Embracing God's Mercy: The Christmas Invitation

But regardless of why, the answer is yes, there is always mercy for someone like me and someone like you. And that is actually what the message and the story of Christmas is really all about. There's mercy for someone like me and you and the you beside you and the you that is nothing like you. [00:05:20]

And at Christmas, God chose to reveal himself in such a way that much of the mystery would be taken away and that the path forward and the way to connect or that to use a Bible, word to reconcile with God for everyone would be made clear. [00:06:33]

But when the set time had fully come, in other words, when God had it, had the world just the way he needed it to be, when there was an empire with a highway system and port cities all around the Mediterranean room, when there was a way to communicate it, when there was a way for God to do something in the world that the world would be able to know actually happened, that the world could take note of in that time as soon as it was possible, when the full time set time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman born like the rest of us born under the law to redeem those under the law that we, and here's the kind of the punchline that we might be adopted as children. [00:06:56]

And the we included some people he'd never met the, we included people that he had no idea what they were up to, what they'd been into, what they were trying to work their way out of. He had no idea the kind of lives they live. And yet he was able to say with this very open-ended end of the funnel way, Hey, you need to know that you're part of the we, that you are part of the we that has the potential to be adopted as a child of God. [00:07:44]

And God has made it clear, not simply through a prophet, but God has made it clear by sending himself into the world so that much of the mystery would be erased so that we would know the way forward. So a Christmas, we celebrate that God so loved the world, he moved in our direction, whether we ever move in his direction or not. [00:08:13]

The good news of great joy is that you matter a great deal to your heavenly Father. And whether you feel it or not, whether you feel it this Christmas or not, that's a reality that maybe possibly you might feel again someday. [00:10:07]

And the angel went to her and said, greetings you who are highly favored. In other words, greetings, you who are an object of God's grace. That's what the Greek means. To which she could have said, wait, why me? And the angel might have said, well, it's not really about you, God just chose you. This is what grace is. You just, you don't earn it. It's just He chose you, you who are highly favored. [00:10:57]

First of all, God announces through an angel to a woman what he's about to do for the world in the first century. No one would have made that up because of the status of women. The implication being that that is about to change with this brand new king. And then secondarily, now we're gonna announce to shepherds. Shepherds were on the outskirts. They were on the, the periphery of the religious system. [00:15:02]

And then when God decides to announce to the outside world what he's about to do, he goes to the outer rim, to that group of people that looked in from the outside to say, Hey, you're included. I want you to be the first to know what God is about to do in the world, for the world. And yes to you shepherds and you families of shepherds, you're included, you're invited. [00:15:36]

The angel said to them, do not be afraid. I bring you good news. That will be the cause of great joy for all people. If Christianity doesn't strike you as good news, if Christianity in the message of the church doesn't elicit joy in you, maybe just maybe the version you were taught, the version you were raised on wasn't the Christmas version, wasn't the original version. [00:16:18]

The thrills of life, of course, are circumstantial, relational in the moment. But joy is a constant. Joy is something you can experience no matter how young you are or no matter how old you are, because joy is anchored to a reality that does not change. And the angel said this, good news isn't just thrilling. This new good news when understood and when accepted has the potential to elicit in you joy, a constant sense of everything is okay because I am connected to my father in heaven. [00:17:09]

Peace to those. Here it is just like the angel said to Mary, peace to those on whom his favor rests. Not because of what we've done, but because he loves you. Because for God so loved the world, he moved in our direction and will continue. [00:18:40]