Good Morning Friends,
Last month I asked my three-year-old grandson to tell me about God and he responded that “God is in us.” Today’s scripture and message is really about the history of God’s incarnation in Jesus and what happens when Christ is in us. The idea here is that a close and real relationship with Jesus is the foundation of real joy – real rejoicing – peace within. We tend to think of rejoicing in a thing, a person, or in a circumstance. And yes, that can be true. But Paul is using this phrase “in the Lord” in today’s text and extensively throughout his letters. The phrase “in Christ Jesus” is the signature stamped upon all the gifts of God, and upon all the possible blessings of the Christian life. In Him we have inheritance, in Him we obtain redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. In Him we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. This union with Jesus, this “in Him,” is the foundation and the source of everything that’s joyful. To be in Him means that our whole being should be occupied with Him, the whole of our thoughts and our behavior should be submitted to Him. During Advent we reflected on the meaning of the peace we find in Christ and the Christian joy, and the hope joy brings in our work of sharing the good news. Now on Super Bowl Sunday it is a great time to contemplate our purposeful relationship with Jesus and what a gift our friendship has been and continues to be. It is a great time for us to witness in church the experience of the rebirth of Gospel joy… to proclaim Gospel joy… to learn to rejoice as we really begin to realize that God has come to be with us encouraging us to cultivate the fruit of Gospel joy and the peace this brings to all situation even as we gather around Wide Screen Televisions to watch the game and the entertainment and the commercials too. It is a good day to say yes to the invitation to discover that Jesus, the great hope of mankind, is with us and we are his contemporary disciples. Today we explore the incarnational reality in which we are to share. Today we look at a great mystery of why of all the ways God could have come into this world, that the choice was one of humility. And so, we consider Jesus’ return and the mystery that His Kingdom has come and is coming and is still to come. So, Are You Willing To Wait Patiently For A Holy Spirit Proclamation Of Christ’s Joy In Us?
Scripture: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
Isaiah 11:1-10 (NRSV)
At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
Luke 10:21-24 (NRSV)
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7 (NRSV)
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 5:1 (NRSV)
Message: Imagine what the world would be like if God, in the person of Jesus Christ, had never come to earth fully human and fully divine. That’s right…no Christmas. But that is just the beginning of what a pit we would be in without Jesus as an intermediary. Gone would be the amazing music of Bach, Beethoven, and Handel. So too for many of our universities and hospitals. This work would not have existed without people who had hearts inspired and filled with compassion in the hope of a better world all because of their experience of a joyous Jesus. We do not usually think of Jesus as joyous, but he was filled to overflowing with joy. The expectation was that the Chosen One would have the wisdom of Solomon, the charisma of David, the godliness of Moses, and the military genius of Joshua. Yet God came as a baby – just a baby. And so now is the time of year to experience the hope and joy of little children and the wonderful mystery of family. It is the season. And as we begin the four weeks of Advent it is a good time to reflect on the reality that a child can lead us, for children bring us joy. Today’s scripture from Isaiah foretells it and in part may explain why Jesus came as a child like we came. The prophecy of a sprout out of the stump of Jesse… a promise of a time of justice… a time of grace…the hope of a new King who would excel in our every lack is exacted in a surprising way that took those who would stop him off guard. Maybe that is why we are drawn to a new life and the joy of little children. Maybe that is why we are drawn to the Prince of Peace in the hope of peace. Maybe that is why it is wise to seek a deeper Shalom in a relationship with Christ. It is wise to realize that Christ is the giver of peace. God’s righteousness has come to each and every one of us by grace. Jesse’s Branch, the Savior of the world and our personal Savior, brings righteousness. God’s righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, covers our sinfulness and us. Now when we look ahead, when we gaze into the future, we realize that heaven is ours because of what Christ has done for us. Christ who is this Shoot from the stump of Jesse, this Branch from the roots of the remnant of Israel. Jesse’s Branch brings us righteousness. We realize from the very humble beginnings in that town of Bethlehem, very miraculous results would come into the lives of believers in the entire world and the Jewish people as well. The figure which stands out in Isaiah’s oracle is not simply an ideal but a character and living embodiment of the qualities which are to be expected of one worthy to govern. Here we see the virtues which God requires in those set apart for leadership…humble beginnings with miraculous results. The Earthly King is to have wisdom and understanding, counsel and might with decisiveness in judgement and moral energy fueled with the gift of the Spirit and knowledge of a healthy fear of the Lord…all things that the world has yet to fully experience in its earthly leaders. Still Isaiah writes with such optimism reflected in today’s scripture. Maybe that is why oppressed people sing and not just cry out in lament. It seems that some may have found a way to not worry so much. Maybe it is why we too should be joyous as a witness that Jesus reigns in heaven and in time on earth in our hearts hopefully before He returns.
