Allen Jackson - The Lord Is With You - Part 2

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If you’ll allow me… I know it’s in the Bible and it’s a wonderful story and we celebrate Mary and Joseph and they’re in our pageants and they’re venerated because we’re looking back on them from two millennia’s perspective. But I would submit to you, if you were involved in that, if it was your name on the invitation that had been mailed out, or if it was your child in the midst of that set of circumstances, I think one of the most appropriate words I could find would be disappointment. Joseph, I assure you, was disappointed in Mary, or he would not have needed the visit from the angel. Mary’s words to him were not sufficient. He understands the circumstance, he’s very well versed in it. He’s decided he’s not going forward with the commitment.

So Mary’s words to him were not sufficient. The disappointment in him is more real than her assertion that it’s supernatural. Is that fair? I’ve done no injustice to the text. So what I’m going to suggest to you is that disappointment in my life or your life, as it was in Joseph’s life, could be a signpost for a breakthrough. You know what a disappointment is? If we break the word down, that little prefix «dis» D-I-S means «without». A «disappointment» is an appointment that shows up that you didn’t have on your calendar. «Oh, I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to make time for that. I didn’t wanna have to deal with that. I wasn’t planning on this». That’s a disappointment. Matthew puts it this way, «Mary was found to be with child». It’s really disappointing, if you know it’s not your child.

So here’s my question: Are we willing to turn our faces to the Lord and, «Lord, they say there’s some disappointments in my life, this Christmas season. There’s some things I’m not really just, wouldn’t have been the way I scheduled it. It wouldn’t have been the way I had planned it. It wasn’t what I had dreamt of, but I believe you’re moving and I wanna follow you. I don’t want a… I want to follow you». See, I’m pretty certain that in this circumstance, at least a part of what’s going through Joseph is if you feel pretty vulnerable, the community knows. Nazareth is a town of 1500 or fewer people in the time that they were there. It’s a small community. They all know about the intentions of Mary and Joseph, and there’s not really any way to hide what’s happening with Mary.

I would submit to you it’s the reason she hurried off to see Aunt Elizabeth, immediately after the announcement of the angel. It’s easier to process that at a distance. But Joseph, you’re pretty vulnerable. There’s a sense of rejection. «You’re what»? It’s humiliating. And I want to suggest that those things typically have to be navigated in the midst of a breakthrough. Breakthrough is when God intervenes, it’s typically not that all the people around you, the seculars and everybody go, «Oh, that is so awesome». That hasn’t been my experience. There’s always some loud skeptics. «Well, why are you doing that? How come you could do that? I’ve never seen that before, that’s not the way we did it. Don’t know if I like that»! You’re living through it thinking, «I’m not even doing it! If God weren’t helping, it’s not happening».

Are you willing to say yes to a breakthrough? What did the angels say to Joseph? «Don’t be afraid to take Mary home as your wife». What do you think is at the heart of the problem? «I’m not taking her home». The fourth observation I would give you is the breakthroughs are about the purposes of God. See, we start asking typically because we know what we want. But the real interventions, the real interventions of God are about the purposes of God more than they’re about what I want. That’ll be another session, but I could give you a litany of examples from my own life and my experience with other people. Breakthroughs that were far more about the purposes of God.

In this particular case, the message from Gabriel was, «You give this child the name Jesus». «Well, that seals it. Everybody will know he’s not mine»! «Well it really isn’t about you, Joe. You name him Jesus. Ask Mary about Uncle Zachariah, what he said since I talked to him last». That’s a pretty startling thing. This isn’t about you. «Well, you’ve got a role to play, we need your strength, we need you to participate, we need you to step up. But if you think this is just about you, you’re not understanding». You see, the narrowest possible imagination of a breakthrough is, «It’s just for me, this is what I want. It’s what I wanna do and the way I want it to happen and this was the scenario I imagined and this is how I wanna be treated and this is how I wanna be perceived».

