Virgin Birth – Anticipation – God’s Promises

Isaiah 7:13-17

13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.  17 The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.”

I’m working on a message for this Sunday about how God’s people have always anticipated a savior.  All the way from Genesis 3 right up to the coming of Jesus.  They were anticipating the savior to fulfill a few roles, prophet, priest and king.  So I’m talking about that anticipation.

Now when Jesus was born, he was born to a vigin named Mary.  Growing up I always heard this supported by Isaiah 7:14, which would be read completely out of context.  In the text, God’s people are facing war with some enemies, and they are worried.  And God says, I will give you a sign that you can trust me that I will protect you, “the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”  That’s the sign that God says he will give to his people that they don’t have to worry about the enemy that they are facing.

This text has troubled me because Jesus wasn’t born for many centuries after this.  So how is this sign a comfort for the people back then.  And what does this have to do with Jesus being born to a virgin.  And the whole thing has been very confusing to me.   Is it ok for a pastor to be confused by the Bible some times? I sure hope so.

Anyway, while I was reading this, I read the rest of the context and I wonder if this is what God is saying by giving this sign is this,  ” You will not have to worry about this enemy, because I’m going to defeat them.  I’m the God that can make a virgin conceive a baby.  And before that baby is old enough to eat cottage cheese, your enemy that you’re worried about, is just not going to be your problem anymore. Those kings that you’re worried about, will be laid waste.  So trust me. ”

And then, when Jesus was actually conceived to a virgin, in Nazareth, where were those kings that the people were worried about?  They were long gone and in the history book.  But God’s people, though they had some rough years, were still around.

So in reading this, and processing this  and trying to get a handle on how to talk about it on Sunday, this is how it is all coming together in my brain and in my heart.  God’s promises are always fulfilled.  It might not look the way we think it will look and it might not happen when we want it to happen, but God always fulfills his promises.  he promised that a virgin would conceive, and she did.  And her son was the Son of God, Jesus.

Just some rambling thoughts about the virgin birth.

Merry Christmas!

Seasons

It seems to me that whenever the seasons change there is an incredible increase in my busy-ness.  Something about the transition from Summer to Autumn, Autumn to Winter, and so on ramps up the activity around churches.  In the middle of the busy-ness of it all it is very easy to get overwhelmed with all the stuff that I have to do, and it becomes increasingly difficult to enjoy the down time.  

I have to remember that down time is something that God actually mandated for his people.  The Sabbath is one of the most loving things that God could possible give.  Knowing that our desire as humans is for more, bigger, faster.  God knows that  we reason with ourselves that if I could just get one more day to work on this project, I get to more, bigger, faster sooner, God said you’ve got to take a day off.  Because more, bigger, faster doesn’t matter as much as the state of your soul.  And the Sabbath is about rest, reflection and worship.  It’s not about you at all. 

You’ve got 6 days to focus on your physical needs, and God wants you (me) to take one day to focus on my spiritual health.  It’s a great trade, and in the seasons of busyness, I have to fight to ensure that I am receiving God’s gift of Sabbath. 

It’s a good gift. 

Center

What is the center of the church?

If it’s the sermon, that’s wrong.
If it’s the music style that’s off.
If it’s the groups system that’s a great thing but it can’t be the center.

There are a lot if things that fight to be the center of your church. And often they seem like they would be good candidates. But the only center that will truly hold is Jesus. The goal of every church should be to get people to Jesus.

That’s really how we should evaluate everything we do. Will this (insert ministry, project, goal, event) bring people closer to Jesus?

Everything else becomes secondary. Jesus must be primary. Jesus must be the center.

When Heroes Fall

This past month I’ve been reading every article that made mention of Lance Armstrong and the USADA report.  I was adamantly in Armstrong’s corner as these reports were coming out because I couldn’t believe that this new agency found evidence that no one else could find.  Then stories of teammates testifying against Armstrong began to surface, and my defense got very quiet.

And now today the Cycling Union decided to strip Armstrong of his 7 Tour de France titles. Wow. That is a sad day.  I watched Armstrong win many of those tours.  i cheered him on.  And now all that is gone, tarnished by deceit.

Armstrong is not the first hero in my life to have fallen.  He is however the most public.  I think there are a few responses to a fall like this that heroes can make and a few responses that fans can make

3 choices

1) fade away into the sunset – thanked whatever you have left and get out of the public eye.  Often the damage done is so severe that it seems impossible to cover.  This option might be the safest for the former hero but it is the least satisfying for fans.

2) keep fighting – maintain innocence until your dying breath.  Never ask for forgiveness.  Never apologize.  This is the hardest for everybody. The hero believes that they are defending their record, but the by product is that they are turning former supporters into haters.

3) admit failure, redeem the future – this is hard at first because the hero hill have too admit that they are human, they make mistakes and are admitting they have hurt a lot of people.  But they can have a great third act, where they become advocates for change and health.  They can’t go back and fix the past but they can make a better future. on this path, they can take their fans, who may be angry and hurt at first and turn them into advocates.  Tis is probably the hardest path but it is also the most redeeming.

