I'm getting applause for reading it.
Surely you get an applause for preaching it as well at the end.
So at the end, maybe.
We'll see.
Let me just start by kicking off that I'm just so grateful
for all of those who contributed to decking the halls here at St Paul's.
It looks fantastic, the building, to walk in here
and to lift the spirits after a difficult year,
but also to walk around.
I'm particularly grateful because I live here,
and so I get to see all this stuff lit up each night.
So if you want to come up and really enjoy it,
just wander around the place at nighttime.
It just really lifts the spirits.
So well done to everyone who's contributed to that
and to the working bee as well.
It is a time of celebration.
I think the lights and everything sort of puts that into it.
And so I want to dive into, I think, the most exciting of Christmas texts,
and that's what you have in front of us in the genealogy
at the beginning of Matthew's Gospel.
So if you'd like to get your Bibles open to Matthew chapter 1,
and we're going to dive into this.
There are three things that I want to see this morning
from this list of names.
And this is on your St. Paul's app.
If you've got the St. Paul's app for a bit of an outline,
we'll take some notes.
Number one, Christmas is good news, not good advice.
Secondly, Christmas turns our values upside down in this world.
And thirdly, Christmas is the promise of ultimate rest.
And so really, the title for today's talk is
Shining Light on Christmas Rest.
So firstly, Christmas is good news, not good advice.
Now, what we notice at the beginning of Matthew 1
is that it doesn't begin with once upon a time.
You see, that's how fairy tales,
that's how legends, myths all begin, once upon a time.
Once upon a time sends the signal
that what we are currently engaging with
probably didn't happen.
Matthew begins very simply,
this is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.
So what Matthew does right at the very beginning
of his Gospels, he grounds who Jesus is
and what he does in history,
in extensive history.
Jesus is not a metaphor, he is real.
The biblical accounts of Christmas
are what actually happened in history.
The birth of the son of God into the world
is a gospel, it's a good news,
it's an announcement for all of the world.
The birth accounts of Jesus are not telling us
what we should do,
but what God has done in history for us.
Jesus is the Messiah, the son of Abraham.
You see, central to Abraham,
God made a promise to Abraham
that all the people of the world
would be blessed through him.
through a descendant of Abraham,
God would reverse the devastating impact
of sin and rejection of God
for all time and eternity for all people.
And Matthew declares that in Jesus,
this time has come.
He's also declared here to be the son of David.
God promised, extended that promise to Abraham
and said to David in 2 Samuel 7,
that one of your descendants, David,
will sit on my throne
and rule all the universe forever.
And so what we have here
is these threads through the Old Testament
connecting promise to the covenant promise of David
right through until we see here,
this is it.
The moment has arrived.
After 400 years of not hearing
a sound of revelation from God,
Jesus bursts on the scene and God speaks.
The time has come.
The silence is over.
That's what makes this good news.
Jesus is the Messiah.
Jesus is the fulfillment
of God's thousands and thousands of years
of plan of salvation.
And the heart of the Christian gospel
is that you do not save yourself.
God came to save us in the person of Jesus
on that very first Christmas night.
You see, Christmas tells us
that Christianity is unique.
All other religions and philosophies of life
give advice.
The founder of the great religions
come along and say something like,
do this, do that.
I'm here to show you the way
to spiritual reality,
to enlightenment,
to salvation.
Do all these things
and you will follow the path to salvation.
That's advice.
And some of the advice is quite useful.
Christianity is not primarily
about self-improvement.
We begin with Jesus
not by adopting an ethic,
not by turning over a new leaf,
not even by joining a community.
We begin by believing the report
about what God has done in history
in the person of his son Jesus.
Did God really become a human being?
Did Jesus really live and suffer and die
as a sacrifice for all of humanity?
Did he really rise triumphantly from death
to live forever and rule forever?
You see, Christmas shows us
that Christianity is not good advice.
It's good news.
It's a pronouncement.
It's a proclamation.
Secondly, we see here
that Christmas turns all of our values upside down.
We live in an individualistic culture
where we commend ourselves
through performance
and through accomplishments.
I had this awkward interaction
with someone recently,
a gentleman recently
who has done fairly well in life,
but I never asked him
what he's done in life.
And he was so self-absorbed,
he didn't know what to ask me
what I did in life.
And so all we had
was this surface conversation
because I refused to jump into the conversation
about what do you do?
Who are you?
And so the conversation went nowhere.
Absolutely nowhere.
If I'd opened the door,
I knew him well enough
to know we could spend an hour
just talking about him
and what he's accomplished in life.
That's what we do
in individualistic culture.
That's not how it worked
in the first century in the Middle East
where these events were taking place.
A family tree
operated like a resume
in the first century.
That is,
your heritage,
your clan,
your family,
your pedigree
constituted your resume.
