Big Idea: Isaiah 9:1-7 Dec 17, 2006
December 17, 2006 Isaiah 9:1-7
Big Idea: If we invite King Jesus into our lives, we can experience a new story.
Props: light, matches, slides Christmas card box, mask, painting…
The little village of Rattenberg is the one of smallest towns in Austria, and has been getting smaller each year.
The town has lost 20 percent of its population in the past two decades, and as of last year had only 440 residents.
The reason? Darkness.
Rattenberg is nestled behind Rat Mountain—a 3,000--foot obstruction that blocks out the sun from November to February. But thanks to some clever new technology, the town has hopes of getting a little brighter.
An Austrian company called Lichtlabor has come up with a plan to bring sunshine into the darkness by installing 30 heliostat mirrors onto the mountainside. The mirrors will grab light from reflectors on the sunny-side of the mountain and shine it back into the town.
The project was slated to cost about the 3.0 million (US dollars) bill…
It’s hard to live in darkness…
The people of Israel in the late 8 century B.C. were living in darkness, a different kind of darkness:
They were living in a land darkened by a great social and spiritual shadow…
They had been defeated in war by the superpower Assyria and they were living in ruins…
The words of Isaiah the prophet offered them hope in their day and his words have the power to bring us hope too…
If you have your Bibles please turn with me to Isaiah 9:
1 [a]Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—
[b] 2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as soldiers rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian's defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior's boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
In Isaiah 9 vs. 1 we read,
1 [a]Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali…
The Northern tribes of Israel, Zebulun and Naphtali (show map) greatly suffered when the King of Assyria attacked in 734 and 732 B.C…
Their land was horribly ravaged…
And Isaiah prophecies:
Vs. 1 In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—
2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
The land of Zebulun and Naphtali were part of Northern Galilee (as you can see from the map)….and their land had been devastated when the armies of Assyria ran over them…
Isaiah prophecies that though they are in darkness now, they will be honored… a light will shine upon them…
And this prophecy is fulfilled as Zebulun and Naphatali are the first part of Palestine to be released from military occupation in about 538 B.C….
But, according to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 4 this prophecy has a “later greater” fulfillment in Jesus Christ…
Mardi pointed out last week the prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures will often have a relatively immediate fulfillment, and sometimes they have a “later, great fulfillment” in Christ….
Matthew, the Gospel writer, shows how this prophecy of a new light, new a leader is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Isaiah had prophesied that the people of Galilee would experience a new light has a “sooner fulfillment” as the Galilean provinces of Zebulun and Naphtali are the first part of Palestine released from military occupation, but this prophecy as Matthew points out has a “later great fulfillment” in Jesus Christ.
Turn if you will to Matthew 4:12
12 When Jesus heard that John (the Baptist) had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned." [f]
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
Galilee was a kind of marginal frontier place, far removed from the Jewish center of power.
It was nick-named Galilee of the nations, because it was a place where the of nation of Israel intersected with the nations, where Judaism intersected with paganism…and it here that light of the world Jesus Christ dawns and carries out his ministry…
Vancouver (while now of course more populated than ancient Galilee) historically been considered a frontier place, it is place where the nations meet where faith intersects with secularism…. and the light of the world, Jesus Christ, dawns in a place like this…
The light of the world dawns in the most unlikely places and on the most unlikely people…
As I wrote on the back of our Christmas card this year (hold up card), I recently saw the academy award-winning film Tsotsi set in South Africa.
Tsotsi (Soweto slang for “thug”) is a young gangster who lives in one of Johannesburg, South Africa’s poorest ghettos (slide 1).
Tsotsi has no clear path out of the slum, so he bands together with some other thugs and they pursue life with of life crime…(slide 2).
At gun point mugs a wealthy woman, leaving her screaming in her driveway (slide 3)..
He speeds away in her Mercedes—and later discovers her baby son who has been left in the back seat of her car.
Tsotsi takes the baby back to his shack and tries to look after him… (slide 4, slide 5).
He creates diapers from newspapers (slide 6)., scraps u what little food he can, and totes the baby around in a paper shopping bag (slide 7)..
The innocence and vulnerability of this baby turns this brash, young thug into a self-giving, caregiver…
Because of this baby, he also meets a lovely young woman, a new mom--whom he forces at guns to breast-feed the baby he’s caring for… (slide 8)
She brings out his heart…
The baby draws out Tsotsi’s nobility, beauty, and strength…
Out of Tsotsi’s old story, comes a new story because of this new life (slide 9)…
In Totsi’s darkness a light emerges because of this baby.
