Sermon Audio:

Sermon Text:

Tigger & Eeyore

Have you ever met a super-happy person? One of those folks that just seems to have a good attitude all the time, glowing about life, full of energy, optimistic about the future? I’ve met a couple of them, though not many. They’re awesome to be around because their energy is infectious.

• When you are down, this person will have a dozen ways to pick you up.
• When you are hurt they will bend over backwards to try to make you smile.
• They’re the ones who, when they see you frazzled, instead of saying, “Wow, keep up the good work!” say, “Wow, you look stressed out, maybe you need a vacation.” because they’re not driving by needing to produce things.
• These people have all kinds of hobbies and interests and are forever sharing them on Pinterest and Facebook and Instagram and inviting you over to see them, and giving them out as gifts.
• When you share bad news, instead of commenting, they share a funny meme or cat video. If we were to use a character from Winnie the Pooh to describe them, we’d pick either Pooh himself or Tigger.

Have you ever met one of these people? Are you one of these people? If so, thank you for being you.

I kind of wish I was, but I know I’m not. If I’m anyone, I’m Eeyore… maybe mixed with a little of Tigger’s confidence… and a little of Piglet’s fastidiousness. I’m not really that cheery of a person. Keep in mind I’m the guy who wrote a sermon a while back called “Life Sucks and then you Die” reminding everyone why there is suffering, evil and despair in the world. And just a couple weeks ago I tried to cheer everyone up from the 2016 downers by reminding us of Super-Volcanoes, the Ice Age, the Black Death, and the atrocities of the World Wars.

My kids often accuse me of being “Mr. Bad News” since for every silver lining they come up with I tend to find a cloud. I have to be careful at dinner time not to bemoan the fallen state of the world, and it takes work for me to find the bright side of things. And I definitely utter the words “Wow, people suck…” too often in front of my kids. It’s sort of become my unofficial motto now. I’m not proud of it, but every day I read or experience something that keeps proving it right.

The Whole Truth

I know, right? You come to church today, listen to an Advent reading on Love, sing uplifting Christmas songs, and want hear something akin to “Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!” Maybe you’ve come to be cheered up with a positive message, reminded about all the wonderful things about this time of year. You want to hear a story with lowing cattle and a glowing baby laid in a bed of clean straw – the light of the world come to grant joy and peace and hope to lowly shepherds, prostitutes and tax collectors alike. You want me to tell you all about how Jesus is going to give you answers to your deepest questions, make your life abundant, repair your heart, and give you everything you need because He’s promised to. And I don’t blame you.

Everyone likes the cheery people. They flock to the Joel Osteens and Creflo Dollars of the world to hear uplifting messages about how God is going to make them happy, healthy, wealthy, and pain-free. But I can’t do that. I won’t, because it’s not the whole truth.

That’s the thing, there is some truth to the prosperity gospel message, but it’s not a whole truth. Does God care about you? Is He concerned about your daily needs? Does He promise healing? Will He give answers and freedom from tears? Yes to all of that! But the thing is, as true as those statements are, God is clear that it doesn’t usually happen the way we think it will – and it usually doesn’t happen when we want it to.

All of this confusion is an unmitigated mess that comes from a complete misunderstanding of the salvation that Jesus offers. At its heart is the false hope of the prosperity gospel touted by so many false preachers. And people are desperate to believe it – and always have.

From Adam and Eve to you and I, people have been trying to get things from God that we aren’t supposed to have and twisting His Word to fool ourselves into believing it’s a good idea. God will speak, and we will listen to half of what He says and then go with that. You’ve experienced that, right? Where you tell someone something in two parts, but they only take the first part?

This happens to every single person I know that has tried to make Kraft Dinner. I’ve heard the story multiple times. The kid is left alone with a box of Kraft Dinner and is brimming with confidence as they are now allowed to “cook”. They figure, “I’ve got this. I’ve seen it done a million times! Easy peasey!” So they fill a pot with water, put in noodles – and then turn on the element. Oh wait, how long do we cook it for? Dig the box out and look for the number. Oh, 7-8 minutes. Throw out the box. Then, add the cheese powder directly to the water, right? Now what else? Get the box out of the garbage again. Oh yeah, milk and butter. Toss some into the lukewarm water. Ok, it took 7 minutes just to that all that gunk to boil. “Oh well, I’m just following the directions!”, they figure. “The water does look kind of gross though – I don’t remember that.” Now what? Get out the strainer and pour it all into the sink. And what are they left with? Nothing anyone wants to eat. Oh well, that’s why God gave us ketchup, right?