And as they do now,
as we do now,
people adjust their resume
to leave out
the parts
that might be
embarrassing
or a little less impressive.
Most of us
in our 40s or 50s
do not put
our first job
on our resume.
Turning burgers
at Maccas,
cutting weeds
in a cotton field.
And what we know
is in the first century,
Herod the Great
eliminated
many names
from his public genealogy
because he did not want
anyone to know
that those embarrassing people
were associated with him.
It's like the story
I heard
once upon a time
where the children
of a prominent family
were assembling
a book
of the family's history
as a birthday present
for the family patriarch.
They commissioned
a professional biographer
and were careful
to warn
this professional biographer
of the black sheep
of the family
and they needed to do
something about
the black sheep.
Black sheep problem
was a guy named
Uncle George.
Uncle George
was a convicted criminal.
He'd been executed
in the electric chair
for murder.
And the biographer
assured
the children
of the family
that he could
handle the situation
so that there would be
no embarrassment
brought to the family.
And so this is what he wrote
about Uncle George.
Uncle George
occupied a chair
of applied electronics
at an important
government institution.
He was attached
to his position
by the strongest of ties
and his death
came as a real shock
to everyone.
We tend to do that
in our lives,
don't we?
We cover over
the skeletons
in our closet
if you like.
We do it because
we suspect
that people
will value us
less
if they knew
the true us.
Warts and all
as we say.
And so it's quite surprising
that in a culture
where you just
did not do this,
Matthew
does the exact
opposite with Jesus.
Doesn't cover over
the skeletons
in the closet
at all.
And it helps us
to see that
God's value system
is radically
different than ours.
First of all,
I want you to notice
that there are
five women
listed in this
list of this
genealogy.
In ancient
patriarchal societies,
a woman
was virtually
never named
in a list
like this
unless
they were
quite literally
a queen.
Let alone
to have
five of them.
Women
were gender
outsiders
in those cultures.
They had no
legal rights.
They couldn't
inherit property.
They couldn't
give testimony
in court.
And yet
they are here
named in
Jesus'
genealogy.
And what's
more,
three of
the five
are Gentiles.
Tamar,
Rahab,
and Ruth.
To the
ancient Jew,
these women
are regarded
as unclean
Gentiles.
They were
not just
gender
outsiders,
but these
are racial
and religious
outsiders.
And yet
Matthew
deliberately
includes
them
in the
family
tree
of the
long
awaited
Messiah
of the
world,
the Jewish
Messiah.
And by
including
them,
Matthew
recalls
some of
the most
sordid,
nasty,
immoral
occasions
in the
Bible.
It says
in verse
three that
Judah was
the father
of Perez
and Zerah
and the
mother was
Tamar.
Tamar
was
Judah's
daughter-in-law
and she
tricked him
into sleeping
with her.
It was an
act that was
against the
law of God.
And even
though Jesus
was a
descendant of
Perez and
not Zerah,
Matthew
includes them
both.
and both
Judah and
Tamar
so that
we remember
that whole
sordid
story.
The
saviour of
the world
came into
the world
into a
dysfunctional
family
just like
yours
and mine.
And remember
Rahab?
Mentioned
in verse
five,
just a
Gentile,
she was
a prostitute.
But the
most
interesting
story is
in verse
six,
it mentions
King
David,
royalty in
the family
tree and
you go,
woo,
that's
fine,
good
stuff.
Except
in one
of the
most,
I think
one of
the great
and ironic
understatements
of the
Bible,
Matthew
adds
here,
it was
the father
of
Solomon
and
whose
mother
had been
Uriah's
wife.
Her name
was
Bathsheba.
And by
not naming
her and
mentioning
instead her
first husband
Uriah,
Matthew is
again calling
us to
recall a
terrible and
a tragic
and assorted
chapter in
Israel's
history.
King,
the greatest
blot on
great King
David's
name.
Before he
was king,
David was a
fugitive running
for his life
from King
Saul.
And a
group of
37,
just 37
loyal men
went on
the run
with King
David
against
Saul and
all the
might of
the kingdom.
And they
put their
lives on
the line
to protect
David.
They would
do anything
for David.
And
Uriah was
one of
them,
2 Samuel
23.
And when
David was
finally made
king from
his palace
roof, he
saw Uriah's
wife and he
wanted her and
he took her.
she got
pregnant and
then he
arranged to
have Uriah
killed so
that he could
marry her and
cover up the
whole sordid
thing.
And it was
out of this
dysfunctional
family and
this deeply
flawed man
that the
saviour of
the world
came.
So this
list of
names here
includes moral
outsiders and
cultural outsiders
and racial
outsiders and
gender outsiders
rather than
being excluded
or covered
up or
covered over.
They are
publicly
acknowledged as
ancestors of
the perfect
Jesus Christ.
It's such an
unusual
genealogy.
