Good morning, and God bless you. I am delighted to have this opportunity to speak to you, but I'm also fearful of not so much standing for people and talking about Christ and this glorious Savior that we just sung about, but the fear that we might miss the power and the glory of his presence in our hearts and our lives.
So I would ask for your prayers that as we share together that we might indeed be able to delight in his presence and to see his handiwork, not only in our own personal lives, but in the lives that all that will hear the word of God and be responsive to it.
Today, I think, is an exceptional day in the life of our church in that the scripture text reveals, that we're going to read together, reveals a loving response to the longing hearts of his people.
Specifically, the longing to be what God has created us to be, what we've all strove to be, and what we've all missed our mark in trying to be.
This scripture is for everyone who feels that, who's missed the mark of the intent of the good and a righteous life.
And I think it points us to a Savior that corrects and redefines and reshapes and remolds life for us.
May I adapt a statement that I found from Isaac Dennison, who said this,
He does not create, God does not create a longing or a hope without having a fulfilling reality ready for us.
God doesn't bring us together here in this act of worship.
He doesn't allow us to be inspired by music.
He doesn't allow that seed within our lives that says, I want more or long more, without already having prepared that.
And this is the joy of the passage that we're going to read and study.
We will get to it.
That in that it is God that has orchestrated this whole thing and that he comes to this historic divine moment to consummate all that he prophesied,
all that we'd hoped for, all that we'd longed for.
I hope that that would also happen here for all of us as we anticipate Christmas, as we anticipate his saving grace.
You know, the real question is not so much, is he ready?
But the question is, are you ready?
We talk about and we rehearse, even in our prayer times, the things that burden us, the things that escape, that cause, distract us from the joy and the celebration of this moment.
The hardships, the difficulties, the darkness in the world, the wars that we face, can all distract us from the reality of God's love and his grace for us.
Matthew, why is the passage in Matthew 1, 18-25 so, so vitally important?
I think Matthew, as we read it, will reveal the convergence, the convergence of God and humanity, which leads to the salvation of all who will embrace God's redeeming act of love.
Now, that doesn't sound new to those of you who are Christian, but I think that you would agree that having God and man coming together in one human form is hard to wrap your mind around.
And yet, that is what will be proclaimed today and what we will celebrate today and we will rehearse today in our own minds and our hearts.
The past two weeks of Advent studies, we consider the genealogy that affirms the links to Christ's origins, his kingships, his efficacy and his ability to save.
Even those who are outside the camp, even those who are outside the moral and social boundaries of established society,
we're invited to come in and to celebrate and to rejoice in the God of the salvation that we celebrate today.
Acts 1, 18-25 is this convergence of God and human that we call the incarnation.
God dwelling with us, taking up residence with us.
And as we believe that, as we affirm that, we must sense his dwelling with us in this moment, in this place, in our hearts.
And it ought to excite us, it ought to thrill us to think that God would do business with us even today in the midst of this worship experience.
God's purpose, then, is to reveal both what a healthy, whole, sinless life can look like
and provide the sacrifice worthy of us, the atoning of our sins.
God accomplishes what we're not able to do.
Let's hear the word of God and not just talk about it.
God, found in Matthew, the first chapter, the 18th verse, the 20, 18 through 25, found on page 757 in your pew Bible.
Hear the word of God.
This is how the birth of Christ, the Messiah, came about.
His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph.
Before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law.
And yet he did not want to expose her to public disgrace.
He had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife.
Because what was conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will give birth, give birth a son.
And you are to give his name, give him the name Jesus.
Because he will save his people from their sins.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet.
The virgin will conceive and will give birth to a son.
And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him.
And took Mary home as his wife.
But he did not consummate their marriage until he gave birth, she gave birth to a son.
And he gave him the name Jesus.
Shall we pray?
Holy Spirit, be our guide as we consider the truth your word has for us today.
May our motives for knowing these truths from your word be pure and unadulterated.
And in response to your willingness to unveil these glorious mysteries,
may we be inspired to surrender our wills to yours.
Regardless of what it cost us to submit.
We ask these blessings because we know that your plan for our lives is not only providence,
but it's the very essence of what it means to have a full and a meaningful life.
