Receiving Jesus

Well, good morning, everyone. Welcome to church this morning. My name is Steve. I've not met you before. Lead pastor here at St. Paul's. I'd be grateful if you had your Bibles open at that point at Matthew 1.

As we enter into this Christmas season, a season of presents and joy and Christmas pageants. In fact, I read the story this past week of a boy who was desperate to play Joseph in the Sunday school pageant for his church.

And he sort of planned for it. I think he'd been working on it for a little bit and he figured he was the prime candidate to be Joseph.

But instead, the head of the Sunday school cast him as the landlord of the inn in Bethlehem, you know, with one line. That's it.

And so this, you know, poor boy was just so, so disappointed. He protested, you know, the fact that he had this role and he should in fact be Joseph.

But to no avail, he was stuck being the landlord of the inn. And all, he was really disappointed, but he really didn't let it show too much due to all the rehearsals.

So, you know, when it came time for his little bit, he would say his famous line, you know, with a bunch of enthusiasm.

No, there is no room in the inn for him.

However, on the day of the Christmas pageant, he got his revenge.

So, packed house. And when it got to his moment in the spotlight, Mary and Joseph, you know, knocked on the door, asked if there was any room.

And the boy smiled and said, yes, we have lots of room in the inn tonight.

And apparently, it was just pause.

You know, everyone was just silent.

The Sunday school, you know, director was all like, big gasp in the room.

Everyone was shocked.

And then awkward silence until all of a sudden the audience erupted.

We laughed because Mary and Joseph, look around, what do we do now?

Anyway, I suppose if you want to, if you're a male and you want to party at a Christmas pageant,

you know, Joseph is the guy who, on one level, has more of a spotlight on him than anyone else.

Even though, on the most part, he's sort of sitting there in the background.

He doesn't say too many things at all.

Although, he is at the centre of the action.

What is a bit unusual, though, is that in the biblical text, we see a slightly different picture.

And it is a little bit odd, if you like, that in a patriarchal society like first century Palestine,

Joseph, on the most part, plays a passive role in all the biblical narratives and the Christmas narrative in particular.

In fact, once we are clear of the Christmas scenes, Joseph is hardly mentioned at all in the New Testament.

And yet, an angel did come to Joseph and told Joseph something that, in fact, only Joseph was told this.

Only Joseph.

And that is because Joseph, as the male, had naming rights to the child.

And the angel said, verse 23, the child is to be called Emmanuel, God with us.

And so, here's what we learn from the name Emmanuel.

Well, three things, it's on the St. Paul's app, which you can download, if you haven't got it.

But on the St. Paul's app, Jesus is God, Jesus is human, and Jesus is with us.

And that's our trajectory today.

So, first thing we learn is that Jesus is God.

In verse 20, the angel tells Joseph that the human life growing inside of Mary has come not from any human being,

but from God, from the Heavenly Father.

And Joseph will be Jesus' father, if you like, in a secondary sense.

That is, God is the real father of this child.

However, the most direct statement of Jesus' identity comes in that verse 23.

And in that, Matthew is quoting, himself a Jew, is quoting from Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14.

Isaiah 7:14

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.

Now, for centuries leading up to this moment, ever since Isaiah wrote those words,

that Jewish scholars had known about it, but they had never thought to take those words literally.

And so, what is promised here in Matthew 1, what is declared here, is greater than anyone would imagine,

even for Jewish scholars.

Jesus Christ, this baby in this manger, is God with us.

And that statement is absolutely startling for the Jewish worldview.

In fact, for any worldview.

Eastern religions believed God was an impersonal, infinite force,

which permeated all things in the created order.

It wasn't unusual for Eastern religions, and still isn't today,

to regard some human beings as being particularly great manifestations of the divine,

such as Buddha, a manifestation of the divine.

Western religions, on the other hand,

and believes that gods could disguise themselves as human beings for their own purposes.

And so, they believed in a personal God on one level.

And therefore, a personal God in the Western religion could appear to a degree,

in some form, momentarily, amongst human life.

