More than Power
12-08-13 Sermon
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We’re in part two of a short
two part series I’m calling “Christmas Behind the Scenes.” Last week we talked about “More than
Pageantry.” Today I want to talk
about “More than Power.”
Christmas is a powerful
holiday. President’s Day you don’t
have carolers coming up to your house knocking on your door singing, “It’s a grand old flag! It’s a high flying flag ….” It just doesn’t happen. On Labor Day you don’t see a bunch of
inflatable plumbers on front lawns.
You just don’t see that.
Christmas is big!
Last week we said let’s go
behind the scenes of the pageantry.
For two thousand years the birth of Jesus has been acted out on
stage. We put it to music and to
dance and all these things and always it’s done in such a tidy and neat and
sanitized and safe way. My idea
was let’s go behind the scenes.
Let’s see what it was really like.
Let’s see and try to imagine what Joseph was really feeling, what for
Mary was really going on in her mind, and those types of things.
For those of you who weren’t
here last week, we’ll do a quick. We
started with Joseph. We said when
we go behind the scenes with Joseph what do we find? What was he feeling?
He was afraid. He was
totally afraid. His world was
turned upside down. One minute
he’s engaged, got dreams of the future.
The next minute he’s being told by his virgin fiancée that she’s
pregnant. Hello! That entrée
wasn’t on the menu. That’ll bring
a little fear into your life.
We said Mary was feeling
uncomfortable. Socially
uncomfortable as all the accusing eyes were aimed at her unmarried belly. Physically uncomfortable as she
traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem, seventy miles by some form of animal when
she was obviously pregnant. Giving
birth in a barn. Uncomfortable
might be an understatement.
Then we went behind the
scenes to the Innkeeper. The
innkeeper was occupied. He wasn’t
evil he was just occupied – busy, full, no room, lights off.
Then we talked about the
First Visitors. The first visitors
in the book of Matthew were the wise men.
In the book of Luke – the only two places for the Christmas story – they
were the shepherds. We said they
were feeling awestruck. That when
God in flesh, the person of Jesus was there and they were in His midst they
were blown away. They were
awestruck. They were amazed. As a matter of fact the shepherds took
their amazement out to the streets, told the story of being with Jesus and
other people were amazed.
But what about you? Do you remember what you felt when you
went behind the scenes in your own life?
Your own soul?
When it comes to Jesus, you
don’t want to live in fear. You
don’t want to be afraid. You don’t
want to be afraid of aligning your life with God’s way. When it comes to Jesus, you don’t want
to be occupied. You don’t want to be
too filled and too busy to miss out on the teachings and being a Christ
follower. When it comes to Jesus
you don’t want to be uncomfortable.
You don’t want to live with guilt and shame and remorse.
What I know to be true about
you is that if we were to go out and have a conversation today you’d probably
say – the majority, not everybody, but the majority would probably say “I want a life where Jesus Christ is the
center of my life. Where the
presence of God invades my life and directs me. That I want to have a personal and genuine and authentic
relationship with God and I want that to typify my life. That’s probably what you would
say.
If that’s true how come most
of us don’t live that way? How
come most of us when it comes to Jesus we’re afraid to follow Him, He makes us
uncomfortable. We’ve got guilt and
shame in our life. Or we’re just
so busy with other things.
Why is it that the dream that
we would have for our life we don’t realize that?
I believe that one of the
reasons we don’t live the Christ following lives that we want to live is
because we rely on our own power for living rather than relying on God’s power
for living. I’m convinced that’s
it. So many of us settle to do
life on our own power that we don’t trust God’s power. We miss out on living with God’s power.
Today I want to start out
talking about Herod. Do you know
why you don’t see Herod on the stages of the re-enactment of the birth of
Christ? Because Herod is not a
warm and fuzzy character. Some
called him Herod the Great but he could have been called Herod the psycho. There’s something about Herod that I
want you to see. Last week when we
talked about being afraid and being uncomfortable and being occupied all three
of those are personified in Herod.
I want you to see not only that but I want you to see how Herod then
relies on his own power.
In Matthew 2:1 it says this “Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in
Judea during the reign of King Herod.” We don’t have time for a full-blown history lesson
but what you just need to know is Herod did a couple of great things. But he was ruthless, he was evil, his
history is filled with lies and murder and adultery and treachery. And those were just with the people
that he loved. The guy had some
real issues.
“About that time some wise men from eastern lands
arrived in Jerusalem asking, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We have seen his star as it arose and
we have come to worship him.’
Herod was deeply disturbed by their question.”
Let me pause right here and
tell you why he was deeply disturbed. He was deeply disturbed because he was
deeply afraid. He was afraid
because Herod was the king of the Jews.
