A Way In The Manger II

As Pastor Scott said last week, every time we read that story, every time we see that image of the manger, it evokes something of peace in our lives that the world just somehow can't deliver. If you're just joining us, we're in the second week of this Christmas series that we've called Away in the Manger. And last week, Scott started us off with a very insightful look at what happened above the manger, what we couldn't see that was going on, where Satan and his angels were doing war with God and his angels, and this battle was taking place for dominion over mankind. And that Scott reminded us that we know the end. And our God wins. The Lord knows that he has conquered Satan, and friends, we need to embrace that same truth and live in that same assurance so that we can have the confidence, as Scott reminded us, to reach out to people, especially at this time of year. Because I found, as I think probably you have, people are initiating conversations with me about, hey, what's going on over at your church this Christmas? I found people more open than I can recall in a long time, and I'm sure it's because of circumstance, because of so much uncertainty that seems to be in the air these days. But taking a look at the scene behind me, you can't help but notice we've added a couple characters this week. A couple other very familiar faces have appeared, one of a shepherd and one representing the three kings that also joined them at the scene. And I know that there's some debate about the timing of all this. It's really kind of inconsequential because Matthew, if you take your outline out in your notes, you'll see Matthew makes it clear in his gospel that these kings were drawn to the place where Jesus was born, so they were intended to be there. Their timing was maybe a little different, but the point is the same. The Lord was drawing them to the place of His birth. See, shepherds represent something way more than just individuals. You know, God wasn't looking for someone to populate the area. How many know He could have gotten politicians or, you know, some sort of business people. He could have gone and, I don't know, got entertainers or athletes or big time. He didn't do that. He got very common people, just salt of the earth, ordinary people, shepherds to be there at the manger. And, you know, there's a whole lot of people that would, you know, for them it would be a lot easier at Christmas time if all we had to focus on was Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus. Take everyone else out of the picture at Christmas. I don't even like to get Joseph out of the picture. Just think about Mary and Jesus, because then, you know, you get to focus on what really matters. I was with a person for lunch recently who was talking about being a spiritual person, and he said to me, he said, I'm a spiritual. And I said, well, tell me what that means to you? And he says, well, I'm, you know, I grew up, and I had a very loving mom who was pretty strict Lutheran, and she imparted some things, and her mom was even more strict, and she imparted some things. And then, so I took some of that, and some of what my grandma said, and some of them, I've read a lot of books, and I've talked to some other smart people, and I've sort of put together what I think works for me as a religion. And I'm thinking, well, yeah, that's, that's called a designer faith then. You know, faith that works just for you. How many of you know someone like that? Their faith, and they're very convinced that their faith is the right faith. It would be foolish to believe that I don't believe the right thing, so they think it's right for them. They're not saying it's right for you or me, but strangely, they believe that that's somehow their self-designed faith. It's little pieces here and there, little parts of tradition, and parts of background, and all that. They can combine this all together and come up with their faith, and here's the thing that makes them comfortable in knowing God. And this is a good person, and I'm sure your friends or family members that believe like that. They're good people. We're not saying anything about them, but they just, and here's another way to use, says I just don't want anything to do with the organized church. I said, well, we have a disorganized one, if you'd be interested, you can try that. See, the perfect religion for people, you know, for some people, it would have lots of rules because they need boundaries. For other people, they want no rules because they just want to be free. You know, for some people, the perfect faith would be a faith that has almost all the Bible, because it's so inspiring. For other people, they want none of the Bible. They'd like a lot of, like, wisdom from other people through the years, and on and on we could go. My faith would accept everyone. My faith would accept just a narrow group, and so and so on. And all this is just a 21st century way of saying, listen, what's been said by people throughout the centuries, I want to be like God. I want to determine what's right about what I believe. You don't bother me, and I won't bother you, and you have your religion, and I have mine, and life will go on. But friends, wait. Let's take a look at this manger. There's a very important message, because how many know God could have designed the incarnation, that is the coming in the flesh of His Son Jesus, to happen in some remote place where no one else saw it, and it just, He just appeared and was sort of, you know, quietly came to the earth, and nobody was drawn to that moment. And He could have just existed in a bit of a vacuum, and