What do you see when you look at the manger? A baby? And more than a baby.
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Christmas
The struggle against evil is so difficult and we feel like we make so little progress. Is there hope?
Mark 1:1-8
1The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"- 3"a voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the LORD, make straight paths for him.'" 4And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7And this was his message: "After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
Listening guide
Mark 1:1-8
Forgiveness is hard when it _____________.
Do you find it easier to say ….
One of the greatest gifts I can give you is a world with forgiveness.
“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” — 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” 4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
the Lord =
baptism
don’t forgive because ….
I’ve got one of the greatest gifts: _________________
Discussion Questions
Sermon
Is there anything for which I need to ask forgiveness? (RM) “No, just differences.”
Yet his critical remarks were still running around in my head. He had practically stomped away. He didn’t answer calls.
I had a hard imagining that there was nothing that needed to be forgiven. Everything I saw said we need forgiveness.
Forgiveness is great, it’s wonderful right up to the moment we actually have to forgive someone. The moment we actually have to say, I’m going to absorb the cost or let someone else absorb the cost of what you’ve done. I’m going to accept you without any hard feelings. That moment, it gets hard. Forgiveness is hard when it costs. If you come to my house and break a lamp, someone has to pay for that lamp. Either I say to you,
Look, I can’t really afford to replace this lamp. Will you please replace it? Then you pay the physical cost of the lamp, plus you accept the responsibility or blame. You take the guilt. Or I say
I’ll take care of it. I pay the cost. And then if I forgive you. I don't hold it against you. And I invite you over for dinner again.
At some point I will say, look, you’ve broken four lamps at my house. I think we better eat someplace else. But there are so a couple of things that are much easier to say.
It’s much easier to say, everyone is bad. Everyone does wrong stuff all the time. It’s not big deal. It’s much easier to say everyone is at least a little bad or guilty. It’s a fault without guilt attitude. Even I get this. Let’s say you don’t like something I do. One thing people say then to explain what I do is to say, “nobody’s perfect.” What you’re doing, you’re excusing wrongdoing by saying, “everyone is wrong.” That might be true, but that doesn’t mean what I did is any less wrong. It’s much easier to excuse me than it is to confront a pastor.
It’s also easier to say, nothing is really wrong. There is a view that says, “the only thing that is wrong is to tell me I’m wrong.” That’s another whole issue. Again, if someone does something and we say, “nope, you didn’t do anything wrong.” That is much easier to say than, “I forgive you.”
I think we completely underestimate just how amazing forgiveness actually is. Loren Toussaint, a psychologist, might say that “people over 45 years of age who had forgiven others reported greater satisfaction with their lives and were less likely to report symptoms of psychological distress, such as feelings of nervousness, restlessness, and sadness” (The New Science of Forgiveness | Greater Good (berkeley.edu), accessed 12/05/2020)
We could go through all kinds of data. In the end, I would say, there are a lot of things easier than forgiveness. You could create peer relationships without forgiveness. You could create a family without forgiveness. We’re on the way to creating a society without forgiveness.
The data shows, and today God says,
Promise/Adventure
God says, one of the greatest gifts I can give you is a world with forgiveness.
Development
Mark chapter 1. This is a great section. Each week before Christmas we are going to take one of the backgrounds to the life of Jesus. Each section tells something God wants to give in sending Jesus. In Mark 1 it says, ““I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” — 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ”
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
Whether we get it right away or not, he isn’t so much saying, “Get ready. Repent more or repent the rest of the way. Prepare your heart.” He isn’t really saying that.
He is saying, the king is here. He is saying God has become part of this physical, material world and he forgives. Let me show you.
Mark writes, “prepare the way for the Lord”. Sometimes in the Bible the word “Lord” means respected person or revered person. Your “lord” is your master or your ruler. That’s not what Mark says.
The word “Lord” in the Hebrew is the name for God himself. It’s the name God gave when he introduced himself to Moses. He said, “The Lord, The Lord”. Now Mark is saying, God is not just coming at some far off time at the end of the world. We’ve talked about that. God will come again. Every eye will see him.
He is saying, God has come now. As a human being. You have to realize this rocked the Jewish world. The Greeks said all the time, the gods have become men. Mark says, “That man, this man Jesus, is God himself.”
And what he brings, or the only way to have him, is forgiveness. What does it mean it mean to prepare the way? It is a baptism of repentance for forgiveness. One thing you got to know here...
Why did John all the sudden start baptizing people?
The Jews practiced ceremonial washing. They did that regularly. It was a physical practice. One of the things it did, the people got to make a physical expression of what was going on in their lives. But no one got baptized to be a believer. That wasn’t how it worked.
You went to synagogue school. You were instructed. You professed the shema. And eventually, you were accepted.
Then God comes along and says, I would be glad to take you, I want you, and every one of you needs to be baptized as an act of repentance. You are much worse than you imagine and you cannot stay as you are. If I am here and I am at work, you will change. You do not get life your way.
Let me make a little clearer what I’m saying.
Everyone has a ruler, a master, a Lord in their lives. I think far and away the best one is the Lord, the God of heaven and earth. His kingdom is a kingdom of forgiveness. That is the only way he operates. You either take it or leave him.
If you say, forgiveness isn’t part of my life. I don’t believe in forgiveness. I don’t practice forgiveness. No one ever sins against me. I don’t see any sin in my life. If you say that, you are part of a different kingdom and world. You won’t ever have to forgive me. You won’t ask me to forgive you.
