WEBVTT 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:05.799 Father, we ask that you would just gently but deeply pour out the Holy Spirit upon us at this time. 00:00:06.500 --> 00:00:13.560 Pour out the Holy Spirit upon us, that we might be able to hear your word and have your word come, 00:00:14.179 --> 00:00:19.980 Father, deep within us to touch us at the very center of our lives, our heart, the command center of who we are. 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:27.480 Father, we ask that you might meet with us in that place and that you would, Father, work in our hearts 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:34.880 that we would receive, that we are willing and desirous to receive all that you would do in our lives this morning. 00:00:35.460 --> 00:00:39.460 And all these things we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. 00:00:40.179 --> 00:00:41.100 Please be seated. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:48.700 I've had, well, I've had lots of memorable Christmases, 00:00:49.120 --> 00:00:55.600 but there's been two in particular that I've been thinking about this week as I've prepared for the sermon. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:01:04.980 One was a man who, husband and wife, they had a baby. 00:01:05.960 --> 00:01:12.700 And after she got pregnant, his cancer came back. 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:20.680 But his cancer came back quite badly, quite extreme, quite far gone. 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:23.960 And the baby was born. 00:01:25.100 --> 00:01:31.420 And one of the things he really wanted to be able to do, I've had to do this several times, actually. 00:01:32.380 --> 00:01:36.140 He really didn't want to die before he'd seen his child baptized. 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:38.740 And was also coming up to Christmas. 00:01:39.520 --> 00:01:43.400 So we made an arrangement with the hospital, which wasn't that hard, of course, 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:47.300 because they want to be as helpful as possible. 00:01:48.180 --> 00:01:51.840 And I brought him Christmas communion a couple of days before Christmas. 00:01:52.300 --> 00:01:58.920 And a day after Christmas, I baptized his baby with just five or six of us in the room. 00:01:59.420 --> 00:02:02.580 And then a week later, I did the funeral for the fellow. 00:02:02.960 --> 00:02:06.600 I did a similar type of thing with a wedding as well, actually. 00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:10.879 A woman who wanted to see her only daughter get married. 00:02:12.579 --> 00:02:18.019 And like a lot of marriages, they planned the wedding ceremony about a year down the road. 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:23.519 But in the meantime, her cancer came back quite bad. 00:02:24.379 --> 00:02:29.039 And it was becoming increasingly obvious that she wasn't going to make it until the spring. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:31.759 So the couple and I talked. 00:02:31.879 --> 00:02:34.319 We made some arrangements with the hospital. 00:02:34.519 --> 00:02:39.359 There was a bigger room that we set aside for this. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:42.699 They hurried around and got their marriage license. 00:02:43.019 --> 00:02:47.019 And a couple of days before Christmas, I did the wedding in the hospital. 00:02:47.659 --> 00:02:50.560 And then I did the funeral a week later. 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:55.599 So there was the wedding, there was Christmas, and then there was a funeral. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:59.659 And, you know, I've been thinking about it a lot this week. 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:05.060 Because one of the things I've been doing as I've been in coffee shops is I've just asked people, like, what they plan to do at Christmas. 00:03:05.859 --> 00:03:07.680 And you get a wide range of answers. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.539 Some people, they tell me all of their Christmas traditions. 00:03:10.979 --> 00:03:15.439 And they maybe talk with great excitement about going home. 00:03:15.539 --> 00:03:18.939 But for some people, you ask them about it. 00:03:18.959 --> 00:03:23.500 And there's a shadow that darkens their face when you ask them about Christmas. 00:03:23.500 --> 00:03:27.120 You know, a pause or a hesitation. 00:03:27.979 --> 00:03:33.780 One young man told me that he sort of had to go home for Christmas. 00:03:33.780 --> 00:03:39.060 But you could tell by everything from his body language and everything about it that he wasn't looking forward to going home. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:40.259 It was the opposite. 00:03:40.460 --> 00:03:44.039 He was fulfilling a duty to do something that he didn't look forward to. 00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:49.659 And there was one young woman who works in one of the coffee shops. 00:03:50.539 --> 00:03:53.539 And I asked her about her gift buying. 00:03:53.620 --> 00:03:54.899 And she hadn't bought any gifts. 00:03:55.539 --> 00:03:58.280 And it's because she had nobody to buy gifts for. 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:03.859 And she found a place to work on Christmas Day. 00:04:04.899 --> 00:04:07.719 And she just got quiet as I talked to her. 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:12.419 And it's, you know, all you can, you know, when you say something like this in a brief conversation, 00:04:12.620 --> 00:04:15.699 all you can do is say, wow, that must be a bit hard. 00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:18.860 Or I don't know if I said very good words or anything like that. 00:04:18.980 --> 00:04:25.279 But, you know, from the way Christmas is portrayed with all the Christmas music 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:34.199 and all be home for Christmas and chestnuts roasting on an open fire and all on and on like that. 00:04:34.199 --> 00:04:43.839 It portrays this type of Christmas for people who have intact relationships and good families or good friends 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:48.319 and some money and health and houses to go to. 00:04:48.579 --> 00:04:53.459 And there's no shadows of deep betrayal or deep brokenness. 00:04:53.459 --> 00:05:01.139 And it must be especially hard, given the huge cultural pressure towards Christmas, 00:05:01.139 --> 00:05:04.859 to figure out what to do with Christmas when your life's not like that, 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:09.899 when your life is, in fact, very, very beat up and maybe very broken. 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:12.799 And in some cases, somebody else is beating you up. 00:05:12.819 --> 00:05:15.459 And in some cases, maybe you're the one who beat the person up. 00:05:16.539 --> 00:05:17.699 It was heartbreaking. 00:05:17.699 --> 00:05:20.500 I was hearing a friend of mine, and I'll just, this is the last one. 00:05:20.539 --> 00:05:21.199 You got the picture. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:23.519 But just this one other thing this week. 00:05:24.339 --> 00:05:29.479 A friend of mine, I overheard him talking to another person that he saw in the coffee shop 00:05:29.479 --> 00:05:31.779 that he had been friends with but hadn't seen in a year. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:34.420 And he asked her about Christmas. 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:37.240 And once again, like, the tears came to her eyes. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:39.159 Her marriage broke up in the last year. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:45.800 And her three kids all were married and were going off somewhere else for Christmas. 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:47.980 And she was going to be completely and utterly alone. 00:05:48.840 --> 00:05:54.960 So she was going to drive 1,500 kilometers to be with her elderly mom so she wouldn't be all alone on Christmas. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:00.400 And it's just very hard, isn't it, for people who don't live perfect lives, 00:06:00.939 --> 00:06:03.720 sometimes with this pressure on secular Christmas. 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:10.040 And one of the things for us who are here who are Christians is this cultural pressure 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:14.620 and this cultural narrative about what Christmas should be like, 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:20.320 chestnuts roasting on an open fire, I'll be home for Christmas, and on and on and on like that. 00:06:21.180 --> 00:06:24.040 It starts to affect us so that we start to actually, 00:06:24.180 --> 00:06:27.860 that becomes our picture or image of what Christmas should be as well. 00:06:27.860 --> 00:06:33.939 And we lose sight of the fact that sadness and betrayal and heartbreak 00:06:33.939 --> 00:06:41.240 are actually right at the very essential parts of the Christmas story according to Christians. 00:06:42.780 --> 00:06:44.560 So we're going to look at that. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:47.480 If you turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 1, 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:49.420 Matthew chapter 1, 00:06:49.939 --> 00:06:53.139 what we've been doing last week and this week and this Sunday, 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:54.300 and I'll do it again tomorrow, 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:58.060 those of you who will be here at Christmas Eve or you can listen to it online later, 00:06:58.540 --> 00:07:00.420 and I'll do it on Christmas morning as well. 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:05.160 I'm looking at the four Bible stories that tell us about Christmas, 00:07:05.379 --> 00:07:09.720 the original stories that tell Christians about what Christmas is. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:13.379 And last week we looked at Luke's first story, 00:07:13.620 --> 00:07:15.600 this week we're looking at Matthew's story, 00:07:16.100 --> 00:07:18.160 tomorrow I'll look at Luke's second story, 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:20.759 and on Christmas morning I'll look at John's story. 00:07:20.759 --> 00:07:23.019 And what we're about to read, 00:07:23.180 --> 00:07:25.899 just to try to put it in a bit of a place for you, 00:07:25.980 --> 00:07:27.879 it's actually interesting even if you think about 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:30.740 who's writing this story and recounting this story. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:35.039 It's written by a man who for the first 30 or 40 years of his life, 00:07:35.860 --> 00:07:37.759 well maybe not for the first 30 or 40 years of his life 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:39.099 because he was a kid for part of that, 00:07:39.180 --> 00:07:41.379 but for the first parts of his adult life 00:07:41.379 --> 00:07:43.199 would have been viewed as a terrible man, 00:07:43.860 --> 00:07:45.539 absolutely terrible man. 00:07:46.060 --> 00:07:48.779 He would have been viewed as a traitor, 00:07:48.779 --> 00:07:50.119 a betrayer, 00:07:50.119 --> 00:07:56.079 because he was a Jewish man who worked for the occupying powers, 00:07:56.619 --> 00:08:00.619 and the whole point of his role with the occupying powers 00:08:00.619 --> 00:08:02.399 is because he was Jewish, 00:08:03.019 --> 00:08:05.199 he knew how Jewish people lied 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:06.719 and how they told the truth, 00:08:06.779 --> 00:08:08.179 and he knew where they would hide money. 00:08:08.859 --> 00:08:11.939 So his responsibility was that the Romans would say, 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:13.899 we want to get this many amount of taxes 00:08:13.899 --> 00:08:15.559 from the Jewish people in this area, 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:18.480 and it was his responsibility to make sure 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:20.040 that he got that amount of money. 00:08:20.660 --> 00:08:21.639 And the thing about it is, 00:08:21.660 --> 00:08:23.019 as long as he got that amount of money, 00:08:23.100 --> 00:08:25.420 they didn't mind if he got 20,000 shekels 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:26.860 or 50,000 shekels more, 00:08:26.939 --> 00:08:28.120 that all went in his pocket. 00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:30.379 So he would have been viewed as a person 00:08:30.379 --> 00:08:32.700 who was betraying his own people, 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:34.659 a traitor to his own people. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:35.940 And not only that, 00:08:35.980 --> 00:08:36.960 he did it for greed. 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:39.399 And so he would have become quite wealthy 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:43.500 by taking money from hard-working Jewish people 00:08:43.500 --> 00:08:45.059 to give it to the Romans, 00:08:45.159 --> 00:08:46.500 and the rest he would keep to himself. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:48.379 He would have been viewed as a very, very bad man, 00:08:48.439 --> 00:08:49.720 but one day he met Jesus. 00:08:50.740 --> 00:08:53.819 In fact, if you go in the other Gospels, 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:54.439 or even here, 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:55.379 and you find out about it, 00:08:55.459 --> 00:08:55.899 it's actually, 00:08:55.980 --> 00:08:57.340 it's not even so much that one day 00:08:57.340 --> 00:08:59.779 he had a spiritual awakening all by himself, 00:08:59.779 --> 00:09:01.139 he was curious about Jesus, 00:09:01.319 --> 00:09:02.740 but Jesus saw him 00:09:02.740 --> 00:09:05.080 and called him 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:07.039 even while he was a very bad man. 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:09.519 And it is that man 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:11.039 who we now know of as Matthew 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:12.560 as the author of this Gospel, 00:09:12.779 --> 00:09:13.980 so he would have been an eyewitness 00:09:13.980 --> 00:09:15.100 of much in this story, 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:17.360 and the parts that he wasn't an eyewitness about, 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:18.799 he would have known eyewitnesses, 00:09:18.899 --> 00:09:20.799 and hence we have this true story, 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:23.279 one of the four stories about Christmas, 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:24.539 and it begins like this, 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:26.720 chapter 1, verse 18. 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:29.919 Now the birth of Jesus Christ 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:31.360 took place in this way. 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:33.379 When his mother Mary 00:09:33.379 --> 00:09:35.560 had been betrothed to Joseph 00:09:35.560 --> 00:09:37.360 before they came together, 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:39.139 she was found to be with child 00:09:39.139 --> 00:09:40.919 from the Holy Spirit, 00:09:41.659 --> 00:09:42.860 and her husband Joseph, 00:09:43.100 --> 00:09:44.100 being a just man 00:09:44.100 --> 00:09:45.820 and unwilling to put her to shame, 00:09:46.379 --> 00:09:48.419 resolved to divorce her quietly. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:51.039 And we just want to pause right here 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:51.620 for a second 00:09:51.620 --> 00:09:52.500 and just realize 00:09:52.500 --> 00:09:55.120 what exactly is going on here. 00:09:56.200 --> 00:09:58.080 Joseph and Mary are engaged, 00:09:58.700 --> 00:09:59.980 and Joseph discovers 00:09:59.980 --> 00:10:01.159 that Mary is pregnant. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:02.980 And Joseph knows 00:10:02.980 --> 00:10:04.700 that he didn't make Mary pregnant. 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:08.580 And Joseph is not a stupid man. 00:10:09.340 --> 00:10:10.340 In those days, 00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:14.300 yes, they didn't have flush toilets, 00:10:14.500 --> 00:10:16.860 and they didn't have iPhones, 00:10:17.460 --> 00:10:19.000 and all of that, 00:10:19.060 --> 00:10:21.180 but they knew how babies got made. 00:10:21.179 --> 00:10:26.819 And Joseph knew that Mary was pregnant, 00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:30.199 and she told him a cockamamie story, 00:10:30.459 --> 00:10:32.899 which nobody would believe. 00:10:33.259 --> 00:10:33.959 And it's sort of there 00:10:33.959 --> 00:10:34.719 with a bit of a, 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:36.279 almost with an ironic thing here 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:36.719 when it says, 00:10:36.839 --> 00:10:38.239 with child from the Holy Spirit. 00:10:39.239 --> 00:10:40.399 And you can just very, 00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:41.319 very well picture 00:10:41.319 --> 00:10:42.579 that all around the neighborhood, 00:10:42.739 --> 00:10:43.620 all around the community, 00:10:43.719 --> 00:10:44.620 all around the region, 00:10:45.099 --> 00:10:45.759 people would say, 00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:46.620 yeah, there's Mary. 00:10:46.620 --> 00:10:48.279 She's pregnant, 00:10:48.500 --> 00:10:50.179 but it's with the Holy Spirit. 00:10:50.560 --> 00:10:52.120 And they'd put a mocking tone, 00:10:52.220 --> 00:10:54.100 or maybe they'd roll their eyes again, 00:10:54.100 --> 00:10:55.679 because everybody knows 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:57.460 that that's not how babies get produced. 00:10:57.860 --> 00:10:59.560 You don't get babies by the Holy Spirit. 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:00.940 It's not some type of category. 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:01.820 They weren't gullible. 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:02.779 They weren't stupid. 00:11:03.779 --> 00:11:06.799 And Joseph here has thought, 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:08.599 and it's been publicly announced 00:11:08.599 --> 00:11:10.179 that he's going to be marrying Mary. 00:11:11.319 --> 00:11:12.799 And now she's showing, 00:11:12.939 --> 00:11:14.259 and everybody knows she's pregnant. 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:16.319 And at first they might have thought 00:11:16.319 --> 00:11:17.259 that Joseph did it, 00:11:17.339 --> 00:11:17.919 but Joseph, 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:20.459 by the look on his face, 00:11:20.859 --> 00:11:21.939 it was obvious to everybody 00:11:21.939 --> 00:11:22.939 that he didn't do it. 00:11:24.199 --> 00:11:26.019 And his heart would have been broken. 00:11:27.299 --> 00:11:28.240 He was betrayed. 00:11:29.479 --> 00:11:30.479 She cheated on him. 00:11:31.359 --> 00:11:33.979 And you know what would be so hard for Joseph 00:11:33.980 --> 00:11:37.060 is that not only did she cheat on him, 00:11:37.659 --> 00:11:39.960 and maybe that could just be overlooked, 00:11:40.180 --> 00:11:41.379 maybe that could be something 00:11:41.379 --> 00:11:45.560 that he could just swallow and deal with, 00:11:45.860 --> 00:11:47.180 but she got pregnant. 00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:50.779 And babies, you know, they last. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:57.800 And that would have only broken his heart. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:01.980 That would have only broken on his heart. 