A Hunger for God’s Blessings - Genesis 12:1-3

Blessings are God’s gifts and can be material or spiritual, while to bless is to speak God’s presence into a person’s life. Over the past few years, I’ve met people who’ve feel as if God has forgotten them, or is angry with them. It often feels like we live in a time more filled with curses than blessings, and as times have become more difficult, they feel like they’re falling further behind every month. They wonder how they can get back into God’s good graces and experience better times again. They’re expressing a feeling that’s not uncommon, even in biblical times: that if times are hard, it means that God’s unhappy and holding back his blessings. 

They look at Abram whom God promises to bless, and then look at people whom Jesus offers blessings to, and wish God would bless them. The Lord offers to bless Abram, “Go from your country, your people, and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” The Lord’s putting into action a plan to redeem and restore all creation, beginning with this old couple. This promise of blessing comes with fears. The blessing is powerful since Sarai is barren and children are a great blessing, but in the culture of Abram’s time, one of the big fears of people was to die away from home, away from your land and being forgotten. This is likely one of the reasons why Joseph, years later, asks for the people to bring his bones back to the Promised Land when he dies instead of being buried in Egypt. 

Abram and Sarai choose to trust in the Lord and his promised blessings. They leave family and friends behind and leave for the land and blessings promised to them. The Lord does bless them as they leave everything familiar behind. This doesn’t mean everything was easy. In the Bible, those who God uses in his plan of redemption often find life becomes harder than expected. They face opposition and a life spent as nomads in this new land without a true home. Becoming a great nation begins with a false start and an Egyptian slave girl and a great deal of grief for everyone. About 24 years after leaving Haran, Sarai gives birth to a boy. Many of the promised blessings lay far in the future, after their deaths. It takes trust and faith to wait for the blessings to work their way out through following generations; sacrificing today for the generations yet to come. 

God’s faithful to Abram and Sarai’s descendants, making them into a great nation. They experience both blessings and hard times. They know they’ve been chosen as God’s people; however, they often forget the second part of the blessing given to Abram, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God’s chosen them to reveal to the nations who God is and how God calls us to live with him and each other. God blesses Israel with the Torah, all the laws given at Mount Sinai, including the 10 Commandments, to help them be a blessing to all people. They’re blessed to be a blessing, to reveal to the nations who God is. 

We see a God who makes promises to his people, promises to impact all people. We see a God who keeps his promises even when his people fail to live into those promises. We encounter a God who remains present with his people, guiding them, chastising them, and allowing the consequences of their sinful choices to open their eyes and guide them back to him. God reveals himself as a jealous God, jealous for his people, for their faithfulness to him alone, a God who refuses to share his people with other gods. He's a God who punishes and forgives, a God who continues to bless and be with his people. 

Hard times doesn’t always mean that God’s angry with us, or ignoring us. Often hard times come because, as God’s people, we don’t fit with the gods of our times. We’re not exempt from the hard times that all people face, like economic downturns, pandemics, natural disasters, wars, or poor government. We can trust that God’s with us through it all. The lack of the experience of blessings doesn’t mean a lack of God, sometimes it’s merely silence; it may also be that we don’t recognize how God is blessing us; many blessings are smaller daily moments, sometimes easily overlooked.

After many years of silence, an angel appears to a young woman who tells her, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” A new chapter in God’s relationship with the world is beginning, a new level of blessing is here. This young girl is Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Son of God; the one through whom God is going to bless all people; the promised Messiah who has come to save all his people, working out his plan of redemption as shown to Abram, “all peoples will be blessed through you.” It’s a great blessing to be the mother of the Son of God, but it comes with a soiled reputation for becoming pregnant before marriage, seeing her son rejected, watching Jesus die. Mary understood that those whom God uses in his plan of redemption often find life becomes harder than expected and accepts it.

Matthew records Jesus beginning his ministry by preaching, teaching, and healing people throughout the area of Galilee, and begins calling a number of disciples to follow him. These are the people in the crowd as Jesus preaches his great Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Jesus understands the people, having spent time with them, seeing and hearing what’s happening in their lives. He begins his great sermon with blessings for regular ordinary people; he sees them and their hearts, reaching out to bless the people in their places of need. The beatitudes are, as Dallas Willard writes, “explanations and illustrations, drawn from the immediate setting, of the present availability of the kingdom of heaven through personal relationship with Jesus.” 