He was afraid that Jesus was going to come and steal his throne and his
crown. I don’t have a lot of
kingly experience. My kingly
experience is reserved for my time at the home of the Whopper looking for a
burger or at Mattress King looking for a new mattress. But I’ve got to believe that if you’re
a king and another king is born in your own backyard and you’re an insecure
dude that is going to bring some serious fear into your life. And that’s what Herod had.
Verse 4 “He called a meeting of the leading priests and the teachers of the
religious law and he asks them this question, ‘Where did the prophets say that
the Messiah would be born?’”
Herod was not a God fearing
person. He was not a godly man
whatsoever. But he calls these
scholars together because he was smart enough to know that for many years a
Messiah was prophesied. People
thought that the Messiah that was going to come was not going to be like Jesus
but he was going to come as a political ruler and he was going to take his
throne. So Herod is feeling the
heat. To say that he’s
uncomfortable would be an understatement.
Verse 7 “Then Herod sent a private message to the wise men asking them to come
and see him. At this meeting he
learned the exact time when they first saw the star. Then he told them, ‘Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for
the child. When you find Him come
back and tell me so I can go and worship him Too.’”
When you go behind the scenes
with Herod you see that Herod was so occupied with getting rid of Jesus that he
as obsessed by it. That’s all he
was thinking about – how do I get rid of this Messiah so he doesn’t steal my
throne or my crown. He manipulated
everybody. Here he’s trying to
turn the wise men into double agents.
Herod was so obsessed, so
occupied, that he does really the unthinkable.
Skip ahead to verse 16. You know what happened. The wise men did not go back to
Herod. They realized what he was
up to through a message from God and they escaped.
Verse 16 “Herod was furious when he learned that the wise men had outwitted
him. He sent soldiers to kill all
the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under because the
wise men had told him that the star first appeared to them about two years
earlier.” If he wipes
out everybody under two years he’s going to wipe out this potential king.
If anybody had power, if
anybody knew power, it was Herod.
He had it. He had
incredible power. He leveraged his
power. He talked about his power
over power lunches. This guy was
into power.
But here’s the key that I
want you to get. It was just human
power. Massive power, enough human
power to kill hundreds of innocent babies but it was just human power. I want you to understand that human
power always runs out. Human power
is limited and it will always run out.
I want you to notice
something that happened to Herod.
It’s not in your notes.
It’s in verse 19 – two simple words. “Herod died.”
Died! Dead! Done! Kaput. Pushing up
daisies. Taking a dirt nap. Worm bait. Whatever you want to say but his reign came to an end. There was nothing more of him. His human power was met by the ultimate
power of reality. And that is
death.
Herod lived with all of these
negative feelings. He was afraid,
he was uncomfortable, he was occupied.
But he relied on his own power when it came to Jesus.
When you go behind the scenes
to Herod he missed it. He missed it! You might write that in next to his name on your
outline. When Jesus came he
thought Jesus came to threaten him.
Jesus really came to save him.
Herod thought that Jesus came to make his life uncomfortable. Jesus really came to bring
comfort. Herod thought that Jesus
was going to steal his power. But
Jesus came to give him real power.
Christmas is all about
power. That’s what Christmas
is. When we celebrate it this
week, when we celebrate it this month, it’s all about God’s power in
action.
“Christmas is God’s
power in action.”
It
was God’s power that invaded humanity with divinity. That’s the birth of Jesus. The divine become human.
It
was God’s power that changed the natural laws. A virgin birth.
It was God’s power
that foiled the plans of a powerful ruler named Herod.
It
was God’s power that orchestrated all of prophecy to fulfill God’s promises of
a Messiah.
It
was God’s power who personally communicated to His people and guided the wise
men to Jesus and then Joseph and his family to safety.
Christmas is all about God’s
power. God’s presence – the
God-man, Jesus – allows us to have power so that we can live with peace in our
life. That’s kind of the summary
statement of all of Christmas. The presence of God reveals the power of
God and brings the peace of God to your life.
What I want to do is kind of
switch a little bit and say what would this power in your life look like? I don’t want to spend the whole time
just talking about God’s power. We
do that a lot. We talk about how
loving He is and forgiving He is and all-powerful He is. How do we live with that power?
1 Corinthians 4 “For the kingdom of God is not just fancy
talk. It is living by God’s
power.” How do we do
that?
I’m guessing that most of you
in here would not question whether God is powerful. You can just look around and see the display of God’s
power. But probably many of us
would say, “God is powerful but is that
power accessible for my life? That
power that we read about – God invading history and humanity and showing up in
other people’s life – is it accessible to me today in the twenty-first century
in the life that I live in the marketplace?
The Bible says in Psalm 68 “God gives power and strength to His
people.” If that’s true
then when can I count on God’s power?
I can count on God’s power
when I’m afraid. I can count on
God’s power when I’m uncomfortable.
