Sermon

Egypt James Shepherd

December 26, 2015 St. Paul's Anglican Church Chatswood - Sermons

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no matter what has been going on in our week,
whether it's been a good week or a bad week,
we can come here to be reminded of God's grace for us,
His love for us in His Son,
and draw strength from Him.
And so as we hear from His Word this evening,
let us pray together once more
that God would speak to us
and encourage us to keep going
and walking faithfully for Him.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank You so much
for being come here this evening.
We thank You, Lord,
that You draw us to Yourself through Your Son.
And we just pray, Father,
as we are here,
that You would be with us,
that You would speak to us,
that You would challenge us
and convict us to change
whatever needs to be changed
in order that we can continue
to live faithfully following You.
And we pray, Lord, in Your Son's name.
Amen.
Well, it's all over.
Christmas is done for another year.
I hope you all had a wonderful time at Christmas
shared with family and friends.
Christmas is a beautiful time of year.
Not just because it's a time
we get to spend with family
and with friends,
but also it's a time
we go crazy with decorations.
People put up pretty lights
and decorations on their houses,
going nuts for the festive season.
People spend a whole lot of time
putting up their Christmas tree
and decorating it
and making a big deal out of it,
putting up stockings as well.
Shopping centers go absolutely wild
with carols and trees
and decorations all over the place.
And even now,
we even decorate our own cars
with reindeer antlers being put on them.
Has anyone seen those
driving around the streets and such?
Yes.
And is anyone here brave enough
to admit that they have
reindeer antlers on their cars?
There are some of you who are like,
oh dear.
So if I was to walk outside right now,
I would not see any, right?
Is that right?
Okay, I believe you.
Fair enough.
We go wild at Christmas
for a whole month.
We transform the way our shops look,
the way our houses look,
and even now,
the way our cars look.
All for Christmas.
And then on Christmas Day,
you might think it's all about the food.
You might think it's all about the presents.
You might even think it's all about family.
But let me tell you,
you'd be wrong.
According to Facebook and Instagram,
the whole day is about the table.
It's all about the table.
And a successful Christmas lunch
depends upon how good your table looks,
how pretty and original the bonbons are,
how neat and organized everything is,
how ornate and pretty the whole thing is.
Even the location is important
so that the environment around the table
can complement the beauty of the Christmas table.
Your table game is very important
at Christmas time.
At Christmas time,
we go that extra mile
to make the month and the day look beautiful.
We do it because it makes us feel good.
We like beautiful things.
And it can make our life,
even just for a day,
seem perfect and beautiful.
We forget everything
that might be going wrong for us in our life
and focus on the vibe around us,
the joy that Christmas time brings.
Christmas in our modern culture
is a time to focus on the good things in life.
We spend our time celebrating
the joy of your friends and family.
We celebrate good food and presents.
We celebrate the good times we've had this year
and the good times we're looking forward to next year.
Christmas is a time of celebration.
And so we don't want to be thinking about
the brokenness of our world.
We want to have fun.
We want to be joyful.
And this is why we go to such lengths.
Why we decorate.
Why we have so many presents and food.
And why we go all out on our dinner tables.
We want the day to be entirely filled
with joy and excitement.
But the reality is
we can't escape the brokenness of our world.
No matter what we do,
the brokenness of this world
will always be ready to stare at us
right in the face,
even on Christmas Day.
Your kids don't always like
the presents you get for them.
I'm sure there are some in your family
that you struggle to deal with on Christmas.
And Christmas time only makes you more aware of this
as old wounds and pains resurface once more.
For some of us,
Christmas can be quite a lonely time.
And the day only serves to remind us
of what we have lost
or what we've never had.
Our world is broken.
And not even Christmas Day
can disguise that well enough.
But that's wherein lies the good news.
Christmas Day is not about
disguising the ugliness
and the brokenness of our world.
Indeed, Christmas Day
is all about exposing it.
Matthew's account of the first Christmas story
is to clearly expose
the brokenness of our world.
He recounts a very violent account
of the Christmas story
that honestly leaves us shocked
and a little bit confused.
But as we read,
we learn of a God who is in control
despite all the brokenness
going on in our world.
We learn of a God
who has not overcome
or affected by the brokenness
of our world,
but who has a plan to expose it
in order to deal with it.
Christmas Day
is all about exposing
our brokenness
and dealing with it.
Let's read again from verse 13.
When they had gone,
an angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream.
Get up, he said.
Take the child and his mother
and escape to Egypt.
Stay there until I tell you,
for Herod is going to search
for the child
to kill him.
So he got up,
took the child and his mother
during the night
and left for Egypt,
where he stayed
until the death of Herod.
And so it was fulfilled
what the Lord had said
through the prophet.
Out of Egypt
I called my son.
When Herod realized
that he had been outwitted
by the Magi,
he was furious
and he gave orders
to kill all the boys
in Bethlehem
and his vicinity
who were two years old
and under.
