Luke 1

So there are Bibles just in the hallway. Don't be afraid to run and get one.

We won't think less of you.

Don't be embarrassed to do that.

You'll find it difficult, I think, to follow unless you've got a Bible.

I have a file of sermons in my final cabinet of kind of unfinished sermons, of sermon ideas

which normally get to about Thursday or Friday and then they never get any further.

And so I was kind of looking at it this week and I thought, ah, this one I might be able to make something of.

Alright? But we'll, well, you'll be the judge of that.

Tonight's sermon begins with a grammar lesson.

I can already hear some of you inwardly groan.

To be honest, I can imagine the page in the communication textbook which says never use an opening line like that.

But I don't care this evening. I'm going to stick with it.

And we're going to begin with a grammar lesson.

Because sometimes grammar really matters.

And I want to try and persuade you tonight that the grammar of Christmas really matters.

And so in particular tonight, I want to talk to you about preposition.

Preposition.

Now, to be honest, I've spoken English since I learned to talk.

But grammar is a constant battle for me, as you know.

And I managed to get through secondary school without really knowing what a preposition was.

It was only in coming to study the Bible that I've come to see how important they are.

And so let me start with the definition.

Alright?

Just when you thought this introduction of this sermon couldn't get any worse.

Let me give you a definition of preposition.

A preposition is a word in a sentence that governs a noun.

That makes it clear, doesn't it?

And expresses its relation to another word or words in that sentence.

Let me give you examples.

You are sitting on the church chairs.

The word on is a preposition.

Do you understand that?

Because it describes the relationship between you and the church chairs.

You are sitting on the church chairs.

You're on it.

Let me give you another example.

I sat through an inexplicably boring sermon introduction this evening.

And the word through is a preposition.

Because it describes your relationship to the start of the sermon.

You get the idea?

Prepositions describe relationships.

And that's why they matter.

That's why we say things like,

I'm not laughing at you.

I'm laughing with you.

Which is usually, isn't it,

a vaguely apologetic sentence uttered by somebody who is laughing at you.

At and with are prepositions.

And there's a big difference between somebody laughing at you

and somebody laughing with you, isn't there?

Let me give you another couple of sentences.

Where prepositions make a big difference.

Just to drive the grammar lesson home.

There's a difference, isn't there,

between I swam in the English Channel

and I swam across the English Channel.

One is a bit mad.

One is totally mad, isn't it?

There's a big difference between

I found the cat hiding behind the fridge

and I found the cat hiding in the fridge.

There's a big difference.

I hope you're getting the idea.

Prepositions matter

and they matter especially at Christmas.

Now let me show you what I mean.

So for this message,

what I'm going to do is

I'm going to read you four very short passages

from the Bible

and each of them contains

a really important preposition.

And together,

when you put together the four prepositions,

they tell you the story of why Christmas really matters.

So we're going to start with the passage that we read.

Can you turn with me to Philippians chapter 2?

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

All right.

I'm going to give you the page numbers

so you find it.

And again, if you still want to go and get your Bible,

it's not too late.

So Philippians chapter 2,

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

it's on page 980.

Philippians chapter 2

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

and verses 6 to 7.

Page 980.

And these are verses about Jesus' life

before he came to earth.

His life before he came to earth as a baby.

And for Christians,

this is a really important part of the Christmas story.

These are verses about where Jesus was

and who he was with

before he arrived in Bethlehem in the manger.

So let me read to you

what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians

in chapter 2 and verses 6 and 7.

Can you see that?

It's describing Jesus.

And it says this,

who though he

was in the form of God,

did not count equality with God

a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself

by taking the form of a servant,

being born in the likeness of men.

So I just want you to see in verse 6,

can you see the preposition there?

With God.

That's my first point.

Jesus was equal with God.

The Bible teaches us that Jesus

is in very nature God.

It's not only true that he's the Messiah,

the Son of God,

it's also true to say that he is God himself.

And so that's why the wise men

in the Christmas story,

they traveled such a long way

just to honor him.

Not just to present him with precious gifts,

but they bowed down

and they worshipped him.

Worship is something that you reserve

for God.

And those wise men knew very,

very well what they were doing.

Jesus existed before

he was a human child.

He was equal with God.

He didn't consider equality with God

something to be grasped.

Something to be used for his own advantage.

That's what he's saying.

Something to be tightly clung onto.

