Where are you planning on staying? Do you have a place?

 “A Place for Us”

(Luke 2:1-7 p. 857, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, Christmas Eve, 2011)

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town.

The Christmas story is an account of dislocation and inconvenience, a story about people being someplace where they would rather not have been, a story about events that were beyond their control. Through these surprising events, God, who reigns over all, secured a place for us.

Caesar Augustus was the emperor and Quirinius was governor of Syria. These names, places, and the event of the registration established for Luke's readers the historical context of the birth of Jesus. This was the big picture of the powers that existed then. An emperor had a plan, which became a decree that required action on the part of subordinate rulers. This meant that people had to travel to the place where their families came from. Sometimes people are forced to go from one place to another based upon the wishes of those who are more powerful than them.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

In this case, the decree of the mighty Caesar meant that two poor people from the town of Nazareth in the region of Galilee had to make the trip to Bethlehem in Judea, despite the fact that the young woman was very pregnant. Today this would require at least 33 hours of walking, which would have been very inconvenient and potentially dangerous for Joseph, Mary, and the baby inside her. But this is what people must do when a decree comes down from above, and they have no freedom to be able to say “no.”

They went to Bethlehem because this was the city of their ancestor, King David. These two very insignificant people were descended from a very well-known figure in the history of Israel. Ten centuries earlier David had received a promise that one of his descendants would be connected with an eternal kingdom. Both Mary and Joseph were descended from David. The child in this passage, Jesus, was the One; the King of an eternal kingdom and the Son of God.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

Mary and Joseph were inconvenienced by the decree of Augustus. They had to go to Bethlehem, the city of David. While they were thirty-three hours away from home, the time came for Mary to give birth.

Of course, in this very significant inconvenience and even danger, they were right where they needed to be. The long-expected Son of David had to be born in Bethlehem. That is what the prophet Micah had foretold, and everyone knew that. Remember that some months later when the Magi came from the east inquiring (based on their observation of the planets and the constellations) about where the great king of the Jews would be born, Herod and his religious advisers did not say, “What are you talking about? There is no expected great king of the Jews.” They gave a clear answer: “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet.”

7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Mary's son was born right where He needed to be born. The holy family's inconvenience was also according to God's express will and revealed plan. They were at the right place at the right time. But there was no place for them there. The inn was full.

A Christmas Thought...

The Christmas story is a story about a person and a place. The person was the great descendant of David, the Son of Mary, and the Son of God.

The place was “no place” in the town of Bethlehem. That was not the first place for Jesus, the Son of Mary. In mysterious fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 (“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God-with-us].”), His life began in the womb of a seemingly insignificant girl who lived in Nazareth. He bounced along in the safety of His mother's uterus for over thirty hours to get to the little town of Bethlehem. His birth there was a fulfillment of Micah 5:2: “But you, O Bethlehem … from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”

The king at the time in Jerusalem, Herod, ordered up more “place” troubles for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus through his murderous plot against baby infants in the Bethlehem region (in fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:15, “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”) But Joseph was warned to get out of there in a dream. Now they had to travel to Egypt for safe-keeping. But when they eventually left Egypt again this fulfilled another passage (Hosea 11:1): “Out of Egypt I called my Son.”

Upon their return to Israel at the death of Herod, Joseph was again warned in a dream, that he should not return to the area around Bethlehem. The family was directed back north to Galilee, the area they had come from before, avoiding the danger from Herod's son. That meant that Jesus ministry eventually began some years later, not around Bethlehem or Jerusalem, but in Galilee, fulfilling another Scripture (Isaiah 9:1-2): “In the latter time he has made glorious ... Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.”

In order for all the details of “place” to be worked out, Joseph, Mary, and the baby had to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem, to Egypt and back to Israel, and finally to settle in Nazareth where they had started. That was a lot of inconvenience. It was a lot of being pushed around by Claudius, Herod, and Herod's son. But all that trouble was really only the beginning.

