Hope and The Scandal of Following Jesus
Scandalous Hope • Sermon • Submitted
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· 1 viewOur world is filled with scandal--in politics, Hollywood, sports, and church. We love learning about scandal, but did you know that when we follow Jesus, it can also mean scandal for us personally? Today, we learn about Joseph and Mary, 2 famous characters in the Christmas account. Their decision to surrender to God despite the scandal challenges us today. And their decision to surrender points to the one who ultimately surrendered to His Father on the cross—Jesus Christ.
Notes
Transcript
Please turn to Matthew 1:18. Matthew 1:18.
Last week we begin with Jesus’ genealogy. which seems boring, but is actually filled with Scandal. Like Watergate, Deflate-gate, now genealogy gate—we love a good scandal. We devour those headlines. and Jesus’ genealogy, we saw was filled with scandal.
This week we continue in our scandalous hope series—how Jesus comes amidst scandal to free us and rescue us from whatever scandal we feel like we are a part of, or shame from, or happened to us and most of all from our sin.
before I read…when you study scandals…sometimes one theme you see is that, in our quest and desire to learn and devour gossip, rumors, and scandal, we as a public can quickly rush to judgment BEFORE we really understand what is going on. we can misunderstand some scandals.
I found an article called “Headline-dominating scandals pretty much everyone failed to understand.”
last week I mentioned a political scandal (Watergate), and a sports scandal (Deflategate), we also love celebrity scandals.
One of the characters mentioned in this article is none other than Britney Spears. It reads, “In 2007, Britney Spears became the focus of the celebrity press - and the world - when she seemed to self-destruct before everyone's very eyes. The onetime pop princess had long been a (HUGE SUCCESS). Then, seemingly overnight, she started losing her grip on reality, and we couldn't look away. She shaved her head; she took an umbrella to a paparazzo's car; she went to rehab; her mothering skills were constantly called into question. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.” our media and culture consumed this stuff.
it goes on to say, “nowadays, most agree that Spears was in the throes of a legitimate mental breakdown, and despite the outrageous stories, everyone had overlooked the fact that there was a struggling, wounded human being at the center of all the drama.”
certainly, I am not saying the Britney Spears is somehow perfect in everything she’s done in life. But in that particular incident in 2007, in our media and cultures desire for scandal, we love to fill in the blanks, before slowing down to consider, what is really going on here. we rush and assume that we know what is really going on here.
Now, this may seem like a stretch—but I think we can compare Britney Spears’ situation to Joseph and Mary in the Christmas story today. (quote that today).
back then, with what we are going to read, people would have rushed to judgment about Joseph and Mary, and the scandal surrounding them without really knowing or understanding what is really going on.
Let me read it. please stand
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered 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 home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
while standing, let me read a little bit of Mary’s perspective in the gospel of Luke. Matthew here shows Joseph’s perspective. Luke shows Mary’s.
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.
37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
we looked at the scandal in Jesus’ family tree last week.
this week, another angle—there is some scandal here at least in the culture’s eyes.
There is some scandal when you follow Jesus.
Joseph and Mary would have been very young at this point.
Many Biblical scholars note that it is possible that Mary was only 14 or 15; you married much younger—that’s still the case in some parts of the world. Joseph may have been later teens, early 20’s.
and both Joseph and Mary are wrestling with all this.
Joseph we see in Matthew—found out she is pregnant, and obviously he knew he was not the father. and he had in mind to divorce her quietly. He could have done it publicly—shamed her…but was going to do what you did back then. Jewish tradition required divorce in these cases. Engagement was pretty much equal to marriage back then. so Joseph being a good Jew wanted to follow the law but also show compassion to Mary.
Mary in the Gospel of Luke—is very confused too.
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
look at these on screen...
and yet what is amazing about these stories—is that both Joseph and Mary are obedient.
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
obedience...
surrender....
I believe Joseph and Mary are a picture for us of what it is like to follow God, to follow Christ. No, we are not called to bear the Messiah—that was a unique calling.
but…when we decide to follow after Jesus, there can be some scandal surrounding it—
There can be a cost. there certainly are incredible benefits. both costs and benefits, and scandal.
and Joseph and Mary show us this incredible model of surrender...
and before I look at some areas we have to surrender…one quick caveat....
Mary and Joseph were not perfect—they had to come to accept this gradually....they wondered, they considered, they thought; they were confused! they were very normal people. surrender is not always easy
it took angels to convince them for crying out loud....
so....that being said...
I want to look at 3 areas today where there can be some scandal when it comes to following Jesus—both a cost, and a benefit. BOTH.
