Father, we give you thanks and praise that you know us perfectly,
and knowing us perfectly, still you sent Jesus to die upon the cross.
We give you thanks and praise that Jesus knows us perfectly.
In fact, he knows us better than ourselves,
since he bore every one of our sins in his person when he died upon the cross.
So we thank you, Father, that knowing us so perfectly, still you loved us.
That we are your precious possession.
And Father, you know how often we struggle with things
without even realizing what we're really struggling about.
But you know, you know, and you desire, Father, to have us be so gripped by the gospel,
have the Holy Spirit so powerful in our lives, and have your word so real to us,
and know Jesus so closely,
that you would help us in the midst of our various troubles and stresses and anxieties,
our delights and our tasks.
So we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would do a quiet but wonderful work in our midst this morning,
as we think upon your word,
that we might be disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel,
learning to live day by day for your glory.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Please be seated.
Amen.
So my wife would tell you, she's a good wife,
she doesn't normally go around saying things like this,
but she would tell you that it continues to surprise her how clueless I can be.
Even after many years of marriage, there are times she just goes,
like, what were you thinking?
Like, how could you do that?
And there's still times like that.
When I was in my mid-30s,
I was having some real problems in my life,
and some things in my life were sort of breaking down.
And so at the age of 36, I think I was, maybe I was 37,
I went into some counseling for the first time in my life.
And after I'd been in counseling for a bit of a while,
one day the counselor said to me,
George, has it ever struck you that you're a very anxious person?
And I was gobsmacked.
That's an old Irish expression for just being completely and utterly like this,
the deer in the headlights.
It had never dawned on me that I struggled with anxiety.
36, it never sort of struck me that I had lots of stress in my life
and I struggled with anxiety.
At 36, I've talked to lots of people
who don't recognize stress in their lives
and don't recognize their anxiety,
so I understand now that it's not exactly just a George cluelessness
that, in fact, many of us don't recognize
when we're actually feeling a great deal of anxiety.
The text that we're going to look at today
actually has a profound comfort for those of us
who knowingly or unknowingly are living with stress and anxiety.
So we're going to look at it.
It's from Isaiah chapter 9, verses 1 to 7.
Really, we're going to look primarily at verse 6,
but it's worth it to look through all of the text
to try to get just a bit of a sense
about how this text is this profound comfort
for those of us who struggle with anxiety.
So here's where it is.
Actually, just before we look at the text,
there's this wonderful thing.
Many of you know that I love this phrase from Winston Churchill.
Winston Churchill was using it about Russia.
I think he said it in 1939,
just after the Second World War had begun,
and he referred to Russia in this term.
And I don't know how true it is of Russia,
but I know that there's lots of things in life
that this is a very, very helpful expression.
And Christmas is the beginning of the answer
to a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
And we're going to see that as we start to look at the text,
that there's, you know, just like in our own lives,
a lot of times in our own lives,
to ourselves we're often a riddle.
How did I put it?
How did he put it?
A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
And the text has a riddle wrapped in a,
how do I put it,
wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
And it's part of the thing which makes the text
so interesting once you start to look at it.
And here's how the text,
but now just in terms of the literary flow of the text, right?
Because Isaiah is a book.
And so in the book,
it's all part of,
this text is all part of the same literary unit
as the part we looked at last week
in Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14.
And then in that text,
some of you might remember,
it's the great text where there's this prophecy
that a virgin shall give birth to a child
and they'll name this child Emmanuel,
God with us.
And I didn't mention this last week,
but it literally means God with us.
If you look at the Hebrew,
the word Emmanuel,
the last little bit,
El,
is the word that only refers to God.
It's not the generic word for God.
It's one of the two Old Testament words,
especially in Isaiah,
that refers to the God of Israel.
And it's so literally,
it's saying that this,
a virgin will give birth to a child
and this child is actually God with us.
And so this text that we're looking at today
is part of the same literary unit.
It does all sorts of things
in this whole literary unit.
But the part just before this
is God talking to Israel
or the prophet talking to Israel
about how,
it's talking about Israel
going through a very,
very,
very dark time.
A very,
very heavy
and dark
time.
And,
you know,
sometimes we don't like the image of dark,
but it's a good image.
Last night,
my wife had gone to bed
just a few minutes before me
and she very appropriately
turned the lights out.
So I come into the room
and I'm turning the lights off
as I go
and I come into the room
and it's dark
and it's Christmas on Wednesday
in case you didn't know.
