“The Full Blessing God Intends”  2013

1 Kings 19:9-13        Matthew 1:18-25

 1 Kings 19:9-13

At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

 

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

 

We’ve got just a few more days until Christmas.

          Have you got everything all planned, arranged and ready to go

             for your best and most meaningful Christmas ever?

 

Of course we all want to have a wonderful & meaningful Christmas,

                 for all our plans, wants and preparations to work out,

                        to feel the hope, peace, joy, and love of the season,

                             and to receive all that God intends for us …

 

… but what if, in our earnest desire for that wonderful Christmas,

            we are so intent on getting every detail just right,

                     that we let the true meaning,

                       the true message and blessing of Christmas slip away?

 

I think that sometimes

            we drive ourselves and those around us weary,

                        and can become so distracted by our hectic busyness

                             that we miss out on

                                 much of the joy and deeper meaning of Christmas.

 

We can be so busy with our activities, in our arrangement making,

            that somehow the main thing, the gift of the coming of Christ,

                  gets lost or displaced in  a cacophony of confusion.

 

This is a risky area for me,  where sometimes I miss the mark.

            As a pastor, my calendar

                gets pretty full during these weeks preceding Christmas

                        with the added stress of intending to do more than I can.

 

It is a demanding season

            with lots of needs, meetings, programs and activities…

                        … and I want to shine and get every detail just right,

                                    with so much depending on me … à

… hmm … depending on me? ----  well that’s not really true, is it?,

            ----  as I was forced  to live and learn one year.

 

It was a week or so before Christmas,

            and I came down with an awful cold or flu.

                        I had chills and fever, coughing and sneezing,

                                    achy all over, and I felt miserable in every way.

 

I thought it couldn’t have happened at a worse time,

            but as it turned out, it was the best and ideal time

                    for God to teach me a lesson about trust and grace; à

 

            that the truth and meaning of Christmas is really about

                 receiving and responding to God’s gracious gift;

                          which is not, and absolutely never is something that

                                we   are supposed to do or accomplish for ourselves…

 

… in fact, we can’t accomplish it for ourselves,

            because the gift and blessing of a meaningful Christmas

                        only comes by grace,   and grace is always a free gift,

                              something we can never deserve or earn for ourselves.

 

I  believe that the simple and unadorned spotlight on Jesus,

            the way the birth of Christ  is told in the gospel of Matthew

                        can help us understand that important point and truth.

 

Unlike the way the story is told in the gospel of Luke,

            Matthew’s retelling is far less elaborate and glitzy.

There’s no pyrotechnics of God’s glory blazing in the night sky,

                             or choirs of the angelic host singing

                                    to terrified shepherds tending their flocks.

 

It is a story told simply, with the focus kept on Jesus, vs. 18

            Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

 

Joseph could have justifiably stirred things up against Mary,

            but he resolves to handle it privately and quietly.

Then an angel speaks to him in a dream, and nothing in the text          

     indicates that Joseph ever said a word in protest or complaint.

                                   

He simply awakens from his dream, and obeys.

   As directed by the angel of the Lord,  he takes Mary for his wife,

                and when the child conceived by the Holy Spirit was born,

                            Joseph names him Jesus, just as the Lord commanded.

 

In Matthew’s gospel, there’s no mention of other stuff going on.

            There is no extemporaneous clutter in the story,

                 but appropriately, Jesus is the center of all the action.

                      His birth is what’s most important and all that matters.

 

Our problem is that sometimes we can get so caught up

            in our arranging, planning, and getting ready for Christmas,

                        that the main event, the arrival of Jesus gets lostà

                                    or displaced amid the confusion of so many details.

 

Now that is not to condemn our holiday and family traditions,

            or to suggest that our careful preparations for Christmas,

                        our family gatherings, celebrations and activities

                                    don’t matter or are unimportant or inappropriate.

 

We should  savor   and enjoy our traditions and activities,  

            fully appreciate the blessings and delights of the season,

                           for what could be more worthy  than the coming of Christ

                                    for our joyful anticipation and celebration? …

 

… but as we know,   there is much more to the meaning of Christmas

            than just our preparations and the other things we do…

                    … a point that is illustrated in the Elijah story we read.

 

When I got so sick just a week or so before Christmas,

            beyond the obvious discomfort and the way it interfered

                        with all that I assumed I was supposed to get done …

            … I was actually a bit peeved with God

                        for not taking better care of me,

                                    with all the important responsibilities  I had.

 

And the more I thought about it,

            I had my litany of complaints that echoed Elijah’s in vs. 10,

                        I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword.  I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.

 

What a scene --- Elijah was sitting alone in the dark of a cave,

            having his own little private pity-party …

… when in vs. 9, the Lord asks him, “So what are you doing here, Elijah?” 