Hope and the Scandal of following Jesus
Area #1: Misunderstanding from the world
If Joseph obeys, if Mary obeys this calling—one scholar says “everybody in the honor and shame society will know that this child was not born 9 or 10 months after they were married; they will know she was already pregnant....they could be shamed, socially excluded, and rejected. They could be second class citizens forever. So the message is “If Jesus Christ comes into your life, you are going to kiss your stellar reputation goodbye.” (Keller—Hidden Christmas - pages 55-56)
Can you imagine Joseph trying to explain this situation to his friends and parents. “Yeah, mom and dad, friends, she really is pregnant through the Holy Spirit.”
can you imagine Mary trying to explain this to her parents and friends? “an angel appeared to me. This is why this is happening!”
If you come to faith in Christ, if you keep following Christ, one of the costs and scandals is you will often face some misunderstanding from the world, from others, even those closest to you.
In many countries in the world today, they face this even more than us. it can be dangerous to profess Christ. it can lead to jail time and even death.
even here in Adams County, for some of you, if you are one of the first to come to faith in Jesus Christ and become a follower of Christ, there is often a lot of confusion from those closest to you. “Why would you want to do that?” “You mean this changes how you spend your time and money?” “You actually want to get up early on Sunday and go to church?” “You actually want to talk to others about Jesus?” You sound crazy! Your friends and family may not understand—and that is normal.
it may affect your career path—what you do on the jobsite—you will put in a hard day’s work b/c you are serving the Lord.
you are not going to take advantage of people in your business.
you will be honest, filled with integrity.
Jesus during his life knew what this was like—as his own disciples questioned him; his own family thought he was out of his mind!
while there is a cost—
there is also an incredible benefit. While the world may misunderstand and even sometimes the church--
the Apostle Peter was wrestling with this—and I love his honest words:
28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel
30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
you gain so much in this life and in the life to come with Jesus.
the 2nd area…the scandal of following Jesus....
Hope and the Scandal of Following Jesus...
Area #2: Surrendering to the Lord (Luke 1:32-33)
you may say--- “well why is that a scandal?”
and I am not talking so much about how the world views you now, as how your own heart struggles with this, and how our hearts struggle to surrender to the Lord.
how our heart views this as a personal scandal and feel like it is.
Luke 1 talks about how Jesus will reign on the throne of His Father David. He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever. His kingdom will never end!
there is a heart scandal—going on personally with this.
it is the scandal to take our hands off the wheel of our life, and let Jesus drive our lives now.
because when the angel appeared to Joseph and Mary—God was totally redirecting their life. they could not have imagined that this opportunity would come up. This probably was not in their 5 to 10 year plan.
while it was an incredible honor, they knew that this would spell some trouble with family and friends and community, and also change their plans for the rest of their lives!
both Joseph and Mary had to completely surrender their plans to God’s plans. God’s plans over-rode, overtook their plans.
if you are not a Christian, one of the struggles you may have, is that you may make some conditions of God before accepting Him. “I will believe in God…if.” “If I become a Christian, does that mean I have to __________.” what we are saying when we do that—is we want God, we want Jesus, but on our terms and conditions.
the reality of following Jesus is that we cannot put our terms and conditions on him. We can come to Christ, and even though we struggle with the conditions (certainly Joseph and Mary did!). Joseph and Mary couldn’t put the terms on God—He put the terms on them. they couldn’t even name their own kid—He is Jesus. He belongs to God—not you.
even as Christians we do this—we put our terms on God, don’t we.
We sense God is speaking to us, calling us to do something, or make a decision, “God I will do that…if you do something for me in return.” “I will obey you if…this happens.” “God if you answer my prayer…I will do _________.” the reality is when we think of God this way or talk to God this way—we are not serving the king of the universe, we just want an adviser or consultant, not the Lord of our life.
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
self-denial—this is scandalous to our sinful hearts! We love to be in control, call the shots.
our culture can’t understand self-denial. our culture believes that you have to “assert whatever is in your heart.” Find it, feel it, express it. be true to whatever is in here.”
one of the problems about our culture’s way of life—is that what is in here constantly changes.
but Jesus has a different call—to die to whatever is in here. it is a shocking call.
One writer says it like this “I know this is intimidating, but it’s also an adventure, the adventure of his lordship. Like most young adults, I struggled to know myself, to find out “who I am,” and when I considered Christianity, I remember thinking, “I don’t want to become a Christian if he doesn’t let me be myself.” “but now looking back 40 years, I realize I couldn’t have possibly known at that stage in my life what was really in my heart. only if we give him our supreme allegiance will we get what we need most fro him.”