As Jesus looks out over the crowd, he recognizes the poor in spirit, those who are drifting spiritually, who you would never think of asking when it comes to spiritual things or knowledge, to say a prayer, or lead a Bible study. Many experience church as just religion, often feeling unseen or unknown by God. Jesus sees them and blesses them with a place in the kingdom of heaven, letting them know that God does see them, that they do belong and hears their often-quiet spiritual desperation. Jesus sees those who are mourning. They may have lost spouses, children, oppressed, or are struggling; so many things to mourn over. Jesus blesses them, revealing the presence of the kingdom of heaven. He sees the meek who never stand up for themselves and let others walk over them. Jesus blesses them with inheriting the earth in the kingdom as they’ve never been strong enough to claim it for themselves here. Jesus looks out over the people and sees those who burn for things to be right, to be the way they’re supposed to be. It may be that they know their own hearts and want to be who they’re supposed to be, or perhaps they’ve been wronged and want justice and Jesus blesses them in the kingdom of heaven with the fullness of righteousness. 

Jesus recognizes the merciful, knowing how they are often looked down on because they’re not tough enough, but Jesus assures them that they’ll be shown mercy in the kingdom. The pure in heart, those who recognize how unpure they themselves are and turn to God to wash them whiter than snow, they’ll see God. Jesus sees the peacemakers and how they’re often not really trusted or respected by either side and he blesses them by calling them sons of God; maybe an echo to Jesus being the Prince of Peace. Then there are those who are persecuted because they stand for what’s right. We know that this can often be dangerous, but like the poor in spirit, Jesus offers them a place in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus sees us and our hearts and reaches out to bless us where we most need his blessings; understanding our need for his blessings, having lived in difficult times, with difficult people. Paul recognizes God’s blessings even in suffering in his second letter to the Corinthians, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” Jesus is the source of our comfort and blessings, he’s with us through the difficult and joyous times, encouraging us through the Holy Spirit, equipping us to walk with others and letting God’s comfort and blessing flow through us. Jesus’ greatest blessing to us is found in the cross, in forgiveness and adoption as children of God, and a place of belonging in his kingdom. These blessings call for a response from us to be a blessing, using our life experiences to bless others, pointing to the presence of Jesus. In being a blessing, we also experience God’s blessings.

From Everlasting to Everlasting - Psalm 103 - New Year's Day

Verses 1-5: Forget Not All His Benefits

Psalm 103 celebrates who the Lord is and begins by calling us to praise the Lord three times in the first 2 verses alone. In the first 5 verses we’re reminded that the Lord is the forgiver of sins, the healer of diseases, our redeemer who lifts us up out of the pits that our sins have thrown us into, the Lord who crowns us with his love and compassion, a reminder that since God is our father, you’re princes and princesses in the kingdom of heaven, and that the Lord satisfies our desire with good things, echoing Paul’s beautiful words of hope in Romans 8, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified…. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

As we look back at the past year, I encourage you to look for how the Lord has used both the good and hard times for your good, or to see how during the hardest times, the Lord was with you and give you what you needed to get through those days and continues to be with you. Psalm 103 is all about not forgetting the Lord, a call to remind ourselves of who God is. This helps us then to recognize his presence and help. Let us take some time to remember. 

Verses 8-12 He Does Not Treat Us as Our Sins Deserve 

These are powerful verses! The Lord doesn’t have to be compassionate and gracious; he could just punish us for our sin and selfishness, he could give up on us and start over again with someone else. The Lord even threatens to do this after Israel worships golden calves while God’s giving Moses the 10 Commandments in Exodus 32, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

 Many of us have grown up expecting punishment for when we do wrong, for anger and frustration towards us as we fail God again and again. Yet, even in his anger, the Lord reveals that while he does get angry at us when we sin, he’s still abounding in his love towards us. Moses seeks the Lord’s favour and reminds the Lord of his covenants with Israel, and the Lord turns away from his anger

We go into the new year knowing that we won’t be perfect. There will be times when we’ll sin and disappoint God, family, friends, and others, and yet we go into the year with the reassurance of knowing that we live in God’s grace and love. What a love that is, “as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” We see how great is the Lord’s love for us when Jesus chooses to go to the cross so that our sin can be removed from us and our relationship with the Lord is made right and whole once again. In response, we humbly turn back to God, confess our sin, repent and recommit ourselves to strive to do God’s will and be the people he’s called us to be.

Verses 13-16 As For Us, Our Days are Like Grass

In these verses, David reminds us that our God is a compassionate God who loves us as a father loves his children. The Lord is not just our God, he also reveals himself as our Father, one who cares for us like a mother. Our parents may punish us when we mess up, but their prayer is that we learn and grow from it, they punish us because they love us, even if it doesn’t always feel like it at the time. Our parents love us, even though they themselves are sinners, now imagine how much more our sinless perfect Father loves us. 

We hear an echo back to creation when God created Adam from the dust of the earth and gave him life by breathing his Spirit into Adam. Jesus, in a passage where he calls us to not worry, echoes these verses, acknowledging that this part of our lives, these bodies are temporary, and calls us to trust in God above all. Matthew 6:28–34, “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” This is an invitation to enter the new year with a sense of peace, a reminder that God provides for us. All Jesus calls us to do is to seek first the kingdom of heaven and the Father’s righteousness as we walk through the year ahead. 

