Do Not Fear to Obey Jesus Christ

Sermon Transcript

What difference does Christmas make? I love Christmas. The music is nostalgic, the food is delicious, the parties are a blast, and that kids choir was downright adorable. What’s not to love? But have you considered what difference it all makes? What difference can and should Christmas make the other 364 days of the year? That’s the question that we are considering together from the Bible this Advent. And one monumental difference that Christmas makes is how we deal with fear, specifically the fear of costly obedience to the Lord. When was the last time that obeying the Lord really cost you, or could have? It can be frightening to obey the Lord. Alternatively, when was the last time that obeying the Lord might have really cost you had you followed through with it rather than shrink back?

Christmas makes all the difference when it comes to fear of costly obedience to the Lord. We see that difference in Joseph. Joseph is the central human figure in our passage this morning. He’s Jesus’ earthly dad and Jesus’ link to the royal line of King David. To see that obedience to the Lord was costly for Joseph, let’s look closely at the narrative beginning in Matthew 1:18 – Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Recently, some delightful couples at Citylight got engaged. I love it! First century Jewish betrothal was similar to, but in some important ways quite different from, our practice of getting engaged. Engagement and betrothal are similar in that sexual relations are strictly forbidden during both because the Bible teaches that sex is a gift to be enjoyed only within the one flesh covenant of marriage. So, betrothal was similar to engagement in that way. And it was during the betrothal period, before Joseph and Mary came together, that Mary was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Of course, Joseph didn’t know that the child is from the Holy Spirit, but he did know how reproduction works and that he and Mary had not come together. He knew there was a problem. Now, first century Jewish betrothal was quite different from modern engagement in that it involved a legal contract executed likely by the couple’s parents in the presence of witnesses. Therefore, unlike our modern engagements, ending a betrothal required a legal divorce, just like for a full marriage, and such a divorce was allowable in the case of sexual infidelity. For a godly man like Joseph, the right course seemed clear. Matthew 1:19 – And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. The word “just” there in verse 19 means that Joseph was the kind of man who was careful to keep God’s law. Therefore, Joseph determined to divorce Mary. However, Joseph was not only just in his adherence to God’s law, he was also a merciful man. Rather than putting Mary through the shame of a religious adultery trial, he determined to divorce her quietly, meaning with the minimum number of witnesses required by the Jewish teachers of the day. End of story, or so Joseph thinks. But then God intervened and this is where things become costly for Joseph.

Matthew 1:20 – But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife…Change of plans. The Lord, through his messenger, commands Joseph to change course and instead of divorcing Mary, he’s to take Mary as his wife. But notice what the Lord actually said to Joseph through his messenger: Do not fear to take Mary as your wife. Why did the angel specifically say that? Simply, because Joseph’s obedience was going to be costly and that’s incredibly frightening. Why would Joseph be afraid to take Mary as his wife? Well, Mary and Joseph lived in a tight knit Jewish community in a small town. If Joseph were to take Mary as his wife, everyone would know that the baby was conceived long before Mary and Joseph came together as a married couple. Therefore, if Joseph obeyed the Lord and took Mary as his wife, for the rest of his life, Joseph’s reputation in his tight knit Jewish town would have been that of a sexually immoral man who got his wife pregnant outside of wedlock, refused to repent, and made up a story about his wife being pregnant by the Holy Spirit, rather than being honest about what he had done. Alternatively, some might have believed that Joseph was so pathetically weak that he actually bought his fiance’s story about being pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Either way, his personal and professional reputation are on the line. Can you imagine the fear Joseph must have felt as he stared down the cost of obeying the Lord?! We actually know that Joseph’s reputation was deeply tarnished because later in Matthew’s Gospel, when Jesus came to his hometown to preach with authority, they took offense at him and said, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:55). For Joseph, the cost of obeying the Lord was his future. And by the way, everything was on the line with Joseph’s obedience. Joseph was the Lord Jesus Christ’s familial connection to the line of King David, the line from which the Christ was promised to come. For the Lord Jesus Christ to be the long promised Son of David he had to be the son of Joseph. The cost is high and everything is on the line. That’s why the Lord’s messenger said, “do not fear to take Mary as your wife.” It’s paradoxical: He has plenty to be afraid of if he obeys the Lord and he should not fear to obey the Lord. That’s the difference Christmas makes; plenty to be afraid of and he should not fear.

