Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

Introduction

Christmas is over and the new year hasn’t yet started.

We’re currently in that period of limbo between Christmas and new year.

We’ve had the celebrations at Christmas.

We’ve had the nativity service, we’ve had the carol service, we’ve had the family service.

We’ve had the Christmas day service - we’ve finished advent when everything focuses on the birth of Jesus Christ and what that means.

Some of us may have already taken down our trees and decorations.

The house is back to normal, and we’re getting ready for the new year - 2019.

2018 is almost over, and for some of us here that’s a good thing…because for some of us, 2018 was a year to forget.

Some have experienced bereavement and despair.

Some have experienced job losses or financial difficulties.

Some have had an awful time at work, or whatever…But for many people 2018 has been particularly hard.

Of course, for others 2018 has been a great year.

People have got married, engaged, had babies and so on.

But regardless, we are in that place of limbo - where Christmas is over and the new year hasn’t yet started.

So we’re kinda looking forward to 2019, wondering what it will bring.

Some are expecting or hoping that 2019 will be a better year than 2018.

Some don’t want a repeat of 2018.

Some are expecting 2019 to be an awful year.

Perhaps there are some who have had bad news and 2019 might be their last year.

Let’s face it - it could be anyone’s last year.

And so we are looking to 2019 with apprehension and fear, but also maybe joy and anticipation - There are possibly SO many different emotions that are simmering below the surface when we think about 2019.

We are in that place where Christmas is over and the new year hasn’t yet started.

We are in the tension between the now and the not yet.

Pause

And that’s what the earth felt at Christmas time around 2000 years ago.

The promised Messiah had come to earth in a spectacular way.

Angels were seen on multiple occasions.

A bright light had guided Magi from the East to worship the new King of the Jews.

The world was waiting in anticipation.

Here is the new Messiah - the one we’ve been waiting for - the promised one from God…He’s here.

He’s with us.

Immanuel.

But he’s a baby.

And we kinda forget that 30 years pass between the Christmas story and the start of Jesus’ ministry on earth.

30 years!

So between Matthew 2:23 and Matthew 3:1 over a generation has passed.

But we read from one verse to the next as if it was instantaneous.

But it wasn’t.

The saviour of the world had come into the earth, but his work wasn’t instantaneous.

It took 30 years before Jesus started to minister to the world - that’s a long time of waiting.

Did people even remember what happened on the first Christmas?

When Jesus was in his teens, what was he doing?

When he was in his 20s what was he doing?

30 years of nothing except for a small piece written about what happened when he was 12.

Can you feel the tension there?

The saviour of the world is here on earth.

God himself has come down to earth in a physical way, as a human...

Pause

...and nothing happens for 30 years.

The world were in the tension of the now and the not yet.

Jesus was here - right now…but his ministry hadn’t started yet.

Pause

It’s a bit like when you buy tickets for something - like a football match or a concert.

I’ve never bought tickets for a football match but I can imagine that when you buy the tickets, there’s a sense of excitement.

You’ve got your tickets, but now you have to wait months for the match to come.

And after a while the excitement starts to fade a bit (especially if you’re a Liverpool fan and you watch your team move from top of the league to somewhere in the middle during that time)…but the initial excitement when you bought the tickets fades until the day draws near when you get excited again.

Same with a concert.

OR when you book a holiday - you’ve paid for it.

You’ve got confirmation that you’re going - you have your tickets NOW...

They are in your hand, but the holiday is not yet.

It’s maybe a few months or a year away.

So you’re excited when you book your tickets, but as time goes on you kinda forget about the holiday until the day draws near - then you start to get excited again.

Jesus was born with bright lights and angels and choirs and an amazing extravaganza…such excitement…and then comes the waiting.

Now we can’t be sure, but I wonder did that excitement fade over the years.

Did people forget about the first Christmas?

Or where they looking forward to what this Messiah would bring or do?

Is God going to do what was promised?

There was quite possibly a tension between the now and the not yet.

Pause

Then when Jesus’ ministry starts, he gathers his 12 disciples around him, he teaches, he heals, he performs miracles - he demonstrates his power for all to see, and he preaches a gospel of repentance - a turning away from the old way of life and a turning toward a new way of life in the kingdom of God.

And he gets the Pharisee’s backs up.

He annoys them - he exposes them for who they are - people who are out for themselves, exploiting the poor for their own greed, what with the temple taxes and so on…people who are hindering access to the temple and who are enforcing a burdensome way of living ‘for GOD’.

And Jesus flies in their face by offering a much easier way of living in the kingdom of God - a way of grace…a way of living that is not about rules and regulations, but about accepting help and depending on God for forgiveness of sins and for life.

And as a result of this, he is killed on a cross, and put in a tomb.

Pause

Right there, between verse John 19:42 and 20:1 we have another tension - another waiting - another in-between time.

Jesus had died, but he had promised that he would rise again 3 days later…and so the waiting begins.

Day 1…nothing, but then again, Jesus DID say it would be 3 days later.

But there would have been some who doubted what Jesus said.

They may have been some who didn’t believe him.

Is Jesus going to do what was promised?

Day 2…nothing, but then again, Jesus DID say it would be 3 days later.

But there may have been some who maybe thought Jesus didn’t mean 3 literal days.

Day 3…nothing, but then again, Jesus DID say it would be 3 days later.

Then on the first day of the week, the tomb is open, Jesus’ body is not there and he is seen by many many people alive and risen from the dead.

Pause

Then, after Jesus is with his disciples for 40 days, he’s taken away - and the tension begins again...

Jesus is gone.

The disciples’ friend has gone.

They thought he was dead, but he defeated death and came back to them.

And now he’s gone again, but he’s gone so that the Holy Spirit can come and be with them...but when?

When with the Holy Spirit come?

And the tension arises.

There’s the promise, and the fulfilment of the promise - the now and the not yet...

Is the Holy Spirit going to do what was promised?

And then 10 days later the apostles are in a room praying together when the Holy Spirit comes in a mighty way and manifests himself to them all.

Pause

See, God always keeps his promises.