And so we have a whole pile
of Christmas presents
in our bedroom
unwrapped yet,
but still piles
of Christmas presents.
So I come in
from the bright light
into the darkness
and I go to go to the bathroom
and of course I trip
over a pile of Christmas presents
that aren't usually there
but have been placed there
and I can't see them.
And that's a very
powerful image,
isn't it?
That when we're very,
very confused about things
and we can't understand things
that it's a good word
to understand
that we're in a time
of darkness.
And so just before this
they're describing
a time of darkness
in the life of Israel
and now the prophet
begins to this final
sort of bit
for the literary unit
in the book of Isaiah
and here's how it goes.
But there will be no gloom
for her
who was in anguish.
In the former time
he,
that's referring to God,
brought into contempt
the land of Zebulun
and the land of Naphtali.
But in the latter time
he has made glorious
the way of the sea,
the land beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked
in darkness
have seen a great light.
Those who dwelt
in a land of deep darkness
on them
has light shone.
Now just sort of
pause about here.
Remember I said
that there's a whole range
like the people,
the Jewish people
who are reading this
at the time,
they wouldn't have understood
a lot of what was going on.
One of the reasons
probably that Isaiah
was recognized
as a prophet
by the ancient Jews
is that so many
of his more immediate prophecies
actually came to pass.
But for those
who are reading this
a little bit later
and then maybe
for those of us,
those Jewish people
who are reading this
in the,
in the about 50 years,
30 or 40 years
after he died,
this would have been
a very,
very puzzling
part of the text.
Because as we talked
about a little bit
last week,
one of Isaiah's
astonishing prophecies
in the year 735
or 734 BC
was that the
Assyrian nation
was going to invade
and destroy Syria
and,
and the Assyrian nation
was going to invade
the northern part
of the Jewish kingdom
because the,
there were two
Jewish kingdoms,
Israel and Judah.
And the,
the Assyrians
were going to come in
and they were going
to completely
and utterly
annihilate the nation.
And that prophecy
came true.
In fact,
by the year 670,
670 BC,
there had been,
because Assyria
was a very,
very,
very cruel empire.
And part of its cruelty
was that they would
take large parts
of the population
and they would have them
go on forced marches
great distances
and relocate them
very,
very far away
from their homeland.
And they would take
another part
of their conquered people
and put them
on a forced march
into where,
like it was a bit of a,
you know,
they'd take some
from here to go there
and they'd take some
from here to go there
and they'd move them
all around.
It was a way
to break up
people's ancient
connections
with tribes
and kings
and with the land
to create a type
of a,
of a disconnected
humanity
that was very easy
for them to oppress.
And so,
what happened
is that by the year
670 BC,
Isaiah's prophecy
came to fulfillment
that the ten and a half
tribes that made up
the northern kingdom
of Israel,
they've been completely
and utterly lost
from history.
Every single,
as I shared last week,
every single Jewish
person you know
is descended
from one of the
two and a half tribes
that were in the south
in Judah
because the northern
Jewish people
completely and utterly
disappear from history.
And so,
Isaiah in chapter 7
makes this prophecy
that the northern kingdom
is going to be
completely and utterly
destroyed.
And in fact,
what happens is
when Assyria comes,
as often happens,
I mean,
generally speaking,
Israel's enemies
have either come
from the south,
usually Egypt,
or they've come
from the north.
And today,
it would be Lebanon
and Syria
or Jordan.
But Israel's enemies
came in the land
of Zebulun
and Naphtali first.
So,
it's a bit of a puzzle
because on one hand,
the people reading this,
especially after 670,
would say,
that's so odd.
Isaiah's talking
as if,
and here's another
thing about it.
One of the things,
if you look at the verb
tenses all the way
through this part
that we're going to read,
it's very,
very interesting,
but often it's
in the past tense.
And it's a very
particular literary device
used by,
in Jewish
prophetic literature,
that the future
is so certain,
we're going to talk
about it as if
it's in the past tense.
That's how certain
the future is.
It's so future,
so guaranteed by God,
I'm going to talk about it
as if it's already happened.
And so,
for Jewish people,
they would have looked at it
and say,
a moment,
like those before 670
would have just thought,
wouldn't have known,
they would have had
one meaning,
but after 670,
they would have said,
there's no Jewish people
left there.
Like,
how is,
like there's a riddle
here.
