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DOWNLOAD LINKS: MP3 | .EPUB | .MOBI SERMON TRANSCRIPT For the last few Sundays here at MPC we've been working through a teaching series with a title inspired by Joan Osborne's song from 1995 called What if God was One of Us. If you're old enough that you were round back then you'll most likely remember it. Cool song. Although maybe a bit of a one hit wonder. It's been covered by prince. It's been covered by the cast of glee. So even if you don't remember the original, you've probably heard it. Joan Osborne's chart rocking question, what if God was one of us? Just a stranger on the bus, trying to make his way home? Just some guy you bumped into without noticing. On your daily commute. Follow up question. Verse 2. "If God had a face... what would it look like? And would you want to see, if seeing meant you'd have to believe?" Other hit songs that year asked slightly more mundane stuff like Have you Ever Really Loved a Woman? Bryan Adams. Or weren't quite so philosophical. Like, All I Wanna Do is Have Some Fun. Cheryl Crow. Memorable year for music. But Joan Osborne went for the big one. What if. God was one of us? Just to refresh your memory, here's a quick clip... Of course the thing I always wanted to shout at the radio every time the chorus came round and asked the question what if God was one of us, was why don't you take a look at Jesus. Because God has become one of us already. I mean, that's the claim of Christianity, anyway. That's the claim of Christmas. That's the idea that Christians have been calling the incarnation. For the last 2000 years. And this Christmas, I want to ask you to stretch you minds a little. To consider that. Because since the earliest times, Christians have been convinced that God indeed was one of us. That he had a name, and that name was Jesus of Nazareth.That he was just a stranger in a stable. Just a normal looking guy so ordinary you could miss him on a crowded bus. Did you notice in our bible reading, Matthew's gospel puts it this way. And before I highlight it can I acknowledge right up front it's an astonishing story. It's an account that's been one of the the pillars of our Western culture; and yet these days, it's treated as entirely improbable. You're maybe filing it somewhere in your mind just to the left of the Easter bunny and slightly above the tooth fairy. And I've got to say to you if you weigh it on the basis of whether it's the kind of thing that happens every day; it's not one of them. You've got Joseph, this was our first reading; betrothed. Engaged to be married to Mary. And suddenly. Without any intervention at all on his part: he didn't touch her, she's pregnant. With this crazy story that an angel spoke to her and she's conceived through the Holy Spirit. If you think believing that's a big ask, imagine what Joseph is thinking! And so Matthew chapter 1 verse 19, he's planning to divorce her quietly. He could have had her publicly shamed for her infidelity. But he's a nice guy. Just heartbroken, I guess. And so instead of exposing her publicly, he's ready to just let her go. a quiet pre-marriage divorce. But pick it up in verse 20, and look what happens next. After he's considered this, an angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream, and says to him," Joseph son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will give him the name Jesus (which means God saves) because he will save his people from their sins." And then verse 22. Matthew says, All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet, "the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which literally in the original Hebrew means "God with us.") And look, the prophet Isaiah did say that. Hundreds of years before. Isaiah chapter 7. Verse 14. This baby she's carrying. A conception with no human intervention. Multiplying cells in a womb. God. With us. God. Breaking through the barrier from creator to creation. The author of everything. Stepping into his own story. As a character. This is going to be God with us. And so when he's born and these Magi, these academics from the east follow the famous star and they're looking in Jerusalem for this one born to be king of the Jews, it's no surprise they say a few verses later, We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. Which when they finally find him in Bethlehem, is exactly what they do. With great joy. Just a few verses later. See, right from this opening chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, there's no doubt we're being briefed on the fact that God has. Become one of us. John Osborne in the opening lines of her song, she says, if God had a name, what would it be? And would you call it to his face if you were faced with him in all his glory? And so far Matthew's made the claim that he does have a name, and that name is Jesus which means God saves. But you can call him God with us as well. And for these first wise Magi who meet him, when they came face to face with him I'm not sure what they might have called him. But on things for sure, they fall on their faces and worship him. And yet here's the thing. He is. Just exactly. Like an ordinary baby. In every way. In the most humble of circumstances. In Christmas cards and stained glass windows maybe they show him with a glow around his head. He didn't have one. Just looks like a normal kid. Grows up. Looks just like a normal guy. Sit next to him on the bus. Wouldn't like twice if he rides past you on a donkey. Later on in the new testament, Hebrews chapter 2, it says he became fully human in every way. And yet at the same time. God. With us. Now I don't know if that plays with your head. Matthew as he writes his gospel, he's absolute convinced of it. It's the whole reason he's writing. And yet God, you'd think, if you've studied any theology or philosophy, God if he even existed from a philosophical point of view in Greek thought; which has largely shaped western thought; God is meant to be defined by all these complicated