as the second member of the Trinity. As the Holy Child, as God in a bod, Jesus would be set apart as distinct and different from any other human child. Jesus was fully God and fully man.

And Jesus was set apart and sent to earth with a specific mission, which was to give His life to provide humanity an opportunity to be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated humanity from God so that they could receive forgiveness and experience the relationship with God that they were created for. And in case that did not fully answer Mary’s question, Gabriel states the following in verse 36:

 "And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month."For nothing will be impossible with God."

In other words, the angel Gabriel is saying “the reason that you being pregnant by the power of God through the Holy Spirit is the same reason that your aunt Elizabeth, who is on the other side of menopause and thought would never be blessed with a child, is also pregnant. You see Mary, nothing is impossible with God. Just as God can bring forth life from that which had been unable to bring forth life, God can bring forth life from what had previously never attempted to bring forth life”.

Friday, we will see how Mary responded and discover another timeless aspect of what the countdown to Christmas is all about….

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

An Amazing Greeting and Message...


During these days that lead up to Christmas, we are spending our time together looking at an account of the Christmas story that is recorded for us in our Bibles called the gospel of Luke. Last week, we looked at how much money we spent, as a nation, on Christmas and discovered that Advent, the countdown to Christmas calls us to spend less so that we can worship and not worry. Where we can get off track, however, is when we respond to our cultures call to worship the god of consumerism by spending more money that we do not have in order to impress people with gifts that they probably won’t even remember.

 Now this week I would like for us to begin by interacting with a question that could arise after last week. And that question might sound something like this: Well Dave, if Christmas calls us to spend less, then what are we to do with the time and treasure that we normally would have been spending? You say Christmas calls us to spend less, but doesn’t Christmas call us to something more? What does worshipping Christ fully during the countdown to Christmas look like if it is not what we have been doing?

To find the answers to these questions or objections, I would like for us to spend our time together by looking back at an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in our Bibles called the gospel of Luke, which records what happened that first Christmas. So far, we have been looking at the responses of people after the arrival of Jesus. This morning, I would like for us to spend our time together looking at the response of Mary to the announcement of her pregnancy with Jesus. So let’s do that together, beginning in Luke 1:26:

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

Luke begins this story by introducing us to the two main characters in the story. The first character that Luke introduces us to is the Angel Gabriel, who we met two weeks ago in the opening sermon in this series. Gabriel was an angel of the Lord who was God’s personal servant, who in the Bible delivered messages from God to humanity. Luke tells us that God sent the angel Gabriel to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, which was a small, rural town, located about 60 miles north of Jerusalem.

Gabriel was sent to Nazareth in order to deliver a message from God to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph. Now when Luke refers to Mary as being a virgin, this phrase does not only refer to her sexual history. In the culture of the day, this phrase was used to describe a young girl of marriageable age, which in the culture of the day would have been between 12-13 years old, and had not had sex.

So Mary was basically a Junior High age virgin who was engaged to be married to a slightly older teenager named Joseph, who Luke tells us was of the descendants of David. That Joseph was a descendant of David is significant because God had promised the Jewish nations most famous king, King David, that one of his descendants would be the Messiah.

So the Jewish people were looking for the descendant of Abraham, from the line of David that would be the promised Messiah who would bring the Jewish people back to God and back to prominence in the world. And Joseph was a descendant of Abraham from the line of David. However, Joseph is not a main character in this story; he is only mentioned as an aside. Luke then gives us a front row seat as this story unfolds, beginning in Luke 1:28:

 And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."

Now imagine yourself as Mary: you are a Jr. High girl in a small rural town. Place yourself in her shoes. Out of the blue, the angel Gabriel, God’s personal messenger appears and says "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." If the appearance of the angel Gabriel wasn’t enough, let’s take a minute to look at the greeting itself. The word greetings here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, is the same word that is translated rejoice in our English Bibles. The little phrase favored one comes from the same word that is translated grace.

This greeting, if it was to be communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “Rejoice Mary, for God is with you and is going to extend grace to you in a way that will transform your life”. We see Mary’s response to this greeting in verse 29.