00:12:01.980 --> 00:12:08.779 Quite a few years ago, 00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:11.960 in a different church, 00:12:12.700 --> 00:12:15.580 I got a call on the day of a wedding rehearsal 00:12:15.580 --> 00:12:17.659 from the bride-to-be. 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:22.759 She had been married once before, 00:12:23.779 --> 00:12:25.420 and her husband, 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:28.180 her and her husband were alcoholics, 00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:30.759 and while he was drunk, 00:12:30.759 --> 00:12:31.799 he cheated on her, 00:12:32.460 --> 00:12:32.939 and all, 00:12:33.019 --> 00:12:34.059 and their marriage broke up. 00:12:35.220 --> 00:12:37.819 She actually became a Christian 00:12:37.819 --> 00:12:40.019 and found Jesus actually, 00:12:40.139 --> 00:12:42.059 AA led to her becoming a Christian 00:12:42.059 --> 00:12:43.819 because she realized 00:12:43.819 --> 00:12:45.840 that there just wasn't a higher power 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:46.620 that would help her. 00:12:46.779 --> 00:12:48.340 She came to realize it was Jesus, 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:50.500 that he was in fact the higher power, 00:12:50.620 --> 00:12:51.879 and she became a Christian. 00:12:52.419 --> 00:12:53.740 And while she was in AA, 00:12:53.740 --> 00:12:54.740 she met another guy, 00:12:54.740 --> 00:12:56.860 and they decided to get married. 00:12:57.960 --> 00:12:59.379 And I get this call, 00:12:59.899 --> 00:13:02.960 and she said over the last month, 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:03.419 she said, 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:04.940 George, you might not pick up on it, 00:13:04.980 --> 00:13:06.019 but I was an alcoholic, 00:13:06.220 --> 00:13:10.080 and I was a drug user for a long time, 00:13:10.659 --> 00:13:11.860 and I start, 00:13:12.019 --> 00:13:12.740 over the last month, 00:13:12.779 --> 00:13:14.379 I started to see little hints 00:13:14.379 --> 00:13:15.720 that he was using again, 00:13:16.680 --> 00:13:18.360 and that he was drinking again. 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:19.379 Just little things, George. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:20.560 You might not notice it, 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:21.820 but there's just little things 00:13:21.820 --> 00:13:22.419 that I noticed, 00:13:22.419 --> 00:13:23.360 and she started to tell me 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:24.279 some of the little things 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:25.059 that she'd noticed. 00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:26.759 And she was telling me 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:27.779 because she was worried 00:13:27.779 --> 00:13:29.659 that he'd started drinking again 00:13:29.659 --> 00:13:31.479 and he'd started doing drugs again. 00:13:31.539 --> 00:13:31.979 And she said, 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:32.259 George, 00:13:32.379 --> 00:13:34.679 after my first marriage broke up, 00:13:34.719 --> 00:13:35.539 I made a vow 00:13:35.539 --> 00:13:37.339 as I started to work 00:13:37.339 --> 00:13:39.539 towards being sobriety, 00:13:39.539 --> 00:13:41.319 that I would never, 00:13:41.439 --> 00:13:42.959 never, ever, ever 00:13:42.959 --> 00:13:44.699 be married to an alcoholic 00:13:44.699 --> 00:13:45.959 or a drug addict again. 00:13:47.839 --> 00:13:49.539 And I think he's using. 00:13:50.500 --> 00:13:52.240 So this is a very, very long call. 00:13:53.099 --> 00:13:54.039 In the morning, 00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:55.919 towards the end of the call 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:57.000 or halfway through the call, 00:13:57.079 --> 00:13:58.019 we came to the conclusion 00:13:58.019 --> 00:13:59.419 we had to postpone the wedding. 00:14:01.339 --> 00:14:04.319 And so it was really hard for her, 00:14:04.459 --> 00:14:05.379 crying on the phone, 00:14:05.539 --> 00:14:08.099 and talked about the mechanics, 00:14:08.099 --> 00:14:09.899 and in fact, 00:14:10.339 --> 00:14:11.799 we did postpone the wedding. 00:14:12.740 --> 00:14:13.799 He was furious, 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:17.459 but it also became obvious 00:14:17.459 --> 00:14:18.539 over the next few days 00:14:18.539 --> 00:14:20.120 that what she had suspected 00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:20.759 was correct. 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:22.399 He had gone back to using drugs, 00:14:22.500 --> 00:14:24.019 and he had gone back to alcoholism, 00:14:24.019 --> 00:14:25.740 and it was heartbreaking for her 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:27.960 that the man that she thought 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:29.679 she would spend the rest of her life with, 00:14:29.779 --> 00:14:30.720 that their marriage 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:32.240 was going to have to be called off. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:33.980 And you could well imagine 00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:36.159 in a similar type of thing here 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:37.679 what was going on with Joseph. 00:14:38.460 --> 00:14:40.299 The very heart of the Christian story 00:14:40.299 --> 00:14:41.080 is heartbreak. 00:14:42.039 --> 00:14:42.960 The Christian story, 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:43.899 the Christmas story, 00:14:43.899 --> 00:14:47.519 the biblical Christian Christmas story, 00:14:48.019 --> 00:14:48.799 is heartbreak. 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:52.360 And Joseph isn't rash. 00:14:54.319 --> 00:14:59.959 He's trying to just sort of process it all, 00:15:00.019 --> 00:15:00.980 and he's not rash. 00:15:01.439 --> 00:15:03.100 And because he's not rash, 00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:04.720 because he wasn't a hothead, 00:15:05.579 --> 00:15:07.319 God does something very surprising. 00:15:07.579 --> 00:15:09.319 Let's see what happens in verse 20. 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:10.740 Verse 20, 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:12.279 But as he considered these things, 00:15:12.419 --> 00:15:13.580 behold, an angel of the Lord 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:14.759 appeared to him in a dream, 00:15:15.500 --> 00:15:15.820 saying, 00:15:16.560 --> 00:15:18.440 Joseph, son of David, 00:15:19.180 --> 00:15:22.180 do not fear to take Mary as your wife, 00:15:22.899 --> 00:15:24.899 for that which is conceived in her 00:15:24.899 --> 00:15:26.120 is from the Holy Spirit. 00:15:27.060 --> 00:15:28.120 She will bear a son, 00:15:28.700 --> 00:15:30.320 and you shall call his name Jesus, 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:33.440 for he will save his people 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:35.120 from their sins. 00:15:36.180 --> 00:15:37.480 That's what the angel said. 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:39.480 And then Matthew comments, 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:40.960 all this took place 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:42.259 to fulfill what the Lord 00:15:42.259 --> 00:15:43.440 had spoken by the prophet. 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:44.519 Behold, 00:15:44.659 --> 00:15:45.920 the virgin shall conceive 00:15:45.920 --> 00:15:46.680 and bear a son, 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:48.360 and they shall call his name Emmanuel, 00:15:48.600 --> 00:15:50.220 which means God with us. 00:15:51.139 --> 00:15:52.779 Just sort of pause here for a second. 00:15:53.539 --> 00:15:53.700 You know, 00:15:53.740 --> 00:15:54.279 one of the things, 00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:55.460 why a dream? 00:15:56.340 --> 00:15:57.860 This is just me speculating. 00:15:58.080 --> 00:15:58.899 This isn't God. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:15:59.860 It doesn't say in the text, 00:15:59.960 --> 00:16:00.379 why a dream? 00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:01.500 You know, 00:16:01.560 --> 00:16:03.259 I've been thinking about this a lot, 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:03.639 obviously, 00:16:03.740 --> 00:16:04.860 because I knew I was going to preach on it. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:05.600 And this time, 00:16:05.659 --> 00:16:06.560 as I've been thinking about it, 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:10.279 I wonder if the reason that God appears to Joseph in a dream, 00:16:12.839 --> 00:16:13.059 you know, 00:16:13.059 --> 00:16:13.739 some of us, 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:15.359 when we're really betrayed, 00:16:15.579 --> 00:16:16.679 when we're really distraught, 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:19.099 we can't think of something without crying. 00:16:19.100 --> 00:16:23.560 Or we can't even think, 00:16:23.700 --> 00:16:24.000 period. 00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:26.580 Our mind just goes round and round 00:16:26.580 --> 00:16:28.180 and round and round and round. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:29.820 We are just so depressed, 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:32.360 so unable to make any type of decision, 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:34.220 so just, 00:16:36.180 --> 00:16:37.259 that some of us, 00:16:37.379 --> 00:16:38.440 if you're at all like me, 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:39.540 you can have times in your life 00:16:39.540 --> 00:16:41.019 where your mind not only races, 00:16:41.259 --> 00:16:43.040 but also doesn't seem to move at all. 00:16:44.040 --> 00:16:44.940 How can that happen, 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:46.000 that it can both race 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:47.440 and not move at all? 