December 23, Fourth Sunday of Advent

Lessons: Isaiah 7.10-16; Romans 1.1-17

Sermon Title: Promised

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. Stopping by Woods On A Snowy Evening, Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping there
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

    1. The Horse does not understand, but then, who expects a horse to understand?

    2. Robert Frost does.

      1. He has promises to keep.

      2. And miles to go before he sleeps.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. Promise is such a wondrous word.

    1. It has so many implications

      1. You buy an insurance policy.

        1. Implied is a promise to pay.

      2. You invest in an IRA, investing your capital for the future.

        1. A promise is implied that when the instrument reaches maturity there will be finds available.

      3. You unite with a Congregational Church and own the Covenant.

        1. The promise of the Covenant implies that there will be benefits to your relationship.

    2. Promises are an important part of our lives.

      1. Promise = Hope, Possibility, Potential, Prospect,

      2. Promise = Guarantee, Oath, Pledge, Vow, Word.

  2. Contemplate the hope, the possibilities, potential, the prospects of God's promise.

    1. You see the promise in Isaiah

10Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying, 11Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. 12But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test. 13Then Isaiah said: "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? 14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. 15He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted, (Isaiah 7:10-16, NRSVA.

      1. It was during the reign of Ahaz that Judah came under attack by a confederation of the Rezin, king of Syria and Pekah, King of Israel.

      2. Isaiah came to Ahaz with words of reassurance.

      3. Isaiah was told by God to invite Ahaz to ask for a sign.

      4. It was a sign that could be as seep as Sheol and as high as heaven.

      5. Ahaz would not ask for a sign.

      6. He said: "I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test."

      7. Ahaz did not want a sign.

      8. Ahaz true reason for declining was his resolve not to do God's will, but to negotiate with Assyria, and persevere in his idolatry.

    1. Men often excuse their distrust in God, and trust in their own devices, by professed reverence for God.

      1. Ahaz may have fancied that though Jehovah was the God of Judea and could work a sign there, that was no proof that the local god of Syria might not be more powerful.

      2. Such was the common heathen notion.

    2. Then Isaiah said: "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also?

      1. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.

      2. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.

      3. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.

      4. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.

    3. A child is born and is given the name Jesus.

      1. A Boy Named Jesus (1)

Jesus, however, means "God is salvation." The angel who appears to Joseph alludes to that meaning when he says, "... you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." This child was given a name that would be a constant reminder of the saving grace of God.

They shall call him Emmanuel. But once Matthew has told us what the angel said, he goes on to make his own observation. He tells us that the angel's announcement to Joseph about the divine origin of the child and the naming fulfilled something Isaiah had written about centuries earlier, and Matthew then quotes Isaiah 7:14: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel."

In its original context, that statement referred to the fact that the nation of Judah would be delivered from the threat of an invasion by the time a particular young woman of that day gave birth to the child she was already carrying. But Matthew, looking at it through the lens of what he knew about Jesus, saw it also as prophecy. And thus he took the name given to that child born in Isaiah's time, Emmanuel, and applied it symbolically to Jesus.

      1. And that name, Emmanuel, as Matthew hastens to tell us, means "God is with us."

      2. Thus, between his given name, Jesus, and his symbolic name, Emmanuel, this child to be born to Mary makes two important affirmations about God.

        1. He saves us and that he is with us.

        2. As commentator Eugene Boring points outs: (2)

"For Matthew, the story of Jesus is a way of talking about God."

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  1. Only time will tell if the promise is realized.

    1. In Romans, Paul writes about the Gospel of God which he had promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures.

    2. This is the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

    3. It is through Jesus that we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, 6including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

    4. There are limitations to be taken into consideration.

    5. Perhaps, promise is only partially realized.

    6. We people who believe in promises.

      1. We are always looking for a promise and its realization.

      2. We are looking for a sign that underscores the reality of the promise.

  2. We are given the best of promises.

    1. The promise of Christmas is not in the giving and receiving of gifts.

      1. The promise of Christmas in not in the excitement of receiving what you may desire.

      2. The promise of Christmas is not in the disappointment of unfulfilled expectations, that is you didn't get what you wanted.

