I want to start today a little bit on the heavy side of thinking.  Suppose you knew you had only one week to live.  Now that is a serious thought.  How would you spend your time?  What would you want people to know before you died?  I suspect that none of us would want to waste a moment of that time. We would wish to every minute to count. This was the situation that Jesus found himself in.  Jesus knew his time living in the flesh was ending, and he wanted every moment to count. Jesus’ final week in the flesh would transpire between what we call Palm Sunday and Good Friday.  Some churches call those days Holy Week, Passion Week, or the Great Week. 

Jesus had been in public ministry for three years and now had just one week left.  The Gospel writers recorded those three years, and of all the things they wrote about Jesus, nearly 40% was dedicated to describing that last week of Jesus’ life. In my extra-large print Bible, the gospels take up 193 pages.  That means 116 pages describe 3 years of Jesus’ life, and 77 pages describe one week of his life.  Jesus’ final week was crucial to the gospel message.  In many ways, we should see those 77 pages on Jesus’ last week as the focal point of Jesus’ overall purpose, with the other 116 pages serving to prepare us to receive it.  Given that, I want us to spend some time over the next eight weeks looking at Jesus’ words from that week.  We need the time for serious conversations about what Jesus had to say.  To guide us, I have selected the following eight statements from Jesus to focus our thinking.  Here are those statements.

“My house shall be a house of prayer.”

“Watch out that no one deceives you.”

“Do this in remembrance of Me.”

“Take this cup from me.”

“The hour has come.”

“I am he.”

“I thirst.”

“Mary.”

With that introduction, let’s begin with Jesus’ statement, “My house shall be a house of prayer.”  What was the context of that statement?  Who heard it? What was their reaction?  How was God revealed through that statement? What difference does that statement make to you and me?

We find that this statement was made in the context of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday.  All four gospels record Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem. Today, I will use Matthew’s account as our primary source.

Jesus and his disciples came to the village of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, just to the east of Jerusalem.  It was a few days before Passover, and Jewish people from across the known world were approaching Jerusalem to celebrate.  Jesus intended for the group to enter Jerusalem.  It would not be the first time Jesus had been to Jerusalem, but this time would be different.  Instead of walking into the city, Jesus intended to ride in on a colt of a donkey.  Jesus sent two of his disciples into the village to retrieve a donkey and its colt, which were tied there, and bring them to him.  Matthew, quoting from the Old Testament prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9), wrote, “5 Say to Daughter Zion (Jerusalem), ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey’” (Matthew 21:5).  What should we gather from this opening?  We should see that Jesus intended for people to see him enter Jerusalem, and to see him as a king, fulfilling the Hebrew Scriptures.  But Jesus was not just any king.  Jesus was a king in the line of David.  And it was not just Jerusalem that was the object of Jesus’ entry into the city; it was the Temple within the city walls that was His objective.  It was David’s son, King Solomon, who built and dedicated the first Temple in Jerusalem.  It would be David’s 13th-generation descendant, King Hezekiah, who would purify the Temple after it had become corrupted with idols.  It would be Josiah, a 16th-generation descendant of David, who would cleanse the Temple again.  It would now be Jesus, coming as a king, a 28th-generation descendant of David, who would enter Jerusalem and make his way to the Temple.  We will see why in a moment.

Jesus’ disciples brought the colt and donkey, placing their cloaks upon the colt, and Jesus sat on the animal.  “8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’  ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’  ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” (Matthew 21:8-9). The word “Hosanna” is a plea from the people, meaning, “Lord, save us.”  These words come from the Hebrew Scriptures, our Old Testament, Psalm 118, “25 Lord, save us!  Lord, grant us success!  26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord, we bless you.  27 The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine on us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar” (Psalm 118:25-27). The words of the people confirm the destination.  Their words come from the house of the Lord, and their procession will go to the very altar of God.

Jesus’ entry could not be missed.  As pilgrims from around the world made their way by walking into the city, Jesus rode upon a colt with crowds before him and behind him, shouting words of scripture, laying down cloaks on the ground as though to create a red carpet, and waving boughs, branches, and palms to draw attention and give praise. “10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’  11 The crowds answered, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee’” (Matthew 21:10-11).  Who is this, indeed!  It is Jesus from Nazareth, a prophet, who now enters Jerusalem as king.  That news certainly stirred up the people, but it was not Jesus’ intent to enter the city to do just that.  Jesus had a week left in his life.  He had something greater to do than enter the city and be noticed by the inhabitants and visitors.

At that moment, “12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 ‘It is written,’ he [Jesus] said to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers’” (Matthew 21:12-13).  Suddenly, without warning, Jesus, leading the procession of cheering, palm-waving crowds, erupted with righteous outrage, as other prophets had before him.  Jesus’ anger was directed at everyone in the temple courts, those buying and those selling.  His outrage extended to those exchanging foreign currency for temple coins to pay their temple taxes.  For them, Jesus overturned the tables of coins from all over the world, mixing them with the temple's coins.   He overturned the benches of those selling doves and pigeons to the poor worshippers, making themselves more affluent and the worshippers poorer.

Jesus shouted the words of the prophet Isaiah, sharing God’s Word, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7). God had revealed through the prophet Isaiah that His house was to be for all people who would come to Him, regardless of nation or defect.  God would hear the prayers of those who would keep his commands.  Jesus’ actions to drive out those selling, buying, and exchanging money were the act of a king purifying the temple of corruption.  Hebrew kings purified the Temple in the past, and it was happening yet again.

What was that corruption?  Jesus said to the temple officials and to those he chased away, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers’” (Matthew 21:13).  Instead of a house of prayer for the faithful, the Temple had become a hiding place for people who were nothing more than thieves.  A den of robbers is the place, that secret place, that thieves retreat to, believing in that spot they are safe from prying eyes or those in authority.   A den of robbers is for robbers only, not for everyone; it is an exclusive place with rules and fees to enter.  Jesus, coming as king, as prophet from Nazareth, and as savior, with the people praising with shouts of “Hosanna,” purified the Temple, highlighting the harm to God’s plan: “My house will be called a house of prayer.”

No sooner had Jesus purified the Temple than did something remarkable happen: “14 The blind and the lame came to him [Jesus] at the temple, and he [Jesus] healed them” (Matthew 21:14).  At first, we might think, what is so unusual about Jesus’ healing people?  There was nothing unusual about Jesus performing a miraculous healing, except for this.  Up to this point, the blind and the lame were excluded from the Temple as being defective, perhaps struck by God for their sinful behaviors.  Now, the blind and the lame entered the purified  Temple to see Jesus, and he healed them.  These healings are the only ones recorded for us as occurring in the Temple.

Something had changed.  Jesus, the king, prophet, savior, and healer, was now within the Temple to hear the pleas of all the people and to receive their praise.  “15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he [Jesus] did and the children shouting in the temple courts, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they were indignant.  16 ‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’ they asked him [Jesus].  ‘Yes,’ replied Jesus, ‘have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants, You, Lord, have called forth your praise?’” 17 And he [Jesus] left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night” (Matthew 21:15-17).  The Temple's leadership was indignant.  Under what authority did Jesus presume to purify the Temple, allow the blind and lame to enter to be healed, and allow children to sing praises to him?  How dare he do such things and allow such things by others!”  Jesus responded that God Himself was involved here, as the psalmist had written, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings I [God] have ordained praise” (Psalm 8:3, Septuagint). Praise of God, even from those who can barely speak, shall happen in His presence.  The Temple leadership was stunned.  Jesus had told them in so many ways that He was God.  At that, Jesus left them and went to Bethany.

Jesus had spent the first of his final days fulfilling prophecy, exciting people that their king and savior had come, purifying his temple of corruption, healing those who had been excluded, receiving shouts of praise from adults and children alike, and confronting the corrupt leadership over their unwillingness to see who he was.  It was a powerful day for those who were listening.

