This is week two of "Christmas With Us" and we're talking about this one word "WITH" and how Christmas can pretty much be summed up in this idea that the Almighty God above all things, the most powerful force in the universe came to earth to be WITH us - to be a person among these people He created.
Last week we talked about how God being with us as a person in Jesus was more than Him just being physically together with us - it was actually Him making it very clear to us that He is FOR us. Instead of sitting up in Heaven with more important things to do, He is deeply interested in our lives - He wants what is best for us and He was and is willing to go to great lengths to make it happen!
This week the WITH that we're talking about is a STICKY with. If "with" means two things coming together, then if those two things were to no longer be together they would no longer be "with". God's promise to be WITH us means that He is sticking Himself to us and not leaving or separating Himself from us - no matter what.
Speaking of families, Jesus Himself might have a pretty good chance of winning the craziest family contest! When God came to earth, He was born into a mess. And He very much knew and very much chose to enter into this mess!
Just to start it off, we read last week about the mess of Mary getting pregnant before her and Joseph were married and he almost called off the engagement altogether. All of that would have been controversial enough in itself! But the mess of Jesus' family goes much deeper than that.
Have you have ever done any research on your family tree or family history? I've done a little on mine, but I lose interest quickly because all we really know about people is their name and maybe their occupation. I think it would be SO cool to actually have more details about what they were REALLY like - you know the good, the bad and the ugly! Unfortunately, all you normally get is a name and maybe, if you're lucky, an old photograph.
The first chapter of Matthew starts off with a "family tree" of Jesus' family line all the way back very close to the beginning of the Bible. In this time and culture, the family line was carried through the heir - the first born son of each family. In some cases, a son other than the first-born was chosen, but in general, this is how it worked. So, what you will find in Matthew 1:1-16 is a list of men leading all the way to Jesus, whose earthly father was Joseph.
When you look at this list of men, it's kind of obvious that women had to be involved in this in some way - you know, since MEN can't give birth to babies! Where are all the moms? If you look at the list again, you will see that four women were considered important enough to be mentioned. And you might think they were mentioned over all the other moms (who were completely left out) because there must have been something really amazing about them.
These four women who were mentioned either came from or created their own mess. Ruth was not an Israelite, but after her husband died, she re-married and became part of this family line. She did, actually do a very honorable thing and probably did "deserve" her honorable mention. Rahab also did an honorable thing, but she was a prostitute. Bathsheba is listed as David's wife, but if you read the story in 1 Samuel 11, you will learn that King David saw her from a distance, bathing, and had her brought to him. Then knowing that she was a married woman, David had sex with her and ended up getting her pregnant. Since he didn't want to get caught, he had her husband killed in battle. And then there's Tamar - a deceptive, desperate widow who dressed up as a prostitute and tricked her father-in-law into having sex with her so that she could get pregnant and have children. Talk about a mess!
And as Jesus grew up and began His ministry, the mess didn't get any better. His immediate biological family had their issues, but more important to mention is that people that Jesus spent the most of His time with.
Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners (tax collectors were like the bottom of the barrel, like the lowest of the low in that day). There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers. But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?” Mark 2:15-16
Even Jesus' closest followers - His twelve disciples - were a mess! Usually when a teacher like Jesus picked disciples to follow them, they picked the best of the best. But Jesus sought out the rabbi-school drop outs and, although they were devoted to Him and stuck with Him, over and over again they proved their 'drop-out' status!
My favorite story about this is found in Mark 14. In this passage, Jesus is about to give His life on the cross. He's in spiritual, mental and physical agony.
They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Then Jesus left them again and prayed the same prayer as before. When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say. Mark 14:32-34, 37-40
What a mess!
And the mess didn't end there. Because His family didn't end there.
But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Galatians 4:4-7
The family line of Jesus didn't end when He was born. He didn't have any children of His own, but every single person who has believed in Him and received Him into his or her life over the past 2,000 years is on that list as His child, as His heir! When you make a choice for YOU - not because of your family's beliefs or because you've just "grown up this way" - to make Jesus real in your life, you are on that list!
