“Making Room for God Who Comes”
Sermon series: God’s extraordinary power in dark times
Sermon Title: Making Room for God Who Comes
Scripture: Luke 2:1-7 (ESV)
Introduction:
In the 1940’s, business leaders employed “mystery shoppers” as individuals hired to assess how the shop was doing, while under disguise. The jobs of these “mystery shoppers” were to evaluate employee performance while the boss was not around.
What if it was said to you in this past week, God has also been showing up in your life? But unlike the mystery shopper, God has come to be discovered by you. He desires to come and be known by you. As a transcendent God who stands over creation. Are you alert to this reality? Are you alert to the ways God has been coming to you or have you been missing out on it?
Though we are familiar with the first coming of Jesus when he came as the Son of Man and the second coming when Jesus will come back and make all things new, the third coming of Jesus happens daily.
Overview:
The familiar Christmas story of Mary and Joseph
A census in the land where many returned to their ancestor’s homeland.
Mary is late in her pregnancy and had to make a trip to Bethlehem.
The inn upon which Joseph and Mary arrived at had no room for the couple; a metaphor for the spiritual life.
“And she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the Inn.” (Luke 2:7)
Similar to our hearts, we can often not have room for Jesus to enter into and dwell.
Making room for God
Make room = Opening your lives for Christ to enter and change us.
God desires to do this for us, over and over.
When we make room for Jesus to be born afresh in us and change our lives, the Life of Christ will fully form within us and change us from the inside-out.
Many of us have the innate desire to have more of Jesus, but the problem is with the margin. We do not have room for Christ to come into our lives.
Most of our problems come our way because we don’t have enough margin in our lives. (Margin, Richard Swenson)
Our world does not acknowledge or embrace the need for margin. We just go-go-go, and pack everything to the brim with barely any space to breathe.
We need margin: reassessing our priorities/values
Advent is an opportunity for us to make space for and celebrate the profound reality of Christ coming into the world and being born afresh into our lives.
Why do we need margin? Why do we need space?
To better discern and be equipped to recognize God’s coming.
To be aware of the ordinary ways in which God has been coming to us.
To grasp how God has visited us in our workplaces, in our schools, and in our homes.
Application:
We need to have margin in our lives to have God when He comes to us:
Adjust our daily schedules to recognize the ways God comes to us.
Sometimes, life happens and we cannot control the amount of margin we have.
Oftentimes, the reality is that our lives being so busy, actually doesn’t even give us the opportunity to look up and ask whether God is coming through in a specific situation.
We rarely take the time to even ask the question.
Just like the Inn Keeper who had no margin so God couldn’t enter into his heart, Advent invites us to focus on His coming.
If we took the time to consider what God is trying to say in a specific situation, we will see how He wants to come through in that situation: whether it be a disappointment, a broken relationship, a setback, or an obstacle - we are able to better discern and encounter God’s presence in those moments of uncertainty.
Equally, before you come up with a list of ‘to-do’s, consider how God is coming before you. How does He desire to use you in this time?
Sermon reflection questions:
What was one of the main points or reflections you had from the sermon?
Are your values and priorities reflected in the way you live your life? If not, how can you go about reassessing your values and priorities so you have a greater margin to experience God?
Where is the margin in your life at? Is there enough space to breathe; is there enough space to see how God is working?