Verse 17-18 God’s Everlasting Love is With Those Keep His Covenant

At the heart of this psalm is God’s “hesed,” the Hebrew word translated as love, but it’s so much more, it means mercy, favor, loyalty, or steadfast love and is found about 250 times in the Hebrew Bible. It often refers to God’s covenant loyalty to his people. The psalmist uses this word as love in verses 11 and 17, and here in 17 it’s for those who fear him, those who also experience his compassion in verse 13. This combination of deep compassion and loyal steadfast love is the foundation of God’s covenants with us, it’s what sustains the covenants when we fail to keep them. God’s hesed love freely forgives our sins, extending God’s grace when we’re graceless, it leads Jesus to the cross for us to draw us back to the Father. Peter and John acknowledge this as the heart of the gospel news, 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” And 1 John 3:16, “By this we know love, because [Christ] laid down his life for us.”

This love and compassion is from everlasting to everlasting. This love has its roots from before creation and will carry on beyond Jesus’ return. God’s love is different from the love we often experience here. God’s love is a deep forever commitment while our culture often sees love as for a time and then moving on. Love is even used as a weapon to keep others in line with threats to withhold your love until they measure up. God’s love is seen in Jesus’ commitment to us in that he went to the cross for our sin while we were still sinners. It's because of God's committed covenantal love for us, that we find the courage to examine our hearts and be honest with ourselves and God and confess our sin, knowing that we’re safe in his hands, giving us the strength to repent and commit ourselves to living fully for and in Jesus in the year ahead. 

God’s love is “with those who fear him.” We’re called to keep covenant with God, and when we sin, we’re called to remember God’s ways and to obey again his precepts. This is our response of gratitude that flows out of his everlasting love. We come to Jesus with empty hands of faith, seeking to receive the rich blessings of the Father through the blood of Jesus. We return to the heart of Jesus’ message as found in Mark 1:15, “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” We’re called in the year ahead to keep Jesus as the center of our lives. As repentant and trusting children we fear him, holding him in awe and honour. Paraphrasing a theologian, “We’re not forgiven because we fear the Lord; we fear the Lord because we’re forgiven.” As we journey into this new year, may it be our resolution to live into God’s hesed love, praising him alone as our God, and keep asking, “Help us to be who you’re calling us to be, and use us according to your will.”

Dreams to Protect and Guide - Matthew 2

 This morning, we meet Magi following a star looking for the divine king the star’s pointing to. They follow the star to Jerusalem, assuming that a king would be born in a palace, and end up at Herod’s palace. Along the way they encounter people who only pretend to worship or pledge allegiance to Jesus.

Imagine the surprise of Herod when these scholars from the East come and ask to see this new king and it’s not one of his sons! Herod quickly calls his own wise men to tell him where this new king is! Herod’s cunning, he calls the Magi and shares with them what his scholars discovered, “For this is what the prophet has written, But you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah are by no means the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” Herod tells the Magi, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” Herod wants the Magi find the child, tell him where he is, and then kill this threat to his throne. Herod’s focused on keeping power and control and is willing to use lies, force, and violence to keep power.

The Magi set their sights on Bethlehem. As the sun sets and the stars appear, they see the star again and are overjoyed. They follow it to the house where Jesus and his parents are living and see the child Jesus with his mother Mary; they bow down and worship him, knowing that this is the child-king anointed by God. 

They unpack the gifts they had brought for Jesus; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Each gift is given symbolic meaning by the early church; gold for a king, frankincense so prayers might go up to God on its fragrant smoke, and myrrh points to Jesus’ suffering and death as it was used to anoint the bodies of the dead. The Magi give valuable gifts to honour Jesus and acknowledge him as the divine king of the Jews. 

The Magi offer some of their best to Jesus. How do we normally come before our king, and what gifts we offer to him? Who do we offer our loyalty and allegiance to; what are the most important things in our lives; is Jesus even close to the top of our lists? This past week we celebrated Christmas and we offered plenty of our wealth on the altar of commerce. What do we bring to our king as we come to him? We reveal our hearts by where we offer our gifts of wealth, time, and talents. The Magi’s gifts reveal their hearts and loyalty. We’re called to give our lives over to Jesus; not simply trying harder to be good or nice. God now tells the Magi in a dream to not return to Herod, so they go home by another route. 

Herod now murders the boys in Bethlehem up to the age of 2. Matthew uses the words of the prophet Jeremiah to express the pain here, "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." A high school student in Thunder Bay was angry over this story. She asked, "Why does God only save Jesus, why doesn't he save the other boys?" She wondered if God didn't care enough. These are honest questions. The question "why" is a powerful question and often comes out of pain. There are evil people in the world; sin has been around ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. Satan’s able to lead some people to do great acts of evil; Herod’s only one example, his cruelty extended to murdering 3 of his own sons when they threatened his throne. At his death, Herod commanded his soldiers to murder one member of each family so that the whole nation would mourn when he died. 