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:49.320 And then when you finally do think, 00:16:49.580 --> 00:16:51.060 all you can think of is crying? 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:53.340 And it might be that the only way 00:16:53.340 --> 00:16:55.240 that God could get Joseph's attention 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:56.740 was when he was sleeping. 00:16:57.380 --> 00:16:58.020 I don't know. 00:16:58.820 --> 00:16:59.780 Heaven will find out. 00:16:59.900 --> 00:17:00.980 We'll ask God, 00:17:01.620 --> 00:17:03.060 why did you do it that way? 00:17:03.300 --> 00:17:04.180 But he did it that way. 00:17:05.820 --> 00:17:07.960 And it's really remarkable. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.039 God speaks to Joseph 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.320 through the angel. 00:17:13.319 --> 00:17:15.439 And 00:17:15.439 --> 00:17:18.319 he, 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:19.980 what happens, 00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:21.000 and this is what happens 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:21.759 in all the Bible, 00:17:21.859 --> 00:17:22.859 this is what you have to understand 00:17:22.859 --> 00:17:23.960 about the Christian faith, 00:17:24.700 --> 00:17:25.759 is that it's not just 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:27.019 that God does something 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:28.960 and then just leaves it alone, 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:30.259 but God does something 00:17:30.259 --> 00:17:31.980 and explains what he's doing. 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:34.119 He helps us to understand 00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:35.679 the meaning of what he's doing. 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:37.159 And often, 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:39.259 he not only tells us 00:17:39.259 --> 00:17:40.200 what he's done 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:41.139 or what he's doing 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:42.220 or what he will do, 00:17:42.320 --> 00:17:43.380 and he tells us 00:17:43.380 --> 00:17:44.180 what it means, 00:17:44.280 --> 00:17:45.480 but he often tells us 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:46.740 how we should respond 00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:48.320 as well. 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:49.700 And so, 00:17:49.860 --> 00:17:51.340 that's what God 00:17:51.340 --> 00:17:52.259 is doing here. 00:17:53.100 --> 00:17:54.100 In the story 00:17:54.100 --> 00:17:55.259 we looked at last week, 00:17:55.320 --> 00:17:56.200 we found out 00:17:56.200 --> 00:17:58.300 how God spoke to Mary 00:17:58.300 --> 00:17:59.300 and how it was 00:17:59.300 --> 00:18:00.140 that she agreed 00:18:00.140 --> 00:18:03.340 that she would allow 00:18:03.340 --> 00:18:05.240 the Most High God, 00:18:06.340 --> 00:18:07.080 his presence 00:18:07.080 --> 00:18:08.259 to overshadow her 00:18:08.259 --> 00:18:09.119 and the Holy Spirit 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:10.400 to come upon her. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:12.940 And she agreed 00:18:12.940 --> 00:18:14.640 that the Most High God 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:16.720 would do a miracle 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:17.500 of creation 00:18:17.500 --> 00:18:18.680 within her womb 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:21.140 so that the Most High God 00:18:21.140 --> 00:18:22.420 himself would enter 00:18:22.420 --> 00:18:24.119 his own created order 00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:25.220 as a zygote 00:18:25.220 --> 00:18:27.660 in the womb of Mary. 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:29.960 And that's what we heard 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:30.720 last week. 00:18:31.900 --> 00:18:33.359 And now we see 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:36.339 God telling Joseph, 00:18:36.339 --> 00:18:38.419 what do we see again? 00:18:38.659 --> 00:18:39.259 He says, 00:18:39.399 --> 00:18:40.740 actually that crazy, 00:18:40.899 --> 00:18:41.599 cockamamie, 00:18:41.799 --> 00:18:44.539 eye-rolling story 00:18:44.539 --> 00:18:46.059 that's the butt of jokes, 00:18:46.419 --> 00:18:48.019 it actually is true. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:51.039 That which is conceived 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:51.419 in her 00:18:51.419 --> 00:18:52.759 is from the Holy Spirit 00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:53.519 in verse 20. 00:18:54.679 --> 00:18:56.139 And she will bear a son 00:18:56.139 --> 00:18:57.859 and you shall call 00:18:57.859 --> 00:18:58.799 his name Jesus. 00:18:59.399 --> 00:19:00.220 Why will you call 00:19:00.220 --> 00:19:00.919 his name Jesus? 00:19:01.099 --> 00:19:02.519 Jesus is the Greek version 00:19:02.519 --> 00:19:03.359 of the Greek, 00:19:03.579 --> 00:19:04.539 the English version 00:19:04.539 --> 00:19:05.379 of the Greek version 00:19:05.380 --> 00:19:06.680 of the Jewish word 00:19:06.680 --> 00:19:08.680 Joshua, 00:19:09.300 --> 00:19:10.460 which was actually 00:19:10.460 --> 00:19:11.760 pronounced Yosef, 00:19:12.140 --> 00:19:12.780 somehow or another 00:19:12.780 --> 00:19:13.620 became Jesus, 00:19:13.880 --> 00:19:14.500 but it means 00:19:14.500 --> 00:19:15.360 God saves. 00:19:16.500 --> 00:19:17.960 And this particular baby, 00:19:18.080 --> 00:19:19.080 lots of Jewish boys 00:19:19.080 --> 00:19:20.000 were called Joshua 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:21.040 or Jesus back then, 00:19:21.080 --> 00:19:22.680 but this particular baby 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:23.580 is going to be called 00:19:23.580 --> 00:19:24.880 Jesus because 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:26.360 he actually is the one 00:19:26.360 --> 00:19:27.200 who will save 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:28.200 his people 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:29.680 from their sins. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:29.779 Jesus. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:33.180 And so, 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:34.380 God says, 00:19:34.660 --> 00:19:35.740 as this boy grows, 00:19:35.860 --> 00:19:37.060 I want his name, 00:19:37.180 --> 00:19:37.980 his very name 00:19:37.980 --> 00:19:38.660 to mean 00:19:38.660 --> 00:19:40.460 exactly who he is 00:19:40.460 --> 00:19:41.360 and what he'll do. 00:19:43.299 --> 00:19:44.140 And then, 00:19:44.840 --> 00:19:45.400 Matthew, 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:47.060 because Matthew's 00:19:47.060 --> 00:19:47.900 written this after, 00:19:48.539 --> 00:19:50.580 after he's left 00:19:50.580 --> 00:19:51.180 his life 00:19:51.180 --> 00:19:52.539 of being a betrayer 00:19:52.539 --> 00:19:53.320 of his people 00:19:53.320 --> 00:19:55.160 and a traitor 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:56.180 to his people 00:19:56.180 --> 00:19:58.180 and a man 00:19:58.180 --> 00:19:59.360 filled with greed 00:19:59.360 --> 00:20:00.440 and debauchery 00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:01.039 and he's left 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:01.620 all of that 00:20:01.620 --> 00:20:02.720 because he met Jesus 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:03.980 and he's been 00:20:03.980 --> 00:20:05.519 one who saw, 00:20:06.840 --> 00:20:07.900 was with Jesus 00:20:07.900 --> 00:20:08.960 on the night 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:09.560 before he was 00:20:09.560 --> 00:20:10.060 betrayed 00:20:10.060 --> 00:20:11.700 in the upper room 00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:13.640 and he was with 00:20:13.640 --> 00:20:14.900 Jesus in the garden 00:20:14.900 --> 00:20:17.000 when Jesus 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:21.180 prayed out loud 00:20:21.180 --> 00:20:22.140 asking the cup 00:20:22.140 --> 00:20:23.160 to be taken from him 00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:23.660 and he was 00:20:23.660 --> 00:20:24.160 one of the ones 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:24.860 who fell asleep 00:20:24.860 --> 00:20:25.460 and didn't hear 00:20:25.460 --> 00:20:26.040 all that Jesus 00:20:26.040 --> 00:20:26.740 had to say 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:27.980 and he was 00:20:27.980 --> 00:20:28.360 the one 00:20:28.360 --> 00:20:29.019 who was there 00:20:29.019 --> 00:20:30.320 when the soldiers 00:20:30.320 --> 00:20:31.320 captured Jesus 00:20:31.320 --> 00:20:32.300 and he was 00:20:32.300 --> 00:20:32.840 one of the ones 00:20:32.840 --> 00:20:33.620 who ran away 00:20:33.620 --> 00:20:35.019 and he was 00:20:35.019 --> 00:20:35.820 one of the ones 00:20:35.820 --> 00:20:36.500 who wasn't 00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:37.140 actually there 00:20:37.140 --> 00:20:37.640 when Jesus 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:38.480 got crucified 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:39.240 because he was 00:20:39.240 --> 00:20:39.680 hiding, 00:20:39.840 --> 00:20:40.320 because he was 00:20:40.320 --> 00:20:40.759 afraid 00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:42.500 and he was 00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:43.180 one of the ones 00:20:43.180 --> 00:20:43.560 who knew 00:20:43.560 --> 00:20:44.019 that Jesus 00:20:44.019 --> 00:20:44.800 actually died 00:20:44.800 --> 00:20:45.519 on the cross 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:47.040 and he was 00:20:47.040 --> 00:20:47.580 one of the ones 00:20:47.580 --> 00:20:47.860 who