By the way,
just as an aside,
I don't talk about it
very much,
but God isn't finished
with the Jewish people.
A Jewish person
doesn't become,
doesn't go to heaven,
isn't made right with God
by being Jewish.
They have to know
the Messiah.
But God isn't finished
with the Jewish people.
That's what,
that's what the New Testament
fundamentally teaches.
And this is part of it here,
this little bit of a mystery here
that Jewish people,
by the time of the,
by the time of Jesus,
Jewish people
had started to move back in.
And part of the reason
that Galilee was viewed
as a little bit suspect
was that they,
they often were
very close to
pagan villages.
But the Jewish people
had moved in
by the time of Jesus.
And it's why,
amongst other things,
is that if you look
at Matthew chapter 4,
Matthew says,
when he describes
Jesus beginning
his preaching ministry
after his baptism
by John the Baptist,
that Matthew 4,
Matthew says that
this is a fulfillment
of the prophecy
in Isaiah chapter 9
being fulfilled.
It's the beginning
of the fulfillment
of the prophecy
because Jesus begins
his preaching
in the areas
that were depopulated,
where Assyria
had first come in.
And that's where
he begins his
preaching ministry.
And so there's
a bit of a,
you know,
a bit of a riddle here.
In 650 BC,
they wouldn't have,
it would have been
beyond their wildest dreams
that there would be
Jewish people living there.
They would have not
known entirely
what this meant
because there's
so many riddles
within the text.
But Jesus begins
his ministry
in an area
amongst Jewish people
in an area
that earlier on
Isaiah said
they are wiped out.
And we can now see
that both of those
prophecies came true,
actually,
can't we?
Then he moves
to these very,
very,
very powerful images
about what God
is going to do
in their midst.
And it's seen
in verses 3 to 5.
If you want to
follow along with me.
You have multiplied
the nation,
verse 3,
you have increased
its joy,
they rejoice before you
as with joy
at the harvest,
as they are glad
when they divide
the spoil.
For the yoke
of his burden
and the staffer
is a shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken
as on the day of Midian.
For every boot
of the tramping warrior
in the battle tumult
and every garment
rolled in blood
will be burned
as fuel for the fire.
Now,
the heart of these
two images is this.
There's a harvest image
and there's a battle image.
And at the heart
of both of these images
is this fundamental idea
that,
like in the harvest image,
the image is
that God
is like a farmer
but God
has tilled the land,
God has watered the land,
God has planted the seed,
God has plucked out
the weeds,
the harvest has come,
it's God's harvest,
and then God actually
brings in the harvest
and then after
all the work is done,
he invites people
to come and enjoy
the harvest.
But it's all done
by him.
And in the battle image,
and it's emphasized
by this image
of Midian,
in the battle image,
the image is that
there's a great battle
against Israel's enemies,
against the people
of God's enemies.
And God defeats,
does everything.
He takes on the enemies,
he defeats the enemies,
they're completely
and utterly defeated,
and then people
get to come in
and enjoy the victory
that he has accomplished.
Those are the two images
which are going on here.
And if you're wondering
a little bit about
the weapons
and the bloody boots
and all of that type
and the bloody clothes.
Some of you know
I was in Israel
in the last little bit
of October.
And we began,
I was part of the tour,
and we spent
the first couple of days
around the Sea of Galilee.
And one day
we were driving
from our hotel
in Tiberias
up to the Golan Heights.
It was really interesting.
I really,
it was really sort of neat.
We got to actually go
within 500 yards
of the Syrian border.
And we also,
and we were two kilometers
away from the Lebanese border.
We were able to see
in the distance
two villages,
one controlled by,
I think it was Al-Qaeda,
one controlled by Hezbollah.
And our guide
who was a just retired major,
we had two guides
at that point in time.
We had a military,
a former military major
of the Northern Israeli Command.
And he talked about
how sometimes
you can come up there
and you can see
the two villages
fighting at each other.
And he confessed
that as an Israeli
on one hand,
of course,
he hates to see
any bloodshot.
On the other hand,
he's glad
that they're fighting
each other
because it means
they're not attacking us.
But we're right up there
at the border.
But before we got there,
he's talking about
different things
and our tour guide
is talking about
different things.
And all of a sudden,
the tour guide interrupts them
and says,
oh, oh, oh,
we have to make sure
they understand
what's happening.
And he smiles
a big smile
and he said,
okay,
just in a few seconds,
we're going to go over
the mighty Jordan River.
