Matthew 1:18-25 “Touched by an Angel”
Have you ever heard of the show “Touched by an Angel”? It’s a pretty popular show. I did some research on the show, and here’s what I’ve found. The show usually begins with a person or some people who have problems. Maybe they brought these problems upon themselves, or maybe these problems just happened to them. Regardless, they have problems. An angel from heaven shows up and helps them solve their problems, and during the show, the angel also teaches them a lesson. Usually, the lesson is this – that God loves you. You are a good person – there is so much love and goodness and wonderfulness inside of you, and because of that good inside of you, God loves you. Then the show ends.
As with every TV show that tries to be spiritual, there are good things and bad things, pros and cons. First, let’s talk about the good things. The show acknowledges that there is a God, and angels. That’s good! On the other hand, most people believe that anyway, so it’s not really that big of an accomplishment. The show encourages people to stop being evil and selfish. That’s good too! The less evil and selfish people there are, the better! The show teaches us that God cares about his creation, and that’s true too. He does!
But not everything about the show is good. There are some mistakes.
Mistake number one: the show teaches you that God loves you because of the good inside of you. That’s not true. The Bible teaches us that we are born with sin inside of us – 100% sin - nothing good in the eyes of God. In spite of our sin, God loves us, and the Bible calls that love “grace,” which is undeserved love. The concept of grace is very different from the concept of God loving you because of the good inside of you. The Bible teaches us that God gives us his love as a gift, even though we don’t deserve it. That’s mistake number one, and it’s a big one – the show teaches false doctrine about God’s love.
“Touched by an Angel” makes another mistake: the angels never ever talk about Jesus Christ. That’s not shocking – in order for the show to appeal to more viewers, it has to leave out Christ. Unfortunately, that goes against everything the Bible teaches about angels. The angels in the Bible were very Christocentric. Everything they said and did revolved around Jesus Christ, and God’s plan of salvation. Never in the Bible would an angel appear to someone, not talk about Jesus Christ, and tell you how great you are. Except for one – which angel was that? Satan. That’s mistake number two, and it’s a big one again. The show tries to talk about God without talking about Jesus Christ, which really doesn’t work.
I’m not here this morning to tell you, “Thou shalt not watch Touched by an Angel.” For those people who use this show as a substitute for religion, they’re not learning anything that will get them get to heaven. For a Christian to watch that show, I would say this: watch with a careful eye, a listening ear, and a talkative mouth. If you’re a parent, be responsible. As a responsible parent, you will make sure that your child doesn’t walk away from that show with a false understanding of God’s love, and God’s message of salvation. As a Christian, you weigh the pros and cons and decide how you can best glorify God, always approaching everything with a careful eye, a listening ear, and a talkative mouth.
Why am I talking about angels this morning? Because Christmas Eve is tomorrow, and Christmas time is a time when people talk about angels and God. This morning, we’re going to look at a real life experience of someone being touched by an angel – the stepfather of Jesus – Joseph. We’re going to look at his encounter, and learn some valuable lessons. Today you will see how you also have been touched by an angel, and how you might even be an angel God uses to touch others.
Matthew chapter one reveals to us that Joseph was a nice, ignorant man. He was engaged to a young girl named Mary. But something terrible happened during the engagement – his fiancée became pregnant, and he wasn’t the father. She tried to explain to him the situation, that the Holy Spirit was the father. But to Joseph, this was too much to believe. Joseph was ignorant, but you really couldn’t blame him. How was he supposed to know that his fiancée was pregnant with the Messiah? God’s promises were about to be fulfilled, and his fiancée was right in the middle of everything! But how could Joseph know? There must be another man in Mary’s life, Joseph probably thought. But Joseph was an honorable man. He wasn’t going to publicly disgrace Mary. He would file for divorce quietly. Joseph was nice, but ignorant.
Isn’t that how you would describe our world – nice and ignorant? Take away the terrorists and criminals, and people, for the most part, are pretty nice. People will help you, if you need it. That’s nice, but when it comes to theology - God’s plan of salvation – the world is ignorant. Christmas is that time of the year when our world reveals its ignorance. As you listen to people talk about the real meaning of Christmas, you realize that many people really have no idea what they’re talking about - probably got most of their theology from “Touched by an Angel.” Isn’t it interesting, that many people who claim to be “Christian” don’t believe in the virgin birth – that Mary, a virgin, gave birth to a son. Many would say that this story just isn’t true. We live in a nice, but ignorant world.
