Month: December 2022

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.

Come, Lord Jesus! – as Messiah

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(James 5:7-11)

“We’re almost there.” Every child is eager to hear those words on a long trip. Workers striving to hit an end-of-the-year goal are energized by those words as their boss sends out the office-wide memo. Fresh off another thrilling win, the team’s belief in its ability to achieve its championship aspirations swells as the coach shouts those words. “We’re almost there!”

James wrote it a bit differently, but with a similar purpose in mind. Instead of “we’re almost there,” his refrain was “He’s almost here – the Lord is near!” The words instill a sense of urgency, a call to action, an encouragement to be ready for his arrival. There is a sense of imminency in James’ words! “Just a little while longer! It won’t be long now! The wait is almost over!” 

But something may strike you as you consider these words from James: they were written a looooooooooong time ago. And still we wait. Jesus was a no-show to the first ears that heard these words of James. Jesus has been a no-show ever since. 

That tends to take a little wind out of the sails, doesn’t it? The sense of urgency dissipates over such a long period of time. So what are we to make of what can often feel like a boy-who-cried-wolf warning about Jesus’ imminent return that has been sounding for 2,000 years? When James first wrote these words, his audience had experienced what it was like for the long wait to be over when Jesus came the first time at his birth. But when century after century after century has passed and Scripture’s words, “the Lord is near” are still supposed to tide us over, well, urgency ever so gradually morphs into complacency. 

We see it in the church. You still find yourself wondering about certain folks you haven’t seen for who-knows-how-long. You might wonder if they’ve moved elsewhere or if they even still belong to the church. And here’s how that complacency cuts both ways: it isn’t just those who seem to be MIA, but it’s also those of us who are here but have been complacent about reaching out to them. For as much as we lament how neglected the Bible is, perhaps a close second is our neglect of the church directory.

And by no means is complacency’s reach limited to just this area – it can infect our service to others, our offerings, and our Christian living in general, allowing our fruits of the Spirit to become mushy and soft. Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal.5:22-23) need their own missing person’s report filed. 

How do we make the shift back? How do we ditch the complacency and recapture the sense of urgency? ICYMI, James happens to mention a solution just once or twice (or four times…): be patient. Easier said than done! What exactly does that look like? Glad you asked, as James provides some pointers for patience as we await the Messiah’s return. He says to stand firm, avoid grumbling, and persevere. 

What are you standing on right now? Be careful, because if you say Jesus, then your life will show Jesus. What I mean is that simply knowing what the answer should be does not always line up with reality. We fail to realize what experts we are in this area. We convince ourselves that this thing matters to me or that thing matters to me or we’re this type of person or that type of person. But often the cold, hard truth is that no one else observing our life would even begin to draw the same conclusion based on what they actually see.

We tell others that we absolutely love [blank], but then immediately follow it up with the excuse that we don’t have time for [blank]. Sorry, but no you don’t love it that much if you can’t even make time for it! We buy stuff that we’re convinced we need to support this hobby or interest… but the only time those things get touched is when they’re moved from being in the way in one place to being in the way somewhere else. And there they sit, serving as constant reminders of our imaginary hobby or interest. Parents go back and forth with their children and husbands go back and forth with their wives with what we refer to as nagging – but we fail to realize the reason it feels like nagging is that every comment is a convicting reminder that I am not who I say I am or am not interested in what I say I am interested in.

So if you say that you are standing firm right now on the truths and promises of Jesus and his Word, I’d encourage you to do a personal assessment to take note of exactly what evidence in your day-to-day living supports that confidence. If you don’t see as much evidence as you thought, there’s no time like the present to adjust it. If that is the only step you take in applying James’ pointers for patience, it would be a commendable one – and one that will reap noticeable blessings. 

James also says that patience involves avoiding grumbling against one another. Uh oh. Grumbling in general is such a way of life for some of us. Your “Grumble List” from just the morning alone is already into its second column. “It’s too early. I don’t have anything to wear. We don’t have anything to eat. They’re sitting in our seat. I don’t like this hymn, etc.”

And when that comes so easily to us, it isn’t much of a stretch to direct that grumbling against others. “Our spouse leaves this there, our kids neglected that, so-and-so at church didn’t do it the right way…” Now, these things may have some merit, but grumbling is really not about addressing the actual issue itself so much as it is my attitude and approach to it. I can see an issue through a lens of gratitude or grumbling, and whichever perspective I take is going to determine how I interact with the other person involved. See – grumbling isn’t actually about others as much as we think; it has much more to do with our own attitude. Addressing this is another way we wait patiently. 

And to round out the three keys to patience as we wait? Perseverance. Not our strong suit as a society. Adversity hits, and how do we respond? Outrage. We can’t believe this thing happened. We can’t believe this thing happened to us. We can’t believe someone else would do that.

