Under Wraps: The Gift We Never Expected God Is Jealous Sermon Delivered on December 21, 2014 By Rev. Donna L. Martin (This sermon and sermon series is based on the Under Wraps curriculum by Jessica LaGrone, Andy Nixon, Rob Renfro, and Ed Robb. I have borrowed from it liberally.) What do the words OUT OF ORDER mean to you? Broken, non-functional, not working right. We re pretty familiar with what being out of order means when it comes to vending machines, aren t we? When a soda machine is in good working order, we put our money in, make a selection and out comes our soda. But when a soda machine is out of order we might be in for a variety of disappointments. In one scenario you put your money in and it just drops straight through never allowing you to make a selection. You kick the machine. You bruise your toe. You do not get a soda. In another scenario you put your money in, you make a selection, but nothing happens. No matter how many times or how hard you push the button, nothing comes out. You press the refund button. Nothing happens. You kick the machine. You bruise your toe. You do not get a soda. You do not get your money back. In a third, perhaps more fortunate scenario, you put your money in, you make a selection, the machine dispenses a soda, but it is not the brand you wanted. You say a few choice words and walk off but at least in this scenario you have a soda and your toes have been spared. I am sure you ve all probably experienced this at least once, so I think it is safe to assume you know what it means for something to be out of order. But what would you say if I told you that, for most of us, Christmas is out of order? Christmas broken? We want the warmth, joy and peace associated with Christmas, and often we put a lot of energy into making that happen, but instead of getting Christmas blessings in return for our efforts, we get dissatisfaction, disappointment, or depression. Not quite the same as a bruised toe, but something is still definitely out of order. And I believe that we have to take a step back from what our culture tells us about the way Christmas should work in order to see how it is broken. Why is December 25 special anyway? What is it that makes it different than any other day of the year? Is it the gifts we give to others? Is it the gifts we are going to get? Is it the special food we are going to prepare and eat? If you answered yes to any of these last questions, your Christmas is out of order. 1
The trappings of Christmas (and here the pun is definitely intended) can become so all-consuming, our self-focus so overpowering, our minds (and bodies) in such overdrive that we simply end up giving lip-service to the thing we are supposed to be celebrating the birth of Jesus, our Savior. And I have to wonder if our misplaced, out-of-order priorities, make God jealous. In our passage today from Deuteronomy we read, For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Now to our modern ears to say God is jealous makes him seem petty and small. But the Hebrew word for jealous, qinah, means warmth or heat. So when scripture says God is jealous, it means God is intensely passionate for his people. God is on fire for us and he does not want anything to stand between his love for us and our love for him. Do you know what we call those things that stand between us and God? They are called idols. Now the quintessential biblical story of idol-making occurs in Exodus. You remember the story. Moses has led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. They avoided plagues and then escaped Pharaoh and his army when God parted the Red Sea. They are on their way to the Promised Land. Moses, their leader, leaves the group to go up onto the mountain in order to receive instructions from the Lord. He is gone longer than the people expect. They begin to get anxious and panic. They start to wonder if they have been abandoned, not only by Moses, but by God. They are not getting a warm fuzzy feeling so they decide to make a calf out of gold and they begin to worship it. To say God is not pleased is an understatement. Let me pick up the story in the 32 nd chapter of Exodus: 7 The Lord spoke to Moses: Hurry up and go down! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, are ruining everything! 8 They ve already abandoned the path that I commanded. They have made a metal bull calf for themselves. They ve bowed down to it and offered sacrifices to it. 9 The Lord said to Moses, I ve been watching these people, and I ve seen how stubborn they are. 10 Now leave me alone! Let my fury burn and devour them. Then I ll make a great nation out of you. 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, Lord, why does your fury burn against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and amazing force? Calm down your fierce anger 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, whom you yourself promised, I ll make your descendants 2
as many as the stars in the sky 14 Then the Lord changed his mind. Now, a surface reading of this text does indeed make God seem rather petty and small. But does this really mean God is some kind of vengeful, wronged lover when our eyes (or hearts) wander? I don t think so. You see, if we read this passage in light of the entire biblical narrative one that includes the saving work of God s only Son we see that God is not jealous for his own sake; God is jealous for our sakes. Remember God is passionate for us For God so loved the world - so God wants us to keep our eyes on him because he knows that our idols can destroy us. At the very least, they keep us from experiencing the life-giving freedom he offers. Now, if we understand this, then don t we have to ask ourselves, ESPECIALLY during this season, what are our golden calves? (What are your idols?) To know if you are worshipping idols all you have to do is ask yourself, To what or whom do I turn when I feel out of sorts or abandoned? What do I do when I find myself thinking, God sure is taking his sweet time resolving this problem. How do you react under stress? Do you spend time in scripture, in prayer, or getting a reality check from another Christian or do you self-medicate with food, alcohol, drugs, or work? Do you leave things in God s capable hands and to his timing or do you start trying to fix things yourself? Do you trust that God has your best and long-term interest at heart and lean into his love or do you withdraw, sleep, play video games or watch television? These days leading up to Christmas, with all their stress and tension, provide us with many opportunities to identify our idols. But another way to determine whether or not our priorities are in good working order is by answering these questions: Am I really available to Jesus? Am I available and responding to his nudges? I m talking about those Holy Spirit nudges that say, Slow down, pay attention to the people around you, someone needs a smile or hug. Or God lays someone on your heart and you know you need to call them. Or you notice someone struggling with something and you get that feeling that you can help them in some way. These nudges are priority opportunities. They give us a chance to put God and God s will first. And whenever you feel a nudge from God to do something, call someone, pray for someone and you don t respond, that is the moment you are putting God second and your life is out of order. Andy Nixon, Lead Pastor of The Loft in The Woodlands, tells the story of putting God first based on a nudge. One night he bought buffalo wings for 3
