Category: Sermons

Hope for the Suffering

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(Romans 5:1-8)

Here we come across a verse that we would all do well to put into practice a little more often: “And we boast in the hope of the glory of God” (v.2). This is one of those Bible verses that certainly sounds spiritual and like one that we maybe ought to have displayed on some wall art in our home somewhere. But… sometimes we struggle to relate to what verses like this are actually saying.  

Paul doesn’t lack theological jargon in his letters. He uses words and terms that have deep spiritual significance. We have a hard time deciphering the spiritual verbiage and translating it into an understandable application for my life. So what is Paul saying here? I don’t think it’s twisting his words if we take them this way: we rejoice in the confidence of God’s “God-ness.” I know that last one is a made-up word, but we get it, don’t we? Paul is stating that we can find joy in knowing for certain that God is always going to show up, that he is always going to be doing the things that make him God. How do we know? That’s exactly what the “therefore” is there for in the first verse and following.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (v.1-2). Pardon a little more theological jargon from Paul, but let’s restate simply what he is saying here, too: we have been declared not guilty of our sins because of all that Jesus did for us, and because we believe that, we have the perfectly peaceful relationship with God and live every second of our lives as the recipients of his fiercely devoted and limitless love. That is your reality right now and tomorrow and until God’s glorious return on the Last Day.

And since that is our reality, we find in it an unparalleled spiritual swagger that more than qualifies us not just to “get through” life, but to maximize our lives, to live them to the full, at all times… even when faced with suffering. 

You knew it was coming, didn’t you? If you looked at the title of this post or paid attention as you read through this section from Romans, you couldn’t miss the word suffering. Let’s go ahead and just acknowledge that that word wouldn’t make the top ten list of everybody’s favorite topics to talk about. And that’s OK. Neither Paul nor God ever says that suffering has to be our favorite. It is never implied that if you don’t get warm fuzzy feelings at the thought of suffering, you are somehow less spiritual or there’s something wrong with you. No, we don’t have to like it, but here’s the thing: we can learn to embrace suffering because of what God will do through it. 

I don’t imagine too many professional athletes relish the grueling hours spent disciplining their bodies in training and practice in the preseason and throughout the regular season. But those who have had the privilege of holding up the championship trophy at the end of the season would – and do! – go through all of it again year after year in pursuit of that end result. 

So it is with suffering in our lives. God doesn’t say you have to look forward to it or love it, but neither does he want us to shy away from it or to loathe it, because he guarantees that he’s always going to do good things in and for us through suffering.

No, we don’t necessarily need God to remove any inconvenient or difficult suffering in our lives; what we need instead is hope to endure it. And God provides that hope in two ways: 1) Hope is ours because of Jesus’ suffering, and 2) Hope is ours because of our suffering.

I. Hope is ours because of Jesus’ suffering

I wrote a moment ago that God guarantees that he’s always going to do good things in and for us through suffering. Could there be any better proof of that than looking to the crucifixion of Christ? It was the single greatest act of undeserved suffering ever experienced in the world, and through it, God brought the greatest good ever in the world: salvation for all people.

Paul delves into it more in the last part of these verses. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (v. 6-8). Jesus’ suffering stands out so much not only because it was completely undeserved, but also because of those for whom he suffered, described in two ways in these verses: the “ungodly” and “sinners.”

Consider that the next time you try to smooth-talk your sin to someone else or give the “I’m not really sorry” apology. When we try to whitewash our sin, what are we really trying to convince ourselves and others of? Could it be that we’d like to pretend that maybe terms like “ungodly” and “sinners” ought to be reserved only for the really bad folks out there, but that they don’t really apply to us? 

We would like our sin to be like the one or two-day-old container of food in the fridge that may not smell 100% fresh, but it’s still good, still edible. Our sin isn’t like the stuff that got shoved to the back of the fridge for way too long that leaves no doubt about having spoiled once you take off the lid and the sight and smell trigger an instant gag reflex. Surely that’s not our sin. We want to think that our slightly less-than-fresh sin is not nearly as bad as the funky smell of other people’s sin. 

Realize that if we could hypothetically somehow make our sin appear less sinful, then there’s only one conclusion we could arrive at: Jesus didn’t come for us. We don’t need him. What a terrifying thought!

If Jesus didn’t come for us, then we are on our own, and if we’re on our own, though we might completely fool ourselves about our own perceived goodness, our fraud will be exposed for what it is on the last day when Satan eagerly presents his endless volumes of record books tracking our sins. God would have no choice at that point but to be the just God that he is and condemn any who thought they did nothing to deserve condemnation.

Because Jesus didn’t suffer for the slightly sinful. He didn’t die for the sometimes godly. He died for ungodly sinners.

And that alone is where the hope comes from which Paul refers to at the end of verse two. Hope because of Jesus’ suffering is only for the ungodly. It is only for sinners. We remind ourselves of that when we gather each week in worship by starting out the service confessing our sins – reminding ourselves of the ungodly sinners that we are on our own. 

But we do that for a purpose. Not to beat ourselves up or wallow in that guilt for an hour; rather, to set the tone for the hope that Jesus freely gives to ungodly sinners through the suffering of Jesus – hope that is applied to us as we are assured of the forgiveness of sins through the absolution. 

Now what does that hope have to do with your suffering? Everything, friends! Jesus’ suffering means that your suffering will come to an end, no matter what it is. Whether the cause of your suffering is financial, relational, health or work-related, or a direct consequence of your own sin – it doesn’t matter – it will end. But more importantly, the hope we have through Jesus’ suffering means always having something to look forward to. Always. Even chronic suffering is short-lived compared to the hope we have because of Jesus’ suffering, a hope that allows us to look forward to an eternity without any suffering. 

That’s well and good for the future, you might agree, but it may not seem to be all that helpful while we’re in the midst of the severe storms of suffering. That’s why Paul holds out even more hope to us. Hope isn’t just ours because of Jesus’ suffering, but 

II. Hope is ours because of our suffering

God wants to heap more hope on us. How does he do it? Through our suffering. Paul wrote, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (v.3-5). There’s that word glory again. What on earth does it mean for us to “glory” in our suffering? We might better understand what Paul is saying with the word “rejoice” instead of “glory.” In fact, a good number of very reliable Bible translations use the word “rejoice” here instead of “glory.” Although, you might still be wondering if Paul is off his rocker in encouraging us to rejoice in suffering!

But he is not, and he is not because he knows – from first-hand experience, mind you – that God masterfully makes suffering serve our greater good. Only God could do that! Only the God who brought the greatest good out of the greatest suffering of his Son could also use something like suffering to produce a better version of us. And that is exactly what he does. How? 

Look at Paul’s progression: suffering produces perseverance, which produces character, which results in even more hope. 

Let’s break that down, starting with perseverance. This one might be difficult for us to see, as we have a tendency to nostalgically remember our past as if we’re fondly remembering a greeting card, which allows us then to filter out a lot of the turmoil that actually we experienced. But if your memory wasn’t so dishonest with you, you’d actually recall some pretty significant seasons of suffering, some things that, when you were just starting to go through them, seemed insurmountable at the time. They appeared to be way too much for you as the suffering loomed, and you couldn’t see any way through them. 

But what happened? You got through it (or better, God got you through it!). I mean, here you are today. You (God!) persevered. And because you (God!) did, in your own mind, as more time goes by, you don’t even remember how dreadful it was at the time. God brought you through it and you persevered. And each time God does that, each time he pushes you to persevere, you grow. How do we know?

Character is the proof. Perhaps the best way to describe what Paul is pointing out here is that when you persevere through suffering, God changes you for the better. He uses it to shape you and chisel away the character flaws and faults and replace them with faithful fortitude and fearlessness. 

As a Christian, you are not the same Christian you used to be. God has changed you for the better and will keep doing so. Yes, he’ll continue to use suffering to accomplish that, but if he is ultimately building my character as a child of God through it, then bring it on! That will only serve me, serve others, and serve God’s kingdom better in the future. 

Realizing how God does all of that through our suffering adds even more hope. God doesn’t waste suffering. Read that again. God doesn’t waste suffering. He uses it to keep his promises and bring good out of every situation. When I have that confidence – and every one of us reading this can and should – then I have hope. 

You may think the answer to your suffering is for God to remove it. And sometimes that may very well be his solution since he also delights in doing that! But other times it won’t. Other times he will allow suffering to persist because he wants to fill you up with hope – hope that is yours through Jesus’ suffering and through the good that God will work in you through your own suffering. 

Entry for the Excluded

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(John 3:1-17)

Nicodemus was having his doubts. As a Pharisee – and member of the Jewish ruling council, no less! – confidence, not questioning, had been his hallmark. He was taught and trained that if any group of people could be confident of its salvation, it was them. They were in. And they even reinforced their self-confidence. They tacked on additional manageable rules for themselves to highlight their rigid adherence to the law and pointed out the numerous failures and shortcomings of others in doing so. This was his life – the Pharisees fueled their self-assurance by patting each other on the back and elevating each other on pedestals of comparison to others. 

But the normally self-assured Nicodemus was not so sure. Doubts were creeping in. At the very least, questioning replaced confidence. We aren’t even told what it was exactly that began to leave him unsettled – a new experience for a confident Pharisee, for sure! While he couldn’t place his finger on exactly what it was, he knew the source that was causing it: Jesus. So, to avoid being seen and ostracized by his fellow Pharisees for cozying up to the enemy, he felt more comfortable approaching Jesus under the cover of darkness. The key to regaining his confidence was to look for answers to his questions. Jesus was the place to start. 