That might be a great world very often. You might have a lot of strength, a lot of power. I could imagine no one will ever mess with you or cross you. Why would they? It’s not safe at all. On other hand, you might have a lot of kindness, pity, and even excessive generosity. I could imagine no one would ever hate you or leave you. Why would they? You’ll never turn on them.
But that isn’t God’s world. God both confronts and comforts. We pray it every week. “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” Do you realize what that is saying?
That’s saying, you will not be forgiven if you do not forgive. Heinrich Heine, German nonbelieving poet in the 800s. “God will forgive me. It’s his job.”
That is the thing of God. And if God is not forgiving you, and if you aren’t taking that forgiveness and being moved. If you haven’t moved by it and absorbed by it, if it doesn’t fill up the low places in your life and knock down the high places in your life, then you don’t get God yet.
Not only are you not part of his kingdom. You’re saying, look God, I know how the world works better than you.
Evolutionary thinking, common thinking tells us to eliminate our enemies.
What we need to do is ask, on a practical basis or an evolutionary basis, why forgive at all? Going back to the light example, it doesn’t benefit me at all to forgive you for breaking my light. I have to pay the money for a new light. Plus, I lose any power I gained over you.
The world of forgiveness is a frightening, terrifying and thrilling place. It’s a world where anything goes.
Where relationships can be wrecked, and wrecked relationships can be restored
where lives can be destroyed once and for all, (if you don’t want to be rebuilt) and destroyed lives can be rebuilt, and
This is truly one of the greatest gifts: forgiveness.
Action
So take this gift this Christmas, and if you really enjoy it, give it.
(Don’t forgive because ….
You’ll notice, I’m not saying forgive because we are all feeling guilty. I do believe guilt is a real thing. I know I feel guilty. What I call a feeling of guilt is an intense feeling that I messed up. I didn’t just make some else feel awkward but I actually did something wrong, even if I don’t know what it is. I think feeling guilty is a real thing. We would all be a lot healthier and happier if we deal with our guilt. Smart psychology says the same thing.
Still, that’s not what I’m saying today. That’s not what God is saying.
I’m not saying forgive because we need to keep the peace. I do think forgiveness is good for reconciliation. We’ve got too many relationships that are characterized by unforgiveness. Let me five you three characteristics of relationships that are missing forgiveness: avoidance, coldness, irritability. We would have a lot stronger and more meaningful relationships if we practiced forgiveness. Again, psychology says the same.
I’m saying more than that. God is saying more than that. We’re saying that you are not you and God is not God if you don’t forgive.
I’ve told you before this example of the woman and her husband who felt guilty for the abortion they had. She said she had confessed her sins thousands of times and couldn’t get rid of it all.
Some people would say to her, accept that you’re forgiven. You feel guilty because you just don’t accept that you really are forgiven. Jesus died for that sin too. Believe it. And that would be right.
Other people would say, look, Jesus died to give you peace with God. Stop pushing that peace away. Trust it. That’s not what someone told her.
This woman sat down with another woman named Rebecca and confessed her sin. Rebecca looked at her and said, “The sin that led to you taking that life was pride. And the sin that led to Jesus losing his life 2,000 years ago on the cross was also pride. And if you know enough to know that Jesus already paid for that sin 2,000 years ago, then you’ll know he can cover any sin.”
In that moment, she realized she had been saying, my way is better. God couldn’t work this way. But if you accept that Jesus died to pay for you saying, “God can’t do it this way. My way is better”, then God can die for every other sin too and forgive every other sin.
If you get that, that’s not a simple thing. You can’t just say, “Nice sermon” or “That’s inspiring”. You have to stop beating yourself up over the mistakes that you have made. And you have to take all of that energy and say, I’ve got one of the greatest gifts: forgiveness.” You have to praise him, just like that.
Matthew 2:1-12
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’[b]”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Listening guide
What’s the best gift you gave this Christmas? ___________________
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Mt 2:1-2)
____________ is a ______ part of life.
“King Herod heard (that there was a new born king of the Jews), he was disturbed and all Jerusalem was disturbed with him”. (Mt 2:3)
“overjoyed” = “they rejoiced an exceedingly great excessive joy.”
So your ___________ feels ______.
“They saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They returned home.” (Mt 2:11-12)
Because it (your heart) is ________.
Let’s give great gifts this year.
Discussion questions
Notes
Depending on the number of people discussing, it may be easier to split into same gender groups.
You will not have time to discuss all the questions. Discuss those that interest you.
Getting talking
What was the best gift you gave this Christmas?
Is it easy for you to give gifts? Why or why not?
This week’s discussion questions
I feel confident of my adoption as God’s son/daughter and rarely, if ever, question his acceptance of me. 1 2 3 4
I love to worship God by myself as well as with others. 1 2 3 4
I spend regular quality time in the Word of God and in prayer. 1 2 3 4
I sense the unique ways God has gifted me individually and am actively using my spiritual gifts for his service. 1 2 3 4
I am a vital participant in a community with other believers. 1 2 3 4
It is clear that my money, gifts, time, and abilities are completely at God’s disposal and not my own. 1 2 3 4
I consistently integrate my faith in the marketplace and the world. 1 2 3 4
TOTAL ______
Name: ________________________________________
Date completed: _____________________________
Goals last until: ______________________________
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Strengths of my life enjoying God's grace | Weaknesses of my life enjoying God's grace |
| Opportunities | Threats |
| Opportunities to enjoy God's grace more or differently | Threats to my enjoyment of God's grace |
Two or three opportunities or strengths of my life in God’s grace that I can build on for the next 3-6 months are _____________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
One weakness of my life in God’s grace that I can work on for the next 3-6 months is
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Wrap up
How have you seen God at work in your life lately?
