Sermon 12-8-13 Luke 1:30-31, 34 giving up on perfect
30 But the angel said to
her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You
will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
34 “How will this be,”
Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
Giving up on perfect – Michael
slaughter’s writings
We
all want to be perfect.
In
our latest santa vs jesus video, santa is on a diet
Our
attempts at the perfect Christmas include…..
Norman
Rockwell
pictures
A couple of pictures
Alli and jenny picture
Everything
must be
cute
cat in box
Christmas
vacation movie attempt to create the perfect Christmas
The
perfect
tree
video clip
Perfect
christmas when I was growing up…….
Tree, decorations, tinsel, Christmas cookies, egg nog, everyone is
together….sometimes a toxic situation
Christmas isn’t perfect.
Christmas is messy.
·
We
run ourselves into the ground emotionally physically, financially, and
relationally.
·
Then
after weeks of pressure and preparation, all for the purpose of creating one
perfect day in an imperfect year,
·
someone
is upset because they didn’t get the gift they wanted, a toy is already broken,
we lost the football game, grandma drank too much. Dad called grandma a
bad name Lights keep going out. …….Food poisoning.
Christmas can be a reminder of painful
memories
or
painful changes
·
The
one who lost their loved one
·
The
one who is divorced
·
Alone
for the first time
·
First
year with diminished health
Life
is messy. Christmas is messy
Its
not perfect, its messy.
But We have sanitized the first
Christmas……it was messy
·
Virgin
birth
·
Mary’s
first Christmas includes an unplanned pregnancy.
·
Joseph
wanted to put her away
·
Even
though he didn’t, others knew.
·
Teen
age pregnancy
·
Emotional
grief
·
Did
her parents believe her?
·
You
know things in small towns
·
You
cant hide a pregnancy.
·
That’s
why they say, “she’s showing”
·
The
cattle are lowing.
·
The
cattle are lowing the baby awakes, but little lord jesus no crying he makes
The
cattle are lowing. Also pooing.
First
Christmas pie is a cow pie
Flies
abound
Tell a story of some time when you witnessed flies all over food
Theological
ability of a 15 year old
Pondering
these things….what does pondering mean?
We
forget all of this because we know the end of the story, but don’t think that
this wasn’t a mess
There are other later, longer term
messy results…
As
a result of this birth, children under age two in Bethlehem would be killed
Hebrews
11
tells the outcome of some who would follow jesus
Tortured,
killed, sawn in two.
2 cor 11:24-27 the witness of paul
24 Five times I received
from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was
beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked,
I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been
constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from
bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in
the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false
believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone
without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;
I have been cold and naked.
Later
in life it is still thrown back up to jesus
we
know who our father is- jn 8:39-41
39 “Abraham
is our father,” they answered.
“If you were Abraham’s children,”
said Jesus, “then you would[c] do
what Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are
looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard
from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You
are doing the works of your own father.” “We are not
illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God
himself.”
We talk about a miraculous birth
Not
just that it was a virgin birth, it was also salvifiic
We
needed to be saved. We still do
Miracles
don’t happen in perfect times
They
are not needed in perfect times
Miracles
happen in the context of mystery and mess
Do
you need a hug? Do you want a hug?
No
problems, you’re busy, no hug.
Broken
and in pain…….come give me a hug.
Hugs
are not needed in the great times
They
are desperately needed in tough times
Miracles
don’t happen in perfect times
They
are not needed in perfect times
Miracles
happen in the context of mystery and mess
Your
Christmas is a mess you say?
Its
ok, its not your birthday.
Christmas
is not about you………its jesus birthday
Change your expectations
Stop thinking that it has to be perfect
Stop thinking that it is somehow about you
We want it all to be Perfect-
We
hide from our weakness…
nelson
Mandela died.
News
talk is talking about how this got too much press.
He
did not retaliate. He unified a country. How cool is that?
Back
to the story. his death reminded me a story about how we hide from our
weaknesses
the
visitors from south Africa in 1984
We see perect people and think we
should be like that
But they aren’t perfect- Mother
Teresa’s
·
Battled
depression. She spoke of the “darkness of faith,”
·
40
years of her ministry during which she felt an absence of God
·
“Jesus
has a very special love for you,” she told the Reverend Michael Van Der Peet in
September 1979. “As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I
look and do not see, listen and do not hear.”
We expect our heroes to be perfect.
We
all try to be heroic at Christmas
The
good news of Christmas is that you don’t have to be perfect
God
himself is touched by suffering
His
son comes to earth in the most humble of circumstances
His
son is rejected, his son dies.
Jesus
message is a come from behind story.
A
healing in the midst of brokenness
Is your life a mess right now? Are you unable
to keep up the image of the perfect Christmas?
Christmas
may have brought the unexpected to your life this year.
But
even in the midst of the unexpected, God shows up.
Sickness,
death, divorce, unemployment.
Life
gets messy, but in the midst of your mess, God shows up!
No
matter what you are struggling to overcome, no matter what life issues have
come your way, God promises to show up.
Christmas
is God’s vivid reminder that amid the uncertainty, God shows up to bring you
peace, purpose, joy, hope and wholeness.
Deep breath
Mary was favored. [verse 30]
“Do
not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
Wow.
Wow. Wow.!!!
Favored
but not perfect. gods favor cannot be earned.
God
comes when we are doing everything wrong.
God
comes when we are doing nothing.
God
comes whether we are being naughty or nice.
why?
Because God loves us. Plain and simple.
conclusion
·
The
bible makes it clear that walking w Jesus is neither safe nor
predictable.
·
Sometimes
we have the idea when we are doing right, that wrong is not supposed to show
up.
·
And
if we are faithfully following Jesus, then life isn’t supposed to get messy,
but it does.
Life
is not about staying safe and living comfortably.
The
call to follow Jesus is a call to give your life to him,
to
join God’s mission in healing the souls of the world.
We
were never promised the easy way in this life.
So when Christmas comes around during
an imperfect season of life,
and you just don’t feel like
celebrating,
remember:
it’s not your birthday; it’s Jesus’ birthday,
and
by celebrating Christmas, we are celebrating someone else who suffered, too.
there is a story that is bigger than
perfect.
For
every person that has a story.
for
every person that feels unworthy.
It’s
Jesus birthday.
The
savior has come. The comforter has come
That’s
what its all about, and
That is great news for all of the imperfect
people in the world
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