I don’t find most of the breakthroughs are about that. I think when Saul of Tarsus had his breakthrough on the road to Damascus, he lost almost all of his friends. And those who are going to be his new friends are too afraid to talk to him. He is very isolated, lots of rejection cascading over him, in the midst of God’s breakthrough in his life. I think maybe the most startling to me in this is that Joseph said yes. Joseph said yes. Joseph said yes! I read that and I think, «Wow. I just, well, I’m gonna need, like, quadruple confirmation».

I think it’s also safe to say that breakthroughs initiate a journey. That frequently, with the biblical narratives and in our own experiences, frequently you cannot see or imagine the outcome. I’m pretty certain that at the point that Joseph and Mary had that angelic visit that they didn’t understand all that was in front of them. I assure you the expectation from Messiah in the first century at that point in time was not of someone who’s going to be crucified by Romans. It was a political leader, a military leader, a deliverer, more from the book of Judges, more of a character like Gideon or Samson or King David. Somebody who’s gonna change the narrative of authority and the expression of power. And then there’ll be a liberty that comes to our people. And so if you’re going to be engaged in the emergence of Messiah, this is like a parade. That was the idea. It was so ingrained, it’s what resulted, it really contributed mightily to the crucifixion of Jesus.

So when Mary and Joseph as teenagers here, you’re gonna be in on this drama. «Wow, we’ll get seats in the palace». They couldn’t see the end of it. Are you willing to say yes to the Lord when you understand you can’t see the end of it. You know the old analogy: you land on a desert island, and if you want to display your commitment to your new location, you burned the boats. And you’ve eliminated any possibility of escape. I want to ask you to consider, in the serving of the Lord, have you ever come to the point where you’re willing to burn the boats? Or do you keep your escape hatches open, just in case this God thing didn’t work out the way I thought it would. You’ve ever pushed the chips into the middle of the table and say, «Listen, I’m all in with this». 'Cause I’m pretty certain that’s what Mary and Joseph were doing. And they couldn’t see the outcome.

You see some little glimpses of it. It’s when Jesus is 12 and they they lose him, and they find him after several days and he’s in the temple, having discussions with the scholars, and they’re completely confused by that. They weren’t prepared for that or there’s a bit of a scene change when Mary’s at the wedding and Cana, and they’re out of wine, and she says to the servants, «Just do whatever he tells you. Just whatever he tells you to do, listen to him». Or at the cross, Mary’s standing at the foot of the cross. I cannot imagine. I don’t have a broad enough emotional spectrum to paint a picture for you of that. I can’t imagine. Seeing Jesus beaten in the way he’s been beaten and watching him being tortured in public, and through the haze of the pain, Jesus looks down at Mary, and John, and says, «Behold your son».

And to John, «Behold your mother». I promise you, when Gabriel came to visit Mary as a teenage girl in Nazareth, she didn’t see that. See, I think we abort breakthroughs. I think we hit stop. You know, you get that little thing that’s scrolling, does that annoy you as much as it annoys me? I think that little thing mocks me. It’s like you’ve done something wrong and there’s no outcome. You think, «Well, I’ll be patient for another 60 seconds,» and it keeps scrolling. When I call somebody smart and they’ll say, «Well, have you rebooted»? I got a boot for you, come over here. Well, I’m pretty certain that, in my life, I’ve hit abort on some breakthroughs that God would have put in front of me because I didn’t want to wait or I couldn’t see an outcome, and I wanted more instant gratification. Breakthroughs initiate a journey, but you typically can’t see the outcome.

I gotta wrap it up, so let’s do this quickly. Breakthroughs are the fulfillment of God’s promises. I want to say it again, it’s really important: breakthroughs of the fulfillment of God’s promises. I could develop that with quite a bit of complexity from scripture, but I’ll give you one passage. 2 Peter 1. This is the fisherman that Jesus recruited. He said, «He’s given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires». How do we escape evil and the corruption it brings in our world? He told you: through the promises of God.