We do that all the time with God’s word! We read part of it, close the book, and figure we can figure the rest out on our own.

No matter how many times I try to teach people about God’s promises they keep mishearing me. Maybe I’m not as good of a teacher as I think I am, but there are times when someone will come with deep questions I’ll say something like, “Pray, read the Bible and talk to your Christian friends and I believe God will give you answers.”, and I’ll try to explain what that means, but they hear “If you do this God is going to explain everything to you in detail and give you a perfect roadmap for your life.” That’s not what I said, and isn’t what the Bible says. God is under no obligation to give us detailed answers, but as we pray and read the Word, He will often help us learn to trust Him, His plan, and His goodness – even though we can’t see what He’s doing.

They’ll read or hear me say, “Following Jesus will give you an abundant life.” What do they hear? “Jesus is going to make your life like an adventure movie: heart-pounding excitement, dramatic romance, and you’ll always come out on top.” That’s not even close to what “abundant” means.

Someone else, with deep hurts, will hear, “God can repair your heart”. But they hear, “God will fix your relationships, make your marriage strong, keep your kids close to you, and give you lots of friends.” That’s not what I said, and isn’t what the Bible says either.

They read or hear a Christian teacher say, “Trust God to give you everything you need.” And too many people hear, “God will give you everything your heart desires because the desires of your heart are obviously what you need.” And then they blame themselves, Christians, the Bible, or God for not delivering on His promises. But again, it’s not God that is wrong. You’re just only listening to half of the truth.

Or, “God has given you good things to do and doing them will bring blessings to your life.” and they’ll hear, “Karma is real. Do good things and good things will happen to you. Do bad things and bad things will happen to you. God is all about balance.” That’s not what the Bible teaches at all.

Reading the Other Half

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the verses we’ve been looking at over the past few weeks, which are Isaiah’s prophecy about how Jesus the God-Man would come as a child destined to be our Great Saviour.

Isaiah 9:2’s gives the promise that “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.” And that’s great! That’s what everyone wants, right?

And that’s great! That’s what everyone wants, right? Light, multiplied blessing, increased joy, harvest celebrations, glad hearts and spoils. But all of that requires something… it requires the next verses…

“For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.” (vs 4-5)

In order to have a Great Deliverer, we must have something to be delivered from! God says that because our world has turned their back on Him, over and over, and preferred ourselves, sin and evil to Him and His light, we will walk in darkness. Because we have rejected Him as king, we will be overwhelmed with oppressors and experience great burdens. Our lives will be filled with war, our clothes covered in blood.

This is the flipside of faith in Jesus Christ – the admission of sin, guilt, and need. The admission that we are in trouble, that we cannot save ourselves, and that we need someone outside of this world, untouched by the effects of sin and death, to deliver us from them. Without that admission, there is no salvation, because we will not have acknowledged that we do, in fact, need a Saviour.

Let’s keep reading,

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder…”

Why? Because the government, no matter what country they are or what system they use, is going to be corrupted by sin. And even if, for one generation you get a ruler that does everything right, they are going to die. Jesus is our Saviour from corruption – but that requires us stop putting our faith in the belief that salvation will come from any world government – that all we need is the right leader, the right party, the right Prime Minister, and we’ll be saved. We must admit that we need a ruler beyond this world, and that is Christ.

It continues:

“…and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,  Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace…”

We need Jesus to be our Wonderful Counsellor because we are surrounded by a lot of awful counsellors who, no matter how hard they try, and how great their intentions are, cannot fully save us, will eventually leave us, will pass along false information, and sometimes simply get it wrong. Faith in Jesus requires us to admit that we are lost and confused, and put away our belief that the perfect earthly guru or emotional support system will solve all our problems.

We need Jesus to be our Mighty God because we are utterly weak and require divine intervention. To admit Jesus’ power is to admit our lack of it. We have to admit that we will never be smart enough or strong enough to pull ourselves out of the troubles of this world. We will never have the willpower to conquer all our sins. We will never be able to stop all the wars and hatred happening around the world and in our hearts. We require someone of perfect strength that never fails. We must admit our powerlessness and allow Jesus to be our Mighty God.

We need Jesus to be our Everlasting Father, because there is no perfect father out there. A lot of people in this world start out fatherless, abandoned by their dads before they were born. Many more have bad, ungodly fathers. And in the end, even if we have a great dad, unless we die first, we all eventually end up fatherless. We require someone who loves us, knows us, protects us, provides for us, and won’t ever leave us – and that’s Jesus. But, that means we have to stop believing that there is someone out there who can give us all that. We have to realize there is no girl or boyfriend, no wife or husband, no friend or coworker who can give us all that we need.

