1 Samuel 3:1-10 The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions. 2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6 Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. 8 The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (New International Version)

Back when I had teenage daughters, so did my roommate from college. So naturally when I would call his home, one of those girls would always answer the phone. This was before everyone had their own cell phone – some of you remember those days – and teenage girls would constantly tie up the home phone. Anyway, what I remember is how they would answer the phone. It was always the same. “Hello, Koenig residence. May I ask who is calling please!” I suppose I should mention that back then, in the dark ages, not everyone had caller id. If you wanted to know who was calling you actually had to answer the phone. “Who is calling, please!” We still wonder that today when the phone rings. The difference today is that you can find out who it is without even speaking to the person.

In the Old Testament lesson, Samuel wanted to know who was calling. He did not have caller ID. Nor did he recognize the voice. He had never heard it before. So when he heard his name, he assumed it was Eli calling him. After three trips into the old man’s room, it dawned on the priest who was calling Samuel. God is calling! And Samuel realizes who it is, he gives the proper response: Speak, for your servant is listening.

There is a message here for all of us. While you may not be called in the manner Samuel was called by God, and you may not be called into full-time service for God, He is nonetheless calling you. And we would all do well to imitate the attitude of Samuel by listening obediently to God as He calls us. So let’s think about what this passage says to us today by asking some questions.

Who is Calling?

Just as in the account of Samuel, God the Father, the Triune God, the only true God is the one who is calling you. The maker of heaven and earth, the Redeemer who suffered and died to pay for your sin, the Spirit who works to make and keep you holy – this is the one doing the calling.

Who are the ones being called?

God’s voice is directed at you. He has chosen you to be His own from eternity. God wants you to gather around His table in a feast of celebration. The Lord’s Supper is a foretaste of that heavenly banquet to come, where people from every tribe and language and nation will gather together around the Lamb. At His table we enjoy fellowship with our God and with our brothers and sisters in Christ gathered.

Where does God call?

People are searching for God. Our readings today remind us that God is the one who finds us and calls us to be His own. And He chooses the places where He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth. He went to a place known as Ur to call Abraham. At Mt. Horeb He issued His call to Moses. And by the ark of the Lord in the tabernacle in the city of Shiloh, He called Samuel. What about today? Where does God call you and me today?

At the baptismal font. Last Sunday I reminded you that God puts His name on you at Baptism. He claims you as His child. Through this washing of water and the Word, God calls you to be His own. And you have a reminder of that each week here in worship when we begin our service with the name that was placed on you: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

God calls you from this altar. I don’t mean an altar call like our fundamentalist brothers and sisters in Christ talk about. Remember, God is the one doing the calling. Altars were used for sacrifice, and this altar is to remind us that Jesus sacrificed Himself. God calls you from this altar each time you kneel at this railing to receive the body and blood of our Lord that paid for your sins. That’s an altar call you need to hear week after week.

And God calls you from what is happening right now: the proclamation of His Word. In that regard, I don’t mean me. I mean the message from His Word that is proclaimed”: Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

The Font, the Altar, the Word – these are some of the places where you can hear God calling you today. In our Worship Services, your Risen Savior speaks to you. We have reminders of that in our window – the Shell for baptism, the chalice and wafers for communion, the Open Bible. Here, in this place, through Word and Sacraments, God is calling you. Of course God calls people in other places, but you have the assurance that He is calling here in this place.

How does God Call?

I’ve already given you this answer. God calls through His Word. That Word may be spoken. It may be sacramental, as in Baptism or Communion. It may be through songs that proclaim His message. Wherever and however the Word is shared, the Holy Spirit will be there calling.

There is an ongoing tension among churches, even between those in our own denomination, about what is proper in worship. It has to do with comfort levels. Some think that only traditional liturgies and hymns should be used. Others think you should have a new order of worship every Sunday. Some make music the main medium, while others insist on chancel dramas every week. To me, the style of the service isn’t all that important. Oh, sure, I have my preferences like everyone else, but the style of the service doesn’t matter as much as the content. The content has to be God’s Word, not man’s. Worship is to be God speaking to His people and our response to His goodness. God’s call comes through His Word, so that should be the content of our services.