I can count on God’s power when I’m occupied. I can count on God’s
when I __________ . You can put anything you want in that
blank. I can count on God’s power
when I’m lonely, when I’m wounded, when I’m afraid, when I’m fearful, when I’m
questioning, when I’m betrayed, when I’m frustrated, when I’m anxious, when I’m
depressed, when I’m sick… All of the above always, no matter what you’re
feeling you can count on God’s power.
How do we know that? Isaiah 40 “God never grows faint or weary.
He gives power to those who are tired and worn out. He offers strength to the weak.” I love that. I love this idea that God never loses
His power. He never gets tired or
occupied. He never gets weary. He never goes to bed. He never loses energy. God created Red Bull. God created the universe and then said “What’s next?” I can barely create a sandwich without wanting to take a
nap. But God never naps!
Here’s the good news. God’s power is available when we need
it the most. When we are
weak.
The apostle Paul discovered
this in 2 Corinthians 12. God said
to him, “My power works best in your
weakness.” Then I love
what Paul says “So now I am glad to boast
about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may work through me.” God’s power shows up in your
weakness.
I know what some of you are
thinking, “Frank, I’m kind of a regular
Christian. I love God and
everything but I’m occupied all the time.
I’m fearful. I’m stressed
out. My relationships are in
trouble. I’m heartbroken. My prayers aren’t answered. I don’t feel and I don’t see God’s
power in me.”
If you’re feeling that or
you’re thinking that, let me tell you something really important. God’s power is not automatic. God doesn’t force His power on us. There’s this little gift called Free
Will. When we live our life with
this gift of Free Will that means we have the freedom to be idiots. To do bad things. To make dumb decisions. It’s this Free Will that causes many of
us in here to live life without God’s power.
So when can I get God’s
power? All the time. It’s totally available. God never gets tired. But the question is, How? How
might I access God’s power?
How do I access God’s power today?
First, I must admit my need. To
access God’s power I encourage you to admit your need. It’s as simple as saying “God I don’t feel like I can do it on my own
power. I need Your power.”
Let’s be honest. This is not difficult when you’re in
pain. This is pretty easy when
you’re struggling or wounded or lonely or hurting. It’s pretty easy to say, God I need Your power to get
through this. This is very difficult
to do when you’re kind of living life on Easy Street. When things are going well. When you’re kind of on cruise mode and going, “Why do I need God’s power? I’ve got this thing handled!”
When you live self-sufficient
you short circuit God’s power. You
want God’s power in your life?
Then you drop the pride.
You admit it. You admit
that you need His power. 1 Peter
5:6 says “So humble yourself [What
does that mean? Drop your pride.] under the mighty power of God and in His
good time He will honor you. He
will lift you up. He will empower
you.” Here’s a good slogan for
you “I can’t, God can, so I’ll let Him.”
Do you want God’s power? First admit your need.
Second, I must plug into God. You plug
into God’s power source. Let me
give you a very important spiritual truth. It may seem simple at first but if you think on this one for
a while you will see how profound it is.
Here’s what I want you to get.
Things work best when they’re
plugged in. It’s deep. But it’s a lot deeper than you think it
is.
Like a toaster. It doesn’t work if it’s not plugged
in. It’s got to have a power
source. I don’t care how pretty
your toaster is. I don’t care how
much your toaster cost. I don’t
even care if your toaster grew up in the church kitchen its whole life. It doesn’t matter if it’s not plugged
into a power source you’re not getting toast. You’ve got bread!
There are people who had some
kind of spiritual experience and they joined a church. They then unplugged and plugged in to their own agenda. They plugged into their own way, their
own dream, their own goals. Then
what they do is they have the audacity to blame God for their life. They unplugged from God and plugged
into their own way and now they’re blaming God.
When you do this, you
shouldn’t have the arrogant expectation that God will bless you with His
power. Think about it? Why would He? It wouldn’t make sense for God to give you power to do
something that is outside of His design and will for your life. If you want God’s power you plug in.
You might be sitting here
going, “Hey Frank! I am plugged in. I’ve been plugged in for a long time.” Great! You can cross that out then and you just write down, “Stay connected.” What you need to do is stay
connected. If you want God’s power
you stay connected.
Jesus spelled out this whole
connection theory in John 15. He
says this, “Yes, I am the vine and you
are the branches. Those who remain
in Me [circle “remain in Me” because that’s connected] and I in them will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.” Apart from Me you live on
your own power. Apart from Me you
plug in to your own direction.
If you’re here and you’ve
never plugged in to a relationship with God, a personal genuine relationship
with God – I’m not talking about studying religion. I’m talking about a relationship with God – it’s a lot
easier than you think. People
mystify this relationship with God and think you’ve got to attend these classes
and read this and do that and jump through all these hoops. It’s a lot easier than you might
think.