Why did
Matthew
include it?
He didn't
have to
include all
these details,
so why did
he deliberately
include it?
There's a
verse in the
Bible that
gives us a
clue.
It's 2
Corinthians 5
verse 21.
God made
him who
had no
sin to
be sin
for us
so that
in him,
talking about
Jesus,
we might
become the
righteousness
of God.
The saviour
of the world
jumped right
into the
middle of
evil,
unjust
affairs of
human existence
sin.
He
jumps into
the quick
sand in
order to
pull us
from it.
He
identifies with
our weakness
and our
brokenness
to rescue
us out of
it.
The Christian
message is
that if you
repent and
you believe
in Jesus
Christ,
he
unites you
with him
and all
of his
saving work
and all
of its
benefits
for
eternity.
There is
not a
single
great
individual
who
doesn't
need
his
grace
and
there
is
not a
single
rotten
individual
who
can
fail
to
receive
his
grace.
Every
gift that
we give
and we
receive
at Christmas
are symbol
of the
greatest
gift of
all,
God's
grace to
us in
Jesus
Christ.
Now as
James
mentioned
last week
and you've
got to
repeat it
because it's
just so
good.
Some
gifts by
their very
nature
just cause
you to
swallow
your pride
and hopefully
you won't
necessarily
receive one
of these
this Christmas
but you
know a
book titled
Ten Easy
Steps to
Lose
Weight for
instance or
another book
titled Overcoming
Selfishness
you receive those
kind of things
that just
can't help
but you
know highlight
your flaws
or cause
you to admit
your weaknesses
or that you
need help in
some kind
of way
and the
message of
Christmas is
such a
gift.
The message
of Christianity
is that there
has never been
a gift offered
that makes
you swallow
your pride
to the
depths
of the
gift
of Jesus
Christ
requires us
to.
Christmas
means that
we are
so lost
we are
so unable
to save
ourselves
that nothing
less than
the death
of the
Son of
God
himself
could not
save us.
To accept
the Christmas
gift
we must
admit that
we are
sinners
we are
unworthy
of the
gift
and in
need of
saving
by his
grace
and that
is a
descent
too
low
for many
of us
to want
to actually
go into.
You see
Christmas
totally
humbles
us
because it
proclaims
that nothing
less than
the death
of the
Son of
God
can rescue
us.
It also
affirms
us
because he
was actually
willing to
do that
for us.
the greatness
of Jesus
is seen
in how
far down
he came
to love
us and
to lift
us up
as we
have already
said in
our service
this morning
in chapter
two.
Christmas
turns all
of our
values on
their head.
God
isn't
attracted
to us
by impressive
resumes
and performances
even religious
performance.
the only
way to
get God's
approval
is by
acknowledging
our
brokenness
our
sinfulness
our
frailty
our
flaws
our
failures
and our
desperate
need for
his
mercy.
So
thirdly
if we
accept it
God's
grace
gives us
an ultimate
rest
that we
experience
even now
at Christmas
time.
at the
end of
this list
of names
there's
an obscure
verse
in verse
17.
It says
there were
14
generations
in all
from
Abraham
to
David
14
from
David
to
the
exile
in
Babylon
and
14
from
the
exile
to
the
Messiah.
For
many
years
I just
skipped
across
that
verse
and went
technical
detail.
And yet
nothing's
ever lost
in the
scriptures.
There's
something
very
profound
even
though
that
does
not
mean
a lot
for
us
right
here
right
now
in
terms
of
reading
it
but
that
was
massive
news
what
was
just
written
there
is
news
for
the
first
recipients
of
Matthew's
gospel.
Let
me
explain
it
to
you.
In
the
Bible
the
number
seven
is
very
significant.
Right
at the
beginning
of the
Bible
it's
the
number
for
completeness
it's
the
number
for
the
goal
of
all
things.
Right
at the
beginning
of the
Bible
God
did
the
work
of
creating
the
world
in
six
days
and
it
says
on
the
seventh
day
he
rested.