Why does God Call?

The purpose of God’s call will be different for different people. Some are called to be prophets, as Samuel was. Some are called to be pastors or church workers, as I was, and perhaps some of you sitting out there have also been called in this way. But all of you have been called to enjoy fellowship with God, now and forever. God has reconciled you to Himself through Christ. His death has paid for every one of your sins. Faith in Him assures you of forgiveness and eternal life. And you enjoy fellowship with all the other faithful, the communion of saints.

Another part of your calling is to serve, starting with other believers. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:10) If Christians won’t take their calling seriously within the church, there is not much of a chance that they will take it seriously out in the world.

How is this shown in your life? How are you living out your faith within the church, in this congregation? Is sitting in the pew all God wants you to do here? What is God calling you to do for Him in this place? [PAUSE, then repeat] When God calls, He does not want you to be a spectator, an observer. He wants you to serve.
And what about outside this congregation? How are your living out your faith in Jesus in your daily life?
The NT exhorts us to live according to our calling every day:

1 Peter 2:9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

God has called you to be His own. He calls you to faith in Christ. He calls you to live a new life. He calls you to holy living in your relationships and your occupation. You have been called to live holy lives at church, at home, and at work; as fathers, mothers, children, citizens, students, employers, employees. God has called you, through His Word and Sacraments, to be His own and live for Him. When you remember what He has done for you through the death and resurrection of Jesus, you will want to answer His call by living as obedient children. God help us all to live this way.

You have heard these words hundreds if not thousands of times, most often in the context of the end of the worship service. Many of you look forward to hearing those words so you can go eat lunch or get home in time for the kickoff. And we’ll get there eventually. But I’d like to spend some time with you this morning going over the significance of this blessing, hopefully strengthening the impact these words have on you each time you hear them.

A phrase that catches my attention when I study this passage is So they will put my name on the Israelites. That is something we normally associate with baptism. God’s name is put on you when you are baptized, and each week we begin our service with a reminder of those words, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. But according to this passage, the blessing that Aaron and his sons are to speak is another way of putting God’s name on you. So each week we begin and end our worship putting God’s name on those assembled. It is a reminder of who you are.

Let’s think about that name. When you think about God, you usually think of Him as God, or you may think in terms of Father, Son and Spirit. In the Old Testament, He told Moses He had a name, I AM, a name that is usually translated in English as LORD, using all capital letters, as it appears in today’s text. That name that was to be kept holy. The Jews revered that name so highly that they were afraid to say it aloud, lest they speak it carelessly and break the commandment that forbids speaking His name in vain. That attitude is vastly different from people today who rattle off “Oh my God!” time after time without ever thinkning about what they just said.  However, the Jewis people took God’s name very seriously.  

In fact, there is an interesting story about how a word came into existence because the Jews so highly regarded God’s name. Bear with me now as I take you through a little Hebrew lesson. In Hebrew, only the consonants were written. People had to figure out what vowel sounds belonged. That would be like writing “CT” in English. Does that stand for cat, cut, cot, coat, cute? It would be hard to figure out. Hebrew speaking people evidently understood it, but it was difficult for anyone else. Eventually, starting around the year 600, some guys called Masoretes decided to help everyone out by adding vowels to the Hebrew text. In order to not change what the words looked like, they added the vowels by putting dots and dashes above and below the words. The name for God was YAHWEH. [use diagrams to show what it would look like pointed correctly- long and short a]. So as not to say God’s name without thinking about it, whenever the Masoretes came to God’s name, they used the vowels from a different word, the word ADONAY, which means “lord” or “master.” [use diagram to show what it looks like] When you take the consonants from God’s Hebrew name and substitute these vowel sounds, you come up with YEHOWAH  or Jehovah, the English rendering of God’s Hebrew name.