the family was out on their own, and that was it. But that's not what God wanted to do. Number one on your outline is this. It says, everyone is invited to the manger. Look on your notes as I read just a portion of this story we saw on the screen earlier. There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. So clearly God is making this incredible announcement. I don't know how to even begin to simulate it, but when I see the word terrified, it tells me it wasn't just like your ordinary, oh hey, it's another angel. And the angel said to them, do not be afraid, I bring you, read this with me, good news of great joy that will be for most of the people. Now what does it say? All the people. Loved ones, let's not lose sight that the manger represents for us the reality that God sent His Son Jesus for all the people. He is the Savior of all the world, and that means our message is a very inclusive message. That means as we've been trying to communicate from this platform that there are unknown multitudes of people out there who've yet to hear the message, the true message of the gospel, that Jesus Christ came to the earth to be the propitiation, the payment for our sins, and they've designed their own religion, and your mission, if you choose to accept it this Christmas, is to help them hear the simple gospel, and that's all I want to get to today, and we'll repeat it again next week and again on Christmas Eve, because I don't think many people have really heard the simple gospel. Part of the reason is we have these obstacles, we're not sure where to be included. How many of you remember the first time it dawned on you and your conscious reality and your mind that you weren't cool? I remember the day. I think it was about seventh grade. I had friends, of course, I grew up with and everything, and they weren't cool either, but when I went to be with some other people, and they started making fun of certain things I was wearing, and certain parts of my body that were different than theirs, and so I realized that I was being excluded from them, and they had something that I didn't have or even understand, and it was coolness. Now y'all looking at me like you think you're cool now. It's okay. It's fascinating to me that I know people in their 50s who are still trying somehow to figure out what it means to be cool, to fit in with a certain group of people. It becomes a mission in life to find acceptance on the outside instead of becoming at peace with ourselves on the inside. I know people make decisions about where they live, what they drive, who they hang out with, how they spend their time. When God made a very simple message to us, you can be of the lowest class of people in terms of financial wealth and success. You can have accomplished very little, have very little education, no net worth to speak of, and you are welcome at the manger, or you can be someone of significant status, a king, a wise man, someone who's sought out, someone who has more than enough, and you have a need, and you are welcome to be at the manger. That's the fascinating thing about what it is that we have to talk to people about. We have good news of great joy that's for all the people, and in our culture today, I wonder how many really have heard it. I wonder how many are open to it. The early church followed this same model, and can I tell you something about North Way that I love? Whether you're part of North Way Oakland or part of Worship Cafe, this church has always been demographically speaking open to all the people. It never had to be a certain subset of a certain part of the culture to be welcome in our church, and that's not true of all the churches I know. Some have a little target, and they say, well, this is who we're trying to meet. Well, God clearly spoke to my heart years and years ago and said, my church is made up of all kinds of people, and I want them all to be welcome, and we've made an effort to be that way. We don't see that very often, but when we do, it's such a blessing. We see it occasionally in the culture, but not very often. I came across a, I think a wonderful illustration of what puts a smile on the face of God. I want to share this with you. It came out of a story about the upcoming inaugural of Barack Obama as president, and part of this will pop up in the screen just so you can read along with me. It was billed as the biggest, most eye-popping of the inauguration hotel packages, the JW Marriott's $1 million build-your-own-ball offer. You get 300 rooms, four suites, $200,000 worth of food and drink, and a primo site overlooking the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route, and it was snapped up within hours of Barack Obama's election as president by a customer the hotel declined to identify. Well, this morning, this morning being December the 4th, the Marriott is scheduled to announce that a buyer is a Virginia businessman who wants to bring to the inauguration disadvantaged people, terminally ill patients, wounded soldiers, and others down in their lock. Earl Stafford of Fairfax County, the founder of Centerville Technology Company, who grew up as one of 12 children of a Baptist minister, said he will provide his guests lodging, food, and special access, as well as beauticians, gowns, and tuxedos if necessary. Stafford has paid the $1 million and is prepared to spend $600,000 more for breakfast, lunch, and two balls at the hotel. I'm hoping to recoup a little bit of that from some other sponsors, and here's what I love this sentence, we wanted to bless those who otherwise wouldn't have had an opportunity to be part of the great celebration, the