1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,960 Okay, my name is Greg, one of the pastors here at the house and we are in our fourth 2 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:15,880 Sunday of our Advent series and we have gone over hope, we've looked at peace, we've been 3 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:24,240 reminded of joy and today we need to be reminded of love. 4 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:31,200 Alright, so are you a difficult person to buy a gift for? 5 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:35,520 I'm a little tempted, I won't actually do this, but I think, imagine creating a line 6 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:41,320 of people from one side to the other on a scale of easy to difficult to buy for. 7 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:45,440 I don't know exactly where I would be in that line, but I can tell you right now that I 8 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:50,000 am definitely on the side of difficult to buy for. 9 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:57,160 I'm difficult to buy for because I'm the guy that buys things throughout the year. 10 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:03,760 I'm not like fancy, so most of the things that I like are 20, 30, 40 bucks, like you 11 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,440 know, there is inflation, so a flat bill hat, a really good one might be like $45 these 12 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:13,280 days, so maybe I'll buy myself one or two of those in a year, but if something is 20, 13 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:18,360 30 bucks, it's not that big of a deal to just pick that up on a random Tuesday in June, 14 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:24,000 that then just makes it harder for people when it comes around to Christmas morning. 15 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,560 And if I didn't already get it for myself, it's probably because it's just too expensive 16 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:34,040 and no one else needs to spend that much money on me. 17 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:38,800 But as difficult as it can be to buy a gift for me, every now and then someone will give 18 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:44,100 me something that just blows me away. 19 00:01:44,100 --> 00:01:51,560 For instance, this past May, Cindy and I celebrated 20 years of marriage and after 20 years, we 20 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:58,080 are on at least our fourth full set of plates and bowls. 21 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:01,920 Can anyone relate? 22 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:11,400 And this right here, this is one of the bowls from our very first set of dishes. 23 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:18,480 This by a brand called Denby, I remember adding these to our wedding registry with Cindy. 24 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:24,000 I liked them because I love pottery, because I did a pottery a lot when I was in high school, 25 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,360 a little bit in college, I still do a little bit at home now. 26 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:33,500 And while these are surely mass produced, they feel earthy. 27 00:02:33,500 --> 00:02:37,000 They look simple, they're plain, but beautiful. 28 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:42,200 Of course, as you move a few times and have kids and dinners and events and just live 29 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,760 life, what happens? 30 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:45,760 They break. 31 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:51,080 Bowls break, plates crack, and you end up with an incomplete set. 32 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,240 And so it was probably 12 or 13 years ago. 33 00:02:55,240 --> 00:03:01,000 I don't, I even asked Cindy, we couldn't pinpoint exactly what Christmas it was, but we were 34 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,920 home, we didn't live here anymore, but we were back, we were at my parents' house, everyone 35 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:10,240 was over for Christmas morning, we're opening presents, and it was my turn to open something 36 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,480 and it was kind of a heavy little box. 37 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:17,960 And I opened this box and now I don't remember asking for bowls. 38 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:22,680 I would never have asked for bowls for Christmas. 39 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,320 But I was overwhelmed. 40 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:34,080 I cried when I opened a box that had replacement bowls for the ones that had been broken. 41 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:42,840 Because as it turns out, I really did want bowls for Christmas. 42 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:48,880 I just didn't know that I needed them. 43 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:54,520 Now many years and many more moves and more kids and more events and dinners and celebrations 44 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:59,260 we are again, many more broken bowls later. 45 00:03:59,260 --> 00:04:03,000 This is one of only two that remain. 46 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:14,680 Of the original set of eight that then was replenished. 47 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:20,120 They don't make these anymore. 48 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,960 And so we know we're not going to be opening any more of these up, right? 49 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:33,760 There won't be any more surprised Denby bowls on Christmas morning, but these bowls, particularly 50 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:42,880 those extra bowls, were one of the best, most thoughtful gifts I've ever been given. 51 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:47,760 Because they weren't just bowls, they were a gift that was given with the kind of insight 52 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,640 that only comes from love. 53 00:04:51,640 --> 00:05:00,400 The kind of love that knows what you need or what you really want even when you don't. 54 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:06,680 So with that in mind, let's open up our Bibles. 