Give us eyes to see, ears to hear.
And passion to live what you teach us in this intimate moment of communion with you.
For we are bound together by your Holy Spirit.
And our hearts long to enjoy the embrace of your Holy Spirit.
And to be safely held in your arms.
May it be so.
For we ask it in the name of our precious Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
I want us to consider.
There are many ways we can look at the text this morning.
We can spend our time focused upon the dream itself.
Upon just telling the story verse by verse.
but what I would like for us to do is to consider it in perhaps a unique way.
First, let's acknowledge that this is really about the divine origin,
the beginnings of Christ, the human Christ here on this earth,
this transforming moment in human history where the Savior came to live,
the Savior, God, came to live among us.
And may we all affirm the greatest among them, among us,
was the most humble in that he was willing to come
and to humble himself to become a human being.
I want us to find breathing space in our minds and our hearts and our souls
as we study this and as we look at him.
And divine breathing space to understand not just the technical details of this passage,
but perhaps even more so the human aspect of it.
For God came in human form.
And I want us to appreciate the questions that that arises among us.
The interesting thing, and what I want to do as we dissect the passage,
is to look at the very purpose.
Why would God come to earth?
I mean, why would he bother?
Why would he have to bother?
Why not just create new human beings that would worship him,
that would not fail,
and that would just be submissive, unlike us?
Well, we can speculate about that.
But we do find an answer as to why he came to earth.
It's a simple phrase out of verse 21.
And it simply says,
For he will save his people from their sins.
Again, it's very hard to wrap our minds around this,
but he's saying not just his people,
the ones that sit here,
most of you who sit here this morning,
but he is saying the outsider as well, is he not?
As we read and remember the whole of the passages that we've read in Matthew thus far,
he has, who is his people?
It is those he's created.
And indeed, he has created us all by his loving act.
Here in Matthew,
Matthew is clarifying further the meaning of the genealogy
and every aspect of Jesus' origin from the beginning
to his sovereign hand.
the sovereign hand of the Father
in this story that superintends each aspect
of the coming of Christ,
this infant child,
into the world.
I want us,
as God superintends our thoughts today,
to attempt to move more deeply
into our text
and considering it this way,
the cast of characters.
that he has before us.
And my hope is,
is that you will want to see them
not just as
technical aspects
of bringing Christ,
the Emmanuel,
God with us into the world,
but I hope that you'll want to see them
and personalize them
as we look intimately and deeply
into their lives,
their roles,
and in this new beginning.
And I want to admit up front,
I will neglect
a couple of verses
that certainly the prophetic verses
that we read early,
that we've read and studied earlier.
I leave that to Tyler
and your remembrance of what he's done there.
And also,
of the angels,
there's a whole series of sermons
I think that one could do
on the role of angels
in this whole Christmas story.
So,
having said that,
what do I want us to do?
How do I want us to help define
and accomplish this moment
to deeply see these characters?
I recently listened to an interview
with David Brooks,
which is interesting about his new book,
How to Know a Person.
And I thought,
this is really what I want us to employ,
to use as a tool
that we want to use
to look deeply at this story.
He simply said in an interview,
there's one skill
that lies in the heart
of any healthy person
family, school, community,
organization, or society.
The ability to see someone else deeply
and to make them feel seen,
to accurately know another person,
to let them feel valued,
heard, and understood.
Now,
he goes on to talk about it
in this interview
and illustrate this
by referencing a series
called The Chosen.
Do you remember that?
It's stories about Christ
and the disciples.
But he was indeed impressed
by the role
that the character of Jesus played.
And I think it defines
this moment for us
because he talked about,
you know,
in the midst of the crisis
that Christ was born
into this world,
in the midst of all
the Roman oppression,
of all the things
that were taking place
around them.
He was able to,
and all the difficulties
of seeing people,
he chooses both his enemies,
Christ,
and those in desperate need
and his would-be disciples
to see them beyond
what they're talking about,
such as,
I immediately thought
of Zacchaeus
or the woman at the well
or Nicodemus,
all of whom
in which Christ
in this,
his story,
the narrative,
I'm sure that you've read it,
many of you,
but he looks beyond
the situation
like the woman at the well
and he says,
look,
it really is not
a matter about
where we worship
that you want to argue about,
meeting you haphazardly.
