Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2004 : December 26, 2004
Long Live the King
Christmas 1
In a number of countries in Europe that had or still have monarchies, when the king would die, the people would say: "The king is dead. Long live the king!" Doesn’t that seem a little contradictory? At first this might sound strange because it sounds like they're talking about the same person. But they weren't. They were saying, "Long live the king," not about the king who had just died, but about his successor to the throne. When you think about all the intrigue and fighting for the throne that often went on behind the scenes, you can see why the people said this. They needed stability and strength from the throne. They couldn't afford to be leaderless, so they immediately showed their support for the new king. "Long live the king!"
We see a similar thing happening in our text. One king was about to die -- king Herod, and another King was on the scene -- Jesus. But they were totally different kings, as we shall see. The whole point is: God saved Jesus' life already as he was only a baby and small child, so that Jesus could save the world. Long live the king!
Ah, Christmas. It's a magical time of year. You've heard once again about Mary and Joseph. You've heard about the shepherds who were dazzled by an angel who told them that the Savior of the world had been born. And then the whole sky was filled with angels praising God. So the shepherds ran to find Mary and Joseph and the "little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay." These characters and the story leave us with a warm and fuzzy feeling. But your warm, fuzzy feeling begins to fade when you start to scratch the surface of the Christmas story and dig a little deeper. Then you see the danger and deceit and murder that are parts of the dark side of the Christmas story.
What was so dangerous? Well, how did Mary and Joseph get to Bethlehem in the first place? They didn't get in their Mercedes and make it in under an hour. It would have taken them days or weeks to make the 120-mile trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Do you think Joseph was very happy about that? Do you think Mary was in any condition for that? She was 9 months pregnant -- with God!
Second, it would have been nice if Joseph had called ahead and made reservations. But, sure enough, they get there and all the hotels are booked solid. Do you think that could have added to their stress level a bit?
And then add to that the fact that Mary starts going into labor. If you were in the same situation, do you think a dirty barn would have been calling out to you as the perfect place for your wife to have her first child? Today it makes national news if a baby is born in a car or at home. Many children don't make it even today because they are born in unsanitary conditions. It wasn't a sterile environment to have a child in a barn. Wasn't your typical birthing center.
Well, the baby is born and survives! And then all of a sudden you have some local villagers who want to join the party. But you're happy because you know the Lord has been with you through all this danger.
Eventually you are able to find a small house to live in, and things settle down for a year or so. Then you have some very strange visitors -- wise men from some country out east come to worship your child. They present him with very precious gifts which will come in handy. But what you didn't know is that they aroused the anger of King Herod who wants nothing better than to kill your new child. This is the same King Herod who killed his own brothers because they were a threat to his throne. So early on Jesus' enemies show themselves, and show that they will stop at nothing to kill him. That shouldn't surprise us, though. In fact, God predicted it. In Psalm 2 God says, "The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One."
But even in these dark and dangerous times for Jesus, God was there to protect him to make sure the newborn king would be safe. So we read in our text: "When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. 'Get up,' he said, 'take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.' So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt." Herod murders all the boys in and around Bethlehem two years old and under to make sure he kills this new threat to his throne, but God saved his Son by having Mary and Joseph use their new-found wealth to get them to Egypt and back. All of this is part of God's plan. Matthew tells us it fulfilled a prophecy from Hosea: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
So it's amazing that Christmas even happened in the first place -- and it often doesn't happen for us now. Are you still stressed about all the trappings that come with Christmas? The presents that now have to be returned, the parties, the food, and so on can raise our stress levels quite a bit. Now you know why Christmas time sees the most depression and suicides. So you need to remember, at especially the darkest of times, God is with you also, guiding you and protecting you. How many angels are guarding and protecting you right now? How many are in this room right now? Quite a few. God's Word says, "Cast all your cares on God because he cares for you." It also says that he sends his mighty angels to guard you in all your ways. God took care of Jesus' enemies, and he will take care of your enemies as well. Trust him to do that, especially when things get so dark in your life.
