What we’re going to
do this morning is meditate on a bit of Scripture. As I’ve told you before, the
Bible never commands that you read your Bible every day, though that’s a fine
thing to do. But it does command you to meditate on it. Now, I say all that to
make clear how important meditating on the Scriptures is. But don’t think that
meditating on Scripture has to be anything complicated. It’s simply asking
questions of the text and then doing what you can to answer those questions.
Sometimes you’ll be able to come up with some really good answers and sometimes
all you end up with are more questions, questions that will have to wait for
some answers. In any event, it’s good to develop this discipline. Remember the
example of the man in Psalm 1.
but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1.2
This morning we’re
going to meditate on a text of Scripture that I know you are familiar with. I
know that because I’ve preached on this same text every Advent for the last
several years. And more than likely, I’ll preach on it again in future Advent
seasons also. There’s plenty here to meditate on.
So, here’s the text.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). Matthew 1.22-23
We’re going to take
another look at the biblical idea of Immanuel, the presence of God with us. And
I’ll tell you why we’re once again taking a look at this. It’s because this is
the heart of the Gospel.
The goal of the
Gospel is not that our sins would be forgiven. And the goal isn’t that we might
end up in heaven instead of hell. And it’s not even that we might follow Jesus.
Those are great things that the Gospel gives us, but they are not the goal of the
Gospel. They are means to the goal. But the goal itself is for us to be able to
once again enjoy those pleasant afternoon strolls with God in the lush Garden.
The goal is God’s presence with us, Immanuel. So, you see, the point of Jesus’
Advent is that God might be with us and we with Him.
Now, we’re ready to
ask some questions of the text. So, here’s the first question. Why do we enjoy
this presence of God?
Here’s one good
answer to that: grace. It is so important that you understand that the presence
of God with us is a gift of His kind grace. That is the only reason that we are
able to enjoy it. Grace. You did nothing to make you stand out so that God would
decide to give you this gift. You were just like the many other sinners who do
not have this gift and never will. God just decided to include you. It’s a gift
of His grace.
Now, holding on to
this is important for many reasons. But here’s just one. It will help you to
believe that doing something stupid doesn’t disqualify you from continuing to
enjoy this gift. Let’s be honest. We do lots of stupid things. We sin a bunch.
And it’s also a fact that we don’t see most of our stupidity. But every once in
a while, we do see it. And there are times when we think, ‘Even God can’t stand
me now. I have completely forfeited any claim to any of His blessings,
especially His presence with me’. And then we go into a tailspin. Well, the
fact of the matter is that you haven’t forfeited any claim to His presence. And
the reason for that is obvious. You don’t forfeit it because of something you
do since you never earned it by something you do. It was never yours because
you were so good. It’s yours as a gift. God graciously gives it to people whom
He knows will do stupid things.
So, when you
actually notice one of your sins, don’t go into a tailspin. Just be honest with
God. Admit what you did. No excuses. No minimizing. And then, come again to
Jesus and ask for forgiveness for what you did and for change so that you won’t
do it again, or at least that you’ll make some progress toward the goal of not
doing it again.
So, there’s one
answer to our question, ‘Why do we enjoy this presence of God?’ It’s a gift of
God’s kind grace.
But, ‘why questions’
being what they are, there is also another answer to that question.
We enjoy the
presence of God because we need it. We are helpless without Him. God knows
that, and it is by His presence that He deals with that problem. Now, let’s be
clear about this word ‘helpless’. It doesn’t mean that you can handle most of
life but need a little assist, here and there. Helpless means helpless. It’s
you-need-to-get-out-of-your-house-since-it’s-on-fire-but-your-body-is-completely-paralyzed
kind of helpless. To think otherwise is just being arrogant and blind to
reality.
Here’s something to
look at to find out if you see yourself as helpless as you actually are: your
prayers. Are your prayers an occasional, ‘Father, I could use a little assist
on this problem’? Or are they a desperate and daily, ‘Father, if You don’t get
me through life I won’t make it’? God knows how helpless you are. He is the
kind of God who helps helpless people. And that’s why, in the Gospel, He
promises His presence with you. The promise of Immanuel is for helpless people.
Let’s move on.
Here’s another answer to our question, ‘Why do we enjoy this presence of God?’
He wants to take care of you. He wants to love you. But He doesn’t do that from
a distance. No, He walks through life with you to protect you, direct you and
correct you. He walks with you because He cares.
