One thing about this Jesus: He never invited neutrality. His followers called Him the Christ. His contenders called Him a blasphemer. Some were drawn to Him, while others could muster nothing in His presence but contempt. His teachings were revolutionary and His miracles undeniable. He claimed nothing less than equality with God and proclaimed Himself as the long expected Messiah. Jesus never left “sitting on the fence” as an option, nor does He today. His Name is still a stumbling block and an offense…. And yet, His is the only Name that saves. How one receives Jesus is a matter of eternal significance!

Heaven had been very quiet for 400 years. No burning bushes. No parting seas. No visions or dreams reported by prophets. No message from God…just silence. Then, in a magnificent yet inauspicious way, God broke the silence, but not just by speaking a word – but by sending THE WORD … His Son, to take on flesh and blood. His birth was unspectacular, yet His presence dispelled darkness and cast an inescapable ray of light across history. God’s promises to Abraham and David had found fulfillment at long last. In a way that only God can, He planned the birth of Jesus to perfectly fulfill the promises He made to the world through His Nation, Israel. Today we celebrate the birth of the True King of Heaven and the coming of our Savior. He is the focal point of The Story.

In Las Vegas you can roll “lucky sevens,” or you can also lose it all. You can win a massive windfall or experience colossal disaster. It all seems like coincidence, just the roll of the dice. In the Book of Esther, it seems like the destiny of the Jews is subject to the roll of the dice. But we discover that even though His name is not mentioned in the whole Book of Esther, God is working behind the scenes to fulfill His grand, saving purpose. Knowing this, we can take heart believing that even when God seems distant, unconcerned, or even absent in our lives, He is still at work. God is always working!

Earlier in the Old Testament, we read about Joseph, one of Jacob’s twelve sons who was sold into slavery (by his own brothers!) and became a prisoner in a foreign land. Far from home, with no one he knew that would see or critique him, Joseph led a life of staggering integrity. Fast forward to Daniel and three other young men from Judah who have been exiled in the capital city of their sworn enemies and captors. They were in a place where “no one was looking.” They could compromise and cut corners and no one would ever know … except God. Our culture invites and encourages us to compromise too, but like Daniel living in exile, we live by a higher authority.

What if the U.S.A. had kings instead of presidents? Some suggest that George Washington was asked to be a kind of “king” of America following the Revolutionary War. He, however, rejected the offer following a popular sentiment and motto among colonists, “No king but King Jesus.” God’s people in Israel should have had a motto like that: “No king but King God.” They however, wanted human kings – who got the nation into a heap of trouble. The nation split into two smaller, weaker nations, and during the time of the divided kingdom there were 38 kings in all. All but a handful of those kings were wicked and did evil in the sight of the Lord. They failed to lead their subjects to honor the One True God, and because of it the nation suffered.

Every culture in our world has an overarching "cultural narrative." This means that people groups of all time and places seek to answer some of the most important questions about life. They strive to describe how and where we can find meaning, purpose, and value in our lives. A large part of any culture is the "narrative," or the answers to questions like, "Why are we here?" "Why do bad things happen?" "What is truth?" and "What will happen when I die?" In popular new movies like "Interstellar," Hollywood seeks to enter this narrative. Filmmakers postulate in a manner of speaking answers to these questions. Movies, however, are so advanced and convincing today that it can be hard to separate fact from fiction. We must remember that these are stories based on imagination. Yet, in reality, these questions still remain. So how can we find answers to these meaningful questions of life with any confidence and hope?

Today as we celebrate our nation's freedom and independence, we recognize that our freedom comes at a cost. Many fought ... and now still do fight ... to protect the freedom with which we are so accustomed. But what is freedom for? We could contend that the greatest cause for freedom is to allow the unfettered spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, that is perhaps the foundational freedom on which our country was built! But what about today? What can we as the Church do to use our freedoms in a God pleasing way?