Can You See Him

Pastor David has been doing a great job leading us through this series called, Can You See Him.  He’s helped us understand that we can see Jesus in the events of our lives today because we know He was with us in the past. And last week he helped us learn how to see Jesus in those nudges we get and how to respond to God’s promptings when they come.  The truth is that there are times when it is easy to see God.  When we get the promotion we were hoping for, when we celebrate the gift of new life in a healthy child or grandchild, when we see the majesty of a sunset painted across the entire sky, or when we see the beauty in a tiny flower that God places in our path, there are times when it is easy to see Him.  But then there are those times when it is not.  

It is not easy to see Jesus when we face bitter disappointments.  When jobs and relationships crumble it’s hard to see that Jesus is with us.  When we experience sudden and unexpected loss it can be hard to see the power or goodness of God at work in our lives.  And when we have questions about God, questions about the truth of scripture or the reality of Jesus, it makes it hard to see Him.  

Have any of you ever questioned your faith?  Have you ever asked yourself where God is in the midst of suffering and pain?  Or how can there even be a God when we see so much suffering?  Have you ever walked through a personal valley so dark that you couldn’t see Jesus?  Are you walking in that valley today?  Are you facing doubt and disappointments today? If you are, you aren’t alone.  We all struggle with doubts and disappointments.  We all struggle to make sense out of the problems we experience and the pain we see.  We can say God is good all the time and all the time God is good, but there are those moments when we struggle to really believe it.  

In my first church there was a man we called the miracle man because God did two miracles of healing in his life.  The first miracle took place when Bob was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  The surgeons mapped out the tumor, did all the drawings on his head so they knew where to cut and how to get to the tumor to remove it.  When the day of surgery came they started operating and after they made the first cut and opened up his skull, the tumor popped out into the doctor’s hands.  It literally popped out.  The surgeons were stunned.  They looked at the tumor, realized it was intact and that nothing else was needed so they said, let’s close him up.  It was a miracle.  

The second miracle came several years later when Bob was diagnosed with colon cancer.  The doctors told him to go home and when things got bad to call hospice because there was nothing they could do. So Bob went home, but his family didn’t give up.  They looked at different ways to treat the cancer and they prayed.  The church prayed.  And we kept on praying.  

6 months later Bob returned to the doctors and they checked him out and did all the scans and then sat Bob down with his family and said, we don’t know what to say.  They thought the doctors were going to tell them that the cancer had spread and it was now just a matter of time, but they didn’t.  They said, we can’t find any cancer.  There is none there.  We can’t explain it.  We could explain it.  It was called prayer and the power of God.  Bob was once again the miracle man and we could all see Jesus at work in his life.  

As I marveled at Bob’s miraculous healing, I also began to have some questions.  Why was Bob being healed but others weren’t?  Why does God choose to miraculously heal some people but not all people?  It’s a question I still don’t have an answer for.  It’s just one of MANY questions that I still don’t have an answer for. 

Even as a pastor, I have doubts and questions.  When I listen to the news, I struggle to see where God is in the violence we see around us.  Where is God in the war in Ukraine, or when we hear about domestic abuse and the sex trafficking of children?  Where is God in some of the random and senseless acts of violence we see in our communities?  Can we still see Jesus when we don’t understand and are filled with doubts?  Can we still see Jesus when we are disillusioned and disappointed?  Can we see him?  

Today we are going to look at a gospel story that can help us answer this question and the bottom line is this: you don’t have to understand everything to believe in something.

This quote comes from the pastor and author Andy Stanley and it is important for us to take to heart.  We don’t have to understand everything there is about God to believe in God.  We don’t have to know all the inner workings of God’s plan to trust Him.  We don’t have to have every question we have about Jesus answered before we follow Him.  We don’t have to understand everything in order to believe and trust in something.  

In John 9 we find a story of Jesus healing a blind man.  The man had been born blind which means that he didn’t have much of a life.  He had gotten no education.  He had no job other than begging.  He was a burden to his family, and nothing had restored his sight.  Not only did he not have much of a life, but since he had been born blind, people were constantly asking who had sinned, the man or his parents.  

In Jesus’ day, much of the illness people experienced was seen as punishment for sin.  If you were blind, then someone somewhere must have been at fault.  Someone somewhere was a sinner   But Jesus said that neither the man nor his parents had been at fault but that what had happened in him was so that the work of God could now be displayed.  John 9:1-3, 6-7

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.  “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

When the world looked at this man, they just saw a sinner.  They saw a failure and a situation that could never be redeemed.  When people looked at him they just asked, who sinned? Who was responsible?  Whose fault is this?  But when Jesus looked at this man, he didn’t see a problem but an opportunity, an opportunity that might help more people see God and give God glory.  

While this isn’t true for every problem we face, there are many situations in life that we see as a setback that God wants to use as a setup so that His power, work and glory can be seen.  For years this man’s blindness had been a setback, but now it was going to be a setup for a miracle.  There are many stories in the Bible that look like a setback that end up being a setup for God’s power and glory.    

If you know the story of Joseph in the Old Testament, his brothers were jealous and despised him so much that they sold him to be a slave in another country.  As a slave in Egypt, Joseph was falsely accused of rape and sent to prison. All these setbacks might cause us to think that God had given up on him, but God was still there and these problems became the pathway for God’s glory to be revealed. 

Think about King David.  As a young boy, David wanted to be a soldier in the army but his brothers told him to go home and be a shepherd.  That setback set him up to be a warrior who used the skills of a shepherd to bring down the giant Goliath.  Even David’s failure in committing adultery and conspiring to murder were setbacks that humbled David so completely that he learned how to lean into God’s grace and it helped him trust God even more.  

