This Weeks Text:
Isaiah 7:10-16
Matthew 1:18-25
This Weeks Theme: Immanuel – God is with us and that makes all the difference.
In the book of Genesis we learned about God’s kingdom, coming to earth through a chosen yet broken family of individual humans. We saw how this kingdom is God’s building project and how you and I are invited both to be part of it, and to help bring it.
If we were to move from there into Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel, we would see that the people of God have a hard time being this peculiar people without there also being a Godly leader over them; a prophet, judge or king. But, we would also see that no matter how Godly that leader be, he or she is merely human and never able to measure up to the one true King – God. Time and again the people fail, their leaders fail and they walk away from God.
Then, in the year 586, God has about all he can take. The people have walked away from God and his ways, so he says, (as Fleetwood Mac said it) “you can go your own way!” No longer under God’s protection the kingdom of Israel (specifically the southern kingdom of Judah) is over ran by the Babylonians, Jerusalem sacked and the temple destroyed. The people are removed from the land of the promise, carried away in physical chains that reflect the spiritual chains they had acquired for themselves.
During the over 400 years of time that the people of Israel remained in captivity or subject to another nation, God’s people spent their time pooring over prophecies about the coming of a savior, searching for the timing of his coming. They also spend time remembering the story of God’s kingdom, their part in it, what God was about in this world (much of the Old Testament as we know it took final form during this period.)
This week we shall see the next step, the next broad stroke in the story of God’s kingdom coming; now we will experience the long awaited Advent of Christ – the coming of a promised Messiah to save the people.
This is the big picture, the huge history of God’s kingdom coming – but there is more to this story than what we find in the Bible. The truth is, the history of God’s kingdom has continued, and is still continuing to this day, and we are heirs of this kingdom and this story. We too, like the Israelites have found ourselves in bondage to the culture around us, our story taken from us and transformed into a ugly version of the original.
The story of Christmas is prime example. Where once it was a time of giving – the giving of God’s presence in Jesus Christ – it is now a time of rushing, purchasing, stuffing, wrapping, piling, and consuming. 2000 years ago it was a time of worship for shepherds and wise men, today it is a gaudy holiday where our worship practice is not focused on the manger, but on the cash register.
Join the Conspiracy. Take back the story. Remember Jesus Christ.
This Weeks Set:
(This is a link to all the Sojourn Advent song chord sheets) Sojourns "Advent Songs" CD is only $7 and worth picking up. Best Christmas CD I've heard in a long time!
O Come O Come Emmanuel (Sojourn/ Jamie's version)
Glorious
The Advent Song… (Jamie’s )
Before the Throne
Joy to the World (Sojourn)
Amen, Amen (sojourn)
