Sunday 12/24/23 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Jesus Mother!” (“The Eternal Truth” Series: Part 4 of 5)
Old Testament Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
New Testament Scripture: Romans 16:25-27
Gospel Lesson: Luke 1:26-38
Well
happy almost Christmas Eve, once again! It is sort of strange that we are
worshipping here this Sunday morning on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, only to be
in Christmas Eve services tonight. Don’t worry though, you don’t even have to
change your clothes to come to church tonight! So, right now, once again, is the
Fourth Sunday of Advent, and tonight is Christmas Eve. Seems a little crazy to
me, but it is what it is!
For the last three weeks of this our
season of Advent, I have been preaching about the topic of “Eternal Truths,”
which is what my sermon series through tonight is about. In a culture and in an
era that once seemed to have unchanging truths, some truths are now rejected,
or are optional. Truths that were harmful obviously are not good, but I am
talking about things that most people just accepted as truth. Things like the
existence of God, our trust in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and in how we
live and love.
On this our Fourth Sunday of Advent, I
believe that it is important for the Christian Church, maybe now more than
ever, to declare the Eternal Truth of the hope of God we have in Jesus Christ.
As many things are occurring in this world that seem so bad, and while there is
so much good too, Christians historically have always had hope in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the center of our faith, our life, and the Eternal Truth that
we follow.
Since in some places it seems like that
once bedrock truths, are sometimes being rejected, I believe that the Christian
Church needs to proclaim the gospel. We need to let the world know that they
are loved, and that Jesus came to this earth for us all. Jesus taught us a radical
new way of living, loving, died for us, rose again, and will return one day in
glory.
Our beloved Sidney and the Sidney area
has continued to have struggles from this time last year, but we still have
this great community of faith. In good times, in bad times, and everything in
between we can always draw on the hope of God in Jesus Christ. For centuries
our brothers and sisters in the faith were changed, restored, and have served, loved,
healed, forgave, and changed the world through Jesus Christ. The Eternal Truth
of Jesus is what the church is, and I believe will continue to be the strength
of our faith going forward.
For nearly two-thousands years countless
people have come to know Jesus, have followed Jesus, have sought to live like
Jesus, have professed Jesus, and when this early life ended, went to be with
Jesus. This is the faith of many of our ancestors, and this is the faith that
has guides and sustained our lives. Even though Christians historically, believed
that it is true that Jesus was God in the flesh and savior of the world, there
are, as there always have been, various opinions.
Yet, I know this much, beyond the
centuries of collective believe, the chain of faith passes down for generations
in Jesus Christ, and the hope that has changed the world, there is in addition
to all of these sources of information that we have about Jesus Christ, as
well. There is so much scholarship, history, and many other things for us to
believe without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is Lord and Savior, but as I said
there is another source. This source, is Mary, Jesus’ mother. Mary, Jesus’
mother clearly believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the savior of the world.
Mary carried in her womb the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Mary raised
God in the flesh, and to me, clearly believed in her son being God in the
flesh.
I have always wanted to know how the
power dynamics worked when Jesus was growing up. I mean did Mary just tell
Jesus to do something, or was it different with Jesus. We know that Mary was
right there at Jesus’ cross, as her little boy, the Messiah was tortured and
crucified. We know that in the gospel of John in 19:26-27 when Jesus was dying
on the cross, he looked down at his mother Mary and the beloved disciple, or
John. In this moment, Jesus told his mother to behold John, and then told John
his disciple to behold his mother (Jn. 19:26-27, NRSV).
Jesus wanted to make sure that Mary
was taken care of, and John 19:27 said that Mary went to live with the Apostle
John on that very day. After this happened on the day Jesus was crucified on
that first Good Friday, we have no real mention of Mary in the Bible. I would
like to believe though that Mary was a strong leader in the first Christ
Church. I would like to think that in the first Chirstian Church in the Book of
Acts, that Mary offered an account of her son Jesus, the Messiah. I would like
to think that Mary brought many people to faith in her son, as she was after all,
“Jesus’ Mother”!
I mean I can tell you about Jesus,
another pastor or person can tell you about Jesus, a bishop could tell you
about Jesus, but imagine Mary, Jesus’ mother telling you about Jesus. Someone
who was a skeptic might say to Mary, “Well how do I know we can trust what you
are telling us about Jesus?” Maybe Mary would reply jokingly, “Well I raised
him and changed his diapers, so I would say I know a thing or two about him!"
If there is one thing I know then, most mothers tell the truth about their kids.
In fact, some mothers tell the truth to a fault. I believe that if Jesus was
not Lord and Savior, that Mary would not have likely continued on with this belief.
When comedian Robin Williams was still
alive, he sometimes did comedy segments about the Bible, biblical characters, and
even Jesus himself. In one of the Robin Williams shows, and I know I have said
this joke many times, Robin Williams remarked that some people have questioned
if Jesus was really born and raised Jewish. Robin Williams then said something
like this about Jesus, “Let’s look at the facts. Jesus was thirty-years old, he
lived at home, he worked in his father Joseph’s business, and his mother thought
he was God’s gift. He’s Jewish!” This joke obviously has a lot of stereotypes
that some Jewish men work in their dad’s business, live at home to long, and
that Jewish mothers put their sons on a pedestal.