And, of course,
it's really funny
because the Jordan River
is about the distance
from the end
of that chair
to the door.
Like,
the Jordan River,
it's not very,
the Jordan's not very wide.
Like,
it's tiny.
So,
some people say,
well,
what's the big deal
about all the things
in the Bible
about the Jordan River
and crossing it?
And the guy said,
well,
amongst other things,
he said,
it's deep.
I mean,
people back then,
a tall person
was five foot tall.
I mean,
obviously,
there were people
higher than tall,
but most people
were five foot tall.
In the time
of the Roman Empire,
most of the soldiers
that were doing
the fighting
were five foot tall.
And so,
when they had a shield
that was four foot tall,
it doesn't take much
to get underneath
to be protected
by a shield
that's four foot tall
when you're only
five foot tall.
And he said,
so the water's deep
and so it's hard to cross.
They couldn't swim.
So,
somebody said to him,
well,
why didn't they just
build a bridge?
It's not a very big river.
And he said,
look around.
If you're there,
look around.
There's no trees.
Like,
there's no trees.
There aren't.
No trees.
So,
how would they build a bridge?
It's a big deal.
It's a big accomplishment.
Even today,
if you couldn't swim
to get across a river
that's higher than you
and to bring all your family
and your goods
and everything like that
and there's no trees.
So,
this part of the text here
about the burning
of the clothes
and the weapons,
it's something that,
especially Jewish people,
they would have instantly understood.
They're practical people.
And here,
God has won
a wonderful victory.
All the enemies destroyed
and God is God.
And so,
you know what?
All these weapons of war,
you don't need them anymore
because God's won the battle.
But you know what?
They're really,
really handy to heat the house.
And they're really handy
to cook on.
Like,
why waste it?
You're not going to wear the clothes.
It's all filled with blood
and yuck.
But it dries
and you burn it
and you use it.
It's a very,
very,
it's part of the spoils
of the battle
which is being described here.
And it's a very,
very powerful image.
Now,
I have to confess
that,
so,
some of you,
if,
some of you have been
to our Christmas Eve
seven o'clock service
or a Christmas morning service
and one of the things
I do at those services
is,
you know,
even though I had
all these kids,
God,
I didn't get that thing
about being able
to do good kids stories.
Like,
that's somehow missing
in me.
So,
a few years ago
it was always a struggle.
I have to do something
at Christmas
for the kids,
you know.
Just like,
it's like nothing,
right?
So,
a few years I discovered
that there's many movies
that you can get
for either free
or very little price.
So,
my Christmas Eve sermon
and Christmas morning sermon,
I interspersed,
I talked for like four minutes,
people were starting to go,
kids are getting restless.
I put on a movie.
They all perk up
and they go back
to speaking for four minutes
or five minutes.
They all start to get restless
or fall asleep.
I put on a movie.
So,
here's the thing.
For those of you
who are parents,
I came across
this spectacular
Christmas mini movie
called
There's a Dragon
at My Nativity.
And it shows
a dragon swallowing things
and there's the stable
but beside the stable
there's this huge
dragon
sort of drooling
because it wants
to eat the baby.
And I'm trying to decide
if I should show it.
So,
I think I should.
I think I'll just warn
the parents
that if you have kids
it's going to be too scary.
Cover their eyes
for this next three minute video
because it's really cool.
I think it's really cool
and if you come on
Christmas Eve
or Christmas morning
you'll get to see it.
But here's the thing.
Here's the riddle.
So,
you hear about
there's this
going to be this
like
the main images
are all around
this image of battle
that all of you
who are oppressed
and under the yoke
of slavery
under the yoke
of an oppressor
that yoke
will be broken.
All the people
who have staves
and rods
that beat you
on the shoulder
and beat you
on the back
this mighty warrior
is going to come
and he's going to
take them all
out of people's hands
he's going to break them
and all of the enemies
are all going to be defeated.
So,
what is the image?
What's this all
leading us to?
Is it going to be
something like Godzilla?
Is it going to be
something like
a mighty giant
way, way, way taller
with unbelievably
big muscles?
Is it going to be
something like
a superhero
who can fire
things with his hands?
Is it going to be
something like
a volcano?
They would have seen
massive storms.
Is it going to be
like a lightning storm
that somehow
is like a person
but can do things?
Like,
what's it going to be?
And so,
it comes to the whole
climax
and it's a baby.
