Sermon 12-12-07

Old Testament –. Isaiah 43:11-13 I, even I, am the LORD. Apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed – I, and not some foreign God among you. You are my witnesses, declares the LORD that I am God. Yes, and from the ancient days, I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?

Gospel – Matthew 1:18-25 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.” When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Sermon-

Tonight is the fourth in our five-part series on the Real Meaning of Christmas. We are studying the words that the angel spoke to the shepherds and to us in Luke Chapter 2, “Fear not. Good News. Great Joy. To you is born a Savior.” and we have been talking about how important it is to know the Real Meaning of Christmas. As a sideline this evening, you have probably all heard about the shootings over the weekend in Colorado at that church and missionary center. If you don’t have the real meaning of Christmas, how do you deal with that? You can’t!! If the Real Meaning of Christmas is about spending time with your family and friends, all those people will have a lousy Christmas because some of their family and friends are gone. But spending time with your family and friends is not the Real Meaning of Christmas, thank You God. If we think the Real Meaning of Christmas is about loving other people, we’re going to have a lousy Christmas because that’s not what Christmas is about – it’s a by-product of Christmas. When you look at this world where people shoot other people and rob banks, it’s easy to see that there’s no love. You’re going to have a lousy Christmas if that’s your focus. But if your focus is the Real Meaning of Christmas, you can thank God that a tragedy happened this time of year. And I repeat that – you can thank God that a tragedy happened this time of year! All around you there are reminders of how much God cares. All around you are reminders that He entered human history and entered our lives. All around you are reminders that He came for you and me to help in tragic situations. After the shootings, someone from the church in Colorado gave a testimony on the Real Meaning of Christmas; they said, “We will overcome this; we will overcome by the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.” Those people who died Sunday who are Christians are celebrating Christmas in heaven! In the Blood of the Lamb you can find joy this time of year. That’s the Real Meaning of Christmas. Christmas is all about God coming into this world that is filled with tragedy, hardship, and difficulty and granting us deliverance. The two closest people to me, my parents, died around Christmas. And I say “Thank you, God, that they died around Christmastime because there are reminders all around me that a Savior came who will take us to heaven.” As we discussed on All Saints Day, death has been cancelled! That’s the Real Meaning of Christmas. Thank You, God.

Luke 2:10 says “The angel said to the shepherds “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you.” In the past couple of weeks, we have talked about that it’s so important to understand that a message from an angel is the same as a message from God. It doesn’t matter if the angel speaks it or if we read it in black and white in the Bible, it’s all the same thing because the source is God. Next, we talked about when God says “Fear Not!” fear crumbles away and is replaced by peace; when He speaks the words “Good News” the bad news crumbles away and a rebirth, a coming to life of good news appears; when He speaks the words “Great Joy”, sadness crumbles away and there is a rebirth of joy. That message is a gift for us, for all people. The message came from God and God’s word has the power to do what it says it will do.

Tonight we are going to look at the words “a Savior” and see just what the Shepherds heard when the angel said that word. The New Testament, which was written in Greek, uses the word Soter for “Savior”. It’s unlikely that the angel used Greek to speak to the shepherds because the shepherds were Israelites and used the Hebrew language, especially when speaking in religious terms. The Hebrew word for “Savior” is Yasha. So the angel announced from God that “Born to all people is Yasha”. What did that word mean to the shepherds, what was their frame of reference? We get the understanding of words from our recent experiences with them. If I were to ask you if you would like a life saver, in my frame of reference I’m offering you a piece of candy. But others think of life savers as mints. It’s all in your frame of reference. We hear different things depending on our frame of reference and how the word has been used in the past. The people on the Titanic would think of a life saver as a round floaty thing that you throw in the water to keep from drowning. So the real question is what was the shepherd’s frame of reference when the angel announced that a Yasha had been born? Fortunately, and we see God’s hand at work in this, we often talk about how words have very different meanings. Take, for instance, the word “love” in the English language; when someone says “love” you don’t know what they’re talking about. If you watch BBC America you know that word is used to refer to someone like a waitress in a restaurant; “May I have another cup of coffee, love?” You may not even know the person, you certainly don’t love the person, but you call them “Love”. What in the world does that mean? Or, you use the word “love” when talking about keeping score in tennis. And you can say, “I love pizza!”; “I love my parents/child/husband/wife.” Different meanings for the same word!