Now, I have to tell you something important: Every genuine Christian is actually in a quite similar position to Joseph. We know that because later in this same Gospel, Jesus himself will say, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Notice that word “anyone.” There is no such thing as Christianity that doesn’t involve costly, frightening obedience. If you’re living costless Christianity, you’re not a Christian. In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” That’s frightening. Joseph was probably afraid obeying the Lord would cost him his future. What are you afraid that obeying the Lord Jesus Christ may cost you? Perhaps you’re a college student and you know that obeying Jesus Christ will mean putting away partying and getting drunk and sleeping with whoever you want, but that cost is frightening to you. Perhaps you’re in a committed dating relationship or engagement, but deep down you know the other person doesn’t believe the true gospel and love the Lord Jesus Christ, but even the thought of obeying the Lord Jesus Christ by ending the relationship or indefinitely postponing marriage makes your stomach turn with fear. Perhaps you’re an employee being asked to do or support godless things, but obeying Jesus Christ may cost you your job and that’s terrifying. Perhaps you’re a husband and you know that you’re the head of your wife called to serve her by leading, but you’re shrinking back because you’re afraid that if you really lead and really make God-honoring changes in your marriage and lead your family in the right direction that she will fight you rather than follow. Perhaps you’re a wife and you know that obeying the Lord Jesus Christ means respecting and obeying your husband in the Lord, but you’d rather control him than follow him. Perhaps you’re a parent and you know that obeying the Lord Jesus Christ means raising your children in the instruction of the Lord and requiring you to obey them, but the prospect of investing the kind of time to be consistent is frightening to your comfort idol. Perhaps you’re an individualistic free spirit, but you know that obeying the Lord Jesus Christ means submitting yourself to a local church through baptism and membership, through gathering consistently for worship on Sundays, through sacrificially loving your church in word and deed, and through stewarding your money for the good of your church, but putting yourself under the Lord’s ordained authority is terrifying. And most of us fear the rejection that may come if we live as Jesus’ witnesses. Do you see that every genuine Christian is in a situation quite similar to Joseph because when Jesus calls a person he bids him come and die?! That’s frightening, but the Lord’s word through his messenger to Joseph is his word to all of us: Do not fear to obey. That brings us to the big idea of our passage this morning: Do not fear to obey Jesus Christ. It’s frightening, but do not fear to obey Jesus Christ. Why? That’s where we see that Christmas makes all the difference. The angel does not say, “do not fear to obey” because there is nothing to be afraid of. Rather, he gives two grand reasons to not fear to obey Jesus Christ: 1. Jesus saves his people from their sins. 2. Jesus is God with us.

JESUS SAVES HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS

The first reason why we should not fear to obey Jesus Christ is that he saved us from our sins. Matthew 1:20-21 – But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. [21] She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Before we can connect Jesus saving us from our sins to not being afraid to obey Him, we need to understand what sin is and how Jesus saves us from it.

What is sin? The New City Catechism, which is a wonderful resource for adults and children to learn Christian doctrine (the new city catechism app there are songs to help kids memorize), says “Sin is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, rebelling against him by living without reference to him, not being or doing what he requires in his law.” Romans 6:23 says that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And sin is our biggest problem. The Westminster Larger Catechism says that sin leads to, “everlasting separation from the comfortable presence of God, and most grievous torments in soul and body, without intermission, in hell-fire forever.” Our sin really is our greatest problem now and forever. But the wonderful news of Christmas is that Mary’s son’s name is Jesus; “The Lord is salvation.” Jesus is the Lord who was born to save us from our sins.

