Mild, Obedient, Good as He?

Mild, Obedient, Good as He?

First after Epiphany

Collect: O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of they people who call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to do the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Gospel: St. Luke 2:41-52

41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.

42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.

43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.

44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.

45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.

46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Every year the Festival of Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge begins with “Once in Royal David’s City,” by children’s hymnwriter, Cecil Frances Alexander. Two lines teach that “Christian children all must be mild, obedient, good as he.” Charles Wesley also wrote a children’s hymn that addresses our Lord as “gentle Jesus, meek and mild.”

I have a question. Was Jesus mild?

1. Jesus at Jerusalem

1.1. The Old Testament Law commanded that Jewish males appear before the Lord in Jerusalem: “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths” (Deuteronomy 16:16). Joseph went every year to Passover, the celebration of God’s working salvation for Israel by delivering them from slavery in Egypt.

1.2. Women were not required, though not forbidden to attend. Mary accompanied Joseph every year. The one way trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem was about 62 miles and took about 3 days. People often travelled to and from Jerusalem in caravans.

1.3. Jesus may have gone with his parents every year, but St. Luke tells us about his going with them when he was 12 years old. The next year he would turn 13, the year when he would no longer be a boy, but a “son of commandment,” a full member of the synagogue. Parents were encouraged to take their sons to Jerusalem, at least once before he turned 13, as part of his preparation for assuming the religious privileges and responsibilities of an adult male member of the synagogue.

1.4. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus took seriously the life of faith, which involved both the heart attitude and the practice Old Testament worship. We might summarize this for us as, “Love God; go to church.” It is not enough to go to church, to participate in public worship, and to engage in devotional practices at home, if we do not in our hearts love God. On the other hand, it will not do to love God but not to engage in worship and the practice of our faith. A husband cannot choose between loving his wife and taking out the garbage. He must do both. So in practice of our faith we need both the devotion of our hearts and the practice of our faith, especially in worship.

2. Jesus at the Temple

2.1 The Festival Jesus and his parents attended lasted 8 days, the Day of Passover and the following 7 days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. When that year’s visit was over, Joseph and Mary started out on the trip home. They had traveled a day and were one third of the way home, when they realized Jesus was missing.

In the 80s we served a small congregation with a number of young families and a great many kids. One family had 6 children, so each Sunday they came to church in 2 cars. One Sunday they arrived back home to find that the youngest, a toddler, was missing. Each thought the other had him. When they went back to the church to look for him, they found him happily playing in the sugar bowl from the coffee table.

Something like that must have happened when Jesus went missing. Joseph and Mary may have assumed he was with another family who had a son about his age. Or, since sometimes at least, men and women traveled in separate groups, each may have thought Jesus was with the other parent.

Whatever the reason, they could not find Jesus among the travelers. Once they concluded he really was missing, they had no choice but to turn back and try to find him. By the time they found Jesus it had been three days since they last saw him - one day of travel to Nazareth, one day of return to Jerusalem, and one day of search.

2.2. Where was Jesus? He had intentionally stayed in Jerusalem, and, when they found him, he was in the Temple, sitting among a group of teachers or Bible scholars. They were asking him questions, he was giving answers, and he was asking them follow-up questions. Jesus at 12 was taking the opportunity to learn from them.

One method of teaching was that teachers asked questions and the learner answered. One valuable method of teaching that has fallen by the wayside is catechism, a series of questions with written answers that a learner memorizes. I have never forgotten the question, “What is the chief end of man?” and the answer, “To glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”

But the teaching method going on with Jesus was more like a discussion. Teachers would pose problems in the form of questions, and the student would give an answer reasoning from the Scriptures, then the student could ask more questions to get more understanding. The teachers and others who listened were amazed at his understanding revealed by the answers he gave to their questions. They found unusual the breadth of his knowledge, the depth of his understanding, and the clarity of his answers.

2.3. However, Mary and Joseph were astonished - that he had remained in Jerusalem, that he was in the Temple talking with the scholars, and that he seemed to think all this was normal and reasonable. Mary was not happy. She said, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” Mary was upset. If you have ever had a child wander away, you know how frantic you feel until you find him. And then, when you find him, you scold him for what he put you through. You can understand Mary’s feelings and words.

2.4. Jesus’ answer shows he thinks they should not have been surprised: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be in my Father’s house?”  (The word translated “business” in the KJV is likely better translated “house.”)