God
wasn't
tired
rest
means
the
enjoyment
of
the
created
order
in
fact
rest
was
the
goal
of
creation
that's
why
you
don't
have
in
the
Bible
and
then
it
was
Monday
morning
and
God
went
back
to
work
it
was
the
seventh
day
that's
the
goal
the
enjoyment
of
all
of
creation
everything
at
peace
and
harmony
everything
was
perfect
until
sin
entered
the
picture
the
first
people
decided
to
reject
God's
loving
rule
over
their
life
and
they
chose
for
themselves
how
they
think
life
should
work
and
that
state
of
perfection
and
harmony
that
state
of
rest
was
fractured
destroyed
there
wasn't
any
harmony
or
peace
anymore
life
was
now
characterized
by
hardships
and
pandemics
and
lockdowns
and
work
was
going
to
be
done
at
the
sweat
of
your
brow
raising
children
was
going
to
be
painful
weeds
and
pests
you'll
never
ever
conquer
those
things
for goodness
sake
never
conquer
them
always
growing
in
your
lawn
but
God
still
graciously
provided
for
his
people
he
instituted
a
seventh
day
of
rest
as
part
of
their
normal
cycle
in
the
week
but
he
also
instituted
an
ultimate
day
of
rest
an
ultimate
year
of
rest
in
fact
it
was
called
the
year
of
jubilee
and
at
the
end
of
the
last
year
of
the
seventh
period
of
seven
years
that
is
the
49th
year
that
was
the
year
of
jubilee
it
was
the
year
of
rest
no
work
was
to
be
done
imagine
that
a year
of rest
no
work
at
all
no
plough
no
fields
were
ploughed
it
was
a
year
that
began
on
the
day
of
fresh
beginnings
when
the
whole
nation
just
received
forgiveness
for
their
sin
the
jubilee
year
was
characterized
by
freedom
and
return
freedom
from
burdens
labor
and
debt
were to
go
hand
in
hand
with
restoring
of
broken
family
ties
and
repossession
of
lost
property
all
debts
were
canceled
on
the
year
of
jubilee
everything
restart
after
49
years
a
year
of
rest
and
celebration
the
year
of
jubilee
the
year
that
the
nation
of
Israel
looked
forward
to
year
after
year
after
year
just
waiting
for
jubilee
to
come
verse
17
in
Matthew
1
tells
us
that
there
were
three
lots
of
14
generations
or
there
were
six
lots
of
seven
generations
with
Jesus
beginning
the
seventh
seven
verse
17
is
saying
that
what
the
hope
of
the
jubilee
year
foreshadowed
the
reestablishment
of
ultimate
rest
comes
right
now
in
the
person
of
Jesus
Christ
no
more
counting
of
generations
actually
continued
after
Jesus
in
him
is
where
rest
harmony
peace
hope
security
can be
found
if you
grasp
that
Christmas
is not
upon a
time
story
but that
Jesus
really
actually
broke
God
himself
broke
into
time
and
space
and
that
he
has
accomplished
our
salvation
so that
the
prostitute
and the
king
are equaling
him
it's
possible
for you
to have
rest
right now
rest
from all
your
striving
all
of your
attempt
to build
your
identity
total
enduring
final
rest
is what
every
single
human
being
needs
the
rest
that
Jesus
secures
for us
is a
rest
that we
get to
get
both
now
and
forever
with
him
Jesus
gives us
rest
for our
souls
right
now
the
inner
core
of our
being
that's
always
unrestless
always
restless
always
pursuing
the
latest
acquisition
the
latest
affirmation
and
Jesus
says
in
Matthew
11
verse
28
come
to me
all
who
are
weary
and
burdened
and
I
will
give
you
rest
take
my
yoke
upon
you
and
learn
from
me
for
I
am
gentle
and
humble
in
heart
and
you
will
find
rest
for
your
souls
many
philosophers
today
speak
about
the
deep
hunger
that is
in the
human
heart
constantly
restless
people
are hungry
for love
they are
hungry
for security
they're
hungry
for significance
and meaning
and Jesus
says
I
am the
bread of
life
feed on
me
and you
will never
hunger
again
many
today
are walking
in darkness
and disillusionment
and despair
and Jesus
says
I
am the
light
of the
world
if you
follow me
you will
never walk
in darkness
instead
you will
have the
light
of life
others
in the
last couple
of years
especially
are just
fearful
of death
fearful
of death
and Jesus
says
I
am the
resurrection
the life
he who
believes in
me will
live
even though
he dies
and whoever
lives and
believes in
me
will never
die
you see
Christmas
declares
that you can
have rest
right now
rest in
our souls
right now
if we
come to
Jesus
the rest
of an
unspilled
love
between
you
and your
created
God
what a
gift
what a
gift
Christmas
is not
a once
upon a
time
story
that
shows us
how we
should
live
better
lives
and be
generous
to people
and give
them
gifts
and
Christmas
is news
it's
news
and I
love it
you walk
down into
Westfield
or Chatswood
Chase
and it's
being blasted
through the
speakers
news
as people
fill their
lives with
everything
else
news
calls us
to acknowledge
it
something
has already
happened
and we
need to
respond
to it
the
world
has
broken
into
time
and space
to save
us
this
event
is not
so much
a birth
as it
is a
coming
the
coming
of God
into the
world
and so
Christmas
is good
news
not good
advice
it turns
all of our
values on
its head
and it's
the promise
of ultimate
rest
he calls
us to
look to
him
to come
to him
to trust
him
to believe
him
to follow
him
and to
find
rest
the rest
that we
so desperately
long for
even now
this Christmas
in him
amen
what
to be
to
is
to
save