Ok – How did Jesus save us from our sins? First of all, our passage says that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, which means that with innocence from sin and perfect holiness Jesus Christ can cover the sin that we were conceived in. So, he saves us from our sins by the way he was born, but also by the way he died. Later in Matthew 20:28, Jesus himself said, “the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Our sins are like a red wine stain on a white shirt; the more you try to wipe it out the worse it gets. We need a new shirt with no stain. Only Jesus Christ can do that for us. He was born without sin, lived without sin, and so he did not die for his sins, but died on the cross as our substitute to atone for our sins. His blood washes away our sin and is the ransom price that purchases us back from slavery to judgment and Hell. We can’t save ourselves from our sins, but if we receive Jesus Christ by faith, he saves us from our sins. I love the way that the Heidelberg Catechism puts it: although my conscience accuses me, that I have grievously sinned against all the commandments of God, and have never kept any of them, and am still prone alway to all evil; yet God, without any merit of mine, of mere grace, grants and imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never committed nor had any sins, and had myself accomplished all the obedience which Christ has fulfilled for me; if only I accept such benefit with a believing heart.

Ok – what is the connection between Jesus saving us from our sins by grace alone through faith alone in his sinless birth and atoning death, and not fearing to obey Jesus Christ, especially when it’s costly. The connection is this: amazing grace motivates costly obedience. Those whom Jesus saves from their sins, out of sheer thankfulness and gratitude, do not fear to obey Jesus Christ, even when obedience is frightening and costly. So, what obedience to Jesus Christ frightens you? In studying this text, I’ve been reminded that I am afraid to obey Jesus by not quarreling with and defending myself to my wife when she’s displeased with me. I’m afraid that if I don’t defend my righteousness that she won’t see just how good a husband I really am. But since I have been given Jesus’ righteousness as a gift and saved from all my sins, I don’t have to build my own record of righteousness. I can obey. What is it for you? Are you afraid to be baptized publicly and join yourself to the church? Are you afraid to stop living with or sleeping with your boyfriend, girlfriend, or fiance? Are you afraid to bring pornography into the light and put it away for good? Are you afraid to lead your wife and children? Are you afraid to submit to your husband? Are you afraid to be a witness? Whatever it is, willpower and sturdy resolutions will not overcome your fear. Only the gospel can do that. Since Jesus saved you from your sins, out of gratitude and the joy of your salvation, you can take your next step in costly obedience. That’s the difference that Christmas makes! But if that’s not enough, there is a second reason why you should not be afraid to obey Jesus Christ…

JESUS IS GOD WITH US

Matthew 1:22-23 – All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
[23] “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).

The virginal conception of Jesus Christ is so important. Since he was born of a virgin, without sin, Jesus can save us from our sins, and because he was born of a virgin, Jesus is Immanuel; God with us. Since Jesus was born of a virgin, he is God in the flesh, with us. Theologians call this the hypostatic union: Jesus Christ is one person with two natures forever: truly human and also truly God. He is God with you. Jesus Christ’s final words in Matthew’s Gospel hit this same note when he said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

What is the connection between Jesus being God with us and not fearing to obey Jesus Christ, even when it’s costly and frightening? “Do not fear” is certainly among the most common commands in the Bible, perhaps top three. You probably knew that. What isn’t as known is that the most common reason God gives us to not fear is that he will be with us. When the Lord sent Moses to confront Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world at the time, and command Pharaoh to set God’s people free, Moses was afraid. The Lord didn’t say, “Don’t be afraid, Moses, because Pharaoh isn’t all that powerful.” No! He said, “I will be with you!” It’s not that Pharaoh isn’t scary, it’s that if the Lord is with you, you’re always in the majority and on the right side of history. No matter what it costs you to obey Jesus Christ, you don’t have to be controlled by fear because Jesus who saved you from your sins, will be God with you, even to the end of the age. So, what is your next step of costly obedience? I can’t promise you that if you obey that it will go well. I can’t promise you that if you obey Jesus Christ with your money, your time, your relationships, your marriage, your children, your church, your job, and your witness that your fears won’t come true. What I can promise you is that Jesus Christ who saved you from your sins will be God with you in it and to the end of the age when every tear will be wiped away. Do not fear to obey Jesus Christ. That’s the difference that Christmas makes.