Our default is the victim mentality that is convinced that removing the adversity – which is clearly someone else’s fault – is the only option. We don’t even consider how we might actually endure it or deal with it or process it or handle it or put up with it. We go right to eliminating it, which means turning the bullseye on someone or something else as the cause.

Those are just the cases that don’t even really involve significant adversity. What about when those arrive? What am I talking about? Fighting (in a good way!) instead of giving up. Forgiving instead of getting even. Growing instead of going when it gets tough. Trusting when tested. Some of you are going through seasons right now that are forcing you to face these difficult decisions. The adversity is real. The pull to call it quits is as strong as it’s ever been. Giving up seems so much easier. But patience means perseverance, friends!

Consider James’ examples. The prophets. Talk about a tough job description! “Go to God’s people and call them to repentance, but be careful – they won’t like you and will want you imprisoned or dead.” That’s perseverance! Or consider Job, who had everything, then had nothing, and was surrounded by nothing but miserable advice from his wife and friends to help him cope with trauma and tragedy. Still he didn’t turn away. That’s perseverance!

What fuels your perseverance? Where do we find the power to keep pushing? James tells us. “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (v.11c). You know what? That’s worth waiting for. Patiently, even!

But you know what else? We don’t have to wait for that – the Lord’s compassion and mercy are already ours! What proof of this do we have? Look back at Jesus’ first coming as Messiah. THAT was compassion and mercy. 2 Corinthians 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). Literally, God is the Father of compassion, for his Son is its source! The Messiah – the anointed or chosen one – has already come, and he already brought compassion with him the first time.

The gift wrapped up in swaddling clothes in Bethlehem was compassion personified. He came to give himself as the gift on Calvary that would keep on giving. What greater gift of compassion could there be than canceled sins? What greater gift of compassion could there be than the comfort of constant forgiveness for sinners? God doesn’t just call himself the Lord full of compassion and mercy – he backs it up!

Think on this for one second. If that is what the Messiah came to bring with him the first time, can you even imagine what he’s bringing with him when he returns??? Can you even imagine how he can top that? Well, you won’t have to wait much longer – He’s almost here. The Lord is near! In the meantime, we wait patiently for the Messiah to return. We do so by standing firm, giving up the grumbling, and persevering. And we do all of that with the compassion and mercy the Messiah brought with him the first time to tide us over until he comes again. 

Come, Lord Jesus! – as Judge

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(Isaiah 11:1-10)

There is an innocence about a child’s exuberance to show off a new outfit or costume to mom or dad. A child holds no fear of feedback and eagerly parades out to showcase the look. Some of that is due to the sheer excitement that kiddos tend to experience in even the smallest things throughout childhood. It is also likely related to the fact that the child has an audience that shares the excitement and plays it up with praise and encouragement. Children thrive on that… 

…for what feels like a woefully short period of time until they hit the teenage years. That is when everything changes, and not for the better. Suddenly the cheerleading and positive remarks are replaced by brutal honesty and sharp jabs. A few snide remarks from friends here or there. A parent verbally questions, “you’re wearing that?”, and the childlike confidence fades away. Some never regain it. There is an ongoing fear of being ridiculed or made fun of, a nagging concern over comparison and not measuring up. 

That can carry into adulthood, too, and it can go well beyond just the clothes we wear. Our jobs and how we perform. Our kids and how we parent. Our classmates and our grades. Our friends and who has the newest and the latest. Our cars. Our house. Our yard. Our decorations. We live in a culture that just presumes that virtually every detail of our lives is under surveillance and scrutiny so that everything is fair game when it comes to comparison. And it leaves us as if we’re on guard 24/7 to make sure everything is on the up and up and satisfies the standards of others. More than anything, we just don’t want to be judged inadequate or not good enough.

And it isn’t always others who are responsible for the judgment, either. Often it is self-inflicted. We do it to ourselves. Maybe no one said a thing. Maybe no one noticed this or that. Maybe it’s not even on anyone else’s radar. But our mind draws ridiculous conclusions, nonetheless. “Maybe no one said anything, but I know what she’s thinking.” “Maybe no one noticed this or that because I wasn’t even worth noticing.” “Maybe it’s not even on anyone else’s radar because they’re more impressed by someone else.” We don’t want others to judge us, but so often fail to catch that we ourselves are most often the ones doing the judging!

Let’s seek to recapture that childhood confidence. Let’s get to a place where we do not fear judgment, but welcome it and eagerly look forward to it. We can, you know! We don’t have to live in fear of others’ opinions – or our own! Unlike so many others, we don’t need to wither when the world judges. We don’t need to be afraid of judgment.

We can have the same confidence that the apostle Paul expressed to the Corinthians. “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me” (1 Cor. 4:3-4). Did you hear his rationale? “It is the Lord who judges me.” We’ll come back to those words, as they are extremely helpful in guiding us to a deeper appreciation of the words of Isaiah. But first, we need to touch on an important realization that Paul had; one that is really the missing piece in our culture’s pursuit of mental and emotional health.

