Sermon Tone Analysis

Hype; so much hype.

Do you know what I mean by hype?

The Argentina soccer team had a lot of hype going into the world cup tournament this past week; and then they lost in the first grouping?

You know what hype is.

Hype is when a group of people carry high expectations…for a team—a school—an organization—a political party—another person.

Hype usually implies expectations that can never be met.

Very rarely do we say that a person or team actually lives up to the hype they receive.

Well, Christmas time is filled with an awful lot of hype, isn’t it?

There are expectations for the perfect family gatherings; expectations for finding the perfect gift to give; expectations that we will sense and feel the joy and peace that we associate with the Christmas season.

Don’t get me wrong; Christmas time inspires the whole world with a hope that can only come from God.

But somewhere along the line, the hope that comes from God at Christmas gets a bit sidetracked when we pile on all those other unrealistic expectations that we build up around Christmas.

It becomes a lot of hype.

Sometimes it seems we lose a piece of Christmas in all that hype.

The constant expectation of joy and love and peace…all the expectation of building a season of perfect happiness; in that kind of Christmas haze, these words we about to see this morning from scripture will strike us as awkward.

Where is the joy in this message?

Where is the peace in this judgment?

But this is what we’ve got.

This is what the Bible says.

This is the message of the prophets about God’s coming redemption…his coming salvation.

So, this morning we better re-examine our Christmas hype.

Micah 2:1–13 (NIV)

Luke 3:2–9 (NIV)

Understanding Micah

Let’s take it back to the world of the Old Testament and begin there.

We’re going to be working our way through the book of Micah over the coming weeks, so placing a little background information would be helpful for us to understand how this prophesy relates to John the Baptist and the coming Messiah.

between 750-686 BC — three kings: Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah

We did not read through chapter 1 but let me highlight some historical detail there to help set the story.

Chapter 1:1 talks about three kings in Judah: Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.

We know the date of these kings so we can easily place the time during which Micah prophesied.

Jotham began his reign in the 750 BC.

Kingship then proceeded to Ahaz, and then to Hezekiah who reigned until 686 BC.

This makes Micah a contemporary with Isaiah—who would have lived and prophesied during the same time as Micah.

722 BC — Samaria conquered by Assyrians (during time of Micah)

Here is another major historical event that happened during this time.

We also notice that chapter 1 begins with a judgment concerning the destruction of both Samaria and Jerusalem.

Remember also—as we have already noted—that Micah lived and prophesied between the years of 750-686 BC.

Samaria fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC.

So, the prophecy Micah brought against Samaria would come to pass very quickly—certainly within Micah’s own lifetime.

This would be enough to jolt a wake-up call to all those living in Judah around Jerusalem.

If Micah was right about the destruction of Samaria, could it be that his prophesy about the destruction of Jerusalem is true as well?

586 BC — Jerusalem conquered by Babylonians (after time of Micah)

But let’s also remember this, comparing Samaria to Jerusalem is comparing apples to oranges.

After all, Jerusalem was built upon mount Zion; God’s temple was there.

Sure, Samaria might have fallen to a foreign invader, but surely God would never allow his temple to be destroyed; certainly, Jerusalem would never be taken.

At least that’s what they thought.

It wouldn’t be for another 100+ years, but in 586 BC the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem and the people of Judah are taken into captivity.

This happens during the time of Jeremiah—who quotes Micah in his prophesy against Jerusalem.

No one in Judah or Jerusalem would have ever imagined that this could possibly be a part of God’s plan for his people

That’s a real quick history lesson about Micah and what was happening during the time that he lived and wrote.

His message was intended to get the people ready for what was coming.

God was going to do the unthinkable.

No one in Judah or Jerusalem would have ever imagined that this could possibly be a part of God’s plan for his people.

After all, they were supposed to be the chosen people.

Zion was supposed to be the place where God’s temple would stand forever.

This is where the great king David’s legacy was to go on for all eternity.

This cannot be right.

This cannot possibly be what God has in mind for his people; can it?

Micah points out injustice — God’s people need correcting (they cannot correct themselves)

But Micah lashes out against the injustices of God’s people.

And notice it is not so much that people have left God; the judgment is not so much that the people have abandoned and disowned God.

In fact, just the opposite; they are leaning upon God to sustain them.

But the problem that Micah points out is their injustice—their lives of sin and wrongdoing.

They have abandoned the ways of God.

They have ignored the commands of God to live as those who would be used by God to spread his blessing to the entire world.

This is their sin; this is why God brings judgment to them.

It is God’s intention to use his people as his ambassadors to change the world; to redeem what is broken and wrong.

But instead, they ignore the commands of God and only add to the problem of evil in our world.

John the Baptist — same message: God’s people need correcting

Take it forward.

In the passage we read from Luke’s gospel we see that John the Baptist quotes the prophet Isaiah—who, remember, lived during the same time as Micah—and John brings a message that seems equally judgmental.

Just like the people in the time Micah, Luke describes a people who lived in disbelief that God would bring this kind of judgment.

They thought, “but we are children of Abraham.”

And John tells them that their heritage is not what matters…at least, not anymore.

He says the ax is at the root and ready to cut them down.

But they did not believe it either.

They are just as guilty of ignoring the justice and truth of God’s commands.

They are just as culpable for failing to live as those who would be used by God to change and redeem the world for God’s glory.

John makes it clear: change is coming.

God will triumph.

God’s will cannot be stopped.

God’s plan of redemption for this world will happen.

advent anticipation

Don’t get caught in the hype.

Don’t overlook this piece of the advent story.

Don’t ignore this message.

God’s intention is to change the world.

Christmas is about God redeeming what was broken.

Christmas is about God coming to fix what was wrong.

Christmas is a remembrance of what God did to take this world crushed by sin and turn it 180° in the other direction.

Advent is remembering again just how far God is willing to go to see his will be done.

Christ came to turn the course of human history in another direction.

Ever since the fall in the garden of Eden when sin took hold in the world we had been going on a downward spiral, Christ came to turn that upside down.

Christmas is extreme makeover: cosmos edition.

It is the mark of our detox from sin.

It is the beginning of God’s complete renovation of everything.

Those who were waiting for God’s Messiah did not realize that they were the ones who were broken and needed correcting

But if you’ve ever seen the extreme makeover show on TV then you know that they cannot build something new without first gutting out the old that was there before.

If you’ve ever known anyone who had to go through detox, you know it is not an easy process to endure.

If you’ve ever known anyone who has renovated an old car or a piece of furniture, then you know it takes a lot of hard work.

we want all the benefits of Christmas without advent