 

The prophet answers God’s question

            with a stream of complaints about how he has been mistreated,

                        and God says, “Go stand out on the mountain,

                                    I want to show you something,

                                                I want to teach you something”   vs. 12

            Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake;  and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire;      and after the fire      a sound of sheer silence.

 

God was not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire,

   but they were an important part of the lesson.

                        Those impressive signs of God’s power, displays of force

                                    made sense and were understandable only

                                       in the quiet and listening-silence that followed.

 

The lesson to Elijah was that God is  absolutely powerful,

            and that Jezebel’s threats and corruption

                                    could not possibly defeat the Lord’s purpose…

 

--- also Elijah was wrong, many had not bowed before Baal,

              many were still faithful and God’s plan and purpose

                        would most certainly be accomplished and fulfilled.

 

If we find ourselves struggling, feeling weary and overwhelmed,

            discouraged, or feeling lost, overworked or disappointed,

                   God’s message to Elijah is very good news and hope.

 

Our God of mystery and mercy,   is sometimes:

            most visible in moments of deepest darkness and shadow,

                 most easily heard in the quiet stillness of the solitude,

                              most comforting when we are most in need,

                                      most present at times when we feel we’re all alone.

 

In Hebrew,

            the phrase, “sheer silence” is literally, “a thin silence.”

A thin silence or thin-place is where we are drawn nearer to God,

            where God’s gracious love and presence feel the closest,

                        and in that quiet stillness grace speaks to the heart,à

 

            reminding us that we do matter to the Lord,  who has promised

                                   never to abandon or leave us without any hope and help…

          … for it doesn’t depend on us,

                   by upon the sure and steadfast faithfulness of our God.

 

To apply that to us, this means

            that amid the joy and delight of our Christmas celebration,

                        as we savor and blessings of God’s abundance and love,

                             we also want to be sure and leave some blank space --

 

- some quiet moments for awe, for waiting & listening in silence,

       as we pause to appreciate the blessing, to notice God’s grace…

… some thin-silence to stop planning, stop doing, stop talking,

            for sometimes God waits,  and waits until we are quiet,

                        as in Psalm 40:10, “be still …  be still,   and know that I am God!”        

                                                           

Sometimes in the glitz and razzle-dazzle of this world,

          we don’t recognize  in the quiet and simple, and unadorned,

               recognize that which is truly meaningful and significant.

 

When I was a very little boy, I wanted to give a Christmas present,

            that for the first time,    I didn’t want anyone helping me.

 

I’d heard my mother comment that she liked the smell of cedar.

            So I found some cedar branches in the woods,

                        whittled off some shavings with my Cub Scout pocketknife

                                    put the shavings into a small gift box,

                                                and wrapped it for her Christmas present.

 

   Not exactly a Sharper Image or Niemen Marcus gift item

            but at the time I was quite proud it.

But once I got a bit older, I was embarrassed to remember it,

     that I have given my mother such a lame and foolish present.     

 

But when my parents died and we had to sort through their stuff,

                that same little gift box of my cedar shavings

                        turned up in one of my mother’s drawers.

 

                 Through lots of years and many moves, Mom had hung onto

                        that ridiculous and insignificant gift of so long ago…

… and I suspect it may have meant more to her

      than all the other gifts I had ever given, even expensive ones.

 

Truth is,

            we aren’t always very good at recognizing true worth & value…

                        … because sometimes we can get so caught up and occupied

                           in the busy of Christmas  that we miss the true meaning,

                                           we notice the wind, earthquake and fire,

                                                   but miss it,

                                                          when God speaks in the sheer silence.

 

Sometimes, Jesus comes to us,  speaking to us through the silence,

            seeking to fill in the blank spaces of our prayers and lives.

 

Let us, therefore,

        find some quiet and reflective space to surrender before God,

                find a still and peaceful place  to pray during Christmas,

                   so that we can wonder in amazement at God's gracious love.

 

I have found true, again and again in my own prayer life,

            that God speaks best and most clearly in the quiet moments,

               that I hear God in the blank spaces, left open in my prayers.

 

God speaks where I pause in silence and awe, to wait and to listen,

            and then God uses those open spaces   to write on my heart.

 

Perhaps during Advent,  we might consider,

    that the God who created all of the majesty and wonder we see

            also knows us –   wants to have a real relationship with us -

                   and that truth  is what makes for a meaningful Christmas…

                                    which comes as God's gracious and loving gift,

                                         and not at all by our effort and achievement.

 

Amid the delight and joy of our celebration,

  from the rush, the stress & confusion of Christmas in our culture

            and don't let the gift of our Christmas

               be anything less than the full blessings God intends for us…

 

… as in Psalm 40:10,   “be still …  be still,   and know that I am God!”