SERMON - Our Predicament? By Rev. Dennis Dafoe.
Our Predicament? Text: Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. Context: Turn to: Matthew 1:18-25 Introduction: Christmas draws us to the center of the greatest drama ever written, the story of the clash between God and Satan, good vs evil. It is a story so large that kings and emperors, rulers of this world and rulers of other worlds, are all only pawns in the story. And we, too, are drawn into the story, each of us has our own part to play out because, as we are drawn into the very center of the story, we realize that the story is far from over. We are also called into the battle, even as we celebrate God’s entrance into that battle on our behalf. And we rejoice because, with the birth of His Son, we know that God has joined the battle with us; He is on our side, and so the tide has finally swung in our favor. Transitional Statement: Yet these greater themes are not the object of the lesson today. Luke speaks only of a man and a woman, and of their anxiety over the birth of their child. He tells their story in so inpretentious a manner that we might easily miss its importance – like a listing on the back page of the newspaper. Yet it is on this small stage of the lives of these two people that the greater drama is played out. In the lives of these two people, we see the whole gospel story in a microcosm – God breaking into the lives of His people, claiming them as His own, and using them to bring in His kingdom. 1. A No Brainer? The story begins very simply: Matthew 1:18-19. No flashing signs, nothing much – another sad story in a world filled to the brim with them. A man and woman in an arranged marriage and, suddenly, before the marriage date, it’s found out that she’s pregnant. The mystery and magic of the wedding day is suddenly lost to them, and their life becomes embroiled in problems and conflicts. What was to have been a time of happiness, a special time for them, suddenly loses its luster and there is a great brokenness that appears in their life – a terrible mistake. Joseph, being a just man, decides that there is only one course to take. Mary is pregnant. He is not the father. She must have been unfaithful. Even though he loves her deeply, he has little choice in the matter. The Levitical code deals very strictly with the matter of infidelity – it is a major crime, punishable by death through stoning. As a just man, he cannot just sit on his hands. To further complicate the matter, if he took her as his wife, that also would not be without consequence. People would either assume that the two were irresponsible, or that she was playing Joseph for the fool. His reputation, his career, his life would be ruined. Legally, a child that was not his would become his heir. So he decides that the best route for both of them – the only reasonable choice, really – is to divorce her quietly. Perhaps then she could move somewhere else, or have a relative bring up the child for her. And he would be free to find another wife. A no brainer! Simple conclusion and a gracious one at that! Yet, as he considers what to do, an angel appears to him in a dream. At the crucial moment, as he resolves finally to get rid of the problem – to get rid of Mary – an angel comes in a night vision, and tells him of God’s plan for him. I think that this is the hardest part of the story for people to accept. Not many of us receive nighttime visitations by angels any more. A lot of folks like believing that God speaks to us. He claims that He does – He speaks to us decisively in His Word, Jesus Christ. The question, really, is whether we are listening. And that was the real question that faced Joseph. He had made a decision. He had decided to put Mary away. But in this night vision, God opened up a new possibility to him, by putting him in touch with God’s Word. Matthew goes on: (1:24-25) We all know the ending. We’re so used to hearing it that we don’t even stop for a moment any more to realize that it doesn’t make sense. So was it really a no brainer? Yes! It a much more severe way, for the brain had to give way to faith! So much for faith being easy! Trusting God doesn't always link with our logic! 2. Between the Rock and a hard place! Joseph was in a position where the end wasn’t either light or darkness, bad or good – a decision like most of the ones we have to make – a decision between two alternatives that would have negative effects either way. Either way, someone would lose. In this world we all know how that game is played – it’s “better thee than me.” No one could blame him for getting rid of Mary. He had to look out for number one. He wasn’t responsible for her dilemma. He had a life to live too. So, in terms of his responsibility toward himself and his own interests, in the end, he acted very irresponsibly. But Joseph showed what he was really made of in that moment. He showed what was really important in his life. Setting aside the knowledge of the economic and social consequences, and even the possible religious consequences of his action – he decided to follow what he believed was God’s will in the situation. Although he didn’t even know what God had in mind, since the Jewish people were looking