In this text, God’s name, LORD, YAHWEH, or JEHOVAH, whichever you prefer, is mentioned three times. A three-fold reference in Hebrew was a common way of emphasizing your point. But I am convinced it was no accident that God referred to Himself three times. I believe He was giving man a glimpse of how He would reveal Himself to be Triune, three persons, one God, Father, Son and Spirit. In each instance God’s name is used here, there is a pair of blessings attached to it, which grow more intense as the list goes on. Let’s look at those words God Himself told us to use to confer His blessings.

The LORD bless you: God’s Name is who He is. Since God is the only source of blessing, His Name placed upon you is an indication of blessing. The concept of bless has to do with giving you something good. A good and full life comes from the loving and faithful nature of our God, and there is no blessing apart from being in a relationship with the one true God. God is the one who gives life.

and keep you: The word used for keep means “watch over” or “exercise great care.” The LORD, who is the source of all life, will also preserve and take care of that life. His watchful and vigilant eye is on you. He is looking out for you and your best interests.

the LORD make his face shine upon you: A literal translation of make his face shine upon you could be “The Lord’s face light you up!” A shining face was a way of speaking about favor and good will. Divine protection is ours because God does not frown upon us, but let’s His light shine. God was recognized as being the source of all light throughout the Old Testament, as in this passage from Isaiah: The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light. (Isaiah 60:19)

and be gracious to you: God’s grace is His choosing to be kind to people who don’t deserve it. God’s grace led Him to allow Adam and Eve to live outside the Garden even though they were deserving of death. God’s grace spared Cain after he had killed his brother. God’s grace picked sinful Noah as the instrument to preserve His creation. His grace chose sinful Abraham to be the father of the chosen people. His grace chose sinful Paul, changing him from a persecutor of Christians to a preacher of the Good News. His grace to YOU and led you to faith and gives you what Jesus earned for you so that you will not have to be punished eternally for you sins. His grace includes all other good things He gives, but it is primarily that He chooses undeserving sinners to be His people.

the LORD turn his face toward you: This part of the verse has been translated a number of different ways. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you or The LORD look upon you with favor. It is very similar to the previous verse. “Countenance” and “face” are synonyms, and the Hebrew word is the same in both verses. The most literal translation here would be “The LORD lift up His face to you.” This would be the opposite of turning His face away from you and rejecting you. Instead, the LORD accepts you, He looks upon you with favor. Another way to think of this is that God is smiling on you.

and give you peace: God puts His peace on you. The word for peace is SHALOM, which does not mean peace as in the absence of war, but inner peace. It is speaking of the tranquillity that comes from being in a proper relationship with God, the one who places His name upon you.

So far, we have looked at this benediction for the most part in its original context, to people of the Old Testament. I’d like to go through it again, this time thinking about the significance of these pairs of blessings knowing what we do about Jesus Christ.

The LORD bless you and keep you; bless reminds us that God is the source of a good life. The people of the Old Testament understood this. But we have even more reason to appreciate this, since we have seen and heard how God gives new life through Jesus Christ. And he keeps or watches over us as a loving Father cares for His children. Our faith assures us we are in His care and keeping.

the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; God’s face has shined on us in the person of Christ. That message fills the New Testament. “God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all.”(1 John 1:5) He has sent His light to shine out of the darkness. (John 1:5) The light of Christ has dawned upon us, and we live in that light. And God has been gracious to you. God graciously chose you to be His children even though you don’t deserve it. His grace reached out and chose you to believe in Jesus and be saved. His kindness is evident all around you in such things as Spouse and family, food and drink, home and possessions, work and recreation. But His kindness and favor has been shown to you most clearly in Jesus Christ. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Cor. 4:6)

the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. We know that we are accepted by God because of our faith in the one He sent to save us, Jesus Christ. And because of what Jesus did for all men with His death to pay for sin and His rising again to defeat death, we have exactly what the angels proclaimed at His birth: PEACE ON EARTH, peace between God and men.

