Sermon Tone Analysis

How does God come to us?

Advent refers to the four Sundays preceeding Christmas.

The word advent means “to come” or “to arrive.”

Advent can refer to Jesus’ birth or to His second coming.

Advent is a season of anticipation and preparation.

This series looks at different parts of the Christmas story and asks, “How does God come to us?”

As we look at the story from different angles, we see different facets of God’s character.

We can say, “Immanuel - God is with us,” when each of these begins to manifest in us!

The Magi: an example of what it means to love

When Matthew tells the story of Jesus birth, it involves Magi from the East following a star to Bethlehem where Jesus was born and is now an infant or perhaps a toddler in His parent’s home.

It’s customary even today, for mothers in some countries like India to return to their home village when a child, specially the first child, is born.

Her parents will help with the child’s care and teach the new mother the skills of nurture.

Joseph and Mary are already in their ancestral town for the census, it makes sense that they would stay for a while.

Bible scholars say that Matthew wrote primarily to a Jewish audience and that he was concerned to demonstrate that Jesus rightful place as Messiah and King of Israel was attested by sources outside of His Jewish followers.

This event would demonstrate with both glorious honor and with tragic loss, that Jesus was acknowledged to be the rightful heir of David by both internal and external sources.

But first there was to be a heavenly sign.

Stars are a beautiful spectacle in the nighttime sky, but they are also a kind of ancient clock with a three dimensional face and hundreds, even thousands of hands.

Watch the movement in the sky and notice how the convergence of planets in the heavens indicated the time at which significant events on earth will take place.

In ancient times Magi studied the archives of notations and writings of various rulers and they watched the stars to get a sense of their position in time and space.

Today we have scholars who study history, sociology and current events to predict the trajectory of future events.

They are hired to advise the leaders of companies and of countries as to where they should allocate their resources and where to develop strategic partnerships to ensure future success.

This is what wise men do, they study and learn, they watch and observe, they predict and advise.

Today we have scholars who study history, sociology and current events to predict the trajectory of future events.

They are hired to advise the leaders of companies and of countries as to where they should allocate their resources and where to develop strategic partnerships to ensure future success.

This is what Magi do, they study and learn, they watch and observe, they predict and advise.

It is historically noted that when Alexander the Great was born, a new star appeared in the sky.

Alexander when on to conquer and unite Europe and the Middle East, paving the way for Rome to set up the first worldwide kingdom since Babel.

When the next star appeared it was duly noted that the same was about to happen again.

The star appeared on the western horizon, across the Arabian desert at the crossroads of the fertile crescent.

At the Eastern end of the ancient trade route was the Indus River Valley, the source of spices, jewels and mystical knowledge.

Part of the kingdom once governed by the Jewish prophet Daniel, at that time a Satrap of Persia.

The ancient texts of Israel would have been part of his library which are now contained in the archives.

From the scroll of the prophet Micah they would read:

The trip to Bethlehem would take weeks, the preparation, probably months more.

Research takes time.

Bureaucracy takes even more time.

Letters would need to be written providing access to local officials.

Such a delegation will not go unnoticed.

Will they be suspected as spies?

What reason will they give for their visit?

What would they need to bring?

Would they need an army escort or would they some form of tribute?

If they are bringing gifts for the local officials, then what about the newborn king?

Gold is an obvious choice.

It’s the standard for international currency and it is symbolically the possession of kings.

Frankincense represents worship.

Even today in oriental languages, the word for worship literally means to burn incense.

The fragrant smoke is like a visible prayer ascending to heaven.

Myrrh is a more common item, but a most useful one.

It is a natural antiseptic, a cure for many common ailments and wounds.

It even reduces inflammation.

After the long journey to Bethlehem, with the obligatory diplomatic visit to the royal palace, they found Mary, Joseph and Jesus in an ordinary house.

How did they find him?

Well, you ask around for one thing?

Everybody knows everyone else’s business.

And a story like Mary and Joseph’s would have been the talk of the town (not necessarily in a good way).

Imagine what people would have said after the entourage left town.

Well, apparently, they didn’t say anything.

Because Herod was furious that no one informed him as to the identity of this prophesied king.

The whole town was punished with a slaughter of infants.

It was not unusual for a dictator to behave in this way.

And it is not unusual to see people stick together, being loyal to death.

What is unusual is that people would do that for someone rumored to be illegitimate, whose parents were not even received into a house so that they had to give birth in a stable.

It’s one thing to pay homage, it’s another thing to worship.

It’s one thing to predict the rise of a new ruler, i’ts another thing to travel to a small town to visit a nondescript house to tell it’s occupants that the stars have aligned to indicate that their infant son is next great leader to both conquer and to unite the world.

It’s one thing to observe family customs and loyalty, it’s another thing to protect a life with the lives of others.

But there comes a time when you recognize that you are in a time like no other and you are in the presence of a person like no other, and you give whatever it takes in recognition of that fact.

What is Love?

God comes to us as love, but what is love?

Love is one of those words that gets used a lot, but you get the feeling that it’s “inconceivable” - the word doesn’t meant what you think it means.

Last we talked about how joy is a feeling, but if it’s only a feeling, it falls short of the joy that God’s Word commands us to have.

Love is like that, we mostly think of love as a feeling.

But love is much more than a feeling.

Parts of our English language come from Old Norse - so the Danish language has words from which our English words are derived.

“Lov” in Danish means law.

It also means to make a pledge or to pledge one’s loyalty.

Worship in the church is called “lovsang”.

Love is a commitment.

Love is also an action.

Specifically, an unselfish action is said to be a demonstration of love.

In Hebrew, one of the words that is sometimes translated as love is “hesed.”

This word does not really have an equivalent in English.

Some translations use “loving-kindness.”

Others use “covenant faithfulness.”

This word describes how God loves unconditionally and lays the foundation for the New Testament “Agape.”

Let’s review how God comes to us:

Hope is confidence in the goodness of God.

Peace is the experience of the goodness of God.

Joy is our internal response to the goodness of God.

Love is our active response to the goodness of God.

What does love look like?

We will use some metaphors to help us.

The gifts of the Magi will provide a structure for us.

Love is light, love is worship and love is healing.

Love is light

Gold is brilliant.

It reflects light so perfectly that it seems to radiate light.

The first gift is gold.

There may be rarer substances on earth, but none has retained it’s value over the centuries like gold.

It catches the eye with it’s brilliance so that kings have adorned their palaces with it.