GOD NAMES HIS SON

     

       Do you remember going through the process of naming your children?  I remember it very well.  There was a great deal of discussion about what we would name the firstborn child.  Of course I was hoping for a son so I spent most of my time thinking about a boy’s name.  I wanted something biblical, something he could live up to.  I wanted to name him after a significant character in the Bible and I wanted the name to have a powerful meaning, something that would be encouraging.  So we named our first son “Aaron.”  It means “exalted” or “enlightened.”  Although he was flawed, Aaron was a powerful, faithful, and important biblical person.  I chose the name because I had hope for my son and I hoped his name would actually challenge him.

            Joseph and Mary did not have to go through that process to find a name for their firstborn!  The angel told them that God had already chosen the name for his son.  The angel told Joseph, “…you are to give him the name Jesus, because…!”  That’s the word we need to examine first.  “Because.”  Did that word ever cause you to pause?  It’s such an innocuous word.  It gives a reason or an explanation for something.  I chose a name for my son because I hoped he would live up to it.  I didn’t know for sure; I just hoped.  God chose a name for his son not because he hoped his son would do something or be something.  He chose a name for his son because of what he was going to do!  The name “Jesus” is a transliteration of the Hebrew name “Yehoshua” which means “the Lord will save.”  Jesus is given a savior’s name because he is going to be the Savior!

            Jesus is the only person who ever came into the world.  We are all born but none of us came into the world from somewhere else!  John the Evangelist opens his gospel with an explanation (John 1:1-14).  Jesus is the Word.  He already was in the beginning.  He has always been with God.  He is the means of creation of all that is.  Then verse fourteen says it all, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  Jesus came into the world for a reason and the name he was given explained the reason he came.  “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

MARY'S FAITH

We have no idea where Mary was when Gabriel appeared to her.  We don’t know if she saw him standing near her home or out in a field or whether he materialized in her room in the middle of the night.  We don’t know if he shined brightly or had the simple appearance of a normal human being.  Actually, we don’t even know for sure that Mary realized that Gabriel was an angel at the very beginning.  In fact, verse 29 says that she was greatly troubled by the kind of greeting she received from him which seems to indicate that she was trying to discern exactly what kind of a person her visitor was! 

 Seeing Mary’s consternation, Gabriel delivered the message God had sent him to give to her.  By God’s grace she would find herself pregnant and she should name her son Jesus.  He will be the great Promised Child, the Son of God, the Eternal King over the house of Jacob.  Mary wonders how this could possibly be because she has never had relations with a man.  In answer to her question, Gabriel explains that she will become pregnant by a miraculous, powerful act of the Most High God through his Holy Spirit.  And, as a sign for Mary, her kinswoman, Elizabeth, who was barren, would also become pregnant and have a child in her old age!

Mary’s response to Gabriel’s message demonstrates amazing faith and humility.  What she had been told would overturn her world.  It would upset all of her plans.  It would turn her life irrevocably down a path she had not chosen for herself.  Her intended marriage to Joseph is all but ruined!  Even if she tried to tell Joseph about Gabriel, how could she ever expect him to believe her?  Her reputation would be shredded and her life would be left in tatters.  What could she expect?  She was a girl who was in the midst of her betrothal and she would be discovered to be pregnant!  Surely this was the highest honor any girl could have but did it have to result in such a devastation of her life?  She would be mocked and called a liar.  Maybe even her parents would cast her out of their home!  What was her answer to Gabriel?  “Behold the Lord’s servant; may it be done to me as you say.”  It did not matter to her that all these things in her life would be affected.  God was with her!  She would leave them in his hands!  She expressed her faith in God, “I am your servant, at your beck and call.  Do with me as you see fit!  I have always believed in you so I will continue to trust you now!”  The Greek word that is used in her response implies a desire for these things to happen to her no matter what the cost!