The Bible doesn't hide from the hard things of life. God acknowledges the pain in life, the tears shed by people as suffering that enters into every life at some time or another. The people of Matthew's time know that the history of God's people is filled with blood and tears, but they also know that God hears the cries of his people, sees their tears, and responds.

Matthew's reference to Rachel weeping for her children refers to the pain and suffering the people of Israel experienced when they were taken into exile by the Babylonian Empire hundreds of years earlier. As you read further in Jeremiah, God offers hope, "This is what the Lord says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord. “They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants,” declares the Lord. “Your children will return to their own land. “… Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the Lord." Mathew, in quoting Jeremiah, points to the return of Jesus from Egypt, as Israel had. 

 An angel comes to Joseph in a dream and tells him to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt until it’s safe. Joseph obeys, faithfully bringing his family to a place of safety. They spend time in Egypt, likely in Alexandria where there was a large Jewish population. There’s always been a complicated relationship between Israel and Egypt as we see in Isaiah 19:23–25, “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” God has bigger plans than we often realize, plans that include blessing other nations. When it’s safe again, God comes to Joseph and tells him it’s time to go home. When Joseph arrives in Judea, God directs him to go to Galilee, away from Herod’s equally evil son. Joseph settles in Nazareth where Jesus can be raised in safety to grow into his call to become king.

The scholar Rodney Reeves in his commentary explains that Matthew’s Christmas story reflects a confrontation between kingdoms, “The story of Jesus’s birth is more than a narrative of Israel’s covenant story coming true. It’s about two kingdoms colliding, two irrepressible forces clashing. The kingdom of heaven invading earth. The reign of God versus the rule of men. Herod against Joseph.” The early church hears an echo back to Moses being saved to lead God’s people to freedom, as God now saves Jesus from Herod to lead God's people out of our slavery to sin. 

That clash of kingdoms still continues today. Augustine writes that there are two cities, the City of God and the City of Man. Augustine writes, “Two loves have made the two cities. Love of self, even to the point of contempt for God, made the earthly city; and love of God, even to the point of contempt for self, made the heavenly city.” These cities are what they love.” Herod’s in love with power, control, and himself, using fear and cruelty to hold onto power. Earthly kingdoms focus on pleasing enough people to stay in power, not on God’s will or desires. Jesus brings in the kingdom of heaven where love of God comes first and then flows into love of other. God’s kingdom is a kingdom of willing sacrifice, creating places and people of shalom, with Jesus as king and saviour, as symbolized in the Lord’s Supper. These two kingdoms contrast each other and we’re called to choose which kingdom to belong to. 

No matter what’s going on, no matter how evil man can be, God’s in control of all things, including our suffering. God doesn’t let us suffer because he doesn’t love us, rather, he meets us in our suffering and promises to carry us through it. Jesus won’t always change our circumstances, but he’s the resurrection and the life and weeps with us when evil hurts us. Often, we can’t understand why we suffer or experience evil, yet we trust that God’s working for our ultimate good. God gives us the church family to walk with us, support us, weep with us. Jesus also experienced evil. The gospels show that every indignity and evil was done to Jesus, yet Jesus never yields to evil. He never strikes back, never fights evil with evil, he responds in love. In the end, he defeats all the forces of evil, establishing the kingdom of heaven. We can choose the kingdom focused on keeping power for the few on the backs of the many, or we can choose the kingdom of shalom for all rather than the few, the kingdom focused on following God’s desire for all creation. Do you choose Herod or Jesus as your king?

God works through dreams to Joseph and the Magi. The lives of the wise men, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus himself are spared because they paid attention to the dreams God sent. Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures to guide us to the child in the manger, the king whom wisemen worshipped; the Son of God come to save his people. 

Like Those Who Dreamed - Psalm 126; Luke 2:1-20

It’s Christmas! Some dream for a white Christmas, others for a Hawaiian Christmas. It’s a time of gift giving and a favourite time to get engaged, fulfilling dreams. So how does Psalm 126 fit into a day like today? James Mead writes, “Think of all the times we have heard someone say — or we ourselves have said — “I don’t know how I should feel during the holidays.” The mix of conflicting emotions and the memory of past blessings obscured by current crises can leave us feeling disconnected from our moorings. Psalm 126 … assures them that someone understands how they feel and, more importantly, can offer them hope.” Christmas is a time of hope and joy for most people, and I’ve had many of those joyous Christmases, but have also experienced loss and grief during Christmas; making Christmas a time of mixed and confusing feelings. 

Psalm 126 is a psalm of ascent, one of the psalms sung by the people as they travelled to Jerusalem. It’s a psalm of joy to the Lord for the favour he’s shown Israel in restoring them. It’s believed that this psalm was written after the return to Jerusalem after the 70 years of exile in Babylon. During those 70 years of slavery, the people could only dream of freedom and home. Now, as they travel the road home, “their mouths are filled with laughter and tongues with songs of joy.” 

