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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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