The Name That Draws Near

How many of you like to go to Haunted Houses? How many of you would want to go into a Haunted House by yourself?

When we do something that is “scary”, we want someone near to us. For protection, for comfort, to have someone to share the experience with and to not feel alone in our fear. In fact, part of a Haunted House is you want to do it with someone, it isn’t as fun doing it by yourself.

I used to like going to Haunted Houses...so that I could be a comfort to whatever girl I was going with.

Girls like to go with boys...so they can have someone they can feel protects them.

But either a boy or girl, you want to be near someone during the experience.

Like the song we just listened to, we hear that we are never alone, God is always near us. God wants to be near to us. And even though Jesus above all names, greater than any other name, who holds the entire universe together...he has still chosen to be near to us.

He chose to draw near - Philippians 2:5-7

In Iron Man 2 we are first introduced to the character Black Widow. Only that isn’t how she is first introduced. She is introduced as an assistant to Tony Stark. She took on the form as an assistant even though she was maybe the greatest assassin on the planet. She chose to assume a role below her ability so that she could protect someone important, Tony Stark.

Jesus took the form of a servant, and didn’t even consider equality with the Father to be grasped.

He remains near despite our sin - Philippians 2:8

o Hachikō Summary: In Japan, there was a dog named Hachikō. Every day, his owner would take the train to work, and every evening, Hachikō would walk to the station to wait for him to come home. Then, one day, the man died at work and never came back. But Hachikō didn’t know that. So he kept waiting. Every single day for nearly ten years, he went to that exact spot at the same time, watching and waiting. Rain, snow, heat—it didn’t matter. He was always there. People eventually noticed and were so moved by his faithfulness that they built a statue in his honor. Why? Because loyalty like that is rare and it’s powerful.

o Say something like: If a dog can show that kind of commitment, how much more can we trust in Jesus when He says, “I am with you always, to the end of the age?” Jesus doesn’t show up only when it’s convenient. He never clocks out. He never abandons. He’s not limited by time, location, or mood. His presence is constant, not because we’ve earned it, but because He’s promised it. And He always keeps His promises.

A dog shows up no matter what mistakes we made, no matter how terrible of a person we are, no matter how poor or rich we are...it is there.

Jesus didn’t just come despite our sin, he came to save us from our sin.

He draws near in our pain and weakness - Hebrews 4:14-16

Draw Near to God and He will draw near to you.