All of these good things come as a result of God’s name being placed on you, because you are in a relationship with Him. As I said earlier, that started with His placing His name on you in your Baptism; we begin and end our worship with reminders of His name being on you. May you take to heart the tremendous blessing you have each time you hear these words, each time His name is put on you.

Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:24)

There is no hiding our sins from God. He knows. And how it must hurt Him. But He has also provided the way out for us. Even though we are ‘caught in the act’ and deserving of punishment, by virtue of our faith in Christ Jesus we can be certain a complete pardon. The price was already paid for our sin. Jesus did it all. That makes me want to live a better life as a way to say “thanks” to God.

Tom Brady, after living a full life, died. When he got to heaven, God was showing him around. They came to a modest little house with a faded Patriots flag in the window. “This house is yours for eternity Tom,” said God. “This is very special; not everyone gets a house up here.” Tom felt special, indeed, and walked up to his house. On his way up the porch, he noticed another house just around the corner. It was a huge mansion with Orange and Blue sidewalks and drive ways, a 50 foot tall flagpole with an enormous Broncos logo flag waving, a swimming pool in shape of a horse, a Broncos logo in every window, and a Tim Tebow jersey on the front door. Tom said to God “I’m not trying to be ungrateful, but I have a question. I was an all-pro QB, I won 3 Super Bowls, and I even went to the Hall of Fame.”  God said “So what’s your point Tom?” “Well, why does Tim Tebow get a better house than me?” God chuckled, and said “Tom, that’s not Tim’s house, it’s mine.”

That joke has been making the rounds for several weeks now. Most of your have heard about the phenomenon that is Tim Tebow. That joke reflects the mindset of the world that the only reason Tebow is winning any games is because God is smiling on him. But let me back up for a moment. For those of you who don’t know the name, let me explain. In college Tim Tebow played for the Florida Gators. He won the prestigious Heisman Trophy for having led his team to two national college championships. Currently, Tebow is in his second year playing football with the Denver Broncos. He became their starting quarter back after the first five games of this season, and has led them to 7 wins in 10 starts. If they win this afternoon against the Kansas City Chiefs, they will be in the playoffs.

But there is more you should know about Tim Tebow. He spends his time off visiting sick kids in hospitals; he visits his father’s mission in the Philippines, he says that sex should be reserved for marriage. There was a time in this country when that kind of person would be lifted up as a hero, a role model, an example for our nation’s youth. But that is not the case in 21st-century America. You see, Tim Tebow is a Christian, and he is being ridiculed, mocked, vilified and singled out for hatred because he is a follower of Jesus Christ.

When I say “hatred” I mean just that. There is a Facebook page called “I Hate Tim Tebow.” There is a website called Tebow-Haters.com. One comedian jokes that “If I had a gun with one bullet and Osama bin Laden and Tim Tebow were in the same room, I’d shoot bin Laden. But if I had two bullets, I’d shoot Tim Tebow first.” Another comedian, who would like me to mention his name, made headlines with a tweet he posted on Christmas Eve. The Broncos were getting pounded by the Buffalo Bills. The tweet contained a vulgarity about Jesus abandoning Tebow on Christmas Eve. The implication was that Tebow attributed touchdowns and wins to God, which he does not. His faith and his relationship to His Lord is not based upon whether or not he wins football games. But people who don’t have a relationship with Jesus as their Savior don’t understand that.

Tim Tebow has become a Lightning rod. If you ask the folks who dislike Tebow so much, they would tell you it’s because he doesn’t keep his faith hidden. And while he is not pushy with his faith, he’s not apologetic for it either. It is Tebow’s public witness, his refusal to be a beer-guzzling, skirt-chasing, drug-popping, marriage vow-breaking party animal, which makes him stand out in the public arena. For some reason, a man who takes his religious convictions seriously is the object of scorn.