What has God been teaching you in his Word?
What’s an area of your life where you need to repent or grow? How can we encourage you?
What kind of conversations are you having with non-Christians? How can we encourage and help you?
What good can we do around here?
How can we pray for you and others?
Sermon
What’s the best gift you gave this Christmas? ___________________
I don’t want you to share the best gift you got. What’s the best gift you gave someone else this Christmas?
Share with someone in the row ahead of you. If you are in the front row, you can walk all the way to the back, or you can just turn around.
I think I kind of stunk this year on gift giving. I don’t know why. I think I was a little bit in a daze or a stupor this year.
Some years, I’ve killed it. Some years, I really paid attention to my wife and kids over the year. When I’m on the ball, I keep a list of things they say they want, and then voila, Christmas Day I can surprise them with this awesome gift. This year I kind of had a one track mind. I really wanted to get my kids a BB gun. And when that didn’t happen, I kind of shut down. What’s the best gift you gave this Christmas?
If you get Christmas, then you can give great gifts. Men, you listen to this. Just because you are a guy doesn’t mean you are cursed to be a bad gift giver. You too can give great gifts.
That’s what Christmas means. That’s what Christmas does. The birth of Jesus is this incredible gift. He is literally the cradle that rocked the world. And this child Jesus, the Son of God, is a gift for you to experience. You can actually live and know and taste and feel life like a son of God himself.
What that does is, it changes your religion.
If people talk about religion at all, we say this: “I switched to the Lutheran religion.” I always chuckle a little. They aren’t using the word correctly. They mean the Lutheran denomination or the Lutheran confession. I switched to the Lutheran confession. But I know what they mean.
And they’re saying way more than I think they know they are saying. They are saying, I found some new beliefs and new desires and new symbols, and that changed my life. Reoriented my life. That’s what the Bible says.
James says, religion that is good to look after orphans and widows in their distress. Paul says, religion should look like this, children and grandchildren of a widow should care for their own family.
I bet most of us know this verse. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35
Christmas reorients your religion. This is what happens when you stop believing “If I’m good, God will forgive me and accept me and love.” This is what happens when you get your religion right.
Let’s discover what God does when we get religion right.
Part 1
That’s what this lesson of the Magi gets at. Matthew starts and tells us, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Mt 2:1-2)
What we’ve got here is the first marks of religion. These wise men have come from Persia, maybe Babylon. They've got this belief.
Their belief is this. “A king has been born.” This is a belief. It’s like saying, “God exists.” It can’t be absolutely proven. It can be demonstrated to be reasonably true. Some people think that kings and queens are made. Caesar Augustus is a good example of a king that was made. Napoleon Bonaparte is another one. King Herod is a good example of this. Other people think kings are born. Queen Victoria of England, Charlemagne. King Frederich 2 of Prussia. They have this belief. They also have a desire.
What is it? “We have come to worship him.” Remember that scene from Star Wars: A New Hope when the Ewoks suddenly begin chanting and bowing down to C3P0? What does religion look like? It looks like worship. It’s a public profession that this person, thing, or nonphysical being is our highest value, our highest good.
And religion has a specific form. Remember what the Ewoks do? They put him on a throne. They are going to burn a sacrifice to him. These wise men, they follow a star. They ask the Jewish religious leaders to check their scriptures. They’ve brought gifts.
The wise men are some smart guys. They are the knowledge elite. They are the intellectuals of the ancient times. They were the experts. And they are practicing a religion.
As recently as 50 years ago, people would have looked at these wise men and said, “Oh, those antiquated wise men. No one relies on the stars anymore. Johannes Kepler told us science is better.” Carl Sagan said it famously, “The universe is all that is or ever was or ever will be.”
50 years later, Chani Nicholas, an astrologer based in Los Angeles says this. “Then there’s something that’s happened in the last five years that’s given (astrology) an edginess, a relevance for this time and place, that it hasn’t had for a good 35 years. Millennials have taken it and run with it.” (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/01/the-new-age-of-astrology/550034/, accessed 1/3/2020). Look at us!
It’s really easy right now to say, “I don’t see the need for religion.” “I don’t see the need for church”. There is this belief, we’re going to do it better or faster or smarter than our parents. We understand sexuality. We understand self-esteem. We understand forgiveness. We understand family systems. We’re going to do it better than our parents.
We might do it better than our parents. I’m not sure if that’s because we’re better or faster or smarter than them.
If you only attach yourself to the time where you are, the only thing you are is timely. If you want to be a person who is always relevant, you’ve got to be timeless
One of the things that means is the public expression of beliefs and desires in physicals signs is a real part of life. Religion is a real part of life.
Part 2: Purpose
What’s it for then?
One of the major reasons people have given in the last 100 years for religion is right here. It’s kind of hidden, so let’s look at it.
The next verse, verse 3, Matthew says, “King Herod heard (that there was a new born king of the Jews), he was disturbed and all Jerusalem was disturbed with him”. That doesn’t sound very happy, does it? This speaks directly to one of the reasons people give for religion.
Something people say frequently, and you’ve probably heard it too, goes like this. “If God really existed and cared, what about all the homeless people? Or what about the hurricanes? Or what about earthquakes?” What’s the assumption there?
The assumption there is that God and religion should make the world a better place.
For example an economist and professor at George Mason University named Tyler says that he would like the serious religion of Utah to spread to other parts of the country because Utah experiences a lot less drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and broken families. What’s his reason for religion? It makes the world a better place.