Jesus is still the place to start. You have questions, questions you may or may not have ever verbalized to others, but questions that jumble around in your head, refusing to settle down quietly until they are eventually answered. Questions about Christianity. Questions about teachings. Questions about God. Questions about yourself and perhaps where you stand with God. That last one is the one question that demands an answer, and only Jesus can provide it: Am I in? Am I in with God? In other words, Can I be sure that I will be in heaven, and if so, how?

Sometimes things are backward. The least engaged among Christians are sometimes the most confident, while the most engaged are the least confident. There are those who make infrequent appearances in God’s house on a Sunday morning because they feel as if they have the Jesus thing down. They believe what they need to believe and are happy to call it good.

Others treat the church as their second home. This isn’t to impress others or because they are so confident of where they stand, but the exact opposite. They aren’t sure and so they internally cling to the hope that their above-and-beyond participation at church will help boost their credentials before God – as if that was how it really worked. 

But Jesus, and not worship attendance or church participation, is the place to start. Only in Jesus are questions replaced with confidence.

That was the experience of Nicodemus. As John records the conversation for us, we see Jesus take over. That’s what he does! When souls are at stake, Jesus takes control. In fact, Nicodemus may not even have really known precisely what question he had for Jesus, as he doesn’t even actually ask a question until after Jesus made his first point.

Nicodemus said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him” (v.2). It’s as if Nicodemus is talking himself through it, unsure exactly of how to articulate what it was that he needed to hear from Jesus. So what does Jesus do? He doesn’t just wait for Nicodemus to stumble through some incoherent, bumbling questions, but rather speaks up and starts down the path that takes Nicodemus to what he needs to hear. 

He started by taking some of the wind out of Nicodemus’ pharisaical sails. “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again’” (v.3). You better believe that the self-righteous ears of the Pharisee perked right up when Jesus started with the attention grabber: “no one can see the kingdom of God.” No one. Regardless of your religious status or titles. No matter the recognition or reputation. Disregard the achievements or accomplishments. No one. Everyone is excluded. That is, “… unless…

they are born again.” Now before we rush into judgment at how simple-minded Nicodemus’ response to Jesus was (he had questioned how someone could return back into the womb to be born a second time), realize that Nicodemus was unintentionally highlighting the very point Jesus was stressing about being “in” with God: it’s impossible for us to do. It’s not our work, any more than anyone of us can claim any stake in the hard, toiling work we did on the day we were born.

Regarding our birth, who of us has ever thought, “Oh man, that sure was a long day and a lot of work on my part when I was finally born. It involved a lot of planning and preparation. I had to train extensively. Then, when the time came, I put in the grueling effort and decided it was time to leave the womb for the world and be born. It wasn’t easy, but I did it.” Laughable foolishness! We take and we get zero credit for any participation on the day we were born. So Jesus uses that very picture to emphasize that we also take and get zero credit for any participation in entering into the kingdom of God, into a relationship with the Lord.

Next, Jesus places the focus where it always must be in man’s relationship with God: away from man and squarely on God. Specifically the Holy Spirit. “Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.” The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit’” (v.5-8). Jesus essentially told Nicodemus how this all works by ruling out all of his works and leaving only room for God’s work through the Holy Spirit. 

Let’s not pretend that’s any easier for us to grasp today – even where faith is already present. We still fight, demanding some credit for this work, still reasoning that the two categories of “us” and “them,” of those who are in God’s kingdom and those who aren’t, has at least the slightest bit to do with me. It’s the real reason we struggle to forgive others or struggle to see grace extended to others.

We pretend it’s because of who they are, but really that struggle comes because of who we think we are. It’s our own perceived self-righteousness that demands at least a little bit of acknowledgment because “I would never do what that person did” or would at least make things right if I did, unlike that person. When we deceive ourselves into thinking this way, do we see how we’re really just right back there on the day of our birth demanding some amount of credit for our birth? Laughable foolishness! 

Our birth is entirely the Spirit’s work and only the Spirit’s work. Jesus made that much clear. “Flesh,” the Bible’s term to describe how utterly and sinfully corrupt mankind is on its own, cannot upgrade its status. No matter how much success parents might set up their kids for, the best they’re ever able to achieve before God is to present another generation of sinners. And we are powerless to do anything about it.

If anything of us or any part of us is going to be spiritual, it must come from the Spirit, Jesus said. And since that is God’s work, just as little as we can predict the direction, intensity, or frequency of the wind blowing, so little can we predict when God will do the work of changing a fallen-in-flesh sinner into a filled-with-faith saint. 

Understandably, Nicodemus still didn’t get it. So Jesus boiled it down to the simplest point. He gave him the gospel, which includes perhaps the most quoted, repeated, verse in all of Scripture in John 3:16. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (v.14-17).

Jesus referenced the historical account of the grumbling snake-bitten Israelites being healed and saved – not with some anti-venom or ointment, but simply by looking up at a bronze snake that was hoisted up on a pole. In the same way, Jesus would be hoisted up on a cross, and all who look to him in faith as their Savior would also be healed and saved. Through him alone there would be – and there is – entry for the excluded. 

Nicodemus’ doubts could be laid to rest. Your doubts can be laid to rest. This is not because you can become more confident in yourself or your own actions, but in the simple promise of God that his love has given us what was needed to be “in,” to be good with God. His love has given us Jesus, not just the best place to start, but the best place to stay. 

This clandestine conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus concludes with somewhat of a surprise ending: it doesn’t have one. We are not told what happened to Nicodemus after this. His name comes up on two more occasions in John’s Gospel, one of which pairs him with a believer named Joseph at Jesus’ burial. While it would seem that Nicodemus did become a believer, we aren’t told that directly. We’re left hanging. Perhaps that is on purpose. It may be so that rather than speculating on what is uncertain, we can instead focus on something that is certain: our own salvation, based solely and surely on Jesus. About that there is no doubt. Believe it.

A Champion for the Defeated

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(Matthew 4:1-11)

Hector vs. Achilles. David vs. Goliath. Superman vs. Lex Luther. History, both fiction and non-fiction, has seen its heroes and villains. One nation or civilization puts forth its best warrior against that of another nation. At times, rather than entire armies going into battle, the terms of agreement were determined by the winner of that duel. So the champion didn’t just earn bragging rights, but also the right to set any terms or demands of the defeated. 

In the wilderness, following his baptism, we witness the best heaven could put forward in Jesus, going head-to-head against the best hell could put forth in the devil. There was much more at stake in the outcome of their duel, however, than just one nation or civilization; they were fighting for mankind as a whole. The winner would have much more than just bragging rights; he would have the final say in the eternal status of every single soul. 

Prior to this account, Matthew had covered Jesus’ baptism. It was there that the heavens opened and the Father validated heaven’s champion with his voice of approval. Now hell opens up and puts forth its best challenger against heaven’s champion. The Father had claimed Jesus as his Son, and here Satan wants to challenge that status. He wants to put it to the test, so he sharpens his go-to weapons and attacks Jesus with the three temptations recorded for us. 

When Matthew writes, “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (v.1), he was pointing out that there was a very specific purpose behind Jesus’ temptation. This battle with Satan was one of the numerous events throughout Jesus’ life used to prove Jesus’ qualifications for serving as the Savior. Otherwise, how could he be the holiness and perfection we needed in our Savior if he never had the opportunity to demonstrate his obedience and ability to overcome temptation?

Our Savior in this showdown with Satan is not merely showing us how to overcome temptation, thereby giving us a standard operating procedure to follow; he’s doing much more – achieving for us the very perfection and obedience we could never attain on our own. He’s showing himself to be what we cannot and exactly the champion we needed: a holy one. The writer to the Hebrews provided his stamp of approval when he wrote that Jesus “has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet he did not sin” (4:15). 

Realize why else this obedience matters. Without it, where we end up during the season of Lent, at the cross on Good Friday, April 7, would not matter. Jesus’ death was not all that was necessary for our salvation. His death paid for our sin, but his life was required for our perfection. His obedience in the face of temptation is credited to us by faith, but without that obedience, his death would have left our salvation incomplete.

Consider the new hire at a company. When his training is complete and he begins to tackle what he was hired for, people aren’t only paying attention to see that he doesn’t royally mess everything up, but also that he does the right things the right way. In other words, the basis for success after one month would not only be that he didn’t break the rules or do anything wrong, but also that he actually accomplished the work that he was hired to do!

So Jesus didn’t just die for our sins, paying for all of our wrongs; he also had to accomplish the requirements of heaven – doing the right thing all the time (holiness) in our place. And to prove that he was up to the task, he had to face temptation head-on. So see in these verses how our champion trounces the tempter and find the strength and confidence in your Champion, Christ, to imitate his success when Satan comes knocking at your door next!

Rest assured, it won’t be long. As a matter of fact, you’re more than likely well aware of how he’s bringing it right now. This applies to all of us – even those reading this who may not consider themselves followers of Jesus or ready to believe in things like hell, Satan, and temptation. Even if you’re not there on a spiritual level yet, surely you know firsthand the internal struggles that we all wrestle with between having a pretty firm handle on what the right thing to do is and our desire to do something else.