The people know that this is something the Lord has done. It begins with Nehemiah hearing news from Jerusalem, Nehemiah 1:2–3, “Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” Nehemiah prays to the Lord to bring his people home again. Deuteronomy 2–3 was likely part of his prayer, reminding the Lord “and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.” 

God uses King Artaxerxes to restore Israel, allowing them to go home to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. Can you imagine the excitement and joy as the Israelites head home! The peoples’ dreams of going home are coming true. Our dreams always promise us more than we normally end up getting though. It’s hard; not everyone is able to go home, many stay behind in Babylon. Still God’s people celebrate. The nations around Israel make it hard for the Israelites, yet even they have to admit that Israel’s God is doing great things for his people. When the temple’s rebuilt, there’s celebration and yet the older people weep because it’s so much less than Solomon’s temple. Reality is much less than their dreams. The fortunes of Zion were never fully restored, even though they could go home, they still weren’t really free. The restoration is still incomplete. 

The psalmist knows this, “Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.” The Negev’s a desert. The streams in the Negev were undependable and relied on rainfall, which don’t happen often or regularly. The psalmist continues with this image, the tears of those who sow will nourish the dry soil so the seeds will grow and bring joy as they harvest the sheaves. Our hope this Christmas day is found in the coming of Jesus. We know that the sorrow and pain which is still part of our world, finds healing in the coming of Jesus.

On this Christmas Day, we celebrate with joy the coming of the Son of God who brings light into our darkness, and is the living water that nourishes our hearts and souls. We now experience the fulness of life that’s only found in the Messiah. Israel’s been dreaming for the coming of the Messiah for thousands of years and now the dreams are fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. In Luke, we see God sending angels to shepherds working in the fields, to an old priest, a young teen girl, and a righteous man, preparing them for the coming of the Messiah. There’s no place in the rest of Scripture where so many people in such a short time encounter God’s messengers at the same time. In each of the encounters, a message of good news is shared: The Messiah’s on his way! The people will be filled with joy as the dreams are fulfilled. Isaiah foretells, old men will dream dreams and young men see visions, signs that the kingdom of heaven is nearby. 

In the past 4 weeks, we’ve been given glimpses of the type of Messiah coming through the dreams of Jacob, Joseph, Solomon, and Daniel. Today we meet the Christ they’re pointing to: the bridge connecting us to God, the one to whom everyone will bow, the wisdom of God who comes to live with us, the rock that rolls in to establish the eternal kingdom of heaven. All their dreams become real, bringing “good news of great joy that will be for all the people, news of a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.”

Israel’s dreams come to life in Jesus. Jesus brings freedom from the oppression of sin, healing for their souls. He comes to restore the fortunes of his people, to restore their relationship with God, and to lead them to be the people God has called them to be among the nations. As followers of Jesus, we receive these gifts as well.

Pastor Peter Slofstra writes, “Does the news of Jesus' birth leave you wondering whether you are dreaming a dream that's too good to be true? Wonder no longer. The dreams and the reality are the same. The kind of glorious, terrifying, mind-boggling event that only seems possible in dreams has actually taken place. You are wide awake and Jesus the Savior has been born…. for from God's messenger we learn that all our dreams find their fulfillment in Jesus. And like the captives brought back to Zion and the shepherds returning to their fields, we are "like those who dream" (Ps. 126). The great fortune-restoring thing God has done for us through the birth of Jesus has "filled our mouths with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy."

Psalm 126 was sung as the people journeyed to Jerusalem. It inspired them to praise the Lord even when they knew that the temple, the city of Jerusalem, and their situation was still difficult; yet still they sang praise to the Lord. As we look at the world around us, as we reflect on our own dreams and situations, it’s still not the way many of us dream it should be, and yet we keep praising God, knowing that he’s in control and is working his plan of redemption and restoration of all creation. We look to the return of Jesus and the making of all things new again. We get glimpses of hope. I think of Christmas Eve 1914. The Imperial War Museum describes what happened, “Late on Christmas Eve 1914, men of the British Expeditionary Force heard German troops in the trenches opposite them singing carols and patriotic songs and saw lanterns and small fir trees along their trenches. Messages began to be shouted between the trenches. The following day, British and German soldiers met in no man's land and exchanged gifts, took photographs and some played impromptu games of football. They also buried casualties and repaired trenches and dugouts. After Boxing Day, meetings in no man's land dwindled out.” In the midst of war, the soldiers remember the hope of Jesus’ birth and for a moment enemies celebrate the coming of God with us. We live in the hope of Christmas day and Jesus’ return as the King of Peace.

We dream today for the glorious day of Jesus’ return. John writes in Revelation 21:2–5, “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” May your Christmas be filled with the joy and peace of our Lord!