And so it is with the Christmas story.
The beauty and purity of the child born in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, have the power to create a new story out of our old story.
Isaiah 9:2 says
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned." [f]
As the light of the world enters our life a new story emerges out of an old story.
Everyone of here, if we’re honest, has darkness inside us… I know I do…
And the light of the world, can dispel the darkness creating a new story from a old one…
You can go from being fearful, to peace-filled…
from angry to forgiving…
from resentful to grateful…
from restless to content
from being split to integrated
from self-absorbed to self-giving…
from self-centered to God-centered…
Perhaps in this season and in the new year the light of the world will shine upon you and a new story line will emerge for you…
You’ll go from being __________ to ________________.
How does this new dawn come into our lives?
Isaiah prophecies to people whose kings have not been faithful to God and as result they have suffered, but Isaiah
prophesies the coming of new, faithful king and says…
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
A new dawn can rise in our life, if we invite the light of the world, Jesus Christ, to come and reign in us…
How do we do that?
By inviting the government of our world to rest on his shoulders.
Notice vs. and the government will be on his shoulders.
A new dawn can emerge for us because the government of the world is upon his shoulders…
Jesus in Matthew 11:28 says,
28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
If the government of our lives is upon Christ shoulders, if the burden of running our life is borne by him, we will find rest for our souls…
Tom Tewell, a gifted and respected Presbyterian Pastor from New York City tells the story of a man name George McCauslin who was bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders. I story I’ve shared before, it’s story a repeat to myself regularly so it I think worth repeating here.
Tom Tewell says that George McCauslin was one of the greatest YMCA directors ever. Some years ago George was serving a YMCA near Pittsburgh. In that area the YMCA was losing membership, had financial difficulties and terrible staff problems, George found himself working 85 hours a week. He found himself getting little sleep at night. He took little time off. And when he was off, he was worrying and fretting about the problems of this YMCA. …
He went to a therapist who told him he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He had to learn somehow to let go and somehow to let God into his problems. He didn't know quite how to do that.
So George McCauslin took an afternoon off, took a pad and paper, and took a walk in the western Pennsylvania woods. As he walked through the cool woods, he could just feel his tight body and his tight neck start to relax. He sat down under a tree and sighed. For the first time in months he relaxed.
He got out his pad and paper, and he decided that he would let them go, the burdens of his life. He wrote God a letter. He said, "Dear God, today I hereby resign as general manager of the universe. Love, George."
Then with a twinkle in his eye George McCauslin said, "And wonder of wonders, God accepted my resignation."
Do some of us need to resign general manager or CEO of the universe?
By shifting the government of our world upon Christ’s shoulders, a new light can in our world.
Vs. tells us that government shall be upon his shoulders and his shall be called wonderful counselor:
We need wisdom, someone who can give us good counsel… because sometimes our perspective misleads us…
A week ago, my wife and a friend were at Science World…
We saw a cut open, wooden rectangular box… (use prop) as we looked at it, we were seeing the inside of the box with the corner pointing away from us… if we cover one eye and walk backwards, the corner looked like it was jutting toward and it looked like we were seeing the outside of the box with the corner toward us …
We saw some masks where face was concave, where the face was curved in (concave) as in the inner surface of a sphere, but when we covered on eye it looked normal, convex as in the outer surface of a sphere (use prop).
Sometimes what we see is not what is…
When are flying a looking out their window at the clouds they think they growing straight, when in fact they are turning or they think they are turning when in fact they are going straight.
When pilots experience vertigo, a confused, disoriented state of mind, up can seem down, down can seem up… so they flying toward a mountain and think they need to flying over, if their upside down, but they think right side they will crash right into the mountain.
So they need the to rely on something outside themselves to guide them.
So it with us… sometimes our perspective is off so we need something outside ourselves to guide us.
We need the instrument of his word, we need the counsel of the Holy Spirit… often mediated through people…
We never to face life’s decision alone, we have a wonderful counselor in Jesus Christ…
I know a corporate executive who was facing a very difficult decision.
The company he was working for was being bought out by another company and the chairperson of the company wanted him to engage in some “creative accounting” that would project a level of a level of future profits that didn’t correspond to reality, so they could inflate the stock price before they sold off the company…
This executive was a new Christian… He flew to New York City to make a presentation before representatives of some major investment companies… He said I couldn’t sleep the night before my presentation… so I just lay in my bed and he began to pray earnestly for guidance to my new friend Jesus.
