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Sermon: Not So Silent Night

Our passage for this morning is a really familiar one: Luke 2:1-7, the birth of Jesus Christ. There are a few things about it that I think are easy to skip over because we’re so familiar with it.

The first is that this Jesus is Joseph and Mary’s first born child. For those of you who have kids, think about the time when you were having your first born. Recall the feelings. All that anticipation. All that excitement. And yet, at the same time, all that fear. All that anxiety. Joseph and Mary were likely an emotional mess.

The second is that the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, that trip that they took late in Mary’s third trimester was an 85 mile trip through some steep inclines. And if you’ve ever ridden an animal, you know that that’s still a physical exhausting mode of transportation. Think of the time when you were late in your third trimester. How far were you able to walk? Jospeh and Mary were physically exhausted. They were running on fumes.

And lastly, Bethlehem was Joseph’s “own city”, verse 3. Though it’s unclear whether Joseph’s parents were still alive, it’s almost certain that Joseph still had close relatives in Bethlehem. And considering Middle Eastern hospitality, it would’ve been inconceivable for Joseph and his new family to stay the night in some random barn as it’s portrayed in many of our Christmas pageants and plays.

Joseph and Mary likely stayed in one of his relatives’ home as did many of his other relatives, hence, why there wasn’t enough room for their entire family to sleep. With everybody coming back to their hometown to be registered for the census, there was likely a family reunion in the house where Joseph and Mary stayed. There’s music, dancing, massive amounts of food, laughter, and hugging. Jesus is getting passed around the room from family member to family member. And at the end of the day, after the party’s subsided well into the night, Joseph and Mary lay him down in a manger, a step below the living area but under the same roof.

There is very little that’s silent about this night. Very little is calm. And there’s little sleeping in heavenly peace.

If anything it’s a chaotic night. They’re emotionally and physically exhausted before they even get to Bethlehem. And when they do get there, they’re greeted by Joseph’s extended family who are excited to see the new addition to their family.

But Jesus is there with them. And for that reason, one of the lines from Silent Night rings true. It was a “holy night”. Being holy isn’t about being composed and calm, about having it all together with your sins properly managed. Being holy is about being with Jesus, abiding in Him.

I know that many of you are in a place right now where you feel like life is too chaotic to be connected to Jesus. Well, our relationship with Jesus is a two-way street. Jesus reaches out to us as well. Jesus loves you.

But will you notice? Will you notice Jesus loving you in the midst of the chaos of your life?

To notice, consider group life, being part of an LTG. When we live life alone, in seclusion it’s all too easy not to notice Jesus. Our spiritual vision gets near-sighted as we just live through the routines of our lives. But as we share about our lives, chaos and all, others in our LTGs can speak into them revealing Jesus at work in it. And as we pray together through the chaos of our lives, we can tangibly feel Jesus ministering to us through His body, the Church.

Discussion Questions:

• What’s causing chaos in your life right now?
• How can your LTG minister to you through the chaos in your life?

How is the Gospel Good News Here?

A few months ago, when it was warmer, I prayer walked my neighborhood with my kids.  I started by praying aloud, asking Jesus to show us what He sees in our neighborhood.  Then I asked Sam and Sarah to pray.  And then we were on the lookout.  This particular time, I noticed a row of really nice SUVs.  Beamer, Lexus, Mercedes, Lexus, Audi, Beamer, all in a row in front of some nice homes with well manicured lawns and pretty flowers at the doorstep.

It was then that a disturbing thought lodged itself into my brain.  I had no idea how the Gospel could be good news to the people who lived just down the street from me.

A few years ago, I went with a team to Eastern Kenya for a couple of weeks.  There, I saw how followers of Jesus Christ provided top notch education for the children of the area, built and partially funded clean water wells so that people wouldn’t have to drink polluted water, brought medical aid to people who were unable to travel to the closest hospital, all while proclaiming the Gospel of a God who loves and cares for them and would provide for their needs.  I saw how the Gospel is good news there.

But what could Jesus and His Gospel possibly offer my neighbors?

In Luke 1:67-75, Zechariah describes what Jesus was going to accomplish and what He would offer.  Freedom.  Salvation.  Rescue.  But from what?  Zechariah says “from our enemies” or “from those who hate us”.  Over and over again in the Old Testament, it’s written how the Israelites disobeyed the Lord and as a consequence, a neighboring country came and beat them down.  Babylon, Persia, and Rome.

Which brings us to the time of Zechariah’s prophecy.  Rome was their enemy.  And Rome, was the consequence of their sin.  Zechariah is prophesying that Jesus would not only save them from their sins but from the consequences of their sins as well.  And I’m not just talking about death.

The effects of sin ripple out beyond eternity and into our day-to-day lives.  We see that most clearly in Genesis 3:16-19.  The consequence of death is there at the end in verse 19, but it’s just a piece.  There were also all the forms of separation and isolation stemming from the hurt and pain they would now experience.