When we step back for a moment and consider that it makes sense that with Jesus knowing His time was ending, He must enter Jerusalem and into the heart of Judaism, its Temple.  We cannot overstate the importance of the Temple to every aspect of Jewish life. The Temple was critical, and those who ran it were exceptionally self-important and wealthy.  But the practices and rules had corrupted the true worship of God.  In Luke’s account of Jesus coming to Jerusalem, we would read, “41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, 'If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes’” (Luke 19:41-42).  The love of the Temple had blinded the people, especially the Temple leadership, from seeing who Jesus was.  And although Jesus would show them on this day, he also knew their hearts were hardened to the truth.  So hardened were the hearts of the Temple leadership against Jesus that they would cite Jesus’ conduct in the Temple as reason enough to execute him.

What then do we make of all that transpired on that first day of Jesus’ last week?  What do we make of Jesus’ statement that, “My house shall be a house of prayer?”  Let’s consider three things.

First, on the first day, Jesus took the opportunity to make clear who He was.  Jesus is a king.  Jesus is a prophet.  Jesus is a savior. He is God.  Do you see Jesus this way? 

Is Jesus king or lord over your life?  Are his commands things you desire to do?

Let’s look at just a few of Jesus commands from the Gospel of Matthew.

• Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. (Matthew 4:17)
• Come, follow me. (Matthew 4:19)
• Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. (Matthew 5:12)
• Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7)
• Go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18)

Jesus came to be lord or King over your life because He has the words of life.  When we celebrate the first day of the last week of Jesus' life, Palm Sunday, we are celebrating Christ's kingship over us.

Is Jesus the final prophet of God to guide you?  Jesus’ prophesies about himself were that he would reconcile all things to himself.  Just from Matthew, Jesus said he would sit on the throne and gather all nations before him (Matthew 25:31-33) and that he would come again (Matthew 24:42).  When we celebrate the first day of the last week of Jesus' life, Palm Sunday, we are celebrating reliving Jesus’ first time coming as king in anticipation of the second time he comes as king.  We should be excited that one day, Christ will come and all things will be reconciled.

Is Jesus your savior?  Jesus said, “21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).  What is the will of the Father?  That we would believe in Christ for eternal life (John 6:39-40).  When we celebrate the first day of the last week of Jesus’ life, Palm Sunday, we are celebrating again that Jesus is our Savior, Hosanna, Save us.

Secondly, Jesus said to those who would listen at the time, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.”  Jesus was pointing his listeners back to Isaiah, Chapter 56. Isaiah had recorded for us these words of the Lord, “1 This is what the Lord says: ‘Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.  2a Blessed is the one who does this…6b Who hold fast to my covenant – 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer… for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isaiah 56:1, 2a, 6b-7).  Jesus described God’s house as a wedding banquet.  Jesus said, “2 The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.  8 “Then he [the king] said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.”  (Matthew 22:1-3, 8-10).  God’s house, the dwelling place of God, is a place of joy and answered prayer.  It is for those who have heard God’s invitation and accepted, regardless of their past sins.  When we celebrate the first day of the last week of Jesus’ life, Palm Sunday, we are invited to enter God’s house through the purity of Jesus Christ. We are celebrating answered prayer for the invitation to receive mercy and life.  In that understanding, whether we are infants or seasoned in the faith, we know that we can sing praises to God, as they did along the road to Jerusalem and within the Temple.

Where did you find yourself in today’s account?  Were you with the crowd singing Hosanna?  That would be a good place to be.  Were you one of the children singing praises to Jesus in the Temple?  That would be a good place to be.  Were you perhaps one of those healed today by Jesus because you learned you are not excluded from the house of prayer?  That would be a good place to be, too.  Or were you perhaps one of the disturbed inhabitants of Jerusalem asking, “Who is this?” Please wonder no more.  This is Jesus.  Your king, prophet, savior, and your God.  And He has something to tell you.  “Come, follow me and live.  For my house shall be called a house of prayer.”  Amen and Amen.

            I suspect everyone here has played the game “Hide and Seek.”  Someone who is “It,” the seeker, must cover their eyes and count to a prescribed number.  The other players then try to find a hiding place while the counting is underway.  If you are one of those players who is to hide, you only have so much time to find a hiding place.  And when the seeker is done counting, they shout, “Ready or not, here I come!”  Time is up, and the game is on.

            The child’s game of hide-and-seek offers an important theological illustration.  Someday, it will be as though Jesus says, “Ready or not, here I come.”  Whether you or I are ready or not, Jesus will come again.  If Jesus came right now, then time is up, and the game is on.  Only, instead of a child’s game, Jesus will come to judge the living and the dead.  Alternatively, should our bodies wear out right now, and we die, ready or not, we will face Jesus as Judge or Savior.  In either scenario, our death or Jesus’ return, there is only so much time available to us, and Jesus is counting.

            The thought of being judged for everything we have ever done or not done, or said or not said, can be frightening.  But it does not need to be that way. We have been given the gift of God’s word, which has the power to get us ready.  If Jesus were to say today, “Ready or not, here I come!” we want to be able to respond and say, “I’m ready, Lord.  I am right here.”

            One time, Jesus was teaching his disciples through a parable.  Jesus said, “35 Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he [the master] will dress himself to serve, will have them [his servants] recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Luke 12:35-40).  This parable contained a promised blessing for Jesus’ disciples, who include you and me: ”38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready” (Luke 12:38a). Therefore, “40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Luke 12:40).  We must be ready and, as I said earlier, the word of God equips us to be ready. How does God’s Word equip us to be ready?

            First, God’s Word explains how Jesus redeemed us from sin.  Let’s look at just a few examples from the Bible.

• John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching and said to his disciples, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).  Jesus takes our sins from us.
• The Apostle John wrote, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17).  Jesus takes our sins and gives us His righteousness.
• Jesus said, “Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). We have been ransomed by Jesus’ life.
• The Apostle Paul wrote, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).  The blood of Christ cleanses us.

We could go on to other Biblical verses that speak to Jesus’ first coming as the one, the only one, who saves those who would believe in him. Jesus came first as a redeemer and forgiver of our sins.  Why is a Savior needed at all?  Because “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a).  The inevitable consequence of unforgiven sin is death, an eternal separation from God, lived out in a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.  God does not want anyone to be lost, and so He revealed through His word, the Bible, that He sent Jesus so that in Him we would find forgiveness and the removal of sin.  Have you accepted the forgiveness Jesus offers?  Remember, it will be good for those servants who are ready, and Jesus is counting.

            God’s Word powerfully encourages us to repent of our sins in coming to Jesus and, not if, but when we later sin, to confess that sin to Him and be cleansed of all unrighteousness. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said to those listening, “8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8).  Repenting of our sin is a purifying act, and the consequence of being purified is that we can then enter God’s presence.

But we who sin cannot also purify ourselves.  We need Jesus to do that.  The Apostle John, in writing to other Christians, said this, “8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).   Repent, that is to turn your life away from following the world and instead follow Jesus, and confess those things that we do in life where we leave the path Jesus laid down for us.  Have you repented?  Are you following Jesus?  Are you confessing your sins to Jesus?  Remember, it will be good for those servants who are ready, and Jesus is counting.

            God’s Word powerfully encourages us to be ready by expressing our commitment to Christ through baptism.  After Jesus had ascended into heaven, a crowd encircled Peter and asked, “What must we do to be saved?”  Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).  Baptism is our most visible way of identifying the starting point of our new life in Christ.  The Apostle Paul said this about baptism, “1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:1-4).  Baptism is a gift.  Baptism allows us to experience, through the body, what our soul has experienced when we yield it to Christ.  Baptism allows us to publicly say that I am a new being seeking the best things in life. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).  The most excellent hiding place in the world is to hide yourself with Christ in God.  So, have you made it by being baptized, burying your old self, and setting your mind on things of heaven?  Remember, it will be good for those servants who are ready, and Jesus is counting.

            God’s Word powerfully encourages us live faithfully, productively, and with purpose.  How is such a life possible?  It is possible because Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Him.  Jesus first revealed this gift to his disciples shortly before his arrest and execution.  Jesus said, “15 If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:15-17).  The fantastic thing about being hidden with Christ in God is that God’s Holy Spirit takes up residence within the believer.  The Spirit, should we allow it, moves us to stay within Christ.  The Spirit shows us what is true and what is false if we will only listen.  The Holy Spirit continually regenerates us, moving us into the more perfect image of Jesus. 