knew 00:20:47.860 --> 00:20:48.240 exactly 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:48.840 where Jesus 00:20:48.840 --> 00:20:49.519 was buried 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:51.019 and he was 00:20:51.019 --> 00:20:51.840 one of the ones 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:54.199 who on that Easter Sunday 00:20:54.199 --> 00:20:56.000 Jesus appeared to 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:58.439 in a locked room 00:20:58.439 --> 00:21:00.319 in his resurrected body 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:02.059 to tell him 00:21:02.059 --> 00:21:04.759 that the grave is empty 00:21:04.759 --> 00:21:07.039 that all of my words 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:09.220 of saying that I would rise from the dead 00:21:09.220 --> 00:21:10.819 I would die on the cross 00:21:10.819 --> 00:21:12.279 and I would rise from the dead 00:21:12.279 --> 00:21:13.539 here you see me 00:21:13.539 --> 00:21:15.000 I did die on the cross 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:16.839 I did rise from the dead 00:21:16.839 --> 00:21:17.919 the tomb is empty 00:21:17.919 --> 00:21:20.139 and Matthew would have seen Jesus 00:21:20.139 --> 00:21:21.220 he would have seen him 00:21:21.220 --> 00:21:22.539 and been able to touch him 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:23.579 and hold him 00:21:23.579 --> 00:21:26.039 and he would have spent 40 days with Jesus 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:27.880 and he saw Jesus ascend from heaven 00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:29.140 and he would have had 00:21:29.140 --> 00:21:31.700 all those years of being taught by Jesus 00:21:31.700 --> 00:21:34.539 including that time after Jesus' death 00:21:34.539 --> 00:21:35.720 and his resurrection 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:36.900 before his ascension 00:21:36.900 --> 00:21:39.640 and so Matthew who was taught by Jesus 00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:41.759 he adds that not only is Jesus 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:43.920 the one who would save his people 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:44.920 from their sins 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:47.500 but he adds in verse 22 00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:49.640 all this took place to fulfill 00:21:49.640 --> 00:21:52.259 what the Lord had spoken by the prophet 00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:57.560 behold the virgin shall conceive 00:21:57.560 --> 00:21:58.440 and bear a son 00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:00.340 and they shall call his name Emmanuel 00:22:00.340 --> 00:22:02.000 which means God with us 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:05.100 and what Matthew is saying here 00:22:05.100 --> 00:22:06.520 is that there is one Lord 00:22:06.520 --> 00:22:07.700 there is one God 00:22:07.700 --> 00:22:08.880 who truly exists 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:10.080 who truly speaks 00:22:10.080 --> 00:22:11.460 and the same Lord 00:22:11.460 --> 00:22:13.980 who spoke over 600 years earlier 00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:15.460 through the prophet Isaiah 00:22:15.460 --> 00:22:18.140 prophesying that there would be a time 00:22:18.140 --> 00:22:19.700 when there would be a man 00:22:19.700 --> 00:22:21.100 who would walk among us 00:22:21.100 --> 00:22:24.600 and he would be God with us 00:22:24.600 --> 00:22:26.060 and the same Lord 00:22:26.060 --> 00:22:28.840 who spoke 600 years earlier 00:22:28.840 --> 00:22:29.880 is the same Lord 00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:33.000 who has just spoken to Joseph 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:33.960 through the angel 00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:34.880 who says 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:38.720 this baby is going to be from me 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:40.780 he is God who saves 00:22:40.780 --> 00:22:42.320 and it's the same God 00:22:42.320 --> 00:22:43.500 who speaks to the angel 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:45.160 who spoke 600 years earlier 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:47.460 and this is such a profound comfort 00:22:47.460 --> 00:22:48.700 for those of us 00:22:48.700 --> 00:22:49.580 who are Christians 00:22:49.580 --> 00:22:51.580 because the Lord God 00:22:51.580 --> 00:22:53.240 does not act on a whim 00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:56.700 he does not flip coins 00:22:56.700 --> 00:22:57.320 to figure out 00:22:57.320 --> 00:22:58.600 what he wants to do next 00:22:58.600 --> 00:22:59.720 it isn't as if 00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:00.640 he makes a promise 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:01.440 or a prediction 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:02.920 and then down the road 00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:03.200 he said 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:04.980 dang I didn't foresee that happening 00:23:04.980 --> 00:23:06.180 or dang I wish 00:23:06.180 --> 00:23:07.360 they'd made that other decision 00:23:07.360 --> 00:23:08.820 gosh I have to come up 00:23:08.820 --> 00:23:09.660 with a plan B 00:23:09.660 --> 00:23:10.440 or plan C 00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:11.140 or plan D 00:23:11.140 --> 00:23:12.019 or plan E 00:23:12.019 --> 00:23:14.400 he's not caught by surprise 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:15.019 by events 00:23:15.019 --> 00:23:16.019 the same Lord 00:23:16.019 --> 00:23:18.180 who can speak 600 years earlier 00:23:18.180 --> 00:23:20.059 is the same one who speaks 00:23:20.059 --> 00:23:21.240 because the things 00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:22.099 which he has said 00:23:22.099 --> 00:23:23.480 have been accomplished 00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:26.359 and so it is 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:27.500 when we read his word 00:23:27.500 --> 00:23:28.619 it is the same Lord 00:23:28.619 --> 00:23:29.319 who speaks 00:23:29.319 --> 00:23:30.680 and we can trust it 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:38.680 a person this week 00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:40.139 asked me in a conversation 00:23:40.140 --> 00:23:41.840 why I should believe 00:23:41.840 --> 00:23:42.840 anything like this 00:23:42.840 --> 00:23:46.820 and I said 00:23:46.820 --> 00:23:47.340 the resurrection 00:23:47.340 --> 00:23:48.620 changes everything 00:23:48.620 --> 00:23:51.020 the resurrection 00:23:51.020 --> 00:23:52.200 changes everything 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:54.000 that's why you believe it 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:54.660 I mean there's more 00:23:54.660 --> 00:23:55.220 to it than that 00:23:55.220 --> 00:23:55.840 but that's why 00:23:55.840 --> 00:23:57.500 that's why you believe it 00:23:57.500 --> 00:24:00.240 so what's Joseph's response 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:01.780 well that comes up 00:24:01.780 --> 00:24:02.820 in these next few verses 00:24:02.820 --> 00:24:03.900 which are really important 00:24:03.900 --> 00:24:04.800 then we'll just draw out 00:24:04.800 --> 00:24:05.480 a couple of the 00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:06.860 implications of this 00:24:06.860 --> 00:24:07.600 whole story 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:09.939 so when Joseph 00:24:09.939 --> 00:24:11.259 verse 24 00:24:11.259 --> 00:24:12.559 when he woke from sleep 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:14.539 he did as the angel 00:24:14.539 --> 00:24:14.939 of the Lord 00:24:14.939 --> 00:24:15.679 commanded him 00:24:15.679 --> 00:24:17.519 he took his wife 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:19.000 but knew her not 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:20.240 until she had given birth 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:20.919 to a son 00:24:20.919 --> 00:24:22.919 and he called his name 00:24:22.919 --> 00:24:24.039 Jesus 00:24:24.039 --> 00:24:29.980 you know once 00:24:29.980 --> 00:24:30.679 this whole 00:24:30.679 --> 00:24:32.379 sermon began 00:24:32.379 --> 00:24:33.139 with the problems 00:24:33.139 --> 00:24:33.740 of betrayal 00:24:33.740 --> 00:24:34.599 and the problems 00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:35.399 of unhappiness 00:24:35.399 --> 00:24:35.899 and the problems 00:24:35.900 --> 00:24:36.519 of sadness 00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:38.920 and we gloss over 00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:40.000 this very very quickly 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:40.600 but what 00:24:40.600 --> 00:24:42.180 Joseph did 00:24:42.180 --> 00:24:43.140 is Joseph 00:24:43.140 --> 00:24:44.259 embraced 00:24:44.259 --> 00:24:45.840 stigma 00:24:45.840 --> 00:24:48.200 and he embraced 00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:49.900 being terribly 00:24:49.900 --> 00:24:50.740 thought of 00:24:50.740 --> 00:24:51.800 by his family 00:24:51.800 --> 00:24:52.519 his friends 00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:53.160 his neighbors 00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:54.040 his co-workers 00:24:54.040 --> 00:24:54.780 and his communion 00:24:54.780 --> 00:24:56.360 and he embraced 00:24:56.360 --> 00:24:59.460 the stigma 00:24:59.460 --> 00:25:00.860 and the eye rolling 00:25:00.860 --> 00:25:01.920 and the name calling 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:03.000 that would be with him 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:04.240 until he died 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:05.200 because we know 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:06.559 