The Rock that Really Rolls - Daniel 2:24-47

Daniel’s story echoes the stories of Jacob, Joseph, and Solomon in some interesting ways. Jacob’s and Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams are both about the connection between heaven and earth, Daniel’s given the ability to interpret dreams as was Joseph and both were called to interpret dreams for Gentile kings, and like Solomon, Daniel’s respected for his wisdom. 

Our story this morning begins a few verses earlier when King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and challenges his wisemen, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means. If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into pieces of rubble.” The wisemen can’t do it and the king orders their execution. It seems Daniel wasn’t there, as we read in verses 14-16, “When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.”

Daniel goes to God and God gives him the dream and its meaning. Daniel appears before the king and the king challenges him, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?” Daniel’s honest and tells the king that he can’t, but his God can and did, since God gave the king this dream. Daniel tells the king, “As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.” Daniel then tells the king his dream of the statue and the rock and its meaning. 

What a dream! Nebuchadnezzar saw a large statue with a head of gold, its chest and arms made of silver, with a belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet made up of a mixture of iron and clay. The statue changes from wealth to power to fragile. The shocking part of the dream is the rock, unlike the statue, is not cut out by human hands and strikes the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashes them, completely destroying the statue that the wind sweeps it away. Meanwhile the rock grows until it fills the whole earth. 

The king listens as Daniel tell him the dream, and Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that the king is the head of gold. But Daniel also tells Nebuchadnezzar that it wasn’t through his own power and ability that he’s this wealthy powerful king, but that Israel’s God has made him the king of kings with dominion and power and might and glory, ruler over all mankind and creatures. Daniel’s speaking spiritual truth into the power of the world. The language Daniel uses to describe Nebuchadnezzar echoes biblical language that points to Jesus, but with a huge difference, Jesus’ kingdom is eternal while Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom is not. This is a reminder and warning for God’s people to not put their faith in human rulers, for at some point they all fall or die. We’ve seen this in the fall of the government in Syria, the uncertainty in the governments of countries like Germany and France, and even our own Canadian government. There’s the temptation to look with fondness to the governments of other countries, but they too are only temporary.

There are mighty empires represented in the dream. Daniel tells the king, “You are the head.” We know Nebuchadnezzar’s followed by the Persian empire, the Grecian empire, and the Roman empire which becomes divided and ends up a mixture of iron and clay. The clay is a brittle type of clay used for earthenware, easily shattered. From a distance, the statue looks powerful, but as you come closer, the foundation’s weak, made up of human might and philosophies meant to help them hold onto power, but that clash with God’s will. 

It's an impressive statue pointing to impressive empires, but in the end, they’re crushed at the coming of the rock from heaven. The world’s kingdoms keep underestimating the power of the kingdom Daniel serves, the kingdom we often don’t pay enough attention to, a kingdom that will never be destroyed. The rock that Daniel describes is the kingdom of heaven which comes near in the coming of Jesus who calls us to, “Repent and believe, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” The statue becomes meaningless while the rock becomes everything! 

Jesus refers to himself as a stone on whom others will be destroyed. In Matthew 21, Jesus tells a parable of workers who kill the son of the owner so they can take over the vineyard, Jesus interprets the parable, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’ “Therefore, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”  Jesus is returning to establish his kingdom over the whole earth and those who cannot or will not accept him will be crushed. The infant in the manger becomes the Lord of all the universe. 

We were planning on celebrating the baptism of Peyton this morning, baptism is another encounter in this clash of kingdoms. In baptism, we make a choice for the kingdom of God over the kingdoms of this world. Baptism’s a sign and seal given to the church to remind us and strengthen us as followers of Jesus, reminding us of who we are and who God is. Heidelberg Catechism Q+A 70 teaches, “To be washed with Christ’s blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven our sins because of Christ’s blood poured out for us in his sacrifice on the cross. To be washed with Christ’s Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed and sanctified us to be members of Christ, so that more and more we become dead to sin and live holy and blameless lives.” Baptism reminds us that we’re members of Christ, members of the kingdom of heaven as we become dead to sin and live holy lives, set apart and our sins are washed away, a gift of grace.  

Baptism reminds us that we belong to Jesus. When we baptize children, we remember that God works first, choosing us before we can choose him. This is why, as parents and church, we promise to invest in, teach, and mentor them so that when they’re older, they’ll accept Jesus as their own Lord and saviour. We promise to help parents to raise their children to know Jesus as their king. It all starts with us truly accepting Jesus as our King of kings, taking seriously his call on our lives, shaping our lives, our beliefs, our values on him. To do this means regularly reading the Bible. For God’s Word to make a difference in our lives, studies by Barna and other groups shows we need to read Scripture 4-5 days each week. It takes regularly talking to God in prayer, even if it’s simply taking a few moments throughout the day to ask for his presence, wisdom, grace, and guidance. It worshipping regularly with your church family so you can worship God together, pray for and with each other, sharing how God’s working in your lives, encouraging each other.