Paul pointed out that not even a clean conscience made him innocent! Here’s why that matters. Our culture’s pursuit of a healthy self-image has always focused on how we feel about ourselves… which is precisely why we’ll never get it right. Years ago, and many adults and seniors can attest to this, if you made a mistake or failed it was understood that if you wanted to avoid that embarrassment or shame in the future, you had to try harder and do better next time. Some of you had parents or dads who were not shy about scolding or bluntly telling you to buck up and put in more effort next time. 

Well, that didn’t seem to do the trick, so the next phase followed the advice of psychologists that said the key to a healthy self-image was thinking positively about oneself. Parents were discouraged from tearing down and pushing kids too hard and instead encouraged to build up with words of affirmation. We’ve been encouraged to engage in daily self-talk, telling ourselves we’re good enough just as we are. The more positively we thought about ourselves, the more secure we’d feel and a healthy self-image would flourish.

But it hasn’t, because people are still mean and say mean things that smother the self-talk and positive vibes. So now we’ve been moving into the next stage which is that we’re making everyone else responsible for how we feel. You cannot disagree with anyone. You cannot say anything that might in any way whatsoever be construed as offensive, regardless of the intent. If someone’s feelings are hurt because of your words, it’s on you, not how they took your words. You cannot have an opinion that goes against what we’re told is the mainstream view that “everyone else” “clearly” shares. 

Do I have to ask if this is working? We’re seeing more suicides than ever and prescribing more pills than ever and we think this approach is working?!? You’ve got to be kidding! Of course this isn’t going to work, and here’s why: you’re the problem. Not the person next to you. Not what they think of you. Not what they say about you. You. Are. The. Problem. 

Your insecurity stems from what you inherently know about yourself. Something is off. Something is not right. You know the thoughts you’ve had. You know the things you’ve gotten away with. You know how much you don’t measure up, your conscience is your biggest critic – and rightly so!

So we need to draw the same conclusion that Paul did: others’ opinions of me cannot fix me; my own opinion of me cannot fix me. There is only one place to turn: the Lord. As Paul stated, “It is the Lord who judges me” (1 Cor. 4:4). While anyone else judging us would leave us standing on shaky ground, when we look at Isaiah’s words about the Lord’s judgment, we find what we cannot find anywhere else: peace of mind. 

You see – we know the Judge! Not only that, but we know what his judgment is going to be when he returns on the Last Day! Think about that. The one who determines your eternal destiny – whether it will be with him in heaven forever or apart from him in hell forever – has already made it known to you what his judgment is! You already know where you’re going. You already know what his opinion of you is. And if his opinion of you is already a done deal, then who else’s judgment do you really have to fear? Who else can say or do anything to you that carries more weight than your Savior’s? No one’s! And so we say, “Come, Lord Jesus! – as Judge.”

Did you know Jesus was the One Isaiah was talking about in the verses this morning? He described him like this: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord” (Is. 11:1-3). That’s a pretty nice description for the One Isaiah goes on to describe as being the One who will judge. Who wouldn’t want a judge with wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of the Lord? Those are ideal characteristics for a judge.

But having the ideal judge doesn’t help us if we know we’re already guilty, which we do and which we are. So no matter how fair and just the judge is, how does it help our case if we already know we’re guilty?

Look at how he judges. That’s just it! See the metric by which he judges: “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears” (v.3b). What he sees from my actions and hears from my lips will not be the basis of his judgment??? Do you know what that means? It means I have a chance! If my own incriminating sinful actions and thoughts won’t be permitted as evidence, then I have a chance! If all of the times I have been so quick to judge others won’t count against me, then I have a chance! If all the times I’ve played favorites, have not treated others equally, and thought so little of others at times won’t count against me, then I have a chance!

Instead of judging my actions and words, see how this judge reaches his verdict: “but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist” (vs. 4a,5). Righteousness, justice, and faithfulness are not descriptions that apply to me, so if those will be the characteristics by which he judges, then they must come from him. It must be the Judge’s righteousness, his justice, his faithfulness by which he judges.

And it is! John tells us “But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1). The Righteous One who is our advocate is the very same one Isaiah says will be our Judge. What does this mean for you and for me?

Peace. And that is exactly what Isaiah describes in the pictures in verses six and following. Peace in the animal kingdom and in a world in which there is no fear of little ones being hurt. That peace is ours because Judge Jesus has determined that faith in him means our sins don’t count against us or separate us from him. So we have peace with God. 

When peace with God exists, I can reflect that same peace with my fellow man. You are at peace with your fellow man – the Judge has spoken! Nothing he has done or can do to you will change the Judge’s verdict. You don’t have to get revenge or get even. You are at peace. 

Let that peace govern your heart this Advent and Christmas. Rally to him. Rest in him. The verdict is in. Peace. No guilt. That means you live in a judgment-free zone no matter where you are. Come, Lord Jesus! – as Judge!