from other sources 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:07.859 that Joseph died 00:25:07.859 --> 00:25:09.039 before Jesus 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:10.440 died and rose 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:11.120 from the dead 00:25:11.120 --> 00:25:12.039 it might very well 00:25:12.039 --> 00:25:12.620 be that 00:25:12.620 --> 00:25:13.480 after 00:25:13.480 --> 00:25:15.000 after the resurrection 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:15.859 that some people 00:25:15.859 --> 00:25:16.460 in Bethlehem 00:25:16.460 --> 00:25:17.339 came up to Mary 00:25:17.339 --> 00:25:18.740 and maybe with tears 00:25:18.740 --> 00:25:19.099 said 00:25:19.099 --> 00:25:20.759 we feel so bad 00:25:20.759 --> 00:25:22.120 we called you names 00:25:22.120 --> 00:25:22.740 for decades 00:25:22.740 --> 00:25:23.420 now we know 00:25:23.420 --> 00:25:24.099 that what you said 00:25:24.099 --> 00:25:24.660 is true 00:25:24.660 --> 00:25:28.240 and Mary 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:29.160 may have got 00:25:29.160 --> 00:25:30.380 to experience that 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:30.880 but Joseph 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:31.559 never did 00:25:31.559 --> 00:25:32.799 he never did 00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:34.480 he was one of 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:35.720 two crazy people 00:25:35.720 --> 00:25:37.700 oh yeah 00:25:37.700 --> 00:25:39.240 babies come by 00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:40.240 the Holy Spirit 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:42.619 pigs fly 00:25:42.619 --> 00:25:44.139 you know 00:25:44.139 --> 00:25:46.240 and he would have 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:47.039 embraced that 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:48.919 he would have 00:25:48.919 --> 00:25:49.559 embraced 00:25:49.559 --> 00:25:51.059 all the stigma 00:25:51.059 --> 00:25:54.200 and all the name calling 00:25:54.200 --> 00:25:56.220 that would have 00:25:56.220 --> 00:25:57.879 gone along with it 00:25:57.880 --> 00:26:02.640 this past week 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:03.440 I got to go 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:05.260 to a school 00:26:05.260 --> 00:26:06.720 elementary school 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:07.140 play 00:26:07.140 --> 00:26:07.400 for 00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:08.640 performance 00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:09.640 for Christmas 00:26:09.640 --> 00:26:11.620 my 00:26:11.620 --> 00:26:12.660 one of my 00:26:12.660 --> 00:26:13.200 grandchildren 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:13.760 was in it 00:26:13.760 --> 00:26:14.120 two of my 00:26:14.120 --> 00:26:14.560 grandchildren 00:26:14.560 --> 00:26:15.080 when I got 00:26:15.080 --> 00:26:16.240 Louise and I 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:16.860 went to it 00:26:16.860 --> 00:26:18.280 and it was 00:26:18.280 --> 00:26:19.000 a great 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:19.640 great play 00:26:19.640 --> 00:26:20.600 wonderful people 00:26:20.600 --> 00:26:21.300 it was way out 00:26:21.300 --> 00:26:21.880 in the country 00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:22.360 it was good 00:26:22.360 --> 00:26:23.200 to spend time 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:24.100 with rural people 00:26:24.100 --> 00:26:25.140 and just be 00:26:25.140 --> 00:26:25.540 in the midst 00:26:25.540 --> 00:26:25.940 of it 00:26:25.940 --> 00:26:26.799 and of course 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:27.340 all the kids 00:26:27.340 --> 00:26:27.820 were cute 00:26:27.820 --> 00:26:28.539 my grandkids 00:26:28.539 --> 00:26:28.980 were cute 00:26:28.980 --> 00:26:29.500 of course 00:26:29.500 --> 00:26:31.039 and the whole 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:31.539 play was around 00:26:31.539 --> 00:26:31.799 of course 00:26:31.799 --> 00:26:32.320 the true meaning 00:26:32.320 --> 00:26:32.799 of Christmas 00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:33.680 and the whole 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:34.759 point of the play 00:26:34.759 --> 00:26:35.820 was that there 00:26:35.820 --> 00:26:36.400 had been a huge 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:37.320 storm that had 00:26:37.320 --> 00:26:37.559 come 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:38.140 and all of 00:26:38.140 --> 00:26:38.660 the kids 00:26:38.660 --> 00:26:39.140 were going 00:26:39.140 --> 00:26:39.860 to be stuck 00:26:39.860 --> 00:26:40.460 in the school 00:26:40.460 --> 00:26:41.220 over Christmas 00:26:41.220 --> 00:26:42.080 with the teachers 00:26:42.080 --> 00:26:42.920 not the play 00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:43.460 it was the ongoing 00:26:43.460 --> 00:26:44.140 thing of all the 00:26:44.140 --> 00:26:44.860 music and everything 00:26:44.860 --> 00:26:45.480 like that 00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:46.380 and of course 00:26:46.380 --> 00:26:47.039 the whole point 00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:47.539 was to bring 00:26:47.539 --> 00:26:48.100 us up to the 00:26:48.100 --> 00:26:48.500 end 00:26:48.500 --> 00:26:49.440 with what the 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:49.840 true meaning 00:26:49.840 --> 00:26:50.360 of Christmas 00:26:50.360 --> 00:26:50.740 is 00:26:50.740 --> 00:26:51.160 and what the 00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:51.600 true meaning 00:26:51.600 --> 00:26:52.140 of Christmas 00:26:52.140 --> 00:26:52.860 is of course 00:26:52.860 --> 00:26:53.279 is to be 00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:53.620 with your 00:26:53.620 --> 00:26:54.180 friends 00:26:54.180 --> 00:26:55.059 to be with 00:26:55.059 --> 00:26:55.480 your loved 00:26:55.480 --> 00:26:55.720 ones 00:26:55.720 --> 00:26:59.240 It's not to be at the mall, it's not to be shopping, it's to be with your loved ones. 00:26:59.819 --> 00:27:10.660 And, you know, it was a very, very, very well-told tale of what, in our secular culture, in Canadian culture, there's two types of Christmases. 00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:17.380 There's the bad Christmas, which we sort of practice but we think we should feel mildly guilty about. 00:27:17.380 --> 00:27:29.580 And the bad Christmas is just eating to excess, drinking to excess, shopping to excess, buying all sorts of things that we don't need and giving them to people we don't necessarily like and using money we don't have. 00:27:30.020 --> 00:27:33.200 All just to make people we don't like happy. 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:44.840 And then on the other side, there's, you know, the real meaning of Christmas, which is, of course, being with your family and your friends and chestnuts roasting on an open fire and I'll be home for Christmas and all of that type of stuff. 00:27:44.839 --> 00:27:57.079 And, you know, the hard thing about that story and even with that play, I was thinking about how hard would it be for a child who's being bullied in that school to be locked in that school over Christmas. 00:27:57.379 --> 00:27:58.759 That's what, I have a weird mind. 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:01.179 That's what went through my mind. 00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:05.339 Because you know that in every elementary school, there are kids who are bullied. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:06.879 Right? 00:28:08.919 --> 00:28:10.919 Every elementary school, there's kids who are bullied. 00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:21.120 And you see, there's no place for that really in this secular narrative of Christmas. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:22.759 There really isn't. 00:28:24.600 --> 00:28:29.300 And so that's why the Christmas, the Christian story of Christmas is so powerful. 00:28:29.299 --> 00:28:49.799 And we as Christians need to, in a sense, almost shut our ears to chestnuts roasting on an open fire and I'll be home for Christmas and all of that stuff and be to remember the Christian story and to be reconnected to it and to recommit to it and to rejoice in it and to live out of it. 00:28:50.460 --> 00:28:53.059 If you could put up the first point, Andrew, that would be very helpful. 00:28:53.059 --> 00:28:59.799 In the mess and complexity of real life, Jesus is God with us. 00:29:01.139 --> 00:29:03.940 See, when you look at the story, there's all this mess. 00:29:04.039 --> 00:29:05.119 There's all this complexity. 00:29:05.700 --> 00:29:07.059 There's a very, very good reason. 00:29:08.299 --> 00:29:09.720 We're not going to be looking at it. 00:29:11.139 --> 00:29:15.500 Well, Jonathan might look at it a tiny bit on the 6th of January. 00:29:15.619 --> 00:29:16.039 But I don't know. 00:29:16.159 --> 00:29:18.059 I think his focus will be on something else. 00:29:18.059 --> 00:29:33.200 But it's because of ostracism and the crowds that Mary and Joseph probably don't have a place indoors to have the baby. 00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:38.919 Like, it's probably social ostracism. 00:29:39.119 --> 00:29:39.940 I mean, there's crowds. 00:29:40.139 --> 00:29:42.839 There'd be, you know, face-saving excuses. 00:29:43.099 --> 00:29:44.659 But it's probably ostracism. 00:29:44.660 --> 00:29:49.759 Their life was complicated and their life was messy. 00:29:50.519 --> 00:29:53.700 And that's why the name of Jesus is so powerful. 00:29:54.100 --> 00:29:58.820 In the mess and complexity of real life, Jesus is God with us. 00:29:59.320 --> 00:30:04.820 You see, the fact of the matter is that all of us, maybe some of us don't have a very messy or complicated life right now. 00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:07.460 Maybe some of us are in a season of life where it's very simple. 