And so, there is references throughout Greek religions in the past,

the Greek history, that this particular person was a manifestation,

or potentially, it was Zeus amongst us for just this moment.

Jews, on the other hand, were neither Eastern or Western,

but they believed that God was both personal and infinite.

God was not a being within the universe,

but was that God was outside of the universe and the source of the universe.

And so, the Hebrew worldview was, in fact, against the idea

that a human being, in any way, could be God.

In fact, Jews would not even use the name of God.

They still don't to this day.

Won't even spell it.

And yet, Jesus Christ, by a Jew, by his life, by his claims,

by his resurrection, managed to convince his closest Jewish followers

that he was much more than a prophet telling them about God,

how to find God,

but that he was, in fact, God himself,

come to find us.

He blew the categories of Eastern, Western, and Jewish worldview.

And, in fact, all of his main Jewish followers

declared it in his lifetime.

And, of course, the opinions of these authors

would not mean a whole lot at all

if Jesus hadn't declared himself his divine identity

all through the biographical accounts,

which is what sets Jesus apart from the likes of Buddha.

Buddha never declared that he himself,

even though characteristics of the divine

never declared himself to be divine,

whereas Jesus did.

And what we have with Jesus

is his constantly forgiving sin,

which the Jews knew that only God could do,

and he also claims,

I'm going to come back and I'm going to judge the earth,

and they also knew that only God could do that.

And so, at many times and in various ways,

Jesus Christ, a Jewish man,

declared to his Jewish audience,

I am God.

And thousands, thousands believed him

and came to worship him as God.

Acts chapter 2, verse 41.

Acts 2:41

And so, every Christmas,

people all over the world give lip service

to that reality without actually thinking through

what the implications are for it.

What does it mean?

We've just sung it just then.

What does it mean?

If Jesus really is God,

what does it actually mean for us practically?

So, first, it's an intellectual turning point.

Now, some have argued that the supreme miracle

of Christianity is not the resurrection of Jesus,

but the incarnation of Jesus,

the coming of God into his world as a human being.

So, the late theologian J.I. Packer puts it like this,

God became man, the divine son became a Jew,

the almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby,

unable to do more than just lie and stare

and wriggle and make noises,

needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk

like any other child.

The more you think about it,

the more staggering it gets.

Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this.

The only way that we can know God

is as if God comes and writes himself

into the story of history

so that the rest of us,

the characters of history,

could know the author of the story.

The claim of Christmas,

the claim of Christianity,

is that God is not the author of history,

but he's also written himself

into the storyline of history

so that we might know the unknowable.

And so, the claim that Jesus is God

is an intellectual turning point,

but it also causes a personal crisis.

You see, whenever you see Jesus

acting in the Gospels,

what he does is he evokes

extreme responses from people.

People are so furious with him at points

that they want to throw him off a cliff.

They plot to kill him.

Others are so terrified by his presence,

they tell him to depart,

get away from me.

Others fall down before him

and worship him as God.

What you have here with Jesus

is extreme reactions recorded.

And those extreme reactions

are not because of the good things he does.

Like telling people to love their neighbour

as you might love yourself.

Those extreme reactions are always

because of who he claims to be.

He claims to be the God

who created all things,

the source of all life,

the one who defines all reality.

And if he is,

then what that means is

it's all about him.

And it means that our lives,

as he is our creator,

are defined by him

and our life must be centred on him.

However, if Jesus is not who he says he is,

if he's not God,

then he's not someone to be admired at all

in any way.

He is someone to be hated.

He is someone to run away from,

to escape,

because he is the greatest fraud in history

and he is extremely dangerous for your life.

What we see in the Gospels

on the claim of who Jesus is

is not this passive middle area

where we can just admire the guy.

That category does not exist.

He is either God or he isn't.

He's either crazy and dangerous

or he is infinitely wonderful to be worshipped.

That's the only two responses.

And it's a personal crisis for us all.

But,

thirdly,

the claim that Jesus is God

gives us the greatest possible hope.