But there are too
many ways that this can be misunderstood. There are those who will tell you
that since God is with you, life will be smooth. Everything will fall into
place without much ado. Now, you all know that that is simply ridiculous. Life
is hard. And only dishonest people or those who are trying to hide from reality
say otherwise.
But it’s important
to remember that life is hard for a reason. It’s actually because of Immanuel
that life is hard. It’s God’s presence that creates the hardships. There are
some important things that we need to learn, things that we need to grasp down
deep. But because of our sin, we don’t do well learning those lessons. That’s
when our caring God acts. That’s when the props are knocked out from under us
so that we are able to see reality more clearly, we are able to learn the
lesson. There are so many things that cloud our vision, so many things. It just
might be that what we need is a shock to our system so we can see straight.
It’s God’s presence with us, God’s caring presence with us, that will bring
about that shock so that we will understand what we need to. So, life won’t be
smooth, not for the faithful Christian. But life will be good. And the reason
is Immanuel.
To be sure, many
wicked people have smooth lives. You should read Psalm 73 where the psalmist
notices what he calls ‘the prosperity of the wicked’ and describes it quite
well. Life for them can be really smooth. But don’t be envious, like that
psalmist was at first. Remember what he came to see.
But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Psalm 73.16-17
So, be careful. And
it’s not just a matter of not envying them. Don’t even try for what they strive
for. Don’t aim for a smooth and easy life. Don’t. Because of God’s gracious
presence with you, life will be hard. But that just means that life will be good
because you will understand better how life works.
Okay. So, are we
done with our first question and ready to move on to another? No, not yet.
There’s another answer to, ‘Why do we enjoy this presence of God?’ We enjoy it
because we are part of the group. I get this from one of those little, but ever
so significant, words that are in the Bible. Listen again and see if you can
tell which little word I’m thinking about.
and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).
The little but
significant word is ‘us’. I think that it’s fair to say that most American
Christians hear the Immanuel principle as ‘God with me’. To be sure, He is with each of us individually. That’s an
important fact. But He is with each of us individually because He is with us as
a group, His Church. The promise of this text is for the group. It applies to
all who are a part of the group. So, can we say that if someone is estranged
from the group, separated from the Church, he or she doesn’t enjoy this
promised presence of God? Interesting question.
Okay, now are we
done? Well, I’m sure that there are still other answers to this ‘Why?’ question
tucked away in the Scriptures, but we’ll stop with this much. There are other
different questions to ask in order to meditate on this part of Scripture. But I’ll
leave that to you.
I do, however, want
to pose a practical question. ‘So, why don’t we enjoy more this presence of
God?’ There really is much to enjoy when it comes to Immanuel. But, again,
let’s be honest. All too often, we don’t find ourselves enjoying it. There are
times when we just don’t feel it. Why is that? The answer is simple. We don’t
believe the Gospel. We don’t believe what the Gospel of Jesus promises when it
comes to Immanuel, God is with us.
Think about it. How
often do we believe in ourselves instead of in Jesus? We find ourselves in a
tight spot, facing some sort of difficulty and so often what we tell ourselves
is that we can handle this. We just need to try harder. That trying harder might
include doing religious things, but it’s still us depending on our trying
harder. We depend on ourselves when we should be - and can be - depending on
Him. And what is that? It’s unbelief. In that moment we don’t believe in the
Gospel. We don’t believe in Immanuel.
The key here is
holding on to the basics when it comes to believing the Gospel. And here is one
of the most basic of those basics. We are helpless. It’s out of that sense of
helplessness that we pray. ‘Father, You are with me. I believe that. It’s
because I believe that that I’m calling out to You. I need Your help.’ It’s a
clear grasp of our helplessness that is so very basic to all of this.
But what if you see
that you don’t believe that you are helpless, especially in certain kinds of
situations? What do you do then? Please, don’t opt for the ‘I have to try
harder’ foolishness. What do you do? Well, you know this. You confess that sin
and pray for forgiveness and for change. And the change that you want is to see
more clearly how helpless you really are. That’s when the thought of Immanuel
becomes so precious.
God has come in
Jesus to help the helpless, to help us. That’s what we celebrate during Advent.
And as we do celebrate that, the Spirit gives us some great Christmas gifts,
things like hope and peace in the face of a world gone crazy. So, I will end
this morning where I often end. Believe the Gospel. That’s how you can live
well and make God look as good as He really is.
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