  But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

When Luke states that Mary was perplexed at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was, he is revealing for us the reality that Mary was confused and was trying to process what this amazing greeting from this supernatural being meant. This teenage girl was confused and was considering the significance of this statement.

Now wouldn’t you be confused? Wouldn’t you be considering the consequences and significance of the statement if the angel Gabriel showed up at your door and made such a statement? But not only was Mary confused; not only was Mary considering the significance of the angel Gabriel’s statement that “God is with you and is going to extend grace to you in a way that will transform your life”. There was something else going on in Mary, which we see revealed in verse 30:

The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary;

To which Mary was probably thinking “that’s easy for you to say. You’re not a teenage girl; you are an Angel of the Lord who delivers special messages from God”. You see, the reason why the Angel Gabriel said “do not be afraid” is because Mary was afraid. The Angel Gabriel then delivers God’s message to Mary:

 for you have found favor with God. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."

Now God’s message to Mary, if it was communicated in the language that we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “Mary, the reason that you have nothing to be afraid of is because God is with you and is going to extend grace to you. God is going to reveal His transformational intervention and activity in your life in a miraculous way. You see, Mary you are going to have a child; and this child is not just any child. You are going to have a son and you are to name him Jesus, or Yahweh saves. And the reason that you are to name Him Jesus is because He is God in a bod. God is coming to the earth through you as the Lord God is sending His Son Jesus, who is God, to take on flesh and fulfill the promise that He had made to bring the Jewish people back to Him. The son that you will give birth to will rule and reign as He reveals and establishes the kingdom of Heaven for all eternity”.

Now imagine yourself as Mary hearing that you are going to become pregnant and give birth to God: What would you be thinking? How would you respond? Tomorrow, we will see how Mary responded…

Friday, December 14, 2012

The countdown to Christmas calls us to spend less so that we can worship and not worry...


This week, we are looking at an account of the Christmas story that is recorded for us in a letter in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. Wednesday, we discovered that Mary and Joseph responded to the birth of Jesus by following and fulfilling God’s commandments to dedicate their firstborn son to be Holy to the Lord. In other words, Mary and Joseph were following God’s command to dedicate Jesus to be wholly devoted to the Lord. Jesus was being dedicated to live a life that is separated to God and separated from all that is unclean. Jesus was being dedicated by his parents to live a life that was committed to God and the mission of God in the world. Mary and Joseph worshiped God by giving their son who was the Son of God back to God.

Today, I would like for us to look at the significance of Mary and Joseph’s actions in response to Jesus birth. I would like to answer the question “What does any of this have to do with how much money we spent, as a nation, on Christmas? What does this have to do with what Christmas calls us to when it comes to our spending?” We find the answer to those questions from Leviticus 12:8, in God’s command when it came to the days of purification:

'But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.'"

Now look again at how Joseph and Mary fulfilled God’s command in Luke 2:24:

and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, "A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS."

You see, Mary did not offer a lamb and a young pigeon or a turtledove, did she? No, Mary only offered a pair of turtledoves of pigeons. And the reason that Mary did not offer a lamb was because Mary and Joseph could not afford a lamb. Mary and Joseph grew up in blue collar working class families. Mary and Joseph were most likely teenagers from a small town who were newlyweds and had little or no financial means.

Most likely, Joseph had just opened up his carpentry business. For Mary and Joseph, their response to Christmas; their response to what God was calling them to that first Christmas was not to spend more. Instead their response to what God was calling them to that first Christmas was to respond in worship to God through their obedience to God with whatever resources they had. And it is in this story that we see what Christmas calls us to. It is in the response of Mary and Joseph that we see what the countdown to Christmas is all about. You see, Advent, the countdown to Christmas calls us to spend less so that we can worship and not worry.

Where we can get off track, however, is when we spend our treasure during the countdown to Christmas with the wrong focus. We can get off track by focusing on what the culture calls us to when it comes to spending during the countdown to Christmas. You see, during the countdown to Christmas, we can find ourselves responding to our cultures call to worship the god of consumerism by spending more money that we do not have in order to impress people with gifts that they probably won’t even remember.

