MVOPC 25 December 2011
Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-3
Opening Hymn: 203 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
Confession of Sin
O You whose chosen dwelling is the heart that longs for Your presence and humbly seeks Your love: We come to You to acknowledge and confess that we have sinned in thought and word and deed; We have not loved You with all our heart and soul, with all our mind and strength; We have not even loved our neighbor as ourselves. Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done, or for the good we have left undone. But You, O Lord, are full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy; there is forgiveness with You. Restore to us the joy of Your salvation; Bind up that which is broken, give light to our minds, strength to our wills and rest to our souls. Speak to each of us the word that we need, and let Your Word abide with us until it has wrought in us Your holy will. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Romans 5:1-2
Old Covenant Reading: Isaiah 52:1-10
New Covenant Reading: Luke 2:1-20
Hymn of Preparation: 208 “O Come, All Ye Faithful”
Sermon Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Sermon: Kings Great and Small
Hymn of Response: 230 “Thou Who Wast Rich beyond All Splendor”
Confession of Faith: Nicene Creed, p. 846
Doxology (Hymn 732)
Closing Hymn: 195 “Joy to the World”
PM Worship: No Evening Worship Tonight
Adult Sunday School: No Sunday School Today
Suggested Preparations
Monday (12/19) Read and discuss Matthew 2:1-12. This passage introduces four major themes in the Gospel according to Matthew: (1) First, Jesus will be a Royal Messiah; (2) Second, God is controlling all the events through His providential hand; (3) Third, the Gentiles are going to be included among the Messiah’s people; and (4) Fourth, Jesus is the fulfillment of much Old Testament prophesy. Today we will look at the contrast between the Magi and the rulers of Israel. It is striking that the LORD led the Magi to travel over long distances on very incomplete information to pay homage to the new born King. This points forward to the fact that the whole world will one day worship Him (cf. Rev. 21:24, 26). Magi, in the ancient world, were a priestly cast of magicians and astrologers who were supposed to be the “wise men” of the country. They were therefore consulted by civil rulers and often used for diplomatic missions. They may have been familiar with some of the Hebrew Bible, but they didn’t know about Micah 5:2 for they follow the natural surmise that a king would be born in a capital and head off to Jerusalem. It doesn’t surprise us that the paranoid Herod would be deeply disturbed by the news of a newborn King; but we shouldn’t miss that all Jerusalem was troubled with him. So Herod gathers together the chief priests and the teachers of the law and inquires where the Messiah was to be born. They don’t miss a beat: “In Bethlehem of Judea” they reply, “for this is how it has been written by the prophet.” They all know the correct answer, but here is the amazing part: Although Bethlehem is only 6 miles from Jerusalem – not one of the chief priests or scribes bothers to go with the Magi to see where the Christ was to be born. The contrast is striking: Some traveled great distances and offered up gold and precious spices to worship Jesus while others wouldn’t even make the two hour walk to see Him. This antithesis carries through the gospel: the redemptive influence of Jesus will extend far beyond the confines of Jerusalem to the far corners of the earth, yet those closest to Jesus will reject him (Grant Osborne).” Read or Sing Hymn: 203 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would maintain your excitement over the gospel story.
Tuesday (12/20) Read and discuss Matthew 1:18-25. In order to understand the solution you have to understand the problem. What was it like to conceive of yourself as being part of the LORD’s chosen people when He hadn’t returned to Zion for more than four centuries? What was it like for a Jewish carpenter to live under the thumb of brutal Roman overlords (both Herod and his son Archelaus were unusually brutal compared to most Roman rulers)? What was it like to live in Judah when the majority of your fellow Jews had grown cold in the faith? C.S. Lewis beautifully captures this struggle when he describes Narnia without Asland (Jesus) as “always winter but never Christmas”. Yet, first century Judah wasn’t without some joys. There was still a remnant and Joseph was about to be married to a woman who by all accounts appeared to be a particularly godly woman. Then Joseph’s entire world came crashing down: She’s pregnant! How could that possibly be? All of his hopes and dreams had gone up in ashes. Nevertheless, Joseph seeks to be a man of God who does “justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with his God (Micah 6:8).” It would not be easy. Nearly everyone in his town would think that Joseph had been guilty of fornication. But Joseph chose to suffer the abuse of his fellow men in order to seek the praise of God. Because of the astonishing news that he would be the step-father to Immanuel – Joseph (and all of the rest of us) have reason to sing joy to a world in a world that often seems like it is always winter and never Christmas. This week, as you take time to celebrate the coming of our LORD, remember to rejoice with a grateful heart. And remember to look forward in hope to the day when it will never be winter but it will always be Christmas. For you will dwell in the immediate presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you will be like Him, for you will see Him as He is. Read or Sing Hymn 208 “O Come, All Ye Faithful” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would make you even more into a man or woman who does justice and who loves mercy.
Wednesday (12/21) Read and discuss Isaiah 52:1-10. On the Fourth of July Americans celebrate Independence Day to commemorate when our nation first declared itself to be a sovereign power. Yet, even a cursory familiarity with history makes it difficult to paint the British Empire as tyrannical oppressors. Israel could only have wished that they had been “oppressed” in this way. Isaiah had lived through the assaults of the Assyrians, who were among the most brutal people who had ever lived. Then he prophesied of Judah being taken into the Babylonian captivity. While the Babylonians were more civilized than the Assyrians, they did force the majority of the Jewish people to move more than five hundred miles away to a strange land where they would have to do whatever the king of Babylon told them to do. Yet, Isaiah 52 is promising a freedom from this bondage. More than mere freedom, Israel would be lifted up and exalted. Isaiah was promising a second Exodus where the people would be delivered not only to freedom and security but to being the LORD’s true people:
Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.