Jesus’ answer reveals his priority. His most important commitment was to his Father - not his step-father, Joseph, but his Father in heaven. This is his Father’s house, and his Father’s house is what is most important to him. Even though he is only 12 years old, the Father’s house takes precedence over everything, including his mother and Joseph. Nothing is more important for him than being in the building devoted to his Father and growing in knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures.

Jesus also reveals his early grasp of who he is. God the Father is “my Father.”  Even now he begins to understand that his relationship with God is unique. God is his Father in a way that he is not anyone else’s father. Perhaps this had become clearer to him as he had discussed Scriptures with the teachers. Jesus, knowing that he is the Son of God the Father, puts his Father’s interests above all things and must be in his Father’s house.

Why are they surprised? Did they not understand? Did they not know that he had to be here in his Father’s house? No, they did not understand. Though they knew the miraculous circumstances of his birth, had been visited by amazed shepherds, had heard the prophecy of old Simeon, and had been found by worshiping wise men, they did not yet understand who their Son was and why he must be in his Father’s house.

Was Jesus mild? Yes, in the sense that he was not harsh. But he was not mild in the sense of being diffident and weak. He had a strong and confident personality, even at a young age, something that would be expressed many times in his ministry, not the least on two occasions when he cleansed the house of his Father from those who corrupted its worship.

3. Jesus at Home

After this, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus went back home to Nazareth. There he submitted himself to them. It is likely that, after listening to his mother that day, he had a clearer grasp of what it meant to honor his father and mother. This was part of his humbling himself and being obedient to the will of his Father in heaven and to the will of his earthly parents. Jesus is the Son of God. He understands this more clearly than before he went to Jerusalem. Nevertheless he voluntarily submits himself as a child to his parents. Mrs. Alexander was right to teach children to sing that “Christian children all should be …obedient...as he.”

Mary did not understand these things, but she did not forget them. She thought about and treasured all the wonderful things about this boy who was her Son but also the Son of God.

3.2. Through the rest of his childhood Jesus grew in wisdom and stature in favor with God and man. We might wonder why Jesus asked questions of the Bible scholars and why he grew in wisdom. If he was the Son of God didn’t he know everything and have perfect knowledge and wisdom?

There are two big mistakes about Jesus. One is not to affirm that he was and is fully God. That’s the mistake of liberal Christianity. The other mistake is not to understand and affirm his full humanity. That’s a mistake made by some conservative Christians who are anxious not to compromise his Deity. But the truth of his full humanity is very important for us. He nursed at his mother’s breast. She changed his diaper. He grew in knowledge and wisdom. He experienced hunger, thirst, and weariness. He wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus. Jesus is God, with unlimited power to save. But he is also man with unlimited understanding of our weaknesses and sufferings.

Mrs. Alexander got what that means for children:

For he is our childhood's pattern;

Day by day, like us He grew;

He was little, weak and helpless,

Tears and smiles like us He knew;

And He feeleth for our sadness,

And He shareth in our gladness.

We adults need that, too.

The Family Expands

The Family Expands

Second after Christmas

Almighty God, who has poured upon us the new light of thine incarnate Word; Grant that the same light enkindled in our hearts may shine forth in our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Epiphany Observed

O God, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thine only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; mercifully grant that we, who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Epistle: Ephesians 3:1-12

1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

Our family will expand when our son, Calvin, gets married in April. We will add not only a daughter-in-law, but also two grandchildren. We didn’t see this coming. We expected Calvin would eventually remarry, but we figured the grandchildren total had topped out at 14. But we will have 16 grandkids’ birthdays to remember.

St. Paul writes about the expansion of God’s family in the Epistle for Epiphany.

1. The Ministry of Paul

St. Paul, a staunch opponent of Christ and persecutor of Christ’s people, was converted when Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus. For three days after, he was blind. Then Christ sent a disciple named Ananias to Paul. The Lord told Ananias, “Go for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:15,16).

That was around A.D. 33 or 34. He then spent 20 plus years proclaiming Christ and planting churches among the Gentiles. He was arrested in Jerusalem at Pentecost in 57. Eventually he was taken to Rome where he lived under house arrest. He wrote this letter to the Ephesians from Rome about 62.

Paul describes himself as “a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles.” He was literally a prisoner, but he did not see himself only as a man who was imprisoned. He adds that he is a prisoner “for Christ Jesus.” Imprisonment was connected to his service; it was something he was doing for Christ. This attitude was not something new for Paul. Before imprisonment he often referred to himself as a “servant” or “slave” of Jesus Christ. That was his outlook on his life and ministry.