The Apostle Paul said it this way, “12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:12).  Living by the Spirit requires us to allow the Holy Spirit to move us to understand God’s Word itself.  This is the primary reason why we should pay no attention to a non-believer telling us what God’s Word says.  Ignore such people completely because the truth is not in them, because the Holy Spirit, which makes believers ready, is not in the non-believer to guide them in the truth.  But you, you who believe in Jesus, who have repented, been baptized, you have the Holy Spirit within you.  And that Holy Spirit is ready to help you further understand God’s Word if you will lean on His direction and, of course, you open the Bible.  Are you letting the Holy Spirit guide your life?  Remember, it will be good for those servants who are ready, and Jesus is counting.

Let’s catch our breath for a moment and consider what we have experienced.  God’s Word is powerful, but only if we will receive it the way God expressed it. God’s Word has the power to make us ready for Jesus’ return by:

• Showing us how Jesus redeems us from sin.
• Encouraging us to repent and confess our sins to Him and be cleansed of all unrighteousness.
• Expressing our commitment to Jesus through believers’ baptism.
• Living faithfully, productively, and with purpose through the Holy Spirit.

What then do we do with what God has provided?  We must act.  We must not be passive.  Jesus described it to his disciples this way: “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning” (Luke 12:35a). To be dressed and ready for service means that we have taken the time to prepare ourselves for the Lord.  I like the imagery from the Old Testament Book of 2 Samuel that describes King David’s behavior following the death of his son. It says, “20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions, and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate” (2 Samuel 12:20).  David made himself ready.  He stopped hiding himself away.  Instead, he made his body ready for action.  He washed, applied lotion, and put on clean clothes.  He became physically ready for the Lord.  Then David entered the sanctuary and worshipped God. Following Jesus’ direction and David’s example, our initial posture of readiness for Jesus’ return is to act as if it will happen and to be found in worship.  Being committed to making ourselves physically ready and then participating in weekly worship opens us up to God’s Word.   

As I speak about worship, some may ask, what is worship? Some of us have been in church so long that we may no longer realize what worship is, or why it is such a uniquely transformative experience.  If we stay in church long enough, we might think of worship as the one hour a week we spend in the church building.  For contemporary churches, some folks view worship as the time spent in the church building, but only when they sing praise songs.

Worship takes an embryo of unity created among believers and grows them into a maturing body in which all parts begin somehow to fit together. We are a body made up of many parts, in which, as we engage in elements of worship, we are accepting a different and greater identity.  Worship causes us to start thinking and seeking together without embarrassment. We sing without embarrassment and share deep concerns about our lives, or we cry tears of joy or tears of pain without a second thought.  No single element of worship can transform so many different individuals into one body. Instead, that transformation comes about through the person being worshipped.  We come to worship God.  Worship focuses our hearts, minds, strength, and souls on God, who then transforms us into a single body.  When we have worshipped God and have our minds focused on Him, our spiritual ground is prepared for us to receive God’s Word and be made ready.

So, I am glad you are here for worship, to be more focused on God, and to be prepared to receive the power of God’s Word to make you ready for Christ’s return.  You will not regret having spent your time today with brothers and sisters in worship and in preparation to be made ready.  Remember, it will be good for those servants who are ready, and, oh yes, Jesus is counting.  Amen and Amen.

          I suspect that most of us do not often have dinner conversations about philosophy, particularly the works and thinking of ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.  Yet, these ancient philosophers laid the foundation for much of our modern-day thoughts, science, and culture.

We probably do not speak often of Alexander the Great and his conquests of the known world.  Yet those conquests laid the foundation for the spread of Greek philosophy and a unifying language across a vast empire.  The Greeks’ insatiable thirst for knowledge led them to desire what the Hebrews had in the form of the Scriptures.  Knowledge that the Hebrew people said came from one source, the one true God.  There was a stark difference between the Greeks and the Hebrews.  The Greeks saw life and said, “Let’s consider what could be.” The Hebrews saw life and said, “Let’s remember what has been, is now, and, therefore, will be forever.” 

In the third and second centuries BC, the Greeks commissioned 72 Hebrew scholars to translate the Hebrew scriptures into Greek.  Their translation was later known by the Latin name The Septuagint, meaning the 72.  Because Israel was under Greek domination for centuries, knowledge and use of the Hebrew language faded, and many Jewish people used the Greek Septuagint rather than the original Hebrew Scriptures. 

Whether in Hebrew or Greek, the Scriptures, our Old Testament, had a power that even the ancient Greek philosophers could not match.  The scriptures were not a set of philosophical debates or propositions.  The Scriptures presented themselves as the truth and were taken to be actual history, not fables or mythology.  If we look carefully at all of Scripture, we will find examples of the tension between Hebrew thought and Greek philosophies.  We certainly see that tension even today in the modern church, where many people want to reinterpret Scripture to make it say things that it does not say to promote some innovation of contemporary culture, a new philosophy.

How then should we think about the influence of Greek philosophy and Hebrew thought and the impact of Scripture in our lives?  I have always found that when we want to understand something, it is best to start at the beginning.  And so I would like us to look at the opening words of the Bible with Genesis 1 and 2.

The Scriptures begin with these words: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The idea is that the heavens and the earth had a beginning, and that beginning started with a creative act by God.  But this does not mean there was nothing before the beginning.  It may hurt our minds a bit, but before the beginning, there was something; God existed.  Before the beginning, God’s Holy Spirit existed.  Jesus told his disciples before the beginning that He lived.

• Jesus prayed, “5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5).
• Jesus prayed, “24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world” (John 17:24).

There are numerous references elsewhere in the New Testament to the pre-existence of Christ.

• “15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible” (1 Corinthians 1:15-16a).
• “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:1-3).

Something existed before creation that was personal, involved communication of plans and desires, and, most importantly, love.  Before the beginning, there was God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  The Hebrew people did not see this pre-existence of God as a proposition to be considered, as might Greek philosophers.  The Hebrews saw the pre-existence of God as a historical fact. Accepting the existence of God as a foundational fact enabled the Hebrew people to acquire knowledge of creation that could not be known any other way than through revelation from God.

          We must see this thought in contrast to modern thinking influenced by the Greeks.  Today, people deny the history of the opening words of Genesis and prefer the notion that an impersonal something, a force if you will, created the heavens and the earth.  This notion is found in Eastern religions as well.  Believing in an impersonal life force is necessary if you want to define for yourself such matters as life, morality, the existence or non-existence of eternity.  Believing in the impersonal life force instead of a pre-existent personal loving God is essential if you want to define man, woman, and the likelihood that humans are nothing more than a superior primate, or, before birth, just a clump of cells.

          But if one accepts the Bible as truth, that before creation, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit existed, and that the heavens and the earth came from the creative power of a personal, loving God, then one sees life as quite different.

          Let’s look at one of the most remarkable ways our lives are so different as we see the Bible through the lens of the original guardians, the Hebrew people.  Let’s look a little further into Genesis, Chapter 1.

          Genesis said that God spoke into existence light, sky, waters, dry land, seas, plants, sun, moon, and stars.  Then God created beings that possessed life and could sense life, including birds, sea animals, and land animals.  “26 Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’  27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26-27).  Man, meaning mankind composed of men and women, was created by God with manlike features.  Man was not just another animal, nor was Man made exactly like God.  Man was made male and female in the image, the likeness, of God.

          The Hebrew people accepted these words as a revelation of history from the pre-existent personal and loving God.  The Hebrews saw this again later in Genesis, where God revealed, “1This is the written account of Adam’s family line.  When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created” (Genesis 5:1-2).  The power of God’s revealing word is that you and I now know we are created beings made in God's image for His purposes.  He is the God that existed before creation and the God that exists after creation. These are not propositions for us to consider and debate.  These are statements of historical fact.  These facts were given by God, not as an exhaustive history, as some would like, but as the actual knowledge Man needed.