sounding Latin words. With omni in front of them. And look, theology books still talk in these terms. That God is omnipresent. That he's present everywhere. The Old Testament says in Psalm 139, If I go to the highest mountain, he's there. If I go to the depths of the sea. he's there. Omni. Present. That God is omnipotent. That he's all powerful. There's no rock so big he can't move it. That God is omniscient. All knowing. Invented the Higgs Boson before Higgs even thought of it. And knows your mind better than you do. Besides which, the Greek philosophers added; that he's immutable. Unchangeable. In any way. Because perfect is perfect. That he's impassible. Which means he's beyond having passions. Emotionally unstirrable. Because otherwise, they said, the Greek philosophers, and philosophers ever since, how could he be perfect? The Philosopher Immanuel Kant said in 1775 The wish to talk to God is absurd. We cannot talk to one we cannot comprehend - and we cannot comprehend God... Kant said there's such a huge gap between what he called the numinous, the world of spiritual truth and God and ultimate reality; and the world that our senses can sense and our logic can understand; that you might as well forget ever crossing it. And stop making the claim that you can know God; or know about him. And yet Matthew here in the first chapter of his gospel says, but what if God was one of us? Because here he is. Broken through the gap from his side into ours. Like an electrical arc; a huge charge of energy sparking across that unbridgeable gap. One of us. God. Embodied with a name. Jesus. God saves. Worthy of our worship. That's the claim of Christmas. Not just a claim being put out there by Matthew in his gospel or by me up the front here as a fairy tale. But as the ultimate bridging together of heaven and earth. Of creator and creation. The incomprehensible God. Suddenly there in front of us with little fingers and toes. So here's a quote I liked. From the blog of a guy called G Shane Morris. Here's the implication. If what Matthew's gospel says is actually gospel truth. Forget the philosophers. He says, "The point is that Jesus is God, full stop, no "ifs," "ands" or "buts." When we talk of Jesus doing, being, or experiencing something, we can talk of God doing, being, or experiencing that thing without qualification or hesitation. That is the full, knock-the-wind-out-of-you impact of the Incarnation. The immutable God changes. The impassible God feels. The omnipresent God has to travel. On a donkey. The omniscient God learns. The self-sufficient God hungers. The immortal God dies. Anyone who has read the gospel accounts... knows this is so. He was not pretending... One of us. Which brings all kinds of implications. For us, in our own humanity. It brings a dignity to our suffering. And our work. And the dirt under our own fingernails. To think that God himself knows exactly what it's like. Your struggles. Your temptations. Your sickness. Your pain. Your tears. At the loss of a friend. You know the shortest verse in the bible? It's famous. Jesus standing at the graveside of his friend Lazarus. It says, Jesus wept. Real tears. Running down his face. God tears. Jesus bruised. Jesus bled. Most especially; as he hung and bled on a cross. With the skin of his forehead torn to shreds by a thorn bush woven into a crown. With nails hammered in his hands and feet. The one born as king; God as one of us. Despised and rejected and crucified. And yet in doing that and in absorbing the worst of the world; gathering up in himself and taking on himself everything our sin deserved. And declaring free forgiveness. What if. God was one of us. I know it's an astonishing claim. But the claim of Christmas is that he was. And that means there's a God who forgives. Even the worst of our sins.
DOWNLOAD LINKS: MP3 <!-- | YOUTUBE -->| .EPUB | .MOBI SERMON MANUSCRIPT Merry Christmas everyone! My name's Dan, and I'm one of the pastors here. Great excitement in our household this morning. My son's first Christmas. He's 7 months old. Though I think my wife and I were more excited then he was... Unwrapping gifts. Seeing his reaction to what we got him. Which was a little discouraging. All he wanted to do was eat the paper... How was your morning? Pleased with your gifts? Disappointed? Still waiting? Whatever it's been I wonder if you've had a chance to pause and think how complicated the whole process of gift giving can be? Trying to navigate your way through the etiquette of giving. Are you required to bring a gift for the estranged uncle who's coming for Christmas lunch? And what about your nephew's girlfriend of three weeks? And then you've gotta decide what gifts to get? A friend of mine has a theory that there are two types of people in the world. There are people who want useful gifts. And there are those who want useless gifts. People who want useful gifts - want things they actually need - a new pair of socks. A blender. A calculator for university. Or whatever they think is necessary. They're the people who'll give you a list of specific things they need. But then you've got people who want useless gifts. They love receiving gifts they don't need but want! Something that's completely luxurious. Not at all necessary. Like a massage. Movie tickets. A voucher to a day spa - although according to my wife - that falls in the necessary category. Gift giving and receiving can be fraught with dangers. Dangers for the recipient - working on that "I love this" face when you're given another generic mug. And dangers for the giver. Because a gift can sometimes say more about the giver than the receiver. Apparently giving this gift, My First Fire, to my 7 month old son for Christmas makes me an irresponsible father... Clearly I didn't see the age recommendation [ages 2+]... I'll wrap it up and give it next Christmas! Finding the perfect gift is difficult! This morning I want to have a brief look at the original gift. The ultimate gift. The gift that God gave us over two thousand years