WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:05.200 Last week I asked one of my little girls what her favorite part of Christmas was. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:08.560 And mind you, there are a handful of really good things to say. 00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:11.119 There's a handful of good answers, right? 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:22.719 There's Christmas lights, there's Christmas parties, there's no school, there's cousins in from out of town, there's watching Home Alone for the first time, which is an incredible marking moment for a kid. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:24.399 But she never hesitated. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:25.359 She never hesitated. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:26.800 She didn't even look up at me, really. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:33.679 She just kept on doing what she was doing, and she she did a smile appear on her face, and she gleefully responded, getting gifts. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:36.320 And it was almost like, come on, Dad. 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:38.479 Like, like that was an easy one. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.320 Why would you even need, why would you even need to ask that? 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:44.240 And you remember it, right? 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:58.159 I mean, you remember whether in your house it was down the end of the hall and you turned left or right or down the stairs and you turned into the den or split level, down the stairs, turned another set of stairs, and there was a pile of gifts. 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:01.920 And you didn't have to spend your allowance for this pile of gifts. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:05.439 You didn't owe anybody for this pile of gifts. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:10.319 And you never once said, Oh, this is too much. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:15.840 You never turned to your mom and dad and said, It's just too much, mom. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:17.040 It's too much. 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:18.799 I think y'all went overboard, right? 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:20.400 Children don't say that. 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:25.200 Children don't ever say, Oh, you don't have to get me anything. 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:27.120 My birthday's coming up next week. 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:28.400 You don't have to get me anything. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:30.000 Never heard a child say that? 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:31.599 Not in the language. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:33.599 See? 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:34.480 He knows. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:35.760 He knows it. 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:40.239 Has anyone ever gotten you a gift? 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:42.000 Like a like a really lavish gift. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:47.840 And you receive the gift, and then you immediately respond, you shouldn't have. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:51.280 Why would we do that? 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:52.719 Like why do we say that? 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:54.480 I mean, I I've said that. 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:55.920 Why do we do that? 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:05.040 Because there's something about receiving a lavish gift from someone that can make us feel incredibly uncomfortable. 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:17.759 And it does something to us as adults that it never does to a child, and that is that it takes away our control and it takes away our pride of capability. 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:21.599 And that's why you say, oh, you shouldn't have. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:24.960 Rather than, this is amazing. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:28.639 Now in Luke chapter 1, we find a Jewish girl. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:31.680 She's about 13 or 14 years old. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:36.159 Then this angel comes to her and says, Greetings, oh favored one. 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:37.439 The Lord is with you. 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:38.319 And she's poor. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:39.759 This girl's poor. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:42.639 She's a nobody. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:46.639 She's probably thinking, I'm favored? 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:47.280 Me? 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:49.840 Like I'm nobody. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:57.039 And this is the brilliance of the incarnation into humanity. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:02:59.840 God does know who she is. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:01.520 God does know this condition. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:06.159 And God reaches into humanity, not through power and capability. 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:10.479 He reaches into humanity through poverty and vulnerability. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:15.520 See, he reaches into who you truly are under the pretending. 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:20.240 It's why in Star Wars 7, forgive me, I'm one movie behind. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:23.599 I know some of you are so offended that I didn't get to it in the last week. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:24.560 Just stick with me. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:31.840 In Star Wars VII, catch you up to speed, the resistance, the good guys, the people of the light, they fight without mask. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:32.560 Right? 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:34.960 And then there's the other guys, the first order. 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:39.680 These are the people of the darkness, and they fight with helmets and masks on. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:58.560 And one of the most powerful scenes in Star Wars 7 is when Han Solo finds his prodigal son Kylo, who has turned evil, and they're on this exposed, suspended bridge, and Han Solo goes out to him and says, Take off that mask. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:00.159 You don't need it. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:01.439 Come home. 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:02.719 We miss you. 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:08.000 So the angel says to Mary, not in Star Wars. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:08.960 Back to Luke. 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:11.599 The angel says to Mary, don't be afraid. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:13.199 Don't be afraid. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:15.039 You are favored. 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:16.000 You will bear a son. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:17.279 You'll call him Jesus. 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:19.279 And he'll be the son of the Most High. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:24.879 And that's where we get our text for today, the fourth Sunday of Advent, Christmas Eve. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:30.000 I'll reread what Katie read for us, Luke 1, 34 through 38. 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:31.199 I'll jump in at 34. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:35.199 And Mary said to the angel, How will this be since I am a virgin? 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:35.600 Right? 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:38.480 So no mask here, just raw, humble, open spirit. 