The real issue
is your heart
and the fact
that you're dissatisfied
and the fact
that you've lived
with several men
and you're still
not at peace
in your heart
and your soul.
Christ is able to do that.
So I want us
in this narrative
and in this story
to look deeply,
to look deeply
at the Father,
the Son,
the Holy Spirit,
Joseph and Mary
and to know them,
to try to know them
and to understand them
because in understanding them,
we understand ourselves.
We understand the questions
that really are being asked
perhaps
that would lead us,
our own desires,
our own longings
to be fulfilled
through being responsive,
through being loving
and as they are to us.
Let's hear the story
and see if this makes sense.
I know I'm kind of struggling here,
so you have to,
you know,
I'm used to preaching
in African American churches,
so you have to shout out
or, you know,
fix it.
Fix it means that,
you know,
you're not doing well,
you need to step it up.
Or, you know,
just words of encouragement.
So you can just say amen
anytime you want.
But I don't know if it'll help,
but we'll try.
Let's consider, though.
And I want you to look at
God the Father,
first of all.
And this whole story
fascinates me.
You have your Bibles open, right?
Because this,
each of these segments,
each of these personalities
are really one of the key words
that appears is origins
or new beginnings.
And we find,
and I think Matthew rehearsed this
a few weeks ago,
about in chapter 1, verse 1,
you find the word origins or birth.
Birth is not really the best word
in either of the texts,
but in 1.1 you have origins.
Origins in 1.18,
as he talks about,
let's talk about
the beginnings of Christ.
It's a new beginning.
And what we see
is the parallel
that they paint for us
as they not only do the genealogy,
but as you look back
at Genesis 1.1,
it says,
in the beginning,
it was God
that began to create.
Amen?
So,
and here's the great thing
that we need to wrap our heads around
if we're going to continue
in this kind of intimate relationship
with the Holy Spirit
at this moment,
that we understand
that the Ruach,
that the Spirit of God
breathes life
into this new beginning.
The Father is there
creating,
organizing.
And why does he do all this?
Why do we get all these details?
Is it really to,
to simply to have a justification
of who created what?
His purpose
was in order
that he might have fellowship.
That he might have
an intimate relationship
with human beings.
About,
with human beings
that have been given a choice
to love them
or not love them.
And who often fail
to love them.
The whole of the Old Testament
as we rehearse it
is about what?
It's about God
reaching out
to human beings.
His created.
The ones
that he loves.
The ones
that he goes about
trying to redeem,
to buy back,
and,
and to,
and to bring
into his loving arms.
the question is,
considering a God
like this,
is,
what do you consider
your origins?
Do you believe
that a God
created you?
Can,
is it within
your ability
to comprehend
and appreciate
a God
who created you?
And if he did,
he created you
for a purpose.
He has a plan
for your life.
And for me,
in the darkness of night,
in the difficulties
of life,
it's,
it's good to know
that somebody's
got a plan
and that somebody
does care about me
and that somebody
does love me
and somebody
is not just somebody,
it's the very one
who created me
and loved me.
I,
I love not only,
and of course,
it is somewhat
in sequence
as we go down
through this story
of 18 through 25,
but you find also
just an allusion
to Mary.
Mary really is,
Matthew and Luke
have two separate agendas.
Luke is trying
to tell more
of the story.
Matthew is really,
as we've heard,
reaching to Jewish people,
looking for that connection
in Jewish heritage,
focuses mainly on that.
But I want you to see
this young girl.
Again,
I'm not sure
we need to rehearse
all the,
the,
the backstory.
We know,
you've heard
about the engagements
and,
and how in Judaism
they were legally bound
during that one year,
typically,
of engagement.
So,
we don't need to,
to invest much time there.
we also know,
we'll rehearse
because it is important
to the story
that,
Mary,
this young teenager,
was,
13 years old.
and God
comes to her
and says,
you're the one
that's going to bear
a child
for me.
It's interesting
because it's hard
to wrap your,
your head
around this
and particularly
the,
the ideal of,
and where Matthew's
going here
is,
is the ideal
of the virgin birth.
