The Greatest Gift: Responding

Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Listening guide

“May your word to me be fulfilled.”(verse 38) 

Who is this child? son of the Most High God; He will reign on the throne forever.

Whatever you want, I want, God.

Discussion questions

Sermon

I’ve got some presents for you today. I’d like to give you them.  

I brought some trash. That’s for you.  

I’ve got a chocolate bar.  

I’ve got a broken toy 

Give a game  

I’ve got a book 

Give a pandemic 

Give a million dollar 

Did you hear what Mary said about her present? She didn’t say “ewww” and she didn’t say “yay!” either. What did she say?  

“May your word to me be fulfilled.”(verse 38) Do you know what those words mean? They mean, make it happen. Let’s do this. I want what you want, God.  

God has just said to her, I’m going to give you a baby. She doesn’t say, really?. She doesn’t say, “um no”. She doesn’t say hooray. She says, if that’s what you want God, that’s what I want. I want what you want.  

Did you see how much your response changed for each gift I gave? I could almost tell what I gave you by your response. If I gave you a bad gift, you were sad. When I gave you a boring gift, you were annoyed. f I gave you a great gift, you were glad. When I gave you an outrageous gift, you were ecstatic.  

God told Mary, here is my gift to you. Her response tells us so much. This is how you respond if Jesus really is who the angel says he is.  

That doesn’t work for Jesus. You can’t do that with Jesus.  

• The son of the Most High God. That means he is God. He is all powerful, almighty, all knowing, eternal,  

• He will reign on the throne forever. That means he is a king like  

He is God in human flesh. There is no one else in the universe like him.  

Some people say, I don’t have to respond to Jesus. I don’t have to do anything with Jesus. Because Mary lived a long time ago and she was religious like everyone else. It was easy for her but not for us. No one believes that stuff anymore. A man who is God? That doesn’t happen.  

You have to see how hard it was for Mary to believe. When the angel comes to Mary and says a fancy “hello”, Mary was troubled. And not just a little troubled. Mary was greatly troubled. 

Mary was even more confused when the angel told her she would have a baby. She said, how could this happen? She didn’t expect miracles to happen all over the place.  

It’s easy to think, people who lived long ago were simple. They believed in God and supernatural things because they didn’t know how science and the world worked. That wasn’t the case at all. These things didn’t happen. Angels didn’t just start talking to people. Women did not have babies who didn’t have men in their lives.  

You can’t say, thus isn’t going to make a difference because it’s an old fashioned story.  

God is saying to you today, I am putting the most wonderful, beautiful, glorious, and even fun gift in your lap.  

He is also saying, I’m putting the most powerful, the most mighty, the most magnificent force, the most terrifying, and the most destructive force in the whole world in your lap. You have to realize what I’m giving you and respond in the right way. I’d like to give us an example.  

Train I thought it was from my grandpa raising my dad. We figured out this year that it was it was probably my great grandpa who bought it raising my grandpa. I immediately started treating it differently. I resolved right away to get a professional to take it apart and redo the electrical.  

Does that kind of realization happen about Jesus?  

There was a man who was at a conference one time listening to a woman speak.  

The woman said, “If the distance between the Earth and the sun—ninety-three million miles—was no more than the thickness of a sheet of paper, then the distance from the Earth to the nearest star would be a stack of papers seventy feet high; the diameter of the Milky Way would be a stack of paper over three hundred miles high. Keep in mind that there are more galaxies in the universe than we can number. There are more, it seems, than dust specks in the air or grains of sand on the seashores. Now, if Jesus Christ holds all this together with just a word of his power (Hebrews 1:3)—is he the kind of person you ask into your life to be your assistant?” 

That simple logic shattered my resistance to doing what Mary did. Yes, if he really is like that, how can I treat him as a assistant rather than as Supreme Lord? (Tim Keller, Hidden Christmas,  

This child is the greatest gift. He is not the greatest gift because of all the nice things he will do for you, even though they are awesome. He is not the greatest gift because of the help he will give you when life is bad, even though that is great. He is the greatest gift simply because he is the greatest.  