inauguration festivities, he said. Our objective is to bring in a cross-section of society, those who are distressed, terminally ill, those who are socially and economically disadvantaged, those veterans who are wounded and serve their country, and Stafford said the idea was inspired by his deep religious faith and the good fortune he's come his way, and then a little later in the article, I'll just close with this, he says this, there will be those who are distressed and undeserved mingling with people who aren't so, he said, the needy will be our honored guests, that's who inspires us. Isn't that a great story? That's like the modern day manger, and a person who could have afforded him, you know, just invite all his other heavy hitter friends, and hey, I'm going to show you all a great time, we're going to have box seats at the inauguration, and you know, create this big whoop-de-doo party for his other rich friends. He chose to invite the disadvantaged, those who didn't have much. Oh, and by the way, there'll be some other wealthy people too, but they're going to be helping out, and that captured my attention as saying, you know what, I think that's the Spirit of Jesus. That's what we're here to do, to celebrate this Christmas season, and that's why Christmas, by the way, is still so emotional to some of you, because some of you know, like I do, that I don't really deserve an invitation. I mean, if you line up all my deeds, I'm well past the place of believing, like some do in their personalized design of religion. Well, my good deeds will outweigh my bad deeds on judgment day, and therefore God will say, well, you know what, we've waited all out, and you just squeak by, you know, 51 to 49, you get in. Well, I have a fundamental flaw in me, and it's called sin, and Jesus came to repair that, and He's invited me to come to meet Him, and I start at the manger, and I go to the cross, and it's there that I find salvation, and that's the same invitation that extends to all of you. But there's a second thing I just want us to see here very briefly today, and it's, this is the part that's going to make you squirm. This is the part that you wish I wouldn't say. I know it already. This is where I wish somebody more profound could step up and do this, and, but I've got to be the messenger. Here it is. You notice that the king and the shepherd, and I'm, they represent all the shepherds and kings and everyone else at the manger. They're not doing battle. They're at peace. They're getting along, and the manger represents not just the fact that Jesus came, that we might be vertically reconciled to the Father, but that we might be horizontally reconciled to one another. Loved ones, hear my heart. I know there are difficult relationships that abound in life. I doubt that there's one of us here that hasn't been affected in some way by a difficult relationship. Father, mother, brother, sister, spouse, ex-spouse, child. It might be like a friend that I saw recently at a local establishment who was telling me about their neighbor whose tree fell over in their yard during that windstorm a couple months ago, and how the neighbor said, well, yeah, it was my tree, but it's in your yard now, so it's your tree, and it's going back, and it got so ugly he put up no trespassing signs, and razor wire, and a bunch of other things, and they're literally going to have to move. That's how ugly it got. You see, at the manger, there's peace, and what the Lord wants us to see is that through Him, we can be at peace with each other. There's no doubt in my mind that this isn't going to be easy for some of us this Christmas. I mean, how many of you discovered there's some annoying people in your life? How many have some annoying people at work? For those of you who couldn't see, Scott raised his hand really high. Appreciate that. Felt the love coming right back at me here. It's good. Some of you might have some annoying people in your family. You might be seated next to someone really annoying, but they don't know that you think that they're annoying, but there's no doubt in my mind that the Lord intended for this picture to be a snapshot to remind us that in His presence, we're called to do one thing, and that's to love one another unconditionally, to give grace to one another the same way we receive grace. How do we receive grace? Unconditionally. We didn't earn it. The Lord gave us His Son as a gift, and most of us, you know, we're real quick to say, Oh Lord, thank You for forgiving my sin. Thank You for making me whole. Thank You that I can come to the cross. Thank You that You died for me. Thank You that You love me so much that You sent Your only Son, but I'm not sure about this loving one another piece. I mean, Pastor Jay, you don't know what this person did to me. You don't know how they hurt me. You don't know this, and I don't know that, and I would never minimize or marginalize the amount of pain that some of you have borne, but I know that at Christmas time, there's something about that scene around the manger that tells me that I don't have the option to be unforgiving, and if you haven't discovered it, let me let you in a little secret. The only one in a prison when there's unforgiveness is you, and as soon as you're able to lay hold of the grace that comes through Christ and say, Lord, I can't love this person on my own, you'll find that God will, by some miraculous provision, give you the grace to extend that love and that forgiveness toward the people that need it. It's very difficult at times. At times it may take some counselors and some others to help you to come up with the way to