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Sunday Sermons
Sermon: 12-23-07, Advent 4
Pastor Phil Lee
Title: "A Sign Is Given"
Text: Mt.1:18-25
Theme: God’s sign to us is Emmanuel – Jesus.
Introduction
Look around you, at any given time, and you will see signs of all kinds. Commercial signs advertise many different kinds of products and services. There are signs of population growth with new condos being built downtown and increasing ethnic diversity in our region. Every day there are signs of changing weather patterns – clouds, fog, rain, a little sun, more rain, wind, and even a little snow. There are stop signs, road markings that signal turn only lanes and road construction. There are signs that tell us what to do and what not to do.
It all reminds me of a song that us Baby Boomers grew up with, sung by a Canadian rock band called The Five Man Electrical Band, the song is called “Signs” (1971). Remember?
-And the sign said long-haired freaky people need not apply.
So, I tucked my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why.
He said “You look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you’ll do”
So I took off my hat and said, “Imagine that, huh, me working for you!”
-And the sign said, “Everybody welcome. Come in, kneel down and pray.”
And when they passed around the plate at the end of it all I didn’t have a penny to pay.
So I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign.
I said, “Thank you Lord for thinkin’ ‘bout me. I’m alive and doin’ fine.”
-Signs, signs, everywhere a sign, blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind.
Do this, don’t do that. Can’t you read the signs?
Point
In baseball, the catcher gives signs to the pitcher for a certain kind of pitch – fastball, slider, curve ball.
When arriving at a new airport, you look for signs to point you where to go for baggage claim and how to get out of the airport.
When forecasting the weather, meteorologists look for signs – barometric pressure, images on Doppler radar, dark clouds, etc.
Opinion polls show signs – percentage points – that indicate where candidates stand in relation to each other and which candidate is currently in the lead to receive the most votes in the Iowa and New Hampshire Primaries.
When the doctor tells a woman, “You’re going to have a baby,” the expectant mother looks for signs of life – a bulging belly and movement in the womb.
Signs, signs, everywhere a sign!
Today’s OT lesson – Isaiah 7 – tells us of another sign that was given. (8th century b.c.) God had sent His prophet Isaiah to Ahaz, king of Judah, when Ahaz was being threatened by enemies. Isaiah encouraged the king to trust God, and even to ask God for a sign of His presence. But, Ahaz would not trust God or ask for a sign. And so, Isaiah said: “…the Lord himself will give you a sign…” – a sign of judgment on unbelief and a blessing to faith. Ahaz failed, but God would not fail. God would raise up a Deliverer for His people to fill the place left vacant by unbelieving Ahaz, a Deliverer named Emmanuel – God with us. Where Ahaz and all Ahaz’s successors had failed, there Jesus appeared. God is with us in Jesus, bringing healing, hope, and new life.
And now there are signs of this Christmas season all around us – lights, decorated trees, gifts under the trees, cookies, Christmas carols, and more.
Problem
But, not all signs are recognized or understood. Sometimes the pitcher doesn’t understand the sign that the catcher is giving him. And when that happens, the batter often reaps the benefit of getting a hit. And meteorologists, well, it’s hit-and-miss for them, in spite of all the new technology they have. And of course, opinion polls are often wrong, too.
I was driving to church the other morning, listening to the radio and flipping through the channels as I always do, when the opening line of a song caught my attention – “I need a sign.” I wasn’t familiar with the song or the artist, so I listened closely. After I got to church I did an Internet search and found out that the song is entitled “Calling All Angels” (2003) and it’s sung by a rock band called Train.
-I need a sign to let me know you’re here…
I need to know that things are gonna look up…
When there is no place safe and no safe place to put my head…
-I need a sign to let me know you’re here…
I want a reason for the way things have to be,
I need a hand to help build up some kind of hope inside of me.
-When children have to play inside so they don’t disappear,
While private eyes solve marriage lies cause we don’t talk for years…
In a world where all we want is only what we want until it’s ours. (I need a sign…)
-And I’m calling all angels, And I’m calling all you angels
In this Advent season, in a world where there are not enough safe places, in the midst of darkness, sin, despair, and brokenness, we ask for a sign from God to let us know God is here. And a sign is given! Emmanuel.
Power
My dad told a story that unfolded 63 years ago (from book Survivor). In writing the story he began with these words: “It was SNAFUED right from the very start (situation normal, all fouled up), and if I hadn’t been such a dumb cluck I would have done lots of things different that day.” Dad was a trained Navy pilot, and he went on to tell of how he went against all his training on one fateful day. He flew, in an unfamiliar plane, late in the afternoon, with bad weather closing in, in mid-winter, from his base in Maine to visit a friend on Cape Cod. And just before he took off, he was requested, and agreed, to take a passenger with him – a 16 year old sailor. He was so anxious to get going that he foolishly agreed to allow the sailor to hop in the rear seat without a headset or any means of communication. Off they went. But then, on the return trip from Cape Cod back to Maine, darkness and fog set in. Lost, and with no possible way for pilot to communicate with passenger, they were in a deadly predicament as they attempted to follow the coastline northward, realizing that eventually they had to turn away from the coast and head inland. In his own words dad wrote: “There just was not one single thing left for me to do. I had to, like a crazy man, set an imaginary course for some destination that I couldn’t possibly find. I felt flushed with embarrassment at my colossal stupidity.” Finally, dad came to the awful conclusion: “In spite of all my wild experiences…this was an utterly new and isolated feeling. I’ll have to give up…I blinked, and swiped my eyes roughly with my gloved hand. I looked again…Directly ahead…the lights of the (air)field flashed suddenly on, outlining the two runways in a brilliant cross, etching itself into the snowy countryside. ‘Dear God!’ I kept saying gratefully, and saying it and saying it.”
Dear God, we pray in this season of Advent, give us a sign. And so the angel reassured Joseph, and reassures us: “…the child conceived in [Mary] is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” And then Matthew adds this explanation: “All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us.’”
Conclusion
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all [and] we wait for the blessed hope…of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us… (Titus 2)
Yes, a sign is given, and his name is Jesus. Amen.
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