55 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:11,560 Let's look at the scriptures together. 56 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:16,280 We're going to be in the book of Matthew chapter two. 57 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:20,760 Matthew is the very first book in what's called the New Testament because Matthew, Mark, Luke, 58 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,040 John, Acts, Romans. 59 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,040 If you find any of those, you know you're in the right neighborhood. 60 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:27,880 If you don't have a Bible, we have some in the lobby you can have. 61 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:29,800 They're on the bookshelf right there in the middle of the lobby. 62 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:34,040 Otherwise download one from any of the digital app stores. 63 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:36,600 We have a tradition of giving the scriptures our full attention. 64 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:38,960 You can do that in any number of ways. 65 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:41,520 One of the ways is to stand if you are able. 66 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:45,320 And so if you would like to stand as you were able with me as I read the scriptures, let's 67 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:50,480 do that now as I begin to read from Matthew chapter two. 68 00:05:50,480 --> 00:06:00,120 Says this, two verse 13, when the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph 69 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:01,120 in a dream. 70 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:02,120 Get up, he said. 71 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:04,520 Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. 72 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:09,240 Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. 73 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:13,920 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt where 74 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:16,560 he stayed until the death of Herod. 75 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:19,400 And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet. 76 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:21,160 Out of Egypt, I called my son. 77 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:26,520 Now verse 19, after Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in 78 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:31,840 Egypt and said, get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel for 79 00:06:31,840 --> 00:06:35,200 those who were trying to take the child's life for dead. 80 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,440 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 81 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:43,640 But when he heard that Archelius was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he 82 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:45,120 was afraid to go there. 83 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,800 And having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 84 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:52,280 And he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. 85 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:56,240 So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets that he would be called the Nazarene. 86 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,600 Let us pray. 87 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:04,480 God of every tribe, every tongue, every color, every nation, we thank you for your scriptures 88 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:08,520 that they exist, that they have persisted throughout the millennia, that we can still 89 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:09,760 read them and learn from them. 90 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:13,720 And whatever you have for us to learn today, I pray that it would stick. 91 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,540 Pray that it would become part of the framework of our faith, that our faith would become 92 00:07:17,540 --> 00:07:21,440 stronger as we become more like your son Jesus. 93 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:22,440 Amen. 94 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:23,440 Amen. 95 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:25,440 Thanks for all you can have a seat. 96 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:30,720 Alright, so by the time Joseph is picking up his family and fleeing to Egypt, they've 97 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:35,560 already experienced a number of unexpected turns in their story, right? 98 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:41,280 Mary as a virgin, promised to be married to Joseph, is told by an angel that she will 99 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,080 give birth to the Savior. 100 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:49,320 Then she's told that her cousin Elizabeth, who was thought to be beyond childbearing 101 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:55,880 years is also pregnant, is going to give birth to the forerunner of the Messiah, John the 102 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:56,880 Baptist. 103 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:01,880 And then Joseph finding out that his wife-to-be is pregnant before they consummate their marriage. 104 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:06,820 He puts a plan together to dissolve their marriage peacefully, to try and preserve whatever 105 00:08:06,820 --> 00:08:14,040 cultural dignity that he could for both her, him, then an angel visits him. 106 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:21,000 Tells him to trust that Mary is in fact the first person in history to get pregnant without 107 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,880 scans room for small children having sex. 108 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:30,320 And then there's the census called. 