Sometimes we even say, I come to church because I want my kids to have that moral instruction. Or we’ll simply say, it makes me a better person. Look, I appreciate you say that. That’s really nice. Really, it is.
That’s not what brought the magi to their king.
Here is what God says through Matthew. "Herod called together the people’s chief priests and the teachers of the law and he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.” And they said, “Bethlehem in Judea” the prophets wrote. (Mt 2:4-6) What brought the magi to Jesus? Not a better life. Not happiness. Not even a star. The pageants always get this wrong. What took the wise men to Jesus?
Herod missed it. After the wise men deceived him, he thought he could fix the situation. His religion came entirely out of his own heart and mind. All he cared about was not eternal good, but the approval and the acceptance of Caesar. If only I do good, then Caesar my god will accept me, he said.
The Jewish religious leaders missed it too. Did you catch that? These intellectual elites come from the east and say, “We’re looking for the chosen Savior.” And they say, “he is over there. Bye bye.” They ignore him! They don’t care. They think they’re safe. They think they’re good. They believe, “if there is a God, he certainly accepts me and forgives me and approves of me.”
This is Matthew’s whole point. The wisdom of the world will only take you so far. What finishes your religion? The Word of God. They get a Word from the Scriptures.
They follow that Word. The star goes ahead of them. They were “overjoyed”. What Matthew really says is, they were giddy like a bunch of children on Christmas Day saying, “Wake up dad, wake up, it’s Christmas.” Really! That is what mine says. Actually what he really says is, “they rejoiced an exceedingly great excessive joy.” Honestly. They’re giddy like a bunch of kids on Christmas morning. That’s what religion does.
If you are a person who has come to church so your kids get their moral instruction or so the world is a better place, that’s a start. Thank you. Thank you for being here. That’s a great place to start. At some point, it has to switch to this.
There is something wrong with you. And what God wants to do is heal your heart. He wants to bring you the same inexpressible, exuberant joy that these elites found in Jesus. He wants to bring you the same inexpressible, exuberant joy children know on Christmas. That’s what God wants. He wants your heart to feel joy.
Point 2: So your heart feels joy.
Part 3
How? That’s the last thing, and it is so incredible.
“they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They returned home.” (Mt 2:11-12)
I want you to think about the last one to three year old you had around. How did you want to treat it?
I want to wrestle my older son. Man that kid. Snuggle and hug and kiss my younger one. You probably wanted to give them presents. If you were lucky, they said thank you for the presents. Maybe. An hour later they asked for more presents. Basically as soon as they were gone. Then they asked if you could go to the store and buy some more presents.
Did any of you want to worship the last two year old you saw?
This child filled the hearts of those elites. He accepted them. He received their gifts offered in faith with thanks and sincerity. He let them come to him. And it didn’t matter that they were astrologers. He didn’t reject them because they had worshipped false gods before. He accepted them.
And then he sent them home.
I’m sure they could have stayed for years, loved him, and followed him. But they worshipped and they left. He didn’t take anything else.
This is it. This is the only thing in all of creation that you can make the center of your life and you will be completely satisfied, happy, and content. Why? Because he has made you the center of his life.
Religion always says, you try hard and work hard and God will accept you. Maybe then you can be happy and go back to your life.
The gospel always says, God has worked hard and tried hard. He forgives you and accepts you and sends you on your way.
And I want to invite you to just accept this and let it change your whole life.
The best gift I saw given this year, and I might be bias a little bit, was my son. Don’t tell him I’m telling you this, but its too cute to not share.
My son went with my wife and his siblings to shop for Christmas presents. He came back all excited about the gift he got for me. Christmas Day I opened his present. It was a cap gun! Pretty cool, I thought. I haven’t had a cap gun in like 25 years.
He says, dad, dad, let’s go try it! I try to explain to him we can’t, we have to go buy caps first.
He tries the cap gun first.
He stores the gun in his gun collection.
He puts it in his backpack to take to grandpa and grandmas.
And when we get home, he keeps it.
That's what God says to you, in a much bigger way
-you want to give me your best money and gifts. You give it away to someone else. I’ve given you the best gift ever, my son.
-you want to accept me and approve of me. You give it away to someone else. I accept you in Jesus for eternity.
-you want to give me your love? You give it away to someone else. I love you more than life itself.
Religion is a real part of your life so your heart feels joy because its full.
Action
Let’s give great gifts this year
I’m incredibly thankful and grateful right now. We had a great year last year financially. You are truly generous.
Keep the gun, give it to someone else.
The wonder of Christmas, then, is that pagan astrologer magician-types are transformed to worship the incarnate Son of God because of the ancient words.
Galatians 4:4-7
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[a] 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[b] Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Listening guide
What’s our status after Christmas?
Verse 4 “When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son”
Verse 5 “God sent his Son … so that we might receive adoption to sonship.”
Claim a new status as a _____.
Verse 6 “God sent his Spirit into our hearts.”
We _____________________ its reality.
Verse 7 “You are no longer slaves, but sons.”
Embrace your _____________ as _________..
Discussion questions
Sermon
Timothy Paul Jones. He tells the story of trying to adopt his middle daughter.
She had been previously adopted by another family. I [Timothy] am sure this couple had the best of intentions, but they never quite integrated the adopted child into their family of biological children. After a couple of rough years, they dissolved the adoption, and we ended up welcoming an eight-year-old girl into our home.