When I walked down the street in my neighborhood and thought that I had no idea how the Gospel could be good news to my neighbors, it was because I came to believe the lie that sin and its effects hadn’t reached the real world here.  Or an even more dangerous lie, that my neighbors’ affluence has cancelled out the effects of sin their day-to-day lives.

Since the Fall, people have been growing further and further apart from one another.  We’re growing more and more isolated.  Sin tells all of us that we can go it alone.  Sin demands that we have to go it alone.  This is not the life the Lord envisions for you in eternity and it’s certainly not the life the Lord envisions for you in the here and now.

Let’s live the one another life.  And let’s model that one another life for the world to see that we don’t have to go it alone.  That there is a better way that’s centered on the unity we can have with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

If you’re not part of an LTG right now, join one.  It’s no guarantee that you’ll experience that one another life, but if you don’t, you’ll guarantee that you won’t.  And if you are part of an LTG, how can you experience that one another life?  Be aggressive in finding ways to serve one another.  Be open in sharing how the people in your LTG can serve you.  And experience Jesus working in the midst of your LTG.

Discussion Questions

• How can you help/serve another person?
• How can another person help/serve you?

Sunday: To Rest, You Can Get Away But You Must Obey

We don’t know very much about the people who received the letter to the Hebrews. But we do know with relative certainty that like us, they lived busy lives in a big city and it was wearing them out.

To these overwhelmed, overtired, and overly busy followers of Jesus Christ, the author writes Hebrews 4:1-13. “Enter His rest.”. For all who feel perpetually worn out from life here in high-paced Silicon Valley, and need some rest, you can “enter His rest.”

The author starts his explanation how with a negative example in Israel’s history (Hebrews 4:2, Hebrews 4:5-6), the generation who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. After being liberated from enslavement in Egypt and travelling through the wilderness, they reach the Promised Land, a land of rest. God commands them to go and take the land but the people refuse and instead they wander in the wilderness for 40 years, the amount of time it took for the last of that generation to die.

Their failure to obey the Lord prevented them from entering the rest God promised them in the land of Canaan. Their experience of rest was contingent on their obedience. Likewise, for us to really experience rest, we need to obey Jesus. Obedience allows for rest. Disobedience hinders rest.

This is the reason why Hebrews 4:12-13 is found in this chapter. This description of the Word of God is found here to further underscore that relationship between obedience and rest. Your experience of rest is dependent on your choice to obey or disobey the Word of God. This is why it is sharper than any double-edged sword. Every time we encounter the Word of God, we are confronted with a decision. Will we obey or will we disobey Jesus?

So much of the busyness that exhausts us is the result of us trying to live out multiple identities. We’re trying to be a good Christian, a good spouse, a good parent, a good son or daughter, a good friend, a good employee, a good provider, a good planner for the future, a good neighbor, and a good caretaker among countless other things. Each of those identities come with separate expectations we must meet which are at times, at odds with one another. And our self-worth is tied to our ability to meet each and every one of those expectations. So, we push ourselves hard. And it’s downright exhausting.

Compare that to the great simplicity and liberty of placing our identity in Jesus and Jesus alone. One identity: Jesus’ disciple. One expectation: Follow Jesus.

Our Lord, Jesus Christ frees us and allows us to enter into His rest. As we invite Him into our lives, he allows us to obey Him. And a curious thing happens when we obey Him, we find rest (Matthew 11:28-29).

To find and enter His rest, we can get away, but we need to obey.

Discussion Questions

• What is your favorite vacation spot?
• Do you feel that you need rest right now? Why?
• What are some of the identities that you are currently carrying?
• What would it mean for you to place your identity in Jesus alone at this time?

New Birth Through… the Resurrection?

Quick, what did Jesus do to allow His followers to be reborn?

Reading the second half of 1 Peter 1:3, we see that it’s not Jesus’ death, it’s not the cross, but “the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”.  Our hope doesn’t rest on Jesus taking the punishment for our sins, on Him dying for our sins.  We rest our hope on the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.

Throughout the New Testament, we see the same thing (Acts 4:33, Romans 10:9, 1 Corinthians 15:14-15) and in Peter’s sermon in Jerusalem, we see that the earliest proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ centered on Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 2:31-33).

Compare that to the Gospel that we know, the Gospel we’ve been taught.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory God… and the wages of sin is death… and God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  Where is there any mentioning of the resurrection?

In the Gospel that we know, the resurrection isn’t the main event.  Jesus’ death is.  It’s there that our sins have been forgiven.  It’s the dramatic climax in the story of the Gospel that we know.  In the Gospel that we know, the resurrection, at best, is an afterthought, the happy ending that neatly wraps everything up.

But in the Gospel of the New Testament, the resurrection is the dramatic climax.  The resurrection is absolutely essential.  Without the resurrection, the Gospel is “useless”.

Somewhere between the 1st century and today, we’ve changed the climax into the happy ending.  And in making that change, we’ve changed the story itself.  The Gospel which is centered around the resurrection of Jesus Christ is starkly different from a Gospel that has the resurrection in the periphery.