You see,

the one who creates,

the one who determines,

the one who defines all reality

says that our world

is not all that there is.

That there are a life

and there is love

after death

and that evil and suffering

will one day end.

And that is the hope

that we need

in 2025.

Hope in a world

with all its unending problems

and hope for you and me

with all our unending failings.

That's what makes

Christianity so unique

and it's what makes

the biblical accounts of Jesus

and what he says

so crucial

that we do not redefine it.

That we make God

something different

in our minds

and in our hearts.

You see,

a God who was,

a God who's just perfect,

a God who's just

all about justice,

a God who's gonna

smite evil

and make everything right

that's wrong.

You know,

the God who is

a hard taskmaster

would not have come down to us

this God would not have arrived.

He would have simply demanded

that we pull ourselves together,

do a bunch of moral good,

obey a bunch of laws

and earn the right

to be loved by him.

On the other hand,

a God

that was

an all accepting,

God of all accepting love

would not have come down

to us either.

Would never have arrived.

You know,

the God of the modern

Western imagination

would have just,

there's no point of him

coming into his world

because he's just gonna

overlook every sin

and every wrong

and every evil

and just embrace us

for who we are

and just let us

do our thing.

Neither of those gods

would have bothered

with Christmas.

The biblical God,

however,

is infinitely good

and perfect

and so our sin

could not just be

shrugged off

as if it doesn't matter

but he's also

infinitely loving

and he knows

that we could never

ever climb up

to him.

We could never be good enough

to get to him

and so he had to come to us.

God had to come down

and do what we cannot do

and so Christmas

is full of hope

for us.

The second thing we see here

that Jesus is human.

This interaction

between Joseph

and the angel

reveals the humanity

of Jesus

and what difference

does that make

in the way that we live?

Let me just quote Packer

again on this one.

For the Son of God

to empty himself

and become poor

meant a laying aside

of glory,

a voluntary restraint

of power,

an acceptance

of hardship,

isolation,

ill treatment,

malice

and misunderstanding.

Finally,

a death

that involves

such agony,

spiritual

even more than physical

that his mind

nearly broke

under the prospect

of it.

It meant love

to the utmost

for unlovely people.

And so,

the Christmas spirit

does not shine out

in the Christian snob.

For the Christmas spirit

is a spirit

of those

who like their master

live their whole lives

on the principle

of making themselves poor,

spending

and being spent

to enrich

their fellow humans

giving time,

trouble,

care

and concern

to do good

to others

and not just

their own friends

in whatever way

there seems need.

You see,

the fact that

God

became human

and emptied

himself

of his glory

means

that we should

not want

to hang out

just with people

who are going

to enrich us

and advance us

in some way.

People who are

just going to

open the doors

for us.

We need

to be willing

to go

to the

people

without the power,

without the beauty,

without the money

all because

God

became

one

of us.

And the fact

that

he became

one of us

human

it means

that

there's

infinite

comfort

in our

suffering

right now.

Hebrews

Hebrews 2:17

chapter 2

verse 17

says that

Jesus

made like us

fully human

in every way

and the very

next verse

tells us

what that

means for us

because he

himself

suffered

when he

was

tried

and tested

he is

able

to help

those

who are

being

tried

and

tested.

You see

when something

bad happens

and real

suffering

comes to

us

one of

the

consequences

of

suffering

in our

world

is this

a deep

sense of

loneliness

that comes

with it.

You know

as if I'm

walking this

myself

no one's

been on this

journey

the way

that I've

been on

this

journey

and what

happens

in the

midst

of

suffering

is that

people

around us

express

some

level of

sympathy

but deep

down

it doesn't

seem to

help a

lot.