We know the right thing for our spouse, our family, and for the good of society, is to remain faithfully committed to our marriage promises. But then there is the coworker or acquaintance who has seemed to take an interest in us, and suddenly we discover this awakened curiosity that justifies spending more time together.

We know that being kind and loving to others is the right thing to do, but then I get into the comment section and come across some idiot making a boneheaded comment and I can’t just let it go unaddressed – it’s my responsibility to let everyone else reading the comments know what a childish moron this person is!

I know it’s not good for my kids to see me fly off the handle and cuss other drivers out when we’re in the car, but it’s not easy when the world is filled with so many inept drivers!

I’ve seen enough other lives fall apart from not being able to control their drinking, but that’s not me – I can still have just one more without it being a problem like it is for others.

When we find ourselves in those situations, we’re experiencing temptation, and though you may not believe in Satan, I can assure you those temptations aren’t coming from a loving and gracious God. 

Here’s what else you can expect. Satan will tailor his temptations specifically to you. He is not all-knowing or present everywhere – he is not God, after all! Yet he nonetheless has hordes of evil angels – demons – keeping tabs on when and where we are weak. He knows what you like to watch. He knows what you try to get away with. He knows what your go-tos are to cope when stress or anxiety hits. And he will turn all of that against you to get your world to crumble and come crashing down.

Should we expect anything less when that is exactly the approach he took against Jesus? Why tempt Jesus to turn stone to bread? Because he had just been fasting and was famished! Why tempt Jesus to jump off the temple and tease God to send his angels to the rescue? Because Jesus had just heard his Father express his love and approval at his baptism, and this would have been a great opportunity for Jesus to say, “Prove it, Father. Rescue me.” Why tempt Jesus with worldly power and prestige? Because Jesus knew that as the One who came to suffer and die, the path ahead for him did not at all include any worldly ideas of power and prestige, but poverty and punishment instead. Right here and right now, though, he could sample a little taste of worldly glory. Satan tailored temptation specifically to Jesus like a finely fitted suit. Expect he’ll do the same to you. 

And to be ready when he does, see how Jesus handled the temptation and take note of how different it is from how people tend to respond today. When we respond today, two of the most common phrases out of our mouths are “I think” or “I feel.” Then we proceed to explain what prompts us to think or feel that way. If that is our go-to response to fend ourselves against temptation – our own logic or emotions – is it any wonder why we either fail in the face of temptation or end up eagerly welcoming it? With no tried and true compass to guide us, we often end up using our own subjective logic or emotion to actually justify or give ourselves permission to give in! Satan salivates when our response in the heat of temptation is “I think” or “I feel,” because he knows how easy his job is from that point on!

But Jesus doesn’t use either of those words. He uses something else: just one word in greek that is simply translated, “It is written.” If Jesus was speaking the way we do today, he would have simply said, “the Bible says…” With the Word of God, we are no longer on the shaky ground of fleeting emotions or easily swayed logic. The Bible doesn’t change. God’s Word has always been God’s Word and always will be. And it will never misguide or misdirect anyone.

And understand why this whole account “was written” for us today. It was not merely as a “how to” on fighting temptation, but as assurance that we have a champion who thoroughly defeated the enemy and his temptation in our place. This account was written not to provide an example, but to show an explanation as to how heaven could be ours: we see our Savior earn it for us. That, at the end of the day, is why all of this is written. So it will not and cannot fail us.

You, though, are going to fail. But I want to assure you that not all is lost when you do. Because our relationship with God is not based on our record of successes vs. failures when faced with temptation. That is not the standard God uses. The only standard he sees is one: his Son’s. And he has an undefeated record in the face of temptation. He’s never lost. He’s never failed. He’s never given in. And through faith in this Savior, our Conqueror, that is the only record God sees in your life, too. Perfect. Undefeated.

Now let me ask if you think knowing that means you’re more or less likely to stand up and fight in the face of temptation. I think people often write off Christianity as being too good to be true because it’s so easy – all we have to believe is that Jesus did everything for us and we are free to live however we please. It’s true! We are free to live however we please!

But… does giving into temptation look nearly as appealing in light of a God who is filled with grace and forgiveness and unconditional love for me no matter how many times I fail? No. What starts to look more appealing – and bring far greater fulfillment than any temporary temptation ever will – is striving to live the God-pleasing life that Jesus has set me free to live. At the same time, that is going to serve others in the best way possible. It will contribute in the most meaningful, difference-making ways to improving society. 

I want to wrap this up by pointing out what happened after the temptation. Notice that angels come to attend our Champion. How awesome would that be!?! To have God’s special messengers provide direct care and support following a time of testing?

Guess what? God has promised to provide care and support for you following times of testing, too. Will it be directly through angels, as Jesus experienced? While it’s certainly possible, it’s less likely than another option: your church family. Remember, God doesn’t just gather his people together to show up on an occasional Sunday morning, but to minister to each other and the people God has placed into our lives. That includes providing care and support for each other when we’re struggling. No, we’re not angels, but just as God used angels to provide aid, care, and support to Jesus, so God can use us to provide the same to each other.

And this desire is not fake or disingenuous. Nor is it natural. It comes from the same Savior who stared down Satan to secure our salvation. The Jesus who loves us that much has freed us to love others. Our Champion won for us the freedom from selfishness that finds joy and delight in putting others first. On our own, we were and are easily defeated; Our Champion changed that. In Christ we are undefeated. 

Pay Attention!

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(2 Peter 1:16-21)

If you want to know more about the chemicals spilled in the train wreck in Ohio, or the war in Ukraine, or the recent earthquake in Turkey, you can read about these stories from a paper or your go-to news source and you’ll have a better understanding of what happened. Facebook would certainly offer up any number of takes on the latest news and you might occasionally find someone expressing an opinion on Twitter. You could also watch your favorite anchor on the evening news if you want to be brought up to speed on what’s going on locally. Any of these sources would provide information and details to provide you with a general understanding of whatever storyline you’re following.

But there is one source that intrigues us more than a journalist covering the details of the story, or an anchor regurgitating what by that point is usually old news, or the often extreme and outlandish opinions or conspiracy theories of random strangers on social media: eyewitness testimony. With all of the media available to us today, it is as easy as it has ever been to search a little bit until we discover the story as told by someone who experienced it or witnessed it. We want the firsthand details. We want to know if the general news reports are accurate or if someone who was actually there is able to correct any inaccuracies or provide the missing details from firsthand experience. So the stories that tend to grab our attention most are the stories told by the people who were actually there.

We have just that in the words of Peter. The Gospel of Matthew covers the general story about what happened on top of that mountain and who was there, even mentioning Peter by name. However, we also have the account from Peter in his own words. Peter wishes to complement the Transfiguration accounts in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, by providing his first-hand perspective as one who was actually there. He explains, “we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (v.16). 

Let’s stop and ask ourselves, “so what?” We understand that Peter was there with Jesus and James and John on that mountain and that he witnessed the Transfiguration. We get that he is making the point that he was an eyewitness. But why? Why is Peter emphasizing this point?

It helps to understand why Peter was writing this letter and to give a little attention to the verses that precede. Peter was writing to Christians during a time of pretty intense persecution. The Christian faith was not warmly welcomed in the world at that time. Believers might have had possessions or homes taken from them, been imprisoned, or even put to death. Peter wanted to encourage them to stay the course and remember who they were and where they were headed. Christians facing persecution needed such reminders.

One could argue that although the pendulum has swung the other way, Christians are just as in need of these reminders today. Persecution may not be a daily concern, but something just as dangerous is: passivity.

While we aren’t facing the threat of persecution as they did when Peter wrote, we are facing a pandemic of passivity as Christians. The world is happening to us instead of us happening to the world. We are getting sucked in by mindless entertainment that slowly drains any meaningful activity from our lives hour by hour, day by day. We are trading in critical thinking for thoughtless, mind-numbing, worthless video clips and tidbits that add no real virtue or value to our lives. Far from being persecuted, we are instead enjoying the highest standard of living, comforts, and luxuries that soften and spoil us into idleness and indifference. No, not persecution, but passivity plagues us. And the great risk from all of this is that we’re slowly allowing all of it to steer us off course, to distract us from the one thing that matters. 

Peter has an urgent warning for us: pay attention! No, this is not a “pay attention so you don’t miss an important plot twist in your show” warning; rather, this is a “pay attention so that you don’t allow a slowly fading faith to fall asleep at the wheel in a tragic head-on collision that kills your soul.” Wake up! Snap out of it! Christ’s kingdom is at stake, and so is your soul.

The opening verses of the chapter showcase how Peter sets the tone and encourages believers to take action, to be active in their faith, and to grow more and more in putting it into action. “make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.” (v. 5-9). 

See the activity and the humming and buzzing of a Christian getting after it? In Peter’s straightforward, tell-it-like-it-is manner, he says that if you pursue these things, they will “keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.8). But there is even greater incentive for staying the course, for paying attention: those who fail to do these things risk “forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins” (v.9). Passivity is a slow and steady path to indifference, which segues into forgetfulness, and ends up in a place where my sins – and more importantly they’re forgiveness – are no longer a concern. 