The one thing you can’t say or do, is nothing at all. You either say, no way. I don’t want anything to do with you Jesus. Or you say, I want all of you. Let’s do this. Whatever you want, I want.  

The Greatest Gift: Identity

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Listening guide

He is not the Messiah, Elijah, or the prophet. He is a voice. 

The ______________________ of a clear _______________

Discussion questions

No discussion questions while we work on "The End” study.

Sermon

Intro 

“Watch, it will probably behave for you.” That’s what someone said when they couldn’t get the printer to print the other day. I stared at it real hard for a second, then told the printer which size paper to use, and boom, out came the page.”  

They couldn’t help but say what I did and draw conclusions about who I was. I was something of a tech whizz or even more, I had a superpower  

What people say about who we are matters. Most everyone gets their sense of who they are from two places.  

• Family, especially in more traditional circles. I’ve got a relative who is kind of important in the synod. 

• Work, in the modern. “Tell me about yourself” we don’t list hobbies or family. We list our work.  

• Who we are on the inside – our nature  

The question, “who are you” isn’t the only question. Where are we going, what am I here to do. We also need to ask these questions. Some people say “identity is the most important thing.” Not true. So is purpose and origin.  

There is a reason the Frozen movies have done so well. They are so great at tapping into the great questions of “who we are”. From the hit song, “Let it Go” when Elsa is working on the confidence to tell other people who she is; to the follow up “into the unknown” when Elsa is telling other people to say who they are.  

Who you are is not the most important question in life 

• What you are here to do 

• Where you are going 

But who you are matters. That answer matters. We know.  

Promise/Discovery 

Today God shows us what a clear sense of who we are can do. He shows us a man named John the Baptist.  

The vitality of a clear identity 

Development 

John does something that I think is notable. People see this incredible movement he has produced. It really is incredible. Never before have thousands of Jews gotten baptized. They ask who he is. He answers simply. He is not the Messiah, Elijah, or the prophet. He is a voice.  

If you read about this section, the commentators all point out how well John answers. He states the truth with both positive and negative statements. Good clarity. Two notable things. 

The negative statements. He states he is not Messiah, Elijah, or the prophet. I don’t know if those seem like random names for you. They aren’t. These were some of greatest men in Israelite history and each was commonly prophesied to come again. You have to imagine what this would have meant for John. The appeal of it.  

Imagine if the president of the United States, the Speaker of the House, the president of the Synod, and the archbishop came to you and asked you if you were Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, or Jonathan Edwards. That would fill you with pride. That would puff you up beyond belief.  

They asked if John was one of the 3 most important 3 men in all Israelite history. Talk about a big head!  

Then there is the positive statement. John says, “I’m a voice.” Only a voice. Nothing else. What’s a voice?  

This is the thing. The people think John is this extravagant, amazing, and radical guy. Remember, Jews didn’t get baptized, but somehow scores of Jews are coming for baptism. So they come out there saying to him, who do you think are you? You must have this incredible ego or you must truly be this incredible, out of this world guy to be out here baptizing. You must have this incredible sense of personage and identity to have the confidence for this.  

They weren’t even that far off. Jesus one time says that among people born of women, there is no one greater than John. And John the Baptist says, “No, no. I’m just a voice pointing to the one who is to come.” Here’s what he’s saying. “In myself I am nothing, but the one I serve is the greatest in the world. I’m just a voice, but I’m talking about the greatest one in the world. What I do, is I amplify, I expand, and I make large who he is.  

John doesn’t get a big head. He doesn’t get puffed up. He’s not full of himself. Whatever you want to say. But he doesn’t back down. He is a voice. There is this scene in the movie, The Greatest Story Ever Told. In it, there is this scene where John says, “Repent, that’s adultery!” Herod replies something like, “you’re going to die for that.” John says, “you’re going to hell for that.” Herod says, “I can kill you.” John says, “I’ll finally be free.” When Herod finally does kill him, there is this voice ringing in the background.  