Yet, I find that mothers often know
there kids inside and out, and therefore my sermon title for this morning is “Jesus’
Mother”! If anyone knew who Jesus really was, it was Mary, and of course
Joseph.
Preparing this sermon also reminded me
of meeting mothers and fathers. For those of us who are married or dating,
perhaps you remember meeting the parents of your spouse or significant other. In
fact, we have that movie with Robert DeNiro and Ben Stiller that came out in
the year 2,000, called “Meet the Parents.” Meeting the parents can be a tough
venture for sure. For some of us, meeting the parents was great, and for some
of us it was not so great. Some of us love our in-laws, and some maybe consider
them outlaws, not in-laws!
Before I wised up and married Melissa,
I did go out with a few different girls when I was in college. My mother Susan
met all of them. Every one she told me that she liked, and she said at the time
that I made a good choice. Yet, when I would stop going with one of those
girls, she would then tell me something like, “Oh honey, what were you
thinking!” Now when my mother Susan met Melissa, it was different. We were at a
restaurant, and Melissa had a leave for a few minutes. My mother then looked at
me said, “Paul, if you don’t marry this one, I’ll kill you!”
Well after this, Melissa and my mother
Susan were thicker than thieves, and still are. I remember after that visit, Melissa
would say things to me like, “your mother told me about that stupid thing you
did in high school,” or other embarrassing stories. You see, mothers have the dirt
on us don’t they. All mothers also seem to have that picture of us at two-years
old playing in plastic kiddie pool with no clothes on. These same mothers then
show this picture to the person that we bring home to meet our mother. Lucky
us!
I say all of this, to say, that in
general, a mother knows her children. I believe that Mary knew her son Jesus,
and knew him well. Mary believed that her son was the savior, and well beyond just
the history, the faith, and all the scholarship, this makes sense to me.
In our reading from 2 Samuel 7:1-11,
16 for this morning, God is talking to the Prophet Nathan, and asking the Prophet
Nathan to tell the great King David to build a more permanent and durable home
for the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant of Course housed the
original Ten-Commandments. In this scripture, God also says that he had taken
David from the fields, as common person. God made David a great king and even
promised him an eternal dynasty. In fact, our 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 reading for this
morning ends with 7:16 saying, once again:
16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:16, NRSV).
God
promised King David that his family name will become an eternal dynasty. One
will come that will be much greater than King David, much greater than John the
Baptist. This descendent of the great King David will be the Messiah, the savior
of the world. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. This Messiah, this savior
will be born where King David was born, in what is called the city of David,
which is Bethlehem. Tonight, on Christmas Eve, we will celebrate the birth of
Jesus Christ, decedent of the great King David, and the eternal ruler of the
throne that God promised David. You know who knew about this? Jesus’ mother
Mary.
We have
the proclamation of the hope and love of Jesus Christ, in our brief reading
from Romans 16:25-27 for this morning. This scripture says once again, as the
Apostle Paul end’s his letter to the Romans:
25 Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but is now disclosed and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen (Rom. 16:25-27, NRSV).
In this benediction to the church in Rome,
or the Romans, the Apostle Paul is saying that this prophecy, this belief in the
coming Messiah or savior, has come true in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul said that
the coming of Christ was made through the prophetic writings of old, like our
reading for this morning from 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16. Now that prophecy has been
fulfilled, may we live for Christ, live like Christ, and love like Christ.
In our gospel lesson from Luke 1:26-38 for this morning, we
have the story of Angel Gabriel coming to tell Mary that she would carry and
bear the Christ-Child. Let’s hear what Luke 1:26-38 has to say to us this
morning, once again:
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Lk. 1:26-33, NRSV).
So, Mary is engaged to Joseph, and according to most
scholars is probably only thirteen or fourteen years old. People did not live
as long back then, so people, women especially married very young. In this case, Mary as the gospel of like 1:26-38
reading says, is not married yet, but engaged. So, the idea that this young
unwed girl is going to have a child might seem a bit quite extreme. Further,
not just any child. This child will be of line of the great King David, and will
be the deliver, the Messiah, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
In finishing this gospel of Luke
reading 1:26-38 reading for this morning, the finishes in 1:34-38, say once again:
34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her (Lk. 1:34-38, NRSV).
This is the story of the “Immaculate Conception,” of the Angel
Gabriel telling Mary she would bear the Christ-Child. I actually went to the site
of the “Immaculate Conception” when I was in Israel and Palestine in 2014.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, the “God-bearer,” tonight will bring
the Prince of Peace, the hope of the nations into this weary world. Why do we
think Jesus was our savior historically? Well, if the many other answers don’t
convince you, you call always ask “Jesus’ Mother,” Mary. Amen.
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