12/19/10 - Children's Christmas Service - Micah 5:2

WELCOME TO THE HOME OF CHRIST JESUS!

As we were driving through the state of Kansas along I-70 this past summer, we came across a town about 160 miles west of Kansas City called Abilene. Abilene, KS is a place of just over 6,000 people, and so it’s nothing spectacular, in fact we didn’t even stop. But as we were approaching the exit to this town, a sign said, “Welcome to the Home of Dwight D. Eisenhower.” Now, President Eisenhower wasn’t born in Kansas, but he did grow up in Abilene. And so the citizens of this small town in the middle of the plains want to make sure that everyone knows that. If you go to their town’s website, the home page displays a statue of Eisenhower they have set up in the city along with a quote from this famous American that says, “The proudest thing I can claim is that I am from Abilene.” This town is also home to the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. There is a “WWII Hall of Generals” display in the Old Town Hall that, of course, includes this hometown boy. A 10 ft. x 15 ft. tall mural of this man has been placed on the side of a building on the main street in the middle of town. Even their city swimming pool, elementary school, sports stadium, rose garden, and a few other public buildings are located in an area named Eisenhower Park. I think it’s safe to say that the people of Abilene, KS are proud of this celebrity that grew up in their small town and they are happy to be known for this special connection to him.
If you travel over to the land of Israel and wander about five miles south of Jerusalem, you will find another famous little town that is known for a person who came from there. Of course, now it is a city of over 50,000 people. But that hadn’t always been the case for the little town of Bethlehem. It had been a very small town at one time, an insignificant rural area, a place people just passed through to get to the capital city. Of course, we know Bethlehem today as the birthplace of Jesus Christ himself and so it’s not insignificant anymore; it’s not just a place people pass through to get somewhere else. It is a location that travelers specifically plan around, a pilgrimage hot spot for Christians all around the world. And you can be sure that the Christian inhabitants of this Israelite city are still proud of that fact! They are undoubtedly thrilled to live in the place where Jesus was born. They promote the Church of the Nativity, after all, that stands over the place where Jesus was supposedly brought into this world. They have extensive tours to other sites around the city that show tourists what a stable might have looked like during Jesus’ time. The craftsmen and merchants of the town line the streets to sell their hand crafted manger scenes and wise men and shepherds & sheep for anyone who wants to take a memento back home. They are proud of Jesus’ birth because it is a unique characteristic of their town that no other city can claim.
But this pride over the birthplace of Christ himself started long before Jesus was actually born. It began about 750 years before that incredible event happened in a Bethlehem manger. And it came about through one of the Lord’s prophets named Micah. Micah was sent by the Lord to prophesy to the people of Israel about their sins and about repentance. And in the middle of his book, among various judgments and warnings of punishments, Micah says something about this little town of Bethlehem that must have been surprising, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” And the prophecy continues, of course, describing in detail who this ruler would be and what this ruler would do. But the shock to those living in Bethlehem must have already started to take effect after the very first verse! Bethlehem was going to be the birthplace of the coming Messiah? Not Jerusalem? Not Shiloh? Not Bethel? Not any of the other towns of Israel that were already well-known for great Old Testament stories and famous Old Testament believers? Bethlehem was actually going to be the place where all these prophecies about the Savior were to be fulfilled? What a boost of confidence that must have been for those living there! What an instant sense of pride these people must have had! To be such a small town, to be such an unknown place in the middle of a rich historical nation, and then to be the one hand picked by God as the home of Christ! Bethlehem would never be the same after these words of Micah were spoken. And neither would those who ever had the privilege to live there.
Are we all that different than the people that lived in Bethlehem? Sure, we may not be able to say that we live in Jesus’ hometown; we may not be able to point to the exact place where he was born or the roads on which his parents walked. But is not this place where we are right now Jesus’ home as well? It is “God’s House” after all! Is not your own home a place where God lives? Is not your heart a place where Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Savior, lives and works and reigns? Doesn’t the disciple John say that “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him” (1 John 4:15)? Your heart is Jesus’ home. Your house is Jesus’ home. Your church is Jesus’ home. And that’s something to be proud of! That’s something to publicize! Not something to brag about as if you are something special, but something that should give you a sense of pride in what the Lord has done for you and the special connection you have with him because of it.
