Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The Comforter

An Honest Gospel.

Let’s face it.  Sometimes it seems impossible to have ourselves “a holly-jolly Christmas.” 

As much as I love Christmas and its entire festive atmosphere, eventually reality sets in.  I don’t consider myself a Scrooge or a Grinch, yet how quickly I am reminded that the life doesn’t always parallel the cheery Christmas glee spoken of in so many carols.  From the mundane things—like kids fighting over who gets to hang which Christmas tree ornament; or to the permanent—this being the first Christmas in which we have to remember the life of my beloved Grandmother.  At some point this Christmas, you and I will feel the weight and squeeze of a real world.  Although the eggnog by the fireside might bring some temporary comfort, the aches and pains of our real lives won’t go away.

This week’s text is sobering.  I am still wrestling with it as I write this.  It’s part of the Christmas story, no doubt.  Yet, it’s brutally honest.  Matthew points us to the world into which Jesus Christ was born.  It was not a holly-jolly atmosphere.  Rather, it was a world filled with suffering and sin.  Matthew 2:16-18 describes the massacre of young boys by King Herod.  In an attempt to squelch any threat, Herod embarks in evil. 

I’m not finished with the sermon, and am praying through what Matthew has in store for us.  What I can say is that I am glad that Matthew is honest.   He shows us the core dilemma of our human situation: suffering and sin.  This is real life.  This is where we need a real savior to show up and rescue us.

As we prepare for this week's sermon, I encourage us to read Jeremiah 30-31.  These two chapters are referred to as the “Book of Comfort.”  Amazingly, this seemingly horrific text in Matthew’s Gospel comes from a part of the Old Testament that rings of great and amazing hope!  There are wonderful promises—promises of the forgiveness of sin and the conquest of evil.

1.      How do you react to suffering?  What is the suffering you might be facing right now?

2.      What comforts you?  What brings you relief?  Be honest—no Sunday School answers. 

3.      Where does God meet you in those trials and afflictions?   

4.      When you read Jeremiah 30-31, what promises do you hear from God about you?  Your sin?  Your suffering?  The evil in the world? 

5.      What is your only hope?