He had a wife and children who were dependent his income… he wanted to be a “team player…”, but he was troubled by what his boss was asking me to do so he prayed through the night, Jesus show me what to do.
The next morning he was in the building standing in the hallway just outside the room where he was supposed to make his presentation and his chairman arrived and Charlie said, I can do a lot for our company, I can tell our story with great enthusiasm but I can’t lie… I can’t present projected profits you’re asking me to present because they don’t reflect reality… The chairman said, get in that room and present the numbers or get off the team… so Charlie walked down the hall and called his wife Suzzane and said, honey, I’ve just been fired… she’d said, Great come on home.”
That decision cost him 20 years of climbing a corporate ladder, it cost him 7 figures of income, but over dinner at his home… Charlie told me that’s the best business I decision I ever made… He looked at his dinner and said God has always provided what we need.
Charlie was able to make the right decision through the help of the wonderful counselor…
We never need to make a major decision alone… we have a wonderful counsel… he may not speak to us audibly, but through the word, Holy Spirit working in our heart and consience…. Through the counsel of a trusted friend…
If we invite the King to shoulder the government of our world upon his shoulders and be our counselor, a new light, a new story can emerge in our lives.
Vs. 6 The government shall be upon his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God…
“Mighty God” literally, a God with heroic power, God can do all things…. God not only counsels us, but has the power to achieve his purposes in us…
Vs. 6 The government shall be upon his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God…
“Everlasting Father” we suggests that his kingdom will be eternal and that he will rule as a compassionate provider and protector.
There’s a Christmas song I heard playing Friday, “Christmas it’s is most wonderful time of the year… but for many people it’s a very painful time of the year…
As a kid I loved seeing the show Happy Days. The character Fonz, was the really “cool” guy with white T-shirt, brown leather jacket, hair slicked back (the show was set in the 50s). The Fonz rode a motorcycle with a silver tank. He’s was my hero (the actor Henry Winkler could never get any really good roles after Happy Days, because everyone would think what are you doing in this show, we all know you’re the Fonz). During one episode of Happy Days, it was Christmas and the Fonz was in his garage alone (he was a mechanic)… and he was getting set to open a can of ravioli and eat it cold for his Christmas dinner… it was poignant and sad to see that the Fonz had no one to celebrate Christmas with… I remember that scene to this day!
For people who have no one to celebrate Christmas with, or if they’ve lost a parent, spouse, a child, a friend… a loved one, Christmas can be painful.
Christmas for others can be a time of conflict… people ask me to pray there would harmony for their family as they gather for Christmas… for Christmnas other can be complex… which part of the family will we spend Christmas Eve with this year? Which part of the family will spend Christmas day with this year?
If we invite God to be our everlasting father, he can bring us comfort in pain and new dawn can emerge, a new story…
The government of our world is upon his shoulders, he shall be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of peace…
“Prince of Peace” suggests not just a cessation of conflict, but that his rule will bring wholeness and well-being to both individuals and to communities….
My painting…
This past year on my 10th anniversary here at this church to my great surprise this community, you all, gave me a very generous and meaningful gift… a painting by one of favorite local artists Michael Den Hertog…
It scene of a lake overcast with clouds, but if you look at top of the painting you can see some sunlight breaking through… the rays of light illuminate some of the trees and part of the water below…
Sometimes people will walk in our house and pause and stare at this painting… some will say it’s very inviting…
The little of bit of sun light that breaks through the clouds transforms an otherwise rather stark painting into an inviting one…
Some of us here may feel like we’re in a cloud.
Perhaps we’re in a time of stress.
Perhaps we’re experiencing pain.
Perhaps we’re experiencing some kind of loss.
Or perhaps because of our sins or the sins of others we may feel like we are beyond the reach of God’s favor…
Isaiah 9:2 says to people who are walking in darkness. largely because of their stupidity and sins… a new light has dawned…
Jesus years later, in fulfillment of this prophecy would say in, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life (John 8:12)"
If you follow Jesus, you need not walk in darkness, but can walk with light of life…
If you invite the government of the your world to be upon his shoulders, if you invite him to be your wonderful counselor, mighty God everlasting Father, prince of peace, a new dawn, a new story will emerge for you.
Let’s pray:
Pray for his light shine into your life……
Invite him to be your King…
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
The King is a gift….