I think
it's no longer
a leap of faith
for us
or understanding
to,
to appreciate
artificial insemination.
Most of you
medical doctors here
know about the process.
It's a very likely
possible thing
to happen.
The miracle is,
again,
back to incarnation,
isn't it?
The fact that it was
the Holy Spirit
that planted the seed
within the egg
of Mary
and that
in the midst
of this,
both God
and man
met.
and embodied
in human form.
Wow.
Well,
as we think about that,
I want you to
rehearse
some of the things
that Tyler
and Pastor Matthew
has already
helped us with
and to bring
into balance
the extremes
of now
understanding
this young woman
and who she was
and there's
the extremes
of
beautification
in these verses
and there are others
that,
as Baptists
and as Evangelicals,
we often spend
a great deal
of time
discarding
or debunking
Mary
and making her
beyond average
as a mother.
I like what,
there's a term
that I've adapted
for this
from Frederick
Birchner
and he says
that Mary,
and I say,
Mary deserves,
and he says,
a just
and loving
attention.
As we talk
about the
convergence
of God
and man
in this
girl's womb,
I think we
indeed
must acknowledge
that she
does deserve
a just
and loving,
our just
and loving
attention.
Her nobility,
I think,
is derived
not so much
for the birth
itself,
which is
profound,
I think,
and obviously
a miracle.
But to me,
as I look
deeply
into the
struggles
of who
she was
and why
God would
ask her
to do
such a thing,
I see
beyond having
grappled
with that,
her obedience
and then
her willing
to be
a mother.
and to
love
and to
nurture
not only
an infant
child,
but a
teenager
and a
young adult
to be
the mother
till he
died on
the cross
of God,
our Lord,
and our
Savior.
God
is
to
Mary
shares
in this
process
the struggle
that you
and I
often have.
You know,
I want to
preach Luke,
but we
can't.
You look
back at
114 and
the angel
explains this
thing to
her and
he says,
what?
You want
me to
be the
mother of
God?
Now,
it's hard
for me to
wrap around.
I have
not only
two
daughters,
but I
have
three
granddaughters
and one
that's
14.
And I
can imagine
her coming
to me
and saying,
oh,
by the
way,
I'm
pregnant.
And God
did it.
You know,
that would
be tough.
And I
say that
not just
to be
humorous,
but to
say,
to be
human,
that we
sometimes
so glorify
these
passages
of
scriptures
that we
distance
ourselves
from the
fact that
this was
a young
girl struggling
with what
it means
to be
the mother
of God.
And the
daunting
responsibility
of having
to nurture
and strengthen
and care
for that
child until
God the
Father takes
him to
be in
active duty
in full-time
ministry the
whole time.
the key
to this
whole struggle
is one
thing.
It is a
common thread
that applies
to both
Joseph and
Mary,
and if you
go back to
Zechariah and
Elizabeth and
to others in
these stories.
It again
comes to us
from scripture,
Luke 138.
It says,
she turns
to the
angel and
she says,
behold,
I am a
servant of
the Lord.
Let it be
to me
according to
your word.
Now I want
you to,
if you are
considering
becoming a
Christian,
I want you
to know that
you don't
have to have
your act
together,
that you
don't have
to have
all the
theological
principles
and details
even of
this event
or moment
in perfect
justification
to provide
you salvation,
but it is
a struggle.
It is one
that ultimately
you come to
the point
of saying,
having weighed
in the
balances
what this
is all
about,
you have
to say
like Mary
and like
Joseph,
look,
I believe
that I need
something,
I believe
and believe
the Holy Spirit
is convicting
me of it
and I'm
going to
follow you
wherever you
take me.
well,
let's be
quick because
I don't
want to
lose you.
I want
us to
consider
Joseph
for just
a moment
and reflect
on him.
For when
Joseph
discovered
Mary was
pregnant,
he reacted
in the
framework
of the
religion
in which,
the Jewish
religion,
his teachings,
his culture
and I think
that they
were very
emotionally
and spiritually
bound by
this
engagement
period.
I think
that he
loved her
and retribution
wasn't an
option for
Mary and his
heart and his
mind.
He was
wrestling with
this before
the angel
came to
reveal what
he was,
his intent.
and I want
you to see
it wasn't
an easy
decision.