    2. Its great fun to go to the mall and see the great crowds of people doing their Christmas shopping.

      1. The stores are full of promise.

      2. What kind of a promise does retail provide?

Mike Smith draws a manger scene with two modern marketing specialists speaking to Mary and Joseph.

One says: "The Son of God! Really?!! Just think of the potential. We start out with your own designer apparel...shoes, hats, t-shirts, jackets, even swim wear. Then we'll do a workout video, call it, 'Sweatin' with the Messiah,' or something. Maybe get a book or movie contract..."

    1. There is an implied promise in the commercials of the retail establishment.

      1. They show the joy of the giver.

      2. The excitement of the receiver of the gift.

      3. Many of our gifts prove to be impractical.

      4. Some of them have a very short useful life.

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  1. We need a better promise than that!

    1. Joni Eareckson Tada in "Lamp Unto My Feet," writes,

"Just think, every promise God has ever made finds its fulfillment in Jesus. God doesn't just give us grace, he gives us Jesus, the Lord of grace. It's peace, it's only found in Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Even life itself is found in the Resurrection and the Life. Christianity isn't all that complicated...it's Jesus."

    1. Jesus is a child of God's promise.

      1. He is the one who is to rule

      2. He is the one whose origins is from old, from ancient days.

      3. He is the one who is before time, yet one who is part of time.

    2. He is described as:

      1. One who shall feed his flock

      2. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

      3. One who will provide security.

      4. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth;

      5. And he will be a person of peace

      6. He shall be the one of peace.

  1. The promise of God is fulfilled in a spectacular way.

    1. Mary, in the early stages of her pregnancy, sets out to visit her cousin Elizabeth.

    2. When Mary enters Elizabeth's home a remarkable occurrence takes place.

    3. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, her child leaped in her womb.

      1. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry,

      2. "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

      3. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?

      4. For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.

      5. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

    4. Mary responds to Elizabeth's exclamation

      1. "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

      2. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

      3. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

      4. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;

      5. He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.

      6. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

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CONCLUSION:

  1. According to the promise, God's promise, God's unfailing promise.

Jordan E. Detzer (3) was invited to preach for a pastor a week before Christmas. During the service he noticed that there was a manger scene on the altar. But on closer inspection, he saw only farm animals by the lighted barn. He couldn't find a baby in the manger. When the time came for the sermon, he walked to the altar and asked the congregation if they had seen Jesus. Everyone look perplexed. He told them I had looked all over the altar but couldn't find him anywhere.

A woman in the choir responded, "I know where Jesus is. He is still in the box we haven't unpacked yet."

    1. Christ is the child of promise.

      1. Jesus birth creates the Promise = Hope, Possibility, Potential, Prospect,

      2. Jesus birth guarantees the Promise = Oath, Pledge, Vow, Word.

    2. If we do not unpack the promise

      1. We are left with incomplete promise Santa Claus

      2. We are left with the faulty promise of the retail establishment.

  1. If we do not find the fulfillment of the promise it is not because God has failed.

    1. If we do not find the fulfillment of the promise it is because we have failed.

      1. We have failed to understand.

      2. We have failed to realize it

      3. We have failed to capture it.

      4. We have failed to own it for ourselves.

    2. Christmas is the promise

      1. To receive the benefit of the promise Jesus must be unpacked.

      2. Unpack the promise, it is everything that you really need

      3. Unpack the promise it is everything and would want, if only you knew what you wanted.

1. HOMILETICSONLINE, A Boy Named Jesus, Matthew 1:18-25, 12/23/2007

2. (As commentator Eugene Boring points outs in The New Interpreter's Bible,

3. Jordan E. Detzer, The Upper Room, 12-10-88.

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