God had ordained all of those places as locations where the little baby would live. Some thirty years later the man Jesus had a divine appointment with two different places. One was Calvary, outside the gates of Jerusalem, where Jesus suffered and died as the outcast Son of God, bearing the disgrace of Israel outside the camp. The second was a nearby tomb of a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, that was only borrowed for a short time, because Jesus did not need it for very long. This also fulfilled Isaiah 53:8-9, “By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.”

One other place should be mentioned. For your eternal comfort, Jesus went through all this disruption, inconvenience, pain, and even death, in order to secure a place for you. That place is called heaven. When he came to Bethlehem, there was no place for Him, but there is a place for you. That's why He told His disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” We have a place. This brings us a great comfort, especially during our moments of temporary dislocation here below, a comfort that only Messiah can bring.

He will come!

 “In God We Trust – Part 3”

(Psalm 46:8-11, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 18, 2011)

8 Come, behold the works of the LORD,

how he has brought desolations on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the chariots with fire.

It should not surprise us that the Lord, who we have referred to for many centuries as “Almighty,” is more powerful than any enemy who could stand in His way. As Israel, the church, or any of God's people have faced adversaries that were far more powerful than them, those who believed God, taking Him at His Word, knew that they had a divine Leader who was stronger than those who opposed them.

In the eighth century before the birth of Christ, the enemy that posed the greatest danger to Israel was the Assyrian Empire. They decimated the tribes living in the territory north of Jerusalem. Even the southern territory, known as Judah, was in great distress recorded for us in several different books of the Old Testament. Yet God was a very present help for the city of Jerusalem, and the Assyrian Empire was never able to take possession of the city, despite the aggressor's obvious military advantages. God used the Assyrian Empire for His own purposes, and He watched over His people to preserve a remnant according to His plan, even in the darkest of times.

This God Most High, the God of Jacob, has great works that are worthy of beholding. But some of His greatest works, took place without immediate human witnesses. When God made His eternal plan to unite all things in His Son, things in heaven and things on earth, there was no man to witness that. When God created light and darkness, water and air, the dry land of planet earth, the sun and the moon and all the planets and stars, and animals to fill the earth, there was no man to observe it and to record what took place. When the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus in the womb of a virgin, it was private. No one saw it. And no one saw the body of Jesus go from death to life.

What people have witnessed is what we call providence or history. We can look at the account of what happened in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt and in the conquest of the promised land. We read about what happened in the early centuries of the church. We can think about the work of God in our own lives or in the lives of people that we know. Even in all of these mighty works, we do not actually see the hand of God, but we do witness the results of His hand. We also hear His Word that prepares us for what He will do, providing us with a commentary on who He is and what He is accomplishing.

Much of what God will do is still a part of the future. No one has actually seen it, because it has not yet come to pass. We see nations moving toward war in our own day. We have not yet seen how God will bring a lasting peace upon the earth. He had the power to bring desolations upon the Assyrian Empire so that they could not take Jerusalem. They had war. They had weapons. But “He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.” We have not seen that yet entirely across the entire earth. We may have seen wars, and we may have seen wars pause for a time in one place or another. But one day, the Almighty King will make wars cease everywhere. That we have not yet seen.

How do we know that full peace will come? How do we know that heaven will come down upon the earth, and that God will work the most perfect renewal? The invasion of peace into this world of war has already taken place. John the Baptist came first. He prepared the way for the coming of the King of Peace. He pointed to the Lamb of God, Jesus, and told people to follow Him. Salvation has come in person. The forgiveness of sins has come in the life and death of Christ. The tender mercy of God has made an unmistakable impression upon this dying world in the proclamation of Jesus upon every continent over these centuries. Light has come to peoples and to places that were firmly in the grip of darkness, and the Spirit of God is guiding the most diverse group of people that you could ever imagine along the way of peace.

10 “Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

We have not seen all of this with our eyes. You could miss it easily. You could travel the world and see very little of it if you stayed away from the people and places where the kingdom of peace is reigning in the hearts of God's beloved children. You could miss it if you decided not to seek first the kingdom of God.