The reason why the Gospel we know doesn’t require the resurrection is because the Gospel we’ve been taught is primarily about us, not Jesus.  It’s about how we can be forgiven of sin and have eternal life.  And that doesn’t necessarily require Jesus to be raised from the dead.  It just requires Jesus, the sacrificial lamb to hang on the cross, taking on the punishment of all humanity, and die.  This Gospel is about Good Friday.  It doesn’t need Easter.

But the Gospel that the early church proclaimed does.  It requires an empty cross, not one with Jesus still on it.  And the reason why it requires the resurrection is because the Gospel is primarily about Jesus, the King and His Kingdom, not us.  A Kingdom requires a King, one that’s alive.  And Jesus is alive because He rose from the dead.  He was crucified, bore the punishment of our sins, died and was placed in a tomb.  But that’s the setup to the dramatic climax.

Jesus rose from the dead.  He is risen!  Jesus is Lord!  Jesus, our King who is alive, rules over us.  We have put to death our own desires which lead to death and destruction and instead, we have taken on His desires which lead to life and life to the full.

Jesus is not just our Savior.  Jesus is Lord.  Jesus is alive and is inviting you to enter into His Kingdom, His rule.  Will you choose to have Jesus as your Lord?

Discussion Questions

• How is the Gospel that is centered on Jesus’ resurrection different from a Gospel that is centered on Jesus’ death?
• Is this Gospel “good news”?  How?
• How is Jesus inviting you at this time, to make Him Lord?
• How could you share this Gospel with another?

Sunday: Being Fruitful as a Disciple of Jesus

Are you seeing fruit as a disciple of Jesus Christ?

In my backyard, I’ve had a lemon tree for about two years and it hasn’t yet produced any lemons.  And this concerns me because it serves as an indicator to me that something is wrong with my tree.  I don’t know if it’s not getting enough sunlight, water, nutrients, or soil.  But what I do know is that something is wrong.

For disciples of Jesus, the expected fruit is growth in character as embodied in by the “Fruit of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5:22-23 and disciples being made (Matthew 28:18-20).

As it is for my lemon tree, if we do not see fruit as disciples of Jesus Christ, it may be an indicator that something is wrong.  We cannot ignore the lack of fruit in our lives.  We cannot believe that it’s normal not to see fruit.

According to Paul in Colossians 1:6, the believers of the church in Colossae saw fruit.  They were maturing in character and they were making disciples.

If you take a closer look, you’ll see though that the believers weren’t the ones bearing fruit.  Though the believers saw fruit in their lives, it wasn’t from their efforts.  They didn’t look for ways to become more prolific fruit-bearers.

The temptation for us, especially if we are not currently seeing fruit is to try to engineer ways to bear fruit.  But according to Paul in Colossians 1:6, it’s the gospel that bears fruit.  The believers saw fruit in their lives because the gospel bore it among them.

And the reason why it was bearing fruit among them can be found in the latter half of Colossians 1:6.  The believers there heard the gospel and they understood God’s grace in all its truth.

“Believe in Jesus and you can have eternal life.”  If that’s what you’ve been told is the Gospel, I’m sorry.  Jesus doesn’t offer a business transaction.

Jesus offers participation in His great story: The reestablishment of the Kingdom of God.  “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven has come near.”  When Jesus walked on Earth, He proclaimed His Kingdom as the Gospel.  When Jesus was born in the world altering moment that we celebrate as Christmas, a King was born.  And with a King came His Kingdom.

Jesus gathered and continues to gather His people into His Kingdom.  Jesus rules over and cares for His people.  And His people are His subjects.  They carry out His will.   And when His Kingdom is fully established, every nation, tribe, and tongue will worship Him.

This is the Gospel.

This isn’t to say that God is impersonal and uninterested in you.  Though the Gospel isn’t primarily about you and your ticket to heaven, God loves you more than you’ll ever know.

As speaker/author Brennan Manning is known to say, “God doesn’t love you for who you ought to be. God loves you for who you are.”  If you’ve been going to church, you likely recognize this message.  You’ve probably heard it preached to people who have not yet made the decision to follow Jesus.  Maybe you first made the decision to follow Jesus after hearing this message.

But God’s unconditional love isn’t only offered for those who don’t yet know Jesus.  It’s equally extended to those who have been walking with Him.

Though the Enemy accuses you of being a cut-rate Christian, though you’ve missed or ignored countless opportunities to become more like Jesus, though you may have felt guilty right now of the fact that you don’t see any fruit as a disciple of Jesus Christ, God still loves you.

Have you heard this gospel and understood God’s grace in all its truth?  A life of the gospel bearing fruit and growing among you awaits.

Discussion Questions

• Are you bearing fruit?  Are you growing in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5)?  Are you making disciples (Matthew 28)?
• Do you expect to bear fruit?  Why or why not?
• Between hearing the Gospel and understanding God’s grace, which is more difficult for you?  Why?
• What is God asking you to do?