          If we live our lives treating God as a proposition, then our prayers, if we pray at all, mean nothing because we would be praying to someone we doubt exists.  This is why many people meditate to empty themselves of all thought.  That comes from a place of believing there is nothing higher than oneself.  If we live our lives treating our existence as a chance occurrence or the consequence of an evolution of the strongest and most adaptable among the animal kingdom, then our lives have no greater value than any other animal.  We are just animals from a different herd.

          But if we treat the Bible, beginning with Genesis, as the authoritative word of God given to men and women, then we have a history that provides an eyewitness, truthful account of God and human existence.  If we treat the Bible as God's history, then our prayers matter greatly.  We are lifting our voices, our innermost and sometimes most private of thoughts, to someone who has always existed and thus is infinitely wise.    This is why many Christians pray and do not meditate, and those who do meditate, meditation on God’s word, that they would be filled with God’s wisdom, not emptied of all thought.  Christian mediation comes from the place and posture that there is someone higher than self, that is, God. 

          And, if we dare to believe the Bible as God’s history, then we come to know that we are not an accident of nature.  We are created beings, separate and distinct from all others, because we and we alone are made in the image of God.  And because of this knowledge given to us by God’s Word, we do not need to be confused or overtaken by philosophies.  We can know that no matter who we look at, no matter where we live, they have great value to God because of their origin as creations of God.

          It was this wisdom and sense of history that impressed the Greeks so much that they translated the Hebrew scriptures, what we call the Old Testament, into Greek.  The Greeks wanted to access that wisdom and history.  And what can we say of that history, that segment of God’s word? We can say this.  The Old Testament was a gift from God to His people to guide their living and prepare them for the coming of the Messiah, God in the flesh.  And that Messiah was Jesus.

          What then did Jesus have to say about these histories, the Scriptures that existed when He walked upon the earth?  Jesus said this, “17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18). When it came to the specific text we looked at today from Genesis, Jesus said, “4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5).  In his teachings, Jesus referred to the histories of Adam and Eve, Abel, Noah and the flood, Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, Lot and his wife, Moses and the burning bush, David, Solomon, Elijah, Naaman, Daniel, and Jonah.  Jesus, God in the flesh, was confirming the reliability of the Old Testament and, by extension, the power of God’s Word.  Jesus affirmed that Scripture was the word of God and powerfully communicated God’s love for his creation.

          But what about our value before God?  Jesus had much to say about that as well.  Jesus said that even the number of hairs on our head is numbered and that we should not fear that we are most valuable to God.  And how much louder could Jesus have spoken about the value of your life than when he said, “This is my body, given for you... This cup is the new covenant in my blood, poured out for you" (Luke 22:19-20).  You are so valuable to God that God would die for you.  Your value and my value to God are not determined by what we have done or accomplished in our lives.  Our origin determines our value; we were created in the image of God.

          The Old and New Testaments together are God’s gift to men and women, providing what is needed until Christ returns.  The Apostle Paul said that if we take in all that has been noted as the authoritative word of God, “14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:14-15).

          God loves you.  He has given you and me access to his desires, thoughts, love, and history through the Bible.  From the first page, we learn that we are loved and valued by God because we “are God’s handiwork” (Ephesians 2:10). Let’s live as God's handiwork. Not proudly and arrogantly but humbly and with graciousness toward one another.  This is who God the Father created us to be.  This is who God the Son died to redeem us to be.  This is who God the Holy Spirit seeks to develop us to be. This is who we want to be when God the Son returns or calls us home to himself.  Amen and Amen. 

            About 30 years ago, Becky used to provide daycare for a young child named Emma. Becky cared for Emma from the time Emma was a newborn until Emma went to school.  As Emma got a little older and began talking, she would often ask Becky the same question.  “Why, Becky, why?”  Becky would tell Emma something to do or not do, and the words would come quickly back, “Why, Becky, why?”  Why indeed?

            There are many 'why' questions in life.  Anyone who has ever grieved the loss of a loved one asks, “Why?”  Why did my loved one die now?  Why did they die in this way?  We most often ask “why” when things are not going our way.  We do not ask “Why” nearly as often when things are turning out well for us.  Why am I so blessed to have such great neighbors?  Why am I blessed to have good children?  Why am I so blessed that God would offer me salvation?  A few of the “why” questions I would like us to start with today are, “Why did Jesus teach his disciples how to pray?  Why does it matter to me today?”

            Last week, we spoke about the Lord’s Prayer and the essence of the attitude of prayer, and then the content of our prayers.  We explored the Lord’s Prayer recorded for us in the Gospel of Matthew, given as part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  We spoke about the prayer as being offered in humility, encompassing four elements: Adoration of the Father, Confession of sin, Thanksgiving for God’s provision, and Supplication for strength against evil.

            This week, I would like us to look at the formulation of that prayer recorded for us in the Gospel of Luke.  Luke wrote, “1 One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples’” (Luke 11:1).  What did we learn here?  First, Jesus was praying.  Of the four Gospels, none speaks more about Jesus praying than does Luke.  Jesus prayed often, in all sorts of places and at all times of day and night. 

• But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:16)
• One of those days, Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God. (Luke 6:12)
• Once when Jesus was praying in private, and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” (Luke 9:18)
• About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John, and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. (Luke 9:28)

I think we get the picture.  Prayer was a key part of Jesus’ life, and his disciples recognized it. Therefore, Luke kept the location of Jesus' prayer vague because the focus was not on where He prayed, but on the fact that He was once again in prayer. 

Second, we learn that Jesus’ disciples wanted Jesus to teach them how to pray as John the Baptist had done for his disciples.  Now, the key here is not that Jesus’ disciples did not know about prayer.  Jews at that time commonly prayed three times a day, linked to the patriarchal traditions: Abraham in the morning (around 9:00 AM), Isaac in the afternoon (around 3:00 PM), and Jacob in the evening (after sunset).  The prayers were prescribed and repetitive.  There was something different in the way Jesus prayed and in the content of his prayers that caught the disciples' attention, and they wanted Jesus to teach them to pray as he did.  And so, at one level, we have an answer to the question, “Why did Jesus teach his disciples how to pray?”  Jesus taught them because they asked him to.  Jesus' disciples wanted their prayers to matter.  What then did Jesus teach them? 

“2 Jesus said to them, ‘When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.  3 Give us each day our daily bread.  4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.  And lead us not into temptation’” (Luke 11:2-4). 

We see Jesus taught three things about prayer.  First, we are encouraged to approach God, an infinite being, in a childlike manner, calling him “Father.”  Jesus modeled prayer to his father in a poignant manner in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Some scholars view Jesus prayer in the garden as another version of the Lord’s Prayer. Luke wrote, “39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 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.  45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 ‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked them. ‘Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation’” (Luke 22:39-46).  The elements of the Lord’s Prayer are enmeshed in the fabric of Jesus’ prayer in the garden.  The example of Jesus calling God his Father, acknowledging God's ultimate praise, is to accept his will over our own, and the counsel to pray for strength against temptation.  But it all starts from the posture that God is your father. 

Jesus referred to God as "Father" (Greek: patēr, often translating Aramaic abba) extensively in the Gospels, far more than in the Old Testament (where God is called Father only about 15 times, usually metaphorically for Israel).  Reliable scholarly sources indicate Jesus used "Father" for God over 165 times across the four Gospels, with the vast majority in John.  Breakdown by Gospel (approximate, based on common counts):

• Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke combined): About 65 times.
• Gospel of John: Over 100 times (some sources specify around 120–130 references, often as "my Father").

This frequent use was revolutionary, emphasizing an intimate, personal relationship with God—unique in its consistency and depth compared to Jewish literature of the time.  So we ask, “Why Father?”  There were two primary reasons.  First, Jesus wanted his disciples to approach God in a childlike manner, as a means of understanding how they should trust God, as a child trusts their father. Second, Jesus wanted his disciples to realize that they were dependent on God, as a child is dependent upon their father.  Shifting people’s view of God from a distant, indifferent deity to a father deeply concerned for his family's welfare was a significant shift in the thinking of Jesus’ disciples.

