Sermon Tone Analysis

/"“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him *Immanuel”—which means, “God with us*.”" (Matthew 1:23, NIV) /

/*[1]*// /

/ /

/"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling *among us*.

We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

(John 1:14, NIV) /

[2]

 

/"‘And I have sanctified the tent of meeting, and the altar, and Aaron and his sons I sanctify for being priests to Me, and *I have tabernacled in the midst of the sons of Israel,* and have become their God, and they have known that I am Jehovah their God, who hath brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I may tabernacle in their midst; I am Jehovah their God."

(Exodus 29:44-46, YLT) /

[3]

 

*/Christ’s Humble Birth/*

 

In his best-selling book, ~*The Jesus I Never Knew~*, Philip Yancey contrasts the humility that characterized Jesus’ royal visit to planet earth with the prestigious image associated with world rulers today:

 

In London, looking toward the auditorium’s royal box where the queen and her family sat, I caught glimpses of the...way rulers stride through the world: with bodyguards, and a trumpet fanfare and a flourish of bright clothes and flashing jewelry.

Queen Elizabeth II had recently visited the United States and reporters delighted in spelling out the logistics involved: her four thousand pounds of luggage included two outfits for every occasion, a        mourning outfit in case someone died, forty pints of plasma, and white kid-leather toilet seat covers.

She brought along her own hairdresser, two valets, and a host of other attendants.

A brief visit of royalty to a foreign country can easily cost twenty million        dollars.

In meek contrast, God’s visit to earth took place in an animal shelter with no attendants present and nowhere to lay the newborn king but a feed trough.

Indeed, the event that divided history, and even our calendars, into two parts may have had more animal than human witnesses.

A mule could have stepped on him.

Philip Yancey, ~*The Jesus I Never Knew~* (Zondervan, 1995)

 

Do you remember the picture on the front page of the Gleaner this summer?

There were a number of people standing just outside the gate looking in with a mix of curiosity, admiration, perhaps jealousy as those more important or recognized or fortunate than they flashed an invitation and walked into the newly renovated home on Waterloo Row, the Old Government House?

It is sad that many people live their lives watching others and somehow wishing that they could enjoy life as they perceive others do.

But you couldn’t visit that night unless you were on the guest list.

When you moved into this city, what determined where you would live?

If you looked for an apartment, you wanted something that was well kept.

The neighbors were important.

So was the price but you wanted as much as you could get for the money.

If you could have afforded to buy a home, you would have.

If you did, you were concerned about property values and resale.

And most likely you chose a place that would have cost you as much money as you could possible scrape together to cover your mortgage.

Perhaps you even over-extended yourself a bit for the home or the neighborhood.

Many people do that, it’s most likely normal, human. . .

.

If God decided to move to Fredericton where do you suppose he would live?

Would there be walls and security guards?

After all who could be busier and more important?

Would he move into your neighborhood by choice or by chance?

Would you be able to walk up to the front door of his residence unannounced and “drop in” for some counsel and a brief visit perhaps for no greater reason than to get to know Him better.

And if you could, would you?

If he were your next door neighbor would you know Him any better than you do now.

With all the invitation to come to him, to talk, to pour out your heart, to tell him about your desires and your dreams, would it make anymore difference if he lived next door?

We’ve already been invited to do that you know but few people take advantage of the invitation.

We’re always on or way somewhere else or have something more pressing that keeps us from sitting down with God face to face and studying Him and learning to love Him – the greatest commandment.

You see, it doesn’t matter what your life looks like, sinner or self-righteous saint, - if you don’t have His heart and know what it is to love Him then you have no worthwhile experience.

If God were living here and He were like us He wouldn’t be nearly as accessible as He is now.

He’d use the same excuses that we do – too busy – some other time – my people will call your people. . . .

Who could justify the separation more than God, merely to protect himself from the overwhelming needs of people?

Who would have more right to be suspicious or cynical of the motives of people and how that His goodness might be abused or taken advantage of.

It’s just easier to wall people out and to invite the select few to come close.

Would there be a housewarming and if there was who would be invited?

Would the elite be the first or would the disadvantaged be there?

Would you miss this guest list as well because you don’t fit in either crowd?

Not “well-to-do” enough to be elite and proud enough to

 

God lives in Fredericton but many people don’t know that.

They don’t know his address or his phone number.

They are not aware that his presence is fully here.

He doesn’t visit seasonally.

He is here 24~/7.

*1.

**The Spiritual Slums*

 

Wherever God is, it’s nowhere near me.

Most of us don’t have a clue where God lives?

We’re not sure if he lives in our neighborhood or not.

There are those today who could never believe that he might because you see yourself as living in the spiritual slums.

God would quickly pass over your postal code because you just know that you are not good enough.

He’d never want to live next door to you.

And you’re not sure you’d want him to anyway because you don’t like the way that your home looks.

There are things inside that you don’t want him to see and you’d be crazy with fear that he might “drop by” unannounced.

There’s too much pain in your neighborhood – isn’t there?

A God so great would fix it if He were around.

And it’s a gloomy place, this place that I live in.

We’ve all been there at one time or another haven’t we?

It just seems like we are disconnected from any sense of spiritual reality.

God is a million miles away or at least that’s the way that we feel.

There comes a time though when we need to stop listening to ourselves because that siren voice is not reliable and it will lead to the rocky shoals of spiritual shipwreck where our fears become reality.

So many times people listen too long to the wailing voices of discouragement and depression and they make decisions based on those scrambled senses.

You know we create more problems thinking that God doesn’t care and that He isn’t around than His absence could ever create.

And the truth is that it’s all just a feeling – a question.

Does He really care about me?

If you’re looking for a god who creates story book realities, he doesn’t exist.

If you’re looking for a God who is among you, He exists.

He entered ignominiously this troubled world 2000 years ago.

Only those who were looking for Him were even aware.

Only those looking for Him find Him today.

*2.

**Self-Righteous Suburbia*

 

Others of you know the place on your street that he would want to live in.

A brand new place, unsoiled and surrounded by homes that only good hard working, successful, community leaders might occupy.

After all there needs to be some separation.

You don’t want a tainted neighborhood.

You need a safe place for the kids and God knows that your kids are safe and respectable and well dressed.

Everything looks good and white and fresh – just the kind of place that God would choose to live.

Upright and out of sight.

Where else would God ever choose to live?

This is “Self-Righteous Suburbia” just far enough removed from the mainstream of life to forget about it and to isolate yourself from the problems that others face and to insulate yourself from the cold realities.

And when you really need to find God, where do you look?

Not in the spiritual slums.

He’s miles away you’re sure.

And you have no clue where to start.

Maybe you just trot next door to that new place – you’ve never been there before because you rarely need anything from the neighbors in Self-righteous Suburbia.

You’re all pretty much independent and generally busy.

But today you get the unleavened cakes together and go looking for God next door.

You’ve tried everything else and this is a last resort – to bother God.

You ring the bell, rap on the door until your knuckles are bare and bloody and the tea is cold and the cakes have developed mold.

God’s not home.

You’ve given him a wave offering everyday as you pull out of your driveway.