We will not be getting together at Mountain View Academy to worship God this Sunday. Instead, we’ll be getting together in our LTGs (small groups) to hang out, watch the Super Bowl, and eat food together. Invite friends and have a good time. If you’re not part of an LTG, use this as an opportunity to check one out. Check out the LTG page for details and more information about each of the LTGs that are currently running.
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:
31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.
33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34 “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
35 “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.
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
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
We are not gathering together at Mountain View Academy this Sunday, December 4th. Instead…
The Chais have graciously volunteered to host the Baylight Christmas Party this year. We’re getting together at 5-8PM. We will have activities for the kids, including an ornament gift exchange. The adults activities are TBA.
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
**UPDATE 11/5**
This Sunday, November 6th, we’ll be getting together at Country Gourmet (1314 S Mary Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94087) at 10:30AM due to rain.
Join us for brunch or stop by for a cup of coffee and consider bringing a friend! Contact Hideyo (hideyo@gmail.com) for any questions.
P.S. Daylight Saving Time is over on November 6th as well. Don’t forget to “fall back” an hour before you go to sleep on the 5th.
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