Do We Feel The Presence Of Jesus Seeking and Finding Us To Deal With The Anxiety Of The Times?

 

Good Morning Friends,

  
 

The world with all its craziness is filling up our lives with fear producing news. There are few diversions. No social events. No arts or music concerts. No sporting events. No Temple to go to. It is as if we need to retrace our steps to find Jesus so we can get home. I am not out to scare you, just the opposite, for we need to know the dangers…we need to know that life on this earth is so short and we all die and yes evil is out to get us. But if we live in fear it is hardly living. So how we live makes a difference. And one of the most important things is to realize that we play a role in shaping our realities. What we believe makes a big difference. And doubt can be a big stumbling block if we are to leave a legacy. Morality too. So maybe you are chasing after rainbows and maybe you are building bridges, but as it relates to being wise in this current pandemic environment, we need to be asking ourselves this question. Do We Feel The Presence Of Jesus Seeking and Finding Us To Deal With The Anxiety Of The Times?

 
 

Scripture: But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

 
 

2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16 (NRSV)

 

 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

 
 

Matthew 1:16, 18-21 (NRSV)

 

Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

 

 
 Luke 2:41-51a (NRSV)

 

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

  
 

Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 (NRSV)

  
 

Message:  Today’s scripture selection has examples of high stress situations. We have an unexpected pregnancy, the separation of a child from his parents and the leaving of a legacy. All potentially disquieting events. Then we look at them through the lens of God’s promises. There are passages of scripture that should give us pause each time we read them.  In Romans 4, Paul shows how Abraham believed that what God promised, God would do. Similarly, in order to be made right with God, we must believe that God will make good on His promise to save those who put their trust in Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Scripture like this is meant to draw us into a time of prayer and self-examination that is to give us the right mindset to believe in something that is more than the fleeting. You see, in many ways worry is the opposite of prayer, and fear is the opposite of faith and people who only please others to get something from them in return, such as attention, acceptance, and friendship end up disappointed. And the pleaser though kind can be taken advantage of and hurt, and if they are a self-pleaser, it is a dead end too for that results in isolation. The only option is to please God. So, contemplate who you fear and why and who you try to please. And here you might just learn that it is living in the joy and fear and love of the Lord that gives us a faithful purpose that lives on. You see, fear and joy and love are related to whom we try to please. We please people because we fear they will not like us. We please ourselves because we are afraid people will hurt us or not meet our needs. But when we fear God, we live in a way that glorifies God, and the amazing thing is that when we do, God provides joy and even greater love that allows us to please others in a way that pleases God. The thing is that we each will please who we fear. And we will learn from the experience. Thankfully in fearing the Lord we gain wisdom and not disappointment…and we get to know God and to know ourselves. This is the backdrop for our message and the question before us about who oversees this relationship. What today’s scripture presents is a reality that if we are not following Jesus, we are following the Devil. And we must wonder if evil will challenge the rule for control of earth even though Jesus has defeated sin, death and Satan, but has not destroyed them. Thankfully in this situation Jesus shows real leadership and fills our hearts and minds with the joy of the Gospel.

  
And So, in the midst of change it is sometimes… almost always difficult to have all the right emotions…they come later. And if you think for one moment that you are in control, think again. We are to intuitively understand that the Devil has not been exorcised from our world, but God is still available to create, sustain and redeem if we follow in the Way fearlessly. Perhaps we need to learn from Jesus, God in the flesh, what it means to be in the Father’s will. The challenge of course is to have the right perspective…one that embraces the promises of God.  For example, Mary had no guarantee that Joseph would understand and be sympathetic to her being with child.  She grew up in a poor town just four miles from a Roman garrison…a town known for sin. Joseph was a righteous man with a legal betrothal to Mary. What was he to think?  But even though they both were born 500 years after the golden age of Israel’s proud history, even though no king of David’s family had ruled in Jerusalem for half a millennium, the promise of a Messiah had not been forgotten. Their willingness to suffer ridicule and contempt based solely on an assurance that no one except God could fully understand is an amazing act of trust. Here we discover that finding favor with God, like getting through times of uncertainty, requires a trust that has staying power. God’s response to this trust is grace. The events that change our lives look different and feel different when seen in the rear-view mirror. We like Mary are a bit perplexed by angels when we do not know what to anticipate. Joseph must have had similar feelings. Only in retrospect when we have past the troubled times do we see the awesome reality of God being with us during times of uncertainty.

 

Pray we have faith for the Kingdom to come in our ever-changing world. Pray for acts of grace in our lives as we confront the unexpected. Pray that when we wrestle with the consequences, we have the right perspective. Pray that our faith and trust are in the promises of God. Pray we learn to prepare our attitudes for the coming of Jesus. Pray we have an allegiance to God. Pray we display moral courage in our personal lives and spiritual courage in a corrupt world. Pray we like spend time with family. Pray we be touched by the presence of Christ in our decisions and feelings. Pray we have the wisdom of fear of God but not the fear of life. Pray we trust and obey God. Pray we realize that beyond our doubt is the possibility of a strong conviction. Pray therefor we are not afraid of taking a stand for Jesus. Pray we glorify God in how we live and in what we believe. Pray we have faith in the promises of God. Pray we build bridges of hope for others to believe. Pray we build bridges for others to experience heaven on earth and the hope of heaven in our future. Pray we face doubts and uncertainties and triumph over them by giving the glory to God. Pray we believe that God has plans for our welfare and a future of hope. Pray we learn to love like Jesus.

 
 

Blessings,

 
 

John Lawson