Isaiah gives us glimpses of the kingdom of heaven. Isaiah 2:3–4 points to a kingdom of peace shaped by the law of the Lord, “Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” 

It’s a kingdom of righteousness where creation once again lives together as God originally intended, Isaiah 11:5–10, “Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

Nebuchadnezzar falls prostrate before Daniel, recognizing, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries.” In a place far from the Promised Land, a king of kings has a dream of the King of kings, the revealer of mysteries. God sends this pagan king a dream of a heavenly kingdom overcoming the world, echoing to Paul in Ephesians 3:6 “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” With the coming of Jesus, the rock appears and begins rolling its way into history, becoming the holy mountain where the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the goat, and Gentiles and Jews live together under the King of kings forever.

The Way of Wisdom - 1 Kings 3:4-15; 4:29-34; Luke 1:11-17

Thank you, children, for telling us all about Jesus’ birth and why he came. This morning we’re looking at another dream that also teaches us more about who Jesus is. Do you remember King Solomon? King Solomon ruled over Israel and when he was king, there were no wars, he was a king of peace. Later on, people waited for the Messiah who was going to bring peace to all the earth. Solomon’s name even means peace. King Solomon was known for his great wisdom, lots of people from all over the world came to learn from him.

When Solomon first becomes king, God comes to him in a dream and offers Solomon anything he wants! “Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.  So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” Solomon asks God for wisdom because he knows being king is going to be really hard. God’s happy with Solomon’s choice! Solomon knows that he needs God to give him wisdom to be a great king for God. He asks to be able to know right from wrong and to rule with wisdom and justice. He asks for the things we hope to see in our leaders; for the qualities that really only Jesus has perfectly. God gives Solomon the gift of wisdom and he becomes known around the world for his wisdom.

The Bible teaches that wisdom’s very important. There’s a whole book in the Bible called Proverbs that teaches wisdom, lots of it written by Solomon. In the Bible, God tells his people they have to choose between following him or idols, and when Jesus comes, to choose Jesus or reject him. In Proverbs 2, Solomon teaches us that there are two paths we can take: the path that leads to death and the path that leads to life. John the Baptist came to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus, who will bring many of the people of Israel back to God. Jesus teaches us in Matthew 7, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Wisdom is choosing to follow the path that Jesus has made for us to bring us back to God. 

The Apostle Paul shows us that Jesus is our wisdom, now this is a bit more for those a little older than you are, but you will learn it as you grow older. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom…. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”  

There’s a lot of talk about intelligence today, about knowing lots of things, but little talk about wisdom. Wisdom’s often seen as an old-fashioned concept. That’s because biblical wisdom is about knowing how to live well with God, with others, with creation, and with ourselves. There’s humbleness in wisdom, a willingness to listen and to learn from God’s Word as we study it together. People looking for wisdom today are told to try new things, push yourself past your comfort zone, talk to people you normally wouldn't talk to, being open-minded and reserve judgment, finding a mentor, and asking for help when you need it. 

Paul reminds us that true wisdom is found in Jesus. The ornaments in the tree remind us of God’s wisdom: a stable where God becomes human, nails and a cross where Jesus gives his life so we can have life with God.  Jesus has become our wisdom from God, wisdom where we find our righteousness, holiness, and redemption in Jesus who came to lead us back to God, and fulfil God’s promises to overthrow Satan’s power and influence, washing away our sin to restore our relationship with God; this is God’s wisdom! Solomon’s dream calls us to choose wisdom, wisdom rooted in Jesus and trust in God’s plan, walking the path that leads to life, seeking the kingdom of God. Will you choose the way of wisdom?

Every Knee Shall Bow - Genesis 37:1-11; Matthew 2:9-12; Philippians 2:6-11

Joseph is Jacob’s favourite child. Jacob gives Joseph a special gift, an ornate robe. The Hebrew word used points to a long robe that made it difficult to any kind of physical work, meaning that Joseph couldn’t do the physical, dirty jobs that youngest brothers normally had to do, like herding sheep or spending time in the fields. Jacob’s clearly showing everyone that he’s grooming Joseph to take over the family business. This doesn’t go over well with his older brothers. Then Joseph goes and brings his dad a bad report about them, and doesn’t seem to realize how this turns them against him even more. 

This is the context in which Joseph has his two dreams, both of them building on each other, pointing to Joseph gaining power over his brothers, leading to them bowing down to him. The brothers easily interpret the dreams when Joseph shares his dreams with them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” It’s not very surprising that they react with, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.” The sheaves are all equal, and then suddenly Joseph’s sheave is lifted up and made more important.