Basically,
he was
trying to,
according to
Deuteronomy
24.1,
to put her
away privately,
divorce her
privately,
so that she
would not
be embarrassed.
She would be
embarrassed,
but humiliated.
But the
important thing,
I think,
of the
rehearsal of
that story
is the
sight,
the insight,
into the
character of
Joseph.
Joseph was
just going to
be the
stepdad,
but he was
in and
committed,
even with
Mary.
He was a
man that
was just
wanting to do
the right
thing,
live a
right life.
He was a
righteous
person,
but he was
also merciful
and he was
always also
loving.
He was also
submissive to
the Lord
God.
So what does
he do?
Obedience,
right?
He says in
these final,
he doesn't
say it,
he gets up
and does it.
He says,
all right,
I'm going to
take Mary to
be my wife,
I'm going to
keep her,
bring her
into my
home,
and we're
going to
face the
community and
the world
around us
and all the
questions that
arise as a
result of that.
What a
wonderful
testimony,
isn't it,
to the
community.
Oh, it's
God that is
active in the
world and the
Messiah is
coming through
her and
through the
baby that's
in her and
we're sharing
this road
together.
But they
struggle
together.
He too
becomes the
parent that
molds and
chafes the
carpenter's
son who
saves the
world.
Obedience
was the
key,
wasn't it?
As I
said before,
as with
Zechariah and
with Mary.
Mary.
There's one
other aspect
of this
that I
want you to
see.
That in the
midst of this
whole struggle
that Joseph
has, what
happens?
As with
Mary, the
angel comes,
gives
instruction,
and of
course with
Mary,
Elizabeth,
the older
cousin that
is pregnant,
also by an
act of God,
affirms,
encourages her,
strengthens her
in this
journey.
All of them
say yes and
are obedient,
but the
important thing
is that the
God that was
a God of
origins, the
God that
started in
1-1 and
verse 18,
is the
same God
that guides
them, that
in his
hand, his
hand reaches
out to
them, helps
them to
understand, and
leads them to
the kingdom.
Jeremiah put
it this way,
you will seek
me and you'll
find me when
you search for
me with all
of your heart.
A part of
this whole
process of the
redemption
process, of
the roles
that they
play, the
reasons for
success, always
comes when we
are responsive to
the work of the
Holy Spirit in
our lives.
Well, let me
go quickly to
Jesus.
Because while we
could look at
the whole of
the New Testament,
we've covered the
Old Testament
through Tyler and
Matthew, I
want to rehearse
for you what
Matthew has
not done for
us.
Matthew does
not attempt to
explain how
Jesus Christ
could be both
man and God.
He simply
doesn't do it.
But what he
does do is
that he affirms
it.
And he
simply says
that of
him, of
Christ, in
verse 16, that
he was born of
Mary.
And in
verse 20, he
says, and he
was conceived
of the Holy
Spirit.
That should be
enough, shouldn't
it?
But it's
hard, again,
for us to
wrap our heads
around it.
We explain it in
many different
ways as we ask
these questions.
you know, the
second century
had Christians
and those who
studied scripture,
they came up
with a doctrine
that was called
Daucesanism.
And I didn't
pronounce that
correctly, did I
guys?
But anyway, it
was a sectarian
doctrine.
And that Christ
did not really
actually become
real.
That he didn't
really have a
natural body on
earth and that
apparently was
some type of a
phantom.
The doctrine
reached its
zenith in the
next generation
with agnostics.
And some
forms of it, I
think, are even
evident in our
society, in our
lives today.
But the idea
was that it
even denies the
fact that Christ
died.
So it was
easier to say,
all right, he's
all God.
Most of us
would fall
into perhaps
the opposite
extreme in our
society today.
I think in our
skeptical world,
we have detractors
about Christ
and it's not
his humanity,
but his divinity.
Most of us can
wrap our minds
and hearts around
the good and the
wise and religious
man or a prophet
that struggled
with his, and
yet we struggle
with his deity.
It's not being
like God, but
it's being God
himself that we
struggle with and
that we have a
difficult time with.