But if any of this is to happen, then it must come from the source. We must go back to Jesus and be reminded and reassured that Jesus is who he claimed to be and who they believe him to be: the Son of God and their Savior. So where does Peter take us to get us to pay attention? The Mount of Transfiguration, where his eyewitness testimony serves both to support the accounts recorded in the Gospels, as well as lay the foundation for us today in terms of where we want to be focused as we pay attention.

Peter already reminded us that he was an eyewitness on top of the mountain. And what exactly, was so profound about what he saw? Just something that only belongs to One: glory. In reference to Jesus, Peter wrote, “He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’” (v.17). Did you hear it? The glory of the Son was acknowledged by the glorious Father.

What makes this striking is that God made it quite clear in the Old Testament that his glory was his alone. It was not to be shared with or directed to anyone other than himself. Through the words of the prophet Isaiah, God communicated, “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols” (Is. 42:8). The God who said he would not yield his glory or praise to anyone else is the God whose voice Peter hear first-hand and what did he yielding his glory and praise to Jesus! What does that confirm for the disciples and for us about Jesus? He is in fact the almighty and glorious God we needed to come and carry out our salvation.  

Friends, Peter is giving us what we need for our passivity: Jesus. That mountain top experience reiterated and reinforced for anyone who had either at that point doubted or who would doubt when they would witness this same Jesus brutally beaten and hammered to a cross: his weakness did not indicate that he was anything less than the God in flesh who had been born in Bethlehem. He was God who came to die so that death might die, sin would lose its power to condemn, and Satan would be dealt defeat. 

And if the One transfigured on the mountain was truly that Savior, then Peter wants to build off of that to the point he really wants to drive home: pay attention! If that was God in the flesh, then pay attention! To what, exactly? “We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it…” (v.19). Pay attention to the words of the prophets, which are the Word of God. Pay attention to the Bible, focusing on it “as to a light shining in a dark place” (v.19).

Does that kind of focus sound passive? Does it sound indifferent? Does it sound disinterested? Hardly! It sounds like the kind of focus that filters out every other distraction and zeros in on one thing. It sounds like the kind of focus that is not willing to let anything else capture its attention. Nothing. It is willing to pay attention, as if life depends on it… because it does. 

Live Holy Lives

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(Matthew 5:21-37)

What do the concept of sharing and rules have in common? Would you agree that they are very good things… for everyone else to do. Sharing is great – for other people to do with me. Rules are great – for other people to follow. When it comes to me sharing or keeping rules, though – that’s a different story. So when they apply to me, I am not as crazy about them.

That’s because our primary view of God’s law is to see it as a list of restrictions and prohibitions. In his law, God spells out the things we are to avoid and the behavior we should avoid carrying out so that we don’t sin. In that sense then, God’s laws will always serve to accuse, convict, and condemn, for when addressed to fallen sinners, they can only serve that purpose. My guess is that you feel that sting as you read the verses from our Savior’s sermon in Matthew 5. 

So God’s law makes it abundantly clear that his demand for perfection is not one that can ever be attained by us. Whenever we slip into the pharisaical false sense of security, God’s law sets us straight. It uncovers another nuance of our inherent sinfulness that we didn’t even know was there until the law exposed it. The words of Jesus this morning fall into that category of God’s law. Jesus addressed some pretty standard sins, but then took it a step further. 

Regarding murder, he took it to another level by pointing out that murder itself was only a symptom of the real culprit – a hating heart. So one does not even need to be guilty of ending another’s life to be under the same judgment! Regarding sexual immorality, one does not even need to remove a single article of clothing to be guilty – his eyes permit the heart to be lured into lust. Regarding your word, no official oath or contract or signed document is needed as proof against you – if you simply go against the very yes or no that you spoke to someone, you have broken your word and are an untrustworthy liar. Jesus’ words before us today do not at all leave us brimming with confidence! Quite the opposite – they knock us clean off any personal pedestal on which we may have imagined ourselves standing.

Moreover, Jesus’ sermon provides perhaps one of the starkest cautions against sin that we find anywhere in verses 29-30. “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” We miss the point if we too hastily presume that Jesus is speaking in hyperbole and conclude that he wasn’t serious about gouging out eyes or lopping off limbs. The point Jesus is making is that we had better take sin seriously because it is not a thing to be trifled with. 

Sin is not a plaything that we can pick up on occasion to entertain ourselves and then put back down at will when it has served its purpose. It is not content to be relegated to such a role! Rather, it seeks to ensnare and master anyone who willingly gives it the time of day. Sin will never be content sharing a soul with the Savior – it wants all of us, and so to treat it lightly or innocently ignores the damage it seeks to inflict. Sin longs to inflict irreparable harm on our relationship with Jesus. It seeks to turn us against him at every opportunity it gets. So what will happen if we warmly welcome it into our lives? What will happen when, instead of confessing it, we become comfortable with it? What will happen when we deceive ourselves into letting it “harmlessly” hang around? Shouldn’t we have learned this lesson early on with Cain and Abel?

See how the Lord described it to Cain in Genesis, following Cain’s less-than-pleasing offering before God. The Lord said, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). Sin is not and will not remain an innocent bystander! Sadly, the need for the Lord’s urgent warning was validated as the very next verse records for us the first murder in the Bible. Cain disregarded the Lord’s words and murdered his brother, Abel. With different words, Jesus is reiterating the same potentially devastating impact sin can still have in our lives today when left unchecked. So yes, the law exposes our sin and makes clear the very real damage – even eternal damage – that sin can inflict. We do well to take Jesus’ warnings seriously.

However, is that enough? To this point, have you read anything new? Did you not already know about the ways we could sin that Jesus mentions in these verses? Did you not already know that sin is bad? Did you not already know that the danger of hell that Jesus warns about is very real? Assuming you knew all these things, then why don’t you stop doing them? Why don’t we stop doing them? We know God doesn’t want it. We know it’s bad for us. We know hell is real and not someplace we want to be! So why don’t we take Jesus seriously and just stop doing what he says to stop doing?

Because the law cannot empower us to. It cannot equip us to. It can only show us what we are to do and sadly, by extension, what we have not done. It has no power or ability to enable us to stay on its path. 

That’s why Jesus had to come. Do you get it? If Jesus came to be another lawgiver in the same way that Moses first codified God’s law as he came down from Mt. Sinai, then we didn’t need Jesus for that! We don’t need Jesus for that. We need him for another reason, a reason that he laid out in his sermon in the words just prior to our verses this morning. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (v.17). What does it mean that Jesus came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it? It means that everything that Jesus listed in this section of the Savior’s Sermon that we’re hearing today was carried out. It was completed. It was done perfectly. Everything that Jesus commands in these words was carried out. And by whom? By the very individual who spoke them. Jesus commanded them… and it was Jesus who kept them. 

One of the knocks people have against Christian preachers and Christians, in general, is that they are hypocrites. They preach one thing and do another. They point out the moral failures or shortcomings of others but are guilty of those very same things themselves. By that standard, if only those able to perfectly keep the law are the ones permitted to point out the law to others, then no one but Jesus could ever speak. Everyone else would be hypocrites. Jesus is the sole individual who could never be labeled a hypocrite. He’s the one about whom it can legitimately be said that he practiced what he preached.

But do you know why he kept everything he commanded? Not for his own sake. He had nothing to prove. He was already holy when he left heaven. No, he kept what he commanded for our sake. His perfection was to benefit us. By his perfect life, we have been made holy. By faith, his obedience serves in place of our disobedience. His sanctification stands in place of our sin. How can this be? Did God just decide that our sin suddenly didn’t count against us?

You know the answer to that. In addition to his obedience, or rather, as yet one more example of it, Jesus paid for our sin with his life. When he died, the blood he shed was the payment price for our sin. So he took our sin on himself and placed his perfection on us. 

So now, you are free. What do we do with this freedom? There is no burden of law. There is no picture of God keeping tabs on our disobedience, tracking each transgression in order to formulate a proper punishment that fits our crimes and exact that punishment on us when we die. There is only freedom. 

So if God doesn’t need your perfection, which he already has in Christ, if God doesn’t need your obedience, for he already has Christ’s, then why does Jesus call us to live such holy lives as he describes? Because while God doesn’t need our holiness, your neighbor does. Your holy lives are a blessing to your neighbor. As you thank and honor God with your holy living, what you are really doing is loving and serving your neighbor with your holy living. Consider three benefits of your holy living: it shows love to God, it serves your neighbor, and… it feels good!

The Bible is very repetitive with the first one. How do we show love for God? We keep his commands. “This is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome…” (1 John 5:3). A husband and wife express their love for each other with words. But blessed is the marriage in which that love is carried out through acts of service for each other. Love is not just spoken, but shown. In the same way, it is one thing to say we love God – anyone can do that. But holy living shows it. 

And what we’re doing in that same process is also serving our neighbor. You are protecting their marriage. You are keeping your word to them. In contrast to a fly-off-the-handle world, you show them patient kindness that keeps anger in check. You are doing for them exactly what Jesus encouraged previously in his sermon: making their world better and brighter as you are salt and light in your holy living.

Will your neighbor always acknowledge it? Not necessarily. Will she always appreciate it? Don’t count on it. Will your neighbor become a believer through your holy living? Never through that on its own, although it very well might provide the first step in that process. 