But if you seek first the kingdom of the Almighty, you will find it. You will see it in the lives of those who have been touched by the Spirit of the Almighty, and you will especially hear it in the Word that reveals to us the message of the King of peace.

If you want this peace, if you want to see the power of brutality crushed, if you want to see the goodness of the Almighty win, you only need to hear the Word of life, and believe. He says here, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” How does it happen that a person hears and believes? That is as great a secret as the coming of the Most High as a baby in the womb of a virgin. You cannot see it actually happen, but you can be a witness of the impact of the Most High God on a life, your own or someone else's.

11 The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah

I can tell you that much has taken place between last Christmas and this Christmas. I do not know what will happen in the year to come. But I can say this based on the promise of Jesus who died for us and who rose from the dead. He will never leave you or forsake you.

He is the God of hosts. He is the powerful King above all earthly powers. The Lord of hosts came to earth once. He was announced by one who prepared the way for Him. He healed. He taught. He suffered. He died. He rose again. He is still with us. He is the Lord above all the armies of heaven and earth. He is the God of Jacob, and He is our fortress.

In God we trust. Will there be war in the Middle East? In God we trust. Will the nations of Europe be unable to find financial and social stability? In God we trust. Will the church face violent opposition from those who hate her mission? In God we trust. Will there be astounding unfaithfulness and brutality among those who claim to be great friends of Jesus Christ? In God we trust. He will glorify His own Name. We can still hear and believe the Word of life in the darkest day. He will come, and He will establish His peace everywhere and forever.

1. Where is God in the midst of war and peace throughout the earth?

2. What does it mean to be still and know that the Lord is God?

3. What is God's commitment to His own glory?

4. How can we trust in God?

New Testament Passage: Luke 1:68-79

There IS a River

“In God We Trust – Part 2”

(Psalm 46:4-7, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 11, 2011)

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High.

The earlier verses of Psalm 46 speak of waters that are terrifying. They are a roaring tsunami that makes the earth tremble, so that the mountains themselves end up in the midst of the tumultuous sea. There has to be better body of water in the plan of God than the waves of destruction pounding upon the earth.

There IS a river.

The existence of the river of God is an important element of our faith. Jesus spoke of this river as one who knows heaven. John saw the river and wrote about it in the last chapter of the Bible. The prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of it long ago, and talked about it proceeding out from under the altar of God, starting as trickle of life, and growing until it covered the whole earth.

This heavenly river brings life wherever it flows. When Jesus spoke about it, he said to the woman at the well, “The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” This river will be in us, but it will also flow out of us.

Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” And then the apostle John adds, “Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

But now Jesus has been glorified, and the Spirit has been given to those who believe, and heaven's river is flowing out of the hearts of His people all over the world. This river, which makes glad the city of God, has come down upon the earth in the coming of the Messiah. His coming is now coming to others through you. This river that makes the city of God glad in heaven is flowing out from you throughout the earth.

You have become the holy habitation of God. Be glad. Let the Word of God dwell within you richly, and let the Spirit of righteousness and peace flow forth from you.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

God will lead you in that good way. You can trust Him. He is in the midst of His heavenly Jerusalem. When Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, a new life began that was a heaven on earth life. That life was in Mary, and her soul rejoiced in Him.

But now, you have become the city of God. God is in our midst in His church. He inhabits this worship and He has claimed you. This is the only way that we are kept for everlasting life. The river of God has come to us and keeps us. This city of God shall not be moved.

There is still evidence of a very dark night over this weary earth. Yet the light of a new dawn can be seen. The Psalmist says, “God will help her (the city of God) when morning dawns.” Morning has already dawned in the coming of Jesus Christ. Morning has dawned in His resurrection. Morning has dawned in the gift of the Holy Spirit and in the preaching of Christ all over the earth. Morning has dawned in you who believe.