00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:10.100 But just wait. 00:30:12.740 --> 00:30:13.519 Just wait. 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:15.519 It's coming. 00:30:17.079 --> 00:30:18.220 It'll get messy. 00:30:18.539 --> 00:30:19.660 It'll get complicated. 00:30:19.819 --> 00:30:20.359 Just wait. 00:30:21.799 --> 00:30:26.000 And at Christmas, we can remember Jesus is God with us. 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:30.319 I mean, in the mess and complexity of Mary and Joseph's life. 00:30:30.379 --> 00:30:33.240 And more than that, in the sin. 00:30:34.460 --> 00:30:37.240 You know, this is an old cultural reference. 00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:38.259 Some of you won't get it. 00:30:38.259 --> 00:30:40.200 But remember the original Matrix film. 00:30:41.420 --> 00:30:43.240 And the machine. 00:30:43.740 --> 00:30:51.039 There's this powerful scene in the Matrix film where it looks like the first one where it's like a machine. 00:30:51.539 --> 00:30:51.819 Sorry. 00:30:51.960 --> 00:30:53.400 I'm putting you to sleep with it. 00:30:53.400 --> 00:30:55.560 For those of you who have seen the movie, maybe you'll remember this bit. 00:30:56.460 --> 00:31:00.540 And the person who's embodying the machine. 00:31:01.040 --> 00:31:06.160 And he says with a sneer because he has the star sort of captured. 00:31:06.680 --> 00:31:11.720 And what he hates, he hates being in that world, that imaginary world. 00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:15.460 The smell, the sweat, the stink of it. 00:31:15.579 --> 00:31:16.860 And he says it was such scorn. 00:31:16.859 --> 00:31:24.459 But Jesus is God with us. 00:31:25.319 --> 00:31:44.119 Amidst the smell, amidst the stink, amidst the brokenness, amidst the shame, amidst the sin, amidst the coming death, amidst the happiness and the joy and the accomplishments, amidst empire and wars and battles, Jesus is God with us. 00:31:44.119 --> 00:31:54.019 And the whole story is so wonderful because the story shows that Jesus is God with us without crushing us, without turning us into blanks. 00:31:54.379 --> 00:32:01.199 And this whole truth that Jesus is God with us, he's with us because he's for us. 00:32:01.739 --> 00:32:04.679 He's with us and he won't betray us. 00:32:04.959 --> 00:32:07.899 He's with us and he won't abandon us. 00:32:08.019 --> 00:32:10.539 And he's with us to bear our sin. 00:32:10.899 --> 00:32:13.500 And he's with us to bear our shame. 00:32:13.500 --> 00:32:16.480 And he's with us to bear our accusations. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:19.619 And he's with us to be our righteousness. 00:32:19.960 --> 00:32:22.359 And he's with us to be our justification. 00:32:22.940 --> 00:32:28.799 So that the terrible weight of trying to justify ourselves all the time can be borne by him. 00:32:28.940 --> 00:32:34.420 Because it is so hard to bear the weight of always trying to justify yourself. 00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:39.680 When life is messy and complicated and sweaty and smelly and stinky. 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:42.619 And Jesus is God with us. 00:32:43.500 --> 00:32:46.319 The second point. 00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:52.440 In the mess and complexity of real life, Jesus is God's provision to save. 00:32:55.220 --> 00:32:57.079 Save sounds so extreme. 00:32:58.079 --> 00:33:01.720 You know, I don't watch most of the Netflix comic specials. 00:33:01.720 --> 00:33:02.880 I watch sometimes. 00:33:03.079 --> 00:33:04.140 I watch them sometimes. 00:33:05.140 --> 00:33:09.339 But you can just, I can guarantee you, if I was a comic, I'm coming out on the stage. 00:33:09.960 --> 00:33:12.380 And if my opening line was, are you saved? 00:33:12.759 --> 00:33:14.200 What would be the response to the crowd? 00:33:15.779 --> 00:33:16.980 Complete, exactly right. 00:33:17.860 --> 00:33:18.220 Overwhelming. 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:19.059 Ho, ho, ho. 00:33:19.059 --> 00:33:20.400 Falling over with laughter. 00:33:20.700 --> 00:33:21.299 Are you saved? 00:33:21.420 --> 00:33:22.360 Ho, ho, ho, ho. 00:33:23.620 --> 00:33:23.940 Overwhelming. 00:33:24.019 --> 00:33:25.420 It's a very corny word, isn't it? 00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:26.519 It's a very precious word. 00:33:26.519 --> 00:33:31.059 You know, I know of a person. 00:33:31.400 --> 00:33:32.700 This was in another church. 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:37.799 And the two people, they were sort of engaged. 00:33:38.339 --> 00:33:39.819 And they were living together. 00:33:40.980 --> 00:33:43.559 And he cheated on her. 00:33:44.299 --> 00:33:46.220 He cheated on her quite a few times. 00:33:46.339 --> 00:33:47.740 She finally found out about it. 00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:48.859 She confronted him. 00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:50.859 And what was his response? 00:33:50.859 --> 00:33:53.399 His response wasn't, oh, I'm so sorry. 00:33:54.240 --> 00:33:55.259 You know, honey, I want to be. 00:33:55.379 --> 00:33:56.179 No, no, no. 00:33:57.019 --> 00:33:59.719 His response was accusation. 00:34:00.039 --> 00:34:01.979 His response was the clenched fist. 00:34:02.419 --> 00:34:05.359 His response was the bared teeth. 00:34:05.699 --> 00:34:06.679 The going forward. 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:08.480 The attacking her character. 00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:12.659 The going after her and going after her and going after her and going after her. 00:34:12.839 --> 00:34:15.900 And he just got harder and harder and harder and harder. 00:34:16.460 --> 00:34:19.019 And many of us have known people like that. 00:34:19.019 --> 00:34:23.360 I know that sometimes in my job I have to confront somebody for having done something wrong. 00:34:23.460 --> 00:34:32.440 And I can tell within one second whether the person is going to be penitent or whether they're just going to come after me with both fists clenched. 00:34:32.440 --> 00:34:42.639 And the fact of the matter is, is that the Bible portrays the story that us human beings, when we turned our back on God, 00:34:43.200 --> 00:34:47.700 and we sought to be God's ourselves, 00:34:47.699 --> 00:34:54.199 our response was not one of instant, God have mercy on me. 00:34:56.199 --> 00:35:09.739 But of hiding, of accusation, of doubting, of the fist, of the bared teeth, of the pointing finger, of the self-righteousness. 00:35:09.739 --> 00:35:15.739 And our hearts became so hard that only God himself could save us. 00:35:19.239 --> 00:35:23.739 The word saved is a profound... 00:35:27.739 --> 00:35:29.839 It reveals our heart. 00:35:33.379 --> 00:35:35.199 It reveals our heart. 00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:35.239 It reveals our heart. 00:35:35.239 --> 00:35:35.259 It reveals our heart. 00:35:39.739 --> 00:35:43.719 As to whether we will continue in the hardness of our heart, 00:35:43.759 --> 00:35:46.359 or whether our hearts might possibly be broken, 00:35:46.500 --> 00:35:50.379 that we might repent and turn to the one who is God with us, 00:35:50.419 --> 00:35:52.099 who is the one who saves us, 00:35:52.179 --> 00:35:55.559 who is God's provision to make us right with him. 00:35:58.859 --> 00:36:01.000 And in the mess and complexity of real life, 00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:03.519 Jesus is God's provision to save. 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:11.840 He is the one who lived the life we could not live, 00:36:11.940 --> 00:36:14.059 and paid the penalty we could not pay. 00:36:18.059 --> 00:36:23.059 This week I was sharing with a fellow that the entire Christian faith is a response to news. 00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:25.219 That it's not good advice, 00:36:25.320 --> 00:36:26.360 it's not good rituals, 00:36:26.599 --> 00:36:27.679 it's not good laws, 00:36:27.780 --> 00:36:29.000 it's not good institutions, 00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:32.380 it's news of what God has done for us, 00:36:32.519 --> 00:36:34.559 that we could not do for ourselves, 00:36:34.679 --> 00:36:36.179 and could never do for ourselves. 00:36:37.500 --> 00:36:44.659 And we see that so perfectly illustrated here. 00:36:45.780 --> 00:36:47.579 Joseph is not crushed. 00:36:49.679 --> 00:36:52.380 He believes what God has said. 00:36:53.139 --> 00:36:54.420 He acts in obedience. 00:36:54.420 --> 00:36:55.139 I mean, 00:36:55.180 --> 00:36:56.880 now he's viewed as a hero, 00:36:57.200 --> 00:37:01.440 even though he would have died without knowing that any of that was true. 00:37:02.760 --> 00:37:04.220 If you could put up the final point, 00:37:04.340 --> 00:37:04.519 Andrew. 00:37:04.780 --> 00:37:05.300 So here's a, 00:37:05.820 --> 00:37:05.960 you know, 00:37:06.019 --> 00:37:06.159 this, 00:37:06.300 --> 00:37:08.059 if you sort of do a bit of a summary, 00:37:08.280 --> 00:37:09.659 this probably isn't perfect, 00:37:09.820 --> 00:37:11.820 and people who are Old Testament scholars, 00:37:12.260 --> 00:37:12.720 you know, 00:37:12.760 --> 00:37:13.460 if you just look, 00:37:13.860 --> 00:37:15.139 you look at the Ten Commandments, 00:37:15.200 --> 00:37:16.500 and how they talk about the Sabbath, 00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:17.980 and you look at the Old Testament, 00:37:18.119 --> 00:37:20.300 and how they talk about the different laws, 00:37:20.500 --> 00:37:22.380 there's a basic type of pattern, 00:37:22.380 --> 00:37:24.960 in terms of why it is that we remember things, 00:37:25.079 --> 00:37:26.940 why it is that we would have something like Christmas, 00:37:27.099 --> 00:37:31.059 why it is that we would tell these old stories over again, 00:37:31.099 --> 00:37:32.019 and enter into them, 00:37:32.340 --> 00:37:34.539 is that in celebration of his birth, 00:37:35.300 --> 00:37:36.680 we're to remember with others. 