Leaders in Faith: When love comes to town — rescue

Posted December 8, 2009 at 4:32 pm and filed under Faith.

By Jon McClarnon

Jon McClarnon

Jon McClarnon

When God decided to enter the world through his son, he also chose the names by which he would be called. Those names are significant because they represent the very things the son was sent to earth to accomplish.

Two names for the son appear in Matthew’s biography this way: “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.’”

The first name he will be called is Jesus because he will save. When love comes to town in the form of Jesus, his mission will be to rescue people.

Have you ever been rescued before? Maybe as a kid you were stuck in a tree house or had a bike accident, and someone rescued you. Maybe as a teenager you had a flat tire or ran out of gas, and someone rescued you. Maybe as an adult you were locked out of the house and needed being rescued, or had a computer problem and needed the Geek Squad.

When God decided to announce the birth of Jesus, he looked on a group of people 400 years before the event who were in need of rescuing. He promised to a group of people who lived in dire circumstances that someday a mighty rescuer would come.

What followed the announcement was 400 years of waiting for good news and for the promise to come true. God had seemingly gone silent.

It sounds much like the C.S. Lewis story “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Four children are transported to the world of Narnia, a land ruled by an evil witch who has cast an enchantment on the land so that it’s always winter and never Christmas. Narnia is a cold, dead place where evil rules and people live in fear. People talk about a lion named Aslan and have hope that he can change things.

But it’s been winter a long time. The children have never seen Aslan; but when he does appear, they can see that things are changing. The snow is melting, grass is appearing, and flowers are blooming.

People who were waiting for Jesus to come to the rescue must have felt like it was always winter and never Christmas. There was a lot of confusion and fear about God. The Jews, who were supposedly in relationship with God, had seen him do relatively little for them. For 40 years prior to the birth of Jesus, people were oppressed by the Roman government.

Into a world that was confused politically and economically, God chose to break his silence. Into this situation, Jesus was born. I wonder if God doesn’t choose this moment when the bad news is so bad so that people will see the good news is so great.

Luke’s biography records the birth announcement to the shepherds this way: “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.’”

He says it’s good news for all the people. The birth of Jesus is not just good news for good people or church people or religious people. It’s good news for all people. The birth of Jesus is not just good news for good parents or perfect people but for all people.

And here’s the kicker: God decided to do something good for everyone, and it has nothing to do with you have done, can do or will do.

Most of us live by the rule that everybody gets what they deserve. Good people who exhibit good behavior get rewarded with something good. What Jesus introduces is something entirely different. The good news for all people is this: Our attempts to somehow make ourselves good are no good with God.

Luke adds these words to the announcement: “Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Rescue is something that God is doing, and that’s one reason we don’t have to be afraid. When God looked down into the situation of humankind, he decided to give us what we needed most: a savior.

After all, can anyone rescue themselves? From a habit, a temper, a health issue or a relationship — even our sins? Until we realize our need for rescuing, the story is just a pageant, a play, a musical, a big yawn.

The good news is that if God can rescue us from sin through Jesus, he can certainly also rescue us from whatever it is that we need saved from today.

Jon McClarnon is a pastor at True North Church.

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