it's

great to

know that

people are

there and

they're

acknowledging

your pain

but it

doesn't

seem to

help a

lot

but then

we meet

someone

who's been

through a

similar thing

that we've

been through

and we

pour our

heart out

to that

person

and they

listen

they

listen

there's a

connection

and we

start to

listen to

their

opinions

because

they've

been

through

the

same

thing

it's

like

you

journey

with

them

in

that

moment

the

coming

of

God

into

this

world

ultimately

means

that

he

suffered

and

that

he

in

fact

triumphed

through

suffering

and

therefore

he

has

infinite

power

to

comfort

the

sufferer

this

God

is

unlike

the

God

of

any

other

faith

in

this

world

so

have

you

been

betrayed

do you

feel

abandoned

and

lonely

have

you

been

destitute

facing

death

even

so

has

he

he's

been

through

it

all

Jesus

has

been

all

the

places

that

you

are

right

now

including

mental

health

his

mind

nearly

broke

in the

garden of

Gethsemane

he's

been

in

the

darkness

that

you

are

now

and

much

more

he

has

suffered

and

he

has

the

power

to

comfort

he

has

the

power

to

strengthen

and

he

has

the

power

to

bring

you

through

it

because

thirdly

he's

with

us

not

just

momentarily

but

he

is

with

us

you

see

God's

plans

were

infinitely

greater

than

a

short

visit

gifting

us

with a

good

example

of how

to live

life

and

a

bunch

of

helpful

teaching

his

plan

in

becoming

human

was

to

always

be

human

and

to

always

be

with

us

Jesus

chose

a

12

apostles

disciples

initially

and

appointed

them

so that

they

would

be

with

him

chosen

to be

in

his

presence

conversing

with

him

learning

from

him

having

his

comfort

moment

by

moment

you

see

in

Jesus

the

unapproachable

God

becomes

a

human

being

who

can

be

known

and

loved

and

frankly

that

reality

does not

stun us

as much

as it

should

moment

by

moment

you see

in the

Old

Testament

God

appears

to

Abraham

as a

smoking

furnace

to

Israel

his

people

as a

pillar

of

fire

to

Job

as a

hurricane

and

when

Moses

asked

to

see

the

face

of

God

he

was

told

if

I

showed

myself

to

you

it

would

kill

you

so

great

and

high

and

holy

is

and

unproachable

is

God

and

yet

the

message

of

Christmas

means

that

through

Jesus

you

can

see

God

you

can

meet

God

you

can

know

him

personally

without

any

terror

at

all

when

God

showed

up

in

Jesus

Christ

he

was

a

baby

this

time

he

came

not

to

bring

judgment

but

in

fact

to

bear

judgment

to

pay

the

penalty

for

our

sin

to

take

away

the

barrier

between

humanity

and

God

so

that

when

humanity

faced

God

if

that

barrier

stayed

we

would

be

obliterated

Jesus

is

God

with

us

and

so

I

ask

you

are

you

really

with

him

do

you

know

him

or

just

about

him

!