For one reason or another, whenever our daughter’s previous family vacationed at Disney World, they took their biological children with them, but they left their adopted daughter with a family friend. Usually — at least in the child’s mind — this happened because she did something wrong that precluded her presence on the trip.
And so, by the time we adopted our daughter, she had seen many pictures of Disney World and she had heard about the rides and the characters and the parades. But when it came to passing through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, she had always been the one left on the outside. Once I found out about this history, I made plans to take her to Disney World the next time a speaking engagement took our family to the southeastern United States.
What surprised him then was that the prospect of visiting this dreamworld produced a stream of downright devilish behavior in our newest daughter. In the month leading up to our trip to the Magic Kingdom, she stole food when a simple request would have gained her a snack. She lied when it would have been easier to tell the truth. She whispered insults that were carefully crafted to hurt her older sister as deeply as possible — and, as the days on the calendar moved closer to the trip, her mutinies multiplied.
A couple of days before our family headed to Florida, I pulled our daughter into my lap to talk through her latest escapade. “I know what you’re going to do,” she stated flatly. “You’re not going to take me to Disney World, are you?” The thought hadn’t actually crossed my mind, but her downward spiral suddenly started to make some sense. She knew she couldn’t earn her way into the Magic Kingdom — she had tried and failed that test several times before — so she was living in a way that placed her as far as possible from the most magical place on earth.”
That’s the challenge of claiming a new sonship.
That is what happens all the time as the Father makes us his sons and daughters. We act out in our own way. Today God just wants to invite us to accept our new status.
Adventure: let’s accept our new status: the experience, acceptance of it
Two things today: experience and acceptance
Part 1
Listen to this: verse 4 “God sent his Son … so that we might receive adoption to sonship.” verse 6, “God sent his Spirit into our hearts.”
This is so awesome. It’s really wonderful. Like most Christians, I tend to think of my new life is mostly negative terms. I’m forgiven from sin. It’s freedom from. Paul is saying, the Christian faith is also freedom for. I can come before God like all our kids did right after Christmas and said, I want this other thing. I’ve got all this stuff, but I still want that.
Picture it like steel I-beams. Not crushing you, because now you are walking on them.
This should make us bold, but it often doesn’t .
Commentators will make the comparison to the story we call the prodigal son. The story of the prodigal son goes like …. What does he say when he comes back? “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” (Lk 15:18–19) The question today is, Is he bold when he comes home?
Of course he isn’t bold. Why would he be bold? What does he say,
But we have the status of sonship. We are not slaves anymore. We are sons. If you are a woman, be sure to realize this is not a sexist thing. ... We are sons. Look at what God promises. He doesn’t just say, “God sent his Son”. He says in verse 6, “God sent his Spirit into our hearts.”
God doesn’t just promise a new status. He promises an experience in our hearts.
That changes everything. There is an objective and subjective reality here.
The objective reality is that we really are sons.
The subjective reality is that we know it and feel it. We experience. When the Holy Spirit is doing its job, we say, “It’s true. I know it. I really am.”
Repentance is good. You should repent over your sins. Repentance does not mean you live in perpetual sorrow. Repentance means sorrow and humble confidence.
As soon as you have the Holy Spirit in you, you must come to God like this. “God, “I am all right with you. I have the Holy Spirit. Jesus, in whom I believe, makes me worthy. (I am not worthy because I am do enough good stuff or because I’m sad enough about my sin.) Jesus makes me worthy. I gladly hear, read, sing, and write of Him.” (Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians, pg 108)
That’s how you call Abba, Father. You have the Holy Spirit by your baptism. Speak to God that way.
Point: We don’t just claim this new status. We experience its reality.
Part 2
If you’re like me, this is making you really uncomfortable right now. Why?
I look at the next verse. Very definitively Verse 7 “You are no longer slaves, but God’s child.”
Yeah, but what about when I blew up at so and so? And what about when I lied? And what about
My dad may have never kicked me out of the house and disowned me, but there were an awful lot of days were I didn’t feel like a son because of what I did. And what if the same thing is true for God?
No. You are not a slave, but a son.
“In retrospect, I’m embarrassed to admit that, in that moment, I was tempted to turn her fear to my own advantage. The easiest response would have been, “If you don’t start behaving better, you’re right, we won’t take you” — but, by God’s grace, I didn’t. Instead, I asked her, “Is this trip something we’re doing as a family?”
She nodded, brown eyes wide and tear-rimmed.
“Are you part of this family?”
She nodded again.
“Then you’re going with us. Sure, there may be some consequences to help you remember what’s right and what’s wrong — but you’re part of our family, and we’re not leaving you behind.”
Sonship. Do you know what that means?
“He says, “The profound truth of Roman adoption was that the adoptee was taken out of his previous state and placed in a new relationship of son to his new father … All his old debts were [instantly] canceled, and in effect the adoptee started a new life as part of his new family … (Francis Lyall, who wrote a book called Slaves, Citizens, Sons)
Jesus paid your debt. “Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
The more you see he has accepted you, the more you accept your status as a son.
Action: Assure someone they are a son.
Old English preacher named Thomas Goodwin said picture it this way: Picture a man walking along a road with his little boy, holding hands … father and son, son and father. The little boy knows the man is his father and that his father loves him.
Suddenly the father stops, picks up the boy, lifts him up into his arms, embraces him, and kisses him. The boy is actually no more a son when he’s being embraced and kissed than he was before. The father’s action has not changed the status of the boy, but oh, the difference in the enjoyment of the status.
Bottom line: Embrace your status as sons.