his family to enjoy as they watched a football game. He put his order in online, then went to pick them up, but as he drove up to the restaurant, he noticed an unusually long line at the counter. It was one of those small establishments with one guy behind the counter doing all the work. Pastor Nixon recognized the man as a regular employee and he knew that every other time he had been there, this guy had had amazing customer service, but on this visit, he could tell the man was stressed. There was obliviously a lot to do and people were getting impatient. The pressure was mounting and it began to take its toll on the employee who by now had begun to fling bowls and slam doors. Finally the man snapped. He just stopped what he was doing, looked at all of the people waiting in line and said, I make fifty-four dollars a day after taxes! Fifty-four dollars a day! Which one of you wants to come back here and do this job for that? The crowd was silent. It was very awkward moment. Then the man snapped, Which one of you is Andy? Reluctantly the pastor stepped up. The man said, You ordered online, you ve paid, and your wings are in the bag on the counter. You can take them and go. Pastor Nixon said, Relieved, I did just that. But on the way home, Jesus began to work on my heart. What are you going to do about that whole situation, Andy? Jesus asked. To which the pastor mentally replied. Me? Nothing. I m off duty. Jesus nudged again. How many times have you thought about complimenting that employee or telling his supervisor how well he does his job? Nixon said, Truthfully, I had thought about doing it dozens of times, but I had never followed through on my good intentions. But he knew he had been nudged, so when he got home, he sat down at his computer and sent a complimentary note to the employee s supervisor through their website, then got ready to enjoy his wings and the football game. But Jesus was not through with him yet. The next nudge said, If you really loved him, Andy, you d do more. Nixon knew Jesus was right. So the next day he called the wing place, found out when the man was scheduled to work next, and posted the story of the previous evening s experience on Facebook. He then asked his 4
Facebook friends to love on this guy by going by to say hi or I am praying for you whatever they felt called to do. And they did. On the appointed day many people did drop by to say hi to tell the beleaguered employee they were praying for him. Someone brought him cupcakes. Another person took him balloons and another person bought him a grocery store gift card. At the end of the day, when a church member went in with his son to eat wings, he asked the man, How was your day? It has been amazing, the employee said. Business is good, and I got cupcakes and balloons all because some pastor told a story. It has been unbelievable! I d love to thank him. The church member, who had the pastor s phone number programmed in his phone, held it out to the employee and asked, Do you want to tell him yourself. The employee called. He talked to Pastor Nixon. He asked the pastor to pray for him, his wife, and his kids. The next time Andy Nixon went into the restaurant he introduced himself. The guy came out from behind the counter and gave him a big hug. He still does every time Andy goes in for wings. I think we can only imagine how God is and will work in this man s life, all because one person took the time to respond to a couple of nudges. My friends, the Holy Spirit speaks to each and every one of us just as she spoke to Andy Nixon. How we choose to respond is important. It usually does not take that much of our time or energy. But it does take our willingness to be open and pay attention. And it takes our willingness to follow through. This experience shows us that God has a plan, and he wants to make it happen through us. God is jealous for us to stop what we are doing and put his love into action. But when we are distracted by our to do list, or our emotions, or things we want, we cannot put him or others first. Our lives are out of order. Today is December 21. Not counting today, there are only three more shopping days until Christmas. There are turkeys, hams and other groceries to buy; there are cakes, cookies, and pies to be baked, presents to be wrapped, houses to be cleaned. Tension, anxiety, and perhaps even a little panic are starting to set in. You can feel it everywhere at home, at the grocery store, in the shopping centers and malls, and on the highway. People are rushed, impatient, short tempered, and greedy for bargains. If we are not careful, just when we should be getting ready to celebrate Jesus 5
birth, we can be more distracted than ever. Our priorities are misaligned. Christmas is out of order. Our hearts are out of order. The Christmas full of love, hope, joy and peace that we so desperately want and need, that the world so desperately wants and needs, is in danger of being short-circuited because the wires and switches through which God s love passes are jumbled, jammed or burned out. But the good news is there is still time to stop the madness and re-prioritize our lives before another Christmas has come and gone. My friends, as cliché as it sounds, Jesus IS the reason for the season. It is time to put Christ back in Christmas. God is jealous for our hearts. He loved us so much he sent his only Son. Let us love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and let us allow his love to flow through us to others. That is what God wants for Christmas. Our love is the greatest gift we can give. Amen. 6