God will guard and protect you in life because of his love for you, and because he wants you to show your love back to him. And the main reason we show our love back to him is because of what God's Son Jesus would do for us. God saved Jesus' life so that Jesus could save the world.
Joseph brought Jesus back to the promised Land after an angel appeared to him to tell him that those who were trying to kill Jesus are dead. Perhaps there were others besides Herod who were trying to kill Jesus, but God took care of them all. But now other enemies of Jesus appeared -- Herod's son Archelaus. That reminds us that the devil is always looking for more opportunities to thwart God's plan and purpose. Joseph is afraid. But God intervenes again. He again guides Joseph in the next step -- he should take Jesus to Nazareth. And again, not only does this save Jesus' life, but it also fulfills prophecy: "He will be called a Nazarene."
The interesting thing about this prophecy is that it isn't found in the Old Testament, at least not in those words. Nazareth is never mentioned in the Old Testament. But obviously Matthew tells us this was still a prophecy that was fulfilled. So we think that either it was oral prophecy that was transmitted by mouth through the ages until Matthew recorded its fulfillment, or that it fulfills Scripture because we find that Nazareth was a nothing town, a despised place. Even one of Jesus' own future disciples would say about Nazareth and the prophet who came from there: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" And Philip's reply to him was, "Wait and see."
And Nathanael and the rest of the disciples and the world would see what good would come from Jesus of Nazareth. He wouldn't attempt an easy road. He faced death and danger and temptation and ridicule head on in order to save us. He even would endure the pain and torture of the cross -- and worse yet, the torture of hell itself as he was on the cross. But he did it all to be our Savior and King. You can be sure that any and every sin you've ever committed has been forgiven. God saved Jesus so Jesus could save the world, including you.
That helps you deal with the challenges you are facing right now. Today we heard about how God was always there to protect and comfort Jesus' family when they had to go to a foreign land. God will do the same for you throughout your life, no matter what form and shape that foreign land might take. Jesus often leads us into unknown territory. We find ourselves in uncharted waters. But that's what Christmas is about, letting Jesus take our hand and lead us along our journey.
And the way that Jesus takes your hand might be through the help of someone else. I recently heard a story about a church worker that changed his life. The church worker wasn't very happy to hear that folks in his congregation were doing services at a nursing home because he thought he had better things to do than to be there. But he decided to try it one week. He was in the back with his arms folded as his members were doing their thing up front. All of a sudden, someone was tugging at his arm. He looked down, and here was this old man in a wheelchair. He took hold of the old man's hand and the old man held his hand all during the service. The next month that was repeated. The next month, the next month, and the next month. Then one month the old man wasn't there. The deacon inquired and he was told, "Oh, he's down the hall, right hand side, third door. He's dying. He's unconscious." The man went and there were tubes and wires hanging out all over the place. He took the man's hand and prayed for the man and for God's mercy for him. As soon as he finished the prayer, the old man squeezed the church worker's hand. Then the old man died. As the church worker was leaving the room, he bumped into a woman. She said, "My father's been waiting for you. He said that he didn't want to die until he had the chance to hold the hand of Jesus one more time. You see, my father would say that once a month Jesus came to this place. 'He would take my hand and he would hold my hand for a whole hour. I don't want to die until I have the chance to hold the hand of Jesus one more time.' "
That might be an example of unfamiliar territory -- but it doesn't have to be a nursing home. It could just as easily be a neighbor's home, or at school or at work, or it could be through a more generous spirit you have that might help others. That might be a foreign land to us right now, but realize that God works directly at times, as he did when he saved Jesus by using angels. He uses angels today as well. And he also will use you to be the comfort someone needs right now because we can be the hand of Jesus that brings them to see who Jesus is and how he has saved them. And so we can say, "Long live the King!" He lives to comfort us, so we can comfort others. That gives us more than the warm fuzzies. It gives us pardon and peace from God himself. And it gives direction and purpose to our lives as we now live for the King. Amen.