While I don’t believe God intentionally casts us down and sets us back so that He can later lift us up, I do believe that the setbacks we face, the failures and tragedies we do go through can be the springboard for God to move us forward in life and faith.  I have seen too many people come through painful times only to use those times to encourage and lift others up to  see those setbacks as a setup for God’s glory to be seen.  

Romans 8:28. We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.  It doesn’t say God causes all things but that God can work in all things.  The setbacks we face can become the setup for us to see God and for others to see God in us.  If you are experiencing a setback today, if you are going through a difficult and painful time or walking through a difficult and dark valley, ask God how He can see you through it and how He can help you use this experience to help others see Him.  Use your setbacks as opportunities for people to see Jesus.  

The setback of this man born blind was the setup God used to show people the power and authority of Jesus.  Jesus did what no one else could do, He healed a man born blind, but instead of people giving glory to God, they started asking questions.  Was this really the man who had been born blind?  Was it the same man?  They asked him if he was the blind man and he said, Yes! It’s me!  

That wasn’t good enough.  The religious leaders and people still couldn’t see God at work in him so they went and found the blind man’s parents and asked them, is this your son who was born blind?  When they said yes, they asked them how this happened.  How did he get his sight?  They replied, we don’t know how it happened, but we know he had been blind but now he sees.  

What’s amazing is that while many people were literally standing in front of a miracle, a man who had been blind from birth was now able to see, the people couldn’t see God’s power at work.  Because the people couldn’t understand how it happened and why Jesus would heal him on the Sabbath against the religious laws, they couldn’t see Jesus as the son of God.  Because they couldn’t understand it all they refused to believe Jesus was the Son of God.   

The religious leaders kept questioning the man whose sight had been restored and they told him that since Jesus had healed him on the Sabbath that Jesus must be a sinner and sinners can’t do miracles. The man replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”  John 9:25.

This man didn’t know how his eyes were opened, he didn’t have all the answers, he wasn’t even sure who Jesus was, but he could see and he could see in Jesus the power of God.  He didn’t understand everything but he could believe in something.  He didn’t understand how he was healed or why Jesus chose to heal him on the Sabbath but he believed Jesus did it and in time he believed Jesus was the Messiah.   I once was blind, he said, but now I see.  

Like the man who was born blind, there are lots of things I don’t understand.  There are lots of questions I don’t have answers to, and there are ways of God that I can’t comprehend.  There are doubts I wrestle with and while I may not understand everything I do believe in something.    

I believe there is a God who created this amazing world and set it into motion.  I don’t know how God did it, but I can’t look at the world and see the intricate balance that is needed for life and think that it all just came about by chance and luck. I believe God created the world and us. 

I believe there was a man named Jesus who lived in the first century and died on a cross.  That truth is undeniable.  That Jesus lived and died is a fact recorded by historians of that day.  What I also believe, however, is that this same Jesus who died on the cross and was laid in a tomb, was also raised to life by the power of God.  

I believe Jesus rolled the stone away and conquered sin and death.  I believe His disciples saw Him and that their testimony stands as confirmation of Jesus' resurrection because they were all willing to give their life for it.  When people told them to give up this crazy idea that Jesus died and rose again they said no - we have seen Him.  

I believe that the disciples didn’t have all the answers and that they had doubts but because they had seen Jesus standing in front of them alive, they believed He was the son of God, the Savior of the world, and the Lord of their lives.

Because of their witness and testimony, I believe in the resurrection of Jesus and that His death and resurrection paid the price for my sin so that I can experience life with God now and forever.  I believe that the resurrection of Jesus and the power of Jesus given through the Holy Spirit changed the lives of the disciples then and continues to change the lives of Jesus followers today.  I believe my life has changed because of the power of God and that any courage I have to stand here and say these things is because of the power and strength of Jesus.  

I also believe that God still speaks to His children.  I believe God has spoken to my heart and that through God’s word I can still hear God’s word for me and for the world.  I believe that  I can still be surprised, challenged, inspired, and humbled by the words God spoke generations ago.  

And I believe that even though we won’t understand everything and even though we will have deep disappointments and lingering doubts and questions about our faith that won’t get answered this side of heaven, I believe that God is still for us and I believe that God is still with us and I believe that if we are willing to open our eyes and our hearts, we can see Him.  

Can you see Him?  You don’t have to understand everything to believe in something.  You don’t have to have all the answers to believe that Jesus is with you and for you.  You don’t have to know God’s full plan for your life to trust Him to lead you into tomorrow.  You don’t have to understand everything, but believe this - you can see Him because He is right here with you and He is for you.  You can see Him because He loves you.  

Next Steps

Can you see Him?  Week 3

What questions, doubts, and difficult situations keep you from seeing Jesus?  How do these things make it hard for you to believe?  What dark valley are you walking today that keeps you from seeing Jesus?  

What do you think of the statement: you don’t have to understand everything to believe in something. 

Read the entire chapter of John 9 and outline the story of the man born blind.  

● Why did people have a hard time believing that Jesus healed him?  

● When have you seen the power of God at work but had a hard time believing?  

● When have you limited what God can do because His work didn’t fit your expectations?  

● When have you said, I once was blind but now I see?  What helped open your eyes?  

Read Isaiah 55:6-9.  

Why is it so hard when we don’t understand everything?  

This week:

● Make a list of what you do believe about God.  

● Identify what is undeniable to you about Jesus.

● Identify the differences Jesus made in your life.

● Find 2 or 3 passages of Scripture that speak truth to you and read them every day.  

