The God Who Sleeps Over -- FPC sermon excerpt
Ten years ago, in a suburb of Rochester, New York, a man named Peter Lovenheim was out walking his dog. He was surprised to see a TV news truck parked down the block.
What was going on?
As it turned out, a horrible tragedy. A neighbor three doors down had shot and killed his wife, and then himself. Their two young children had escaped, running screaming into the night.
Lovenheim was shocked — not only by these violent deaths, but by how little true community there was in his suburban neighborhood. He knew the family only slightly.
Soon a “For Sale” sign appeared in front of the house where the killings had occurred, but everything else remained the same. “A family had vanished, yet the impact on our neighborhood was slight,” writes Lovenheim. He asked himself, “How could that be? Did I live in a community or just in a house on a street surrounded by people [with separate lives]?”
Good question. Here in Fairfax, do we live in communities, or in collections of isolated houses?
To find an answer, Peter Lovenheim did what any normal American suburb-dweller would do: He asked his neighbors if he could sleep at their houses.
Yes, that’s right. I’m not kidding. He requested that he be able to spend the night with them, to get to know them better. Although his daughter thought he was crazy, a surprising number of neighbors said yes to his request. And the result is his book In the Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time.
Peter Lovenheim is an author who sleeps over.
A similar situation existed exactly 2010 years ago, when God surveyed the scene on earth and saw violence and isolation in every nation, race, and culture. The human neighborhood was fractured then — just as it is now — with people separated from God and from each other.
God decided to do what no one ever expected a divine being to do: Sleep over.
As the story in Matthew begins, God comes to a sleeping man named Joseph, and speaks to him in a dream. Joseph is engaged to a girl named Mary, who is pregnant. Since they have not yet begun to live together, this pregnancy could be scandalous. So Joseph — being a righteous man, unwilling to expose Mary to public disgrace — plans to dismiss her quietly (Matthew 1:18-19).
Into the neighborhood comes a messenger from God, an angel. He says to the sleeping man, “Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (vv. 20-21).
The word of God comes through an angel, letting Joseph know that Mary’s child is a gift of God, and that this baby named Jesus will save his people from their sins. Jesus will rescue us from everything that can destroy or divide us — in particular, the sins that shatter our relationships with God and neighbor.
But that’s not all. Matthew goes on to tell us that all this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us” (v. 22). Matthew realizes that God is not simply coming for one sleepover, in a visit from an angel to a sleeping man. No, God is moving in with us, permanently. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, now and forever!
Forget about making up a bed in the guest bedroom. It’s time to build an addition!
What was going on?
As it turned out, a horrible tragedy. A neighbor three doors down had shot and killed his wife, and then himself. Their two young children had escaped, running screaming into the night.
Lovenheim was shocked — not only by these violent deaths, but by how little true community there was in his suburban neighborhood. He knew the family only slightly.
Soon a “For Sale” sign appeared in front of the house where the killings had occurred, but everything else remained the same. “A family had vanished, yet the impact on our neighborhood was slight,” writes Lovenheim. He asked himself, “How could that be? Did I live in a community or just in a house on a street surrounded by people [with separate lives]?”
Good question. Here in Fairfax, do we live in communities, or in collections of isolated houses?
To find an answer, Peter Lovenheim did what any normal American suburb-dweller would do: He asked his neighbors if he could sleep at their houses.
Yes, that’s right. I’m not kidding. He requested that he be able to spend the night with them, to get to know them better. Although his daughter thought he was crazy, a surprising number of neighbors said yes to his request. And the result is his book In the Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time.
Peter Lovenheim is an author who sleeps over.
A similar situation existed exactly 2010 years ago, when God surveyed the scene on earth and saw violence and isolation in every nation, race, and culture. The human neighborhood was fractured then — just as it is now — with people separated from God and from each other.
God decided to do what no one ever expected a divine being to do: Sleep over.
As the story in Matthew begins, God comes to a sleeping man named Joseph, and speaks to him in a dream. Joseph is engaged to a girl named Mary, who is pregnant. Since they have not yet begun to live together, this pregnancy could be scandalous. So Joseph — being a righteous man, unwilling to expose Mary to public disgrace — plans to dismiss her quietly (Matthew 1:18-19).
Into the neighborhood comes a messenger from God, an angel. He says to the sleeping man, “Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (vv. 20-21).
The word of God comes through an angel, letting Joseph know that Mary’s child is a gift of God, and that this baby named Jesus will save his people from their sins. Jesus will rescue us from everything that can destroy or divide us — in particular, the sins that shatter our relationships with God and neighbor.
But that’s not all. Matthew goes on to tell us that all this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us” (v. 22). Matthew realizes that God is not simply coming for one sleepover, in a visit from an angel to a sleeping man. No, God is moving in with us, permanently. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, now and forever!
Forget about making up a bed in the guest bedroom. It’s time to build an addition!
posted by Henry Brinton | 8:15 AM
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