You see, the Exodus generation were given a Promised Land, a space on terra firma that belonged to them and their children and the generations who came after them forever. It’s printed in the book, and it still frustrates the nations of the earth. Well, God didn’t give to you and me a piece of ground. He didn’t give us a promised land, but our existence and our journey through time is the land of God’s promises. Which means you’ll have to take some time and energy to get to know the promises of God. In order to stand against the evil in our community, you got to read some books that you probably shouldn’t read. 'Cause once you read it, you go, «Oh, I don’t need to be there».

And if you’re going to live in the fulfillment of the promises of God, you’ll have to spend some time searching them, coming to understand them. They’re God’s provision for your life. God’s provision for you and me is in his promises. «I wish I knew what God would do». He’s told you! He’s told you. He said, «I’ll never leave you or forsake you». «Well, I feel like he’s abandoned me». Well, your feeling’s not accurate. «Well, you can’t tell me how I feel». No, I can’t, I can just tell you it’s not fully accurate. «It’s real, I can’t help how I feel». I know, but you can just decide which feeling to believe, which feeling to act on. There have been times I didn’t feel like preaching. I just put on the screen, didn’t feel like it today.

«Yeah, well, that’s not a very mature response». You’re right! And we have incubated some very immature responses to life. God’s provision is in his promises. Look at Luke 7, I can give you some support from Jesus’s life. He’s talking about John the Baptist, and he says, «This is the one about whom it was written. I’ll send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you. I tell you, among those born among women, there’s no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he».

I’ll give you the shorthand on that, 'cause our our time is slipping past. Jesus understood the circumstances surrounding him, his life, to be the fulfillment of scripture. I want to say it again, very clearly, I can give you multiple passages. Jesus understood the circumstances surrounding his life to be the fulfillment of God’s promises. We should do no less. We should do no less. Then, finally, it it’s the ending that matters. Breakthroughs are understood in their conclusion, in their outworking, not on their finality because they lead to other things, but it’s when you recognize God has intervened. And to do that, you have to push through, you have to overcome, you have to persevere, you have to endure. All those words that I would rather not.

I’ve mentioned Elizabeth and Zachariah and John, their son, in Matthew 14, in verse 9, it says, «The king was distressed, because of his oaths and his dinner guest, he ordered that the request to be granted and he had John beheaded in prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went to find Jesus». Well, the passage I just read to you, immediately preceding that, Jesus said «there wasn’t anyone greater born among women than John». And Herod beheaded him. Talk about a breakthrough missed. Herod was intrigued by John, but he wasn’t strong enough to stand up to the manipulative forces in his life and he would rather indulge his pleasures than stand up for what’s right. Gee, that doesn’t sound like the 21st century. And so John’s mission was finished. I don’t believe he did something wrong.

1 Corinthians 9 says, «Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, only one gets the prize. Run in such a way as to get the prize». You see, breakthroughs are about us setting apart. Oftentimes from family, from contemporaries, from conventional wisdom. Breakthroughs are about aligning with God. The messages are often challenging. God’s called you out of the world, not to be indistinct, not to be so well camouflaged they didn’t know you were a Christian. I’ve told you, there were seasons in my life I was way too undercover. I grew up in this community, they were very shocked when I showed up as a pastor. I mean, we laugh about it, and I tell it with a bit of a smirk, but I’m not really proud of it. I went to the public schools here, played on their basketball teams. That was back when it was about the only option. We used to actually pray before ball games. I know that sounds quaint, but we did.