There's a quote
I want to share
with you,
Helmut Thickel,
that simply said,
certainly there are
great and profound
teachings in the
world, but one
must have the
capacity to
understand them
and one must,
in a situation
which affords the
reason adequate
for breathing space
so you can begin
to process it.
The greatness
of the gospel,
the greatness
of the gospel
that we have
presented to us
today, is in the
fact that it is
available to all,
not only to the
spiritual mature
or great, such
as Kant, but
also to the
weak.
Pascal was the
sublimest intellectual
of the world
thought, confined,
but so can a
little girl who
prays at night
before she goes
to bed.
Christ dealt
with this in his
own day.
In Matthew 16,
you remember the
story of his
followers and
his asking the
question, you
see, so is he
all God or is
he all man?
What's going on
in your mind?
So what?
What if he's God
and man or
whatever?
The question, I
think, that comes
to us is the
one that Christ
asked his
disciples.
As they were
traveling about,
as it became
popular, he
turns to the
disciples and he
says, he simply
asked the question,
whom do you
say?
Whom do they
say that I am?
Who are the
people that are
following me around?
What are they
saying about me?
What do they
believe?
And he goes
off and they
respond by saying,
well, some of you
believe that you're
John the Baptist.
Some others,
Elijah and others,
Jeremiah and some
of the prophets.
So what he's in
essence saying is
what many people
believe today.
Well, in Islam,
right?
That Christ was a
good man, that he
did a lot of
wonderful things,
that his teachings
were good.
We can embrace
that.
We can wrap our
heads around that.
But that's really
not where he wants
us to go.
Nor does he just
simply want us to
think of him as a
God that never got
here, that never
died, that was all
phantom, all fake,
and therefore there's
no pain or suffering,
there was no death
associated with that.
Nor does he want us
to think of him as
simply a good man.
It's all or nothing.
So he turns to his
disciples after this
discourse, and he
says, but who do you
say that I am?
You see, the most
pressing question of
this whole sermon this
morning for all of you
who are listening, it
doesn't matter what
everyone else says.
The theologians, those
that argue and debate,
the nuances of this
scripture, the question
as God comes to dwell
with us and in your
midst this morning is
who do you say that I
am?
We have an answer for
you.
At least Peter had a
good answer that was
acceptable to Jesus.
And he says, you're the
Messiah, the Son of God.
But even that is
important, but even more
important is what the
Father says back to the
disciple.
He simply says this,
Simon, son of Jonah,
you're blessed.
You are blessed.
Because you get this
story.
You get the story of the
nativity scene.
You get the story of what
it means for God to come
and to dwell in our midst,
to love us, to care for
us, to be with us, and to
provide for us a way of
salvation.
Simon, you get it.
You're blessed because
flesh and blood did not
reveal it to you.
But my Father in heaven.
Now, I wish I were
eloquent enough and
profound enough to
convince you mentally
and emotionally of the
fact that God is
Jesus.
And that Jesus in his
human form came and
bled and died in order
that he might provide for
you the salvation that
you cannot earn, that you
cannot accomplish in and
of and on your own.
But I find at least
comfort in knowing that
in my inadequacies, the
power of the Holy Spirit
that overshadowed the
world as it was created,
that overshadowed Mary and
created God, man, with us,
the one that now overshadows
us and offers you the
opportunity to come and
to embrace this Messiah, the
Savior.
The other participant, I
hope, in this whole
narrative is you.
For he did say in verse 21,
my purpose for being here is
you.
To provide salvation for you.
2 Corinthians 5, the 5th
chapter, 17th verse says,
Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he's a new
creation.
He's a new beginning.
He or she has a new
origin.
And the old has passed away
and the new has come.
As Joseph and Mary and even
Jesus find their beginnings in
God the Father and the Holy
Spirit, so through our own
response to the overshadowing
Holy Spirit, we reframe our
mundane, empty lives and we
create, and he creates
something that is holy and
sacred and set apart for
eternity.
Can I compare notes for a
moment?
The one last step and perhaps
I've taken too long to get
here.
But I want you to think with
me of the new beginning that
Christ offers you.
It's interesting that he moves
from this origin story now and
you find in the third chapter of
John another origin story.
As Christ expands, and here's
what Christ does always.