What setbacks in your life might be the setup for God to reveal His glory?  Ask God to give you the courage to step out and trust Him.  

The final Angel's Message

The angels that foretold the coming of the Messiah, and then proclaimed His birth, didn’t stop speaking after Jesus was born.  In Matthew’s gospel, we hear about angels who appear to Joseph two more times and give him directions on how to keep Jesus safe in the years after His birth.  These angels came to Joseph after the Magi, or wisemen, came looking for a new king in Israel.  

The Magi would have been considered scientists of their day.  They were most likely a cross between an astronomer and an astrologer.  They studied the skies and the placement of the stars and when they saw a new star appear in the sky it told them that a new king had been born in Israel.  For a king’s birth to be proclaimed in the heavens, they knew this was going to be a great king, so they traveled to Israel to kneel before Him.  Not knowing where the king was to be born, they first went to Jerusalem to ask the religious leaders.  When they found out it was in Bethlehem, they followed the star there and found Jesus.    

When Herod, the current king of Israel, heard about the Magi and the news that a new king had been born, he was not about to allow this king to come to power.  Herod decreed that all the baby boys who were 2 years old and under, and living in Bethlehem, be killed.  As this decree was taking place, an angel was giving another decree, a message to Joseph that he was to take Mary and their child and flee to Egypt.  He needed to protect Jesus from Herod’s violence and the safest place at that moment would be in another country.  So Joseph took Mary and Jesus and fled to Egypt.  

Matthew 2:13-14.  An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”  So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt.  

After Herod died and it was safe for Jesus to return to Israel, an angel again came to Joseph with these instructions.

Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.  But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.  Matthew 2:19-23a

Joseph followed God’s word and took Mary and Jesus to Nazareth which would have been one of the safest places in Israel to raise Jesus because no one would believe that a king would come from Nazareth.  

Just as angels prepared people to help bring the Messiah into the world, angels worked to protect the Messiah once He was here.  Angels gave directions to Joseph and Mary to help them keep Jesus safe.  These angels show us that God was not going to allow any darkness or evil to extinguish the light of God.  At the beginning of John’s gospel says that Jesus is the light of the world and that light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  God was not going to allow His purpose and plan to be defeated, so He sent angels to give directions and guidance to keep Jesus safe.  

These angels show us that there is no power that can stop God’s plan.  The darkness of this world cannot overcome the light of God.  The conflict we see in the world, the hardships and tragedies we see and experience around us cannot stop the plans God has for us.  God truly is sovereign and works through all things for His purpose.  What we might see as a setback in life might just be the steps we need to take in order to move forward.  The struggle we see in the world might be the pathway for God’s greater good to take place.  God does not bring about the evil and hardships to accomplish His purpose, and God does not take delight in conflict and trauma, but God can use those things to keep the light of His purpose and plan shining in the dark.   

In the midst of the darkness that we might be facing in our own lives right now, we need to remember that there is no darkness that can overcome the light of God’s presence, power, and peace.   Psalm 139:7-12 says, 

Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.  If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 

There is no darkness that can overcome God’s light.  There is nothing we have gone through, or will go through, that can separate us from God and the love He has for us.  We can trust God to not only be with us in the darkness, but to guide us from darkness to light, from problems to answers, from hardship to safety and even success.  That’s what God did for Mary and Joseph, He sent angels to give them a message that guided them to safety and life.  

Mary and Joseph, however, had to be willing to listen and work with the angels.  They had to trust God to be with them.  They had to believe that God was watching over them, and providing for them, and they had to be willing to do their part to protect Jesus and keep Him safe.  There is a message here for us.  We have to be willing to listen and work with God if we are going to find His purpose and power and peace, and walking in the light of God, walking with Jesus, is not always going to be easy.  

I often wonder what Mary and Joseph thought when they first found out that they were going to be parents to God’s Son.  Did they think it was going to be easy?  After all, it is God’s Son.  God had a plan for the Messiah and God would clearly help make sure everything worked out according to the plan.  If they thought it would be easy, what did they think when they were told they had to flee to Egypt?  What did they think when they were told to return to Israel but that they could not go back to Judea?  These were challenges for them.  These were hardships and it may not have been what they expected when they first said yes to God.  But they listened and responded.  

Too often we get the idea that loving God, accepting Jesus, and saying yes to all God has for us means that everything should be easy.  After all, God can make things easy if He wants to.  If we are being faithful and obedient, why wouldn’t God bless us with an easy path forward?  If God loves us, why wouldn’t God make everything easy?  But it often isn’t like that, in fact, most often it isn’t like that.  

There is still darkness in the world that tries to put out the light of Christ in us.  There is the darkness of sin in our lives that pulls us away from what God has for us.  There is the darkness of being disillusioned because following Jesus isn’t as easy as we thought it would be and we aren’t getting what we thought we’d get.  There is the darkness of hardship or even tragedy and loss that make us question God’s power, or plan, and His love for us.  So many things, so many dark things, try to extinguish the light of Christ in us, and like Mary and Joseph we have to work to keep that light shining.  We have to work to protect and nurture our relationship with Jesus.  

Every new year brings with it a sense of hope and light.  It’s a clean slate, a fresh start, and we want our faith to grow and flourish.  We make resolutions and create new practices that we hope will last beyond January14, and they can last if we tell ourselves today that it will take some work.  Like Mary and Joseph, we have to work to nurture our relationship with Jesus and here are four ways we can do this.  

