Please read the 3 portions of the Bible that follow:

Our first reading is from the 42^nd chapter of the Book of Isaiah beginning at the 1^st verse

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my spirit upon him;

    he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry or lift up his voice,

    or make it heard in the street;

a bruised reed he will not break,

    and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

    he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be crushed

    until he has established justice in the earth;

    and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD,

    who created the heavens and stretched them out,

    who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people upon it

    and spirit to those who walk in it:

I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness,

    I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,

    a light to the nations,

    to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

    from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the LORD, that is my name;

    my glory I give to no other,

    nor my praise to idols.

See, the former things have come to pass,

    and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth,

    I tell you of them.

The Scripture has been highlighted to show first God speaking to us, then to His Servant, and then back again to us.

Our second reading is from the 10^th chapter of the Book of Acts beginning at the 34^th verse.

Peter began to speak to Cornelius and his relatives and close friends: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ-- he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.  All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

And our third reading comes from Luke’s Gospel, chapter 3 beginning at verse 15.

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Some thoughts for you to ponder:

Are you still enjoying all your Christmas gifts? 

For some the Christmas gifts have been put away and the only evidence of them is the bills that have arrived.

I’m not intending to bring up a sore subject, but “are you still enjoying your Christmas gift?”

The answer for some is YES, pictures of grand children, or a special item that is being used. 

I got thinking about this question not because of any bills that arrived at our home, but because of a story I heard this past week.

A friend was telling me how he came to know Jesus.

It is a wonderful story and the thumbnail sketch of it goes like this:

My friend had been looking for meaning in his life.  

My friend had different groups of people in his life and two in particular caught my attention.  The first were Christians who really knew the Gospel and loved Jesus – they worked really hard to convince him that Jesus was the way.  The other group of people was really just a single person – his roommate.

He kind of viewed his roommate as a goofy person, a little klutzy and not overly impressive.

So as my friend was wrestling with the meaning of his life, going through all kinds of things to “bargain with God” the summer college break came.  In the fall he kept the same roommate, but something amazing had happened.

His roommate reappeared and was different.  His roommate had the same name, in fact the same face, was the same height, etc., but his roommate was a different person.

This once klutzy, goofy, not overly impressive person had a real peace about him, in fact was happy.

My friend found out that his roommate over the summer had met Jesus – had received, if you will allow, the Christmas gift.

And overtime my friend met Jesus, not because of all the clever arguments, but because of the day in and day out effect Jesus was having on his roommate.

It’s a story we hear over and over again.  That God connects with a person, one person, that person is changed forever, and then that person reaches another.

It’s been God’s plan forever and it’s the story we hear today in the readings.

Let’s look at the Old Testament reading, would you turn to it:

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my spirit upon him;

    he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry or lift up his voice,

    or make it heard in the street;

a bruised reed he will not break,

    and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

    he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be crushed

    until he has established justice in the earth;

    and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

Who’s talking here?  God – God is saying “Here is my servant” – and then He goes on to describe him.

We know that “this servant” is Jesus (four different times in Isaiah this servant is described - Isaiah Servant Songs: 42:1-4, 49:1-6, 50:4-9 & 52:13-53:12).

In the description of what this servant will do we read the word “justice” 3 times in this short section

The Hebrew word which we are translating here as “justice” is “mishpāṭ” (Strong's Greek & Hebrew Dictionary)

And we need to spend just a little time here to understand what God is saying.

When you and I think of “justice” we might think of a situation being made right – and what determines what is “right” and what is “wrong” is the law – we are people governed by laws.

And we are people who think of government as 3 separate branches – executive, and legislative and judicial.

But that is not the world of the Bible – people weren’t ruled by laws, they were ruled by rulers.  And those rulers didn’t have 3 separate branches of government – they embody them all – and so when they “dole out justice” they are putting things the way they want it.

God say, “Here is my servant who is coming to bring justice”.

Or said differently, “Here is my servant who is coming to put everything right – to make this world that I, God, created, right.

Do you get a sense of how big this is – it’s huge!

It’s a big Christmas gift.

Now you might think, to do something that big, that this servant is going to have to really wield some power, but the Scripture says he won’t put out a smoldering wick – that he won’t quench a dimly burning wick!

People have often heard this Good News, this optimistic prediction and have pointed out that things aren’t “put right” – there are more than a few problems in the world.

But we need to go back to the “roommate” – God didn’t put it right by changing the world around the roommate – God “put it, or rather put him, right!”

The first thing God has come to “put right” is you and me.

God’s plan is “to bring justice to the world” and do it without “bruising a reed or quenching a smoldering wick”.

God’s is not a tyrant twisting the world into submission – God remarkably comes seeking to serve people and invite all into a relationship with Him.

Jesus is this servant – this morning we heard how the heavens opened and Father & Holy Spirit were in unity with the Son -

It is the moment when Jesus begins to be that servant, putting things right.

And when you look at how He does it, it is one person at a time isn’t it – just like my friends roommate?

He heals a leper, restores sight to a blind person, and more.

Sometimes He’ll feed five thousand, but again, He deals with those who come to Him, seeking Him.

And we know He will not bruise a reed, even as He bears a Cross and is bruised for transgressions.

The justice is Jesus Christ reconciling the world to God through His death and resurrection.

The justice comes when we realize that the servant paid the price for all the injustices we have caused and we then turn to Him and say thank you – and when we do God’s heart leaps because one more person, one more of His sons or daughters – has come home.

That is the heart of the Christian message:

That is the heart of the Christmas gift.

We know this don’t we?

You know the message he sent …how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear…. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.  All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."”

That everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins – no special deals, no negotiations, no bargaining – no partiality.

All receive the gift of Christmas.

The challenge is to not put the gift away, but to be like the roommate, who everyday allowed God’s gift, God’s love to shine through him.

Take a moment and pray.