Matt. 2, Flee to Egypt

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0:00 Okay, so the lecture there, I just gave you a little bit of a rundown and I wanted to say again, like that Angel Fritsch for him, I'd love for you guys to check that out. It really helps me think about how are we being church together well and it even helps me think about how might I pastor a group of people well. We are non-traditional in a lot of ways, but there are some things that's good for us to be able to be for each other and do for each other. So you might check out that form and on there, like I said, has a question about setting

0:34 goals about how many times you want to be a part of the Sunday morning gathering. The other thing that we're going to start doing too is we're going to always, you'll see when you get this thing off the little clipboard in the back that there are Psalms for every week and we're going to use those Psalms for the call to worship and so I'd love for other folks to read the call to worship so we hear other voices besides mine so we'll have a little sign up to eat people can sign up to read the call to worship. And one of the things that's kind of fun is like sometimes these passages align and this

1:10 week they do that a little bit so let's start looking at the Genesis passage in Genesis chapter 46. Genesis is a really fun book. If you're thinking about reading the Bible this year, Genesis is a fun place to start. Of course there are a lot of one-year plans. I've never done a one-year plan but I love reading Genesis. Genesis chapter 46, the old chapter of reading that it gives us is verses 1 to 7.

1:45 And I'm going to tell you briefly where we are in this point in the story of Genesis. This is like jumping into Jacob's life. Jacob has already been renamed Israel. Remember Jacob was one of the two twin brothers. He was known kind of as a trickster and he tricked his older brother Esau out of the inheritance that he was supposed to get as the older brother. He was always the favorite of his mom. And so he runs off and then he has this dramatic reunification with his brother Esau and he's

2:20 Jacob famously wrestles with God which is where he gets the name Israel. Scholars tend to argue on whether Israel means wrestle with God or let God be God. It's kind of two sides of the same coin maybe. So Jacob then is the patriarch of the God of Abraham. I was thinking Jacob our God identifies himself with Jacob and then also Jacob of course is Israel and his sons start out launch out the tribes of Israel the twelve tribes.

2:57 Most of them come from Jacob's sons. Jacob is living in the Canaan area of course at this time the people of Israel Jacob and his clan have descended. There are now three generations down from Abraham who left Iran. And remember Abraham bought one cave in the promised land and at the time of Jacob that's still all they own. One cave. You know I love talking about the cave of Max Pella but that's the case. They're all Jacob own still and they're nomadic people moving around Canaan building

3:32 lands and hers which is fine. It's a good way to build wealth might get to a point then where you could trade animals and stuff for land. But it's not good when the place comes on a famine and that's what happens. And famously God has prepared a delivery for Jacob and the people of Israel but go down into Egypt to be protected from the famine and that's where we pick up in chapter 46 first one.

4:03 So Israel this is referred to the person Israel took his journey. What happened was Joseph you know Jacob's son had made his way into Egypt and then told with the blessing of Pharaoh that had said bring Jacob your family back here will give them the best. And it's a little bit concerning because maybe Egypt is a trap to kill him but God speaks to Israel and tells him it's okay. So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Bishqiba and offered sacrifices

4:36 to the God of his father Isaac and God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said Jacob Jacob and he said here am I and then he said I am God the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt and I will bring you up again and Joseph's hand

5:07 shall close your eyes. Then Jacob set out from Bishqiba the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father their little ones and their wives and the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry them and they also took their livestock and their goods which they had gained in the land of Canaan and came into Egypt and Jacob and all his offspring with him his sons and his sons sons with him his daughters and his daughters and all the offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

5:41 Of course then their provider is for protected and saved in Egypt and this is not the first time remember that God is used Egypt to protect the Israelites there's another time when Abraham and Sarah go down into Egypt to be protected and it's like interesting to me that God protects Jacob and I underlined that line and Joseph's hand will close your eyes and at the first reading it's like beautiful to me that this famine hits the whole world but God has provided

6:18 a way for protection like unseen and unexpected by anybody involved Joseph's sold into slavery by his brothers rises through prison up to the ranks interpret the vision preserves the food way ahead of the famine so that Egypt is wealthy and healthy through the famine and then by the favor of the Pharaoh arguably the most powerful world in the day Israel and family come back into protection and I thought on one level I thought that's amazing and then Jacob gets the