1. Read God’s word every day.  The message of the angel’s was God’s word.  It was that word that guided Mary and Joseph.  The Bible remains one of the most powerful ways that God speaks to us.  If we want to hear God’s message, then we need to open ourselves up to what God says here.  God’s word is living and active and it has the ability to speak to our lives today.  The practice of setting aside time to read God’s word every day is important, but it is not the end goal.  Reading God’s word isn’t the end goal, living it out is.  

One of the rhythms in our relationship with God is scripture but it’s not the discipline of reading scripture that is important, it’s allowing God’s word to direct our lives.  Mary and Joseph allowed God’s word to direct their life.  They didn’t just listen to the angels; they acted on what they heard.  They allowed God’s word to guide them and that is what we need to do.  But before God’s word can guide us, we have to hear it, we have to read it.  A discipline for us to embrace in the new year is to read God’s word every day.  

Once again, this year we will provide a reading plan so that if you want to read through the Bible in a year, you can have a plan to do it.  I like the 5-day plan because there is always that day I miss for some reason and if I do, a 5-day plan is easy to get back on track.  If you do the 5-day plan, don’t just skip the other two days, however, go back and reread something that spoke to you, or challenged you.  

2. Worship every week.  Make a commitment today to worship God every week.  Worship helps us center our life on Jesus.  Worship is like coming into the light of God’s presence after being in the darkness of the world.   Worship can help ignite or nurture a passion for God that can help us keep Jesus at the center of all we do.  Worship also places us in a community of believers where we can experience love.  

One of the 3 Relationships we believe is important to our life and faith is a relationship with the church, God’s people.  We were never meant to walk in faith alone.  Mary and Joseph had each other.  The first thing Jesus did in ministry was gather people around Him because He knew that community was important to a strong faith in God.   we need the encouragement, the accountability, the inspiration, and love and support that comes from others who are walking with Jesus and being in worship together can bring all of that into our lives.  Weekly worship will help nurture and protect our relationship with Jesus.  

3. Serve every month.  Find one way to serve God and others once a month.  Service to God can be in and through the church, it can be sharing your faith or praying for the needs of others.  Service is simply taking a moment to use the gifts God has given you to help care for someone else.  The rhythm of service in our lives helps us become less self-centered and more Christ centered.  Serving others also brings us joy, and the practice of serving God and others can reshape our thoughts and attitudes.  I know counselors who ask people who are battling depression what they are doing to serve others because they believe that service can lift our hearts and minds.  Serving others won’t solve all our problems, but it does bring some perspective and light into our lives.   

4. Give every moment to God.   While this seems daunting, scripture tells us that this is how we are to live.  The Apostle Paul said, in Him we live and move and have our being.  In God we are to live every moment of every day and so we need to think about how to honor God in all our actions.  The Apostle Paul also said, 

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Philippians 4:4-8

All our thoughts and attitudes should be given to God.  We are to rejoice and give thanks in every moment and every situation.  We are to reflect and think about only what is good and Godly.  Every moment should be given to God.  Every thought should be given to God.  Every action should honor God.  It is in God alone that we find the fullness of life and so every moment of life needs to be given to God.  

As we begin a new year, I want to invite you to give yourself fully to God.  We are going to close with a prayer that John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement, gave to the people.  It is a prayer that we could use every day, but it is especially good on the first day of this new year.  It is your prayer to give every moment to God, would you pray with me:

Almighty God, 

I am not my own. I am Yours alone. 

Make me into what You will. 

Rank me with those You will. 

Put me to use for You. Put me to suffering for You. 

Let me be employed for You. Let me be laid aside for You. 

Let me be lifted high for You. Let me be brought low for You. 

Let me be full or let me be empty. 

Let me have all things or let me have nothing. 

With a willing heart, 

I freely give everything to Your pleasure and disposal.

AMEN

Next Steps

Following the Angels Message in the New Year

Read Matthew 2:1-23

● Why did God keep speaking after the birth of Jesus?  

● What were the angels’ messages to Joseph?

● What was his response?

What darkness is trying to put out the light of Christ in our world?  In your life?  Read Psalm 139.  

4 steps to keep the light of Christ shining in our lives.

1. Read God’s word every day.

● Read through the Bible in 2023. Reading plans available

● Use a devotional or the Upper Room as a discipline for daily Bible Reading.  

2. Worship every week.

● Commit to being in worship every week.  

3. Serve every month.

● Find one way to serve God through Faith Church.

● Find one way to serve God in the community.

● Use prayer as a way of serving God and others.

4. Give every moment to God.  

● Use John Wesley’s prayer to give God every moment.

Almighty God, I am not my own. I am Yours alone. 

Make me into what You will. Rank me with those You will. 

Put me to use for You. Put me to suffering for You. 

Let me be employed for You. Let me be laid aside for You. 

Let me be lifted high for You. Let me be brought low for You. 

Let me be full or let me be empty.  

Let me have all things or let me have nothing. 

With a willing heart, I freely give everything to Your pleasure and disposal.  AMEN

The Angels' Message to the Shepherds

 

After no messages from God or angels for well over 400 years, suddenly angels are showing up everywhere.  An angel spoke to Zechariah in the Temple, an angel spoke to Mary in Nazareth, and in a dream an angel spoke to Joseph.  Every time the angels speak, they bring the good news that the Messiah was coming.  God was going to fulfill His promise and send the Messiah into the world.  God was going to come and rescue His people.  God was going to show up and be with His people.  Emmanuel was on the way.  This was all good news.  In time, even Joseph saw this as good news.