Unfortunately, we’re also that way at times. There are things about God we ought to know, but we don’t. Maybe someone asks us a religious question, and we say, “I don’t know. I think….” and then we share our ignorance. Rather than apply ourselves to Bible study, we try to get by on what little we know. We try to wing our way through life. We base our theology on TV shows and what our friends say. We base our theology on our feelings – what is it that makes me smile, that makes the world smile? That’s what I believe. And so our Bibles continue to gather dust, and there we are, a bunch of very nice, but ignorant people.
God didn’t want Joseph to continue in his ignorance, and so he touched Joseph with an angel. The angel appears to Joseph in a dream and says to him: “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” God chases away Joseph’s ignorance. “There really is such a thing as the virgin birth, Joseph!” Notice how this angel teaches the virgin birth: “What’s conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” And then the angel talks about Jesus, which is, as I said before, the focus of angels in the Bible. This angel tells Joseph to name the baby - Jesus – the Greek form of the Jewish name Joshua. Jesus and Joshua both mean the same thing – salvation. “Give him the name salvation, Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” The angel teaches That’s God’s plan of salvation to Joseph. Someday, this baby would take away the sins of the world.
Matthew tells us that this fulfills a prophecy. Hundreds of years earlier, the prophet Isaiah wrote – “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means, ‘God with us.’” This child would be God, with us in the flesh. God with us, would save the world from all of its sin. God takes away Joseph’s ignorance by sending an angel, who talks about Jesus and shares God’s plan of salvation.
Do you realize that you have been touched by an angel, just like Joseph? I’m not talking about dreams, but you have been touched by an angel. Today, this is God’s angel (hold up the Bible). Today, this is what God uses to let you know about Jesus Christ. And anyone who brings this message to you – that’s God’s angel.
Even though there was nothing good inside of us, God had mercy on each and every one of us. He sent his Son to take all of our sins away, and then he sent his Word into our lives. That’s our angel. He sent people into our lives to share God’s Word with us – those people are our angels. Through these people who have shared the Word of God with us, we have learned about our sin. But we have also learned that our sins have been forgiven. We have learned about God’s undeserved love, that he loved us so much that he even sacrificed his Son for us. That’s what we have learned from his Word, and from people who have shared God’s Word. That’s how you and I have been touched by an angel – God has taken away our ignorance, and has replaced it with faith in Jesus Christ.
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel told him to do. He took Mary to be his wife, and he had no union with her until the baby was born. And then, when everyone looked at Joseph in the stable and asked him, “What are you going to name the baby?” - it wasn’t too difficult for him to decide. “Let’s call him Jesus,” Joseph said. No longer was Joseph a nice, ignorant man. Now, he was a nice man who also understood God’s plan of salvation. Now, he was a nice man who also believed that this child was the Messiah. Now, Joseph was even participating in God’s plan of salvation, naming the child – Jesus – salvation – a name that describes what this child would do.
Like Joseph, you and I can participate in God’s plan of salvation. Here are two ways:
First of all, we can recommit ourselves to growing in God’s Word. Every year, people make New Year’s resolutions. Why don’t you resolve, this year, to be a student of the Bible? Every time you hear God’s Word, you are being touched by an angel. Here’s one way you can participate in God’s plan of salvation, by recommitting yourself to growing in God’s Word.
You can also participate in God’s plan of salvation by looking for the lost. Who do you know, who’s nice, but ignorant? Who do you know who’s nice, but doesn’t know Jesus Christ, doesn’t know God’s plan of salvation? People are yearning to be touched by an angel, especially this time of the year. Perhaps you are that angel. You have what every person needs – you know Jesus Christ. Perhaps you are the angel that God is sending into someone’s life. Perhaps you are the tool God is using to share his Word. You can participate in God’s plan of salvation by looking for the lost. If the opportunity arises, share your faith, invite someone to church this Christmas. Who knows what God will accomplish through you?
How thankful we are that God has touched us. May he continue to bless you this Christmas. Amen.