6:51 promise that his own son will close his eyes in depth and like it's beautiful and then I thought well wait a minute certainly the God of the universe can come up with a straighter line like to something like I got an idea how about like the rain works appropriately the crops grow the right how about we skip to the famine altogether right like why does there

7:28 have to be a famine that needs a generation long plan to and when I think about it why is the comfort to Jacob you're going to die but your son will be there one of the words that we had for last year as we were talking in the little circle was fuzzy wait a minute where did 21

8:05 start and 20 end yes they are looking back to pictures from my year to remind myself of the things that had happened this year and I realized that my granddad died this last year and I was sure it was in 2020 that he had died but it was only this past March. I am sure at some point Jacob is going in. Lord you want me to do what again okay I'm

8:45 going to go down to Egypt and what's your promise cool I'll die and Joseph will be there I mean it's beautiful that Joseph gets to be there and also the promise is a peaceful death okay let's look at the New Testament or the gospel reading sort of the gospel reading maybe there's something there for us Matthew chapter 2 verse 13 this is just after the Magi come to visit and I mean

9:39 the Magi are a crazy thing anyway it's Matthew writes the story of the Magi and you know we have them in our little nativity scene but maybe you've heard by now it's not likely that they came it's hard to know exactly where they came because it took them a while to get there and then these events after they leave of Herod's actions of two years old and younger but let's look at verse 13 now

10:12 when they had departed behold an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said rise take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him verse 14 and he rose took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod this was to fulfill what

10:51 the Lord had spoken by the prophet out of Egypt I called my son this is another moment where Joseph I can imagine is this you want me to do what now I took Mary right like I had the visitation already that was crazy enough and now and it's a similar thing to Jacob for me it's like this is good like I'm glad he had a plan and I guess they had a soft landing in Egypt but like I think there's a

11:27 straighter route to Jesus surviving childhood then Herod killing all the boys let's see what Herod does look verse 16 then Herod when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise man became furious and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years older under according to the time that he had a ascertain from the wise man then was fulfilled

12:01 what was spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah a voice was heard in Ramallah weeping and loud lamentation Rachel weeping for her children she refused to be comforted because they are that a war certainly there are straighter paths to fulfilling this prophecy like I mean why not just remove Herod to begin with and I can imagine the situation of Joseph with another visitation by an angel and going

12:40 this is not like what is going on here do you want me to go down in the middle of the night to a foreign country to escape a crazy man king and you're the one in charge right and you're the one that I trust you're the one who's orchestrated the events and we are running at night it seems like a

13:13 very roundabout path it goes on but when Herod died behold an angel the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt saying rise take the child and his mother and go back to the land of Israel for those who sought the child's life for dead and he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel but when he heard that Arc Laos was ringing over Judea in place of his brother Herod he was afraid to go there and being warned in a dream again he withdrew to the district of

13:52 Galilee and he went and lived in a city called Nazareth that was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled these shall be called a Nazarene I mean these dudes Jacob and Joseph both are taking it seems to me unpredictable and circuitous throughout through life like this Jacob is a named patriarch the god of creation in life the

14:28 god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the god of Christ in the church and he is like fleeing to Egypt he is well he's being welcomed into Egypt to flee famine and of course Jesus the incarnated god the fulcrum on which all humanity turns the fulfillment of every plan and strategy of the creator of the universe the embodiment of God and man in one the start of the new race this one is actually

15:00 clean in the middle of the night like if at times you don't know where your life is going I think you're in good company right like if at times you're like wait a minute I'm going where I'm doing what Joseph please in the middle of the night with Mary and apparently the like virgin born

15:40 Savior of the world to get away from a crazy man king and his family and he does not know when he's coming back or if Jacob is walking into the arms of arguably the most powerful man in the world with the strongest military army as a like foreign tribe and his biggest hope is that one of his favorite sons will be there when he dies and they and they keep listening to the god and they keep

16:29 listening to the god like Joseph doesn't seize the opportunity there here it has lots of money and and conceivably lots of power Joseph has the dude he's looking for like my little steaming brain can come up with all kinds of ways that Joseph can leverage the baby Jesus for his own benefit like