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:39.680 She knows how things work. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:40.720 How can this be? 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:46.079 And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:50.959 Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy the Son of God. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:58.160 And behold, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:00.800 For nothing will be impossible with God. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:04.959 And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:07.439 Let it be to me according to your word. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:09.279 And the angel departed from her. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:11.600 So point number one, we've got three points tonight. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:19.040 Point number one, we are receivers, then perhaps givers, but even then primarily always receivers. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:20.399 Okay, that's point number one. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:21.279 That's kind of long. 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:27.360 We are receivers, then perhaps givers, but even then always primarily receivers. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:33.519 Mary responded, Behold, I'm the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:33.839 Right? 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:37.600 As if to say, okay, I'll receive. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:43.759 I read this week an Advent devotion written by a theologian from Duke University, Will Willemond. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:45.839 He says, This of the first Christmas. 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:54.800 There we, it's talking about like you and me, there we are portrayed not as the givers we wish we were, but as the receivers we are. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:06.000 Luke and Matthew go to great lengths to demonstrate that we, with our power and generosity, competence and capabilities had little to do with God's work in Jesus. 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:08.399 It's buried in the story. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:14.240 Over and over and over again, we are the receivers. 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:27.120 The thing in us that's uncomfortable with something like this, this type of lavish giving of God to us, is that our desire for control and to be capable is removed. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:28.959 It's stripped away. 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:32.959 And this is our sin, our desire to add something into this equation. 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:35.439 Certainly, I need to do something. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:40.879 And God's going, no, no, no, my grace is that big, my sufficiency is that much. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:44.079 Jesus is that sufficient for you. 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:48.800 Listen, in Christ, you are already the beloved. 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:52.959 That is settled because of God's love for you. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:59.040 Known in the Christ's child, and then in Christ's death for you, and then in Christ's resurrection. 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:01.519 All of our sin was put upon Him. 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:06.000 All of it was put upon Him, and all of His righteousness is put upon us. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:13.040 So we are free from relying upon our own capability and control as to feel justified. 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:16.560 Listen, grace disarms you. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:22.800 And grace is radical, and it puts you in a state of receiving, and this scares us. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:28.800 But then you realize that the entire time you're being freed. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:31.199 Point number two. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:37.279 As receivers, we always live in the reach of God, never in our reach of God. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:41.759 As receivers, we always live in the reach of God, never in our reach of God. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:43.120 Monday morning I woke up. 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:44.639 I woke up to my four-year-old. 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:53.279 She got nestled up to my side in the bed, and my arm was kind of up around her, and then my massive bicep here was her pillow, it's not big, trust me. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:54.319 Not much there. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:56.160 And she was settled in. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:59.040 Five minutes later, another daughter showed up on the other side of her. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:05.439 So it was me, four-year-old, another daughter, and my arms kind of stayed where it was, wrapped around the four-year-old. 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:10.879 And the four-year-old turned, looked up to me, and she said, put your arm down, Dan. 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:17.279 You know, for the other girl, needed this massive forearm that I have out here for a pillow. 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:17.600 Right? 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:22.480 And it was as if to say, like, none of this counts if your arm is not down reaching out. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:23.360 None of this will count. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:26.319 None of this snuggling fest we have going on here. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:37.679 And one thing I've learned, being a parent, and I am imperfectly learning this, is my role to reach for my girls never ends. 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:41.120 This is the thing that love does. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:43.279 Love reaches. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:46.159 By definition, love reaches. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:49.840 Love always reaches, and it does not reach halfway. 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:56.559 It reaches fully into messes and shame and into death itself. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:08:58.799 And that's where it redeems. 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:09.120 I know some of you are probably asking questions like, is there more to this, like to life than the day-to-day grind that I'm living in, that this feeling of being stuck? 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:13.840 Will this hurt that I feel ever go away? 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:25.279 Can I be absolved of my sin, that big thing that I keep replaying in my mind, or maybe the accumulation of the scorecard that you play in your mind over and over and over and over again? 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:26.720 Will that ever go away? 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:32.799 Or will this shame that defines me, that I let define me, will that ever go away? 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:36.879 As a pastor, I can say, I don't know, I don't know. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:43.360 Eventually, eventually, but I don't know when that will connect for you. 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:49.519 But I do know, I do know that it's true for you. 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:53.120 That absolution, that redemption, that's fully yours. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:10:12.960 And I do know a good place to start is by asking whether you will take off your mask and receive the love of a father asking you to exist in a world and the belovedness that has already been given to you rather than to exist in some way always trying to earn your belovedness. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:17.279 See, it's into your world of imperfection that God arrives. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:21.519 This is the way it's always been from the garden to the manger to the cross. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:22.960 Take off that mask. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:24.000 You don't need it, right? 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:25.200 Han Solo. 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:28.399 Saving message of Christmas from Han Solo. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:29.679 Take off that mask. 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:31.200 You don't need it. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.639 And here's the thing, it gets even more radical. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:43.440 And God's unconditional love, no matter what happens, whether you take off the mask or not, he still loves you. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:48.720 Jesus is still supreme and still sufficient. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:57.679 This truth is actually the very thing that can turn a doubtful, cold heart warm and break it open. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:10:59.679 Last point, point number three. 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:04.320 God revealed himself in a low estate because we exist in a low estate. 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:09.279 God revealed himself in a low estate because we exist in a low estate. 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:15.840 Earlier this year, my wife Christy and I, we were at a wedding in Atlanta, a real nice, fancy, schmancy country club. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:21.279 And we were standing out on the front lawn, the kind of front lawn where you look down and you go, is that grass? 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:22.559 Is that grass real? 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:25.039 You know, I've been down, you're like, oh, that's real. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:25.759 That's amazing. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:28.720 That's amazing that that grass can be real. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:30.879 I mean, everything's manicured. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:36.240 We're looking back at this manor home termed country club, and beautiful people all mingling about with their drinks. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:40.480 And Christy, she turned to me and she said, Do you feel like you belong here? 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:41.440 Right? 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:49.600 And that's the kind of thing that generates a really good conversation right away because then I remember, does anybody truly feel like they belong here is the question. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:55.600 I mean, it's a pretty high standard to keep up with, a place like that. 00:11:56.799 --> 00:11:57.120 Right? 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.519 The status, the income, the moral image. 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:03.279 I don't I don't feel like I'm successful to enough to be somewhere like that. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:05.759 I definitely don't have the net worth to be somewhere like that. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:09.039 I barely have the wardrobe to show up to a place like that. 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:14.000 Maybe if my truck is washed, I feel like I can drive in and not be embarrassed, right? 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:16.960 My moral and spiritual record, probably not. 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:18.000 Motives? 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:19.519 Definitely not. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:24.799 So, yeah, to exist there, I sort of feel like I gotta wear a mask a little bit. 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:31.120 And I suspect, I could be wrong, I suspect everybody else feels the same way. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:33.200 No, I didn't go around asking. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:35.200 But a little bit of a party killer. 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:40.240 You know, I mean, excuse me, sir, do you feel worthy to be here? 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:45.679 Like in the shame-filled parts of the core of your being. 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:48.559 Not a good wedding conversation. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:51.519 Now there's another place I go to regularly. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:56.399 There's no community, but I don't have to wear a mask there. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:58.000 I love. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:00.720 And no judgment, please. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:01.600 I just go ahead. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:03.440 Will you just don't judge me on this? 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:06.399 I love going to the quick trip and getting two corn dogs. 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:06.960 I love it. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:10.159 I do, I confess it, I say it, I speak it out. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:11.840 I love it. 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:13.919 And it's no country club. 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:17.600 I mean, they specialize in rolled food, food that rolls. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:18.639 That's pretty much. 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:19.600 Can we roll it? 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:21.759 Okay, we'll we'll serve that. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:30.960 What's really clear in the scriptures is God shows up in a world of like quick trip, not country club. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:34.799 It's a couple of unmarried teenagers. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:40.399 A scandalous pregnancy, a smelly stable, rank animals and shepherds. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:42.559 And see, this is good news. 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:51.600 This is good news for my friends dining at the country club, and this is good news for my friends picking up some corn dogs at quick trip. 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:58.000 This is good news because we all truly exist in a low estate. 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:10.000 It's just whether we will live as receivers before God or whether we will continue in the illusion that we are perfect or even capable of such a thing. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:39.840 So, my brothers and sisters, Ephesians 1, 7 through 10, in him, not us, him, in him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, and all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:41.120 Amen and amen. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:42.480 Let's pray together. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:50.720 God, thank you for your grace to us and mercy to us that as we are receivers in a low estate, you meet us in a low estate. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.440 You have always met us in a low estate. 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:58.480 We remember how you came to Adam and Eve as they had sinned and hid from you. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:09.600 And then we see your incarnation into this world not in power and capability, but in fragility, poverty, vulnerability. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:16.879 Showing us your heart to meet us always in our mess, always in our low estate. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:23.679 Thank you that you are sufficient and you are enough for all of who we are, for all of our shame and all of our sin. 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:25.279 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:26.000 Amen.