And according to the time
he had learned
from the Magi.
Here we learn firsthand
just how broken
and sinful
the world is.
The king of Judea
at this time
is King Herod
and he is quite a character.
As Steve mentioned
at our Christmas services,
King Herod
was a paranoid leader.
always thinking
he was about to be betrayed.
He had his brother-in-law killed,
his wife killed,
as well as both of his sons killed.
All because he thought
they were trying
to take over him.
He was an unforgiving,
paranoid tyrant
who constantly feared
any challenge
to his sovereignty.
And so when the Magi
came to him
and approached him
and asked him,
where is the one
who has been born
the king of the Jews,
we want to go
and worship him,
this sends Herod
into a frenzy.
He is the king
of the Jews,
not this newborn kid.
He orchestrates a plan
to find this newborn king
and kill him.
However,
this plan is foiled.
So what does he do?
Verse 16,
when Herod realized
that he had been outwitted
by the Magi,
he was furious
and he gave orders
to kill all the boys
in Bethlehem
and in its vicinity
who were two years old
and young and under.
To be crude,
he widened his net.
If he couldn't locate
Jesus exactly,
maybe he would manage
to kill him
in the midst
of killing
every single other boy,
baby boy,
in Bethlehem.
It's sick.
It's wicked.
It's pure evil.
I cannot begin
to describe
the sheer evil
of this act.
This event brings
to mind
the events
in Exodus
where Pharaoh
ordered the killing
of all the boys
of the Hebrews
in order to cull
their population.
And so the fact
that Herod
would dare
to have the audacity
to inflict such pain
and suffering
on his own people
again
goes to show
just how wicked
he is
and how horribly
broken
our world is.
Matthew
here
doesn't introduce
a Christmas story
that looks glamorous
and beautiful
like the Christmas stories
our world
might be used
to hearing
that are filled
with joy,
luxury,
comfort,
food and family,
presents and good times.
No,
Matthew
introduces a story
that is violent
and terrifying.
A story
that brings out
the brokenness
of our world
for all of us
to see.
Therefore,
as the reader,
we are exposed
to the sinfulness
and brokenness
of our world.
The story
of Christmas
is not only
confronting
because of the horrors
that Herod
committed,
but also because
we are reminded
that we're a part
of the same world
as Herod.
We too
contribute
towards the brokenness
of this world.
We too
are sinful,
flawed
and broken people.
And Christmas
is all about
exposing us
in such a way.
Indeed,
Christmas
deconstructs
our own
self-inflated view,
the pretty
and glamorous
idea we might
build of ourselves
and it plunges us
into the reality
that we are
desperate
and in need
of a saviour.
The story
of Christmas
exposes
our sinfulness
and brokenness
but it does not
leave us there.
It exposes
our sin
in order
to deal with it.
The story
of Christmas
is one of violence
from beginning
to end,
beginning with
the horrific
slaughter
of children
and ending
with the violent
murder
of the Son
of God.
It's barely
palatable
but that's
the story
it leaves
us feeling
sick
as we are
confronted
with the
reality of
sin in our
world
and our
own
brokenness
and sinfulness.
But there
is hope
because Jesus
did not merely
come to expose
our sin,
he came to
deal with it.
What this story
shows us
is that in his
coming,
God doesn't
merely show
that he is able
to expose
our sinfulness
but that he
is also
sovereign
over it.
He's in
control
and he can
deal with it.
The world
might be in
a chaotic
mess
but he is
able to
ruin that
chaos,
achieve his
perfect plan
and will
to save us
from our
sin.
We see it
straight up in
our passage
in the opening
verse.
An angel
of the Lord
appeared to
Joseph in
the dream.
Get up,
he said.
Take the
child and
his mother
and escape
to Egypt.
Stay there
until I tell
you,
for Herod is
going to
search for
the child
to kill
him.
In the
face of
conflict
and oppression,
God
divinely
intercedes
and ensures
that the
newborn king
would be
safe and
kept away
from Herod's
attempts to
kill him.
And Joseph
is once more
warned in
verse 22,
but when he
heard Achelaus
was reigning
in Judea
in place
of his
father Herod,
he was
afraid to
go there.
Having been
warned in
a dream,
he withdrew
to the
district of
Galilee and
he went and
lived in a
town called
Nazareth.
He shows
that in the
midst of a
broken and
violent world,
he is still
in control,
that he will
achieve his
purpose and
plan,
that this
Jesus will
save his
people from
their sins.
Death pursued
Jesus.
This was the
pattern of
his life.
But death
itself never
consumed him.
It never
caught up to
him finally and
overtook him.
No, death
had no power
over Jesus.
What happened,
as Paul says in
Philippians 2,
was that Jesus
became obedient
to death.
Death pursued
Jesus until the
appointed time
where Jesus
would become
obedient to
death in
order to
save his
people from
their sins.
What we see
here is the
incredible
sovereignty of
God working
through the
brokenness of
our world in
order to
redeem it.
