1 GOD S CHRISTMAS PRESENCE Sermon preached by Pastor C. John Steer Autumn Ridge Church December 15-16, 2018 Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25 I want to give a shout out to those who are hopelessly behind in their Christmas preparation. You know who you are. Your Christmas tree is still in its box in the basement. Your decorations look nothing like the airbrushed photos in Martha Stewart s splendid magazine. You haven t written a word of your annual Christmas letter. Santa is probably going to bypass your house on Christmas Eve because you haven t bought any gifts yet. But don t be sad. Be satisfied. You ve managed to capture the atmosphere of the first Christmas perfectly, because that too was a complete shambles. There was no room in the inn for Mary and Joseph. The Magi s gifts reveal that they were men with little imagination. What on earth would a baby do with gold, frankincense, and myrrh? The problem was the wise men arrived in Bethlehem and realized they hadn t any presents. The only shop open so late at night was Myrrh & Frankincense R Us. So they rush in and grab something but forget to wrap it. If that wasn t bad enough, King Herod tried to kill Jesus and his parents had to run off with the Christ child to Egypt. So if your house looks like a tornado hit it, and you don t get your Christmas cards out until February, it is quite all right. In fact it is a wonderful depiction of the confusion that surrounded the birth of Jesus. You have permission to feel downright sorry for those whose homes are perfect. So please relax and rejoice in what God has done for you at Christmas. God s provision for us is all summed up in that marvelous name Immanuel. Now Joseph is the silent partner in the Christmas story. He never utters a word, though his world has been turned upside down. His fiancé is pregnant although he hasn t touched her. He is considering a quiet divorce which would avoid Mary being stoned to death in his culture. But then an angel appears to him and tells Joseph that although everything looks terrible, it will turn out terrific. Matthew adds this lovely comment, which is our Victory Verse for the week. Let us say it together.
2 The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us. Matthew 1:22-23 Immanuel is GOD S CHRISTMAS PRESENCE, for Jesus is God with us. In the Old Testament it was often said that God was for his people. God was the one who guided their destiny and from time to time God intervened in history to deliver them. It is good to know that God is for you, but it is even better to know that God is with you. Today I want us to think of the implications of this name Immanuel. There is an outline in your RidgeLines if you would like to follow along with me. First, the gift of God s presence means that God is knowable so we can relate to him. Until Jesus came into the world no one knew what God was really like. So Jesus came to reveal God s identity. Perhaps you wonder if God even exists. If that is your situation, look at Jesus. That s why John explains, No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known." (John 1:18) In the Upper Room Philip asked Jesus, Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us. Jesus answered: Don t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:8-9) Scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer once said, The best way to send an idea is to wrap it in a person. That s what God did in the incarnation. The word incarnation means in the flesh. So John proclaims in the prologue to his gospel, The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." (John 1:14) Ignatius, the second century bishop of Antioch, noted that, By the incarnation God broke his silence. So if you want to know what God is really like take a long, hard look at Jesus. For the good news of Christmas is that God is not just a power, he is a person, that we can come to know. When we do know Jesus we can do remarkable things in his name, like the Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege. He has just received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work bringing physical and spiritual healing to tens of thousands of women raped by militants in his country s civil war. Denis has been to Rochester. His son worshiped with us. Some of our Elders know him well and have been to his hospital. At the Pentecostal-run Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, he provides holistic care for women, including a specialized procedure to address fistulas and other injuries sustained from sexual assault.
3 Dr. Mukwege has led a crusade against gender-based violence telling his fellow Christians, It is up to us, through God s Word, to exorcise all the macho demons possessing the world so that women who are victims of male barbarity can experience the reign of God." Yes, Immanuel means God is knowable. So we can relate to him for he has become one of us. Then the gift of God s presence means God is approachable so we can come to him. Before the first Christmas only one man could approach God. He was the high priest of Israel and he could only do it on one day a year. At the center of the Temple in Jerusalem was the Holy of Holies where God lived. Apart from the high priest s visit once a year, everyone was kept at a distance from God. So there was the Court of the Priests, and then a wall. There was the Court of Jewish Men, and then a wall. There was a Court of Jewish Women, and then three walls. Then came the Court of the Gentiles, and that was for you and me. We are sitting in the bleachers and God is a long way off. There is a big sign on the wall cutting us off from God that reads, Let no Gentile enter inside the barrier and fence around the sanctuary. Anyone trespassing will bring death on himself as a penalty. Imagine coming to church today and being told you could not come closer than the parking lot. That s what it was like back then. But with the coming of Jesus all that changed. The fact that Jesus was born in a manger is proof of his approachability. If Jesus had been born in the Temple the shepherds could not have come because they were considered unclean and so were not welcome. The wise men could not have come because they were Gentiles. But anyone can come to a manger. One of the main themes of the letter to the Hebrews is that God is approachable. So the writer issues this invitation, Let us then approach God s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:16) The letter goes on to add, Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,...let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings." (Hebrews 10:19&20, 22) How wonderful that we can come to God today. We don t have to wait in the parking lot. We don t have to wait for a better time. We can come now, just as we are.