The last game I played at Riverdale, they looked at me and said, «You pray». I had never prayed before a game, or at least not in that year. And I got done with the prayer and a guy that I’d played ball with a long time, several years, he looked at me, he said, «Dang, Jackson, I didn’t know you knew how to pray». That’s not a compliment. He knew I’d fight. He knew I was stubborn. He knew I’d run till I throw up. But he didn’t have any idea I knew how to pray. You see, breakthroughs are about a willingness to align yourself with God. And we’ve been coached for a while now, I think, in some wrong directions. Disappointment is not the final evaluation. God can bring some great victories through disappointing circumstances. Run to get the prize. At the starting line, we all look good. New shoes, hair’s in place, plenty of oxygen. At the end of the contest, I’m a mess. There’s usually blood and I can’t breathe and my shirt’s untucked. My hair is plastered in my head. I can watch you move, and I sweat.

So if I’m moving, it’s just embarrassing. «Run in such a way as to get the prize». We’ve treated our faith like it’s a photo op. We want every hair in place. We want to tell our stories as if we couldn’t imagine stress or strain. Discomfort. «No, I met Jesus and every day he’s just been filled with greater glory than the day before». I’d hear those stories and go, «Well, I haven’t met him yet». I mean, you know the stories, Daniel got to go to the lions' den, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego got to go to a really hot furnace, Moses had to go talk to Pharaoh over and over again. Jesus had to go to the cross. I mean, it’s a long list. Breakthroughs, and I’ll close with this. Breakthroughs present opportunities for us into God’s purposes. More than they satisfy our own temporal, or temporary, circumstances.

You see, real breakthroughs do more than just satisfy my wants. They may do that, but they present opportunities to be engaged in the purposes of God, and there’s no greater breakthrough for your life! You’d rather be engaged in the purposes of God than win the lottery, I promise. Breakthroughs, breakthroughs, breakthroughs. Let’s be like Joseph, «Yes»! He said yes! Mary said it, and it was still somewhat theoretical. I’m not saying it was easier, she’s gonna get stretch marks. She’s got to go find Joseph. She’s got an answer. And then Joseph’s got his own side of it.

Mary said, «May it be unto me». And Joseph said, «Yeah, I’m in too». We can’t do less, folks. Again, I believe in being the new birth and conversion, but stop. These are the covenant people of God, living in the Promised Land, celebrating at the temple. They’ve got all the credentials, but God puts something in front of them that takes every ounce of courage they have. Let’s decide to be those people. Breakthroughs, breakthroughs.

Stand with me, we’re gonna say yes to the Lord. Don’t miss, I believe God heals and delivers and restores and renews and provides. I believe he opens up the windows of heaven and pours blessings out on his people. I believe God toppled Goliath, and enabled Gideon to overcome the Midianites, and he caused the lions to not be hungry and the furnace to not be so hot. And he caused murderous Saul to become the Apostle Paul, bigmouth Peter to become the anchor in the church. I mean, God changes circumstances and times. I mean, it’s amazing what he will do. But there’s a component to it that we’ve looked past while we’ve celebrated. Those guys still had to get tied hand and foot and carried to the mouth of a furnace, and the men that threw him into the furnace were killed by the heat. They saw the blisters on somebody else.

Lord, thank you for your Word, for its truth and power and authority. Thank you that you’ve called us to the 21st century, to be men and women of faith, to take our place in your unfolding purposes. Thank you for a Christmas season when we can celebrate the faithfulness of those who have preceded us, those men and women who said yes to you and allowed your purposes to break forth and change generations. And Lord, in humility tonight, we wanna say thank you. Thank you that, through the blood of Jesus, we have been delivered out of the hand of the enemy. Thank you that, through the blood of Jesus, our sins have been forgiven, that we’ve been justified and sanctified and called according to your purposes.

And now, Lord, we want to say yes to you. We want to say yes to you. Forgive us where we’ve been stubborn or unconcerned or unwilling to prepare. Lord, we choose a new path tonight. We want to be men and women who follow you, who cooperate with your Spirit, who yield to your direction. Give us discerning hearts. Give us understanding and insight. May the fear of God grow within us. We thank you for what you’re doing and we want to say yes to you, in Jesus’s name, amen.