God turns the
brokenness of
this world in
on its head.
As we saw in
the genealogy,
God uses broken
people, people
who we would
otherwise look
down upon and
despise for their
sinfulness and
their ugliness and
their yuckiness.
God uses those
people to achieve
his good and
perfect plan of
salvation.
In a broken
world where death
brings destruction
and hopelessness for
so many people,
God in his power and
sovereignty uses the
death of his son to
bring hope and
life, to save us
from our sins.
He deals with our
brokenness, our
sinfulness.
He lifts up our
head and fixes
our gaze on him,
giving us hope in
a broken world.
At Christmas time,
our world is so
focused on
forgetting the
brokenness of our
world, being
distracted instead
by the beauty and
the joy and the
glamour that is
engineered on the
day itself.
But the true
beauty of Christmas
that Matthew is not
afraid to portray
boldly is that
Jesus came to
save a broken
world.
The beauty of
Christmas is that
it doesn't try to
hide our brokenness,
it exposes it in
order to deal with
it.
The joy and the
beauty of Christmas
is that because
Jesus has come,
we are now able to
face up to our
brokenness.
We are able to
look at our
sinfulness, our
wickedness, our
brokenness, not
with fear but
with hope.
As we turn our
eyes to the one
who became sin
for us, who
carried our
sinfulness, the
sinfulness of the
world upon his
shoulders.
When we look at
our broken world,
when we look at
our broken and
sinful life, we
ought not to be
overcome.
We ought not to
fear.
When our
Christmas on
Christmas Day
doesn't live up
to what we
had hoped,
doesn't look as
pretty as we
wanted, we ought
not to be
dismayed.
Christmas is all
about exposing our
broken lives and
our broken world in
order to save it.
Christmas is all
about giving us
hope in the
midst of our
brokenness.
A hope that
sustains us in the
world that would
otherwise devour us.
A hope that gives
us strength as we
look to Christ who
deals with our
sinfulness and our
brokenness.
That is why
Christmas is
beautiful.
That is why
Christmas is
joyful.
Because it gives
us strength through
tears, through pain,
through suffering,
through our
brokenness to keep
going.
To look at the
world in its
broken state.
To grieve, yes.
To feel the pain,
yes.
But to keep going
knowing that God
has sent his son to
deal with it.
To keep going as we
look forward to
eternity.
So, what do we do
with our traditions on
Christmas Day and at
Christmas time?
It might sound like I'm
throwing those things
under the bus a little
bit.
That Christmas should be
more about a private
reflection of what
God has done for us.
And whilst it's very
important to remember
who we are and how
broken we are, I want
to say the opposite.
Christmas is a
wonderful time.
A joyful time.
And we should feast.
We should celebrate.
We should give
presents.
Not because these
things should distract
us from our
brokenness.
But because we know
full well.
Full well of our
brokenness and that
it has been dealt
with.
We celebrate the day
God opened our eyes
for the brokenness of
our world.
Confronted us with the
reality of our sin.
Not to put fear in us
but to give us hope.
That is something worth
celebrating.
Us broken, sinful
people enjoying peace
with God.
The Christmas story then
is not something that we
celebrate or have on our
minds only one day of the
year.
For the Christian it is
something on our hearts,
on our minds, something
that we are celebrating all
the time, every single day
of the year.
The Christmas story gives
us the capacity to look at
our brokenness and not be
overcome by it.
It informs us that only in
Jesus can we be sustained
in our brokenness and have
hope for the future.
hope in a world full of
wickedness, desperation and
brokenness.
There is a whole world out
there who needs the tough
love of having their sin
exposed.
A world who doesn't know how
to deal with their brokenness
and sinfulness.
They only know how to distract
themselves from it.
Whether it's by constantly
turning to the good things in
life, focusing on the events
themselves or otherwise.
But we, brothers and
sisters, do know how to deal
with our brokenness.
Indeed, we know the one who
has dealt with it.
Our world needs us to help
them to look towards Jesus to
deal with their brokenness.
But the thing is, is that it
starts with us.
It starts with you.
Are you looking to Jesus in
the midst of your own
brokenness and sinfulness to
find hope?
To find salvation?
Or are you allowing yourself to
be distracted?
Are you willing to be
confronted by your own broken
life, by your own sinfulness?
Or would you rather just go on
with your life and being
distracted and not even think
about that?
The story of Christmas is all
about how much God loves you.
His love for you is so great
that he came into our sinful,
broken world in order to
expose it for what it really is
that we might be saved from our
sins.
So do not be afraid.
Do not despair.
Christ has come to save
sinners, broken people like you
and me.
Facing up to our brokenness is
scary.
I mean, it's terrifying.
To relinquish control of
ourselves and to give it over to
God.
To realize that we are not good
enough on our own to save
ourselves.
But in the end, it ends with joy
as we trust that God
can deal with it.
As he deals with it by giving us
himself in his son.
That is why we celebrate
Christmas.
And that's what makes it
beautiful.