And, in the same way, we have to admit that we cannot be that for others! We are not the fount of all wisdom, the great defender, the perfect provider who knows exactly what our family and friends need – only Jesus is. And we have to point people to Him, not us.

Jesus Prince of Peace

And, we need Jesus to be our only Prince of Peace. As I’ve said, needing a Saviour means we need to be saved from something. If we need a Prince of Peace that means that we must be in the middle of war. And we are. I told you about the historical context of the Christmas story last week, but consider the trouble that Jesus’ coming into the world wrought.

Mary was chosen, not because she was perfect, but because she had found favour with God. She was a good woman who loved God. But what did Jesus bring her? Joseph thought she had cheated and almost divorced her. She ended up giving birth to her first child in a room intended for animals and laying him in a feeding trough. When she presented her baby at the temple, Simeon, a perfect stranger came up to her and said, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35). And he was right. Her son’s life would bring her much confusion and pain.

“Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35).

And he was right. Her son’s life would bring her much confusion and pain.

Then, within a couple years, Magi from the East mistakenly go to Jerusalem and inform the insanely jealous King Herod that there is a contender to the throne, and discover he was in Bethlehem, causing him to fly into a rage, killing all the boys in Bethlehem that were two years old or younger.

Meanwhile, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus flee the country to live as immigrant refugees for a few years in Egypt, only to return after Herod had died. Who knows the troubles they had there.

Jesus’s birth was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the one that would come and be the Prince of Peace, but those closest to Him certainly didn’t have Peace – at least not the way we would define it.

And there’s my point. If we only go half way, read it like a prosperity preacher, then we end up confused. Jesus brings Peace, but Mary, Joseph, everyone else closest to Him for the rest of His life, and Jesus Himself experienced great troubles and pain. Does that mean Jesus wasn’t the right guy? Or that we are wrong about how and when Jesus will bring Peace?

I believe that it’s the latter. It’s not Jesus who hasn’t fulfilled His promises, but we who are importing our own ideas, preconceptions, and selfish desires onto His promises.

The Hero Has Come

Think of it this way: Have you ever watched a movie where someone was kidnapped or trapped somewhere by the bad guy, and the whole plot of the film was to have the hero track them down and get them back? Whether it was a princess in a tower, a wife held by terrorists, or a daughter sold to slavery, the whole point of the movie was that the prince, husband, or dad, was doing everything they could to save their beloved from the hands of evil.

How did that movie make you feel? Nervous, scared, anxious, sad… but you kept watching, right? And then came that moment when the hero finally caught a glimpse of the one they were rescuing? What did you feel then? I bet you smiled. The guy has been through hell and back, followed clues and fought enemies just to get to the point where they can hide behind the box, or peak through the window, and get a glimpse of the one he has come to save. It’s in that moment we feel the mixed emotions of hope and anxiety, but we grin knowingly. We know that it’s going to have a happy ending, we just don’t know how.

The girl was still in danger, the attackers weren’t dealt with yet – but we feel a sense of joy and hope. Why? Because we know that the hero has finally come and justice is about to be served.

There’s often a moment in those movies where the hero and the victim secretly lock eyes without any of the bad guys noticing. The prince winks, the husband mouths “I love you”, the Father, “I’m here.” She nods without letting anyone else see. They share a brief but powerful moment, and we all know it’s going to be ok. Why? Because her hero is here. The bad guys are as good as done. Salvation has come.

That’s a joy moment. That’s a Jesus moment. Yes, the trouble is still there. She’s still technically kidnapped, under the power of the bad guys, but the hero has given the wink and it’s going to be all good. All that’s left is for him to make the final move.

Therein lies our Christmas joy and the meaning of Advent. Therein lies the whole story of what it means to be saved by Jesus. Right now we are still under the power of evil and life really is painful sometimes. Right now, we face the bad counsellors, weak wills, unfulfilling relationships, and the war of life. But the hero has come! All we’ve done is sat tied up, surrounded by evil while He did all the work. Jesus has come, has given us the wink, has said, “I love you, I’m here.” and even though we are looking into the faces of our enemies, surrounded by trials and trouble, we are already saved. Regardless how bad things have been, we are absolutely sure we are about to be free. Why, because we trust our hero to save us.

That’s the full Christmas story, the gospel story: We have looked around and seen our desperate need, and we have looked into the eyes of the only one who can save us. He has come, and is coming again to finish His work.