Deus Misereatur

{Here is the manuscript from the last sermon in the series. The audio file is here . Freely spread around as you see fit. Mike} --- Do You See what I See? Pt 4: Matthew 2.13-23 Do you ever find it interesting when someone tells a story the things they leave out? Most retellings of the so-called “Christmas Story” include the wise men – even though they really don’t arrive for almost 2 years after the birth. But most retellings end there. Yet this episode, which on a rare occasion or two is recited, ought to be included in the story. It’s the darker side – just like at communion, when Paul says, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed   took bread, etc.” (1 Corinthians 11.23). We don’t like rehearsing the darker, drearier side because it brings us down. But as Christians we, of all people, ought to be more daring, real, and courageous than our neighbors. Bringing out the dark side can be a blessing to peop...

{This is the third in a series of four. The audio file can be found here . Spread the word. Mike} ---- Do You See what I See? Pt 3: Matthew 2.1-12 What do you do with Jesus? Some folks sequester him off to some holding cell and lock him up out of sight. Some sell him off because he’s profitable for business. Some try to remake him into their own image. Some don’t bother with him at all until Christmas and maybe Easter, and only if it’s convenient; and then quickly pack him away with the decorations to keep him safely under wraps. Part of the emphasis of this passage is to dare us to ask ourselves: What do I do with Jesus? It helps us to answer that question by showing us connections and then contrasts . Connections : There is a double connection, one from inside this Gospel account and one that draws from outside; and both connections end up parking at the same house. Inside: First we hear the wise men ask in 2.2 “ Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? ” – Jesu...

{The following was presented at Heritage Presbyterian Church, 8 December 2013. You can access the audio file here . Mike} Do You See what I See? Pt 2: Matthew 1.18-25 The Impossibility of this seems pretty clear. It doesn’t even cross Joseph’s mind. It takes an act of God’s intervention to get him to conceive the thought. He knows how babies are made, for goodness sake. & then, even St. Matthew doesn’t offer any empirical, scientifically verifiable proofs. He only makes the assertion, to let it shock or stick where it will. You see, the idea that a virgin conceived a child is pretty outlandish. & yet, there is this other, impossible thing that happens at the far side of the story – resurrection. They are woven into the same narrative fabric. They stand or fall together . If you won’t have the one, you won’t be having the other. But Matthew does offer one proof, for those who will be having it: The Prophecy .  Isaiah 7.10-17 (p.572) – Ahaz is destroying the Davidic ...

{This was the first of a four-part series I began on 1 December 2013. The audio file can be found here } Do You See what I See? Pt 1 Matthew 1.18-21 Let me play the devil’s advocate for a moment, or to put it better, let me ask questions that I think some folks must be asking every time they “hear” what is commonly called the “the Christmas story”: And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Mt. 1.21 Why? Why is his name to be Yah Saves or Yah Delivers ? Why do people need some god to “save” them? Okay, so the Angel says it’s because He will save His people from their sins . Nice, right? But, why is it that he comes to save only His People and not everybody in the whole world? And why must he be “saving” them from their sins? Okay, let’s take a step back for a moment. There are stories we 21 st Century Global Citizens like to tell ourselves, and they’re usually summed up in shorthand statements like thi...