Yesterday was the 3rd Sunday in Advent, Joy. I took a number of notes that have little relevance to the sermon from Pastor Kristin Lee but are germane to the rest of what I’m doing. Several ideas for videos, including how I turn the New Year with my whiteboard and plan a new year, to talk about stumbling blocks and not putting them in front of brothers and sisters in Christ, and how to easily train yourself to give out loud public prayers. I also took a note to research the word “discipleship.”
from East Cobb United Methodist Church’s website found HERE.
We are working on building a discipleship path at our church using the Stride book by Ken Willard and Mike Schreiner (you can find that book HERE.) That particular task will be a long road, but worth it if we can make it happen. I am hopeful I can learn to be a more constructive voice than I have been in the past on committees like this.
The sermon passage called for meditation on John 1:14, a passage I like very much. John, in his first chapter, leaves no room for doubt. John considers Jesus to be God made flesh. He says as much in this passage.
14And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 (NASB95)
The other concept buried in this single verse is this: This is the only way God could appear to human beings were He to divest Himself of all that He is and appear to us on this planet. Could God have appeared as an ethnicity He wanted, as man or woman, appeared fully formed out of the blue, or anything else? Yes. He’s God. He can do anything. But, for Him to accomplish His goal of communicating His Word to us and for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be accomplished as the final propitiation of sin, Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph, is the only way that could have been accomplished.
If you want to argue that point, feel free to do so, but the only evidence I’ll debate are the words of Jesus in the Bible. Why? Because those are the words spoken by the One who came to earth divested of His glory to do so. Evidence that Buddha or any other “holy man” was “another incarnation of God made flesh” is not something I will entertain because of those same words from Jesus in John’s Gospel.
6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
John 14:6–7 (NASB95)
“That’s not very open-minded of you.” I am a Christian. That means I’m a follower of Christ, who was Jesus of Nazareth. I’m not interested in “open-minded.” I’m interested in what my Lord said, did, and commanded. He said He is the way, the truth, and the life. The only way. The only truth. The only life. No one comes to God but through Him. Okay. I put my faith in that based on my life experiences. If you’ve had different life experiences, you do you but allow me the freedom to do me, too.
Pastor Lee emphasized “with” multiple times in opening her sermon and the difference between being “for God” and being “with God.” I can be for something, meaning support it and not be with it. What does that statement mean? I took a note to do a word study on “with.” However, I expanded it to be a study on “with God.” According to Logos
There are 39 entries of “with God” in the King James. Strong’s number for “with” is 3844. The entry follows from Matthew 19:26.
26But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Matthew 19:26 (KJV 1900)
Greek Word: παρά
Transliteration: para
Phonetic Pronunciation: par-ah’
Root: a root word
Cross Reference: TDNT - 5:727,771
Part of Speech: prep
Vine’s Words: Conceits, Contrary, Nigh, Rather
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
of 51
with 42
from 24
by … side 15
at 12
than 11
miscellaneous translations 45
[Total Count: 200]
a primary preposition; properly near, i.e. (with general) from beside (literal or figurative), (with dative) at (or in) the vicinity of (object or subject), (with accusative) to the proximity with (local [especially beyond or opposed to] or causal [ on account of]):- above, against, among, at, before, by, contrary to, × friend, from, + give [such things as they], + that [she] had, × his, in, more than, nigh unto, (out) of, past, save, side … by, in the sight of, than, [there-] fore, with. In compounds it retains the same variety of application.
[1] James Strong, “Παρά,” Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
“With God” in this context and from her emphasis means moving in His purpose, with His will, along His path. Not the World’s purposes, the World’s desires, or the World’s path. Why is that important? Aside from being on the side of the One who created everything and set it in motion? Because it leads to hope, and that hope brings peace, and being at peace leads to joy. The question then becomes how does temporal, limited Man join with the eternal God?
Prayer.
How does prayer do all that? We communicate with the Creator through prayer to Him. When we do that, He is listening. He is there. He is with us at that moment in time. We then need to listen to His response.
Mary knew exactly what she was waiting and preparing for in that first Advent so long ago. She knew she was with child. She knew whose child it was. She knew who the child was too. There was neither question of the identity nor the timing. She knew it would be soon that God would enter the world in the form of a fragile, vulnerable child. We have her reaction in scripture as well.
46And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord,
47And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48“For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
49“For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name.
50“And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him.
51“He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
52“He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble.
53“He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed.
54“He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy,
55As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”
Luke 1:46–55 (NASB95)
Psalm 103:17, 107:9
The message focused on Mary and her condition; an unwed young woman pregnant. At that time this would have been very difficult, even deadly, for her. Joseph was a good man for standing by her and not treating her as he could have. They both knew what they were getting into, and we revere Mary as the Mother of the Lord, but let’s not discount Joseph here and his faith. He had every right to annul the marriage and publicly hand Mary back to her father in disgrace. He did not do that. He and Mary stood by each other and did all that the Lord commanded them.
This message dovetailed well with the Advent message in Sunday school. Pastor Lee closed her sermon with the idea that Paul and those who traveled with him sang while in prison (Acts16). Pastor Lee said the words above were/are the first or oldest Christmas song in that Mary sang these words. That’s bold, considering if the wrong people heard her and wanted to make trouble, they could easily do it. The point: there is joy and rest to be found in Emanuel, God with us. From the Advent message, we only find rest and respite from the storm of the world around us when we take Jesus’ hand through life.