But we are looking for a yet more glorious day. God will help us when that newest morning dawns. In that hope we shine even now, for God is with us.

6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

he utters his voice, the earth melts.

This is not to say that all signs of trouble have already been banished. The nations rage. Shockingly. The kingdoms totter. Amazingly. So much has taken place in world events just since last Christmas! What will the next year be like?

The raging and tottering are not just among nations. Normal bonds of family affection and support are strained in our own country and in so many places throughout the world. In a way, this is nothing new. Before the first coming of the Messiah, God prepared His people for both Jesus and His forerunner, John the Baptist, with these words from the end of Malachi: ““Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.”

We are told by Jesus in one place in the gospels that if we could accept it, John the Baptist was the Elijah who was to come. Part of his ministry in Israel prior to the public ministry of Jesus, was to turn the hearts of fathers to their children and children to their fathers. That means that normal family bonds were in very bad repair.

What is the answer for us when even family love and mutual regard are damaged? “In God we trust!” There IS a river, and that river speaks. He utters His voice, and the earth melts. He is able to melt every proud obstacle to His dominion.

7 The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

This God, the God of heaven and earth, The Lord of the heavenly hosts of men and angels, the God of Israel, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who gave His Son to be born of Mary and to die on a cross, the God who knows you, and flows forth from you, is with us. He is our fortress.

Selah

If you want to make it through an overwhelming storm, you need a credible fortress. There is no firmer ground for faith and life than the Man who has the power and love to be a heavenly river that flows through us, a river that makes the new earth glad.

A baby starts out life as a most unlikely fortress against a tsunami. Yet Mary believed and rejoiced in God, her Savior. He was and is a mighty fortress, proven in the worst possible storm, the storm that was coming against us because of our sin.

Jesus took that storm of holy justice on the cross, and then He rose from the dead. He did that with full purpose; knowingly, willingly, and powerfully. He is a proven Savior, and a very safe refuge from every possible storm. He is reigning now over all from the city that will one day come down upon the earth and bring perfect renewal. In God we trust. This God is with us.

1. What is the river and the city that we sing about in Psalm 46?

2. Where is God?

3. What has God accomplished through the coming of Jesus?

4. Where is Jesus now, and how does that help us as we wait for his second coming?

New Testament Passage: Luke 1:39-56

Why should I trust God?

“In God We Trust – Part 1”

(Psalm 46:1-3, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 4, 2011)

1 God is our refuge and strength,

I want you to add the phrase “In God We Trust” to your advent vocabulary. These words are printed on our dollar bills, and so have come to be associated with money, so that we may get somewhat confused about what we trust in, and what is our God. But even if our money should fail, God is the refuge and our strength of all who trust in Him.

The God that we worship is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel. The God of Israel has become the refuge of even millions of Gentiles in the gift of His Son. Through the coming of the Jewish Messiah we have found a very present salvation, and an abiding hope that will take us beyond this life.

Jews and Gentiles needed a strong city of refuge, a place of shelter from a devastating storm. The ancient Jews had cities of refuge for people who were guilty of manslaughter, but not of cold-blooded murder. Provided that a man could run faster than the person chasing him, and as long as the Levites in the city of refuge he reached saw things his way, and if he stayed in that city of refuge, the man who had accidentally killed another person could live in safety.

Our situation is more desperate than the Israelite of old who was running for his life from a grieving relative after accidentally killing his neighbor. We have sinned against Almighty God, not only in matters that could be called accidental. Let's leave murder aside for a moment and talk about stealing. Have you every stolen anything? Have you stolen from God? Remember that you owe Him your whole life. You are commanded to give Him all your heart, soul, mind, and strength in the fullness of sacrificial devotion, worship, and service. The Scriptures remind us that the person in Old Testament Israel who did not give his whole tithe to God had stolen from the Lord? But the Lord demands much more than a tenth of your income. You have been bought by the blood of Christ. He demands your continual worship. How often have you stolen from God by ignoring Him? What do we call someone who steals? Are you able to admit that you are a thief? How will you defend yourself before God? How will stand before the One who says not only, “You shall not steal,” but also, “You shall not covet?” Do you expect that God's concern for justice will be less than a human judge? Would a human judge pardon a repeat multiple offender just because that person claimed that he was nice, or because he had many other pleasant qualities? No. And God is not less of a judge than someone who causes everyone to rise when he enters the courtroom in Brentwood, Concord, Boston, or Washington.

a very present help in trouble.

