Fourth Sunday in Advent [B], 2014
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38
“Waiting in the Truth & Power of the Gospel!”
INTRODUCTION
How many of you are familiar with the sentence,
“Speak Softly, and Carry a Big Stick”?
Who is known for making that statement?
To what does that statement refer?
[Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick is]...
"the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action
– sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Stick_ideology#CITEREFRoosevelt1913
SETTING
Could we describe God’s sending of His Son into the world as the Savior
and offering all Mankind salvation, ...
– offering Mankind pardon from sin and guilt - and – offering Mankind freedom from condemnation and judgment,
... as God “Speaking Softly”?
LIVING IN THE TRUTH AND POWER OF THE GOSPEL: (Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38)
When did God “Speak Softly” to His people – Israel?
Hear the “Soft” words God spoke to His people through the prophets:
“18Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
– Isaiah 1:18
Or again,
“6Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near;
7
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Fourth Sunday in Advent, 2014
Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38
let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” – Isaiah 55:6-7
How did the Israelites respond to the “Soft” words God spoke to them?
God would again speak “Soft” words,
and this time not just to Israel, but to all the world!
Those “Soft” words began with the angel sent to speak to the virgin Mary:
God’s “Soft” Word, the Gospel, is the Good News, that God’s offer of
forgiveness and renewal in the Holy Spirit, has the power
•?
“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
The root meaning of the word translated “favored” is ____________ .
•?
The angel was saying to Mary,
“Greetings, you to whom God has extended His grace!”
Why did Mary need God’s grace?
•
As the apostle Paul draws to a conclusion
his letter to the Christians in Rome, he writes:
20
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. – Romans 16:20
The word “Soft” may rightly imply...
•?
... but, it would be a mistake to understand the word “Soft” to imply...
•
What is the Contrast the apostle Paul makes
about God’s use of His Power toward Satan and toward His people?
CONCLUSION
...the question before you, before me,
before everyone in our generation, is,...
Have you heard God’s “Soft” Word?
"Grace" is not a weakness in the one who acts in "Grace" toward another.
"Grace" implies a fault, a weakness, in the one to whom "Grace" is extended.
"Grace" says,
"You don't measure up, you are defective, you are weak,
BUT...
I will lift you up, I will make you whole, I will empower you!"
"Grace" is God, in His strength, His power,
reaching out to us in our weakness, our corruption
to lift us up, make us whole, empower us!
Thus, God "Graced" Mary, as God lifted her up - and in His power conceived in her womb, the Savior!
– Are you living in the "Power" of that Word,
in the "Power" of the Gospel?
– Are you living in the "Power" of God's Holy Spirit?
– Are you living in the "Power" of freedom
from sin, from guilt, from condemnation?
God's "Soft" Word has the "Power" to create you anew,
in Christ, as His child, forgiven [blameless] and righteous!
Paul closed his letter to the Christians in Rome with the words:
25
Now to Him Who is able to strengthen you
according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, – Romans 16:25
As you celebrate the birth of God’s Son as your Savior this Christmas,
how are you “Strengthened” by God’s “Soft” Word spoken in Jesus?
God’s “Soft” Word is a ____________________ Word!
INTRODUCTION
12-21-2014
How many of you are familiar with the sentence,
“Speak Softly, and Carry a Big Stick”?
Who is known for making that statement? President Theodore Roosevelt.
To what does that statement refer? Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy.
Roosevelt himself said of his foreign policy as described by this statement:
[Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick is]...
"the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action
– sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Stick_ideology#CITEREFRoosevelt1913
The soundness of Teddy Roosevelt’s approach
was having sufficient power in reserve to implement his policy
should his “soft words”, his “intelligent forethought”,
not prove effective in doing so.
SETTING
As we approach again the celebration of the birth of Jesus as the Savior,
could we describe God’s approach to the ruin of His human creation
corrupted in sin and condemned to eternal punishment
with those same words used to describe Roosevelt’s foreign policy?
– Could we describe God’s sending of His Son into the world as the Savior
and offering all Mankind salvation,
– offering Mankind pardon from sin and guilt - and – offering Mankind freedom from condemnation and judgment,
as God “Speaking Softly”?
When you think about it, in dealing with conflict,
isn’t it better to resolve the issues in contention by discussion and consent,
rather than by a use of force and compelling the weaker into full submission?