Finally – it feels good to live holy lives! Think of the alternative. When is the last time that you were well aware of a sin that you had just committed? None of us has to go way back on the mental surveillance tapes. I want you to remember how you felt when you reflected on your sin. I believe I know the answer. Not great. That may be an understatement. And don’t mix up the sin itself with the guilt over that sin I’m referring to. Even if the sin itself may have felt good at the time, when you become acutely aware of it, it doesn’t feel good.

But you know what does feel good? Doing the right thing. I don’t know if we give as much attention to this as we ought to. If feels good to do the right thing. And we don’t need to feel bad about feeling good! That’s OK – in fact, it’s one of the blessings attached to doing the right thing – it feels good. Consider how the psalms speak of it again and again. The pictures associated with righteousness and doing the right thing are pleasant pictures, pleasing feelings – it feels good!

Too often when we set out to do the right thing, what derails us is that we zero in on every single time we fail. We let the failures crowd out the successes. We hardly ever celebrate the successes, because we linger in the guilt too long to remember them! Live holy lives because it feels good to do the right thing.

Live holy lives. Jesus kept his own commands so that you could. So do it. And love doing it. And love God and your neighbor in the process.

Make the World Better & Brighter

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(Matthew 5:13-20)

While the most frequent use of salt you’re likely to see is sprinkling it on food to enhance the flavor, salt actually has quite a few uses outside of making food taste better. In addition to using it to preserve food, salt is also necessary for curing food – so if you appreciate bacon, salt deserves a huge shout-out! Salt is also what your body uses when muscles expand and contract. That’s why it’s wise to bring salty food on hikes so that when you lose salt through your sweat, you can replenish it with a salty snack that helps avoid muscle cramps. And, for those of us who have spent any time in the midwest, salt has another popular use during the cold months of winter: it is spread on sidewalks and roads to melt the snow. 

So salt has a number of valuable uses. However, there is a time when salt isn’t very helpful. When it isn’t used! Have you ever experienced wrapping up a meal and then remembering a spice or seasoning afterward and thought to yourself, “I bet this would have tasted really good on that”? But by then it’s too late. By that time you’ve already finished your meal. You can’t go back and season what you’ve already eaten. So what good is salt that is unused? It isn’t! We could actually list a lot more ways that salt is helpful in our day-to-day lives, but if we wouldn’t actually use it, then it wouldn’t be very helpful.

As I age, I appreciate brightness for a number of reasons. It is easier to see a bright screen than squinting at a dark one. The right lighting around the exterior of a house or inside a room can also make all the difference between something that is dark and dreary or warm, cozy, and inviting. Lighting matters.

But what good is light that is hidden? Like walking into an unfamiliar room and not knowing where the switch is. It happens in hotel rooms. You walk in and see any number of lamps and spend more time than you care to admit trying to figure out if a wall switch turns this light or that light on, or if the lamp itself has its own switch. The lights are there in the room, but they’re only of use after you figure out how to turn them on. Once you do, the room brightens up.

What salt does for us in our daily lives and what the right lighting can do in a home, Jesus wants you to be in the world. He wants to use you to make the world better and brighter. Think of all the ways the Bible calls us to love and serve our neighbors – and even our enemies! Does it not stand to reason that if everyone in the world cared less about serving themselves and more about serving others, we’d all actually be better off?

But pay attention to the Savior’s sermon, for in it he has an end goal in mind for his salt and light as you make the world better and brighter: “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (v.16). If you thought the end goal of making the world better and brighter was to draw attention to yourself, you should know that Jesus had something much more significant in mind. He wants your salt and light to win others over. No, they won’t come to faith in Jesus through your sacrificial service to them, but God has in mind that such service would attract them to its source: Jesus. After all, what is the greatest glory that can be given to the Father in heaven? It’s when the lost are found, when even one unbelieving sinner repents and is forgiven and restored. There is no greater glory that can be given to the Father than for a soul to be snatched from Satan. And you are the salt and the light that helps to make that happen. 

And pay closer attention to the Savior’s sermon for a foundational understanding of how Jesus has chosen to partner with you in this important mission: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (v.17). See that – Jesus has already done all of the heavy lifting! When he calls us to be salt and light, he isn’t laying out a law-list of requirements that must be met in hopes of attaining saltiness and brightness. He fulfilled the law so that we might love living in it! Jesus was the epitome of salt and light. He seasoned everything perfectly. He lit everything up beautifully. What he has fulfilled, we are no longer enslaved by. He’s freed us to love making the world better and brighter!

But neither is Jesus’ fulfillment of the law an excuse to disregard his calling to be his salt and light. He warns against that, too! Note the point Jesus is making in verses 17 and following. He sets the tone by pointing out that he came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. So what does that say about our understanding of his fulfillment of the law if we carelessly cast it aside? If we disregard it or lead others to do the same? If we do that, what are we saying about Jesus’ fulfillment of the law – that it didn’t matter? That we didn’t need it? That God was not really being serious when he gave his law? Instead, his fulfillment of the law leads us all the more to practice it and teach others to do the same, because we’ve been freed from its burden and can now be blessed by its wisdom and love, and through it we see a means to make the world better & brighter – and we’re completely free to do so!

Don’t we see more than enough examples of how not to be in life? As parents, do you find yourselves pointing out all the positive examples and role models for your kids to imitate, or are your conversations more frequently centered around the behavior of a classmate of the headline of a celebrity, followed by, “If I ever catching you doing that…”? The world does not need more examples of what not to do. It doesn’t need more people to fit into its corrupt ways. It needs you to be different. It needs you to stand out.

Consider your viewing of a valuable piece of art. You would most likely view that piece of art in an art gallery, accompanied by many other works of art, all of which are beautiful in their own way. However, what if you viewed that same art piece shuffled in together with a pile of kindergarten coloring pages? We’re talking about the same piece of art, but if you were to view it in each of those two settings, the art gallery or the pile of kindergarten coloring pages, in which setting is that work of art more likely to stand out? Wouldn’t it make a much more memorable impact on each of us as it stood out brilliantly among the best efforts of a classroom of kindergarten colorings? Of course!

The world that God created was a beautiful art gallery. Sin, however, ruined it with its random scribbling and coloring outside the lines. Yet realize what that means! When you are the salt and light that Jesus made you to be, you stand out like a work of art in a bland and dark world. You make it better and brighter!

How do you do this? By being what Jesus has made you to be – salt and light that are his hands and feet to serve the world. Does that mean Jesus needs your service to your neighbor to rival Mother Theresa? No, for he has not made you Mother Theresa; he has made you you. Just be the you that he created you to be, with your unique gifts, abilities, interests, and circle of souls to serve.

So when you’re at your table at the restaurant, give thought to the ideal type of customer a server would be eager to wait on – then be that customer. At your child’s game, consider the kind of parent that coaches and refs and umps want to have in the stands cheering on their favorite kid players – then be those parents. When you’re at work, put yourself in your boss’s shoes and imagine what a blessing the ideal employee would be to him – then be that employee. Spouse, classmate, neighbor, airline passenger, customer waiting in the grocery checkout line – we could go on all day long! Think of the ideal in whatever situation you find yourself in throughout the day – then be that person. Do you know what that’s called when you do that? That’s called being salt and light. And it is the very stuff that makes the world better and brighter. Be that.

Then try to pretend your efforts would never yield any eternal fruit. You may pretend, but Jesus has already clearly stated your potential impact. When you stand out by making things better and brighter, you become very attractive to people. They want whatever you’re on. They want to spend time with people like you because, well, who doesn’t want better and brighter? Of course they do! And over time, the Lord will open up doors to a much greater purpose: an audience for the gospel; ears to hear Jesus.

Pause for a moment and put yourself in the shoes of an outsider. Someone who has perhaps heard the name Jesus, and maybe recognizes the Bible is a religious book, but is either indifferent or disinterested in Christianity. If a person like that is ever going to be open to hearing more about Jesus or learning anything about the Bible, where do you suppose they’ll turn? Will it be to the Karen she’s waiting on who hasn’t stopped complaining and doesn’t leave a tip? Will it be to the livid parent incessantly heckling the ump after each pitch? To the bitter employee who badmouths the company and gossips endlessly? Not likely – so don’t be them! 

We convince ourselves that we’re so afraid of having to witness to other people that we forget to be the kind of people they’d want to learn from in the first place! We presume that not having the words to say when it comes to evangelism is our biggest problem when maybe the bigger problem is that no one else is interested in our words in the first place because we blend in too well in this bland and dark world. If more of our conversations are going to eventually lead to Jesus, then perhaps we should be more attractive and approachable in the first place so that people even want to converse with us!

That will happen more often when salt and light make the world better and brighter. So get after it. Be what Jesus has made you to be. Set the stage for God to use your good deeds as the onramp that eventually leads others to glorify our Father in heaven.

Living in the Here and Now of Heaven

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(Matthew 5:1-12)

What do you do with the beatitudes, as these verses of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount are often called? Surely the words of this sermon carry significant weight, as they are the words of the Savior’s sermon. Jesus is the preacher, so we do not take his words lightly. But what do we make of these words? How do we digest them, apply them, live them? 