Did you know that it’s easier
for you to have a relationship with the God of the universe than it is to get
the cable guy to show up at your house. You know what I’m talking about with that one don’t
you? Call the cable company and
they can’t even pinpoint a year that they might come out to your house. Then you wait for several days when
they say they’re going to be there.
You’re finally so famished you leave to get some food, then they jump
out from behind the bushes where they’ve been hiding, pin a note on your door, “Sorry we missed you.”
But God isn’t like that. God is waiting at the door of your
heart, knocking at the door of your heart, waiting for you to let Him in. He wants to make a connection. I admit my need. I plug in to God, or I stay connected
with Him. Then here’s the biggie,
Three, I must step out in faith. God’s
power works in connection with our faith.
Stepping out in faith means this, that I’m going to choose God’s way
before the power shows up. Key
word – before. I step out in faith before God’s power
shows up. That’s what faith
is. I’m trusting that God will
meet me there. I’m trusting that
God will act. I’m trusting that
God will be there.
If you’ve been a follower of
Christ for a while and you have not memorized Hebrews 11:1. I encourage you to memorize that. “What
is faith? It is the confident
assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.” What we hope for is going to happen.
So you might be thinking, “You mean I have to take action and act as
if I have the power even though I don’t have the power in order to get the
power.” Yeah. That’s what faith is. You act as if the power will be
there. That God sees your faith
and He turns on the power.
Let’s go back to the
Christmas story. Let’s go back to
Herod. You’ve got Herod, very
powerful man by human standards, a powerful human man. Juxtaposed you’ve got Joseph. By the eyes of the world not a very
powerful person at all. An ordinary
dude. But what’s the difference?
The difference is Herod
relied all on his own power where Joseph relied on the power of God. He stepped out in faith. Matthew 2, read this on your own. Three times God asked Joseph to do
something and even though he’s scared he does it anyway.
One,
I want you to marry your fiancée, the pregnant virgin. I want you to marry her. Ok, Two, I want you to leave Bethlehem
because Herod’s trying to kill Jesus.
He leaves.
Three,
after Herod dies, he’s told to go back to Israel. Ok, he goes back.
Even though he’s scared.
Because Herod the Great is gone but now his son, Herod, the
not-so-great, is the ruler. It
says he’s afraid of that. But even
though he’s afraid, even though he doesn’t know how God’s going to show up, he
keeps stepping out in faith. God’s
power meets him. That’s the
difference between Joseph and Herod.
If you’re anything like me,
you would prefer God’s power to show up before
you have to step out in faith.
Wouldn’t you? Think about
that. I want God’s power to show
up before I do the right thing.
I’ll do the right thing, but, God, give me Your power first. I want God’s power to show up in my
life before I go reconcile that relationship. I want it before I take on that risky project. But the Bible clearly reveals that’s
not how God works. All throughout
the Bible, all throughout history when God intervenes in a person’s life it is
when they have stepped out in faith and God meets them there and infuses them
with His power.
You want God’s power in your
life? It is totally
available. It’s met when you and I
step out in faith. We admit we
need it and we plug into God and we step out in faith.
Don’t trust in human
wisdom. Trust in the power of
God. That’s what it says in 1
Corinthians 2. Paul says, “I did this so you might trust in the power
of God rather than on human wisdom.”
I’ll take the power of God over human wisdom any day.
Is this a difficult
thing? Are these three action
steps I gave you difficult?
Absolutely! Are they
essential to have the power of God?
Yes.
Christmas is a celebration of
God’s power. God’s presence
came. He gives us His power so we
can have peace.
I want to take all the
Christmas characters and let me move them to the side and make the central
character, Jesus. Jesus is the
central character if the Christmas story.
If you want the power of God, you need to have the person of Jesus
Christ in your life. The power
doesn’t come without the person.
The power of God is wrapped up in a person and that’s Jesus. When you have that relationship with
God through Jesus, you are His child.
A lot of people think they’re a child of God when they’re not. Everybody is a creation of God– six
billion people are a creation of God.
The Bible teaches when you have a relationship with God then you become His child. Don’t you think that God the Father
wants to give His children the very best?
Don’t you think that God the Father wants to give His children power?
Prayer: pray in your own heart--
God,
thank You that we don’t have to keep You at a distance. Thank You that we can have a personal
and genuine, authentic relationship with You. That You love us enough to give us Your power, that You want
the very best for Your children.
As we all leave here today and we go our separate ways we don’t want to
rely on our own power. We trust in
Your power. We’re thankful for
that. That we can go into the
marketplace or into our homes or into our relationships with the confidence
that we are children of God who have access to God’s power. And for that truth we are
thankful. We pray in the name of
Jesus. Amen.
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