Sermon: Sunday, 8th December, 2024
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25 7
Our names are very important. I remember a book of baby names which we had when choosing the names of our children. These days, I guess most people will just use a website. Some people will choose names because they simply like the sound of them. There’s a tribe in Papua New Guinea who love the sound of English words even though they don’t know what they mean. This resulted in one boy being named ‘tinned fish’ by his parents and one girl being called ‘2nd gear’. If you think that’s crazy, then we need just consider Ellon Musk, whose most recent child is called Techno Mechanicus. It seems he is better with rockets than with choosing names. Some people choose names because it’s in the family. The golfer Davis Love III has the same name as his Dad! Some people choose a name because of what it means. The cadet’s flight lieutenant’s first name, Stephen, means ‘crown’ (after all he is the boss). The name David means ‘beloved’. Michael means ‘who is like God?’ Cameron means ‘crooked nose’. Fiona means ‘fair or pale’. Sophia means ‘wise’. And Amelia means ‘hardworking’.
Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ, and if we want to understand why Christians celebrate it, we need to think about the names of Christ. It is not Mary and Joseph who name their child, but God does that and reveals his choice through the prophet Isaiah and through an angel. The child is called Jesus, which means ‘the Lord saves’ and also Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’. This gets to the heart of who Jesus is, none other than God the creator, and also why he left Heaven and came down to earth to become a real human baby, in order to rescue us.
1.The problem of Christmas
In Matthew chapter 1 Joseph, the central character in the story, has an enormous problem. He is betrothed to Mary – betrothal is bond stronger than our engagement today. He must have been looking forward to getting married and setting up a home with Mary. ‘Not long to go now’. But then he hears the stomach-turning news: two words- ‘Mary’ and ‘pregnant’. Joseph must have thought: ‘She wouldn’t do that!’ ‘She must have.’ ‘She has cheated on me.’ What a hammer-blow. God’s people then and now don’t have intimate relations before marriage.
We see in Joseph a man of dignity and a man of compassion. He knows he cannot marry Mary now. She has been unfaithful (or so it seems). However, he still loves her, and doesn’t want to drag her name through the mud, and so decides to divorce her quietly. Joseph’s example is so helpful in that it’s not just being right which matters, but how we go about things. Will he behave in a gentle or abrasive way? Joseph is a refreshing combination of truth and love. Ephesians 4:15 tells Christians that when we speak to others we must ‘speak the truth in love’. Too many people might say something true, but say it in an unkind way. Others might lie, saying what you want to hear.
What must it have been like being in Joseph’s sandals? The bottom falls out of his world. I’m guessing he had tears flowing down his cheeks as he thought about divorce. But then God speaks to Joseph to explain that what is happening isn’t a nightmare after all. In fact, this pregnancy is the best news ever. Mary has not been unfaithful. This is a supernatural pregnancy, unlike any other before or since. ‘What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’ (Matthew 1:20)
Who is this child? ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).’ (Matthew 1:23) This baby is none other than God, leaving Heaven, and coming down to earth to become a human. Why? Why is God (who created the world) coming down to enter it in this remarkable way? The angel explains this to Joseph as well: ‘She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ (Matthew 1:21) In other words, God has come to earth on a rescue mission – to save people from their sins! To save people from all the wrong things they do, say and think.
What is the problem of Christmas? It’s not just a problem Joseph has, but one we all have. Because if we pause to think, God is saying to each of us today that we need to be rescued from our pride, greed, selfishness, ignoring God, lack of love for God, lack of thankfulness to him. This is, of course, a highly offensive message. But isn’t it true? Personally, I don’t even live up to my own standards of how I know I should live, far less God’s. I’ve upset many people in my time. There are many good things I should have done, and didn’t. Some of the things I’ve thought about have been nasty or ugly or just plain wrong. Are you any different from me?
We can see so much war going on just now, both in the Middle East and also in the Ukraine. And then there are things happening which don’t get much coverage on the news, like the 8,000 Christians killed in Nigeria last year alone. The reason we need an army and air force is because we live in a world where there is always war. We need to be ready and able to defend ourselves. But we also need to ask, ‘Why’? Why are human beings so bent on killing one another and exploiting one another?