LIVING IN THE TRUTH AND POWER OF THE GOSPEL: (Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38)
Over and over again, throughout the generations, God has spoken “Softly”.
Through the prophets, time and again God offered forgiveness and restoration
to the people of Israel who had forsaken Him
in the worship of the heathen idols - and in practicing the immoral and corrupts ways of the other nations.
Yes, the Israelites may have been “Politically Correct”
in compromising with the Canaanites and their ways,
but, the were “Spiritually Bankrupt”
in turning away from God to gods who were not real - and to a lifestyle that was godless and corrupt.
Whereas God offered them Blessings and Life,
the Israelites turned away from God to Curses and Death.
Yet, God sent the prophets with “Soft” words of forgiveness and restoration,
if Israel would return to Him and leave behind their godless ways.
Hear the “Soft” words God speaks to His people:
“18Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” – Isaiah 1:18
Or again,
“6Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near;
7
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” – Isaiah 55:6-7
How sad, that Israel did not respond to the “Soft” words that God spoke!
How sad, that Israel left God with no alternative but to use His “Big Stick”!
The Babylonians defeated Jerusalem in 586 B.C. as they
captured the city, broke down its walls, and burned the king’s palace;
burned the temple Solomon had built and plundered its vessels; -and drove off into exile in Babylon those who survived the battle.
God would again speak “Soft” words,
and this time not just to Israel, but to all the world!
Those “Soft” words began with the angel sent to speak to the virgin Mary:
“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
I want to comment on that word translated as “favored”
– “Greetings, O favored one,...”.
The idea is not that Mary was superior in faith to any other woman in her time.
The meaning is not that the angel was saying,
“Greetings, you are God’s favorite...”
The root meaning of the word translated here as “favored” is “Grace”.
The angel was saying to Mary,
“Greetings, you to whom God has extended His grace!”
As God was about to send His Son into the world as the Savior,
God sent the angel Gabriel to speak a “Soft” Word, a “Gracious” Word to Mary!
God, in His Grace, had chosen Mary to be the mother of the Savior!
Mary, as with all women, as with all men, was a sinner in need of God’s Grace!
The Good News the angel announced to Mary, was that indeed,
God, in His Grace, through her planned to send His Son into the world!
So far, I have been using the word “Soft” to describe God’s “Grace”.
I believe that word is appropriate, in that the word “Soft” implies “Grace”,
or “Mercy”, or “Kindness”, or “Compassion”.
But, I believe it would be a mistake to understand that word “Soft”,
to imply “Weak”, or “Powerless”.
“Grace” is not a weakness in the one who acts in “Grace” toward another.
“Grace” implies a fault, a weakness, in the one to whom “Grace” is extended.
“Grace” says, “You don’t measure up, you are defective, you are weak, BUT...
I will lift you up, I will make you whole, I will empower you!”
“Grace” is God, in His strength, His power,
reaching out to us in our weakness, our corruption
to lift us up, make us whole, empower us!
Thus, God “Graced” Mary, as God lifted her up
and in His power conceived in her womb, the Savior, to be named Jesus!
As the angel Gabriel told her:
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
36
therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son,
and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37
For nothing will be impossible with God.”
God’s “Soft” Word is a powerful Word!
God’s “Soft” Word, the Gospel,
– the Good News that in Jesus, God’s offer of forgiveness and renewal in the Holy Spirit,
has the power ...
to change sinners into saints;
to create a new heart, a heart that loves God, in the emptiness of man’s soul; - and -
to give eternal life to those dead in sin.
That’s POWER! Not weakness!
As the apostle Paul draws to a conclusion his letter to the Christians in Rome, he writes:
20
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. – Romans 16:20
What a contrast!
God will use His power, His “Big Stick” to “Crush Satan”!
No weakness there! No impotence there!
God will “Crush” His enemy – Satan, Period!
But, in the very next sentence, that same “Power” that will “Crush” Satan,
– that same “Power”, now active in “Grace”,
Paul bestows upon the Christian in Rome!
CONCLUSION
The question before the Christians in Rome in Paul’s day,
the question before you, before me, before everyone in our generation, is,
Have you heard God’s “Soft” Word?
– Are you living in the “Power” of that Word, in the “Power” of the Gospel?
– Are you living in the “Power” of God’s Holy Spirit?
(The same Holy Spirit Who worked in Mary the conception of the Son of God?)