Fortunately, in the Bible the word Yasha has only one meaning and that one meaning is always “Savior”. When the angels appeared to the shepherds and announced, “To you is born a yasha” they had to think back and say “ What is my frame of reference on this, where have I heard this word before?” Perhaps the shepherds recalled King David using the word way back in 2 Samuel. David had been delivered from all his difficulties, all the people that had tried to kill him, all the problems in his life and God was there. If you’re going through a difficult time now, keep in mind that God’s people do. David went through many difficulties; one right after the next, but God was always there. 2 Samuel 22:1 says, “David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: ‘The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my Yasha.’” My savior. David had a Yasha who delivered him from all those tough situations in life, who was with him always. Now the angel is saying to the shepherds and to you and me, “You, too, have a Yasha.” This is really something! No wonder the message is “Fear Not!” No wonder the message is “Good News”. No wonder the message is “Great Joy”. We have a Yasha, just as David did.

Jehoahaz uses the word too. He was a king of Israel, but not a good king. 2 Kings 13:2-5 tells us ”Jehoahaz did evil in the eyes of the LORD...so the LORD’s anger burned against Israel … Then Jehoahaz sought the LORD’s favor and the LORD listened to him…and the LORD provided a Yasha for Israel.” Here’s this sinful guy seeking the Lord’s favor and the Lord listened to him. The Lord provided a Yasha and delivered him! We are all like Jehoahaz; we sin, we do evil in the site of the Lord and yet He has provided a Yasha. Jehoahaz had one. Even though he was an evil guy, God listened to him and delivered him. A Yasha! And now the angels say to the shepherds and to you and me, “Guess what? You, too, have a Yasha! No wonder the message is “Fear Not!” No wonder the message is “Good News”. No wonder the message is “Great Joy”. We have a Yasha!

In Isaiah 19:20 God’s people are being oppressed by all sorts of things in life, all sorts of difficulties, all sorts of problems and God says “When you cry out to me because of your oppressors, I will send you a Yasha.” The same word is used again and now the angels are announcing it to us! We have oppressors, but we can cry out to the Lord; and just as He promised in Isaiah 19:20, we too have a Yasha. No wonder we can fear not. No wonder this is such good news of great joy!

Isaiah Chapter 43 is one of the greatest passages in the Bible for peace, hope and comfort. Verse 1 begins “But now this is what the Lord says, he who created you, he who formed you, ‘Fear not (where have we heard that before?) for I have redeemed you.’” Do you recall what “redeemed” means? It means to buy your property back by paying a price. You and I drifted from the Lord, sinned, walked out on God, but He has claimed us as His property, bought us back. And He bought us back, redeemed us with Christ’s blood. Remember the testimony of the person in Colorado who lost their family member? They said, “We overcome by the Blood of the Lamb.” God says “I have redeemed you for I am your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Yahsa! So when the shepherds were remembering Isaiah Chapter 43, they thought “I heard that. Isaiah talked about that. We are God’s property. He will buy us back, we will belong to Him and He will do it by giving us a Yasha!” And guess what, Yasha has come for you, for me, for the shepherds and for the whole world. No wonder the words are “Fear not! Good News! Great Joy!”

In Isaiah 49:25-26 God says, “I will contend with those who contend against you and your children I will save. I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will drink on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Yasha.” That’s what God is going to do to your oppressors. Maybe it hasn’t happened yet, but it’s there! Just as He delivered His people in Isaiah Chapter 49 with Yasha, you too have a Yasha who came for you. No wonder the words are “Fear not! Good news! Great Joy!”

Isaiah 60:1-2 tells about Christmas and the Wise Men coming, “Arise, shine, for your light has come. The glory of the LORD arises upon you. Darkness covers the earth. Thick darkness over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you, His glory appears before you” And in verse 16 God says “Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Yasha, your Redeemer.” God is the one who claims us as His property buys us back through the blood of His Son. You belong to Him and no matter what you have to go through in life, you can “Fear not!” You can go through it with “Good news of great joy” because not only the people in Isaiah Chapter 60, but you too, have a Yasha! What powerful news!

So that’s it. That’s what the shepherds heard. They remembered where they had heard that word before. Yasha – God in our lives, deliverance from sin, never having to go through the difficulties in life alone, Immanuel, come to be with us. He bought us back, He is with us, He delivers, He saves, because He is our Yasha.

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us a Yasha. Thank You for all that word means for us. Help us to meditate on that word, to hear that word, and to know that You have been using that word throughout the Old Testament in terms of deliverance, help, and Your presence. Lord God, in those difficult times, help us to remember one word – Yasha - who has come to us. And we pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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