He takes us beyond the
boundaries of our own thought,
our own ability to comprehend,
and he takes us one step
further.
So here's a guy in chapter
three, Nicodemus, that is a
great student.
And yet he comes with
questions and Christ provides
the answer.
Let me just read it to you
quickly.
Now there was a man of the
Pharisees named Nicodemus, a
ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night
and said to him, Rabbi, we know
that you are a teacher come from
God, for no one can do the signs
that you do unless God is with
him.
Do you hear that?
All right, you're a human being,
you're a great man, you're another
prophet, you're all those good
things.
But Christ is saying, no, I'm more.
Every phase throughout this story,
Jesus answers him, truly, truly, I
say to you that unless you're born
again, you cannot see the kingdom
of God.
He moves the story.
He reframes your questions and he
drives it home.
You really are not so concerned
about, Christ is always concerned
about you.
He's always concerned about getting
to the heart of the matter of the
fact that what I want, God wants
from you is your love for him.
And he wants to love you and he
wants to give his life to you.
And that's why he asked these
probing questions.
And Nicodemus said to him, how can
a man be born again when he is
old?
Can he enter the second time into
the mother's womb and be born?
Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say
to you that unless you're born of
water and born of the Spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is
flesh and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you,
you must be born again.
The wind blows where it wishes and
you hear the sound, but you do not
know where it comes from or where
it goes.
So it is with everyone who is born
of the Spirit.
And Nicodemus said to him, another
question that comes with their
service.
Well, how can I be born again?
How can I have this new creation?
Jesus answers him and he says, are you
a teacher of Israel and yet you do
not understand the things, these
things?
Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak
of that which we know and we bear
witness to what we have seen, but you
do not receive our testimony.
If I have told you earthly things, how
will you believe?
How will you believe if I tell you
heavenly things?
No one has ascended to heaven except
he who descended from heaven, the
Son of Man.
You see how that comes together, how
he's telling us the story of the
nativity here?
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, so must the Son of
Man be lifted up that whoever believes
in him will have eternal life.
God's purpose statement for you.
For God so loved the world, you want to
say it with me?
That he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in him should not
perish but have everlasting life.
It's interesting that this word born
again, again, it has two in the Greek
languages, has two choices.
One is palin, which means a repetition
of an act to redo what was done earlier.
Do you want to redo your life?
Do you want to redo and rehearse the
same things that led you to this moment?
The old habits, the things that have
caused such failure.
Well, the second of the Greek terms, the
one used here, is anothen.
And it says, which is also depicts a
repeated action, the same, a repeated
action, but listen to this.
But it requires the original source to
repeat it.
It means from above, from a higher place,
things that come from the heaven of God.
God created the heavens and the earth.
God created you, and he recreates you
in his Holy Spirit, in his holy, eternal
being.
Can't you say praise God for that?
God created you, and he recreates you
in the divine moment.
God created you, and he recreates you
in the divine moment.
This is the purpose.
It's not just rehearsing this morning,
the fact that some baby was born in
Bethlehem.
It's about the fact that God himself
stepped into our lives, stepped into our
worlds, and he provided an opportunity for
us to be born again.
That he, the author, the creator of this
world, has taken his hand, has taken
every measure in order to give you life.
It's awesome.
Well, preachers who don't preach a long
time often preach too much.
Let me just, let me conclude with a quote I
found by, it was interesting.
It kind of connects the Christmas mood with
the teaching that we have.
Jorgen Moulton said this,
The ultimate reason for our hope is not to
be found in all that we want or wish for
and wait for.
The ultimate reason that we are wanted and
wished for and wanted for, what is it that
awaits us?
Does anything wait for us at all, or are we
alone?
Whenever we have our hope on trust in the
divine mystery, we feel deep down in our
hearts that there is someone who is
wanting you.
Do you feel wanted this morning?
There's someone who's hoping for you.
There is someone who believes in you.
God is our last hope because we are God's
first hope, first love.
God so loved the world.
God so loved you that he gave his only
begotten son that if you will believe in
him, he will give you a new creation.
Father, help us to embrace this truth.
Help us to love you.
Help us to respond to you in this intimate
moment of transaction between your Holy
Spirit and us.
For it's in Christ's name I pray.
Amen.