That's the whole thing
about the dragon
in my nativity thing.
That's why I think
it could be a really
cool thing.
It's a baby.
Like, it's a baby?
Like, it's a baby.
All the enemies
defeated,
it's a baby.
For to us
a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government
shall be upon his shoulder
and his name
shall be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Of the increase
of his government
and peace,
there will be no end.
On the throne of David
and over his kingdom
to establish it
and to uphold it
with justice
and with righteousness
from this time forth
and forevermore.
Remember,
this future is so certain
they use the past.
For the zeal
of the Lord of hosts
will do this.
That's the part
that I missed earlier
about the Midian image.
We're going to be doing
a series of,
we're going to go through
all the book of Judges
in the new year
and the Midian reference,
some of you
will remember the story
once I start to tell it to you
in the previous text
because the emphasis
on the text
is that God's going
to do all of this.
It's not going to be
any way that any human being
can think that they
were responsible.
And one of the wonderful stories
in the book of Judges
is the story of Gideon,
right?
So God raises up Gideon
to deliver the people
of Israel
from this terrible oppressor.
So Gideon gathers
a huge army,
thousands,
tens of thousands
of people
and God says to Gideon,
the army's too big.
You can just imagine,
I don't know if there's
any military people here
but generally,
the army's too big
is not normally
what a general
wants to hear.
Normally they say,
give me a bigger army.
Send me 30,000
extra troops.
But God says to Gideon,
the army's too big.
And so he tells Gideon
what to say,
almost everybody leaves.
And then God looks
at the army
and he says to Gideon,
the army's still too big.
And he gives them
some other tests
so that more people
will leave.
And when it's all over,
he's left with 300 people
against tens and tens
and tens of thousands
of Midianites.
And what's the point
of the story
is that God wants
to show Gideon
that he won the battle.
There's no way
that Gideon can say
it's because of my cleverness,
because I'm such a good general,
because we fought so hard,
because our muscles are big
or anything like that.
It's one of these
powerful lessons
that God wins the battle.
And yet when it comes down
to the culmination of it all,
it's this very,
very simple mystery
that it's all about
a baby being born.
Actually,
why don't you just all
read this text with me?
Some of you have to
fight yourself
from bursting into song,
I know.
But let's just read it.
For to us,
a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government
shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called,
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Remember,
at the beginning of the sermon,
I said that one of the things
that was a shock to me
at 36
was to discover
that I was actually
an anxious person
without realizing it,
that I didn't experience
my anxiety directly,
but because I found
anxiety so unpleasant,
and I found the stress
so unpleasant,
I either didn't recognize it
or I did other types of things
to mask my anxiety,
to dull my anxiety,
to dull my stress,
and it ends up leading to me
acting out in ways
that were further unhealthy,
which of course
create more anxiety,
which create more
covering it up
and masking it
and not experience it directly,
which means more acting up,
which makes you feel more,
you know,
it's a very, very terrible
way to live.
It's a very, very, very,
very terrible way to live.
And it's even harder
if you watch somebody else
struggling with that
and you realize
that they're caught
in this cycle
of not really dealing
with the stress
and anxiety in their lives.
And so,
I mean,
I still have times
when I struggle with anxiety.
And, you know,
one of the things
I'm just so thankful for,
and I think in heaven
I'll discover
that it's not
because of anything to me.
I'll probably discover
in heaven
that somebody was praying
for me at that instant.
And it's as if God
will speak to me
and say,
because I'll be really worried
about something going on
in the church.
I'll be worried
about the money
or I'll be worried
about some type of decision
or I'll be worried
about something
in my family
or I'll just be worried
about something
in my marriage.
Not that I have stuff
to worry about
all the time
in my marriage,
but, you know,
you've married for a while,
there's things
that are worrisome
in marriages.
If I didn't say that,
I'd be lying to you.
People who've been married
for very long
who say that they've
never had anything
worrisome in their marriage
is probably not
telling you the truth.
Sorry.
That's life.
And it can be really,
really,
you can get, you know,
weighed down by things
and I can be really
get down on myself
and just feel
a type of darkness
and coming on me.
And it's as if
many, many, many,
many times
a phrase from this
and other similar passages
will just really
be brought home to me
by the Holy Spirit.
Look at it again.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government
shall be upon his shoulder.
And I have this,
it's as if God reminds me,
George,
if you try to carry
Church of the Messiah,
it will crush you.
