2. Jesus –  The rescuer!

But after Joseph had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.  Matthew 1:20-25

We all have a name, and our name has a meaning which may, or may not, describe something that is true about us.  My name is Dennis and by looking on the internet, I discovered:

In English the meaning of the name Dennis is: Dionysius is the mythological Greek god of wine responsible for growth of the vines and the originator of winemaking: (equivalent to the Roman god Bacchus.).

Clearly, my name doesn’t describe me at all!  It is just a name that my mother chose because she liked the name, or, maybe it was popular at the time.

In the case of Jesus, His name was no accident, it was a name that fully described the whole purpose of His life on earth.

The angel said to Joseph:  “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 

The name ‘Jesus’ was not chosen by Joseph or Mary, it was the name that they were instructed to give Him because the name described why He had come.  Joseph was told to name Him Jesus because he will save people from their sins.  There is clearly a link between the name the child was to be given and what He would do with His life.

The name ‘Jesus’ stems from the Hebrew name ‘Yeshua’ which means ‘God saves/delivers’.  As such, the angel said to Joseph:  “….you are to give Him the name ‘God saves’ because he will save people from their sins.”

Jesus whole life, as revealed in the name He was to be given, was a rescue mission – he came to SAVE people from their sins.  His only focus was on fulfilling this mission and, as His followers, He invites us to Join Him in His Mission!

As Christmas approaches and you reflect upon all that Jesus has done to rescue you and save you from the consequences of sin, reflect also on the mission that He has invited you to join Him in.  This mission was his entire purpose, how much of a priority is it to you?

4. ‘None of the shells is perfect’!
“For the son of man came to seek and to save what was lost” Luke 19:10
After a long time of searching along the beach Lynn had collected an amazing array of sea shells. When we sat down at the end of our walk, she was keen to show me the results of her ‘seeking’ so she laid the shells out on the table that we were sitting at, it was a very impressive collection.
As she began showing them to me, she started to examine each shell really carefully and noticed, to her horror, that not one shell that she had collected was perfect! Each one of them, on close examination, had a tiny peace missing, had a small chip, or was slightly discoloured in one part. Even the best of the shells was imperfect!
In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote some words that are very familiar to most Christians:
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
This is a verse that is often used in an ‘evangelistic presentation’ and while this is valid it is not what Paul was really pointing to when he wrote his letter to the Romans. His point was that both Jews and Gentiles were sinners who fell short of the glory of God! There is nobody who has a right to God’s mercy and who can consider themselves ‘more worthy’ than anybody else – we all have cracks and imperfections – we were all lost!
To the Christians in Ephesus, Paul wrote:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast”. (Ephesians 2:8,9)
Those in the church are no more or less worthy than those outside and, as such, what should drive us as followers of Jesus, is a passion for imperfect people, to hear and believe the Good News that we have received, the message that Peter spells out in his first letter:
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. (1 Peter 3:18)
As followers of Jesus, every one of us is the recipient of a gift that we don’t deserve and could never earn. We have received a free gift that is indescribably generous! As Jesus said to His disciples when He sent them out to share the gospel with others, we should recognize that:
Freely you have received; freely give. (Matthew 10:8)
From one ‘imperfect shell to another’, can I encourage you, this week, to reflect on the enormous generosity that God has lavished upon you even though you don’t deserve it. Ask Him to fill you with a passion to share the great news of the gospel to the ‘cracked and even broken’ shells that are around you. For the son of man came to seek and to save what was lost!

2. “I’ll get dirty and wet”
“For the son of man came to seek and to save what was lost” Luke 19:10
You may remember that I began this short series of reflections on ‘seeking’ as a result of my wife deciding to look for sea shells while we were on the beach in Pensacola.
As she did this there were a few things that she said that I found deeply significant as we consider joining Jesus in His Mission.
One of the first things that she said was “All of the best shells are at the bottom of a deep trough of water” she added “and they are not on the surface, you have to push your hands deep into the sand to find them. If I do that I’ll get dirty and wet”.
How amazing that such an innocent comment can help us to see such an amazing truth!
The shells that had made it to the shore were nearly all broken and cracked and she didn’t really want those. The unbroken ones were not quite on the part of the beach where she could walk. She would have to go into the water, get wet and dirty, and step outside of her comfort zone and, even then “I might get all wet and dirty ands till not find what I am looking for”.
I then heard her begin to call out to me “oh no, look there are enormous jelly fish that are all around the shells, and there are slugs and worms…….” She was realizing that finding the shells presented her with some challenges that she was not enjoying!
As with looking for shells so it is with looking for the lost. Those that Jesus sends us to seek are not all turning up at our church services every week. Many of them are in places where it is a little harder to reach them. They may not agree with all that we say and they may not be living the kind of life that we approve of. Finding them may require that we step outside of our comfort zone and, as Lynn said “get all wet and dirty” not literally but the reality is that seeking the lost among people who are beyond the walls of the church is not neat and tidy. We will find people who are often dealing with many issues, their lives are not always ‘together’ and introducing them to Jesus takes time, and effort and sometimes is just hard!
But, isn’t that exactly what Jesus did for us?
To step from heaven into humanity and to die on a Roman cross is probably as big a step outside of a comfort zone as anybody could ever take yet Jesus did it! For you and for me!
This week, ask the Lord to remind you of all that He did to ‘seek and to save you’ and then ask Him to guide you to those that he wants you to seek – even if it may not be comfortable!

4. Don’t be foolish!
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:19-21
It is clear that Paul is passionate about what he is writing in this letter. He is so passionate because he knows that the message and mission of Jesus are at stake. If the church ‘sets aside the grace of God’ and returns to the law then there will be no message to share with the world.
His passion leads him to make an incredibly direct accusation just a few verses after those included above:
‘You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or be believing what you heard? Galatians 3:1-2
Paul accuses the believers in Galatia of being foolish. The definition of a fool is somebody who knows what they should do but then doesn’t do it. Have you ever found yourself speaking with a family member or close friend who has done something that they know is wrong yet they did it anyway? Did you find yourself wanting to scream something like “What were you thinking?”
If we could hear Paul saying these words aloud I am sure that is how they would be expressed: “YOU FOOLISH GALATIANS!”
They were foolish because they knew what they should be doing – ‘living by the Spirit’ but they were now doing something different ‘trusting their works of the law for salvation’. This ‘foolishness’ was resulting in the transforming power and life of Jesus that was available to them being replaced by them conforming to a host of rituals and human regulations that Jesus came to set them free from.
It is not conforming to rules and regulations that will help us to become like Jesus, is it the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. He is available to us because of two acts of crucifixion that Paul refers to:
‘Before your very eyes Jesus was clearly portrayed as crucified’.
‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me’.
Jesus was crucified for us and if we are to know His presence and power in our lives we must die to self (die to our selfish and earthly desires) and allow His life in us to be the power that enables us to become like Him and be used by Him.
So, let me ask you a question with the same passion that Paul expressed in his accusation against the church in Galatia: ‘Are you being foolish?’
Are you continually dying to self or have you settled at a place where you are now just trying not to do anything wrong and hope that your good works will get you heaven?