do it, but Jesus was very clear. He said, By this will all men know. Let's start with this is just a church here. By this will all men know that You're My disciples. By putting on a bumper sticker that says, Jesus Saves. Is that what He said? No? It's not bumper stickers or t-shirts or Bible verses or WWJD bracelets. He said, By the way that you, hello? You don't know what He said? By this all men will know. What? How you love one another. Love is to be the, the, the, people are to observe how we love each other and say, you know, that's, that's unusual. I don't see that in the normal course of things. What is it? And then that opens the door for us to talk about what Jesus did for us. Now we're heading into Christmas, and I know for some of you the most difficult place is in the family. You know, and maybe, maybe your greatest gift that you could give to a family member this Christmas is a family member that you just, you know, you're not that happy about. I mean, you're, you're already dreading the fact that you're going to have to pack up the car and spend three days with them. I mean, it's, you know, it's already like, oh, it's already casting this, this pall over the entire holiday and three days with them. And you're going to take, you know, your laptop and hope that you can find Wi-Fi somewhere so that you can have some business to do someplace. Remember, Jesus came for 33 years and lived amongst us. And I'm pretty sure when you leave, they won't crucify you like we did Him. And it's just not easy sometimes. I recognize that. Last spring, I was, I went with Carol, Don to visit some of her family members, and they're wonderful, lovely people. They're actually a lot smarter than me. One's an attorney and this and all that. And, but they like board games, you know, like Scrabble. And I don't want to offend anybody here, but I, I just don't, I'm not a big board game guy. And so we'd have dinner and usually a pretty big dessert. And then we'd clear off the table and they'd roll out the board games. And I looked at Carol, I said, isn't there, there's a beach. How about a walk in the, you know, and there's, there's board games that people should actually be put in jail for, I think. But they just, and I, I knew, you know, we were there for, I think, three or four nights. Every night I, I knew what was coming, you know, dinner, dessert, and a board game. Thankfully, I'd already been preparing this message, so I was ready for it. And I just got into it and really, you know, made a complete idiot of myself. I don't, my, my, my vocabulary is quite limited compared to some. I mean, if you play those games a lot, you get really good at them. So I found the way was let them win in like five minutes and I'm done. You know, that was perfect. It was beautiful. Worked every time. Well, no big deal. And I know some of you have big deals. You have X's of this and X's of that or somebody that, you know, it's just going to be difficult. But I want you just to take one last look at the manger and just remember, when you face that moment, when you say, how am I going to love this person? How am I going to give them the grace and the forgiveness? And how am I going to show them that I don't hold it against them, whatever it was, because God doesn't hold against me, whatever I did against Him. I just can't do it. Remember that. Because that's what happened around the manger. The possibility, Paul said, the dividing wall of hostility, Ephesians 2, has been broken down and we can love each other. And I rejoice in that. Even enemies can become friends. I was stunned by this one last illustration, and you may have heard it, so forgive me if it's a repeat for some of you, but this came out during the presidential race now concluded. John McCain was telling a personal story of his journey of faith, and here's what he said. He said, when I was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, my captors would tie my arms behind my back and then loop the rope around my neck and ankles so that my head was pulled down between my knees. I was often left like that throughout the night. One night a guard came into my cell. He put his finger to his lips signaling for me to be quiet, then loosen my ropes to relieve my pain. The next morning when his shift ended, the guard returned and retightened the ropes, never saying a word to me. A month or so later, on Christmas Day, I was standing in the dirt courtyard when I saw that same guard approach me. He walked up and stood silently next to me, not looking or smiling at me, and then he used his sandaled foot to draw a cross in the dirt. We stood wordlessly looking at the cross, remembering the true light of Christmas, even in the darkness of a Vietnamese prison camp. At the manger, God sent His Son that we could be reconciled to Him, to the Father, and that we can love each other. Loved ones, that's the gift that God offers us this Christmas season. Would you stand with me and pray? Bow your heads please. Just before we close in prayer, we're going to share communion as Scott mentioned earlier, but I'd like to do something very important in this moment. There are some of you that came this evening, and you came maybe a lot in your mind, and maybe just unsettled, and maybe God's been drawing you, maybe some good things have been happening, you've been searching, but you've never come to the point of knowing how it is that you enter into a relationship with God. And I don't claim to be an expert at this, but I can just tell you what the Bible says. The Bible says, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and that He died for your sins, you will