109 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,480 So they have to go to Bethlehem. 110 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:40,040 While they are far from home, Mary gives birth in Bethlehem. 111 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:46,920 And then shepherds, uninvited shepherds, just suddenly start filling the house because 112 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:54,080 angels had told them where to find this Jesus and then Magi show up having followed a star 113 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:59,720 from the east and bring Jesus gold and frankincense and myrrh. 114 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:04,400 And then when they're already not living where they imagined that they would be, an angel 115 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:09,440 tells Joseph to pick up and run. 116 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,000 Because a jealous king wants to take the life of their child. 117 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:13,280 And so they do. 118 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:15,800 They run and they escape to Egypt. 119 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:21,120 And years later, even when an angel tells them that they can come back to Israel, Joseph 120 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:27,200 still doesn't feel like it's safe in a certain area and region because of another violent 121 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:28,200 ruler. 122 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:33,360 And so he takes the family back to Nazareth. 123 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:34,360 Way up north. 124 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:42,040 If you look at a map of Israel, Nazareth, the region of Galilee is far north. 125 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:47,880 Far from Jerusalem, far from the hustle and bustle, far from the politics, far from the 126 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:55,040 center of the religious rulers, further into where they thought we can keep this child 127 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:58,160 safe. 128 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:02,880 Maybe it feels fair to ask from our perspective. 129 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:07,440 Isn't there another time that Jesus could have come? 130 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:12,040 When there would have been fewer bumps built in? 131 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:15,120 When kings wouldn't have been trying to kill him? 132 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:21,000 But if we're honest with ourselves, we then say when? 133 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:28,720 When has our world not been the home to violence and the lust for power from earthly men? 134 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:35,040 I think the reality is that no matter what year God chose for Jesus to be born, the story 135 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:36,640 would have been the same. 136 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:42,840 And that is the point because it is for love that Jesus entered our violent world as a 137 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:44,960 vulnerable child. 138 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:52,240 He didn't enter the world like this bull. 139 00:10:52,240 --> 00:11:00,680 This bull has been fired, then glazed, and then fired again at extremely high temperatures 140 00:11:00,680 --> 00:11:05,560 because it makes it strong. 141 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:09,080 Call it stoneware for a reason. 142 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:12,600 Still breakable as we know, but it is strong. 143 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:17,080 Only having two of these left after all of these years does not speak to how fragile 144 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:18,160 these bulls are. 145 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:23,080 It speaks to just how much these bulls can take. 146 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:29,080 Because I have a house of six people, four of them are boys. 147 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:36,200 Now, Jesus arrived like this bull. 148 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:37,840 This is just clay. 149 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:39,880 It's never been fired. 150 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:41,640 This is very similar. 151 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:50,440 This one was thrown, dried, fired in a bisque, a bisque firing, then dipped and glazed. 152 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:52,280 That is literally glass. 153 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:55,760 And then fired again to make it even stronger. 154 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,880 I can hit this on the table and nothing is going to happen to it as long as it's within 155 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:00,880 reason. 156 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:05,000 No, Jesus came into the world like this. 157 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,080 Unfired. 158 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:11,960 Just simple. 159 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:17,160 If I dropped it on this table, it would crack. 160 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:24,360 If not break into many pieces. 161 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:37,720 This is how Jesus came into the world because this is us. 162 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:43,600 The word became flesh and dwelled among us, Eugene Peterson wrote in the message. 163 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:47,760 The word became flesh and blood and moved into our neighborhood. 