As we rightly emphasize the substitutionary work of Jesus as the foundation and certainty of our salvation, I am sure it hasn’t been lost on you that this sermon of Jesus doesn’t seem to focus on who he is and why he came, but rather on who we are and how we are living. This list, these beatitudes, sounds like a conditional script for sanctification. This sounds like Jesus is providing us with a how-to list for tracking a spiritual scorecard or securing certain spiritual blessings. If we _________, then this will happen. Indeed, that is most often how these verses are treated – as a guide for how we ought to be. You may have come across the play on words, the “be” – attitudes, which reflects this approach.

I suppose we could analyze each verse and dissect what that would look like as far as what Jesus has in mind. But perhaps that would be better suited for a Bible class. But instead, we want to appreciate the big picture that Jesus paints for us in this sermon. In the Savior’s Sermon, Jesus assures his people of his gracious blessings as they live the humble, honest, and holy lives he has sanctified and set us apart to live. 

The list here is quite striking in an assertive, self-promoting world. It seems to be describing and praising attributes and qualities that are the exact opposite of what is encouraged and celebrated in our culture. The world’s version of beatitudes might sound something more like this: “Blessed are self-confident. Blessed are those who assert themselves. Blessed are those who practice self-love and self-care. Blessed are the woke. Blessed are the vocal. Blessed are the offended. After all, these describe the sorts of attitudes and actions that receive the most praise from the world.

But they are a far cry from the humility that is woven throughout the beatitudes Jesus preached in his sermon. Not only that, but if you pay attention to the verb tenses attached to each blessing, you’ll notice  the blessings aren’t immediate. Rather, each beatitude speaks of what will happen. As in, not right here and right now, but at some point in the future. 

Can we admit that doesn’t sit so well with us today? We are very practical, very pragmatic, and so the efforts into which we pour ourselves are often times those which promise immediate results. Consider why February is such a good time to join a gym – after just a few weeks in January, all those new health resolutions have dwindled because the results weren’t immediate enough. The new YouTube channel or blog or podcast that got up and running just as quickly fades into the online abyss when it failed to get a million new subscribers, readers, or viewers after two whole weeks. The DIY project sits incomplete because the effort it took to get it started hasn’t yielded enough visible results to keep the momentum going to see it through. We choose to spend money instead of saving it or investing it because we have the immediate satisfaction of enjoying what we just bought. We want what we want here and now, not later, and so many of the blessings in Jesus’ sermon are for later.

Except one. Did you notice it? In fact, Jesus mentions it twice – first and last, sandwiching all the other blessings in between; bookmarking blessings with a “right here, right now” promise. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” and “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (v.3, 10). Not “will be,” but “is.” Right now, right here, the kingdom of heaven is yours. Oh, you aren’t physically there, obviously, but by faith you are. Christ’s kingdom, from where he rules and oversees all things right now, is your kingdom, right now. This day. You do not just sit and read this as a citizen of the United States and resident of your city; you are also a citizen of the kingdom of heaven!

And you know full well how you became a citizen of that kingdom. St. Paul described it beautifully in his letter to the Colossians. “[The Father] has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (1:12-14). You didn’t pass a citizenship test to get into this kingdom. You didn’t impress with your resumé of self-righteousness. You didn’t make even the slightest contribution – God’s grace and his grace alone rescued you from eternal darkness and brought you into his kingdom. He redeemed you. He forgave and forgives you. He and he alone brought you into his kingdom. And friends, that kingdom is right here and now, not later and somewhere else.  

Now since you are a citizen of that kingdom, and Jesus reminded us of that at the beginning and end of his sermon, let’s take a different view of everything that falls in between. I think it’s common for us to approach the beatitudes as conditionals. We see the word “blessed” attached to certain behaviors and attitudes and conclude that the relationship between them is an “if-then” relationship. “If we are this way or act that way, then this is how we will be blessed.” And so we view Jesus’ sermon solely as a guide for Christian living. While it is that to some extent, it’s much more than that when you pay attention to what Jesus actually said.

There is no, “You will be blessed if,,,” but only blessed “are.” In other words, no conditional, but rather a promised blessing for those who are. And dear friends, you already are. What “are” you, exactly? You already are in his kingdom. You already belong to him. You are already his. And so you are already blessed. These blessings are yours right now because these describe who Jesus made you to be; who you are in Jesus. 

Grasp what Jesus is saying – these blessings already belong to you because of who you are in Christ. These are not blessings Jesus holds out to you conditionally if you meet certain requirements. These are who you are because who you are is blessed! Do you see what a marvelous thing it is to be brought into Christ’s kingdom? The blessings are yours by virtue of belonging to his kingdom, not because you’ve conditionally earned them by your right living! They are yours because Christ has made them yours. 

Now if Christ is responsible for doling out these vast spiritual blessings, and I have not come into them on my own, by my own efforts or merits, then how does that leave me? It leaves me humble. 100% confident in the merits of Christ, yes, but humble as to my own recognition that every good and gracious blessing that is mine is mine only through Christ and not only not through me. These blessings are mine despite who I am on my own and what I daily demonstrate I deserve on my own! What grace! What joy is ours in Christ!

And what humility that fills us with. And when that spirit of humility overcomes us, then we look at these beatitudes differently. We humbly delight in the privilege that God gives us in being able to carry out what he calls us to as those who live in his kingdom. 

Not only does Jesus already describe those in his kingdom as blessed to be meek and merciful, but we actually relish the opportunity to be meek and merciful to others. Let the world demand and insist and assert itself. In Christ’s kingdom we have all that we need – what need is there on our part to make even a single demand of the world – as if it could offer us what we don’t already have in Christ?!? No, let us instead model meekness, which is not at all weakness, but rather a calm confidence in Christ. And that same calm confidence frees us to be merciful, too. We let mercy flow without making demands of restitution or insisting on seeing others suffer for their wrongdoings. Rather, we are free and blessed to extend mercy in a world that demands its pound of flesh. Yes, we are blessed to be meek and merciful.

And not only does Jesus already describe those in his kingdom as blessed with righteousness and pure hearts, but we actually relish the opportunity to practice righteousness and reveal pure hearts to others. The pursuit of righteousness and purity in our lives is a noble pursuit. Surely it goes against the grain in this world, but that’s just the point. If as children of the heavenly kingdom we do not practice righteousness, then like lemmings, the whole world will tragically spill over the cliff into the sea of the abyss and eternal darkness. Yes, we are blessed – and are a blessing to others – as righteousness and purity characterize our lives.

And not only does Jesus already describe those in his kingdom as blessed peacemakers, but we actually relish the opportunity to proliferate peace when and wherever we can. The world is obsessed and infatuated with division and discord. It relishes rage and outrage. But that is to be expected when its efforts at finding genuine peace have so utterly failed! But where it lashes out in frustration with animosity and aggression, we have the peace it is seeking. Give the world Jesus so that it can experience the peace it craves, the peace it seeks but cannot find on its own. You alone are blessed to be those kinds of peacemakers.

Will all of these efforts of living in his kingdom be appreciated by those currently outside of it? Of course not, but even when these efforts are not appreciated – and are even opposed – blessings will abound even then. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (v.11). Blessings in the face of insult, persecutions, and evil directed against you? Yes, only for those in Christ’s kingdom – here and now!

So friends, rejoice, just as Jesus calls us to in our Savior’s sermon. “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (v.12). Rejoice, yes, because the kingdom of heaven is yours – both in the future and in the present. Then, yes, but also even now. We don’t need to wait until we’re there to rejoice in the heavenly blessings that are ours here. The prophets persecuted in the past testify to it. Jesus’ promises in the present testify to it. Rejoice right now, for the kingdom of heaven is yours right now. 

A Savior Born to Act

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(Isaiah 63:7-9)

As our continued Christmas celebration finds us turning the page from one year to the next and you look back on 2022 and reflect a bit, I have a question for you: did you do everything you said you’d do? Were there resolutions that sounded nice on paper, but never gained enough traction to experience the coveted “crossed-off” or checkmark on a to-do list? 2022 was somewhat unique in that it started to provide us with opportunities to seize the day and prioritize the things that the pandemic exposed in our lives – things we wanted to change and give attention to or things we wanted to stop or discontinue. Some of us vowed not to return back to the days of filling every waking hour with some activity or responsibility, but leaving margin for downtime with family or simply to slow down more. Some of us realized there were some ambitious things we wanted to do with our lives and feeling COVID shortened the window of opportunity, we were going to really get cracking on some things. And inevitably there are the “someday” projects that we’ve talked about – some of them for an embarrassing number of years – that we were fully committed to finally making happen in 2022. So… did you do everything you said you’d do in 2022?

Didn’t think so. Neither did I. Some of us are better at it than others, but the majority of us have at least some level of unfinished business in our past. I suppose we fall into one of probably three categories of people when it comes to those incomplete commitments we made either to ourselves or to others: 1) Maybe someday we’ll actually get to it and get it done. 2) Maybe we have already forgotten about it or will forget about it at some point and never revisit it again. 3) Maybe all we’ll do with it the rest of our lives is spend more time convincing ourselves that someday we’ll get it done than spend any actual time getting it done. 

Depending on which category you fall into, it probably impacts how you feel about those unfinished commitments, too. Those who are ambitious and driven feel angry or ticked off. Others who are more carefree won’t lose any sleep over any unfinished commitments. Then there are those who feel stuck and frustrated because they’re tired of not doing the things they said they were going to do. They mean well, but they fail to follow through and the same repeated struggle is discouraging and exhausting. No matter which of those types of people you are, no matter which feelings you most relate to, I have good news for you this morning: Christmas is about completion.