And So, ever wonder what lies at the bottom of the ocean and twitches? Well, it is “a nervous wreck” of course. Many of us are nervous wrecks. We’re sitting at the bottom of the ocean of our cares, our concerns, our worries, our anxieties, and our lives are twitching. But in today’s Philippians 4 passage of scripture, the apostle Paul gives us the only genuine antidote to this problem. The scriptural admonition in Philippians 4 is to not be anxious about anything, but instead to pray about everything. We want peace and not to worry but in reality, what often happens is that we do not leave our worries and our cares with God, but we take them back even if we did pray. That is why we need reminders like this scripture from Philippians to help us rediscover the joy in our hearts. Rejoice in the Lord… proclaims the ideal for every follower of Christ. Paul insists that joy is not to be an occasional experience, and for exceptional people. It would be a mere mockery to urge any person to rejoice always, or even to exhort some persons to rejoice at any time, were it not for the supreme and essential words, “in the Lord.” Abiding joy is possibly only in view of all a person has and may have because of his relation to the Lord Jesus Christ. It has been well said that this whole epistle may be summed up in two short sentences: I rejoice! You rejoice too. This continual refrain of gladness is all the more remarkable if we remember the Apostle’s circumstances. Yet out of all the darkness his clear notes ring jubilant; and this sunny epistle comes from the pen of a prisoner who did not know but that tomorrow he might be a martyr. I don’t think any of us truly enjoy worrying, or anxiety. But I also think there’s not one of us who doesn’t worry to some degree. Worry and anxiety are a universal part of the human condition. What’s not universal is how we deal with it, or the tools we human beings have to deal with it. The fact is, as followers of Christ, we have assets to tap, in the battle against worry, that those who don’t follow Him don’t have. As followers of Jesus, when it comes to our worries, our anxieties, we can have Peace with Him and peace within. It doesn’t mean we don’t grieve. It doesn’t mean we don’t care for others. It doesn’t mean we deny reality. When Paul tells the Philippians, and by extension, us, to stop worrying, it’s not because he makes light of the troubles they’re facing. It’s because he knows that God is greater than all their troubles. And when he tells us to take those worries and turn them over to God instead, he’s reminding us that God is able. If a man does not pray about everything, he will be worried about most things. If he does pray about everything, he will not be troubled beyond what is good for him, about anything. So, there are these alternatives; and we have to make up our minds about which of the two we are going to take. The heart is never empty. If not full of God, it will be full of the world, and of worldly care. So, the victorious antagonist of anxiety is trust, and the only way to turn gnawing care out of my heart and life is to usher God into it, and to keep him resolutely in it. So, our rejoicing isn’t just rejoicing in circumstances, whether good or bad. It isn’t just rejoicing because Paul told us to, and it sounds nice. It’s rejoicing “in the Lord.” Our hearts and minds are guarded with God’s peace, according to verse 7, not necessarily because things get better because we’ve prayed, though they sometimes do, and sometimes don’t. Our hearts and minds are guarded by God’s peace because we’re “in Christ Jesus.” When we’re in Christ, when we’re in the Lord, we have peace with Him. Paul’s telling us, and his own life is an example of this, that no matter how dark the circumstances, when we are in the Lord, we can rejoice. That doesn’t necessarily mean we’re happy about the circumstances. In some cases, that would be not only impossible, but maybe sadistic. The reason we can rejoice is not that our problems aren’t a challenge, but that He is with us. I am with you always, Jesus said. I will never leave you or forsake you, Jesus said. When we are in the Lord, when we are in Christ Jesus, that means our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. That fact alone is a reason we can rejoice. These are the promises those of us who are in the Lord can cling to, when the circumstances are not something we can realistically be happy about – when these details of our lives are not something we can rejoice in. You might say that the keynote to the whole letter to the Philippians is joy. The prevailing mood of joy has resounded through the epistle. Praying is actually a very humble experience. We don’t pray, we don’t petition, to someone we don’t think can help. When we need something, we ask someone who, at least in that area, has the power to grant us something we need. So, let’s start there with this assumption. There are essentially two kinds of peace revealed in scripture. Experiential (Philippians 4:7)— in the midst of the day-by-day experience of the believer, this is inner peace, this is the peace of God. This peace can be forfeited or lost when we’re out of right relationship, or when we don’t trade in our worries to God. The second is Judicial (Romans 5:1)—The fact that our sin war with God is over – the issue has been decided. This is peace with God – made possible by Jesus, the Prince of Peace. We cannot know real peace, even as a subjective feeling, as an experience, peace within, unless we know the Lord Jesus as an objective reality, unless we accept what He has done, live by His Word, in right relationship with Jesus. That is, we cannot have peace with God, or the peace of God, without unconditional surrender to His terms of peace. For there to be real peace, someone has to win the war. Think about it – any lasting peace has seldom happened in history unless one side was beaten, overcome, whipped. When the nation losing in a war continues to fight against all odds, they usually end up completely destroyed. Paul calls himself an Apostle and charged with telling the story of Jesus in his earliest letters but later he became humbler and more honest and surprisingly more joyful as his relationship with Jesus developed and matured. I think he ultimately realized that it was not about him but Jesus in him that made all the difference for judicial peace and experiential peace.
Pray that we rejoice in the hope of Jesus and in the promise of peace proclaimed. Pray we realize that peace is a gift of Christ. Pray we experience the hope of the Father revealed through the Son in the words we share. Pray that Jesus brings us nearer to his mystery and the way of love. Pray that the Lord gives us the meekness of a sprout in the hope of grace. Pray we experience the gift of a new day and a new life. Pray we realize that God has come to be with us encouraging us to cultivate the fruit of Gospel joy and the Word made flesh. Pray we see and hear what God is revealing to us this season. Pray we are persistent in seeking to experience the gift of a new day and a new life in Jesus. Pray we embrace the promised peace of Christ by becoming more Christlike in telling the story that changes us from the inside. Pray that we realize that peace is more than the absence of trouble. Pray we experience the quiet goodness of Christ in our hearts. Pray we realize that peace is both objective and subjective and has to do with our relationship to God and our experience of life…. It has to do with not being in rebellion against God…reconciled as one brought together in Christ. This is a peace that extends beyond cultural perspectives to something spiritual and eternal. Pray we realize that Jesus is the source and the giver of a peace that is unlike the peace the world gives. Pray therefore that we do not focus on the problems of life but on the promises of God. Pray that we realize that every good gift comes from above. Pray we have joy in our hearts because we pray about all things trusting God to make everything right beginning with our attitude but not stopping until we have peace in the knowledge that God has won the war.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 