But thanks to the gift of Jesus, God, your Judge, has become your very present help in trouble. Through the cross, the Son of God, who was born to a virgin has covered your guilt forever. Won't you come to Him eagerly, confess your guilt, and receive forgiveness today?

His help is not only in the future. God will freely give you all things. You who have title to the eternal heavens and earth as co-heirs with Christ are being kept by Him even now. He will surely give you all things and bring you through the present distress that you face.

2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

This relief and help from Almighty God is solid and sure, even if the earth is shaking under your feet and the Presidential Range in northern New Hampshire is tossed into the Atlantic; even if the pillars of society and culture seem to give way all around us; even if some event or condition, some fear or loss, comes over you like a tsunami above your head. The Lord has come. He has become, literally, our very present help, bringing joy to all who receive Him. He is not only relief and rescue. He is joy, not only to Jews who have found Him, but to the whole world!

Selah

What can we say to this? We could say “Hallelujah!” That means, “Praise the Lord!” How about, “Selah!” No one knows exactly what the word means. It is either a musical instruction that indicates some pause or instrumental interlude, or it is a liturgical instruction to the worshiping congregation indicating that there is something here to meditate upon and to consider.

There IS something here that I urge you to stop and consider this and every remaining Christmas season. I want you to add trusting the God of the first advent of Christ to your holiday tradition as you wait for the second advent of Christ. As those who worship the God of Israel after the first coming of Christ, you have all the Christmas reasons in the world to trust God. He has shown Himself to be very trustworthy in the gift of His Son.

You should “Selah” for a moment around the details of the coming of Christ. In Luke 1 Mary learned that the gift of Jesus through a virginal conception would be the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14, “ The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” She also learned that the name of her baby would be “Jesus,” “the Lord is salvation.” She was told that the baby would be rightly called “the Son of the Most High,” and “the Son of God,” and that He would be the long-expected Son of David, the King who would reign forever.

His coming was a fulfillment of ancient promises given to Israel not only by Isaiah, but also through passages in the Psalms and the history of God's speech to David. They were first spoken by God about 1000 years before Christ was born. Isaiah 7:14, the most recent of the passages that I have mentioned, was written centuries before the coming of Jesus. After it was written, the people of God were sent into exile. Eventually God brought them back into the promised land, but they had no king at all for well over 500 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

From the standpoint of what people count as likely, the first coming of Christ was extremely unlikely. But our God is a mighty fortress. You can trust in Him. We now know that about the gift of Messiah. Add “trust God” to your Christmas list. When Jesus says that He is coming again, don't take out a dollar bill to find the words “In God we trust.” Take a look at a Christmas Card, and think about it. Then consider the promise of God to bring forth the culmination of all His blessed plans in the second advent of Christ and say with a full heart, “In God we trust.”

This is of great practical importance to us, particularly now as we celebrate the Christmas season in the years in between these two advents. These are not easy days. It can be particularly difficult during a time of year that bears the name of Christ that may contain some painful memories and present disappointments. At Christmas, you and I need to remember the outstanding faithfulness of God in bringing His Son into the world as our salvation. We need to know, believe, sing, and rejoice in the fact that the baby that was named salvation is coming again with the fulness of our salvation. In God we trust.

1. Who is the God of Psalm 46?

2. How has He revealed Himself to be a very present help in trouble?

3. What do the Scriptures tell us about the period in between the advents of Jesus Christ?

4. How is the first advent of Jesus an aid to us as we wait for the second advent?

New Testament Passage: Luke 1:26-38