The Shepherd’s Voice

Readings for Sunday, December 26^th
Isaiah 63:7–9
Psalm 148
Hebrews 2:10–18
Matthew 2:13–23

Just two days ago we celebrated the birth of the baby Jesus, Christ, the Messiah. Just two days ago I talked about how we need to change the question in our lives from Are we there yet?’ to ‘Are we aware yet? Journey versus destination, walking with God verses waiting for God.

Our gospel text today is about our dreams fulfilled in God’s prophetic promise. It’s about:
• Listening to God
• Taking action once we’ve heard God
• Running for our lives – our spiritual lives and maybe even our physical lives

Most of us spend one-third of our lives having no idea what we are doing. This, as opposed to many of us who spend the greater portion of our lives clueless.

The one-third who can’t account for what they were doing is understandable, they were sleeping. At least they were doing something productive, sleeping.

Did you know sleep is required by every creature with even the most rudimentary or remedial brain stem? Yet, we really don’t understand why we sleep or what sleep is for.

All we really know about sleep is that if deprived of it for just ten days, we’re dead. That’s right – dead. Three minutes without air. Three days without water. Ten days without sleep. These are generally the physical limits of life and death for most of us.

Some would say sleep is the great reboot; however, it isn’t just a big shut-down or a turn off. Sleep has degrees of depth. Sometimes we are all but comatose as we sleep. Other times we are right on the edges of consciousness.

No sleep cycle is complete until we get a dose of REM-sleep. “Rapid Eye Movement” Not to be confused with the REM you get from your banker when you ask for a loan these days. This REM sleep is characterized by the shifty, darting back-and-forth movement of our eyes and by the electrical brain activity that reveals we are dreaming.

We do not just need to sleep. We need to dream. If we are awakened before we reach REM sleep, there will be no rest of body, no refreshment of spirit. Our bodies are set up to get the deepest sleep as soon as we slip into our sleep mode. But as our sleep progresses, our rested brains require some down time to themselves. That is dream-time.

During REM or dream sleep, our brain pulverizes and paralyzes the rest of us. That is why in our dreams we can jump out of planes, or fly off of mountain-tops or run away from monsters. All that our sleeping body does is slightly twitch or flinch. Our brains keep our bodies safe while escaping in amazing dreams.

Far from being a time-stopped stupor, our mandatory sleep-dream cycle puts us into a heightened anabolic state that promotes good growth and rejuvenation. In other words, “beauty sleep” it’s the real thing! Dreaming boosts the immune system, and promotes the optimal functioning of the nervous skeletal and muscular systems.

So yes! You do need a good night’s sleep, especially on New Year’s Eve before you’re ready to watch the big game the following day.

Long before electroencephalograms told us about our sleep cycles, human beings have known dreams were important. We have all been “called” to be sleepers and yes dreamers. All sleepers dream, every night.

An angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream and says, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and (run for your life) flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Joseph listens to God and runs for his life…..

Many of you know we got (rescued) a new dog about a year ago. The dog is still pretty much a puppy, loves to play, loves to explore. Sometimes I take her on walks around the area or neighborhood. We have a fairly large plot of land just behind a public pool in a park near our home. It’s fenced on three sides so sometimes when I’m there by myself I let Lulu run.

She ventures off on her own exploring, smelling, looking, researching everything. She goes over to the side areas, sticks her head in the large bushes next to the concrete fence. Every once in a while something will startle her and she will take off running for her life. Ears back, bouncing on all fours, running as fast as she can go. It’s a dog’s instinct given by God that allows her to react and run for her life.

Being warned in a dream about Herod’s plan to kill all the children they run for your lives.

The text shows us prophecy, passage, and potential, although not necessarily in that order.

The prophecy of Jeremiah is fulfilled, God is ultimately in control. The baby Jesus, under God’s control passes from danger to divine and the promise for us is the Nazorean.

In this text today we see a drama unfold between what the world wants and what God wants. We see the conflicts and the resolution. We see the plan and the prophet.

First, the prophecy of Jeremiah is fulfilled, scripture says that. After an angel announces the death of Herod to Joseph, the coast is clear for the family to return home to Bethlehem of Judea. However, after learning that Herod’s son Archelaus now ruled Judea, the family makes a new home in Nazareth in Galilee. For the third time, Matthew points to a prophetic promise: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

Secondly, as we consider the passage of the divine, God’s only Son from danger to divinity we should be aware there is evil in this world.

The late newspaper columnist Mike Royko once shared the other side of the Christmas Story in one of his columns. He told about a stranger who put $1,600 in gold coins in a Salvation Army kettle. The person placed the gift there quietly and anonymously. This is exactly the kind of story the print media is looking for to demonstrate the spirit of caring that Christmas brings about.
Unfortunately, in the rest of the story the local Salvation Army office began getting phone calls about the gold coins. The coins were stolen. The thief had dropped them in the kettle to get rid of this hot merchandise.

Our story has been all about listening to God, taking action, and then living out the promises of God. We listen to God through scripture, through prophecy, through wise Christian counsel, and through circumstances God places in our lives. Through scripture God has shown us that he keeps His promises.

How do we know, because God’s promise is fulfilled by the “man from Nazareth.” As we look at scripture we see dozens of instances where the term associated with God’s promise of grace is brought about to us through the “man from Nazareth.” – two examples:

Jesus heals the blind beggar near Jericho. Luke 18:35-43 – Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. The beggar cried out for mercy, And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” 43 Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too.

The Walk to Emmaus Luke 24:13-33 – Disciples are going home after the crucifixion they have this man walking with them, but they are tired, their eyes are closed from self pity and depression. As they walk along they ask this man who was with them if he hadn’t heard about all the thing that had happened in Jerusalem and the man asked them 19 “What things?” Jesus asked.
“The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. The text says their hearts burned within them while he was talking to them.

This Jesus of Nazareth is one who keeps his promises. He healed, he gave sight to the blind, he raised from the dead, he was a prophet who did mighty miracles.

God spoke through an angel and told Joseph to run for their lives, he did. He took action.

When God speaks to us, we need to take action in our lives and believe in the promises of God.

Next, we need to run for our lives, our souls, our very being depends on our response to God’s call. The time is short and the message is very important.

Some people use the term ‘the hound of heaven’ in speaking about God’s call on our lives. You can’t drown out God’s voice by using drugs or alcohol, God will always be there nipping at your heels, calling you to repentance and everlasting life.

I suggest today we should be running for our very lives, not away from God, but to God. Amen