And when we respond to the cultures call to worship the god of consumerism by spending more, the result is worry. The worry that can come when we wonder how we are going to pay the credit card bill that is coming in January. The worry that can come when we wonder whether or not we are spending enough money. The worry that can come when we wonder whether or not we are impressing others with the gifts that we give.

Instead of focusing on responding to the countdown to Christmas by worshipping Jesus by striving to follow the message and teachings of Jesus and engaging in the mission that He has given us, we can find ourselves focused on spending more during Christmas in order to top last Christmas and then end up consumed with worry instead of worship. And as Luke continues, we see how one man responded to the call of Christmas in Luke 2:25:

And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

Here we see Luke introduce us to a man named Simeon, who is described as a man who was righteous and devout. In other words, Simeon was a reverent, God fearing man, who strove to do what was right in God’s sight. The reason why Simeon was a righteous and devout man was because the Holy Spirit was upon him. Simeon was a man who God was active and present in his life and who led a life that was led by the Holy Spirit. Luke also tells us that Simeon was looking for the consolation of Israel.  When Luke uses the phrase the consolation of Israel, he is referring to God’s promise of a Messiah or rescuer, who would bring the Jewish people back to God and back to prominence in the world.

Simeon was looking forward and counting the days until God would fulfill His promise to humanity. And Simeon was looking forward because the Holy Spirit had let Simeon know that he would see the Messiah enter into humanity before he died. So Simeon’s head was on a swivel. Simeon was looking forward to the day when he would be face to face with the one who God would send to provide humanity an opportunity to be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God. Luke then tells us what happens next in verse 27:

And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, "Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel."

Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph’s response to the birth of Jesus by following and fulfilling God’s commandments resulted in Simeon experiencing an encounter with the Lord. The Holy Spirit led Simeon to Mary and Joseph and opened his eyes to see that God had fulfilled His promise. And Luke tells us that Simeon responded to what his eyes had seen by embracing Jesus and worshipping. As part of his worship, Simeon quotes from a section of a letter in the Old Testament of our Bibles called the book of Isaiah.

In Isaiah 49:6, the prophet Isaiah predicted and proclaimed that God would send a rescuer and deliverer who would bring salvation to all of fallen humanity. Isaiah proclaimed that this rescuer, the Messiah would make fully known God’s message of rescue and would provide rescue to individuals from all of the nations of the world. And this rescuer, this Messiah would receive honor and would enhance the reputation of God among the Jewish people.

And now Simeon was holding God in a bod in his arms. Simeon responded to this reality by stating “you are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word”.   You see Simeon recognized that his task had been completed; his role in God’s story was now complete. Simeon recognized that he could leave this earth because God had fulfilled His promise to send a rescuer that would bring peace on earth. God had sent the Messiah to bring a state of well being with God that comes as a result of one’s rescue from selfishness and rebellion through the life, death, and resurrection, of the baby in his arms. The baby that Joseph and Mary obediently named Jesus.

So here is the question: during the countdown to Christmas, are you responding to our cultures call to worship the god of consumerism by spending more money that you do not have in order to impress more people with gifts that they probably won’t even remember? Now, as I stated last week, I am not saying that we should not buy presents or give gifts during Christmas. That is not the point. The point is who or what is preeminent and prominent in your life? The point is how are you responding to the countdown to Christmas? Are you so focused on spending more during Christmas in order to top last Christmas that you end up consumed with worry instead of worship?

Because as we have seen this morning Christmas calls us to spend less so that we can worship and not worry. Christmas is about responding to what God has done to rescue us from the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God. Christmas is about God giving what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away. Christmas is about God sending His Son Jesus, as God in a bod into humanity so that He could allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. Christmas calls us to respond to what God has done for us through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. And Christmas calls us to live our day to day lives in a way that places our confident trust in Jesus and follows the message and teachings of Jesus by faith as Lord and Leader.

So, how are you responding to the countdown the Christmas? Are you responding by spending less so that you can worship and not worry? Or are you responding by spending more and worrying rather than worship.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Worship and Spending...