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor…
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
(next week, Christmas Eve, carols by candlelight, invite)
(The seron can be heard on line at: www.tenth.ca/audio.htm)
Big Idea: If we invite King Jesus into our lives, we can experience a new story.
Props: light, matches, slides Christmas card box, mask, painting…
The little village of Rattenberg is the one of smallest towns in Austria, and has been getting smaller each year.
The town has lost 20 percent of its population in the past two decades, and as of last year had only 440 residents.
The reason? Darkness.
Rattenberg is nestled behind Rat Mountain—a 3,000--foot obstruction that blocks out the sun from November to February. But thanks to some clever new technology, the town has hopes of getting a little brighter.
An Austrian company called Lichtlabor has come up with a plan to bring sunshine into the darkness by installing 30 heliostat mirrors onto the mountainside. The mirrors will grab light from reflectors on the sunny-side of the mountain and shine it back into the town.
The project was slated to cost about the 3.0 million (US dollars) bill…
It’s hard to live in darkness…
The people of Israel in the late 8 century B.C. were living in darkness, a different kind of darkness:
They were living in a land darkened by a great social and spiritual shadow…
They had been defeated in war by the superpower Assyria and they were living in ruins…
The words of Isaiah the prophet offered them hope in their day and his words have the power to bring us hope too…
If you have your Bibles please turn with me to Isaiah 9:
1 [a]Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—
[b] 2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as soldiers rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian's defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior's boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
In Isaiah 9 vs. 1 we read,
1 [a]Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali…
The Northern tribes of Israel, Zebulun and Naphtali (show map) greatly suffered when the King of Assyria attacked in 734 and 732 B.C…
Their land was horribly ravaged…
And Isaiah prophecies:
Vs. 1 In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—
2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
The land of Zebulun and Naphtali were part of Northern Galilee (as you can see from the map)….and their land had been devastated when the armies of Assyria ran over them…
Isaiah prophecies that though they are in darkness now, they will be honored… a light will shine upon them…
And this prophecy is fulfilled as Zebulun and Naphatali are the first part of Palestine to be released from military occupation in about 538 B.C….
But, according to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 4 this prophecy has a “later greater” fulfillment in Jesus Christ…
Mardi pointed out last week the prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures will often have a relatively immediate fulfillment, and sometimes they have a “later, great fulfillment” in Christ….
Matthew, the Gospel writer, shows how this prophecy of a new light, new a leader is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Isaiah had prophesied that the people of Galilee would experience a new light has a “sooner fulfillment” as the Galilean provinces of Zebulun and Naphtali are the first part of Palestine released from military occupation, but this prophecy as Matthew points out has a “later great fulfillment” in Jesus Christ.
Turn if you will to Matthew 4:12
12 When Jesus heard that John (the Baptist) had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned." [f]
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
Galilee was a kind of marginal frontier place, far removed from the Jewish center of power.
It was nick-named Galilee of the nations, because it was a place where the of nation of Israel intersected with the nations, where Judaism intersected with paganism…and it here that light of the world Jesus Christ dawns and carries out his ministry…
Vancouver (while now of course more populated than ancient Galilee) historically been considered a frontier place, it is place where the nations meet where faith intersects with secularism…. and the light of the world, Jesus Christ, dawns in a place like this…
The light of the world dawns in the most unlikely places and on the most unlikely people…
As I wrote on the back of our Christmas card this year (hold up card), I recently saw the academy award-winning film Tsotsi set in South Africa.
Tsotsi (Soweto slang for “thug”) is a young gangster who lives in one of Johannesburg, South Africa’s poorest ghettos (slide 1).
Tsotsi has no clear path out of the slum, so he bands together with some other thugs and they pursue life with of life crime…(slide 2).
At gun point mugs a wealthy woman, leaving her screaming in her driveway (slide 3)..
He speeds away in her Mercedes—and later discovers her baby son who has been left in the back seat of her car.
Tsotsi takes the baby back to his shack and tries to look after him… (slide 4, slide 5).
He creates diapers from newspapers (slide 6)., scraps u what little food he can, and totes the baby around in a paper shopping bag (slide 7)..
The innocence and vulnerability of this baby turns this brash, young thug into a self-giving, caregiver…
Because of this baby, he also meets a lovely young woman, a new mom--whom he forces at guns to breast-feed the baby he’s caring for… (slide 8)
She brings out his heart…
The baby draws out Tsotsi’s nobility, beauty, and strength…
Out of Tsotsi’s old story, comes a new story because of this new life (slide 9)…
In Totsi’s darkness a light emerges because of this baby.