I’ve been watching a medical drama on Netflix recently and in each episode the doctors must find out the root cause of the symptoms. That’s the crucial thing. If you know the root cause then you can find the solution. The angel identifies the root cause of our problem: ‘She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ (Matthew 1:21)
Hark! the herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the new-born King,
peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!’
If ordinary people want to be friends with God, then we need to be rescued from our sin problem.
One of my favourite quotes from our late Queen was: ‘History teaches us we… need saving from ourselves, from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person, neither a philosopher or a general, important as they are, but a saviour with the power to forgive.’ The Queen was right. By rebelling against God, each of us has angered God, and we face his fair judgment. In love, knowing that we are unable to save ourselves, he left Heaven and entered our world by becoming a real human being in history. This is a loving rescue mission.
2. The Promise of Christmas
The Christmas story is so wonderful because God (in Jesus) has sent us exactly what we need. I’m not sure what you think your biggest problem is in life. I think in Jesus’ day, many in Israel saw their biggest problem as the Roman occupation. They wanted God to send a military Saviour to set Israel free from the might of Rome. What is your biggest problem? Is it loneliness or health or lack of job security, or finding accommodation or growing old and infirm? As we have said, God actually diagnoses your biggest problem. He says your sin spoils your relationship with God! The good news is Jesus is totally qualified to deal with that sin for you. In doing so, he sets us free to be the people he always intended us to be. True freedom means having a loving relationship with our Maker.
What makes Jesus so qualified to save us, aside from his name, which means ‘the LORD saves’? He is qualified as he is ‘Immanuel’. ‘All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Imanuel’(which means ‘God with us’). (Matthew 1:22-23)
On Tuesday evening at the cadets, we were thinking briefly about where Jesus was before he was born in Bethlehem. I explained that the Bible teaches us that the Christmas story is not the start of Jesus. Jesus, as God, has always been there. He created the world. The Christmas story is not the beginning of Jesus, for he is eternal. However, it is the beginning of him becoming a real human being, born of the virgin Mary, through the power of God the Holy Spirit.
When it comes to Jesus, there was never a time when he was not. Now, he has become one of us, and is 100% God and 100% human. This is something completely supernatural. And it is also something wonderful. Just because it is beyond our understanding does not mean it isn’t true.
St Augustine: ‘He lies in the manger but at the same time he holds the whole universe in his hands. He was created by a mother, but a mother whom he created. He was carried, but by hands that he himself formed.’
When one of you recently had a flat battery, I got a call asking for help. The question then became, was I willing to help and was I able to help? As it turned out, I was willing, as I’m such a nice guy, and was able as I was in Kirkcaldy and had jump leads. But sometimes we ask people for help and they are either unwilling to help us, or they are unable. We need people to be both. The best news at Christmas is that when we talk to Jesus in prayer, he is willing and able to help us. He is willing because he loves us. He understands our problems because he entered into our world at Christmas time. He knows what it is like to lose a loved one, to be tempted, to become sick and he knows what it is like to be a refugee and to be rejected and to be misunderstood and to be disappointed. He is willing to help us.
But Jesus is also able to help us. His sacrifice on the cross was a perfect sacrifice because Jesus never sinned. And his sacrifice was an infinite sacrifice because he is God. That means he is able to forgive anyone who is willing to ask for his help. The proud will not come and ask Jesus for help. But those who know they have messed up, can come and in prayer, ask for his forgiveness and help. I regret many things in my life, but one thing I will never regret is having asked Jesus for forgiveness and help.
What happens when we pray to Jesus asking him to forgive us and help us and take charge of our lives? He forgives us and that means we become friends with God. The sin which blocked us from having a proper relationship with God has been atoned for, dealt with by Jesus on the cross. And at this point he comes into our lives and never leaves us. He is Immanuel – God with us. He is with us both in this life and in the life to come.
I love this verse; ‘… being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 1:6) The motto of the RAF, Per Ardua ad Astra (Through Adversity to the Stars). Let me tweak this a little to help us understand the meaning of Christmas: ‘Through the adversity of Jesus to Heaven.’