This week, we are looking at an account of the Christmas story that is recorded for us in the bible called the gospel of Luke. Yesterday, we saw that Mary and Joseph responded in worship to God by being obedient to God. Mary and Joseph made sure that Jesus was identified with God’s people so that He would be able to fulfill His role and be identified as the rescuer of God’s people. But that is not the only way that Mary and Joseph were responding to God’s call to worship, as we see in Luke 2:22:

 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "EVERY firstborn MALE THAT OPENS THE WOMB SHALL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD "), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, "A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS."

Now to understand what is happening here, we first need to ask and answer several questions. First, what is Luke referring to when he talks about the days for their purification? We God’s command regarding the days of purification recorded for us in Leviticus 12:1. Let’s look at it together:

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying: 'When a woman gives birth and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days, as in the days of her menstruation she shall be unclean. 'On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 'Then she shall remain in the blood of her purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed. 'But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her menstruation; and she shall remain in the blood of her purification for sixty-six days. 'When the days of her purification are completed, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting a one year old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. 'Then he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, whether a male or a female. 'But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.'"

According to the Law, which are the first five books in our Bibles that contain a list of commands that reveal God’s nature and character and the nature and character that the Jewish people needed to possess and display in order to experience a right relationship with God, a Jewish mother would be viewed as being unclean for 40 days after the birth of a male child. Now a natural question that arises here is “why? Why would a mother be viewed as being unclean after giving birth? I mean doesn’t God command us to have children? Aren’t children a blessing from the Lord?”

To understand the answer to these questions we first need to understand some biology and some theology. The mother, after the birth of a child was viewed as being ceremonially unclean and unable to enter into the temple to worship because of the discharges of blood that occur after a woman gives birth to a child. In the Old Testament, bleeding or the discharge from a body lacked wholeness and was therefore viewed as being unclean. As we know, the loss of blood can lead to death, which is the antithesis of a normal healthy life.

Thus, in the Bible, we see blood portrayed as, on the one hand, representing a cleansing agent for the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God, and on the other hand, a polluting substance when it is in the wrong place. And because God is perfect; and because God is Holy, which means to be totally separate in terms of character and conduct, God presence could not be present with anything that was unclean.

So, after a male child was born, on the 8th day that male child would be circumcised, but the mother would remain unclean for 33 more days. During that time, the mother was forbidden to enter into the temple area to worship God as she recovered physically from giving birth. After the 40 days for her purification were over, the mother was to present a lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering. This set of offerings was required before the mother could return to the state of being considered clean and able to participate in the worship of God.

This leads to a second question, which is, “why did the mother have to bring these offerings and present her firstborn son to the Lord?” We find the answer that question in the second letter in our Bibles, called the book of Exodus. In Exodus 13, we read the following:

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me."

A few verses later, in verse 11, we read the following:

"Now when the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, you shall devote to the LORD the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the LORD. "But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. "And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is this?' then you shall say to him, 'With a powerful hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 'It came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD the males, the first offspring of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.'

In these verses we see God command the Jewish people to respond to what He had done to deliver the Jewish people from slavery at the hands of the nation of Egypt. As part of that deliverance, one evening, the Lord went through the land of Egypt and struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, but He passed over all of the Jewish homes who had marked their doors with the blood of the lamb. This feast was referred to by the Jewish people as the Passover. In addition to celebrating the Passover feast, God commanded that all firstborn sons of the Jewish people were to be consecrated to the Lord as a response to the sparing of the lives of the firstborn Jewish people during that first Passover.

Now, with these questions answered, we get a picture of what Mary and Joseph were doing in response to the birth of Jesus that first Christmas. Mary and Joseph were responding to the birth of Jesus by following and fulfilling God’s commandments to dedicate their firstborn son to be Holy to the Lord. In other words, Mary and Joseph were following God’s command to dedicate Jesus to be wholly devoted to the Lord.

Jesus was being dedicated to live a life that is separated to God and separated from all that is unclean. Jesus was being dedicated by his parents to live a life that was committed to God and the mission of God in the world. Mary and Joseph worshiped God by giving their son who was the Son of God back to God.

Now you might be thinking to yourself “well Dave, thanks for the history lesson, but what does this story have to do with the question that you asked at the beginning of your sermon? What does this have to do with how much money we spent, as a nation, on Christmas? What does this have to do with what Christmas calls us to when it comes to our spending?” If those questions are running through your mind, I want to let you know that those are great questions to ask.