God

there

is

one

crucial

trait

necessary

for

having

a

personal

relationship

with

Jesus

one

crucial

trait

and

in

actual

fact

it's

probably

the

trait

that

is

most

overlooked

an

intimate

relationship

with

Jesus

always

requires

courage

courage

we

cannot

know

Jesus

personally

as

I've

just

outlined

it

here

unless

we

have

the

courage

to

admit

that

we

are

sinners

morally

flawed

admit

that

we

have

chosen

to

live

life

rejecting

our

creator

God

and

live

life

our

way

you

see

Jesus

entire

mission

is

summed

up

there

in

verse

21

he's

Emmanuel

God

with

us

why

he

will

save

his

people

from

their

sins

you

see

first

and

foremost

that's

what

he

came

for

he

took

on

human

flesh

to

forgive

us

and

so

it's

courage

it

takes

a lot

of

courage

to

admit

I

am

a

moral

failure

I

don't

love

God

with

all

my

heart

my

soul

and

my

strength

and

my

mind

I

don't

love

my

neighbor

as

myself

and

therefore

I

am

guilty

and

I

need

forgiveness

and

pardon

before

anything

else

that's

what I

need

from

God

God

it

takes

an

enormous

amount

of

courage

to

admit

those

things

it

means

throwing

out

the

old

self

image

that

you've

made

for

yourself

and

getting

a new

one

through

Jesus

and

that

admission

that I

am

morally

flawed

and I

need

Jesus

as

my

savior

is

the

very

foundation

for

all

the

other

things

that

this

God

wants

to

bring

into

your

life

all

the

comfort

all

the

hope

all

the

joyful

humility

and

everything

else

the

only

way

that

we

would

have

such

courage

the

only

way

we

would

get

the

strength

to be

courageous

and

admit

that

is

by

looking

to

Jesus

himself

he's

the

only

source

of

that

courage

he's

not

just

the

source

of

our

comfort

and

our

salvation

and

our

hope

but

he

is

the

source

of

the

courage

you

see

if

it

takes

courage

to

be

with

him

consider

consider

that

it

took

infinitely

more

courage

for

him

to

be

with

us

infinitely

more

courage

apart

from

Christianity

no

other

religion

says

that

one

of

the

attributes

of

the

divine

is

courage

he

became

mortal

he

became

vulnerable

so

that

he

could

suffer

be

betrayed

and

killed

he

faced

our

darkness

so

that

we

can

have

the

light

of

life

and

that

means

that

because

he's

done

that

for

us

it

enables

us

to

face

any

darkness

ourselves

and

still

have

the

light

of

hope

and

he

did

it

all

willingly

for

us

it's

there

actually

in the

Christmas

carol

we haven't

sung it

well I'm

sure we're

going to

sing in

the next

few

weeks

but

the

Christmas

carol

hark

the

herald

angels

sing

there's

a line

in

that

carol

which

where we

sing

mild

he lays

his glory

by

what that

means

is

he

voluntarily

did it

he

willingly

did it

he

lovingly

did it

no one

forced him

to lay

his glory

aside

to come

into this

world

and love

us

he faced

unimaginable

pain

and death

and darkness

out of love

for humanity

and so

why did

Jesus have

the courage

to do

what he

did for

us

love

how do

we get

the courage

to admit

that we're

sinners

and we

need his

forgiveness

and a

relationship

with him

exactly

the same

way

by looking

to him

and seeing

all that

he has

done

for us

that

consistently

looking at

him

and what

it cost

him

will

draw

out

love

for him

and then

we will

have the

courage

to put

him

into the

centre

of our

lives

and then

he will

be

with you

and you

with him

that's

Christmas

and so

two

really quick

implications

for us

this morning

if you're

someone

here

and you

don't

know

Jesus

I want

to call

you to

be

courageous

this

morning

he has

come to

you

come to

him

this

morning

admit

that you're

a moral

failure

come to

him

and find

in him

mercy

and grace

and love

and forgiveness

secondly

if you're

someone

who does

know

Jesus

you've

already

come to

him

I want

to call

you to

have

courage

this

Christmas

I want

you to

have

courage

to pray

for someone

that they

might

come to

Jesus

this

Christmas

and courage

to follow

through with

that

personally

and invite

them to

church

and so

we've got

the Christmas

invites

out there

on the

Christmas

station

near the

kitchen

and can

also

there's a

little

basket

there

these are

feet

by the

way

it's a

bit hard

to cut

the toes

out

so

what I'd

encourage

you to

do

is to

have

courage

and to

go there

get one

of these

and put

the name

of the

person

just their

first name

or a

you know

whatever

a friend

of mine

and put

their name

and just

stick it

on the

wall

this is the

person that

I'm praying

for for

Christmas

this is the

person I'm

going to

invite this

Christmas

so do that

after the

service

let's pray

invite the

band up

gracious

loving

heavenly

father

we thank

you for

sending

your one

and only

son

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

we thank

you for

his love

his mercy

his forgiveness

we thank

you

that you're a

God not

just of

justice

but a

God of

deep mercy

and forgiveness

and so

if there are

any here

this morning

who are

wavering

with that

courage

to come

to you

Holy

Spirit

send the

light of

life

into their

hearts right

now and

bring them

to you

and for

those of us

who do

know you

help us

to courageously

take our

next step

leading into

your love

this Christmas

and we ask

it for your

sake

Amen