Not only was he a prisoner for Christ; he was also a prisoner on behalf of the Gentiles. He was a prisoner because Christ called him to proclaim Christ to the Gentiles for the sake of their salvation. Yet far from resenting that his ministry on behalf of the Gentiles led to his imprisonment, he rather saw it as privilege. God entrusted him as a steward with both the Gospel and a ministry to and for the Gentiles. It was a gift of grace that Paul felt he did not deserve because, as former persecutor of the church, he saw himself as “the very least of the saints.”

God does not call us to be Apostles along with Paul. He doesn’t call many of us to be missionaries, and not all that many to be preachers of the Gospel. But Paul has something important to teach us. We are all servants and prisoners of Christ. Paul told the Corinthians, “You don’t belong to yourself, for you were bought with a price” (I Cor. 6:19). And service to Christ, even when it involves suffering, is a gracious privilege Christ entrusts to us. Christ calls every Christian to joyful service to him for the sake of others.

2. The Mystery of Christ

Paul’s is a minister of a mystery. We use the word “mystery” in several ways. If we say that something is mysterious, we may mean it has something to do with the supernatural - the world of ghosts and spirits. The Bible word “mystery” doesn’t mean that.

But we use the word in other ways. We might read a murder mystery in which the writer weaves a story leading to identifying “who done it.”  Winston Churchill said, “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” He meant Russia is impossible to figure out. The word “mystery” in the Bible has something in common with those uses.

In the Bible a mystery is something that man cannot discover by observation, inquiry, and reason. All men know that there are such things, because no matter how much they study women, they can’t figure them out. There are many things man has discovered. Quantum mechanics has enabled us to understand the atom and has such practical applications as the MRI and semiconductors. But there are things that man cannot know by the use of his unaided intellectual powers. There are things we need to know that no amount of study and reflection can ever unlock.

These things we can know only by revelation from God. God must show us these things or they will be always hidden from us. Paul says “the mystery was made known to me by revelation.” He writes of “my insight into the mystery of Christ.” He expands what he means as “the mystery of Christ which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.”

The mystery is Christ - who is he, what God did through him for our salvation. We would never know who Christ was, why he came, what he has done for us unless God revealed these things. The Holy Spirit revealed these things to prophets and apostles. They recorded the things made known to them so these things could be preserved and passed down from generation to generation.

There are things, things absolutely necessary for our salvation, that we cannot know except through the Holy Scriptures. And the Holy Scriptures are not philosophical or moral writings but the record of what God has done in Christ for our salvation. We are lost without the Scriptures, but through them we know Christ and receive from him salvation from sin.

3. The Membership of the Gentiles

What is this mystery of Christ?  “The mystery is that Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of Christ Jesus through the Gospel.”

The LORD called Abraham to go to a land he would show him and would make from him a great nation and bless him. He promised Abraham would have descendants as many as the stars of the sky and sands of the seashore. The LORD made a covenant with Abraham and promised to be his God and the God of his descendants. The descendants of Abraham were the Jews of the Old Testament, the nation of Israel.

There were hints in the Old Testament that one day God would include among his people not just Jews but Gentiles. The LORD had told Abraham he would make him a blessing and that all the nations of the world would be blessed through him. We read from the prophet Isaiah, this morning, “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (60:1). On Epiphany we remember the coming from the East of the Gentile Magi to worship the Christ Child. This is the beginning of the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles and the promise that they will be included among the people of God through Christ.

But it was not till after the Ascension of Christ, the pouring out of the Spirit on Pentecost, and the call of St. Paul to be the Apostle to the Gentiles that God made it clear that the Gentiles were called to salvation through faith in Christ and incorporated into the people of God. The Gentiles are “fellow heirs” with the Jews of all the promises of God to his people. They are members of the same body of God’s people as Jews. They are partakers of Christ Jesus through the Gospel, the good news of what God has done in Christ to save his people from their sins.

What was necessary to bring Jews and Gentiles together in one greatly expanded family that is spread throughout the world? That Christ by his death of the cross removes the barrier of hostility between God and the human caused by sin. And that by the same cross Christ removes divisions among humans caused by race and ethnicity. Jews and Gentiles are one family who have been reconciled to God in the same way - by faith in Christ.  

For he (Christ) himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.  For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Ephesians 2:14-19).