00:37:36.880 --> 00:37:38.160 In celebration of his birth, 00:37:38.260 --> 00:37:39.700 we are to rejoice with others. 00:37:39.880 --> 00:37:41.119 In celebration of his birth, 00:37:41.420 --> 00:37:43.140 we are to recommit with others. 00:37:43.619 --> 00:37:45.119 And in celebration of his birth, 00:37:45.460 --> 00:37:46.760 we are to feast with others. 00:37:47.480 --> 00:37:47.700 See, 00:37:47.820 --> 00:37:49.940 you can see how Canadian Christmas, 00:37:49.940 --> 00:37:50.980 secular Christmas, 00:37:50.980 --> 00:37:53.039 has bits and pieces of all of that. 00:37:54.019 --> 00:37:55.880 Only it has bits and pieces of it, 00:37:55.920 --> 00:37:57.460 without Jesus and without God. 00:37:58.300 --> 00:37:59.659 It has the feasting. 00:38:01.920 --> 00:38:03.700 It doesn't really have anything to remember, 00:38:04.099 --> 00:38:05.500 and the recommitment is, 00:38:05.700 --> 00:38:06.900 and reconnecting is with other, 00:38:07.260 --> 00:38:08.039 your family, 00:38:08.179 --> 00:38:08.780 if you can. 00:38:09.960 --> 00:38:11.179 But this story is, 00:38:11.920 --> 00:38:15.079 it's told so that we 00:38:15.079 --> 00:38:17.579 remember the story once again, 00:38:17.579 --> 00:38:18.880 because it's so easy to forget. 00:38:19.659 --> 00:38:20.179 But we always, 00:38:20.659 --> 00:38:22.920 you're doing exactly what it is that we should do, 00:38:23.000 --> 00:38:24.219 is we remember it with others, 00:38:24.299 --> 00:38:25.219 not just by ourselves, 00:38:25.319 --> 00:38:26.500 but we remember it with others. 00:38:26.960 --> 00:38:27.779 With other Christians, 00:38:27.880 --> 00:38:28.940 we remember the story. 00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:30.139 With others, 00:38:30.340 --> 00:38:31.199 we rejoice, 00:38:31.400 --> 00:38:32.460 we sing praise, 00:38:32.619 --> 00:38:34.500 we just are thankful for Jesus, 00:38:34.659 --> 00:38:35.179 and what he did. 00:38:35.239 --> 00:38:35.980 And with others, 00:38:36.500 --> 00:38:37.819 we recommit to Jesus, 00:38:37.980 --> 00:38:39.739 we recommit for what it is that he did, 00:38:39.819 --> 00:38:41.319 we recommit to understand, 00:38:41.460 --> 00:38:42.900 that even when our lives get very, 00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:44.139 very messy and complex, 00:38:44.319 --> 00:38:45.719 that Jesus is God with us, 00:38:45.719 --> 00:38:46.980 that he saved us, 00:38:47.019 --> 00:38:48.119 that he will not abandon us, 00:38:48.179 --> 00:38:49.359 that he will not betray us, 00:38:49.379 --> 00:38:51.579 that he's unfailingly our savior, 00:38:52.019 --> 00:38:53.480 that he has begun to save us, 00:38:53.500 --> 00:38:54.819 he will continue to save us, 00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:57.319 he will bring us to a completion of salvation, 00:38:57.319 --> 00:38:59.319 because he is the one who saves, 00:38:59.379 --> 00:39:01.480 it's not something that we do with ourselves. 00:39:01.619 --> 00:39:02.980 And after we've done all those things, 00:39:02.980 --> 00:39:03.739 we feast, 00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:06.239 and we feast with others. 00:39:07.279 --> 00:39:09.199 It's just an exhortation as we close. 00:39:11.039 --> 00:39:13.099 Some of you this Christmas might be very, 00:39:13.179 --> 00:39:13.359 very, 00:39:13.459 --> 00:39:13.659 very, 00:39:13.659 --> 00:39:15.139 very battered and bruised. 00:39:16.579 --> 00:39:16.779 And, 00:39:16.859 --> 00:39:19.259 it just might be that, 00:39:19.319 --> 00:39:21.359 it is what you need to just be by yourself. 00:39:21.460 --> 00:39:22.579 I'm not going to tell you how to grieve. 00:39:22.679 --> 00:39:22.779 You know, 00:39:22.819 --> 00:39:24.379 the Bible doesn't tell you how to grieve, 00:39:25.379 --> 00:39:26.559 how to process things. 00:39:26.599 --> 00:39:28.119 You can sort that out for yourself. 00:39:28.239 --> 00:39:29.879 So the one thing I would just say is to, 00:39:29.879 --> 00:39:31.079 to remember, 00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:33.839 to remind you that the devil always likes to keep you isolated. 00:39:36.119 --> 00:39:38.039 So come and gather with other Christians, 00:39:38.039 --> 00:39:38.899 and if, 00:39:39.019 --> 00:39:41.119 if other celebrations and feasts are good, 00:39:41.179 --> 00:39:42.859 then you should consider doing it. 00:39:42.860 --> 00:39:46.340 Just remember always that the devil will always tell you to keep yourself isolated, 00:39:46.460 --> 00:39:50.620 whereas the gospel is always drawing you into the Trinity, 00:39:51.300 --> 00:39:53.680 and into the people formed by the Trinity. 00:39:54.960 --> 00:39:55.920 And the other thing is, 00:39:55.960 --> 00:39:57.400 is that in your feasts, 00:39:57.519 --> 00:39:58.180 remember others, 00:39:58.280 --> 00:39:58.840 look around, 00:39:59.500 --> 00:40:01.099 invite others to come and be with you. 00:40:01.200 --> 00:40:01.360 I mean, 00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:02.440 that's the biblical pattern. 00:40:02.980 --> 00:40:04.579 Don't just feast by yourselves, 00:40:04.680 --> 00:40:06.059 or just with two or three of you. 00:40:06.880 --> 00:40:07.760 Open your eyes, 00:40:07.760 --> 00:40:08.440 and look around, 00:40:08.440 --> 00:40:09.760 and invite others to join. 00:40:09.920 --> 00:40:13.680 Maybe it's the single man across the street who doesn't have any family. 00:40:13.800 --> 00:40:15.520 Maybe it's somebody here in this church, 00:40:16.120 --> 00:40:19.020 but to invite others. 00:40:20.880 --> 00:40:22.020 Just before we pray, 00:40:22.140 --> 00:40:23.160 I'm going to show you a video. 00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:25.440 One of the things we do at Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, 00:40:25.520 --> 00:40:28.000 as I intersperse the sermon with videos, 00:40:28.820 --> 00:40:29.900 and let's just pray. 00:40:30.460 --> 00:40:30.740 And then, 00:40:30.780 --> 00:40:31.060 Andrew, 00:40:31.200 --> 00:40:31.880 as we're praying, 00:40:31.880 --> 00:40:34.260 you can get the video lined up. 00:40:34.300 --> 00:40:35.039 So let's just stand. 00:40:37.720 --> 00:40:38.079 Father, 00:40:38.160 --> 00:40:39.079 we ask that you would gently, 00:40:39.220 --> 00:40:41.559 but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us. 00:40:41.780 --> 00:40:42.059 Gently, 00:40:42.200 --> 00:40:44.019 but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us. 00:40:44.140 --> 00:40:44.360 Bring, 00:40:44.559 --> 00:40:44.800 Father, 00:40:44.940 --> 00:40:46.720 this Christmas story, 00:40:46.880 --> 00:40:48.160 the Christmas story, 00:40:48.240 --> 00:40:49.119 the gospel story. 00:40:49.220 --> 00:40:50.640 Bring it close to our hearts. 00:40:51.340 --> 00:40:51.539 Father, 00:40:51.680 --> 00:40:52.039 you know, 00:40:52.140 --> 00:40:53.160 those of us who are, 00:40:53.640 --> 00:40:54.860 maybe this story is, 00:40:55.079 --> 00:40:56.300 this sermon has brought up, 00:40:56.480 --> 00:40:58.460 the fact that we are the ones who've betrayed. 00:40:59.460 --> 00:41:01.539 We are the ones who have cheated. 00:41:01.539 --> 00:41:03.000 We are the ones who have broken. 00:41:03.259 --> 00:41:03.500 Father, 00:41:05.099 --> 00:41:07.440 we thank you that we can bring our sin to you. 00:41:09.579 --> 00:41:12.179 We thank you that Jesus has paid for our sin. 00:41:13.039 --> 00:41:13.659 And we ask, 00:41:13.960 --> 00:41:14.039 Father, 00:41:14.139 --> 00:41:15.500 that as we're gripped by the gospel, 00:41:15.639 --> 00:41:18.159 that you will show us how to amend our lives, 00:41:18.340 --> 00:41:19.820 and how to apologize, 00:41:20.219 --> 00:41:20.759 and how to make, 00:41:21.579 --> 00:41:22.739 how to seek reconciliation. 00:41:23.199 --> 00:41:23.380 Father, 00:41:23.480 --> 00:41:24.159 for others, 00:41:24.300 --> 00:41:25.340 maybe we have been betrayed. 00:41:25.440 --> 00:41:25.980 We are broken. 00:41:26.119 --> 00:41:26.739 We are alone. 00:41:27.340 --> 00:41:27.779 And Father, 00:41:27.820 --> 00:41:30.500 we ask that you would turn our hearts to Jesus as well. 00:41:31.179 --> 00:41:31.599 And Father, 00:41:31.699 --> 00:41:32.340 for those of us, 00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:33.960 we are in a wonderful season of life, 00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:34.780 and we are healthy, 00:41:34.880 --> 00:41:35.940 and our family is good, 00:41:36.000 --> 00:41:37.099 and we have a great family. 00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:37.619 And Father, 00:41:38.119 --> 00:41:40.619 thank you so much for those of us who can say that. 00:41:40.679 --> 00:41:41.159 And we ask, 00:41:41.300 --> 00:41:41.480 Father, 00:41:41.559 --> 00:41:43.719 that you help us as well to remember Jesus, 00:41:43.880 --> 00:41:44.960 to recommit to him, 00:41:45.559 --> 00:41:46.920 to celebrate his birth, 00:41:47.019 --> 00:41:47.480 to feast, 00:41:47.579 --> 00:41:48.519 not only with ourselves, 00:41:48.639 --> 00:41:49.280 but with others, 00:41:49.380 --> 00:41:51.840 that you might grant us generous and open hearts, 00:41:52.119 --> 00:41:54.420 and hearts that notice the one who is alone, 00:41:54.539 --> 00:41:56.800 that you would so shape us by the gospel, 00:41:56.920 --> 00:41:59.719 that we would always notice the one who is alone, 00:41:59.719 --> 00:42:01.839 and that we would walk across the room to them. 00:42:02.039 --> 00:42:02.339 Father, 00:42:02.480 --> 00:42:04.659 deliver us from our shyness and our hesitation, 00:42:04.939 --> 00:42:07.119 to make us your people gripped by the gospel, 00:42:07.279 --> 00:42:08.219 living for your glory. 00:42:08.539 --> 00:42:10.019 And we thank you for Jesus. 00:42:10.519 --> 00:42:11.899 And all these things we ask, 00:42:12.319 --> 00:42:13.459 and God's people say, 00:42:14.079 --> 00:42:14.459 Amen. 00:42:14.459 --> 00:42:14.639 Amen. 00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:15.599 Amen. 00:42:15.599 --> 00:42:15.879 Amen. 00:42:15.920 --> 00:42:16.239 Amen.