Tomorrow, we will discover the answer to those questions…

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Culture of Christmas Spending...


During these days that lead up to Christmas, we are spending our time together as a church in a sermon series entitled the Advent Conspiracy. During this series, we are looking at an account of the Christmas story that is recorded for us in our Bibles called the gospel of Luke. Last week, we looked at the story of the announcement of the birth of Jesus and discovered in the response of the army of angels and the response of the shepherds what the countdown to Christmas is all about. We discovered that Advent, the countdown to Christmas is a call to worship. We discovered that Christmas calls us to worship Christ fully. And during this series, we will challenge ourselves to worship Christ fully during the countdown to Christmas in three specific ways.

This week, I would like for us to interact with a question. And that question is this: Last year, how much money do you think we spent, as a nation, on Christmas? If you had to guess, what do you think that number would be? Over the thanksgiving weekend, in spite of the difficult economic times, Americans spent approximately 52.4 Billion dollars in retail sales, which was a new record. For the Christmas shopping season, Americans spent approximately 450 Billion dollars. To give a bit of perspective, what we as a nation spend over the Thanksgiving weekend is more than the entire Gross Domestic Product for the nations of Yugoslavia, India, Pakistan, Cuba, and the Sudan.

Here is another question to consider: What percentage of the Christmas sales were placed on credit cards? The answer was 7.4% which was more than double the 3.4% from the year before. In other words, 7.4% of people knowingly spend money that they did not have in order to buy Christmas presents, which resulted in them entering into debt.  

Now here is one final question to consider: What was the one gift you remember getting last year for Christmas? What was the second? Do you remember? What was the fourth? Do you remember? If you do not remember more than one gift, do you wonder why you do not remember? Could it be that the reason that we don’t remember the gifts we received last Christmas is because the gift that we received was something that we did not necessarily need or want?

So does it bother you that you do not remember what you received for Christmas last year? Does it bother you that those around you probably do not remember that gift that you spent your hard earned money to give? And more importantly, does Christmas call us to spend more and more each year on gifts that we may or may not remember in the years to come? What does Christmas call us to when it comes to our spending?

To find the answers to these questions, I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off last week. Last week, we looked at the responses of the angels and shepherds to the arrival of Jesus. This week, we will look at the response of Joseph and Mary to the arrival of Jesus. So let’s do that together, beginning in Luke 2:21:

And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

Luke begins by explaining that eight days after Jesus birth, and before Jesus was circumcised, Mary and Joseph officially named their child Jesus. Now a natural question that arises here is “Why did they wait until eight days after Jesus was born to name Him?” Usually, in Jesus day, just as it is today, the naming of a child would take place immediately after the child was born. Here however, Joseph and Mary waited until the day that Jesus was circumcised. But why would they do that?

To understand why they would wait until just before Jesus was circumcised, we first need to understand what circumcision is and its significance to the Jewish people. Circumcision involves a surgical procedure that involves removing the foreskin from the male genitals with a surgical knife, or in this case, a knife made of stone. In a letter in the Old Testament of our Bibles called the book of Leviticus, we see God command that a circumcision was to be performed on the 8th day after a male child was born.

The reason that circumcision was so significant was that circumcision was a covenant sign that identified the Jewish people as being God’s people. Circumcision was a religious act that was required to be performed under the Law so that you would be able to be identified as being right with God as part of the Jewish religious system. Here we see Luke reveal for us the reality that Mary and Joseph were responding to the birth of Jesus by following and fulfilling God’s commandments when it came to Jesus.

Instead of naming Jesus, as the first born son, after Joseph or another male family member, Mary and Joseph followed the angel Gabriel’s command to name the baby Jesus. And Mary and Joseph also followed God’s command in the Law to have Jesus circumcised. Mary and Joseph were responding in worship to God by being obedient to God. Mary and Joseph were making sure that Jesus was identified with God’s people so that He would be able to fulfill His role and be identified as the rescuer of God’s people.

But that is not the only way that Mary and Joseph were responding to God’s call to worship, as we see tomorrow…