George,
if you try to carry
your life
and your health
and your finances,
it will crush you.
If you try to carry
your marriage,
it will crush you.
If you try to carry
this problem,
it will crush you.
You see,
the wonderful truth is
that Jesus carries me
and he carries the church.
And he carries my marriage.
He carries those problems
and anxieties
that I have in my life.
He carries them.
Just as he carries me.
And, you know,
here's the wonderful thing.
I've only had a couple of times
I've tried to describe this
to non-Christians.
You can pray that I have
more time to try to
explain this to a non-Christian
because, you know,
for many people,
you'd think that
if you have this image
that Jesus is carrying you
and he's carrying the problem,
you'd think that this means
you can go,
whoa, okay,
if that's the case,
I'm going to go home.
On the way home,
I'm going to get a big bag of chips.
I'm going to get a six-pack of beer.
I'm going to binge watch Netflix
and just drink the beer
and eat the potato chips
because God's going to handle
the whole thing.
But here's the amazing thing
about the gospel.
You see,
amongst other,
remember I said that this text
is that there's all these mysteries
and riddles and enigmas
in the text.
Like,
how is it that a baby
is going to do this?
How is it that a baby
is God?
Because that's what
mighty God means.
Mighty God means God.
How is it that God
is going to take on flesh
and actually be born as a baby?
How is it that this is going to be
somehow a descendant of David,
his son,
yet it's also going to be God?
Because that's what the text is saying.
Many Jewish people
try to evade this text,
but it's a fundamental mystery
of the text.
The Hebrew,
all of it,
it points to this
fundamental mystery
and riddle.
And the fact of the matter is,
is that the wonder
of the gospel
is that God himself
takes on human flesh.
And he is God with us,
as Isaiah prophesied
just a few verses earlier.
And he really was with us.
And he's with me
even to the point of my
future death upon the cross.
And on the cross,
he is so deeply with me.
And he is so deeply concerned
that his order of shalom
would be what characterizes
the fundamental eternal order
of my life.
That he himself
takes upon himself
all my disorder,
all my sickness,
all my wounds,
all my shame,
all my sin.
And on the cross,
he bears it all.
He bears it all.
And when that gospel truth,
I mean,
part of the growth
in a Christian life
is receiving that
for the first time.
But the other part
of the Christian faith
is that that truth
becomes more and more
and more real
and precious to us
at a very, very deep level
of who we are,
at the level of our identity,
at the level of our
emotions,
at the level of our
basic thinking
and worldview,
that that truth
grips us
more and more
and more and more.
And the funny thing
about it is
that because it's
so freely given,
all in grace,
that God,
in his zeal
for me and for you,
does all of this,
when that truth
grips us,
the result is never
laziness and fate,
but a freedom to act.
And so it is
that when I have
these times in my life
where I'm weighed down
by thinking about
these decisions
I have to make
or different times
in the church's history
or my other churches
that I've served in
where there's been,
you know,
a financial issue
or some other type
of strategic issue
or conflict in the church
or conflict amongst staff
or conflict amongst leaders
or anything like that
that's going on
or problems in my family
or in my personal life
or whatever it is
and I start to get
weighed down on it.
And I just,
this text comes to me again
where a similar text
for to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government
shall be upon
the authority,
the rule
is upon his shoulder.
His shoulder.
I'm on his shoulders.
That's partially
what it means
to be a Christian,
that Jesus has redeemed me
and I am now
carried by him
and he carries
this other problem.
And every time,
as that truth grips me,
the result isn't
that I want to go home,
pick up the six pack
and buy a bag of chips
and just binge on Netflix.
The result is
a lightning of the load
and you look around
and say,
okay,
what steps can I take?
Like,
that's how it actually works.
What steps can I take?
Like,
what can I do?
You know,
Lord,
guide me.
You know what?
And then,
you know,
maybe a phone call
or whatever.
It doesn't mean
that there's still
not a series
where it's still difficult.
I'm not saying
it's just,
it's not magic.
But the reminder
of the truth
that I am on
his shoulders
and he is
shouldering
this burden
brings light
and brings freedom
to try to deal with it.
That's how it works.
See,
and that's what's so wonderful
about these other phrases
as well
that we can just pray
and I'm just going to
sort of close with these.
Look at these phrases.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government
shall be upon his shoulder
and his name
shall be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Wonderful Counselor
means,
in a sense,
not just a counselor,
basically it's an idea
of supernatural counsel.