So as we put one year behind us and enter into a new one, before we completely hit the stop button on our celebration of Christmas, let’s rejoice that in Jesus we have a Savior born to act. Ours is not a Savior who makes empty promises. Ours is not a politician who says whatever needs to be said just to gain support and then not deliver on his campaign promises. Ours is not a Savior of soundbites or catchphrases. His words aren’t empty. He came to take action. 

Isaiah foreshadowed not only his actions but also his attitude behind them. Look at all of the ways Isaiah described the Lord. He speaks of compassion, love, and mercy. If I asked you to pick three adjectives that best describe yourself and our society these days, would any one of these three show up? It might be borderline laughable to pretend any of these three would accurately describe our society. But sadly, if we could carry out an honest self-assessment, I don’t know that compassion, love, and mercy would be the top three descriptions of my own attitude either. I would like to think at least one or two of them might make my list, but as much as I know they should, my inconsistent past track record betrays that they would.

So when Isaiah describes our Savior this way, it isn’t only to help us appreciate that we’re on the receiving end of that compassion, love, and mercy, but also that those are the attitudes that drive his actions. Even that is so unlike us. Remember that God isn’t only concerned about our outward actions, but about our hearts. Doing the right thing with the wrong heart is still the wrong thing in God’s eyes, and so often that’s where our actions come from. Obligation-driven obedience does not measure up to the compassion-driven compliance that God calls for. So when our Savior acts, his actions are an outward expression of a holy heart.

I also want to call your attention to another reality of our Savior that relates to how he acts on our behalf: when you hurt, he hurts. Isaiah wrote, “In all their distress he too was distressed” (v.9). Those either cautious about or even skeptical of Christianity often struggle with how a loving God could allow so much hate and hurt in this world. But why should we conclude that the presence of hate and hurt somehow indicate that God condones it or is indifferent toward it? The Bible doesn’t speak of God that way and Isaiah certainly paints a different picture of the Lord right here. Yes, it weighs heavily on your Heavenly Father’s heart when you hurt. He is distressed when he sees you distressed.

But the Lord doesn’t stop there. If Isaiah only revealed the Lord’s attitude and how he feels about us, it might bring us some level of comfort, but it would be short-lived. Nice as it is when others express thoughtful sentiments, they are just that. “I’m sorry for your loss” lets us know that someone is aware of the hurt we’re feeling and cares enough to express it. Someone may “hope” for the best or “wish” us the best in the future. Knowing how someone feels toward us in our situation is not unappreciated… but it isn’t the same as when someone takes action. A kind gesture that supports kind words makes a different impact by providing added weight to words. We might say that actions amplify attitude.

They also build trust. Consider the difference between two people who each spoke words of encouragement or concern to you while you endured some hardship. In addition, they each expressed their intention to do something for you as well. But, only one of them actually did it. While you probably weren’t unappreciative of the encouraging words of each person, the one who also took the action to do the thing she said she would is perceived as more sincere and heartfelt. Actions amplify attitude. 

Isaiah described the Lord’s actions, too. He called them “many kindnesses,” “deeds for which he is to be praised,” “many good things he has done,” “saved,” “redeemed,” and “lifted up and carried.” That’s quite a combination of nouns and verbs that denote action – action that the Lord takes for his people, and action that amplifies his attitude.

Isaiah’s audience knew it firsthand. So much of the Jewish faith is about recounting what God did in the past for his people. He guided and guarded the patriarchs while blessing them along the way, as through them he built the foundation of what would become the nation of Israel. He raised up Moses and used his leadership to break the chains of oppressive slavery, delivering the Israelites out of Egypt by splitting the sea and then swallowing Pharaoh’s army with it. He fed them in the wilderness with bread from heaven while protecting them as they made their way to the land he had promised. He flexed his mighty arm to grant them victory over their enemies living in the Promised Land, allowing them to enter it and establish themselves. In all of this, the Lord’s actions amplified his attitude, showing very clearly what compassion, love, and mercy looked like – never turning his back on his people, even when they did so to him! 

As another celebration of Christmas has passed, we are not without our own recounting of what God did in the past for his people. All that he did for Israel he did for us, too, as it allowed everything to fall into place for the Savior to be born, just as he had promised. Through the birth of the Savior – and specifically through faith in him – our eyes are opened to see the constant kindnesses of the Lord on our behalf.

How good God is to us! The physical blessings abound, as another year of unwrapping gifts demonstrates the need to get bigger trees every year because the presents spill out from underneath and start to consume the whole room. We have so much that you probably have come to realize how challenging it is to shop for people in a day and age when everyone already has everything.

But God’s constant kindnesses aren’t only on display on December 25 – they abound all year long. Think back to how many times you worried about work, stressed about school, dreaded the doctor, and yet here you are – God’s care and compassion carried you through yet another year.

Yet as much as God has and continues to take action on our behalf to address our physical needs, your Savior was born for more than that. He came to take action that would impact your eternity, not just the handful of decades we’re granted here on earth. He came to take action that would guarantee you a future free from a fate that we would wish on no man, a future that guarantees that no soul should ever have to get what it deserves: the judgment of a guilty verdict and the ensuing sentence of eternity in hell.

No, hell is not what anyone really wants to talk about at Christmas, but understand that it’s precisely because of Christmas that we don’t have to! Christmas is God doing what he has always done, taking action that amplifies his attitude. It was never enough for God to express his hope that we’d be eternally OK or send us positive vibes to aid us on our journey. He took action. He took on flesh. He took on the law and perfected it. He took on our punishment and endured it. He took on our sin and paid for it. He took on hell and overcame it. He took on death and destroyed it. He took action. 

He did everything he said he was going to do… for people who don’t. People like you and me. How do we respond? Wallow in guilt and self-deprecation? No. There’s a better way. 

Tell about the one who does what he says he’s going to do on the biggest scale ever, having taken action to secure your salvation and continuing to take action so that you remain secure in your salvation. Join me in making the commitment in 2023 to imitate Isaiah. “I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised” (v.7). Join me in fervently celebrating the one who did what he said he was going to do for us, by now following through with what we say we’re going to do and taking action to tell others about him.

A Savior Born to Change the World

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(Luke 2:1-20)

There will always be unavoidable tension at Christmas that we are all forced to face every year. A part of what we love and long for this time of year is the familiarity of tradition, all those little things that we have to do and experience this time of year that mark it as special. It is that sameness that sets it apart from the rest of the year. It’s the time of year when we have to watch this movie, listen to that album or artist, bake this specific cookie or that sugary treat, or any number of other customs, just like we do every year for Christmas. The sameness helps cement this season as special.

But the tension starts to stiffen when that sameness is threatened by change, which always springs up in one way or another. A canceled flight or travel arrangements can cause change. Our kids grow up and, depending on which stage of life they’re at – possibly beginning new traditions of their own with their family – it may no longer be a given that we get to celebrate with them anymore. And as we age, we certainly don’t welcome the change of having to be much more discerning about what and how much we snack on over the holidays!  

Adding to that tension is how well we’re focused on the reason for the season – the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus. I invite you to wrestle with that tension and reflect on the weight of his birth – not pounds and ounces – but the weight of same vs. change. Did Jesus come into our world to ensure that everything in your life would stay the same? Or, did he come into our world to make sure that everything would change forever? 

As we listen to the Christmas Gospel from Luke 2, we notice several things that were the same. A census was being taken – something that had been done the same every five years in the Roman world for several centuries already. Mary and Joseph were heading to their hometown to register for the census, just the same as everyone else in the Roman world was doing. The same shepherds were watching the same sheep in the same hills that surrounded Bethlehem. 

Ah, but then God pierced the timeline of history with something that was drastically different, something not at all the same. “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Lk. 2:10-14). 

Did you catch it? Did you notice what had changed? Yes, an angel addressed the shepherds. Yes, an angelic army pierced the pitch-black night to proclaim the glories of God. Yes, those things were not at all the same. But the biggest change ever was what had just happened ever-so-subtly beneath the world’s radar: a Savior had been born. 

That had never happened! It had been promised, yes; prophesied, yes. Those same promises and prophecies had been passed down for centuries. But this was different. This was not the same. This wasn’t just a declaration of what would be; rather, it was the reality of an event that had taken place. What was hoped for had happened! The Savior was born. Everything changed. 

Contrast that with an area of your life and mine that has not changed – at least not as much as we’d like it to, and certainly not as much as God has called it to: it’s called sin. Sin, simply put, is missing the mark. It is as if every thought we think, every word we speak, every action we take, is like being at the foul line shooting a free throw. God’s demand is that every thought, word, and action is a swish from the line that seals our perfection. But instead of shooting 100% from the line, our lives are filled with one brick after another that clangs off the rim. 

We read through the picture-perfect details of other people’s family life in their Christmas letters and cards and we can feel the envy creep in. CLANG! Another brick. Another half-truth at work to the boss to tide him over for the holidays. CLANG! A drink or two too many at the office party. CLANG! A snarky shot back at mom or dad when asked to help around the house. CLANG! A testy text fired off in anger or impatience. CLANG! Brick after brick after brick – some days may see more go in than others, but we’re nowhere near 100%, and never can be, because every CLANG from our past will always count against the perfect percentage God requires of us. Meanwhile, we keep adding missed shots every day of our life. That’s the same in our lives and it always will be. It will never change!