I’m not a Broncos’ fan, and I had not been closely following Tebow. However, I believe all of us have an interest in seeing this young man continuing with his witness. You see, if the scoffers can silence a public Christian like Tim Tebow, they will have no hesitation tackling other, lesser individuals. If they can stop his witness, no high-school athlete would object when coach called for a practice during church time; no college student or store clerk would risk making a confession of faith lest they jeopardize their chance for advancement. And just as bad, the generations who come after us will have second-string, second-rate heroes and few Christian success stories after which they can pattern their lives. Like I said, I’m not a Bronco fan, but I’m willing to cheer for any Christian who lets the world know he isn’t ashamed to follow the Savior who lived, died and rose to save us from sin.
It is not necessary for Tebow and the Broncos to win today in order for him to be a successful witness. That is what his detractors seem to believe. But Mr. Tebow appears to have the understanding that He belongs to Jesus win or lose. He knows football is not the most important thing in his life. And he lives that way. He is letting the light of Jesus shine through in his life.

That is why the world is being so vicious in their attacks. They want him to fail so they can say, “See, his faith didn’t do him any good.”  Those who do not have a faith relationship with Jesus want to justify their own lifestyle, and in their minds that means ridiculing anyone stupid enough to believe in God. It means tearing down people who put their trust in Jesus Christ. People are waiting for Tim Tebow, a very public Christian figure, to stumble, waiting for him to fall. They are looking for a chink in the armor, for his human frailty to be exposed. And I don’t mean just on the football field. They are looking for some dirt, a moral failing, so that they can say, “see, he’s no better than anyone else.” And I think he would agree. He knows his failings and shortcomings, just as all of us know our faults and shortcomings. But he also knows God’s forgiveness and mercy and grace, as I pray each of you do. Tim Tebow is trying to live a life in a response to knowing what God has done for him in sending Jesus Christ to be the Savior. Each of us should do the same.

What I would like to point out today is that Christians and atheists are similar. Very similar. Both are sinful. Both are subject to temptations and moral challenges. And both will give in to those challenges. Neither Christians nor atheists are perfect. All sin and fall short of God’s desire. The thing that makes a difference is that believers in Christ know that He has paid the penalty for their sins. They know that He forgives and restores them when they sin. Their faith assures them of God’s favor. That does not mean success in all their ventures here on earth. But it does mean the certainty of God’s presence with them in good times and bad, as well as the guarantee of eternal life. As a result, we should all want to live our lives in such a way that we let others know about our Savior.

The light of Jesus has shined into our lives. We celebrated His birth because we know who He is and what He has done for us. We need to let His light shine for others to see.

Most of you Know that I really love music. And this time of year has so much special music associated with it. We’ve heard and sung a lot of the Christmas Carols here at Church in the last few weeks. But there is a lot of other music that the world has attached to this season. “The Christmas Song” that speaks of “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…”; “I’ll be home for Christmas”; one of Cheryl’s favorite movies brought us “White Christmas”; Jingle Bells, Rudolph, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, and the list goes on and on. With the possible exception of the last song I mentioned, these songs speak of happiness and good times being the norm at Christmas. One song tells us “Have a holly, jolly Christmas” and another tells us “Tis the season to be jolly.”  All of that is well and good, but what do those songs give us as the basis or reason for being JOLLY? Pretty decorations, good food, snow, family gatherings, and the like. But those things aren’t much of a basis in themselves. You know as well as I do that family gatherings do not always give rise to feeling JOLLY.

What I want to do this morning is take that word JOLLY and use it to help us see the significance of the Christmas story in our lives. I’d like to do that by using each letter in JOLLY as the start of another word. So if we start with the letter “J” the word is …. Jesus! You’ve heard “Tis the season to be jolly” but that is truly accomplished only if you know Jesus is the reason for the season. We are celebrating the birth of the Savior of the World. Even His name tells us that: In Hebrew, Jesus means “The one who saves.” The angel said that Mary and Joseph should name Him Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.