Today’s message of the angel goes from good news to great joy and the message they share gives us three reasons why we can have Great Joy.  The first reason is that the promised Messiah is no longer coming in the future, the Messiah is now here.  Unto you is born THIS DAY.  Today is the day. The Messiah has arrived.  There is no more waiting, there is no more longing for God to step in and do something.  God has done it and the Messiah is here.  In fact, if they wanted to, people could go and see the child because He is lying in a manger in the city of Bethlehem.  

This was great joy 2000 years ago, but it is still great joy today because God is still with us.  The Messiah is still present with us.  We won’t find Jesus as a baby in a manger, but as the living Christ at the right hand of God in heaven.  But Jesus is also with us through the power of the Holy Spirit.  While we might feel far from God and have a longing to see and hear God in our lives, the truth is that God is right here and God is willing to meet us right now.  Jesus said that when he physically left this world that He was going to send His Spirit to lead us and guide us.  We were not going to be left as orphans, Jesus would still be with us through the power of the Holy Spirit.  

So for us today, there is no more waiting.  While we are waiting for Christ to come again in glory, Christ is also right here and He is available to us right now.  If we have hearts and lives open to receive Him, the dear Christ still enters in.  There is no more waiting for Christ to come, Christ is here now.  This is great joy.  

The second way this angels’ message brought great joy was that they said that the Messiah had come for ALL PEOPLE.  All people means all people.  It means the rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, those who feel loved and those who feel forsaken, those who feel chosen and those who feel left out and cast out.  It’s no accident that the message that all people were going to be included in the promise and work of God was given to a group of shepherds.  These were men who most of the time felt like the Messiah would not have come for them.    

While Shepherds did important work, they were considered outcasts and unworthy because their jobs made them ceremonially unclean.  Working with sheep means getting your hands dirty and it wasn’t the dirt of the ground that was the problem.  It was the blood and bodily fluids of the sheep and other animals that the shepherds had to work with that made them unclean.  There were laws that said you had to purify yourself after you touched blood or dead animals before you could enter the Temple, worship God, or just be with other people, and the shepherds never had the time to go through a process of purification.  They were considered unclean and cast out and so they would have been the last ones to consider themselves welcome in the presence of the Messiah - and yet they were included.

The shepherds had no idea that they were the only ones who got the message that night.  In fact, they may have thought that other angels had gone to the kings, rulers, and religious leaders because those were the ones they would have assumed would have gotten that kind news.  So at first they were just excited to be included, but think about how they must have felt when they arrived at the stable and saw Mary, Joseph, and the messiah lying in a manger?  

Mary and Joseph would have told them that they were the only ones who came to see Jesus that night.  There were no rulers, no kings, and no priests or religious leaders.  Just them.  As they left Jesus, the Messiah lying in the manger, they would have been talking about how they might have been the ONLY ones who were given this message.  Now they were really rejoicing because it’s no longer that they had been included, they had been chosen.  Great Joy.

Have you ever had a moment when you realized that no longer have you just been included, but you have been chosen?  Most of us can probably remember the opposite of that. I remember being included in gym class (you had to participate) but being one of the last ones chosen.  For 12 years I could only imagine what it must have been like to be some of the first ones chosen.  To know that some captain saw you as the best and wanted you on their team - what a feeling that must have been.  And then it happened.  No, I wasn’t chosen first or even second in gym class. 

It was my senior year and our yearbooks had just come out.  I read through it, but not that closely and then someone said, Andy, do you see that you were nominated for something in the senior class awards?  You know, those things like most likely to succeed, most athletic, best smile.  Well, yes.  I was nominated for “most sophisticated”.  I didn’t win but it was just an honor to be nominated.  

OK, my class didn’t know me well because I was anything but sophisticated, but hey, I was nominated for something.  I was suddenly special.  People knew my name and thought of me in a positive way.  That’s what the shepherds must have experienced.  Someone actually knew them and they had been nominated and chosen to get the news.  They weren’t the last ones chosen, in fact, they were the first ones chosen.  That night, they may have been the only ones chosen.  This Messiah was for them.  Great Joy.  

The joy the shepherds experienced in being chosen was so great that they couldn’t contain it. They told everyone what they had seen and heard. They told everyone that the Messiah had come and that the Messiah was for all people.  Everyone was included and everyone was wanted.  That is still a message that needs to be shared today and we are the ones who need to share it.  There are still too many people who feel uninvited, unwanted, and unwelcome by God and by God’s people.  If we have been included, then we need to share the news that everyone is included and by coming to God we can experience great joy.    

Who can you invite to come and experience the joy of Jesus?  Who can you invite to Talleyrand on Friday or to worship on Christmas Eve?  Who can you send a card to and say that you are thinking of them and remembering them and that they are loved?  Reaching out to all people is one way we can spread Great Joy into all the world.  

The third way the angels’ message brings joy isn’t so much in what they said but in who the angels chose to share it with - the shepherds.  While the shepherds were seen as outcasts because of their job, their job was also one that connected them to the Messiah.  The Messiah was to come from the line of David, who was a shepherd.  The Messiah was going to save people and lead them into a better life, like Moses who led the people into the Promised Land, and who was a shepherd when God called him.  God Himself is even described as a shepherd in Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd.  So the Messiah didn’t just come for shepherds, He came to be THE SHEPHERD, the good shepherd, and that in itself brings great joy in 3 specific ways.  

#1.  Psalm 23 tells us that the good shepherd will guide us to places of provision, safety, and life.  

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

The Messiah came to lead us to places where we can have fullness and life.  Jesus will lead us to green pastures where we can eat our fill and be satisfied.  He will lead us to still waters where we can drink and be refreshed.  Green pastures and still waters are places of peace and security.  The Messiah didn’t come to just open a door to heaven, the Messiah came to make life here and now better.  

