From our Pastor
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God, Keeping His Promises
Matthew 1:18-25 December 22/23, 2007
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There are quite a few steps to go through to start a business these days. First one has to carefully determine if there is a market, if there is a need, for the business. Demographic statistics are scoured and weighed, perhaps a scientifically based survey is conducted to see if the business might have sufficient demand. A business model must be developed; financial considerations must be taken into account. Then of course there are the personal decisions that impact a decision to open a business. What impact will this have on my life, on my family? Am I willing to go through all that’s necessary to start a business? There are many important factors to be considered before finally making the decision whether or not to engage in the new business.
Can you imagine a person having a dream one night and immediately upon awakening suddenly decide to start a business based just on a dream? Can you imagine altering your whole life based just on a dream? It seems ridiculous. But Joseph did. When he had found out that Mary was pregnant, and they had not yet been married, Joseph figured the wedding was off. He wouldn’t make a spectacle of Mary or anything. But how could he marry her if she had been shacking up with someone else? It would be painful, but saying goodbye to Mary was the right thing to do.
But after his dream, Joseph is ready to change his life completely, dramatically! Just because of a dream, everything is going to be different in his life, diametrically different! How could you change your life just based on a dream? Well, of course this was no ordinary dream. This is a dream with an angel in it; an angel talking to Joseph. Do you ever have angels in your dreams? I don’t. I wonder if his dream was obviously not your normal, run of the mill sort of dream. Did Joseph’s dream have better special effects? Was there better staging? Certainly it had better casting than your ordinary dream: an angel! Maybe Joseph could have figured out that the angel did not come from his imagination.
But there’s more evidence to determine this was no ordinary dream. The angel speaks directly to Joseph in the dream. The angel does what angels do. It speaks God’s word to Joseph. It tells Joseph something he may not have considered: that the child was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. The angel reminds Joseph of the prophecy that a virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son. (23) This is not just a dream. This is about God’s Word. No matter how you hear God’s Word, it’s still God’s Word. There’s no denying God’s Word.
There’s even more to it than that. This revelation from the angel makes it clear that God will be keeping his Word. And not only that he will be keeping his Word, but that he’ll be keeping his Word soon, and in Joseph’s wife! As a matter of fact part of the promise comes especially true for Joseph. The child’s name will be Immanuel, which means God is with us. Present right there in his wife’s womb, right there with Joseph. God with us. That means not only that God is present, but also that God is for us, he’s on our side, he’s come to be with us.
Wherever God is present with someone, he’s always graciously present, present to protect, to provide for, to care for… unless the person will have nothing to do with God, in which case God’s presence is not at all wonderful. God will judge those who stubbornly reject him. But God comes to be with us to be our Savior. “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (21) That’s the most amazing, the most wonderful, the most important part of this whole account. Jesus is conceived in Mary for the very purpose of becoming a human being so that he can live for us and die for us and rise from the dead to be our Savior, to take away our sins, to give us everlasting life. You will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
It’s amazing that Jesus, true God, through being conceived in Mary, becomes one of us. He is Immanuel. God with us. Right with us. He comes amongst us to become one of us so that he can make us one with him.
So through the course of a dream, Joseph’s life is changed. Nothing will ever be the same again… not even close. Now, for the first time ever, Christmas preparations have to be made. We all know about Christmas preparations. Clean the house, put up the tree, bake cookies, buy presents, wrap presents, and all the rest. So many preparations for Christmas.
Joseph had a to do list for Christmas, too. 1) Talk to Mary. Explain about the dream and the angel. 2) Get married. 3) Prepare for the baby. 4) Travel to Bethlehem. 5) Find a place for the birth. 6) Name the child. 7) Ponder. Stand in awe of God’s work. Be amazed that God would become one of us to be our Savior. Marvel at his love. Worship him. Praise him. Thank him. Love him.
Our preparations for Christmas are very different from Joseph’s. Rightly so. You don’t have to get married to get ready for Christmas. You don’t have to prepare for the birth of a baby, nor find a place for the baby to be born to get ready for Christmas. Nor do you even need to name the child. Though it’s good to remember that the child’s name, Jesus, means that God saves.
But the last thing on Joseph’s list would be a good one for each of us to do as we prepare for Christmas, too. Ponder. Stand in awe of God’s work. Be amazed that God would become one of us to be our Savior. Marvel at his love. Worship him. Praise him. Thank him. Love him. Do all that, and you’ll be well prepared for Christmas.
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MOUNT OLIVE LUTHERAN CHURCH
2001 N. Alpine Rd.
Rockford, IL 61107
815-399-3171
Pastor Ken Krause: kkrause@mtolivelutheran.com