We come to this Table to partake of Christ by faith. By his body given and his blood shed for us we are reconciled to God in Christ. Since we all are reconciled to one God by the one sacrifice of his one Son and received in one way, by faith, we are one people. If we are reconciled to God in Christ, he calls us to be reconciled to one another and to live as a family, bearing with one another, maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, living out the reality of one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all.

Mind Your Own Business

Mind Your Own Business

Hank Williams

St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

Collect: Merciful Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of light upon thy Church, that it, being instructed* by the doctrine of thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist Saint John, may so walk in the light of thy truth, that it may at length attain to everlasting life†; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Gospel: St. John 21:19b-25

19b (BCP: Jesus saith unto Peter, Follow me.) And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

23 Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?

24 This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.

25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

Hank Williams, who died January 1, 1953, wrote a humorous song, titled “Mind Your Own Business.” He says, “If you mind your own business, then you won’t be mindin’ mine,” and “If you mind your own business, you’ll stay busy all the time.”

Jesus gave St. Peter a lesson in minding his own business as they walked together after Jesus’ resurrection along the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

1. Jesus’ Call

1.1 After his Resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples only a few times. At some point most, if not all, of them left Jerusalem, and went north to Galilee. One day Peter said, “I’m going fishing,” and 6 others joined him. They fished through the night, and the next morning Jesus appeared to them on the shore and called out to ask if they had caught anything. John recognized Jesus by his voice, and when he said, “That’s the Lord!” Peter was so excited he jumped overboard and swam to shore.

1.2. But there was an item of unfinished business between Peter and Jesus. Have you ever let another person down and knew that sooner or later the two of you would have to talk about it?

On the night of his betrayal Jesus told his disciples, “Yet a little while I am with you...Where I am going you cannot come.” In characteristically impulsive fashion, Peter said, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered: “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterward.” Peter did not know when to cut his losses, so he pressed on, “Lord, why can I not follow you? I will lay down my life for you.” We know how that turned out. Before the night was over, Peter three times denied even knowing Jesus.

The moment when Peter would have to talk with Jesus about Peter’s failure came after breakfast. Jesus looked at Peter and asked, “Peter, do you love me more than these other men love me?” Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” That happened three times, and, after each affirmation of love, Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” Three times Peter denied the Lord. Three times the Lord asked Peter if he loved him. Three times Peter affirmed his love. And three times Jesus affirmed he still wanted Peter as a shepherd of the church.

1.3. Jesus then told Peter what lay ahead for him. Eventually Peter would lose control of his own comings and goings and die as a martyr in the service of his Lord. Then Jesus summarized Peter’s calling with the command, “Follow me.” That is what Jesus had said to his disciples when he first called them, “Follow me.” He had told them on his last night with them, “You can’t follow me now, but later you will.” Now Jesus says to Peter specifically, “Follow me.”

That command is not just for apostles. It is the essence of what it means for anyone to be a disciple. Following Jesus means we trust him and so entrust ourselves to him as our Savior and then follow him as our Lord.

2. Peter’s Question

2.1. Apparently when Jesus said, “Follow me,” he got up and began to walk along the seashore, and Peter followed literally. As they were walking, Peter looked back and saw another disciple was following them.

“It was “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” In the Upper Room Jesus had said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Peter motioned to one of the disciples, who was reclining at table very close to Jesus, for that disciple to ask who the betrayer was. Here that disciple identifies himself as the one who had asked, “Lord, who is it who is going to betray you?”

The question we naturally ask, since this disciple does not give his name, is, “Who is the disciple whom Jesus loved and who asked Jesus to identify the betrayer”? The traditional answer, and I believe the right answer, is that it is the Apostle and Evangelist whose feast we observe today, St. John.

St. John and his brother, James, were sons of a man name Zebedee. Both were included among the original 12 disciples whom Jesus appointed Apostles. Jesus gave them the nickname “Sons of Thunder.” They had their faults. When a Samaritan village would not let Jesus enter, they asked him if he wanted them to call down fire of judgment from heaven. Jesus rebuked them. They and their mother were ambitious for their future in the kingdom, wanting them to have the two most prominent positions, one to sit on the right and the other on the left of Jesus. Nevertheless, they, along with Peter, were the three disciples who formed Jesus’ inner circle.

In this Gospel which he wrote, St. John keeps himself in the background by referring to himself only as the disciple Jesus loved. He was used by the Lord to write not only this Gospel but also 3 letters and the Revelation. In later life he lived in Ephesus, and he died an old man in his 90s on the island of Patmos.