for an earthly king, not a savior from sin. So although he comprehended only the faintest glimmerings of what the angel was talking about, in his desire to be obedient, to listen to the Word of God, and to respond in faith – he changed his mind and married Mary – even over his own objections. Matthew inserts a notation that sums up Joseph’ experience: Mt 2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: He overrid his fear and logic and obeyed God's word. By his obedience to his Lord, rather than to the perils of the situation, in opening his life to the realm of the possible, and letting God use him as He deemed fit – in denying himself and affirming God’s plan, whatever the personal cost – Jesus, the Savior of all humankind, came into the world. The Hebrews had a favorite name for God: “Yahweh Nisi,” “God who is before us.” But by this these people’s faithfulness, Yahweh Nissi, the “God who goes before us,” became Emmanuel, “the God who is with us” – the God who took on human flesh and acted decisively in history in our behalf. Turn to: 1Jo 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. Mary and Joseph were the very first people that this verse ever applied to!! They were the first literal Christ bearers! And they are an example for us as Christ bearers. Sometimes, the choices are not cut and dried, sometimes like Joseph, and Mary it's between ugly and ugly. But the end, the outcome was beyond beautiful. All things, all ugly things worked together for good! These 2 seeming puppets of an Emoporers decree, were the actual stars of a God destiny! Why? Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. They had found favor with God! How? God said! You are now the bearers of Christ, you now have found favor with God!! Will you take the challenge and encouragement of Christmas? Will you Bear Him, even when unsure and things are ugly? For, though it looks like what you do is insignificant sometimes, and looks hopeless, the reality is in 1Jo 4:4. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: (Past tense) because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. Greater is the one you bear, than all the uglyness that comes your way as you bear Him! Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. Put your name in the stead of Mary's! Fear not, ______: for thou hast found favour with God. You are chosen to Bear His Son!! Grace is what Christ brought = Unmerited Favour!! 3. Christ bearers: This is a season in which we remember how God gave Himself for us in the form of a very special baby – how He presented Himself to us in a very special gift. It is a time for joy, for praising God, for celebrating and giving gifts. But it is especially a time for rebirth as God’s people. It’s a time to discover who we truly are – to discover the wonderful possibilities God offers us as His children. It is time to put away – to put to death – the world and its sham & shallowness. It is time to slough off the chains of its rule over us, to break the bonds of cold reality by keeping our eyes and our hearts fastened on God and His promise alone. Turn to: 2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. Like, what Mary and Joesph began, are Christ bearers. And only with Grace/God's favor can we do so! The Bible, Christian life is about death and resurrection. To die to self and be born again, and to repeat as we strive to be more like the Son of God, we're destined to, according to Rom 8, become like!! Turn to: 2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord. We are not to settle for our first experience of conversion, we're to let God transform us from glory to glory in our fervency to live in obedience. To fulfill the goal of Christmas is for us to become, as IPeter 1 says, more and more strangers in a strange land, closer to heaven than earth as we let our light shine! Joseph was able to make the decision he made because he was standing on the brink of Christmas. He could let go of himself – his desires, his dreams – because he saw God’s kingdom coming. He saw God’s desire to be active in his life. As so he responded – he broke all the rules we cling so tightly to to survive. Because he knew that, if he were to let go, if he were to fall, it would only be into the hands of his Heavenly Father. As we also sit on the brink of Christmas once again, it is my earnest prayer that you may also realize how God has chosen you to be a Christ-bearer, that He wants to come into the world again, to be borne into it through your faithfulness and your love. As you let Him grow you from glory to glory by living sacrificially obedient, you are born again as He is born again stroonger in your life. He waits to be born again this Christmas into your heart and into your life. And into the lives of the people you bring Him to! This is enabled to us for we have found favor with God!! May you, like Mary and Joseph, living on the brink of Christmas, refresh this most wonderful gift. Their predicament, is ours! Though seemingly not always glorious, it is! And victorious! And the angel says unto you, Fear not, for thou hast found favour with God.! Do you realize your favour? Merry Christmas!!
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