I guess the thing we need to know, then, is how we get to be “His People.” I’d like to use the letter “O” for the word OUR. He, Jesus, is ours. He is a gift to you and me. He is our Christmas present. You claim Jesus as your Savior when the Spirit leads you to faith, putting your trust and confidence in Him. He came for all of us, He is ours. That is why each of us can join in the refrain from Chief of Sinners: As the Branch is to the Vine, I am His and He is mine. Jesus is OURS.

The next letter is “L”. Even though there are two L’s, I had some trouble deciding which word to use here. I already knew what I wanted the second L to be. But for this one, it was a choice between LOVING and LIVING. Love came down at Christmas. It was the love of God that led Him to send Jesus into this world. It was love that led Jesus to lay aside His power as God, Love that persuaded Him to live a perfect life in our place, Love that compelled Him to go to the cross so that you and I would not have to die eternally. That love of God comes to us gift wrapped as a little boy in a Bethlehem stable. But LIVING is just as important. The fact that He came to live as one of us, living that perfect life, and through the Resurrection He is living still, His conquest over sin, death and the devil accomplished, giving us life eternal. Since I couldn’t decide, I’ll just have to cheat on this letter. In fact, we’ll just change the way we spell JOLLLY for the rest of this message and say the first two “L”s stand for LIVING and LOVING. 

As I said, I knew all along that I wanted the next “L” to stand for LORD. The joy and being jolly in this season is something that can be extended if you recognize Jesus as the Lord of your life, the master, the one in control. JESUS OUR LOVING/LIVING LORD rules and reigns. We need to let Him have control of our lives, yielding to His will, since His will is that we be joyful or JOLLY. Jesus Our Loving Living Lord wants the best for us.

All we have left is the letter “Y.” JESUS OUR LOVING/LIVING LORD…. If you know and believe in Him, the message to be JOLLY this season can be summarized by saying: JESUS OUR LOVING/LIVING LORD…YES! Say it and do it with me:  JESUS OUR LOVING/LIVING LORD…YES!  Tis the season to be jolly.

Christmas Eve 2011

The email subject line read: “Polar Bear Attacks Man.” The message itself said, “Warning: The following pictures document an actual polar bear attacking a man. The pictures were taken while people watched and  could do nothing to stop the attack! Reports from the local newspaper say that the victim will make a full recovery.” And then you scroll down to look at the pictures.

The information was accurate but misleading. When you first heard “Polar Bear Attacks Man” I doubt these are the images that popped into your head. And that is the problem with communication. You may say something that is true and correct, but that does not mean others will understand what you are trying to convey to them. Communication is a difficult thing. People do not always understand what you tell them.

A while back I came across an article about people ordering cakes for special occasions. You would think that ordering a cake would be a simple thing, and it usually is. The problems come from what people want put on the top of the cake. Someone ordered a cake for her daughter’s graduation. She told them she wanted a graduation cap, some flowers, and the year. They asked her if she wanted anything else on the cake and she said, “I want sprinkles.”

One lady ordered a cake to celebrate the birth of a baby girl. They asked “What do you want on the cake?” She said, “Why don’t you write ‘Welcome Baby’ in pink.”

I can hear the person saying “Best Wishes Suzanne” Underneath that “We will miss you.” And that’s what they got.

This last person knew this bakery’s reputation, so when asked what he wanted on his cake, he answered “Nothing.” Be careful what you ask for!