Jesus emphasized this shift in thinking with a couple of humorous examples.  Jesus said, “11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13).  Jesus was expressing humor here, not through his words but through his ideas.  Which father would give a snake for a fish or a scorpion for an egg?  None would do so.  Fine then, if you who are evil know what is good, then think of the gifting your Father in heaven, who is good, will give you.  The humor of Christ, even in teaching on prayer, was for the purpose of clarifying and increasing understanding.  Jesus wanted his disciples to trust God, who is good, even more than a child trusts their father, who is a sinner.

Secondly, it should not surprise us that Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that sin and forgiveness are essential to prayer.  “4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us” (Luke 11:4).  What was Jesus talking about here?  Jesus was talking about removing two barriers that his disciples had built between themselves and God.

The first barrier Jesus’ disciples built, we all make, through the act called sin.  Sin is failing to do as God, our father, has asked.  Sin is disobedience, and if we are attentive to God, sin causes us inner distress.  Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and, in distress, hid from God.  Cain disobeyed God in worship and, in distress, Cain became downcast and angry.  Sin distresses us because it creates a barrier between God and us, and the only way to remove that barrier is to confess the sin to God and be forgiven by Him. Jesus encouraged his followers to confess their sins to God immediately.  While Christ grants his followers salvation and is the source of cleansing of sin, we do not become immune to sinning again just because we follow Christ.  We will still sin.  Sin introduces unrighteousness and inhibits, makes a barrier to, our relationship with God.  Sin blocks our ability to hear God clearly.  Confessing the sin and being cleansed of all unrighteousness restores us and opens us up again to fully receive what God has for us.  In the absence of confession to God and His forgiveness, we will live a distressed life because something separates us from Him.

Now, the same is true if we are unforgiving toward others for their sins against us.  Unforgiveness on our part creates the same hindrance, a barrier, to all that God offers us, as our own sin blocks our ability to hear God.  Our sin or our unforgiving nature opposes our relationship with God.  Forgiveness of others' sins, like confession of our own, restores us and opens us up again to fully receiving what God has for us.  Forgiveness may not be easy, but it is essential to our lives. 

Now, just a word of caution about forgiveness.  Forgiveness is not condoning what someone has done. Forgiveness is not letting someone off the hook of accountability.  They may still face consequences for their sinful behavior.  Forgiveness does not mean they will not still pursue harm toward us. Remember, Jesus said to his father while being crucified, “34 ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’” (Luke 23:34).  Jesus asked that his crucifiers be forgiven, which we believe they were, but Jesus’ prayer did not change the hearts of those ignorant crucifiers; they still crucified him. Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation.  We can forgive someone but still not fellowship with them because they remain unrepentant.  Forgiving someone else is not so much about giving a gift to someone who hurt us as it is giving ourselves a restored relationship with God. 

This is an essential second point Jesus taught his disciples about prayer.  Use the prayer to remove the barriers between you and God.  Ask God to remove the barrier of sin you created as He gives you strength to remove the barrier of unforgiveness you created.

We said there were three things that Jesus taught about prayer in what we call the Lord’s Prayer.  First, Jesus encouraged us to approach God, an infinite being, in a childlike manner, calling him “Father.”  Second, Jesus said, " Get the barriers of sin and unforgiveness removed from your life.  This brings us to our third thing.  Praying for protection from Satan, “And lead us not into temptation” (Luke 11:3). 

      Temptation comes in many forms. Temptations come in the form of physical desires such as food, sex, and substances.  Temptations come to us in the form of material desires, such as wealth and possessions.  Temptations come in the form of shortcuts such as procrastination, dishonesty, laziness, and envy.  There seems to be no end to the ways Satan can tempt us to accuse us and separate us from God.  And so, Jesus told his disciples to pray that they would hold fast to God.

Now, here is the thing about all temptations.  First, we are only tempted to do something we are not doing in that moment.  We are only tempted into future behavior.  Second, all temptations come to an end.  No matter how powerful the temptation is to do something or not do something, it is only temporary and will end.  Of course, we know temptation ends when we succumb to it and move from being tempted to sinning.  If we are doing what we were tempted to do, we are no longer tempted to do something because we are doing it.  If, however, we submit ourselves to the Lord’s Prayer, “lead me not into temptation,” or said in a more contemporary language, “lead me away from temptation,” and we follow God’s lead, then the temptation ends because we prayed holiness into the matter.  The Apostle Paul once wrote these encouraging words, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). God will lead us out of temptation if we ask him to do so and we follow his way out.

We started today with the question, “Why?”  Why did Jesus teach his disciples how to pray?  Why does it matter to me today?  Jesus taught his disciples to pray because they asked him to do so and because Jesus needed to teach them to pray.  Prayer is the healing balm for our spiritual life.  Prayer helps us return to a fully healed relationship with God.  If our relationship with God is right, then we can make our relationships with others right.  If our relationship with God is right, we can know and fulfill our life's purpose.

If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, then this prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, is for you.  It is for you to use directly and as a model for how you should pray.  See God as your father and go to him with childlike trust.  Ask God to restore your relationship with Him through the forgiveness of your sins and with the strength to forgive others.  This should be a daily event.  Pray for protection against Satan.  Once you have the proper standing before God, you will know better what other situations in your life need to be given to God in prayer.  Praying to God in this way is one of the clearest ways to show you love God. Amen and Amen.

            In the 1950’s and 1960’s, CBS aired a television show called “I’ve Got a Secret.” Each show began with the entrance of one or more contestants. The host then introduced the contestant or asked for their name and hometown. He then asked them to "whisper your secret to me, and we'll show it to the folks at home."  Secrets were always intended to be unusual, exceptional, embarrassing, or humorous. They commonly included something that happened to the contestant, something owned by the contestant, or a notable occupation, hobby, achievement, or skill.

            Now, it might surprise you that in the early church, Christians had a secret.  There was a secret that Christians were not to disclose to non-Christians.  This secret was kept because Christians of the early church believed what they possessed was so powerful that it should not become known to non-Christians.  What was that secret?  The secret was the Lord’s Prayer.

            The Lord’s Prayer that we speak every Sunday as part of our worship service was judged so powerful that early Christians did not share it with anyone until they were baptized into the faith.  For centuries, early Christian writers did not write commentaries on the Lord’s Prayer, out of fear that the prayer could be or would be misused.  As the early Christian Church began to organize itself, three versions of the Lord’s Prayer emerged.  One version was in the Gospel of Matthew, a second version in the Gospel of Luke, and a third one in a document called the Didache, or the Teaching of the Twelve, said to have been written by the apostles to guide the early church.  The versions in the Gospel of Matthew and the Didache are very similar.  The Roman Catholic Church uses the version most closely following the Gospel of Matthew, and most Protestant churches, including ours, use the one most closely following the Didache.  We will talk a bit more about the differences next week. 

What then is the Lord’s Prayer, and what should we do in response to it?  In the Gospel of Matthew, we find that the prayer was presented by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is found in Chapters 5, 6, and 7 of Matthew’s Gospel.  It is an extensive teaching, and I highly recommend reading the sermon in a single sitting to understand the flow of Jesus’ thoughts.

One of the principal themes of the Sermon on the Mount is righteousness.  Jesus called for a personal deepening of righteousness, being right with God, by moving away from an external rule-keeping life to one that embodied humility, mercy, love, and an unrestrained devotion to God.  Jesus was inviting his disciples into a life-transforming experience by moving the commands of God from the head to the heart.  Jesus equated anger with murder, lust with adultery, calling for the extension of love even to one’s enemies.  He was calling people from a life of hypocrisy to one full of grace, wisdom, and holiness.

To accentuate his teaching, Jesus gave practical examples of proper righteousness.  Jesus said, “1 Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.  2 So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:1-4). Jesus was concerned that, in being righteous, his followers would not abandon their humility.  Serving others was not to be for personal glory but was for God’s glory.

Immediately after speaking about righteous service, Jesus talked about righteous prayer.  First, Jesus spoke about the attitude of prayer, then about the content of those prayers.  As to the attitude of prayer, Jesus said, “5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:5-8). 