Many of us,
I mean,
every single one of us
needs counsel.
We need advice.
And it means that
of the very,
very nature of Jesus
is that he is wise.
And he is both
from outside of this world,
he's eternal,
he's transcendent,
he's omnipotent.
But at the same time,
he was one who came
and dwelt among us,
who there is no trial
or temptation
that we have undergone
that he has not
undergone as well.
And he knows
the problems in our life
far better
than we know
the problems of our life
because he died
for things
that we're not even aware of
that we were sinning
when we did them.
I mean,
you know,
for those of us
who get a little bit older,
I've shared with it before,
you don't maybe realize
some of the ways
you've sinned
with your kids
until they call you
later on
and say,
you know what,
you did that was wrong.
Or maybe a co-worker
or maybe one of your employees
or something like that
and they tell you later on
and you didn't at the time
think it was wrong
and you realize it was wrong.
Even the things
that we don't know of,
Jesus knows those things
about us
and so we can call out
to him
for counsel.
I mean,
I actually
don't really
always know
how it is
that a person
who doesn't,
can't call out
on Jesus
for prayer
and wisdom
and advice,
like,
how hard it must be
to live
without knowing
that you can call
on God,
on Jesus
who died for you
and ask for his wisdom.
I know in heaven
there'll be many,
many,
God will show me
all the times
I didn't listen
to his advice.
You know,
pray for me.
But he is
wonderful counselor
and he's mighty God.
and this is something
which has become
an important part
of my prayer life
over the last 10 years
in particular
because one of the things
that would cause me anxiety
is I would think
that these problems
are really big,
like bigger than this building,
like bigger than the Rockies
and how on earth
could I ever deal with them
and it was really hard
for me to get my mind around.
It was one of those
until the scriptures
started to come
really home to me
that however big
my problem is,
God is bigger
than my problem.
I mean,
one of the things
that's so easy
for us to get
despairing about
our country,
it's very easy
to get despairing
about the world,
I just want to remind you
no matter how big
Trudeau is
or the government is
or the opposition is,
Jesus is bigger.
No matter how big
Brexit seems to be,
no matter how big
Trump or Pelosi
seem to be,
Jesus is bigger.
He is bigger.
He is bigger
than every problem
I face
and he is the mighty God.
It's a warrior image.
It portrays Jesus
as the ruler
who is both
supernaturally
and eternally
transcendently
yet imminently wise
and he is the one
who is bigger
than any obstacle.
He is bigger
than Satan.
He is bigger
than anything
that we will face
and he is bigger
and he is able
and present
and powerful
and active
and able
to deal with it.
And he is also
the everlasting father,
the prince of peace.
Everlasting father here,
it's not confusing
the Trinity,
it's an Old Testament word
to describe the king,
the perfect king,
the father
that we wish
we had.
Maybe some of us
have had such
a perfect father,
but the father
that we wish
that we had
who sees
that it is
his obligation
to care
and protect
for his family.
And God
has described
that the perfect king
is one
who described
that he sees
his people
as his children
and that he will do
what he should do
not for his own glory,
not for the furtherance
of his empire,
but to protect
and care
and nurture,
provide for his people.
And then this final thing
which I'll end on,
that he is the prince of peace.
This is a very,
very,
very important
analogy
in my life
and hopefully
after I share
with it
with you as well.
You know,
almost every single time
in the Old Testament
and the New Testament
when the Bible talks
about the word peace,
it doesn't mean
an emotion.
It means
a type of order.
See,
what we need
to pray about
isn't that God
would give me peace,
but that God's
peaceful order
would order me.
See,
the word is shalom
and the basic idea
of shalom,
some of you have heard
me share this before,
is it used to be,
I don't know
if they still do it anymore,
they probably don't,
but it used to be
that you'd see mobiles,
right,
and a mobile
is something
with little sticks
and pieces of string
or,
you know,
fishing,
you know,
whatever that,
fishing line
and at the end
of the fish,
the sticks,
at the end
of the fishing line
there would be
some little object,
a plane or an animal
or something
and you could
occasionally
back in the day
see these very,
very elaborate mobiles
which had lots
of different sticks
all going out
in different directions
and the sticks
and all the whole mobile
if it's done really well
it can have different
heavy things
and small things
and if you have
a small thing
and a heavy thing
then the stick
has to be balanced
in a particular way
and then this balance
has to be balanced
with this
which has to be
balanced with this
and if it's very,
very well done
you can have a very,
very complicated mobile
so that the least
little bit of breathe
and it just moves
very,
it just moves
a tiny bit
from the tiny breezes
in the house
and if you just think
of that type of mobile
with some sticks
this long
and some sticks
that long
and some sticks
with the cord
right in the middle
and some words
right here at the end
because you have
a tiny,
a big heavy thing
and a tiny thing
and if you see that,
you think that type
of order
that's what shalom is.