When would this glorious event take place? If we stopped reading here we could easily imagine that this might take place in the fifth century B.C. when the LORD would bring Israel back into their land. But if we keep reading through Isaiah 52 and 53 we see that this freedom, security, and joy is intimately tied up with the substitutionary death of the Suffering Servant. It is only with Christ’s victory over Satan, sin, and death that the Second Exodus is truly accomplished. Living on this side of redemption accomplished, let us lift our voices to sing of Christ’s victory and let us rejoice in the Good News that He brings. Read or sing Hymn: 194 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”. Prayer: Please pray for friend or loved one who does not know the LORD that they would be brought to Christ this Christmas season.
Thursday (12/22) Read and discuss Luke 2:1-20. David Garland writes:
The sentimental Christmas may be popular as a religious holiday for some because it can come off as celebrating the birth of a helpless baby. Jesus lies in a manger to be gazed upon and adored, but not to be heard and heeded. A speechless babe wrapped tightly in swaddling cloths seems more obliging in allowing people to tailor their religious beliefs however they see fit. …
True, many hear only the Christmas bells of cash registers ringing, accompanied by mawkish seasonal, secular music. Churches do not always help by competing for the entertainment spotlight. One church I know of boasts of their Christmas program’s “pageantry, marvel, magic, and awe,” and emphasizes that they have been “entertaining and inspiring audiences … for more than 25 years.”
The story of Christmas celebrates the fulfillment of God’s promises and the incarnation of God in human flesh. That meaning is memorably captured by John 3:16. God loves, and God gives in order to save. Luke’s birth narrative portrays the nature of divine power that gives itself to save. God does not appear as an all-powerful despot but as a vulnerable child. Paul blazons this profound paradox in Phil 2:6-8. For Christ, equality with God meant emptying himself, taking the form of a slave, who had no rights and owed obedience, humbling himself and dying a slave’s death on the cross. It meant giving rather than getting, and Christ gave until he was empty; but his obedience led to an empty tomb and ultimate vindication that will culminate when throngs in heaven and on earth and under the earth, not just a host of angels, will bow down and sing glory in the highest to the One whose name is above every name.
Read or Sing Hymn 230 “Thou Who Wast Rich beyond All Splendor” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would grant you contentment and that you and your family would rest more and more in who He is and what He has done.
Friday (12/23) Matthew 2:13-23. Today’s passage is structured around three Old Testament passages and how they relate to Jesus. Because we know who Jesus is, we tend to not be surprised by these passages – but they are written in such a way that the attention is cast upon the baby (e.g. “take the child and his mother”). The most surprising of the Old Testament passages which Matthew uses is the first one taken from Hosea 11:1:
When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
At first it may seem puzzling why the LORD would apply this passage to the baby Jesus. Yet, in this puzzle we discover a profound bit of theology. The remnant of Israel would ultimately come down to just one righteous person – Jesus so that He could be and do precisely what the nation had failed to be or accomplish. Israel was to be the servant of the LORD and a light to the gentiles – but they failed. Now the true Servant of the LORD (cf: Isaiah 53) would bring about true redemption and be the light of the world. God chose to reveal this truth by having Jesus recapitulate a portion of Israel’s history. Read or sing Hymn: 30 “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past”. Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer: Prayer: As the story of Christmas fills our nation, pray that the LORD would open many hearts to receive the King for the first time.
Saturday (12/24) Read and discuss Matthew 2:1-12. On Monday we looked at the contrast between Israel’s earthly rulers and the Magi. Today we will look at the contrast between God/Jesus and Herod the Great. Herod was a paranoid and power hungry leader. Caesar Augustus once quipped that he would rather be Herod’s pig than his son. For, although Herod wouldn’t eat pork, he had put both his wife and his two sons to death out of fear that they were plotting against him. Herod’s entire approach to life was to cling to everything he could while destroying anything he imagined could be a threat. His approach to the Magi was neither to bless them nor to dismiss them but to use them. Herod treated other people as though they were things. By contrast, Jesus chose to leave the courts of heaven to be born in a humble family. Herod was focused on what he could get. Jesus was focused on what He could give. Nevertheless, the passage leaves us with absolutely no doubt about who is in charge. God had planned this moment from before the foundations of the world. He had predicted it through His prophet Micah. He was supernaturally guiding these gentile Magi to His Son through a special star, and He would warn them in a dream to not return to Herod. The paranoid Herod may have thought that he was in charge, but the unfolding events demonstrated that all the details of history are securely in the hands of the King of Kings. The passage also has clear echoes of Ezekiel 34:11-16. The false shepherds have scattered God’s people. But the Messiah has come at last to shepherd the nation back to God and to bring the gentiles into God’s one flock. Or to shift to the imagery from Daniel, in Christ, God had set up the stone that would grow into a great mountain that would ultimately fill all the earth. Read or sing Hymn: 195 “Joy to the World”. Read or sing Hymn 196 “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.