Isaiah 52:7-10
Luke 2:11
“Today in the town of a David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
Listening guide
The manger is a ___ _____
The Christmas message = In Jesus, God became a man. He lived a perfect life and did all the things we need to do. He died a real death for all of us and was punished as we deserve to be. Now, no matter how bad or good you think you are or how bad or good you think life is, and no matter how bad or good everyone else thinks you are or thinks your life is, God promises you, if you admit you are worse off than you imagined and can accept you are better off than you ever thought possible, he comes to you. Jesus comes to you.
Luke 2:11 “Today in the town of a David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
Messiah = ______ ____________ ________
John 3:16 = “God so loved the world that he gave his Son”
Christmas is not a big deal like my babies, but like a gift you want but don’t.
He makes us a really ______ ____________ and that is how Christmas becomes a big deal for us.
“Where meek souls will receive him still, The dear Christ enters in.”
Discussion questions
Sermon
I’m sure some of you know this book cover. (Harry Potter cover)
I bet all of you know this one.
I bet some of you know this logo.
I bet all of you know this one.
I would be surprised if any of you recognized this. (Chinese calendar)
All of us know this.
This is the impact of the manger. There is no greater item that has changed this world. More than 2 billion people tonight and tomorrow celebrate the impact of this (point at the manger). The manager is a big deal.
Tonight God invites you to be part of this big deal.
The message of Christmas is simple: In Jesus, God became a man. He lived a perfect life and did all the things we need to do. He died a real death for all of us and was punished as we deserve to be. Now, no matter how bad or good you think you are or how bad or good you think life is, and no matter how bad or good everyone else thinks you are or thinks your life is, God promises you, if you admit you are worse off than you imagined and can accept you are better off than you ever thought possible, he comes to you. Jesus comes to you. I heard a really powerful story that brought this out for me.
It was the story of Bubba. Bubba’s story goes like this. About ten years ago a couple, I think they were in WI, had a baby. Then they wanted to expand their family and got pregnant again. This time, sadly, she miscarried. She got pregnant a third time and miscarried a second time. Then she miscarried a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh, and an eighth time. The couple got involved in a Bible study group at their church.
And it kept happening. They would announce a pregnancy, except it was hard for them to smile, because they kind of knew what was going to happen again. Their friends prayed for them, and then again, a miscarriage. It would break everyone’s hearts.
And so when they got pregnant, they didn’t break out the party hats and cake. They held their breath. The weeks went by, then the weeks into months. Then the second trimester, then the third.
Finally Bubba was born. And everyone said, “Every time I see that kid, it makes me so happy. You’re here. You’re actually with us. Like Jesus.”
That’s the reality of Christmas. Evil is real. Sin is real. And death is real. The Christmas lights, the presents, the hot cocoa, and the carols don’t take any of that away. It’s just that into this reality comes Jesus. He accepts the sin, the evil, and the death on himself. He confirms to you, absolutely, without a doubt that God loves you.
That is what this verse says. “Today in the town of a David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” I would like to direct your attention to that middle title first. Messiah. That word Messiah isn’t Jesus’ last name. That’s a Hebrew word. It’s title. We’ve usually translated it Christ. And the best way we have to speak of it is “the chosen one”.
So I thought about people we might regularly call “the chosen one”. One person that popped into my mind is Lebron James. Some of you might remember this cover from SI a few years back. He was called “the chosen one”. The experts all saw him play in high school and college and said, he will be the guy to rescue teams.
The thing is, he isn’t sure who he wants to rescue. He has played now for what, four teams? Okay, three teams four times. Is he really the chosen one? Nothing against Lebron James, but you have to wonder: Is Miami supposed to say “he is the one for us”. The Cavs? The Lakers?
Jesus only played for one team. Team you. Your team.
Here is just one verse where the Bible puts this beautifully. “God so loved the world that he gave his Son”. Do you see that word “world”? That means Jesus is on your team. He always has been. He is on your team and your team and your team. He is on our team. See, how do you know you are loved?
In our house, one part of our division of labor works like this. I make breakfast and my wife makes most of the other meals. That’s a really good thing by the way, you don’t want me cooking most of the time. We’ll often have oatmeal or eggs or yogurt and granola. Those are common Timmermann breakfasts if you ever want to come over.
I have this terrible habit though at breakfast. I’ll be making some eggs. Fry them all up. We never make less than 6 eggs anymore. Someone is always hungry. They’re done. I take a few out of the pan. Then I leave the pan and walk away. Sometimes my wife wants some eggs, so I’ll get a plate for her. Then a through another 6 eggs in the pan and walk away.
I think about the first 500 times I did that my wife, understandably, said, what are you doing? Why don’t you ever pick up after yourself?
I’ve gotten a lot better, thankfully. Otherwise we might need marital counseling. But it still happens. She says nothing. She just puts it all away.
How do I know I’m loved? She knows my faults, my failures, and my foibles. She experiences them. They cause her pain. She covers over them. She doesn’t just overlook them, but she makes everything right. And she treats me like I didn’t do anything wrong. Like I was right the whole time.
Do you know what Jesus did for you? “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed.” Jesus knows all your faults, your foibles, and your failures. He experiences them all. They cause him pain and hurt. Still he covers over it all with his life and his death. He makes everything right. And he treats you like you didn’t do anything wrong. He never leaves you no matter what.
Would you like that much love to be a big deal to you?
You have to feel the challenge of Christmas.
It’s really easy to think about Christmas like this. I’ve got a pretty new baby at home. And then on top of it, my kids had their first band concert the other night. So I’ve got all these cute kid memories flying around my life. My wife and I are taking pictures and sending them back and forth. We’re sharing little clips with my parents and grandparents. They make me happy. They make us really happy.