That's what shalom is.
Shalom
is when God
has ordered things
so that there's
a proper order
of me towards creation.
There is a proper order
towards me,
towards the plants
in my house,
towards the animals
in my house,
a proper order
towards me
and the children,
a proper order
towards me
and my neighbor,
a proper order
towards me
and my brothers
and sisters,
a proper order
towards me
and the government,
a proper order
towards me
and my God,
a proper order,
an order of peace,
of balance,
of harmony,
of beauty.
That's what shalom is.
And so Jesus
is the prince
of this order.
So what I need
in my life
isn't the feeling
of peace.
I mean,
for those of us
who struggle
with addictions,
you use the Jack Daniels
to give you peace
and your life
is in chaos.
Use the drug
to give you peace
but your life
is in chaos.
You use shopping
and debt
to give you
a sense of peace
but your life
is in chaos.
We don't need
a feeling of peace
while our life
is in chaos.
us,
we need
shalom.
We need
the prince
of shalom
to bring his
shalom
to order our lives.
And that's what
this text
is inviting us
to pray into.
Jesus,
you carry me
and you carry
my problems.
You are bigger
than my problems.
You are the mighty God.
You are the wonderful
counselor.
I need your counsel.
You are the one
who cares for me
and will protect me.
I need you
to be my fortress.
And most of all,
I need your order
in my life.
I need your peaceful
order in my life.
I need your peaceful
order in my church.
I need your peaceful
order in my family.
Lord Jesus,
come.
Babe of Bethlehem,
come.
Crucified Jesus,
come.
Risen Jesus,
come.
Returning Jesus,
come.
And bring your peaceful
order into my life.
I invite you to stand.
Let's bow our heads
in prayer.
Father,
you know those
amongst us
who struggle
with addiction issues.
You know those
of us who struggle
with them.
And we ask,
Father,
that for each person
here who struggles
with that,
that you would grip
them with the gospel.
and we ask,
Father,
that you would
grip them
with the truth
of this text.
That they
would not
turn to that
which addicts them
to give them peace.
But they would
turn to you
and know
that you carry them
and carry that problem.
That you would
help them,
Father,
to experience
their anxieties
and their stress
knowing that
it will not
unmake them
because you have
made them new
in Jesus.
And,
Father,
you know those
of us
who are carrying
big loads
of stress
right now.
It's Christmas.
Many of us
have spent more
than we can afford
on gifts.
And many of us
have stressful
times with families
and travel
and just life.
And,
Father,
you know those
of us who struggle
with anxiety.
And we ask,
Father,
that you would
turn our hearts
to Jesus
at this time.
That you would
turn our hearts
to be gripped
by the gospel
and know that
Jesus carries
each one here
who carries
these problems.
And,
Father,
so bring this
truth,
hope,
deep to them
that they might
walk towards
their problems
seeking your
counsel and wisdom
to deal with them
in a wise way.
Good for them
and good for others.
That you might
bring their
shalom order,
your shalom order,
into their lives.
And,
Father,
there are some
of us here
who aren't
struggling with
anxiety or
with addictions.
And we ask,
Father,
that you would
help us to be
people of prayer,
that you would
help us to be
men and women
of prayer,
that we might
pray,
Lord,
for those who
are burdened
with stress
and anxiety,
burdened with
cares of life,
burdened with
problems of
addiction or
alcoholism.
Father,
that if you
have put us
in a season
where that is
not what is
going on in us,
that you might
grant us the
great gift of
prayer for our
brothers and
sisters,
for our
neighbors,
for our
loved ones,
that we might
be a people
of prayer.
And in all
things,
Father,
we ask that
you would
grip us with
the truth of
the gospel,
that you would
grip us with
the truth that
you came
humbly as a
baby and
died humbly
on the
cross,
that we
might be
your children
by adoption
and grace,
that we
might give
ourselves to
you,
knowing you
do not turn
us away,
and that you
will save us.
And all God's
people said,
Amen.