4 Then the gift of God s presence means that God is reliable so we can trust him. My aunt used to have all her gifts bought and wrapped and her cards signed by October. But God puts her efforts to shame. He starts preparing for the coming of his Son thousands of years earlier. Jesus birth was predicted to Eve at the beginning of the Bible. Then Abraham and David were told the good news. Throughout the Old Testament we hear the promise He s coming! He s coming. When we get to the Gospels it becomes He s here. What God said he would do he did. From that we can see that God can be trusted. In Isaiah we find a promise that God gave King Ahaz at a particularly troubling time in Israel s history. The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14) Some scholars have pointed out that the word for virgin here can mean a young woman of marriageable age, and therefore it could refer to a normal birth of a son to a young woman. What is important, however, is the way that Matthew applies this prophecy. He says that Jesus is to be born of a virgin. That was the sign. It was by the means of the virgin birth that the eternal Son of God became man and was therefore able to die for our salvation. So when Jesus was born Matthew wrote, All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel which means God with us. (Matthew 1:22-23) After 4,000 years of promising a Messiah, God kept his word. That means that we can trust him today to keep his promises to us. The gift of God s presence means God is knowable, so we can relate to him. God is approachable, so we can come to him. God is reliable, so we can trust him. But there is more for God is available so we can count on him. When we think of God being with us we can be too selective about when it applies. Yes, I know God is with me at church. God was with me at my baptism. God was with me when I did something spiritual. But God s presence is not limited to these occasions. His name Immanuel does not mean God with us some of the time. God is not a part-time companion. This gift of God s Christmas presence is particularly precious when we face the difficult moments of life. For Immanuel means God is with us in our sorrows. David s testimony in Psalm 23 bears witness to this.
5 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me." (Psalm 23:4) Gardner Taylor was one of the great preachers of the last century. He was called the Pulpit King. Time named him the dean of the nation s black preachers. To hear Taylor preach you knew that God was with him. Yet one day he faced the greatest tragedy of his life when his wife Laura was killed by a city vehicle while crossing a Brooklyn street. Gardner Taylor was devastated. They had been married 52 years. People waited to see what would happen to this great preacher and see how his faith would stand up. He explained his response in these words: When you come to personal crises in your life, as I have, I don t know what people do without faith. I don t always have a calm assurance about it, but I believe with all my heart that God will not do us evil. And when I understand what he is doing, I will appreciate it. Gardner Taylor discovered that God is with us in our sorrows. Immanuel also means that God is with us in our trials. That s the very time we need him. God loves to meet us on the road named adversity. He met the Ethiopian on the road to Gaza. He met the two on the road to Emmaus. He met Paul on the road to Damascus. He meets you and me on our road of difficulty. He comes alongside us. He speaks to us. He explains the scripture. He makes sense of our situation. So God assures us, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God." (Isaiah 43:2-3) Ultimately Immanuel means God is with us always. We have Jesus word on this. His last statement to his disciples before his ascension was, Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:20) Jesus is with us in the bad times, in the sad times, and in the glad times. He says to us, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5) Perhaps we say, But I don t feel his presence. A lot of people in Judea did not feel Jesus presence when he was born. But that did not alter the fact that Jesus was there. Those who experienced his presence were the ones who knew who he was and who went to worship him. But, we wonder, is Immanuel still with us today? After all, Jesus is no longer on earth. He has gone back to heaven. Did that undo the work of the incarnation? Has Jesus separated himself from his human body?
6 The answer is that Immanuel is still with us. Jesus is still the God-man. Right now Jesus is sitting on the right hand of his Father in his glorified human body, displaying the scars of his crucifixion. And to further his promise of Immanuel, Jesus has sent his Spirit to indwell every believer so he can be with us forever. We have all learned some Hebrew today. Immanuel means God with us. But I want to make it more personal so I want to teach you another Hebrew word. I want you to be able to say Emman ni el which means God with me. The Apostle Paul was a scholar of the Old Testament. He knew about God with us, but it did not make a difference to his life until it became God with me. That happened when Paul acknowledged Jesus as Lord. Then Paul s faith became very personal. He was able to make statements like this: The Son of God who died for me. For me to live is Christ. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. That is the sort of statement every Christian can make. Before we leave this subject we have to deal with a problem. Matthew said, They will call him Immanuel. (v.23) But who called Jesus Immanuel? This is the last time the name is mentioned in the New Testament. Mary and Joseph called their Son Jesus, as did his disciples and others. So who calls the Son of God Immanuel? The answer is we do when we recognize that God is with us in the person of Christ. So God s Christmas presence is the offer to come and live with us. Let s ask him to do that now.