John doesn’t look to his family and clan to tell who he is. He doesn’t look to his work. He doesn’t look inside himself. John looks to the one who stands among them. He looks at the one whose sandals he is not worthy to untie.  

I remember looking at the Sistine Chapel. That ceiling is so amazing. That sight did not fill me with confidence or make me strong. It made me feel small and unworthy.  

And there really are some scenes that probably make me feel stronger, almost arrogant, than I should. Like when I look at my clan at a wedding, I kind of say, yeah, that’s what we’re up to. That’s what we’re doing. Or there were a few papers, I know, right, papers, but really, papers, and a few networks I’ve built that I say, those things really make me feel good about what I am.  

I have those things in my life that make me feel strong,  

And some of you would probably say, yeah but pastor that is just for a moment. And those are good things.  

I would say, yeah, they are good things. What I’ve got to say is, like John, I’m unworthy, but I serve the greatest one in the world. I’m here to amplify him, expand him, and enlarge him.  

That’s because Jesus has said we’re worthy.  

He even said, “unless I wash you, you have no part in me.” (Jesus washes feet.) 

John was seeing that moment where Jesus says, yeah, you’re not worthy. You’re not. But I will give my whole self to make you worthy.  

John can say better than anyone, I’m unworthy. Of course I am. There is the one who is worthy to baptize. He is my hero. He is my Savior. I put all my confidence and trust in him. I transfer all my trust to him. 

He is so clear on that. That’s what clarity of identity can sound like.  

Action 

Do you want one of the greatest gifts this Christmas? Learn to say, I’m a voice. I’m here to enlarge, to amplify, and make him great.  

That kind of clarity won’t ruin you. The opposite is true. That kind of clarity will be your vitality.  

I think in many ways, this whole line of questioning of “who we are on the inside” is better. Whether it’s Frozen, Xmen Mutants, or even the whole sense of inner beauty. There is good in that. It’s better than pigeonholing people based on their family or their work. It's still not as good as just being a voice, as being that person who will enlarge, expand, and make someone else great.  

Imagine if your life went like this. A man named Chad would visit this nearly blind and forgetful woman. She could never remember who he was, so he would walk into the room and introduce himself. She always said, “Who”? “Who are you?” After he told her, he would go on with his visit.  

He would tell her law and gospel. He would speak of our lost condition, of our sin, of the dreadful place we find ourselves in apart from God, condemned by His law because of our transgressions. Then he would tell her of Jesus, who sought us in love, who bled out His life’s blood to wash away our transgressions, who exited the tomb alive and well that we might follow Him in our resurrection. 

Every single time, after she had listened, speechless, to all he said, she would respond with shock and surprise, as if this were the first time in her life that she had heard the Gospel. She would literally rejoice, almost laugh with glee, that God loved her so much that He would do all things for her. 

You would think, now, what a neat thing to have that kind of an impact on someone. What if each time the people around you forgot about Jesus and even forgot about you, you could tell them of sin and grace and they would come alive! That wasn’t the best part.  

Because here is what that did to Chad. Chad was on his own way to falling apart. He went from pastor to drugs, sex and more. He didn’t remember who he was. Part of the memory of this woman saying, “who, who are you” that woke him up. He said something like, “I am a man with a life full of regret, full of failure, whom Jesus loves without regret, without fail. No matter what job I have, I am defined not by what I do but by what God has done for me in His Son.” The Blind, Demented Woman Who Introduced Me to Myself | 1517, accessed 12/12/2020)  

That drove him on to be a truck driver, a writer, a public speaker, and a father. In myself I am unworthy, but I am worthy because of what God has done in Jesus. That’s the vitality of a clear identity.  

The Greatest Gift: Forgiveness

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.