You’d think Joseph would sense the tension with their response, but then he has another dream and shares it with them again, “Listen, I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” Joseph tells his father his dreams and even Jacob rebukes him, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” His brothers are even more than angry, but Jacob’s experience and wisdom makes him keep Joseph’s dreams in mind, waiting to see if these dreams are from God, or just the dreams of a young man who desires importance and power.

These dreams fit with Jacob’s desire for Joseph to become the leader of the family through whom God’s blessings would flow. This is a story about power. Joseph, as the younger son, has no power in his own right, but his dreams point to him being raised up into a place of power. His brothers refuse to believe that they’ll kneel before him. Today, we live in a culture where kneeling before someone else is hard, it takes humility to acknowledge that someone else has power or authority that we’re called to acknowledge. Kneeling puts us in a position of vulnerability where our head is bowed, our eyes are on the ground and we cannot defend ourselves, having to trust in the goodness of the person we’re kneeling to. We struggle with pride, believing we know better; inside many of us believe we’re better than others, so bowing to someone grates against our pride. 

Jacob’s dream and history call us to listen carefully to Joseph's dreams; God’s doing something here through Jacob to move forward his plan of redeeming humanity and all creation. Jacob’s spoiling of Joseph leads to Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph’s story is a complicated journey into a place of importance in a household, yet ends up in prison because of a false charge by his master’s wife. In prison, Joseph again rises in importance and then becomes a dream interpreter for two other prisoners. His interpretation of their dreams later leads to him interpreting the dreams of Pharoah, who raises Joseph to second-in-command to save the Egyptians, and others, from a devastating famine. Joseph saves his own family from the famine and helps them settle into a place where they can grow and flourish. Because of the dreams of others, all from God, Joseph is raised up to a place of power and authority, fulfilling his own dreams. 

Through everything, Joseph keeps trusting in God and who God calls him to be, even when faced with temptation and persecution. When Joseph is raised up to a throne, Joseph uses his power to save, not only the Egyptians, but people from all nations who came seeking food during the long famine foretold in Pharoah’s dreams. When his brothers find themselves before Joseph, bowing before him, just like his dreams said would happen, Joseph offers forgiveness, recognizing God at work in it all. Genesis 45:5 and 7, "Do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.... God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” 

Joseph’s dreams point ahead to Jesus and how everything on earth and in heaven, will bow down to Jesus. The Lord, through Joseph, saves his people and brings them to a place of flourishing in Goshen. Likewise, Jesus comes as Lord of all to save his people, offering us forgiveness, freedom, and new life and renewed creation. The wise men are led by a heavenly sign to bow down to Jesus, pointing to the nations of the world coming to bow down to Jesus when Jesus returns to establish the kingdom of heaven over all creation. The wisemen kneel before Jesus, and worship him. They confess that Jesus has been sent by God, and recognize that his authority is divine and greater than any earthly king. 

Bowing the knee to Jesus and acknowledging his lordship and authority over our lives doesn’t always bring a comfortable life. Jesus took on the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness, born to Mary in a stable. Joseph’s faithfulness to God through the troubles of his life points to the faithfulness of Jesus to his Father’s will which leads him to the cross where he takes our sin and punishment on himself to save us from death. Just as Joseph is lifted up over his brothers, so Jesus is raised up over all creation, “God exalts Jesus to the highest place and gave him the name that us above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus is not a ceremonial king like King Charles, he’s the king of power even in the manger. When we bow before Jesus, we’re bowing to the creator and saviour of the universe, the one to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given, the King of kings before whom all other kings will bow. Herod, along with every other ruler in our world, will have to humble themselves before Jesus at some point, along with all of us. The rulers of the world promise us all kinds of things, but they cannot save us, they cannot give us new life, or a full life, the only ruler who can is Jesus.

Jesus is divine, this calls us to a deep level of commitment and trust to live in obedience to Jesus’ commands. We seek to imitate Jesus in his humility, when in the Garden of Gethsemane, he turns to the Father with the cross before him and commits himself to the Father’s plan, saying, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Our culture will turn against us, it always does, as Joseph and Jesus both experienced. When we bow our knee to Jesus, we choose his will over ours, we chose his right over wrong, we turn from selfishness and pride to humility and obedience, we obey the call to be holy, to be pure in our minds, hearts, and bodies, we work hard to love God, our neighbours, and even our enemies, but it won’t always be easy, as the gulf between our culture and church is growing larger. 

In Philippians 2, Paul calls us to remember who we are as children of God, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”  Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” We find the strength to work out our salvation and to live in obedience to God through the regular study of Scripture, through making prayer central to our day, and in the gathering together to worship, as it keeps us focused on Jesus and away from ourselves.

Are you willing to bow the knee to Jesus, to respond to the call of Jesus, working out your salvation through making Jesus first in your lives, doing his will, and living according to his purposes over your own, trusting in Jesus’ will for your lives? Join together in committing ourselves and our families to following Jesus with the confession of Joshua, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”