be saved. And so I'm going to give you that opportunity by praying a simple prayer. That's how you confess. Confess means to speak, or say the same thing. Say these words, Jesus will enter your life, your sins will be forgiven, you will have a relationship with your Heavenly Father. You don't have to do any more than that, but just believe in what Jesus did for you. Pray after me, pray these words. Say, Lord Jesus. That's right, say to Him, Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to this earth. Thank You for dying on the cross. Though innocent, You bore my sin. I accept Your gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Make me Yours now. I pray it in Your name. Now every head is bowed, please. Let's give the courtesy of privacy to those who maybe just prayed, because I want to do one more thing. If you prayed when two or more of us agree on earth is touching anything, it will be done. And I know when you pray, all kind of thoughts go through your mind, what really happened. Let me have the privilege of agreeing with you, and the two of us will agree that this was a moment of transformation for you. That you began your journey of faith this evening, right now. Every head's bowed, I won't embarrass you. I'm not going to call you out of your seat in front of everybody or anything like that. But just you and I are going to agree that tonight, you said, I want to be part of God's family. I prayed that prayer. If you prayed, look up right now, just lift your hand up real high at the same time, and I'll just, I'll just agree with you wherever you are. As your hands go up, I'll just agree with you. Who prayed with me? I know. That's it, wave at me so I can see your hand real quickly. Let me see your hands. I prayed tonight, I want Christ in my life. Let our eyes meet. When our eyes, that's what I'm looking for, His eyes, and your hands just help me see your eyes. Okay, let me see your eyes. If I miss you, just wave at me because it's your opportunity. I mean, you're looking right at me. Is that why you're looking at me? Just wave, just nod your head. I agree with you. Thank you for looking. In Jesus' name. I'm not going to embarrass you. This is a safe moment, but it's important. Who else prayed? I just, wait one more moment. Anyone else? Okay, church, look up for a second. You know what this tells me? We've got a whole lot of people that you and I have to go out and talk to that need to come and receive that gift. Now, if tonight you were close, but you weren't quite ready, that's fine. Keep coming, keep searching. I understand, sometimes it takes a while for this to sink in. Sometimes it seems too good to be true, but it is true. That Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, He said this to His disciples. He said, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. This is where we find salvation. This is where we find eternal life. Then He took the cup and He said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Drink, you, all of it. I would ask you to please be seated. And in these very quiet moments, the ushers are going to come and serve you, your portion. I'd like you just to pray right now for the people that you know, that you find difficult to love. Or maybe it's someone that you really like, but they don't know the Lord. And in this season, you need grace to go share with them. Pray for others in these next moments as you receive communion. Just hold on to it for just a moment. We'll share it together after all are served. The Lord Jesus said, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And then He said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. It's no longer designer religion, friends. It's the time that only through the shed blood of Jesus do we find forgiveness of sins. So let's partake. Now, listen, not just for ourselves, but in faith, let's partake for those that we are praying that God will touch through our testimony this Christmas season. Let's pray. Let's let the Lord just continue to minister and wash over our hearts as Rob and Amy come to sing and share a song with us, and they'll include us as we prepare to close. You never change. You're still the same. You are the everlasting God. After the day is gone, things of earth have passed. You're the everlasting God. Everlasting God. One thing I know that I have found through all the troubles that surround. You are the rock that never fails. You never fail. You never change. You're still the same. You are the everlasting God. After the day is gone, things of earth have passed. Everlasting God. Everlasting God. You never change. You're still the same. You are the everlasting God. You will remain. After the day is gone, things of earth have passed. Let's stand together and sing. You never change. You're still the same. You are the everlasting God. After the day is gone, things of earth have passed. You never change. You're still the same. You are the everlasting God. You will remain. After the day is gone, things of earth have passed. You're our everlasting God. Everlasting God. And so as you go out into the world where Christ sent you to be His light, remember that, that scene as you draw others around that manger that God came to reconcile you. Yes, people to God, but people to one another. And He's never going to change. He's the most certain thing we'll ever know. So go in that joy. I want to encourage you to join us in the South Venue. Dave DiMarco's prepared a wonderful Christmas celebration kind of event. Bring your family and just enjoy the next hour as we celebrate Christmas together. And we'll see you next time. God bless you. Have a great week.