And so it is with the Christmas story.
The beauty and purity of the child born in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, have the power to create a new story out of our old story.
Isaiah 9:2 says
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned." [f]
As the light of the world enters our life a new story emerges out of an old story.
Everyone of here, if we’re honest, has darkness inside us… I know I do…
And the light of the world, can dispel the darkness creating a new story from a old one…
You can go from being fearful, to peace-filled…
from angry to forgiving…
from resentful to grateful…
from restless to content
from being split to integrated
from self-absorbed to self-giving…
from self-centered to God-centered…
Perhaps in this season and in the new year the light of the world will shine upon you and a new story line will emerge for you…
You’ll go from being __________ to ________________.
How does this new dawn come into our lives?
Isaiah prophecies to people whose kings have not been faithful to God and as result they have suffered, but Isaiah
prophesies the coming of new, faithful king and says…
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
A new dawn can rise in our life, if we invite the light of the world, Jesus Christ, to come and reign in us…
How do we do that?
By inviting the government of our world to rest on his shoulders.
Notice vs. and the government will be on his shoulders.
A new dawn can emerge for us because the government of the world is upon his shoulders…
Jesus in Matthew 11:28 says,
28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
If the government of our lives is upon Christ shoulders, if the burden of running our life is borne by him, we will find rest for our souls…
Tom Tewell, a gifted and respected Presbyterian Pastor from New York City tells the story of a man name George McCauslin who was bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders. I story I’ve shared before, it’s story a repeat to myself regularly so it I think worth repeating here.
Tom Tewell says that George McCauslin was one of the greatest YMCA directors ever. Some years ago George was serving a YMCA near Pittsburgh. In that area the YMCA was losing membership, had financial difficulties and terrible staff problems, George found himself working 85 hours a week. He found himself getting little sleep at night. He took little time off. And when he was off, he was worrying and fretting about the problems of this YMCA. …
He went to a therapist who told him he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He had to learn somehow to let go and somehow to let God into his problems. He didn't know quite how to do that.
So George McCauslin took an afternoon off, took a pad and paper, and took a walk in the western Pennsylvania woods. As he walked through the cool woods, he could just feel his tight body and his tight neck start to relax. He sat down under a tree and sighed. For the first time in months he relaxed.
He got out his pad and paper, and he decided that he would let them go, the burdens of his life. He wrote God a letter. He said, "Dear God, today I hereby resign as general manager of the universe. Love, George."
Then with a twinkle in his eye George McCauslin said, "And wonder of wonders, God accepted my resignation."
Do some of us need to resign general manager or CEO of the universe?
By shifting the government of our world upon Christ’s shoulders, a new light can in our world.
Vs. tells us that government shall be upon his shoulders and his shall be called wonderful counselor:
We need wisdom, someone who can give us good counsel… because sometimes our perspective misleads us…
A week ago, my wife and a friend were at Science World…
We saw a cut open, wooden rectangular box… (use prop) as we looked at it, we were seeing the inside of the box with the corner pointing away from us… if we cover one eye and walk backwards, the corner looked like it was jutting toward and it looked like we were seeing the outside of the box with the corner toward us …
We saw some masks where face was concave, where the face was curved in (concave) as in the inner surface of a sphere, but when we covered on eye it looked normal, convex as in the outer surface of a sphere (use prop).
Sometimes what we see is not what is…
When are flying a looking out their window at the clouds they think they growing straight, when in fact they are turning or they think they are turning when in fact they are going straight.
When pilots experience vertigo, a confused, disoriented state of mind, up can seem down, down can seem up… so they flying toward a mountain and think they need to flying over, if their upside down, but they think right side they will crash right into the mountain.
So they need the to rely on something outside themselves to guide them.
So it with us… sometimes our perspective is off so we need something outside ourselves to guide us.
We need the instrument of his word, we need the counsel of the Holy Spirit… often mediated through people…
We never to face life’s decision alone, we have a wonderful counselor in Jesus Christ…
I know a corporate executive who was facing a very difficult decision.
The company he was working for was being bought out by another company and the chairperson of the company wanted him to engage in some “creative accounting” that would project a level of a level of future profits that didn’t correspond to reality, so they could inflate the stock price before they sold off the company…
This executive was a new Christian… He flew to New York City to make a presentation before representatives of some major investment companies… He said I couldn’t sleep the night before my presentation… so I just lay in my bed and he began to pray earnestly for guidance to my new friend Jesus.