The deal is that NONE of us get on that list by "honorable" mention! We are on that list, like those women that were mentioned, BECAUSE we are a mess and because God has chosen to be WITH us in our mess! You are His family and no matter what kind of mess you have come from, are in now, or will get yourself into in the future, He came to this earth so that you could become His child and be WITH you - and STICK with you - through it all.
The greatest picture I know of this is found in a book called Psalms and what I'm going to read was actually written by King David, who I mentioned earlier. Yeah, the guy who committed adultery and murder - that guy.
"O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me.You place your hand of blessing on my head." Psalm 139:1-5
The verse I want to focus on is this one: "You go before me and follow me." Other versions say that He "hems me in" or "squeezes me in". Basically, this word means that He is encircling us or surrounding us. He is all around - He goes before us and He is behind us.
If you have believed in Jesus and received Him into your life, you are His child and his heir and this is also true of you:
1. God isn't just playing "follow the leader" - He's lifting me up from BEHIND. He knows your before, your past. He knows everything you have ever done, thought or said. He knows every mess you've ever created or been a part of. And this verse means that through it all, He's got your back! He is protecting you and lifting you up from whatever pit you might find yourself in.
2. God doesn't need to follow me into my mess, He's already there AHEAD of me. Sometimes our messes come from things outside of our control. Sometimes we create our own messes. Most of the time it's some sort of undecipherable combination of the two. But regardless of whose fault it is, He already knows it's going to happen! And He's preparing you right now for whatever it is. Just like he came to earth to be born in a barn full of smelly animals, God loves to meet us in the mess and be the one who pulls us out of it. He is always there with His deep, profound love, and total, complete forgiveness. He offers us healing and hope, He shines His light bright even in our darkest times.
3. No matter what, I can't UNSTICK God from being with me.
Listen to the words of David again: "I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you." Psalm 139:7-12
When you read this, you get the feeling that David is overwhelmed by the fact that he can't just give up and he can't get away from God's presence in his life! Even if he wanted to UNSTICK God from him, it wasn't going to happen, no matter where he went.
As you go through this season and you're at your family gatherings, my challenge to you is to just stop at least one time for one moment. Look around at all the crazy, and remember that as a believer in Jesus, no matter how crazy and messy your life has been or will get, God is WITH you! You are part of His family and during this season we remember that He came. He came to get hands on into the mess and shine His light and His love and His healing.
If you haven't made that decision to believe in Christ and become part of His family, the offer is laying right here and all you have to do is take it. You don't have to clean up your mess first and you don't have to be "good enough". All you have to do is believe and receive Him into your life. Why not give Him the chance to surround you this Christmas?
Make It Real For You
"You go before me and follow me." Psalm 139:5
Is there anything you have done or that has happened in your past that you feel "disqualifies" you from God being WITH you?
If you have believed in Christ and received Him into your life, you can trust that He will be WITH you through every high and every low! How does it make you feel to know that you are a member of Jesus family?
Do you have any fears that you might screw everything up and that God might stop being with you?
The quote below is from the letters of a man named Brother Lawrence who served as a kitchen worker and sandal-repairer in a monastery in France in the 1600s. He wrote about his experiences of God being WITH Him constantly, even in the very boring details and moments of life. The language in this might be hard to understand, but read it through a few times - it's worth it!
"I think it proper to inform you after what manner I consider myself before God, whom I behold as my King. I consider myself as the most wretched of men, full of sores and corruption, and who has committed all sorts of crimes against his King. Touched with a sensible regret, I confess to Him all my wickedness, I ask His forgiveness, I abandon myself in His hands, that He may do what He pleases with me. This King, full of mercy and goodness, very far from chastising me, embraces me with love, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, gives me the key of His treasures; He converses and delights Himself with me incessantly, in a thousand and a thousand ways, and treats me in all respects as His favorite. It is thus I consider myself from time to time in His holy presence." - FromThe Practice of the Presence of God, Second Letter
Do you truly believe that God embraces you with this kind of love - no matter what?
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