– Are you living in the “Power” of freedom
from sin, from guilt, from condemnation?
God’s “Soft” Word has the “Power” to create you anew, in Christ, as His child,
– forgiven [blameless] and righteous!
The apostle Paul closed his letter to the Christians in Rome with the words:
25
Now to Him Who is able to strengthen you
according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, – Romans 16:25
In those words, Paul reveals the “Power” God offered the Christians in Rome,
the “Power” that God offers to us in the Gospel,
– the “Power” of God to give us “Power”, to give us “Strength”,
to live as saints in a world full of sin and corruption,
that we may not turn away from Christ, as Israel turned away from God,
but, strengthened by God’s “Power”,
that we may be faithful until Jesus comes again in all His glory!
This Christmas, as you celebrate the birth of God’s Son as the Savior of the world,
– as your Savior, as the Savior of your loved ones and friends,
Rejoice, and Praise God, as He speaks “Softly” to us in His Grace, in His Son!
Those who hear God’s voice, as He speaks “Softly” yet in “Power”
to the world in the gift of His Son as the Savior,
will never face the “Big Stick” God will wield against the Satan
as God crushes the devil and all his work - and as God ushers in the Kingdom in the fullness of His blessings! AMEN
Fourth Sunday in Advent [B], 2014
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38
“Waiting in the Truth & Power of the Gospel!”
INTRODUCTION
How many of you are familiar with the sentence,
“Speak Softly, and Carry a Big Stick”?
Who is known for making that statement?
To what does that statement refer?
[Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick is]...
"the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action
– sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Stick_ideology#CITEREFRoosevelt1913
SETTING
Could we describe God’s sending of His Son into the world as the Savior
and offering all Mankind salvation, ...
– offering Mankind pardon from sin and guilt - and – offering Mankind freedom from condemnation and judgment,
... as God “Speaking Softly”?
LIVING IN THE TRUTH AND POWER OF THE GOSPEL: (Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38)
When did God “Speak Softly” to His people – Israel?
Hear the “Soft” words God spoke to His people through the prophets:
“18Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
– Isaiah 1:18
Or again,
“6Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near;
7
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Fourth Sunday in Advent, 2014
Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38
let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” – Isaiah 55:6-7
How did the Israelites respond to the “Soft” words God spoke to them?
God would again speak “Soft” words,
and this time not just to Israel, but to all the world!
Those “Soft” words began with the angel sent to speak to the virgin Mary:
God’s “Soft” Word, the Gospel, is the Good News, that God’s offer of
forgiveness and renewal in the Holy Spirit, has the power
•?
“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
The root meaning of the word translated “favored” is ____________ .
•?
The angel was saying to Mary,
“Greetings, you to whom God has extended His grace!”
Why did Mary need God’s grace?
•
As the apostle Paul draws to a conclusion
his letter to the Christians in Rome, he writes:
20
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. – Romans 16:20
The word “Soft” may rightly imply...
•?
... but, it would be a mistake to understand the word “Soft” to imply...
•
What is the Contrast the apostle Paul makes
about God’s use of His Power toward Satan and toward His people?
CONCLUSION
...the question before you, before me,
before everyone in our generation, is,...
Have you heard God’s “Soft” Word?
"Grace" is not a weakness in the one who acts in "Grace" toward another.
"Grace" implies a fault, a weakness, in the one to whom "Grace" is extended.
"Grace" says,
"You don't measure up, you are defective, you are weak,
BUT...
I will lift you up, I will make you whole, I will empower you!"
"Grace" is God, in His strength, His power,
reaching out to us in our weakness, our corruption
to lift us up, make us whole, empower us!
Thus, God "Graced" Mary, as God lifted her up - and in His power conceived in her womb, the Savior!
– Are you living in the "Power" of that Word,
in the "Power" of the Gospel?
– Are you living in the "Power" of God's Holy Spirit?
– Are you living in the "Power" of freedom
from sin, from guilt, from condemnation?
God's "Soft" Word has the "Power" to create you anew,
in Christ, as His child, forgiven [blameless] and righteous!
Paul closed his letter to the Christians in Rome with the words:
25
Now to Him Who is able to strengthen you
according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, – Romans 16:25
As you celebrate the birth of God’s Son as your Savior this Christmas,
how are you “Strengthened” by God’s “Soft” Word spoken in Jesus?
God’s “Soft” Word is a ____________________ Word!