Communication can be very difficult. I have found that to be true in my profession. Sometimes people hear me say things that I don’t say. It is hard to accurately convey a message in a way that it will be understood by others. You may think you have made yourself clear, that you got your point across, only to be completely misunderstood. The video that played at the beginning of the worship service had all those children sharing their misconceptions and misunderstandings about the birth of Jesus. I can picture the teachers and parents sharing the story only to be surprised to hear the children share what they heard and understood. This illustrates just how difficult communication can be. This is true on every level of our existence, whether it be the guy working on your car, the person on the other end of the telephone, a subordinate at work, your neighbor across the street or the person to whom you are married. Communication takes work and effort and care if you are going to do it properly.

The same is true for God communicating with His creation. He tells us what we need to know, but we don’t always hear Him, we don’t always understand Him. He told the first people “Don’t eat the fruit of that tree or you will die.” Well maybe He didn’t really mean that. They ate, and so we all die. Ever since, God has been clear and consistent with His message. “You’ve sinned. You deserve death. I’m going to send you a Savior.” That message didn’t change, but people have not always understood it, or they have refused to listen. What we had was a failure to communicate. And that is why the Word Became Flesh.  God came down to make Himself known to mankind in terms that we could understand. He came as one of us, someone we could relate to. He lived among us. He lived the life of perfection God’s righteousness demands. And then offered that life as payment for our sins. That is God’s message. Everyone who hears and takes this message to heart receives forgiveness and life and salvation for Jesus’ sake. That is why the Word became Flesh – to communicate this message to the world.

As I already illustrated, the lack of communication can at times be amusing. It can also be disastrous. If people do not hear God’s message, if they do not understand it, if they do not come to faith, if they do not know and believe in the reconciliation accomplished through Jesus, they will not get what He earned for them. That means death and condemnation. We should not want that for anyone, to go to hell. God doesn’t. He wants His promise of life and forgiveness and salvation to be known. He wants everyone to come to faith in Jesus and be saved.

Paul Harvey had a wonderful ability to share stories. What follows is one that he shared for many years on his radio broadcast at Christmastime.

Now the man to whom I’m going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind, decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn’t believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas Time. It just didn’t make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn’t swallow the Jesus Story, about God coming to Earth as a man. “I’m truly sorry to distress you,” he told his wife, “but I’m not going with you to church this Christmas Eve.” He said he’d feel like a hypocrite. That he’d much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another, and then another. Sort of a thump or a thud. At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They’d been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn’t let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it. Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms. Instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn.

And then, he realized, that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me. That I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him. “If only I could be a bird,” he thought to himself, “and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to the safe warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand.”

At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells – Adeste Fidelis – listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

What will it take for the Good News of God become man, the Word made flesh, to get through to people? Has it gotten through to you? Is it in your heart? How will it be communicated to others? Will you be one who shares it?

Immanuel. God with us. Born as one of us to be our Savior, our Redeemer, the one who would pay the price for all sin. God wants to communicate this message. He wants you to know that. He wants everyone to know that.

On January 14 we will put up the crosses for our annual Pro-Life Display. The crosses represent the number of lives snuffed out EVERY DAY in this country through abortion. We want our community to know that we are for life and that we will help and support them when they find themselves in difficult circumstances. January 22th will be a celebration of Life Sunday in our worship services.

While I was driving home, I got a text from some members who were still at the church. They informed me they had just chased a baby squirrel out of the building. I wish one of them would have turned on the video camera in their phone – it sounds like it was a hilarious experience. It reminded me of that old Ray Stevens song about the day “the squirrel went berserk in the first self-righteous church…” I wonder where he was during the services? And will he visit again? He was an unwelcomed guest. And those who chased him out let that fact be known.

That made me wonder how often we make those who visit our church feel unwelcome. Do we run them off? Hopefully we would not do that to any of our two-legged visitors. If they come to us, we have the chance to share with them the best news they will ever hear, the message of God’s love for them in Christ Jesus. He came into this world to share His love with everyone. His disciples should be the ones sharing that love today. And that includes sharing Christ’s love with those who visit our church.

I hope our guests will be made to feel welcome and experience the love of God in Christ Jesus when they join us for worship!