There is an adventure in surrendering! It is not easy of course—but those of you who have done it—know that God is way smarter than we are. He knows our hearts better than we do.
have you surrendered to God—everything?
what is God calling you to surrender today?
those of you are older—when you were in your teens and 20’s—you probably had a picture of how your life would go. How many of you who are older are doing for a living what you imagined you would be doing later in life? How many of you the plans changed?
I know personally this adventure. My life is certainly not perfect—but I have seen this in my short life.
when I was in seminary—my wife and I living in the northern suburbs of Chicago, I sensed God moving me to learn about church planting—that is starting a church. and as I learned, I thought, “Well, I will always support starting churches, but I am not the kind of person to start one myself.” but through learning, opportunities, God opened up a tremendous opportunity to start a church in Lima, Ohio, which we had the privilege of being a part of for almost 9 years. (in the inner city)
and a long time ago, I had said, growing up in Berne, “I can’t wait to get out of Berne. I am never coming back.” let alone could I imagine that God would call us back to be a part of the church I grew up in where sometimes people tell me “I changed your diaper.” and i can say “Thanks for that info. I can never make eye contact with you again.” and yet here we are.
it doesn’t mean surrender was easy—
and there is also a daily form—my plans today Lord…you take the plans and you re-arrange them. and many of you know that there is tremendous joy and adventure in following Jesus...
the scandal of surrender in your heart…yet—so many of you know that if your life ended up like you thought—it wouldn’t be the same. God had a bigger story, a bigger picture for you—He knew better than you.
another scandal....
Area #3: Confessing Sin
another scandal that occurs in our hearts—is the idea of confessing sin.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
one of the fundamentals teaching of God’s Words is that if any of us are going to have a thriving relationship with God, you have to admit you are a sinner before God, a moral failure. that you and I don’t love God fully with our heart, soul, mind, and strength.” (totally different than anything, getting a job…making the team where you prove your awesomeness)
If your life has been a trainwreck, it’s probably easier for you to admit this. in some ways you have an advantage to saying “I need help, and I know it, and I am not ashamed of it.”
but if your life has been pretty good, you come from a decent middle class hard working family, with a common name in our area, this is harder and more dangerous. but you are just as much of a sinner as anyone else. all have sinned.
admitting this need for someone to save us from the deep selfishness in our hearts—can be hard, and yet God says “Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up.”
“A broken and contrite heart he will not despise.” That’s great. and it’s good news!
but it requires another heart scandal—for you to admit you are a sinner, you need help, you need a Savior, and yet through that cost...
you get the tremendous blessing of knowing God.
when you admit your sin, trust that Jesus came to save you—and He accomplished it—you are forgiven. you have new life in Christ. the old has gone the new has come.
He helps you surrender. and He leads you daily. you are no longer deceived about who you are—you belong to Him.
have you confessed your sin to the Lord—come to grips with it?
Do you still come to grips with it—even Christians are called to confess?
the benefit of this is you get Jesus—you are not deceived...
I want to invite the worship team forward
conclusion…I am the Lord’s servant...
that phrase has been sticking with me all week.
how do we actually do it:
one way is to consider the long term perspective of God—Mary and Joseph got to be a part of the long-term work of God. The Messiah would reign on David’s throne forever. He would bring in the kingdom of God.
but another way is to consider what Jesus did for us
One of the amazing things about that phrase—is not only do we marvel at Mary and Joseph—but it also reminds me that God asks us to do what He was willing to do.
Jesus came as a baby, grew, and became a man so He could die.
and before he would go to the cross and die for our sin.
42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.
44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
you see Mary and Joseph—point us to Jesus.
they had to surrender—but Jesus the Son of God—had to surrender to His Father’s will by the Holy Spirit. He sweat drops of blood knowing he was about to go the cross—and it wasn’t just the physical pain—he would bear in a moment all the infinite weight of sin; he would experience a type of hell on earth as he bore our sins’ curse, guilt, and punishment in our place.”
Jesus asks us to do, only what He was willing to do—and He did a greater degree to honor His Father—and He could be with you.
if you are struggling to surrender today, look to the glory of what Jesus did on the cross FOR YOU in love because He loves you. Look at how He surrendered for you. It’s worth it to surrender to Him. look to the glory of Jesus who surrendered, and that will change you
Let’s pray.
(pray intro — “Glory to the Light of the World...”)
Final plug:
Pastor tour
Brooks — #pray for Brooks — a little boy who has cancer; very serious. the community is organizing a prayer vigil for Brooks preschool boy—who needs prayer—there is a prayer vigil from 12 - 12:30pm today. if you are interested, find me afterwords to get you the address (i don’t want to announce it on the livestream), or if you can’t make it....pray at 12pm.