Whatever it is we may feel we lack or need, God can provide.  As the good shepherd, God still wants to meet our needs, bring us peace, and give us a sense of confidence and assurance that all will be well.  Jesus can meet all our needs and supply us with everything God wants for us but we have to be willing to follow and trust the good shepherd.  If we will, there can be great joy.  

#2 A good shepherd also knows His sheep and His sheep know Him.  Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”  John 10:14,  Not knowing a lot about shepherds, we may miss the great joy that comes in knowing this.  

A shepherd really had to know his sheep.  He had to walk among them and know their strengths and weaknesses in order to keep them safe.  He had to know which ones might wander out after food or linger in the water.  The shepherd had to spend time speaking to them so that they would know his voice and be willing to follow it.  A shepherd had to take the time to get to know his sheep and God knows us.  As our good shepherd, Jesus knows us.  He walks with us.  He knows what we have been through, the good and the bad, and is still by our side.  The Bible says God knows everything about us, even the number of hairs on your head, and still loves us.  

There is great joy in knowing that God knows us fully and still loves us.  God knows our times of doubt and discouragement when we struggle to believe.  God knows when we aren’t walking faithfully and struggling to do what we know is right.  God knows us fully and still loves us completely.  In fact the Bible says that there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love.  It is unconditional and complete, which means God is always there and God’s presence doesn’t bring shame or guilt, it brings freedom and joy.  Great Joy. 

#3 A good shepherd brings great joy because the shepherd is committed to his sheep and loves them so much that he is willing to lay down his life for them.  Jesus said,  

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.  I am the good shepherd… and I lay down my life for the sheep.  John 10:11-15

God, as a good shepherd, sent Jesus to be the shepherd who would lay down His life for the sheep.  God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  John 3:16.  That everlasting life is a gift given to us because Jesus laid down His life for us.  Jesus took on the penalty for our sin when He died on the cross.  He died our death and then He fought our enemy Satan.  We know Jesus defeated Satan and destroyed sin and death because on the third day Jesus rose from the grave. Jesus literally laid down His life for us so that we might not die but live.

All of death has been swallowed up in victory, the victory of Jesus Christ.  This is great joy because we couldn’t get this victory on our own.  We couldn’t defeat sin and death on our own.  On our own, we would be devoured by the evil one, but we aren’t on our own, we have a shepherd who not only fights for us but who has won the victory for us.  This is great joy!  We aren’t defenseless, we aren’t defeated, we aren’t dead in our sin - we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us and came to be our good shepherd.

The message of the angel was great joy to the shepherds.  All the waiting was over and the Messiah had come.  And the Messiah hadn’t just come to the in crowd, the wealthy and well connected, the rulers and religious leaders, He came for them and for all people.  They were not just remembered and included but they had actually been chosen.  Great joy.

The angels’ message to a group of shepherds was also great joy because it told the world that the Messiah was Himself to be a shepherd.  A good shepherd who would lead people into the abundance and fullness of life, a shepherd who would fully know His sheep and love them unconditionally, and a shepherd who would lay down His life to save them.  The Messiah coming as our good shepherd brings great joy/  

Jesus is right here and ready to meet us right now.  There is no waiting.  There is no going home to get cleaned up, no changes that need to be made before we can meet Him, Christ is here for us and for all people.  You might not feel worthy or wanted, but Jesus is ready to receive you.  You might feel you have fallen too far or failed too often for God to love you or save you, but Jesus came as the Messiah for all people, that includes us, all of us.  

And Jesus is here to be our good shepherd.  He will lead us into all the fullness of life.  He knows us so well that He knows what we need and is willing to help us, provide for us, and sustain us as you wait for God’s work to be completed.  God knows us fully and loves us completely and He has died for us.  Christ took on our sin and died our death so that we might be forgiven and know the joy of salvation.  All of this, all of this is great joy.  

Next Steps

The Angels’ Message of Great Joy!

This week, reread all the messages of the angels.  

Luke 1:5-25, Luke 1:26-38, Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:-14

● What common themes do you see?  

● What difference do you see?  

● How is this week's angels’ message different from the others?  

“THIS DAY”

The angels tell the shepherds that the Messiah is now here.

● How do you experience the living Christ today?

● What practices can help you experience Jesus every day in the new year

● Read John 14:15-31.  Jesus said he would not leave us orphans but through the Holy Spirit God would be with us.  How do you see the Holy Spirit at work in your life and in the world?  What questions do you have about the Holy Spirit?  Ask God for answers.  

“ALL PEOPLE”

Christ came for all people.

● When have you felt invited but not chosen?  

● When have you experienced the joy of being known and wanted?

● How can you help others feel welcome and wanted?

● Who can you share this great joy with this week?

“THE SHEPHERDS”

Jesus as a good shepherd tells us three things.

1. Jesus will lead us into all the fullness of life.  Psalm 23

2. Jesus knows us and loves us still. Matthew 6:25-34

3. Jesus lays down his life for us.  John 10:1-18

When and how did Jesus do these things?

How does Jesus do this for you today?  

The Angel's Message to Joseph

 

This month we are looking at the good news that was given by the angels throughout the Christmas story.  Zechariah heard the good news that God had heard the prayers of His people and was going to send the Messiah.  Zechariah also got the good news that he and his wife were finally going to have a child who would be the one to prepare the way for the Messiah.  Mary heard the good news that she had been favored by God and chosen to be the one who would give birth to the Messiah.  All this good news, however, was not good news for Joseph.  