17:04 okay one angelic visit in the middle of the night I can handle but this one you want me to leave my house and run away from powerful killing mass murdering king right Jacob saying like Jacob is like wow I have the ear and opportunity of Pharaoh certainly there's ways I can leverage this for my own land ownership they don't without knowing like where what will happen next how they'll get out of

17:40 the situation they continue to listen to the god on this like round about circuitous I think part of the reason that stuck out to me is because I can relate to going wait how did I how did I get here and where did where did we say we were going certainly there are straighter paths to that then

18:19 how do I decide where I go next where does the energy come from the first thing I thought then was one definitely like certainly Joseph and Jacob in these points of inflection in their life got a

18:54 degree of energy from the spirit of God right but certainly when you get an angelic visit at night you get some also like waterfall like some off spray of the presence of God to give you the like initiative to flee at night and when God is speaking to you in your dreams like he does to

19:24 Jacob and you have the memory of resting with him on the side of the river right so the first thing that occurred to me is like if we are in situations where life is feeling particularly circuitous one yet near the god somehow like the tradition I grew up in says teaches me that God is found in

19:56 in the gospel in the good news announced what that comes from a friend reminding me of the truth or through the scriptures that God is in the sacraments that God promises to be where two or three are gathered in his name if life is feeling particularly circuitous and unpredictable get around the god and say and ask for God what are we doing here again and then when I asked God what are you doing here why oh these like roundabout ways

20:51 and the phrase came to mind life is circuitous but not I am not wandering without an end point your life has specific direction Jacob follows the urging of the spirit of God into the enemy country Egypt because the directional

21:36 force of his life is tied to who he is and he knows he is Jacob Israel son of the god wherever he goes he goes with the god he is he is life is circuitous but it is not aimless it is in the direction of the god of creation life the god of his father's Abraham and Isaac this is where he goes no matter where he goes this is what he aims at I will continue to be who I am Jesus ends up in Nazareth through all

22:10 of that and then forever is defined as a Nazarene one from Nazareth God may be taking you through these last several years on a circuitous pattern but your life is not aimless who you are becoming matters and and the question about who am I becoming can be a compass that God is up to who we become matters and of course

22:47 maybe this is because there's so much talk in the pandemic and I'm thinking back through the funerals I went to this year but also at the start of the year it's worth saying our end point matters Jacob wanted Joseph to close his eyes not just because he likes Joseph but it meant a demonstration of faithfulness life long faithfulness and it meant he knew when

23:22 Joseph closes his eyes he gets buried back in Macpella the cave in Macpella that like place of faith and enduring that he ends as he lives a child of God a son of God for me no matter the path I take my sort of pain is clear

24:01 I um it's been a calling point for being for a long time now I suppose to intentionally not script my future first it was just an idealistic college kid position I don't know I'm just going to do what I want and see where I end up but then I had one pass to tell me he felt like if he if he knew what he

24:40 was doing six months ahead of time he felt like that was good he keep walking in the direction he felt like was right and be open to what God was doing that gave me some more confidence and then I stumbled into the phrase that I can't micromanage my future if I if I move through life with the notion that I can control how it will end that I know what I will like that I can build walk towards the point that I have designed then it's as though I'm in charge

25:11 of the future and I am not and so then I started just focusing on who I'm becoming so that my life if you look at it is very circuitous I mean it's not an exaggeration to say that that six month rule has worked for me and been true no matter my path so I have figured out

25:41 in life my aim is clear I aim to be a certain type of person in the world to live a life bought by Christ energized by the Spirit and overseen by the God in all the circuitous time

26:15 the mistakes of Jacob and Joseph were covered by the work of Christ the choices were empowered by the Spirit of God and they never moved out from the overseeing eye of the God and the same is true for you this year I don't know where you'll go and truth be told you don't know where you'll go but you can know what you aim at and I suggest we aim at being people bought by Christ empowered by the Spirit overseen by the God

26:50 and then go where that takes us let me pray that we could be those people this year hey Lord give us the faith of Jacob and Joseph to go blindly where you be that surround us with your guideposts your word your gospel your people your provision remind us of your oversight in power of your spirit

27:20 and give us confidence to move forward towards the future you have for us today in Jesus