Here are a few of the pictures.
A question for you. How happy do my kids make you?
(laugh a little) It’s kind of a weird question, isn’t it?
I was thinking about that. Their birth. How many people did their birth actually make happy? I can actually count numerically the people who rejoiced over these babies. There was mom and dad. 4 grandparents. 6 great grandparents. My siblings. My wife’s siblings. I don’t know how many uncles and aunts, cousins. A couple of close friends. I can actually count numerically the number of kids who rejoiced over my kid’s birth. It’s maybe 20, maybe 2 dozen if you really want to be generous. It’s a big deal for me. They make me feel happy. They don’t make you feel loved.
To know the love of Christmas, you must receive a gift. Imagine you got a copy of the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. How many of you have read that book?
It’s a great book. Especially if you are trying to improve working relationships – non friendly, business or loose social relationships, it’s really helpful. How would you feel if your mom gave you that book for Christmas?
You’d probably say, um thanks mom. Yeah, it’s just what I really wanted. Because what does the book say?
Along with saying I care about you and you are important to me, that gift also says I really hope you get better at winning friends. When you say, “thanks for the gift” you are saying, I could really use some help making friends. Some gifts are hard to receive because to take them is to admit flaws and weaknesses and to say you need help.
There has never been a gift given that makes you swallow your pride than the gift of Jesus Christ. Christmas means you and I are so lost, so unbale to save ourselves that nothing less than the death of the Son of God could save us. That means you and I are not people who can pull ourselves together and live a good life.
Once you have this gift, your whole life changes. From the inside. We love the giver of our gifts more than the gifts themselves, because we have the greatest gift. We enjoy the journey of life rather than regret and resist it, because we are his highest joy and delight. We reflect the light of the world rather than our own darkness, because we have been filled with light.
He makes us a really big deal and that is how Christmas becomes a big deal for us.
New group and study after Christmas starting January 8th at 6:30.
“How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heaven
No ear may hear his coming
But in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.”
You're a big deal to him and he'll be your big deal.
Matthew 1:18-25
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[d] (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-25
Listening guide
Don’t just _____ _____________. ________ __________________.
Discussion questions
Notes
Depending on the number of people discussing, it may be easier to split into same gender groups.
You will not have time to discuss all the questions. Discuss those that interest you.
Getting talking
What is a challenge you are facing lately? Any way we can help?
In Matthew 1:18-25, Joseph sees an angel. What are some other Bible stories that have an angel visiting a person?
Have you ever seen an angel? Has someone you’ve known seen an angel? Tell us about the time.
Getting into Matthew 1:18-25
After reading this story, any comments or questions?
This section teaches the incarnation. Incarnation means God becoming flesh. Other religions have an incarnation. What are some interesting aspects of this incarnation?
What were the steps of obedience Joseph was asked to take? What do you think would have been the hardest part of the angel’s instructions to Joseph?
It can be pretty hard or uncomfortable for us to trust God. Is there anything that you are finding hard right now in your own life?
In verse 21 and 23, we hear names for Jesus and work he is going to do. What is that work? How would you describe being “saved” to someone who has no idea what it means?
John Gerhard, a great Lutheran pastor, offers the following list of Jesus’ work. Pick a line and tell us why you like it.
The Son of God came down from heaven, that we might receive the adoption of sons (Gal. 4:5).
God became man, that man might become a partaker of divine grace and of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4).
Christ chose to be born into the world in the evening of the world’s life, to signify that the benefits of His incarnation pertain not to this present life, but to eternal life.
He chose to be born in the time of the peaceful Augustus, because He was the blessed peacemaker between man and God.
He chose to be born in the time of Israel’s servitude, because He is the true liberator and defender of His people.
He chose to be born under the reign of a foreign prince, seeing that His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).
He is born of a virgin to signify that He is born in the hearts of spiritual virgins only (2 Cor. 11:2), that is, in those who are not joined to the world or to the devil, but to God by one Spirit.
He is born pure and holy, that He might sanctify our impure and defiled birth.
He is born of a virgin espoused to a man, that He might set forth the honor of marriage as a divine institution.
He was born in the darkness of the night, who came as the true light to illumine the darkness of the world.
He is born among the beasts of the stall, that He might restore to their former dignity and honor sinful men, who through their sins had made themselves little better than the beasts.
He is born in Bethlehem, the house of bread, who brought with Himself from heaven the bread of life for our souls.
He is the first and only-begotten of His mother here on earth, who according to His divine nature is the first and only-begotten of His Father in heaven.
He is born poor and needy (2 Cor. 8:9), that He might prepare the riches of heaven for us.
He is born in a mean stable, that He might lead us back to the royal palace of His Father in heaven.
Wrap up
How have you seen God at work in your life lately?
What has God been teaching you in his Word?
What’s an area of your life where you need to repent or grow? How can we encourage you?
What kind of conversations are you having with non-Christians? How can we encourage and help you?
What good can we do around here?
How can we pray for you and others?
Sermon
Almost every year you have to watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas at least once. Lucy asks Schroeder to play Jingle Bells. First Schroeder plays this beautiful setting of Jingle Bells, probably a Mozart arrangement or something. It’s beautiful. She says, no, no no, I mean Jingle Bells. He plays this more powerful organ setting. She says, no, no, no I mean Jingle Bells. So he plays this two fingered Jingle Bells (pounds it out). It’s miserable. Then
Charlie brings the Christmas tree back and people start saying,
“-What kind of a tree is that?