How does our faith measure up to the faith of this young Jewish girl?  Do we say, “Lord, I know you are God and you have a plan for me, but does it have to devastate my life like this?”  Do we see ourselves as God’s servants?  Can we say, “Do with me as you see fit?”  Are we confident of God’s constant presence with us?  Are we confident enough to leave everything in his hands?  We have trusted him in times of joy and peace.  Will we fail to trust him when he steers our lives down paths we never would have chosen for ourselves?  And when he has shown us the paths of fire and flood are we able to say, “Yes!  May it happen to me the way you have planned it?”  What peace that would be!  What joy to know that God is at the helm and that he guides us unerringly!  Have you trusted God?  Have you entrusted your life to his care?  Do you have this assurance that your life is guided by God for good?

JOSEPH, SUFFERING, AND THE GLORY OF GOD

Last Sunday’s sermon was about Joseph.  Here it is Thursday and I still can’t get some aspects of that sermon out of my head.  When we strip away the gauzy, fluffy, artistic trappings of the Christmas story and look at Joseph as a Jewish man in his day, we see what an amazing person he was!  He said “no” to every temptation to strike out at Mary when she turned up pregnant.  He apparently did not shake his fist at God when his heart was crushed by Mary’s news.  He thought the matter over carefully and considered what he should do before he humbly decided to keep the matter as quiet as possible. 

That is the human side of things.  But if we go into the presence of God the whole story looks so very different.  Only God and Mary knew that Mary was still a virgin and that the child she was carrying was the Son of God.  God didn’t tell Joseph this fact until after Joseph had already decided to divorce Mary quietly.  God’s plan inflicted the most agonizing pain possible on the heart of Joseph.  And God knew that he was causing Joseph’s suffering!  And God let Joseph continue suffering through the entire time that Joseph was reflecting and considering.  Finally, God sent an angel into Joseph’s dreams to let him know the truth.

Yes, Joseph was a righteous and faithful man of God.  But I realize that this isn’t about Joseph!  It isn’t about Joseph’s pain and grief.  It’s about God and his glory.  It’s about Jesus.  It’s about God’s plan to redeem his people.  It’s about God’s covenant with Abraham.  It’s way, way bigger than Joseph.  Joseph’s suffering was all for the glory of God!

That’s what keeps spinning around in my head.  God’s plan may very well cause us pain and sorrow but we have to be careful to remember that it’s not all about us.  God may bring hurt into the lives of his righteous ones, but it’s not about the hurt; it’s about God and his glory!  The natural thing for us to do when we are hurting is to focus on the pain.  It becomes all about the suffering.  It may be difficult, but we need to remember that it is still all about God!

The comforting part of Joseph’s story is that God did send the angel into his dreams.  God did rescue Joseph before he did something he shouldn’t have done.  God did relieve his pain before it pushed him over the edge.  When we are in the midst of our suffering we often wonder if it will ever end.  The comforting thing is that God never pushes us past the point of endurance.  He never allows us to suffer for no reason.  It is all for the good, our good and the glory of God.

There’s really no difference between our good and the glory of God.  Our good is the glory of God and God’s glory is our good!

What do you think?  Thanks for stopping by.

WELCOME TO WINDOW REFLECTIONS!

Hi!  I’m Dave Moorhead and that is my wife, Mia, in the picture with me.  I’m the pastor at New Hope Community Church in Shafter, CA.  This is my first blog post here on our brand new website.  I’m really excited about our new site and I hope it will be a tool to help spread the word about what we’re trying to do here in Shafter and the surrounding area.

I named this blog Window Reflections because my office is in the living room of my home.  My desk is set up right in front of a big picture window that looks out onto Mannel Avenue.  Every day I sit at this desk and read or write or work on church stuff while my neighbors pass by and the kids walk past on their way to the high school two blocks up the street.  I think about all of those people and reflect on what we might do to serve them and minister to them.  Thus, Window Reflections!

The people of New Hope have a passion for living out the gospel in our community.  In other words, we have great news that we know will bring hope to people who need it.  We realize that we are broken people who have entered into a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.  And we know that Jesus has called us to continue to do the work he began when he was here on earth.  So our activities are done in the name of Jesus and are meant to express the love of Jesus.  We want to make a difference!

If you are just stopping by this new website for a visit, welcome!  If you are looking for a church, I hope you will give New Hope a try.  We’d love to meet you and tell you more about what we’re trying to do to make the name of Jesus famous right here in Shafter!