He had a wife and children who were dependent his income… he wanted to be a “team player…”, but he was troubled by what his boss was asking me to do so he prayed through the night, Jesus show me what to do.
The next morning he was in the building standing in the hallway just outside the room where he was supposed to make his presentation and his chairman arrived and Charlie said, I can do a lot for our company, I can tell our story with great enthusiasm but I can’t lie… I can’t present projected profits you’re asking me to present because they don’t reflect reality… The chairman said, get in that room and present the numbers or get off the team… so Charlie walked down the hall and called his wife Suzzane and said, honey, I’ve just been fired… she’d said, Great come on home.”
That decision cost him 20 years of climbing a corporate ladder, it cost him 7 figures of income, but over dinner at his home… Charlie told me that’s the best business I decision I ever made… He looked at his dinner and said God has always provided what we need.
Charlie was able to make the right decision through the help of the wonderful counselor…
We never need to make a major decision alone… we have a wonderful counsel… he may not speak to us audibly, but through the word, Holy Spirit working in our heart and consience…. Through the counsel of a trusted friend…
If we invite the King to shoulder the government of our world upon his shoulders and be our counselor, a new light, a new story can emerge in our lives.
Vs. 6 The government shall be upon his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God…
“Mighty God” literally, a God with heroic power, God can do all things…. God not only counsels us, but has the power to achieve his purposes in us…
Vs. 6 The government shall be upon his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God…
“Everlasting Father” we suggests that his kingdom will be eternal and that he will rule as a compassionate provider and protector.
There’s a Christmas song I heard playing Friday, “Christmas it’s is most wonderful time of the year… but for many people it’s a very painful time of the year…
As a kid I loved seeing the show Happy Days. The character Fonz, was the really “cool” guy with white T-shirt, brown leather jacket, hair slicked back (the show was set in the 50s). The Fonz rode a motorcycle with a silver tank. He’s was my hero (the actor Henry Winkler could never get any really good roles after Happy Days, because everyone would think what are you doing in this show, we all know you’re the Fonz). During one episode of Happy Days, it was Christmas and the Fonz was in his garage alone (he was a mechanic)… and he was getting set to open a can of ravioli and eat it cold for his Christmas dinner… it was poignant and sad to see that the Fonz had no one to celebrate Christmas with… I remember that scene to this day!
For people who have no one to celebrate Christmas with, or if they’ve lost a parent, spouse, a child, a friend… a loved one, Christmas can be painful.
Christmas for others can be a time of conflict… people ask me to pray there would harmony for their family as they gather for Christmas… for Christmnas other can be complex… which part of the family will we spend Christmas Eve with this year? Which part of the family will spend Christmas day with this year?
If we invite God to be our everlasting father, he can bring us comfort in pain and new dawn can emerge, a new story…
The government of our world is upon his shoulders, he shall be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of peace…
“Prince of Peace” suggests not just a cessation of conflict, but that his rule will bring wholeness and well-being to both individuals and to communities….
My painting…
This past year on my 10th anniversary here at this church to my great surprise this community, you all, gave me a very generous and meaningful gift… a painting by one of favorite local artists Michael Den Hertog…
It scene of a lake overcast with clouds, but if you look at top of the painting you can see some sunlight breaking through… the rays of light illuminate some of the trees and part of the water below…
Sometimes people will walk in our house and pause and stare at this painting… some will say it’s very inviting…
The little of bit of sun light that breaks through the clouds transforms an otherwise rather stark painting into an inviting one…
Some of us here may feel like we’re in a cloud.
Perhaps we’re in a time of stress.
Perhaps we’re experiencing pain.
Perhaps we’re experiencing some kind of loss.
Or perhaps because of our sins or the sins of others we may feel like we are beyond the reach of God’s favor…
Isaiah 9:2 says to people who are walking in darkness. largely because of their stupidity and sins… a new light has dawned…
Jesus years later, in fulfillment of this prophecy would say in, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life (John 8:12)"
If you follow Jesus, you need not walk in darkness, but can walk with light of life…
If you invite the government of the your world to be upon his shoulders, if you invite him to be your wonderful counselor, mighty God everlasting Father, prince of peace, a new dawn, a new story will emerge for you.
Let’s pray:
Pray for his light shine into your life……
Invite him to be your King…
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
The King is a gift….
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor…
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
(next week, Christmas Eve, carols by candlelight, invite)
(The seron can be heard on line at: www.tenth.ca/audio.htm)
posted by Shigematsu at 10:43 AM
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