Joseph was a righteous man who spent his entire life honoring God.  In all of his ways, Joseph sought to be obedient to the teaching of God’s law.  When Mary told him that she was pregnant, and he knew that he was not the father, what the law told Joseph to do was to dismiss her.  An engagement was legally binding, so for Mary to now show up pregnant meant that Joseph should divorce her, and if he wanted to protect his own righteous image, Joseph should do it in a very public way so everyone would know that he was not at fault.  But because Joseph loved Mary and didn’t want to shame her, he made up his mind to dismiss her quietly.  He would work through the mess she had handed him, and move on with his life.

We have to assume that Mary tried to explain to Joseph that she had been visited by an angel and that it was the power of God that brought about this child, but clearly Joseph wasn’t buying it.  Nothing like this had ever happened before, and things like this just didn’t happen in his life.  While we might want to be critical of Joseph for not being more supportive of Mary, we have to give him some credit for loving her enough to not publicly shame her.  

For Joseph, the decision was made.  He was going to move on, and God could have let that happen.  God could have let Joseph walk away and then bring someone else into Mary’s life and allow another man to be part of God’s plan of salvation.  Nothing is impossible for God. God could have said, fine Joseph, you don’t believe what I am doing?  Then just go your way and I’ll go my way.  But that is not what God said and that’s not what God did.

What God did was to send one more angel to give Joseph this message.   Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.  Matthew 1:20-21.

God loved Joseph enough to speak to him during a time of doubt and disappointment.  When Joseph’s world was crashing down around him, God told him to keep going because God was with Him.  I love this!  Maybe of all the angel’s messages during the Christmas story this is my favorite because I love that God didn’t dismiss Joseph but sent an angel to tell him that he was loved, and that God had a plan for his life, and that God was with him.  I love this message because it means that when we have doubts, when we are ready to walk away from God and dismiss Him from our lives, God doesn’t dismiss us.  God loves us enough to never dismiss us and walk away.  

I love this because there was a time in my life when I was ready to walk away from God.  I didn’t want to follow God’s will or consider God’s plan, and I didn’t want to give up the things that I wanted in life, so I dismissed God.  I told God to leave me alone.  But God didn’t.  While God gave me a glimpse of what life would be like without Him, and everything in my life went from bad to worse, God never left me.  God loved me enough to stay by my side as I wrestled and wandered.  

God loved me enough that when I then sat down on a concrete bench under Beaumont Tower on the campus of MSU, God said, Andy, with me there is life, without me there is death, and the choice is yours.  That was the message that came to me after I had dismissed God from my life a month earlier.  I told God I wasn’t interested in following Him and I would live life on my own.  But God loved me enough that He didn’t let go of me and He didn’t dismiss me.  God kept loving me and walking with me and God spoke about how I could experience all the fullness of life.  

One of the common themes we have seen in all of the angels’ messages is that God loves His people.  God loved Israel enough to listen to their prayers and fulfill the promise of giving them a Messiah.  God loved Zechariah enough to fulfill his longing for a son.  God loved Mary enough to choose her to be the mother of the Messiah and to do a miracle in her life, and God loved Joseph enough to not let him walk away in his doubt and disappointment.  God could have let him go, but God didn’t.  One more time God sent an angel to let someone know that they were loved and chosen by God and that God was with them.  

The angel reminded Joseph of what the prophet said long ago.  

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”).  Matthew 1:23

It is in those moments when we are filled with doubt and disappointment, and in those moments when we ask ourselves if God is even there, that God longs to tell us that He is.  In dreams, through His word, in moments of silence, through the words of others, God speaks to us and the message He shares is the same one He gave to Joseph.  Don’t be afraid to keep going.  I am with you.  Don’t be afraid to keep planning and dreaming and living life.  I am with you.  Don’t be afraid of the dark or doubt or disappointments you are facing.  I am with you.

Covid brought disappointment into the Christmas season a few years ago but we found that even during that difficult time, God was with us.  This year, many people are facing the doubts and disappointments of life brought on by a difficult economy.  Investments have decreased.  Prices have increased, and the jobs we have now can be challenging but trying to find a new or right or better job can be even worse.  The plans we had for our future are not as clear today as they were yesterday and it’s easy to dismiss God or start walking on our own.  It is precisely in these moments that God wants to tell us that He is still with us.  

In Luke’s gospel, the angel appeared to Zechariah and Mary in ways they could see and talk to them, but here, the angel appears in a dream.  Angels speaking to people in dreams is not uncommon in Jewish tradition.  God spoke to Abraham, Jacob and Solomon in dreams, so when God spoke to Joseph, it put him in good company.  I wonder, however, if God had to speak to Joseph in a dream because when he was awake, Joseph was too busy trying to think through the problem and figure out how to solve it on his own.  Had Joseph given God time and space to speak?  Do we give God enough time and space to speak?  Are we ever still long enough to know that God is with us and that God has something to say to us?

I know this is a difficult season to be still and quiet.  Good and important activities are all around us.  Opportunities to serve and worship and share and give are all around us and we want to take part in it all.  And there is so much great music to listen to, scriptures to read, movies to watch (and not just on hallmark), and so our days and nights and weekends are filled.  Filled with noise.  Filled with activity and movement.  We fill our lives with so many good things that it can be hard for us to hear God speaking.  

Now let me be clear that the answer isn’t always to do less.  God can speak to us through our times of worship, service, sharing, and giving.  And the answer isn’t to turn off all music and movies.  The answer is to ask God to speak to us in ways we can hear Him in the midst of our busy-ness.  God can speak during times of worship.  Through the music and message of the Christmas Concert this afternoon, God can speak.  In fact, we might just hear an angel's message to us if we come with ears to hear.  We can hear God in all that we do if we ask God to speak and then work to listen.  