2.2. Peter, walking along the shore with Jesus and having just heard he would die as a martyr and charged to follow Jesus, looked back and saw John following. He asked a very human question: “Lord, what about that man? What’s going to happen to him?” Those who have raised children are probably very familiar with this sort of question. You tell one to go clean the kitchen, and he immediately asks, “Well what about my brother? What’s he gonna have to do?” We are tempted to ask the Lord when he gives us some assignment - a particular job, or marital situation, or health condition, or financial circumstances, or task in the church - “What about everybody else? Why don’t they have my situation? Why do they have it better?” It’s a very human question, but, as Jesus shows, it is not a question we ought to ask.

3. Jesus’s Answer

3.1. Jesus gives a frank, straightforward answer: “If it is my will that he remains in this world till I came again, what is that to you?” Jesus tells Peter that it is none of Peter’s business what Jesus plans for John. Peter as an undershepherd will follow the Good Shepherd, and lay down his life for the flock. Jesus alone could die in the place of the flock and for the flock to save it from Satan, sin, and condemnation. But Peter and many others are called to feed and tend the flock, and some of them are called also to die in service as shepherds.

Eventually Peter shared with others what the Lord had said to him about his future and about John’s. As the word was passed on among believers from one to another a misunderstanding developed. Some thought Jesus had said that John would not die but continue living till Christ’s Second Coming: “So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die.” John corrects that misunderstanding here: “Yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?’”

3.2. There are important lessons we can learn from Peter and John about our lives as Christian disciples:

3.2.1 What determines our places of service, as well as the whole course of our lives as Christians, is Jesus’ will. He determines the length, circumstances, and places of our lives. For some he wills long lives, for some shorter. He gives some good health and others health troubles. He calls some to marriage and some to singleness. He gives one certain skills and another different skills. He entrusts some with abundant material resources and some live their lives struggling to make ends meet.

He assigns us our places of service in the kingdom. You and I can know he has called us to this parish, and it is in and through this parish he calls us to serve him. This is where he has put us, and this where he calls us to serve him.

The important thing to know is that we are in the Lord’s hands. His will determine our lives. We may not understand why he wills what he wills for us, but he is not a cruel master. He does not look at us as objects to be coldly manipulated. He looks on us as sheep whom he loves and for whom he died. Always remember that. His will determines our lives, but he is the Good Shepherd who feeds the flock, who carries the young lambs in his bosom and gently leads those who are with young.

3.2.2. The Lord’s call to us is constant and unchanging: “Follow me.” You might be in doubt many times about what to do in the changing circumstances of life, but you never need to have any doubt at all about this. Jesus is always saying, “Follow me.” He never says, “Don’t follow me here. I don’t expect you to follow me now. You can take a break for awhile from following me.” If you ever hear that, you can be sure it is the devil not Jesus who is speaking to you.

Practically that means following him as he makes his will known in his written Word. It is Jesus who speaks in and through the Scriptures. Whatever he says to us in the Bible, he calls us to do. Always follow Jesus as he leads you by his Word.

That means also following him as his plan unfolds. He does not tell us as he told Peter, “You are called to follow me into martyrdom,” or as by implication he told John, “You are called to follow me into long life and ministry to the church.” We seldom see more than the next step or few, hardly ever around a corner, but he calls us, saying, “Trust me. Follow me. Do my will. Serve me.”

Mind your own business. What is our business? Following Jesus.

Call Him Jesus: A Christmas Eve Homily

Call Him Jesus

Christmas Eve

Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25 (KJV)

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.

20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus.

The most popular boys names the year I was born (1947) were James, Robert, John, William, and Richard. The most popular in 2014 were Noah, Liam, Mason, Jacob, and, still on the list, William.

Parents give a lot of time and thought to choosing their baby’s name. But no babies I know get named by heavenly messengers. However an angel named both John the Baptist and our Savior.

1. Joseph’s Accommodation

Joseph was a righteous man, an Old Testament believer. His faith was counted to him as righteousness. He lived out his faith by seeking to conform his life to the righteousness of God’s law.

Joseph was engaged to a young woman of perhaps 14 or 15 years, whose name was Mary, when he found out she was pregnant. He knew he was not the father. He was disappointed and shocked.

Because he was a righteous man Joseph faced the necessity of making a righteous accommodation to reality. He knew he could not marry a woman who had been unfaithful during their engagement. But in his day engagements were not easy to break. There was a process something like getting a modern divorce. But Joseph did not want to expose Mary to public shame through public proceedings. The best solution was to “put her away privily” - to use the legal process in a private way. This decision that honored both the righteousness of morality and the righteousness of mercy.