164 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:50,600 It came like us. 165 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:55,800 Mary didn't carry an invincible God in her womb. 166 00:12:55,800 --> 00:13:00,880 She carried a vulnerable fetus like an impressionable ball of clay. 167 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:06,160 And when Jesus was born, Joseph listened to the Lord and he picked up this little, easily 168 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:11,840 broken bowl and he did everything that he could, everything a good father does to keep 169 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:20,560 this baby safe because this child was the gift that he didn't know. 170 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:25,280 He needed. 171 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:29,600 So he wrapped Jesus up and he carried him to Egypt. 172 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:34,320 Then after years, he carefully brought him back to Israel, carefully choosing where they 173 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:44,120 should live that this child might be safe from the persecution of violent men. 174 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:50,880 Over the years, Jesus grew, Joseph and Mary filled Jesus with the laws of the Lord, with 175 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:52,120 the scriptures. 176 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:58,160 They taught him the way of following Yahweh, the God of Israel, his father in heaven for 177 00:13:58,160 --> 00:13:59,200 love. 178 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:08,000 They kept him safe because like any of us, Jesus was fragile. 179 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,640 When he grew up, people didn't want Jesus to be fragile. 180 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:14,880 People didn't want him to be earthen. 181 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:16,440 They wanted him to be hardened. 182 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:18,800 They wanted him to be fired. 183 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:26,320 They wanted him to have weapons and armor. 184 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:30,880 That is the gift that they had been asking for. 185 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:36,040 They wanted something that would never break and would in turn break all the things that 186 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:39,320 had been breaking them. 187 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:45,240 God gave them something unexpected, what they didn't know they needed, a savior with flesh 188 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:51,520 and bone that would bleed when beaten and die when crucified. 189 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:56,320 Messiah that instead of defeating emperors and kings with swords and slings would take 190 00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:03,400 the violence of this world on his shoulders and bring this peace, hope, joy, and the love 191 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:10,440 that was needed, that we need. 192 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:19,640 God so loved the world that just the right time, he gave us something that could be broken. 193 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:27,360 Not what we asked for, but what we need, a king that feels what we feel, that bleeds 194 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:40,640 like we bleed, that breaks like we break. 195 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,560 Because he is love. 196 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:51,960 So that we can love. 197 00:15:51,960 --> 00:16:06,440 Because on the night that this child grown into man was betrayed to death on a cross, 198 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:21,920 he took something that represented himself, would be broken, and he broke it. 199 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:26,680 Today I want to ask, I want to honor my mother who is here today, if my mom and my dad will 200 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,440 help me pass out the communion today. 201 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:37,320 Mom will you hand it out to this side, if my father will hand it out to this side. 202 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:48,920 I grew up in a church that did communion once a quarter, and in that church only men could 203 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:52,960 pass out the communion. 204 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:57,480 So today we receive the body and the blood of Christ. 205 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:10,320 You just carry those around, just give one to each person. 206 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:20,480 And as these come around, let your heart reflect on your own brokenness, and on the way that 207 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:31,760 Jesus allowed himself to be broken, and on the ways that because of that love, that you 208 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:45,200 are made whole in a new way, an unexpected way, in some ways an unasked for way, but 209 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:54,760 the way that is truly needed. 210 00:17:54,760 --> 00:18:06,740 There is nothing in the body today that is broken. 211 00:18:06,740 --> 00:18:20,140 There is nothing in God's body but you. 212 00:18:20,140 --> 00:18:40,620 On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread and he broke it. 213 00:18:40,620 --> 00:18:42,180 He blessed it. 214 00:18:42,180 --> 00:18:44,700 He said, take, eat. 215 00:18:44,700 --> 00:18:47,020 This is my body. 216 00:18:47,020 --> 00:18:48,020 Let us take. 217 00:18:48,020 --> 00:18:49,020 Let us eat. 218 00:18:49,020 --> 00:19:00,740 In the same manner, after the meal, he took the cup and he said, this is a cup of a new 219 00:19:00,740 --> 00:19:05,100 covenant is my blood, just poured out for the forgiveness of many. 220 00:19:05,100 --> 00:19:09,100 Whenever you drink, whenever you eat, do so in remembrance of me. 221 00:19:09,100 --> 00:19:13,620 Let us drink. 222 00:19:13,620 --> 00:19:22,140 Jesus, we thank you for allowing yourself to be broken. 223 00:19:22,140 --> 00:19:27,060 Father, thank you for leading your son into this moment. 224 00:19:27,060 --> 00:19:36,140 Spirit, thank you for leading us into our belief and faith in Jesus Christ. 225 00:19:36,140 --> 00:19:45,340 Find us that we are only whole in as much as we are found in you. 226 00:19:45,340 --> 00:20:06,380 Amen.