God loved Joseph enough to speak to him.  Through his doubts, his disillusionment, and all his thinking and planning about what he should do, God loved Joseph enough to find a time to speak.  And Joseph didn’t just listen to what God said, he followed it.  Joseph took Mary home to be his wife.  He gave the child she carried the name Jesus, and he helped raise the son of God.  

When Joseph made this decision, he chose to live not by the letter of God’s law but the spirit of God’s law.  Joseph didn’t dismiss or divorce Mary, which is what the letter of God’s law required, instead he lived by the spirit of God’s law, which was to love.  We know that love is the foundation and spirit in all of God’s law because of the two passages that the Jewish people revered and Jesus lifted up.  

Deuteronomy 6:5.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength

Leviticus 19:18. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Joseph’s decision to love God and love Mary shows us what it looks like to follow the spirit of God’s law, and it was an example that Jesus followed throughout His life.  One of the things that Jesus was criticized for over and over again was breaking the letter of God’s law.  Jesus worked on the Sabbath, He healed on the Sabbath.  Jesus touched people who were unclean and allowed unclean and sinful people to touch Him.  Jesus spoke to Gentiles and women, and allowed children into His presence so He could bless them.  Jesus taught people not to hate their enemy but to love them, and instead of seeking an eye for an eye, He said it was better to turn the other cheek.  

Jesus didn’t live by the letter of God’s law but taught us all to live by the spirit of God’s love that rests behind the law.  It’s not that we ignore the law, it’s that we look deeper than the law to see and hear God’s wisdom and discern God’s will.  This is what Jesus did. Where did Jesus learn to do this?  From His heavenly father.  Where did Jesus see this lived out?  In His earthly father, Joseph.  When the law said to dismiss Mary, Joseph took her into his home and heart and loved her.  

Joseph loved God enough to do what God asked him to do, and he loved Mary enough to take her into his home.  Joseph traveled with Mary to Bethlehem and cared for her and their newborn son in a stable.  Joseph protected Mary and their child when they were warned to get out of Israel.  Joseph protected Mary on a trip to Egypt and then a trip home to Nazareth years later.  Joseph loved Mary, not with words, but with actions.

In case you haven’t noticed, Joseph is the only character in our nativity scenes who doesn’t speak.  The angels speak.  Mary speaks and says Yes to God.  The shepherds speak when they say, let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that the angel told us.  The wisemen speak when they ask for directions on where to find the king of Israel.  And unless you believe the legend that the animals spoke on the first Christmas, we know they didn’t speak, but they did make noise.  But Joseph was silent.  There is not one recorded word of Joseph in the Bible and yet his example of love was powerful enough to shape the life of Jesus.  Joseph shows us that:

Love is not measured by what we say, but by what we do.  

This is not to say that our words of love are not important.  It is very important for us to say, I love you, to those we love.  Those words can be transformative.  This past week we celebrated the life of Jane Holderman and one of the most touching stories I heard about Jane was how her constant words of, I love you, shared with her grandson with autism, broke through to him.  Jane was one of the only people who could touch her grandson without him getting agitated.  Her constant words brought him comfort and in time her words allowed him to find his own words and say, I love you, in return.  Words are important, but those words have to be backed up with actions.  

1 John 3:16-18.  This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

God put His love into action when He sent Jesus into this world to be our Savior.  Jesus put His love into action when He saved us from sin by taking up the cross.  Joseph put his love into action when he chose not to dismiss Mary but chose to live by the spirit of love and take her home to be his wife.  

It’s not enough for us to say that we love God, or that we love others, we need to put that love into action.  I want to invite you over the next 2 weeks as we prepare to celebrate the gift of God’s love in Jesus, to find one way that you can put your love for God into action. Maybe it’s to be fully present in worship.  That means showing up and setting aside everything else that is going on so you can be still and know that God is with you.  Maybe it’s to read the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke, and then give God time to tell you what it’s all about.  Find one intentional way that you can love God as we get ready for Christmas.  

Then find one way you can put your love for someone else into action.  Serve others at the Christmas Dinner.  Love our brothers and sisters in Ukraine by giving to the Christmas Offering.  Take in a friend or neighbor who might be alone for the holidays.  Bake something to give away.  Reach out to help someone who is going through a difficult time.  Find one way to put your love into action before Christmas.  

God’s message to Joseph was, I love you.  I’m not going to dismiss you and walk away. I’m going to be with you and show you what love looks like.  Joseph learned what love was all about and then set an example of love that Jesus followed.  God still loves us and God invites us to love Him and others in ways that will not only change the lives of others, but change us as well.  

Next Steps

The Message of the Angel to Joseph

Read Matthew 1:18-25

Why did Joseph not dismiss Mary when the law told him to?  Why did God not dismiss Joseph?  

When have you wanted to dismiss God and walk away from His word, purpose, and plan?  What did you do?  

In the busyness of these next two weeks, ask God to speak to you.  Listen for God in His word, the music you will hear, the movies you will watch, and the schedule that you keep.  

Instead of living out the letter of law, Joseph lived out the spirit of the law and chose to love.  Consider these times when Jesus also lived by the spirit of the law:

● Mark 3:1-6

● Luke 13:10-17

● Luke 6:1-5

● Luke 18:16

● John 4:1-26

What is one intentional way you can love God during these next two weeks?

What is one intentional way you can love others during these next two weeks?  

Put your love into action.  “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”  1 John 3:18