Sometimes, though, it seems that people like those who live in Abilene, KS are more proud of living in the hometown of Dwight D. Eisenhower than we are of actually being the home of Christ. And I say that because the citizens of Abilene promote it; they publically and unashamedly display the fact that this famous 34th President of the United States of America was from their own town. But do people really get that same sense of excitement and pride from us - we in whom Christ has made his home? We don’t always promote that, do we? We don’t always publically and unashamedly display the fact that Christ lives in our hearts through faith and we are proud to show it. Because being a Christian is something that we’ll mention if the topic comes up in a conversation but we certainly won’t offer that information voluntarily to someone we have just met. We wouldn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable, would we? Being a Christian is something that makes us happy but not always something that we readily share with others who don’t know Christ. We wouldn’t want to offend them, would we? Being at a solid Christian congregation is something that we know is essential to our faith but not always something that we like to admit is a big priority in our lives to some of our neighbors and friends. We wouldn’t want other people to think that we are “religious zealots,” would we? The hesitation that comes from what people might say and the fear that comes from what people might think holds us back at times from being as bold and as proud as we should be as Christians. And we forget: Christ is the greatest person who ever lived because he was and is God himself! This is the most famous celebrity that has ever walked the face the earth! This is the Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior who died on the cross for the sins of the world and now has made us his home! And we have actually held that truth back from people at times!?! Why would we do that? How could we possibly keep that wonderful news to ourselves?
When the Lord spoke through the prophet Micah 750 years before he would send his Son to this earth, and when he chose the place where his Son would be born, he didn’t pick the greatest city; he didn’t pick a group of people that had proved to be the most faithful to him; he didn’t pick the place that seemed to have the most potential. He picked an insignificant little town, surrounded by fields for grazing sheep, lost in the shadows of the imposing city of Jerusalem just to its north. When the Lord chose us he didn’t pick the greatest of human beings; he didn’t pick people that had proved to be the most faithful to him; he didn’t even pick those of us who seemed to have the most potential. He picked insignificant little people, surrounded by doubts and temptations, lost in the shadows of our own sinful nature. But he chose us anyway, so that he could be born for us and live for us and die for us and rise for us. He chose us to make his home in our hearts. And by that one act of love he made us something special - we who were once no different than any other sinner. He made us important - we who were once nothing. He made us Christians - we who were once condemned.
What a wonderful thing the Christ has done for us! What a wonderful thing he has done for every Christian that has ever lived. He has taken a small child and has said, “You are my own. In you I will live.” He has taken an old man and has said, “You are my own. In you I will live.” He has taken a middle-aged woman and has said, “You are my own. In you I will live.” He has taken criminals who have led visibly sinful lives for decades, he has taken atheists and agnostics who have been ignorant of their Creator their entire lives, he has even taken well-intentioned human beings who thought that they could get to heaven by doing good things and leading good lives, and he has worked in their hearts with his Word and has said to them, “You are my own. You have done nothing for me. I have done everything for you. In you I will live.” And through faith in what he has done for them, and through faith in what he has done for us, he does live. We have Christ living in our hearts right now because he found his way into our hearts through the penetrating power of the Word of God. Welcome to the home of Jesus Christ!
You can legitimately say that about yourself: “This is the home of Jesus Christ!” And when you walk into your house today you can think to yourself, “This is the home of Jesus Christ!” And when you invite people to come to church here so that they can hear the Word of God that is so crucial to their salvation, you can encourage them with confidence, knowing that “This is the home of Jesus Christ!” This is where he lives! This is where he works! This is where he reigns! In fact, anywhere the gospel about Jesus is heard, that is where his home is. Anywhere the works of Christ are read, that is where his home is. Anywhere his forgiveness is offered in baptism, that is where his home is. Anywhere his body and blood are distributed in the Lord’s Supper, that is where his home is. And we have that! We are blessed with those very things! And that is something to show off! That is something to bring others to see! That is our “claim to fame” as Christians: the one true God is here and he has brought his forgiveness with him! And that forgiveness is not for the “good” people; it’s not for the rich; it’s not for those who try hard; it’s not for the innocent. This forgiveness is for the guilty, the failures, the sinners. This forgiveness is for you. This forgiveness is for me. And we get it free right here (at church), in the home of Christ Jesus. And we believe it right here (in our hearts), in the home of Christ Jesus. And we will experience the inheritance that comes from that forgiveness one day right up there, in the home of Christ Jesus.
The people of Abilene, KS are proud to live in the hometown of Dwight D Eisenhower, and rightly so. The Christians of Bethlehem, Israel are proud to live in the birthplace of Jesus Christ, and rightly so. But you should have an even greater sense of pride than they do. Because the connection you have with your Savior is not just something historical; it’s not something that can only be remembered by statues or pictures or ruins of the past. The connection you have with your Savior is something that is happening right now. It is something real. It is something true. And one day it will be something eternal. Through faith, Christ has made his home in you and lives in you as we speak. Through faith, you will live with Christ in his perfect home forever.
Amen.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.” - Ps. 33:12