Jesus taught two important things about the attitude of prayer.  First, prayer, like service to others, was to be done in private with an attitude of humility, and not done in the middle of a crowded synagogue for the praise of others. Prayer is to be a personal conversation between the believer and God.  Prayer is not to be performance art for religious people.  Secondly, prayer should not be done with a pagan attitude, with repetitive prayers that approach babbling.  I remember praying as a child in a babbling manner.  As children in the Roman Catholic Church, we would be brought from our catechism classes to the church building itself.  The church had two sanctuaries.  The upper sanctuary was cathedral-like.  The second sanctuary was beneath the first.  The ceiling of the second sanctuary was low.  The lighting was dark.  The confessionals were in the back.  As children, perhaps all of 9 years old, we would one at a time enter the confessional and confess our sins to the priest who was seated behind a veil. I think, in most cases, we told the priest what we thought he wanted to hear from a 9-year-old.  The priest would then tell us how many “Our Fathers” and “Hail Mary’s” to pray to have our sins forgiven.  It was usually about four prayers of each.  We would then enter one of the pews in the sanctuary.  Use the kneelers, bow our heads, and then pray those prayers silently as fast as humanly possible.  Usually, we could get through four Our Fathers and four Hail Mary’s in 60 seconds or less.  We were doing exactly what Jesus said not to do.  We were offering repetitive prayer at such a speed as to be babbling.  Others compelled those prayers and, I suspect, we grieved God rather than pleasing Him.   Our attitude about prayer was utterly wrong.  Jesus said our attitude toward prayer must first be right so that we can be appropriately focused on content.

The content of our prayer was the second focus in the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus said, as to the content of prayer, “9 This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” (Matthew 6:9-13).  These words have formed what, over many centuries, has been called the Our Father, or the Lord’s Prayer.

Unlike the early Christian Church, which spoke little about the Lord’s Prayer until someone was baptized, the contemporary Christian Church trumpets the Lord’s Prayer.  There are countless devotional books and commentaries.  There is merchandise from neckties, t-shirts, coffee cups, wall hangings, coins, crosses, wristbands, and writing pens.  I fear such merchandise is another form of prayer babbling that Jesus warned us against. 

But what of the content of prayer?  I think one of the better explanations is that Jesus taught us four things through this prayer that people have cleverly reduced to an acronym called ACTS.

First, there is Adoration of God the Father. Adoration is an expression of deep love, respect, and worship, which, for adoration to be genuine, must come from an attitude of humility.  “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” – This opening acknowledges God’s holiness and exalts His name, expressing reverence and adoration for His divine nature.  When we express adoration, we are making clear that God is at the very center of our lives.  We do not need to repeat ourselves to be heard, but when we say it, we must mean it.  Jesus was inviting people into a personal conversation with God, the almighty creator, beginning with an expression of our standing before God.  Adoration – “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”

Second, there is Confession.  Humility reminds us that we are imperfect beings speaking to a perfect being. Humility reminds us to confess our failings openly to God.  “Forgive us our debts.”  God forgive us our failings and stumbling from holiness.  And to also acknowledge and remember that we seek forgiveness in the same measure of forgiveness we extend to others.  If we desire complete forgiveness from God, we must be willing to forgive those who have hurt us.  This is a tough part of this prayer, but essential to who God seeks to make us.  Forgiveness means we are done with the matter, as God is done with our own sins.  Forgiveness means we are done complaining about the other person’s conduct toward us. Our prayer for forgiveness and for granting others forgiveness is transformative, opening us to receive Christ in a way that cannot be accessed any other way.  Confession – “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Third, there is Thanksgiving.  Humility, the core of a proper attitude of prayer, causes us to reflect on our gratitude for the things of life God has provided.  Gratitude brings with it a sense of trust and dependence upon God for the sustenance of life itself.  We thank God for food and for the provision in our lives.  “Give us today our daily bread.”  We are not asking for provision beyond what is usable for the day.  The more self-sufficient we become, the less thankful to God we become.  The more self-sufficient we become, the less needful we believe we are for God. Thanksgiving – “Give us today (like you did for our yesterdays) our daily bread.”

Finally, there is Supplication.  Supplication is a humble plea for help offered with deep sincerity and dependence for strength against an enemy that the petitioner knows they cannot overcome. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”  The prayer seeks God’s strength amid our own weakness so that we would not succumb to temptation.  We do not want our sins forgiven only to sin yet again.

Do not pray like the hypocrites to be heard by others.  Do not pray like the pagans with meaningless repetition that becomes babble.  Pray with humility in the form of ACTS – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.  Pray for righteousness from a posture of humility.

The early Christian Church, as recorded in the Didache, paired the Lord’s Prayer with baptism first.  The Lord’s Prayer was reserved for instruction to those who had been baptized. Once a person was baptized and instructed on the Lord’s Prayer, the early church then connected the Lord’s Prayer with the Lord’s Supper.

It is fitting then that we speak of the Lord’s Prayer today because Jesus turned it into an experience we can share at the communion feast, or the Lord’s Supper.  While among his disciples, just before his arrest, Jesus took the daily bread and he offered thanks to God, “Our praise to You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”  Hallowed be thy name.  Jesus then took the blessing of the whole bread and broke it so that each piece carried the blessing of wholeness.  He gave it to his disciples and said, “This is my body which is given for you. Take and eat.”  Jesus, the bread of heaven, now on earth, proclaimed that the kingdom of God was among them on earth as it was in heaven.  After supper, Jesus took the cup and again offered thanks to God: “Praise to You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.”  Jesus then took the cup and blessed it, telling his disciples to drink from the common cup so that each would receive the blessing of peace.  Jesus said, “This cup is a new covenant in my blood poured out for the forgiveness of sin.”  Forgive us our sin, O Lord.  Jesus said later, “Do this in remembrance of me.”  Lead us on the right path and away from evil.

The Lord’s Prayer gives us a model for listening and speaking with God. The Lord’s Supper provides us with a model of God’s answer to prayer.  In prayer, Jesus led us to find the peace that surpasses all understanding by being united to God and one another.  At the table, Jesus led us to experience the peace of salvation, unity with God, and the peace of fellowship, unity with one another.  The Lord’s Prayer and the Lord’s Supper are signs of peace that God wants each of us to have.  Come, let us receive shalom from God as we pray together and prepare to share the Lord’s Supper.  Amen and Amen

            My boss of some years ago was exact in his use of language.  He was able to write letters better than anyone I had ever worked with.  He had an extensive vocabulary and could get the most out of every sentence.  One day, out of nowhere, he said to me, “I discovered today that I have been incorrectly using the word ambivalent.”  He said, “I thought the word ambivalent meant that I could not care which decision was made, I could live with either one.”  He said, “This is incorrect.  To be ambivalent means to be conflicted between the choice of usually two things. You want to choose one thing, but the other is attractive as well, and you are not sure which is the better choice. You are conflicted.”  He went on to say, “If you do not care which choice you make, you are not ambivalent, you are indifferent, you do not care what is decided.”  I thought about my boss’s words for a moment, and I tried to decide whether to tell him I was ambivalent or indifferent to his discovery.  I chose instead to say, “Oh, that is interesting.”

            What then does ambivalence or indifference have to do with our message today?  It is this. The birth of Jesus left many in his day ambivalent and conflicted about what to believe.  But today, many are indifferent; they do not care whether Jesus was born or not.  I think Luke, the writer of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, understood that people’s reactions to the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus would vary.  I say that because Luke began his gospel account this way, “1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:1-4).

            Luke’s purpose was to compile the truth about Jesus, beginning with His birth, for the benefit of Theophilus.  Theophilus, in Greek, means “lover of God.”  So, for those who love God, Luke provided an accounting of the truth so that they “may know the certainty” of the things taught. Luke’s purpose was to equip his readers to recognize the truth so they could make the right choice in following Jesus as the Messiah.  That in reading Luke’s gospel, one could be certain about Jesus, and neither ambivalent nor indifferent.