ago. And what that gift tells us about the gift giver. And what it says about us. THE GIFT The gift that God gives isn't another trinket - like one of those toys you get from a bon bon. You're amused for two minutes until the prawns come out. The gift God gives has infinitely more value. The gift he gives is himself. Have a look at how John puts it from the reading that was read for us: The word - that is Jesus - became flesh and dwelt among us. The God of the entire universe. Dwelt among us. Humble. Unrecognised. Put aside his place, he became one of us. Jesus, the word. Who was - verse 1 - with God in the beginning. And was God. Personally involved in creation. That guy - Jesus - wrapped himself up. Became a baby. Offered himself as a gift. See of all the things that God considered we needed. That we couldn't live without. The most perfect gift he could offer - was himself! Now I suspect as much as we all love our family. We wouldn't be impressed if they turned up for Christmas. Forgot to get any gifts and said: I haven't got you anything this year - because my presence is present enough! Go ahead. Try it today - see how they respond! But that's exactly what God does. But when God says it - it's not an excuse for being forgetful. God's gift of Jesus - his presence, really is the ultimate present! That's the incredible claim of Christmas - that the unseeable. The intangible God of the universe - has revealed himself - gift wrapped as a baby. Jesus. Now, I've brought one of the gifts from under the tree from home. Can anyone guess what's inside? Go on be adventurous... [lift lid - spud gun] It's hard to know what's inside when it's hidden. And it's the same with God. If you want to know God, you can't know him by guessing. You need rip open the box. That's why God's gift of Jesus is so incredible. God gave us Jesus because he knew that on our own, our ideas about him would never meet the mark. Without him, we'd be groping in the dark aimlessly trying to know God. But in Jesus we meet the invisible God firsthand. John says that Jesus is the true light - verse 4 - who gives light to everyone. Shining a spotlight on God. So we can know him. Know what life and reality is all about. That's the massive claim of Christmas - that God gave the ultimate gift. Himself. So we could know him and find life in him. RESPONDING TO THE GIFT Now for most families on Christmas, you can't stop your kids ripping into the presents. I remember one Christmas my brother and I were so excited. That we both woke up at an ungodly hour of the morning. Ran straight to the tree. No one was up. So we started checking which gifts were ours. Still no one up. So we began the pinch test. Still no one up. It was unbearable - at least 15 minutes had gone by. The presents enticing us... So we agreed to open just one. And then another. And then another - until we'd opened them all - plus our siblings'. Let's just say when the rest of the family woke up - it wasn't a morning of great joy... Normally gifts are met with expectation and excitement - can't help but rip the paper off! And you'd think God's gift would be the same. But that's not the case at all. It's rejected. Have a look at that passage from verse 10: 10He was in the world. And the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. Jesus is the gift that people didn't ask for. Didn't Expect. Or even want. And so they throw the gift away. Reject Jesus. It's a rejection you get a glimpse of in a small way when there's no room left in the inn. And so when he draws his first breath in humanity... it's in a cowshed. Laced with the stale smell of straw and manure. A rejection that follows Jesus all his life. A rejection that you see most vividly later... When Jesus is spat on. And mocked. And nailed on a Roman cross. And seen today in disinterest. Maybe that's you this morning. Maybe you're here - dragged along by your family. Uninterested in this Jesus guy. Or maybe you just like the tradition of coming to church at Christmas but have no time for God the rest of the year. A little bit sceptical about the whole God becoming man thing. If that's you, it's great that you're here this morning. Thank you for coming! You're always welcome to bring your scepticism to church. But I want you to take a look around this morning. And take note of the fact that there are plenty of people here who have actually taken the claims of Jesus seriously. And checked them out. There are people; normal, intelligent - well, I don't want to talk them up too much - but normal, ordinary, Aussies, in fact people from every corner of the globe... People here who have actually taken the step of believing him. Accepting the ultimate gift! Don't let another Christmas pass and go without taking the time to investigate the claims of Jesus for yourself. Talk to the person who brought you along today. Have a chat with me. Pick up one of these books, The Case for Christmas by Lee Strobel, in the foyer on your way out. Come along to MPC any Sunday of the year - and keep asking your questions. Because if Jesus truly is who he claims to be - God himself. Then you will never receive a better gift. ACCEPTED INTO THE FAMILY Because he offers something that you can't get anywhere else. God invites you to be part of his family. You see it there in verse 12: 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 13Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. God says - I want you to be part of my family. My eternal family - to pull up a seat for Christmas lunch. And enjoy all the benefits. That's what those who believe and trust in Jesus celebrate at Christmas - and every other day as well. We've got to know God first hand. As it says in those final words of verse 14, we've got to know "The Word became flesh. And we have seen his glory... Glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of Grace and truth" That's Christmas all wrapped up - God offering himself - the ultimate gift. So you could know him and find life in him. That's certainly worth celebrating!