12/15/10 - Midweek Advent - Isaiah 9:6

PEACE EVERLASTING

I have a little picture frame above the inside of my front door that a friend gave to me while I was at the seminary. He had picked it up at a warehouse belonging to his moving company because someone had left it behind and it was about to be thrown away. And ever since he gave it to me, for about eight years now, it has hung above the entrance to wherever I have lived. But it’s not a picture or a painting. In fact, it’s not something that would catch your eye at all if you weren’t looking for it because it’s really only one word stitched in brown lettering. And that one word inside this picture frame is “Shalom” (sha-lòme).
Are you familiar with that word? Shalom is not usually part of our everyday language, but it is something that a specific culture uses quite a bit around us. It’s a Hebrew word; and so those of Jewish origin and even Scripture itself makes use of this two-syllable noun on a regular basis. In fact, it is one of the most important words in the entire Old Testament and it can be used to mean a variety of different things.
The most common meaning of this word is simply “peace.” And the reason I have it above the inside of my front door is because Shalom is also used as a greeting: coming and going. And although it has been secularized in modern day Jewish culture, it was originally meant to be a shorthand way of saying “peace be with you.” Of course, Shalom can also take on the meaning of “safety” or “health” of the body. It can mean “rest” from war or the “absence” of danger or worries. It can even be used to depict a state of “quietness” or “tranquility” or “contentment.” But the most significant translation of this word and the way it is used in over 2/3 of the instances in Scripture is “peace” with God. It has to do with the resulting harmony we have with our Creator because of what the Lord has done for us.
Tonight we focus our attention on the last of the four titles given to the coming Christ by the prophet Isaiah in chapter 9:6 - “Prince of Peace.” According to Isaiah, Christ was the one who was to achieve that peace and make it ours. He was the one who was going to mend our relationship with God so that there would be no more anger on his part and no more fear on ours. He was the one to reunite us with the Almighty Lord from whom we had alienated ourselves because of our sins. And that’s exactly what he did, didn’t he? Paul says in the book of Colossians that Jesus made “peace through his blood shed on the cross” (Col. 1:20). And so now we are all right with God. We are on his good side again because Jesus’ blood on the cross made everything OK. That’s a basic tenant of Christianity, isn’t it? Peace with God is something on which our salvation relies.
But that peace is hard to come by at times, isn’t it? Sometimes we just don’t feel at ease. Sometimes we aren’t all that comfortable or relaxed or calm. Sometimes that spiritual serenity, that peace of mind, just isn’t there. And why is that? Why is it that you feel unsettled on some days or stressed out or clenched up or emotionally frayed? It’s certainly not because the Prince of Peace has taken that peace away, is it? And it’s not because he has abandoned you or is mad at you for some reason. It’s not the Lord’s fault at all. The reason you sometimes don’t have that peace isn’t because it’s not there; it’s because you are not there.
Jesus’ peace never leaves. Sometimes we just leave it. Jesus’ peace never moves. Sometimes we just move away ourselves. We get distracted with other things. We slowly shift our focus away from that peace our Prince of Peace earned and onto what will make us happy right now; away from that peace and onto what will get us excited for a moment; away from that peace and onto what will give us a sense of instant satisfaction. And so when you have a lapse in your daily Bible reading for a while, or when your study of Scripture is not where it should be, or when you start missing more worship services than is healthy, why should it surprise you that you don’t have that sense of peace during those times? Of course you’re going to feel a little bit empty! Of course you’re going to feel a little bit lost! Of course you’re going to feel as if you’re missing something! Because you are! You’re missing that peace, that reassurance and guarantee that Jesus has fixed everything and you are in good standing with your God!
And here’s the best part about this peace: You don’t have to do anything to get it back. This peace is not a result of our efforts to find it; it’s a result of Christ’s efforts to find us. He searches us out; he crawls through the mud; he fights his way through the enemies and the nastiness of our own sinful lives and grabs us with his Word. And he works us over with the law. And he soothes us with the gospel. And he fills our hearts once again with is peace. And he does that by reminding us about everything he did with that blood of his. How he poured it out; how he used it as a ransom price; how he washed us in it so that we would be clean. We can have peace in this life and in the life to come because the Prince of Peace did not.
Isn’t that ironic? The Prince of Peace didn’t have a peaceful life. He didn’t have a peaceful death. He didn’t even have a peaceful birth! I can’t imagine the stress and anxiety Mary was going through as she delivered her first baby miles away from home and days away from family in the middle of a barn! And her first son was the Son of God no less! But of course this Prince of Peace did not come into this world to gain peace for himself. No, he came to fight a war so that we wouldn’t have to. He came for a battle so that we would be safe. He came to give us Shalom.
I pray that your Advent and especially your Christmas is usually filled with this Shalom. And it will be. But not because it’s a quiet or gentle or soothing time of year - it’ll be filled with Shalom because it is the time of year when you know that your enemies are defeated, your worries are alleviated, and your entire life is set forever. There is no reason why we shouldn’t have peace at all times and in every way. Because the Prince of Peace has come. The Prince of Peace is coming again. And in the meantime, everything in between is already taken care of.