Rather, he humbled himself

and he came down to earth from heaven.

He was made in human likeness

and he came as a human

in order to serve humans.

So this first preposition

is really important to Christians

because it tells us

what Jesus left behind.

He was with God.

He was equal with God.

And when he came to earth as a baby,

he didn't just appear out of nowhere.

He came down.

He left behind the majesty

of his throne in heaven.

He surrendered his position

at God's right hand.

He gave up the splendor

of his heavenly kingdom.

And that's a very important question

because it pushes us to ask

another question.

Why would he do that?

Why did he do that?

Jesus was equal

with God.

But then we're going to see

secondly,

the second preposition is this.

Jesus dwelt among us.

Jesus dwelt among us.

And here I want us to go to

the beginning of John's Gospel.

So the beginning of John's Gospel,

it's really famous.

John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

can you turn there?

It's on page 886.

It's on page 886

in the Church Bibles.

And John actually begins his,

if you want to call it,

a biography of Jesus' life

in a very poetic way.

And it's one of the key verses

in his introduction.

He describes Jesus

as the Word.

And listen to what he writes.

He writes in verse 14.

And the Word,

that is the Lord Jesus,

who was equal with God,

remember,

became flesh.

And he dwelt,

here's the second preposition,

among us.

And we've seen his glory.

Glory as of the only Son

from the Father,

full of grace and truth.

He's actually saying something

very similar to what Paul has said

in Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

That Jesus came from his Father,

and he came to earth

full of the grace of God,

full of the truth of God.

That is,

even though he left behind

his majesty,

even though he left behind

his glory,

even though he left behind

his heavenly throne

where he was adored

by the angels,

he didn't leave behind

his divinity.

By becoming a man,

he did not give up

his godness.

Jesus, the human,

was full of divine character,

grace and truth.

And though for a time

he surrendered his position

at the Father's right hand,

he did not surrender

his godness.

In fact,

one of the things

that John's Gospel

is at pains to suggest

to you and I

is that as people

saw Jesus

and as they heard Jesus,

they saw the incredible things

that he did

when he was alive,

they encountered

the glory of God.

Jesus was the life of God.

Jesus was the glory of God.

He was the grace

and truth of God

wrapped in skin.

I can put it like that.

He became flesh

and made his dwelling

amongst us.

Among us.

A friend of mine

was in a pub quiz

and over on the adjacent table

as he glanced over,

he saw a face

that he recognized.

Didn't know it was at the start.

And so he looked at him again

and he recognized who it was.

Frodo Baggins.

It was Elijah Wood,

the actor.

And my friend resisted

kind of taking a photograph

of himself

with Elijah Wood

on the other side of the table.

But he did boast about it

on Twitter.

I thought,

well, fair play.

That's pretty newsworthy,

isn't it?

You don't usually

go down to your local

for your pub quiz

and expect to bump into

Frodo Baggins

from Lord of the Rings.

In the same way,

if you were an innkeeper

in a dusty town

called Bethlehem

2,000 years ago,

you don't rent out

your stable

on a full night

and expect to find there

the Jewish Messiah

born in it.

Likewise,

if you were a rugged shepherd

in those parts

2,000 years ago,

you don't expect

to get some angels

telling you

to head into town

to see the Son of God

in a manger.

It's definitely newsworthy.

So if Elijah Wood

hanging with the common people

at the pub

is newsworthy to tweet,

then the Son of God

turning up in a barn

is undoubtedly worth

telling people about.

He made His dwelling

among us.

But we still haven't

answered the why question.

Why would He?

And here's where

our third preposition

helps us.

Philippians chapter 2

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

tells us that

He came to serve.

He humbled Himself

by becoming a man.

And it went on to say

that He ultimately

humbled Himself

by His death

on the cross.

And so come with me

to Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

Which is on page

983.

Page 983.

And let me read you again

from the pen

of the Apostle Paul.

And once again

he's talking about Jesus.

Chapter 1 verse 19.

It says this.

For in Him

all the fullness

of God

was pleased to dwell

and through Him

to reconcile

to Himself

all things

whether on earth

or in heaven

making peace

by the blood of the cross.

before we come

to the third preposition

let me just

point this out to you.

Do you notice

once again

what the Bible says

about Jesus' divinity?

Look at it.

It says all

doesn't it?

All God's fullness

dwelt in Him.