            Who was this Luke anyway?  Luke was by profession a doctor, a physician.  Unlike all the other authors of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, John, Paul, Peter, Jude, and James, Luke was not Jewish. Luke was a Gentile.  In the ancient world, from a Jewish perspective, there were only two types of people, Jews and Gentiles.  Luke was a Gentile, and his gospel message was written to other Gentiles to encourage them to accept the Jewish Messiah as their savior as well.

            Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth is extensive. For time's sake, today I want us to look at the first announcement of Jesus’ birth.  That announcement was made this way.  “8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:8-14).  Luke began this portion of his account, giving us a bird's-eye view of the unfolding scene.  It was nighttime.  We see this group of shepherds on a hillside keeping watch over their sheep.  All appears calm.  There is nothing to see.

            Then, without warning of any kind, the dark of the night is shattered as an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, and the shepherds are enveloped in the brilliant, nearly blinding light of the angel. In that same instance, Luke changes our point of view from standing outside looking at the scene to drawing us into the scene itself.  We stand next to the shepherds and can see and hear as they do.  We now see terror on the shepherds' faces.  They are overwhelmed by the angel's startling appearance on this otherwise dark and peaceful night.

            The angel speaks, “Do not be afraid” (Luke 2:10a). In our modern sarcasm, we might think to ourselves, it is too late for that!  These guys are past being afraid; they're terrified.  The angel continued, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10b).  “Today, in the town of David (Bethlehem), a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10).  We see the shepherds pause for a moment trying to take in the news.  A baby has been born in the little town of Bethlehem, which sits below them.  That is nice, but it is not good news that will cause great joy for all the people. But the angel said, "This newborn is the Messiah!"  The long-awaited Messiah has been born.  Now that is good news, and will cause great joy among the Jewish people.  And how wonderful it is that the Messiah was not born in some distant city like Jerusalem or Rome, but in the little town below where the shepherds are now standing.  Just steps away from these shepherds, the man who would save their nation had been born.  The shepherd’s terror was giving way to excitement and hopeful expectation.

            The angel spoke again, “12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).  A sign is a mark or token of a miracle by God given to prove what has been said is true. The newborn would be found wrapped in cloths.  In that day, wrapping a baby in cloths was what ordinary people, peasants, as the shepherds did for their newborns.  Wealthy parents and the elite did not wrap their babies that way.  The baby is a commoner.  What’s more, a manger, an animal’s feeding trough, is being used as a crib for the baby.  This is something a shepherd’s family might do for their newborn.  The shepherds, who had moved from terror to excitement, were now experiencing the early onset of joy, just as the angel had promised.  A newborn commoner had been born today, in the city below them, and that baby was God’s Messiah.  The beginning of the end of Roman domination had started.  God was at work.

            As if this were not enough, the sky then lit up with angels praising God, expressing peace to those on whom his favor rests.  And then just as suddenly as the angels had appeared, they were all gone.  And it was the dark of night once again, peaceful and calm, except for the racing hearts of the shepherds.  With the angels gone, the shepherds hurried off to Bethlehem. There they would come to find Mary and Joseph, and their newborn baby, indeed, lying in a manger.  In their finding the baby, the shepherds told their story and that this child, who had not yet been given a name, was the Messiah. To this news, there were three reactions.

• The people of Bethlehem were amazed at what the shepherds said.  They were not indifferent; perhaps they were ambivalent, not quite sure what to believe, after all this news came from mere shepherds who at this time were not respected members of the community.   
• Mary, the baby’s mother, treasured what the shepherds said and pondered them in her heart.  Mary was neither indifferent nor ambivalent.  The shepherds’ testimony had deeply moved Mary.
• The shepherds, whom people generally avoided because they believed the shepherds were rough and unclean characters, returned to the hills, certain that God had acted. So they went “glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen (Luke 2:20b).

Three responses to the news of the newborn Messiah.  Amazement mixed with ambivalence, a treasuring of moving testimony, and a certainty of God.  There was some level of energy in the news of Jesus’ birth, a sense of amazement, could this be, or praise God, I know the truth.  There was no indifference, no “who cares or whatever” expressed then, as there is today to the same news.

            What then do we learn from today’s review of the announcement of Jesus’ birth?  How does what Luke describes help us live out our lives?

            I think there is one thing we should focus on: the purpose of Jesus' coming, as told by the angel to the shepherds. Jesus came, the angel said, as a Savior. In Greek, the word Savior is sōtēr, meaning “one who delivers from grave danger.”  A savior is someone who delivers another from grave danger.

            To those who heard these words for the first time, the idea of a Savior, someone who would deliver them from grave danger, was most welcome news.  At that time, delicate threads held physical life together.  A small cut could lead to an infection and death.  A storm could ruin crops, and there would be nothing to eat for months.  There were few doctors and virtually no hospitals.  A savior who would address such concerns about life would be incredible.

            But the angel was not speaking about grave danger from illness, famine, or other bodily calamities.  The angel was talking about something far more significant. The angel was talking about saving people from their sins and the perpetual grave danger sin causes. Nothing could be more terrifying than the thought of dying only to continue to live spiritually in agony. The Messiah was born to save people from their sins and the inevitable suffering of hell.  No one was ambivalent, conflicted, or indifferent about an eternal existence in hell.

            Today, though, we people are indifferent.  New philosophies and ideas abound that try to convince people that God will accept everyone as long as they have been good, or that we face no real grave danger.  You do not have to believe me on these points.  Just take a moment and listen to the words of a young man named Mario. This is a segment from a person-on-the-street interview.  Mario has been asked about his beliefs and about God. (Video Clip)

            According to Mario, no one today needs a savior because we do not face any danger.  Just share love, and no matter what you do under your conception of love, God will be OK with it.  Mario was clearly indifferent to the birth of Jesus.  No Savior needed.

            But let us remember that Luke set out to compile a story for all the Theophilus of the world, for all who love God about the truth of the Messiah.  Why? So that they could be certain of the truth.  Luke wanted no one to say, “I am not sure.  I am uncertain.  I am conflicted.  I could care less.”  Luke was inspired to speak the truth that those who love God would be certain that the grave danger they faced, not solely in this life but more importantly in the life to come, would be saved by this baby born in Bethlehem lying in a manger, wrapped in cloths.

            For those of us like myself who, in our younger years, faithfully went to church every Christmas and Easter, we can testify that the church places great emphasis on Jesus’ birth and death.  Why?  Because so much is at stake for the listener.  Please this Christmas season, do not miss the importance of the message for you.  A savior has been born to rescue you from grave danger.  He was born that man no more may die and fear death.  He was born to cleanse us of our sins and give us a gift of eternal life.  Please look closely at every manger scene and see a sign that your savior has been born.

            To know you have a savior is a powerful message of hope.  It is a message that those who are indifferent need to hear.  We heard the words of that young man, Mario, who said that as long as what we do we do within our sense of love, the universe, God, will be kind to us.  Mario seemed like a good kid, but the Marios of this world need to hear from you and me the news of Christ.

            I want to close now with another segment with Mario, as the interview asks Mario about his life.  (Video Clip 2).  Mario had come to know with certainty the good news of great joy that in the town of David, a Savior has been born; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  I pray that you know that as well, my dear friends, Theophilus.  Amen and Amen.

          Suppose, for a moment, you were a historian, and you wanted to discuss the life of a historical figure.  And let’s say this historical figure lived before the days of newspapers, photographs, and other modern tools.  How would you prove this person lived and was not a myth?  How would you prove this person was born and, therefore, could have lived the life you intend to describe?  The simple answer to these questions is that if you want to prove someone lived and was not a myth, you can do so by demonstrating that they died.  No one ever died who did not at first live.  This was the approach of Jesus’ apostles and the writers of the New Testament. They showed Jesus lived by demonstrating that he died.

          I have been working my way through the book, On the Resurrection: Evidences.  It is a whopping 1,000 pages!  Of those 1,000 pages, about 100 are devoted to gathering all the references in the Bible, Jewish literature, and Roman histories that speak of Jesus’ death on the cross.  Jesus’ death was a pivotal moment for the early church because it showed two things. First, that Jesus was born and lived. Jesus was not a myth.  And second, demonstrating Jesus’ death is necessary to show that Jesus could have been resurrected.  No proof of death; there is neither proof of birth nor evidence of resurrection.

