12/13/2023
Let’s Hear It For the Lambs!
Sunday, I talked about two titles for Jesus that seem to point in opposite directions: Lion of Judah and Lamb of God. In fact, they are flip sides of the same coin, representing the hard as well as the soft sides of God’s love for each of us. I talked about how much we tend to prefer Lion-like leaders today, but that many of the key aspects of Jesus draw on his role as Lamb of God. Here’s a few paragraphs that I didn’t have time to include Sunday:
But isn’t Mary a lamb? When the angel comes and communicates to her the miracle of what God had planned for her—Mary doesn’t quibble, argue, or “stand up for her rights”. She simply says, let it be so. And yet without Mary’s willingness to follow God’s leading our Christmas story would never get started.
For that matter, isn’t Joseph also lamb like? When he finds out his betrothed is pregnant he decides to break off the engagement quietly so as to spare Mary further public humiliation. And when God comes to him in a dream, Joseph chooses the hard path—the non-testosterone driven, not the ‘what- kind-of-sucker-do-you-take-me-for’ path, but he too stays loyal to God and loyal to Mary.
The poor & downtrodden of Israel are lambs: shepherds, pilgrims traveling in and out of Bethlehem, soldiers and census bureaucrats, innkeepers—lots of folks trying just to make it through to their next paycheck, trying to feed and clothe their children, hoping and waiting for God to fulfill his promise. It’s hard to be very lion-like with the tax collector at the front door and Roman Soldiers out back in your garden.
The Christmas story is full of lambs who follow God even when it takes them in a direction they wouldn’t necessarily have chosen for themselves. We are not called to be doormats or push-overs, but more often than we’d like to think we are called to put aside our personal passions and desires in order to fulfill the will of the Great Shepherd. If the world looks down on that, then the world looks down on a crucified savior as well. And since when have the people of God put much stock in what the world thinks anyway?
Archived Posts
Let’s Not Overlook Joseph of Nazareth
I asked my research assistant—a certain ChatGPT—what the most interesting facet of Joseph’s life might be. She shared a couple of things that didn’t make it into Sunday’s sermon but you might still find inspirational...
Key Takeaway from Sunday
If I had to identify a specific take away from
Sunday’s sermon it would probably be this:
The Rest of the Story
I mentioned Russell Conwell in Sunday’s message. He was a famous preacher, educator, and lecturer. His sermon/lecture “Acres of Diamonds” was turned into a book and sold rather well. I used Conwell’s illustrations to talk about sharing the good news of Jesus with those closest to us first—family, friends, coworkers, and church family. The wider world is our ultimate aim, but until you invest in the people God has already put in your life, you are unlikely to have much success.
No One Said It Would be Easy
To love Jesus first is to learn to love all the other people in our lives with greater intensity and less selfishness
What’s Saved Is Often Lost
Here’s the benediction we didn’t have time for yesterday (Sunday, November 3). It’s one of my favorite quotations (portions of a newspaper column). I hope you find it as inspiring as I have
Leftovers Continued…
It’s not just the fact that God is un-impressed by our leftovers, it actually goes deeper than that. In a sense, Jesus is passionately and purposely opposed to anything leftover. To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to work diligently to make sure that in the end nothing at all is left over.
Less Stuff and Fewer Wants
Here’s a point I left off Sunday’s sermon due to time and length. In dealing with an Entitled mindset it is very helpful if you can Reduce Materialism and Consumerism.