-You were supposed to get a good tree.
Can't you even tell a good tree from a poor tree?
Boy, are you stupid [dumb], Charlie Brown.
I told you he'd goof it up.
He's not the kind you can depend on to do anything right.
-You're hopeless, Charlie Brown.
-Completely hopeless.
You've been dumb before, Charlie Brown, but this time you really did it.” (https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=a-charlie-brown-christmas)
You watch that scene and say, that stinks for Charlie Brown. I feel like that all the time!
Don’t ever send me to the grocery store without an exact list of everything you need, down to the exact brand you want, the size you want and the quantity you want. Otherwise I’m going to get home and you’re going to say, what’s all this? You got all this junk we don’t want and hardly any of the stuff we do want. You’re hopeless, Nathaniel.
Marc’s annual review, territory expanded, extra sales, but still not good enough for a raise
Can anyone ever do good? Just do a good job?
Then we have Joseph, who God gives to us as this silent superhero.
Huntsman ““There are few examples in ancient text,” he said, “of someone who knowingly raised someone else’s child.”
“Fathers in that culture were the dominant figures in a family, not inclined to bend to a woman’s needs.
“Joseph presents a different model, Huntsman said. “Instead of ruling or presiding, he is serving, caring and nurturing, putting aside his own needs for those of his wife and baby.” (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joseph-father-jesus_n_4498409)
Discover that with God, you can not only do good, you can even be good.
Joseph was a good guy. Absolutely was. In the section of the Bible just before these words, we hear about his ancestors. His ancestors included the great king David, a whole bunch of other good and bad kings of Israel, the governor who broke the exiles from Babylon, and perhaps the man who started the Sadduccees. He was a craftsman or a builder of some sort, so likely a hardworking guy. He took his family into political asylum when it was necessary. When verse 19 in this text says he was “faithful to the law”, it really meant it.
Some of you are here today saying, hey don't say too much about God. I don’t want to have an encounter with God. My life is pretty good. I'm mostly doing good stuff. I'm just here to do something good for Grandma Jean or Grandpa Jo or whatever. I’m dressed up. I just want to sing a few nice songs. Don’t make this into a whole big thing.
You're thinking you can get through life like Captain America. Did you ever notice the one guy who survives the entire Avengers saga? Who is it? The guy who survives is the one guy who basically always does the right thing. The guy who survives is not the guy partying and celebrating, he is the guy sitting with the support group and cheering everyone up. And like Captain America,
You're saying, I’m mostly doing good stuff with my life. Just leave me alone.
You can't. God is doing crazy stuff. He won’t leave you alone.
Look at me.
You look at me and you could easily think, there’s a pretty good guy. He has got it all together.
I’m the good who was ten years ago saying, I’m not sure if there is god. I don’t think there is a god.
“I’m not sure if you’ll be a good pastor”. And a lot of the time I’m not that good, but..
God is working in people’s lives
I’ve got people coming and saying, “I want to be baptized.”
I’ve got people coming and saying, “I want to profess faith that Jesus is my Savior and Lord.”
I’ve got people saying, “Why are you all so generous?
I’ve got people saying, “I want to be part of this. I want to use my time and energy and gifts to change other people’s lives.”
How many of you ten or even five years ago would have said I never would have been here?
Here you are.
Are you starting to see what is going on?
Joseph thought he had to do good. He found out that his wife to be was pregnant. He said, wow this stinks. This is sad. I’m going to do the good thing and let her go marry the other guy. We’ll keep it quiet. God says to Joseph, don’t just do good. Don’t just do good. ________ __________________. What if you could make it all be good? God says it this way, “Don’t be afraid to take Mary home as your wife...he will save his people from their sins.”
What God said to Joseph is, there is a whole ton of shame and isolation and guilt and blame to go around here. Don’t push it away. Blame this kid who I put into your life and one day you will be more accepted than you ever imagined. Let him be isolated and one day you will be more integrated than you ever imagined. Make him guilty and you will finally be forgiven and free.
You can try to do good and push all that sin as far away as possible. You can try to push the guilt and the shame and the isolation away.
Or you can let this baby take it and finally all will be good. You know what I’m saying?
I bet a lot of you saw the new Lion King this year. It opens with this scene where all the animals are running to meet this new baby. That scene should strike you, because you’re watching this and all the lions and leopards are running right next to the elephants and the rhinos who are right next to all the giraffes and zebras. These are all animals that normally don’t get along. They normally eat each other. They fight. They’re like a bunch of kids when you put pizza out (devour pizza). But at that moment they don’t care. They’re just stampeding to see this new baby. The only one who still has guilt and fear and isolation is Scar.
Scar lurks on the edge. He hates that baby. He wants nothing to do with it. Murder grows in his heart. Eventually his fear drives away that new life.
Then death swallows the land. Blackness and anger and desolation and fear descend on the country. Nobody gets along. Everyone is killing everybody. Until that baby returns.
He endures the shame. He takes the blame. He even hangs ….. of the edge of that rock. It’s only then, when that baby returns, that life comes to the land again.
“He will save his people from their sins.” It strikes me in that moment. That’s why he came. He took the blame and the guilt and the shame and the alienation and the wrath of God and he didn’t push it away. He let himself hang. He took it all away.
Listen. It can all be good. You’re a mess. I’m a mess. He loves you. He died to take it all away and rose to bring you life. He came for you. He died for you. He rose for you. Because that’s what kings do. They put themselves in the place of the people they love dearly. The true king makes it all good.