          The Apostle Paul was the first of Jesus’ apostles to memorialize Jesus’ death in writing.  Paul’s New Testament letters are older than the earliest gospels and show that Paul was aware of Jesus’ death.  No evidence was offered that Paul attended Jesus’ crucifixion, but it seems improbable that Paul was not aware of Jesus’ death.  Paul would, at first, deny the resurrection of Jesus, but he did not deny Jesus’ death.

          In his letter to the church of Galatia, Paul mentions Jesus’ death three times.  Paul spent about two years with the church in Galatia, and then, while absent from that church, wrote the letter we call Galatians.  In that letter, Paul reminded the church three times that Jesus died and that his death was a voluntary one on the cross.  Paul wrote:

• 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age (Galatians 1:3-4a).
• 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole” (Galatians 3:13)
• 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been abolished (Galatians 5:11).

Reminding the church that Jesus died was an essential part of Paul’s message. Jesus died, therefore Jesus lived. Paul wanted to speak about the significance of Jesus’ birth.  Paul’s words to the church at Galatia, likely written around 48 to 49 AD, represent the earliest record of Jesus’ birth.

What then did Paul say about Jesus’ birth?  Well, if you are looking for stories of angels, shepherds, stars, and Magi with their gifts, you will need to come for the next two weeks when we look at Jesus’ birth through the gospels of Matthew and Luke.  In his letter to the Galatians, Paul did not focus on the scene of Jesus’ birth; instead, he emphasized the theological significance of Jesus’ birth, which was fully realized by Jesus’ death and resurrection. What then did Paul say about Jesus’ birth?

Paul wrote, “1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from an enslaved person, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:1-7).

Paul began his account of Jesus’ birth by first speaking of a minor child being like a slave, and that before Jesus, he and the Galatians were slaves to elemental forces.  To understand Paul’s starting point, we need to know that the people of Galatia, in modern-day Turkey, originated as Gauls and Celtic people of modern-day France, hence the name Galatians or “Gaulatians.”  The Gauls worshipped a wide range of gods and goddesses who governed aspects of life like healing, warfare, prosperity, and fertility. They also believed that spirits (or deities) were present in all aspects of the natural world, from trees and animals to rivers and springs.  The Galatians would have understood Paul’s words that, before Christ, they were guided by elemental forces.

Paul also used a reference to slavery.  Now, slavery here is not like American slavery, of being taken from one’s homeland and forced into labor in a foreign land.  Paul’s use of slavery here is that the people of Galatia were subject to the Roman emperor but not given rights as citizens.  The people of Galatia were not free to do or worship as they wanted.  There were laws they had to follow, enacted by foreign rulers.  The Galatians were under the control and the enslavement of the Romans.

Paul likened this status of enslavement and being subject to elemental forces to being a minor under the control of a guardian or trustee.  That minor child was under someone’s control until the father of that minor said they could be treated as an adult.  “1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from an enslaved person, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world” (Galatians 4:1-3).  The Galatians were under someone else’s physical control, the Romans, and had been under the spiritual control of elemental forces.

Then we know from that point, Paul uttered that theologically significant word. “But.”  “4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son” (Galatians 4:4a).  When the time was right, God sent His Son from heaven to earth.  At just the right time, as determined by God, God changed the world by sending His Son, who by his very nature was like God, divine. But wait.  Paul said, “4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4a). What does Paul mean by “born of a woman?”  This phrase appears three times in the Old Testament Book of Job.

• Job 14:1: "Man that is born of a woman Is of few days, and full of trouble."
• Job 15:14: "What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?"
• Job 25:4: "How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?"

In all three cases, being born of a woman means being born human.  And so Paul was revealing here that Jesus, divine as God’s Son, was also born human through a human mother.  Paul was here announcing that Jesus was fully divine and fully human.  This is Paul’s birth announcement of Jesus.  It was short but exceptionally rich in truth.

          In that regard, Paul had a bit more to say, revealing the purpose of Jesus’ birth.  Paul wrote, “4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4). What was the significance of being born under the law?  Paul meant that Jesus was born a Jew and, therefore, required to live according to the commandments of the law, which Jesus perfectly obeyed.  At many points before, Paul had pointed out that mere humans were never able to meet the law's commands perfectly. So the law revealed human sin and condemnation.  “4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law 5 to redeem those under the law” (Galatians 4:4-5a). Jesus was born under the law, fulfilled it perfectly, died under the law, which Paul said was to redeem and free people from the condemnation of sin under the law.  Instead of being under the burden of the law that pointed out our sin, Jesus redeemed us, bringing us out from under the law to live in the freedom of grace from sin through Him. 

Why would Jesus want to do such a thing?  He did so “that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Galatians 4:5b). In being redeemed in Jesus, the Galatians, and all people, would be like an heir would receive his full inheritance, like someone's freedom from endless meaningless worship of the elements, and like someone no longer under the control of another, as being enslaved.

Jesus, the Son of God, a divine being, was sent to earth to be born of a woman, to live as a man following the law, dying once as a man, to redeem, to save people who believed in Him from the punishment of the law, and be freed from sin that enslaved them.  This is the Jesus the prophets foresaw.  This is the Jesus of whom the angels sang.  This is the Jesus the shepherds beheld.

Paul then finished the birth announcement with these words, “6 Because you are his [God’s] sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father'” (Galatians 4:6).  God the Father sent His Son to earth.  God the Son redeemed the people and made them heirs.  God the Spirit took up residence within the heart of the believer, empowering them to call to God as a child would lovingly call to his own father, “Abba, Father.”  Paul said, If you can speak to God this way, 'Abba, Father,' then '7 You are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:7).  So completes the first formal announcement of Jesus’ birth.  It is rich in meaning, content, and purpose.

Paul’s announcement differs from the traditional birth announcements of Jesus. We will look at the traditional announcements in the coming weeks.  But what can we learn today from Paul’s announcement?  I think there are three things we should consider.

First, it would be an understatement to say that Jesus’ birth was like no other in history.  Jesus was fully divine and fully human.  That had never happened before or since.  Jesus' birth was like no other in history, and Jesus’ death was like no other before or since. Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and was resurrected to a new life.

Second, Jesus’ unprecedented birth, death, and resurrection all occurred to serve a purpose for you and me.  Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection occurred so that we could be redeemed from the punishment of sin under the law and be given abundant life now and eternally under grace.  We would be freed and become children of God.  Jesus’ birth put on full display the nature of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Finally, the birth of Jesus, his subsequent death, and his resurrection offer each one of us an invitation to become an heir of salvation and to be adopted as God’s child.  God is offering you and me a gift unlike any other.  At Christmas, most kids will tear off the wrapping paper and bows on one gift, glance at it, and move on to do the same to the next gift.  Every kid has their own way of unwrapping the gift and moving on.  The gift of redemption God is offering you is unique in that there is only one way to unwrap it, no matter your age or station in life.  Jesus said to unwrap the gift of salvation, you must be born again by repenting, that is, turn from your own ways, the ways of enslavement to elemental forces, and be baptized as an outward sign of your spiritual rebirth. There is no other way to God except through Jesus, and no other way to unwrap his gift than repentance and baptism.

Paul shared with us today that Jesus’ birth, death, burial, and resurrection redeemed us.  And Paul would later explain to the church in Rome that we can visualize that message of redemption with our own baptism.  Paul said, “ 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4).

Have you received the gift of Jesus?  Have you opened that gift the way Jesus told you to?  Have you repented and turned toward God?  Have you undergone the waters of baptism as a testimony of faith? If you have, then let us, as brothers and sisters, share the birth announcement of Jesus in the manner Paul shared.  If you have not, then I urge you do not let this Christmas go by without opening the gift of Jesus’ birth, death, burial, and resurrection.  It is your ultimate gift and your only hope for salvation. Amen and Amen.