I don’t know what Armstrong is going to do now, but if he chose the third path, I would cheer him on.

Indisputable

I’ve heard a lot of people use the word indisputable lately.

That word makes me laugh.  First because it’s funny sound.  It makes me think of those times when you have some phlegm in your throat and you can’t clear it to spit it out.

The other reason it makes me laugh is because anyone can find a way to dispute anything.  Someone may be wrong but that doesn’t seem to matter anymore.

Ultimately the claim for indisputability (not a word) is a statement of belief.  It’s a strong statement of belief, but it is still a statement of belief.  Until people who use the word indisputable realize the incredible faith that they are putting in the idea they are about to put forth, they won’t be willing to hear what another person (who might dispute said idea) is saying.

This is highlighted during election season, but it shows up in the office, at the dinner table, in churches, in bowling leagues.  We all need to take a minute to remember that humans are a people of faith.  We tend to put our faith in all kinds of things.

That is indisputable.  :o)

Progress

I love making progress.  I love being able to look at my to do list and cross stuff off.  I love seeing projects accomplished.  I love putting ideas on a board and building a plan.  I love progress.  Even if it isn’t huge a little progress puts a ton of wind in your sails.

Often the thing that slows me down from progress is feeling like I have to big a distance between where I am and the end of a project.  But breaking it down into little chunks makes it all possible.

What little steps do you need to talk today to make some big progress?

Work In Progress

I’m never done. 

It seems that as soon as I finish one project it leads to another.  Sometimes that’s incredibly frustrating.  Sometimes I just want to look at all of done and say, “It’s finished, it’s complete.” 

That will never happen though.  And I’m ok with that.  I’m ok with it because as a pastor my job is helping people discover, trust and love Jesus.  That’s my work.  All my projects further that goal.  And Jesus finished something.  On the Cross, he said, “It is finished.”  

What does that mean?  Well it means that Jesus’ work on the cross finished the work of atonement, of providing grace for sins.  My work that never get’s finished is to point people to the finished work of Jesus. 

I’m a work in progress, you are a work in progress, and we all need to look to the completed work of Jesus. 

Thoughts on Prometheus

I saw Prometheus on Tuesday.  The motivation for the protagonist in the film is to discover where humanity came from.  This search leads them to an earthlike planet, where things then go horribly, horribly wrong.  The acting was fine, the special effects were amazing, the premise was interesting. 

Prometheus is one more story that tries to make sense of the fact that there is very little in the world that can explain human life.  How did we get here, why are we different than the other creatures on the planet, how did all of this happen, and on and on.  I don’t think that Prometheus gives a good explanation to answering these questions and I have no question in my mind that actually answering these questions was not the writer’s, producer’s or director’s motivation for the film.  They needed a reason for the protagonists to go searching for answers. 

The really interesting thing for me in this film is that even thought the protagonists search leads to some really bad things happening to her and her lover, and her crew, she still holds on to her father’s cross.  She still chooses to believe in something.  The film does a pretty good job of allowing for uncertainty and faith in the life of the protagonist.  

I think this tenssion of uncertainty and faith is exactly where most Christians live day to day.  We have to constantly wrestle with the things that we read in scripture and what the things that we can see in the world and try to come to grips with all of it.  

I think this tension is also where every single person who has ever lived exists.  That’s the reason that we study science, philosophy, theology, literature, etc. We are searching for answers for why we are here and how we got here.  

As a Christian I am completely satisfied with there being a Creator God who made everything and made humanity in his image.  That makes sense to me.  I will never have all the answers to all the questions that that entails, but I can keep searching for the Creator, and I can see his work in everything around me, and the mysteries of creation and the Universe are even more spectacular because there is someone for whom these mysteries are not mysteries, and my search is ultimately to find him. Answers and clarity for these questions are by products of my search for the Creator.

The Lines We Draw

Yesterday at Creekside we had a guest Speaker, Dr. Ron Herms from Northwest University.  I’ve known Ron for almost four years and every class that I took with Ron has challenged my thinking and helped me to love Jesus and the Bible more.  It was a great privilege to have Ron speak at Creekside and I was glad to hear the positive feedback from so many folks.

Ron talked about Romans 11:13-36.  Towards the end of the passage there is a section where the Apostle Paul says that All Israel will be saved.  This is a tough verse to work though.  Ron pointed out that some people would read that and says, All doesn’t really mean all, Paul must have some clarifications. The other end of the argument would say, yes, Paul means All, every single Israelite.

This is a troubling passage, but what Ron said about it was incredible helpful.  Paul was talking at this point in Romans to Gentiles who may have had an attitude of superiority over the Jewish Christians.  They may have even given up on Israel, saying that they were too far gone from God’s grace.  But Paul’s use of the word all stretched the line that the gentiles had drawn.  And perhaps whenever we draw a line about who is in and who is out of the Kingdom of God, then God wants to come along and break through that line and show us that is grace is bigger than we can imagine.  Pretty great.  You can get the podcast here: audio / video.  I would really recommend that you go and download it.  It was really great.