So the change that Luke recorded in chapter 2 was absolutely necessary. “A Savior has been born to you” (v.11), the angel announced. A trainer to get you in shape isn’t what you need to hit 100% of those free throws. You don’t need a motivator to yell at you or inspire you. You don’t need a shooting coach to help you with your form or technique. While they all might make some noticeable contributions, what you need is someone who is guaranteed to hit every single shot for you. 

The good news of Christmas is that the Savior was born to do just that. Envy never once entered his heart. Lies never left his lips. He was never hungover, never dissed his dad or mom, and practiced patience perfectly. With his perfect life, he never missed the mark. He carried a perfect percentage. 

That gift of his perfection would have been outstanding on its own! But the Savior is not like Santa, only bringing gifts one night a year. No, the Savior came to give so much more. He didn’t only come bearing the gifts of his perfection. He came to give a gift that would cancel out every future CLANG and forgive all future free throws ever missed. While the Savior got his start in Bethlehem, he would meet his end just outside of Jerusalem. The gift wrapped up in swaddling clothes would one day be stripped of those clothes and publicly whipped and crucified. He stepped in as the substitutionary gift to die in our place to save the human race. He paid the price for our sin and changed everything. 

The angels pointed out that he would be the source of joy and peace for all people. Until Jesus arrived, the world’s experience with joy and peace had always been the same – short-lived, dependent upon temporary circumstances, or based on the hope of what was to come. But the Savior’s birth changed that forever. It would never be the same. The joy of our very real salvation has been permanently solidified. The peace of a fully restored relationship between mankind and God that is no longer divided by sin has been permanently solidified. The Savior’s birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension assure us of it. They guarantee that nothing will ever be the same!

So how can you be? Knowing this, believing this, trusting this to be true – the Savior has changed us. The tension has been resolved. We have been released and freed from it. We have been changed! That means our joy is not connected to our circumstances, whether good or bad. That means our peace does not exist only in the absence of conflict or stress. Rather, joy and peace belong to us all day long, every day.

So when you don’t get what you hoped for under the tree this Christmas, you’re just looking in the wrong place – joy is found in the manger. When December 26 hits and the world begins its hurried rush into whatever is the next urgent thing to get ready for, we can still be at peace, found in the manger. When a new year begins and the same old problems spring up, they may not change, but how we handle them has, because they cannot rob us of the joy and peace the Savior came to bring. He came into a world that was otherwise stuck in the sameness of sin, and he changed it forever.  He changed you forever, too, from sinner to saint. Merry Christmas!

Come, Lord Jesus! – as Immanuel

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(Matthew 1:18-25)

While the concept of karma has no basis in Scripture and therefore is not covered in any lessons in our Bible Basics class, the idea of it has certainly crept into our American way of thinking. We may rather flippantly comment on karma playing a role when someone pretty universally considered to be a jerk has a stroke of bad luck. Our usage of karma tends to be more negative than positive – that when bad things happen to bad people, it’s karma coming back to get them.

On the flip side, maybe the slightly twisted Christianized version of karma is this: “Do the right thing, and everything will work out.” Sure, there may be a few detours or unexpected potholes along the way, but generally speaking, when we do the right thing, everything works out. That’s why we have the Ten Commandments after all, right? Follow those pretty closely, and things will go our way. Be nice to people, tell the truth, don’t take what isn’t yours – do those kinds of things and generally speaking, everything works out. 

I wonder if that’s why we’re so drawn to a guy like Joseph in the Christmas account. Here is a good guy that the Bible always describes as doing the right thing. The verse today tells us he was “faithful to the law,” (Mt. 1:19), which used to be translated simply as “righteous.” He did the right things. Even after the angelic explanation for what was going on, we see Joseph doing the right thing. “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him.” (v.24). And later, after Jesus’ birth, Joseph again follows an angelic mandate to take his family to Egypt to avoid Herod’s wrath. We don’t see Joseph dismissing or disregarding what he is told to do. We don’t see him calling an audible and changing the game plan to what he thinks might be a better option or solution. We see him faithfully following orders – a good guy just doing the right thing. 

Yet, look what this good guy had to go through! The quiet, humble, do-gooder Joseph was going about everything the right way in his relationship with Mary. He had been faithfully honoring the period of engagement before marriage, which could have been a rather lengthy time as the families negotiated the details of the marriage, and then the bombshell dropped: she was pregnant, and Joseph was definitely not the father. So much for “do the right thing, and everything will work out,” huh?!?

It’s happened to you, too, hasn’t it? You did all the right things, but still, look what happened. You’ve been prudent and disciplined with your finances, budgeting wisely and refusing to get caught up in a buy everything and buy it right now culture, but still cannot seem to get things into the black. You’re the model employee, following company policy and always getting your stuff done in a timely manner, and no one ever takes notice. You take care of your things far better than your negligent neighbor, and yet you’re the one who always has car trouble or the leaky roof. You really felt you were doing all the right things as a parent, but your heavy heart questions it as you watch your child’s life continue to crumble in one part of life after another. You’re doing the right thing, but everything is definitely not working out! 

That carries over into our spiritual lives, too, doesn’t it? You’re doing the right things God calls you to in your marriage but the burdens are far outnumbering the blessings. You’ve been much more deliberate about being active and engaged at church, but your problems persist. You’ve been reading your Bible, but rather than experiencing clarity, confusion continues. You committed to the three-month challenge of increasing your giving over the final quarter of the year, but it’s been much more difficult than you thought it would be. You’re doing the right thing, but everything is definitely not working out!

It gets more troubling as we get more personal. I’m talking about trying to do the right thing after you’ve done the wrong thing – that internal scale that we try to balance inside our own minds. Our history of exploding in a fit of sinful rage has resulted in physical damage or scathing words more times than we can count. Therefore, we work really hard at being more patient… only to inevitably lose control again. The next morning we tell ourselves last night was the last time we’re ever going on that website… and then after visiting it again the very next weekend we have to establish a new “last time we’re ever going to visit it.” Your dismal financial situation, caused by credit card debt racked up through your unnecessary purchases leaves you feeling ashamed and guilty, so you end up making it worse by trying to escape the guilt with more buying. You know you should forgive the person who sinned against you as readily as Jesus forgives your sins, but… you just can’t. You’re trying to do the right thing – even when trying to balance the scales because you’re the one who’s done the wrong thing, but it is definitely not working out! 

If you are frustrated or discouraged by this struggle, the Bible provides some insight to help explain what’s going on. “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 16:25). “By the works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16). That’s pretty sobering news for those hoping to make progress by taking the “do the right thing and everything will work out” approach. It won’t work out. It doesn’t work out.

That misses the whole point of God’s law, which is really summed up by “do the right thing.” Or, to put it another way, love perfectly at all times. That isn’t just a tall order; it’s an impossible one. And that’s what God needs us to realize. Even guys like Joseph, guys we’d prefer to look up to and emulate as “good guys” – they are never good enough. We’ll never prove ourselves worthy or free from guilt by getting to the point of good, because it’s an unattainable goal. 

So what did Joseph do when that bombshell of Mary’s pregnancy dropped? Well, since he was the kinda guy who did the right thing, that’s exactly what he stuck with – he did the right thing.

But there’s a monumental difference between doing the right thing in hopes of satisfying God and doing the right thing once you find out God’s more interested in satisfying you. That, after all, was what was revealed to Joseph in his dream. The angel explained the significance of Mary’s pregnancy and birth. “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” (Mt. 1:21). “Joseph, did you hear that? You don’t have to be good enough! You don’t have to try harder! You don’t have to live in limbo, wondering if you’ve done the right thing so that everything will work out eternally. The Son born to Mary would take care of all of that. He will save people – including you, Joseph – from their sins!”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, did you hear that? You don’t have to be good enough! You don’t have to try harder! You don’t have to live in limbo, wondering if you’ve done the right thing so that everything will work out eternally. The Son born to Mary would take care of all of that. He will save people – including you – from their sins!

And he wouldn’t leave us wondering where we stood by remaining in heaven and barking out directions or to-do’s that could we could follow to be saved from our sins. He had to do it, and not from heaven, but here on earth. Matthew connected the dots for his readers to no one would miss that Mary’s Son would be God’s Son, the Savior who, just as Isaiah had promised, would come to be with us: “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”)” (v.22-23).

Immanuel, “God with us,” is not just the stuff of nostalgia; it’s the stuff of necessity. In Christ, God came to be what Joseph couldn’t be, what we couldn’t be, what no one could be: both perfection and payment. Jesus was the good we all strive so unsuccessfully to be. Jesus was the perfect that we’ll never pacify. Jesus was the payment we could never make. 

Christmas is Christmas because it had to be. Out of necessity. I need that child born on Christmas Day. You need that child born on Christmas Day. You love that child and you love Christmas when you are emptied of the notion that you can just do the right thing and everything will work out. It won’t. So God had to fix what we couldn’t, what we can’t, what we will never on our own be able to fix: ourselves. 

For all of his righteousness, his faithfulness to the law, his doing the right thing, Joseph still needed Jesus. So do we. Good news: on Christmas, we celebrate that God gave us just what we needed: Immanuel.