Joseph was thinking over all his plan when an angel showed up.

2. The Angel’s Revelation

The angel addressed Joseph as “thou son of David.” Joseph lived in Nazareth of Galilee, but his family belonged to the tribe of Judah and originally came from Bethlehem. He was from a humble family but was a descendant of King David.

After addressing Joseph, the first words the angel spoke were, “Fear not.” Angels are messengers from God. The natural response to them is fear. An Angel appeared four times in connection with the birth of our Lord, and each time gave assurance that there was no need to be afraid. When an angel of the Lord appeared to the priest, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, he said, “Fear not, Zacharias.” When Gabriel greeted Mary, he said, “Fear not, Mary.” When the angel of the Lord appeared with the glory of the Lord to the shepherds, he said, “Fear not.” In each case there is no need to be afraid because the angel brought good news of what God was doing to save his people. Knowing that God is for us, and has intervened in history in Jesus Christ to save us, dispels our fear and gives us peace.

The angel revealed to Joseph the secret that only Mary and Elisabeth knew: “Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”  

When Gabriel told Mary she was highly favored, and she would bear a Son, she responded, “I’m a virgin. How can this be?” The angel answered, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.” Now Joseph knew what Mary knew. Her pregnancy had come about by the miraculous work of God through the Holy Spirit.

Gabriel told Mary that her child’s name would be Jesus. Now the angel brought Joseph, who would have to name Mary’s Son formally, up to speed about the name: “Thou shalt call his name Jesus.”

There were three brothers who played professional baseball, the Alou brothers - Felipe, Matty, and Jesus. Announcers usually called Jesus “J” Alou, because many feel it is sacrilegious to give an ordinary person the name Jesus. Many think no one but our Lord ever had that name. For the last 2000 years that is generally true, but, when Jesus was born, the name was not uncommon. The name Jesus is the Greek form of the Old Testament name Joshua. The most famous Old Testament Joshua, or Jesus, led Israel in the conquest of Canaan.  

The importance of the name “Jesus” given to Mary’s Son, is not its uniqueness but its significance.

3. The Angel’s Explanation

The angel explained to Joseph why he must name Mary’s Child Jesus. “Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

The name Joshua or Jesus means “Yahweh saves.” You may have noticed in your English Bible that sometimes the word “Lord” is spelled with a capital L followed by lowercase letters - “Lord.” Other times it is spelled with all capitals - LORD. Those two different spellings represent two different Hebrew names for God. The Hebrew word behind the name LORD spelled with all capitals is “Yahweh.” The reason that is important is that Yahweh is the most personal name of God, the name he revealed to Israel as his people, the name of Israel’s Redeemer. Yahweh is the covenant God who saves his people.

Joshua, or Jesus, means “the God of Israel saves.” The name was given to our Lord, because he will save his people from their sins. People might have expected, “He will save his people from Roman oppression, reign as king, give prosperity, and restore Israel’s glory among the nations. But Jesus did not come for that. He came to save from sin.

Sin is the real human problem and underlies all other problems.

Sin creates guilt. An accused may or may not feel guilty. The purpose of a court is to determine whether before the law he is guilty of a crime. So people may feel guilty or not, but sin creates real objective guilt before God.

Sin controls. Sin promises freedom and happiness, but it produces slavery and misery. When the Jews claimed that, as sons of Abraham, they were not slaves of anyone, Jesus replied, “Everyone who sins is the slave of sin” (John 8:34).

Sin brings condemnation and eternal death. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, but for all others there is the certainty of condemnation, condemnation to God’s just punishment of sin, which is the state of eternal dying outside the mercy of God forever.  

Jesus came to save us from all that. He is Joshua in the fullest sense. The LORD saves through him. But there is more. He is Emmanuel, God with us, God in the flesh. He is the LORD himself saving us. By his incarnation he became one with us, by his life he fulfilled God’s righteousness, by his death he paid sin’s penalty, by his resurrection he justified us, and by his ascension he presented his sacrifice to secure our eternal salvation.

At this Holy Table we have Holy Communion with Jesus our Savior in the company of his church on earth and in heaven. By faith we receive his sacrificed body and his shed blood to preserve us body and soul unto everlasting life.

King of kings yet born of Mary,

as of old on earth he stood,

Lord of lords in human vesture,

in the body and the blood,

He will give to all the faithful

his own self for heav’nly food.