We're reminded

that though Jesus

left behind

His majesty

to dwell on the earth

He didn't leave

behind His godness.

He came to earth

with the life

of God in Him.

He dwelt with us.

God dwelt in Him.

And it pleased His Father

not only to His fullness

dwell in Him

but to see Jesus

accomplish what He came to do.

He came to reconcile.

He came to reconcile

and it would ultimately

be reconciliation

through His blood.

Through His blood.

That's the third

preposition.

It was His death

on the cross

that reconciliation

would come by.

Jesus reconciles

through His blood.

Through His death

by standing

in the place

of the guilty

Jesus the innocent

bears our sin

and He embraces

God's judgment.

He embraces

God's judgment

so that we would

never have to.

And do you notice

that this reconciliation

is not only available

to those who are on earth

but to the creatures

in heaven.

It is cosmic

in its scope.

And that word

reconciliation

it implies

doesn't it

a broken relationship.

And without

Jesus Christ's

humble service of us

a broken relationship

with God

is all we would have.

Because in big

and in small ways

we've ignored God.

Our relationship

with our Creator

has always been

in need of repair

and in need of healing.

And so many people

I meet today

presume

that everything

is fine

between them

and God

but it is not.

And what all

true Christians

come to realize

and come to recognize

is that without Jesus

their relationship

with God

would remain

permanently

and tragically broken.

And that is why

we love Jesus.

And that is why

we love Christmas.

And that is why

you cannot understand

Christmas

without understanding

Easter as well.

Because Jesus

came to reconcile

through his blood.

He came to make peace

between people

and God.

And this is the peace

on earth

that so often

trotted out

at Christmas time.

It's not talking

about the end of war

and the end of violence

and the end of fighting

although that will be true

one day when Jesus Christ

comes again.

But it's speaking

about the peace

that we all need

between us and God.

and it is a peace

that he was able

to accomplish

not just wish for.

He came to earth

that first Christmas

with a mission

to reconcile people

to God.

And that reconciliation

we all need

can only come

through Jesus

through his blood.

And of course

what God accomplishes

through Jesus

is for the people

he loves.

and the fruit

of the reconciliation

that he wins

lasts forever.

Because after

his resurrection

from the dead

Jesus returns

to the majesty

of his throne

in heaven.

And he is lifted up again

just as he came down.

He goes up

in order to prepare

a place for his people.

That's our fourth preposition.

Jesus' own words

in John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

Can you come there

with me?

John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

This is your last passage.

John 14.

It's on page

901.

And as Jesus

talks with his disciples

on page 901

John chapter 14

John 14 · chapter mention

and verse 2

he says this.

He says

in my father's house

there are many

rooms.

There's plenty of room.

If it were not so

I would have told you

that I go

to prepare

a place for you.

And if I go

and prepare

a place for you

I will come again

and will take you

to myself

that where I am

you may

be also.

So do you see

that completes

Jesus' journey?

He came down

to earth

from heaven

in order

to take people

with him

to heaven.

He came down

so that we

might be lifted up.

He comes to be

with us

so that he

can carry us

to our eternal home.

Jesus prepares

a place

for his people.

That's the preposition.

Jesus prepares

a place

for his people.

So what these

four prepositions

have taught us

is that Jesus

was with God

in heaven

and he was

equal with God

but he left

it behind

in order to be

born in a stable.

And so the amazing

truth of that

first Christmas

is that he comes

to be among us

and because when

Jesus was born

his story

and our story

become joined.

he humbled

himself

by becoming

a man

but he humbled

himself

further even

to death

on a cross

and he did

that in order

that we might

be reconciled

with him

through his

blood.

And because

of his humility

and his service

all who trust

in him

can be with

him forever.

He prepares

a heavenly

home for his

people.

And that is

the Christmas

story.

And that is

why the

grammar of

Christmas

matters.

Because these

prepositions tell

us what is

important.

They teach us

Jesus with

God.

Jesus among

us.

Jesus reconciling

through his

blood.

Jesus preparing

a place in

heaven for

his people.

with God

among us

reconciling

through his

blood

preparing a

place in

heaven for

his people.

And so they

are my four

Christmas

prepositions and

I hope they're a

little bit more

interesting than

you expected.

But having

shared those

four Christmas

prepositions I

want to finish

today with a

Christmas

proposition.

Proposition.

I want to

propose something

to you.

And my

Christmas

proposition

about this

is will

you do

something with

this Christmas

story?

I propose

that tonight

we don't

just hear the

Christmas story

and nod our

heads politely.

But we

actually respond

to it.

It's a story

that is looking

for a

response.

We'll hear the

phrase this week

that I'm just

trying to get

through Christmas.

I just want

to make it to

Christmas.

Christmas.

And God's

message is that

Christmas is not

something just to

be endured.

And it is not

something just to

be enjoyed

either.

Christmas is

for remembering

something totally

newsworthy.

Something

momentous.

And it is for

responding to

this momentous

thing.

And so for

some of us

tonight,

responding will

mean what we've

done many

Christmases

before.

It will mean

praising God

for Jesus.

And savoring

his goodness

with grateful

joy.

For some of us

it might mean

acknowledging that

we've been

ignoring Jesus

lately.

Or even for

a long time.

And this

Christmas time

is an opportunity

isn't it?

To turn back

to him and

embrace once

again his

word and his

people.

And the

way of life

he calls us

to live.

And for

some of us

tonight,

as humiliating

as it might

be,

it might be

that we

need to

acknowledge

the fact

that we've

never really

understood

what the

fuss is

about.

And if

that is the

boat that

you find

yourself in

this Christmas,

then my

proposal for

you is that

you make

time this

Christmas,

this January,

to do some

investigating.

That you

really get

behind why

is it that

some people

worship

Jesus,

why they

love

Jesus,

why they're

willing to

devote their

lives to

Jesus,

and why they're

willing to pay

a great cost

for the Lord

Jesus.

Jesus.

And I

think,

you see,

I think

church is a

great place

to hide,

isn't it?

You can

hide in

church life.

You can

sit here

week by

week by

week by

week and

enjoy the

people,

join in

with the

hymns,

love being

in each

other's

homes,

but never

really get

to the

point where

you love

the Lord

Jesus,

where you're

willing to

devote yourselves

to him,

where you're

willing to

put him

first and

yourself

second.

And everybody

might think,

well,

they're at

all the

meetings,

but actually

you don't

love the

Lord Jesus.

And so

you pretend.

And I

want to say

to you tonight,

tonight's the

time to

own up to

that.

To own up

to that

before God.

There will

be loads

of ways

that we

would love

to help

you.

We're

going to

run a

course in

January.

It's

called

Hope

Explored.

It's

about the

life and

the death

and the

resurrection

of the

Lord Jesus.

I'm told

it's really

basic.

I think

we'll

probably do

it on

Zoom.

And you

can join

in.

You can

turn your

camera off.

You can

eat your

tea while

you're

watching it.

You can

ask any

questions you

want.

You can

put a

fake name

into

Zoom

if you

want.

I

couldn't

care less.

But I

want to

say

tonight if

you've

been

hiding

and if

you've

been here

and actually

you recognize

I do not

love him

and I

don't

worship him

come on

the course.

I will

send the

Zoom link

out.

Don't be

embarrassed

at all.

If you

think I

just need

to know

more

come on

the course.

We'll

send the

link out

and you

don't even

have to

sign up.

You can

just

join us

on the

night.

But

whatever it

might mean

for you

my proposition

is that

this

Christmas

you don't

let a

wave of

tinsely

nostalgia

and

festiveness

wash over

you.

And you

certainly

don't let

the Christmas

story wash

over you.

My

proposition

is that

you respond

to it

because it

really is

a stunning

story.

And it

is true.

That a

couple of

thousand years

ago Jesus

who was

with God

came to

be among

us.

And he

came so

that we

could be

reconciled

through him

so that we

could be

forever with

God in

the place

that he's

prepared for

his people.

And I

want to

say to

you it

is true

and it

is wonderful.

I love

finishing

books.

Don't you?

I love

finishing

books.

And by the

end of the

day I'm

trying to

finish a

load of

books by

the end

of the

year that

I've

started and

not got

through.

You know

what it's

like when

you finish

a book.

You get

to the

end and

you go

like this.

And you

put it

down.

And that's

it.

And you

have a

sense of

well-being.

You get

on with

the day.

Maybe put

the book

back on

the shelf

a couple

of months

later if

you're

like me.

But the

Christmas

story is

not like

that.

The word

became

flesh and

made his

dwelling among

us.

And we

have seen

his glory,

the glory

of the one

and only

Son who

came from

the Father

full of

grace and

truth.

Let's

pray.