The Fortunate Christian

My message today is entitled “The Fortunate Christian.” Do you feel fortunate? Do you feel fortunate when you get a flat tire and have to pull over to the side of the road? Do you feel fortunate when your roof starts to leak? Do you feel fortunate when you can tell you are coming down with a cold? Do you feel fortunate when you almost pass your class, but not quite? I can assure you that some of my students at Clemson right now do not feel fortunate.

We are so far talking about little inconveniences. What about the really big things? Do you feel fortunate when you lose your job? Do you feel fortunate when your spouse leaves you? Do you feel fortunate when you are told you have cancer? There are very few of us that would feel fortunate at moments like that.

What does it mean to be fortunate? Is it just luck? Does it just boil down to your abilities versus those of others? Picture a lion that begins to chase a group of antelope on the plains of Africa. You have probably seen a video of this on some nature show on TV at some point in your life. What happens? Once the predator is sensed, every animal in the herd runs as quickly as it can. Ultimately, a few start to lag behind the others. The antelope that is slowest is caught by the predator and, well, becomes lunch. Does being fortunate mean being one of the others? Are we fortunate simply because the lion – or the job layoff or the cancer – came to someone else?

As we enter into the heart of the Christmas season, I confess that it is easy for me to lose the Christmas “spirit,” whatever that is exactly. This is especially likely for me if I spend too much time shopping with the crowds. It seems to me that for many people the point of Christmas is to show everyone how fortunate you are. It seems that the Christmas spirit for some is really about purchasing mountains of gifts and feeling good about how your wealth, or more accurately, your credit limit, enables you to be “generous.”

Now don’t take me as a scrooge – there is nothing wrong with giving gifts and being generous. But feeling fortunate about your material situation and feeling good about your generosity is not the point of Christmas.

The point of Christmas is that Jesus Christ was born. The story of Christmas begins in Luke 1:26, where we read:

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." – Luke 1:26-28

To paraphrase this, you could say, “Greetings, most fortunate one!” The angel in effect told Mary that she was incredibly fortunate. The account continues with this:

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end." – Luke 1:29-33

You know how the story goes on – Mary asks how this can possibly be, since she is unmarried, a virgin. The angel explains that, as impossible as it sounds, and although totally unprecedented, the Holy Spirit of God will be the father. Mary replies by saying,

“I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” – Luke 1:38

Was Mary fortunate? I am sure it did not always seem so. I don’t think it felt so fortunate to be the object of rumor and ridicule while she was beginning to “show” during pregnancy. In that culture, to have a child outside of marriage made you an outcast, perhaps deserving to be stoned to death.

Did Mary feel fortunate when she was forced to walk while heavily pregnant, probably in her ninth month, from Nazareth to Galilee with Joseph? I don’t think she felt fortunate when she could not find a real place to stay and rest to give birth to her baby, but instead was forced to give birth in a dirty manger.

She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. – Luke 2:7

Did Mary feel fortunate when the ancient man named Simeon took the 8-day-old baby in his arms and said,

“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” – Luke 2:34-35

Did Mary feel fortunate when Joseph told her that they had to flee right away, far, far away from family and friends, because an angel had told him,

“Get up. Take the Child and His mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him." – Matt. 2:13

Did Mary feel fortunate all that time in Egypt, among a foreign people speaking a foreign tongue, far from home, outcasts from their own country? Did Mary feel fortunate when, on their return at last, they learned that evil Herod’s evil son was now ruler? They did not return to safety, but to a place still filled with danger. As it says of Joseph,

But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. – Matt. 2:22

Did Mary feel fortunate when Jesus, at age 12, was lost to them while they were returning with a large party of friends and family from Jerusalem? They thought He was with someone else, and so they traveled on for a full day before they realized that He was not with them! If you have ever lost your child at a grocery store or at a friend’s house for a few minutes, you have a small taste of what this must have felt like for Mary. It was another day to walk back – a full day – the whole time wondering where He was. It was a total of three days before they found Him. This may have meant that they spent an entire third day looking for Him in Jerusalem, a big crowded place. Can you imagine this? Do you think Mary felt fortunate then?

Mary certainly felt fortunate when at first she found Him, but what must she have thought of His response? There He was, calmly teaching elders in the Temple courts. Like any mother would, she asked Him how He could do such a thing, effectively running away.

His mother said to him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.” “Why were you searching for Me?” He asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in My Father's house?" But they did not understand what He was saying to them. – Luke 2:48-50

There should be an exclamation point in the translation, in my opinion. We have been anxiously searching for You!!! Did Mary feel fortunate when her Son didn’t seem to care in the least about what she had gone through? I am sure He did care, but He had tasks to do that superceded His being Mary’s child.

And on one hand Mary must have been excited to see and hear how Jesus was performing miracles, healing the sick, blind, and lame, raising the dead, and teaching with astounding wisdom and authority, but at the same time she probably also heard of the grumbling about Him and the rumors of plots to kill Him. Did she feel fortunate then, or did she worry the way any mother would worry?

And then, how must Mary have felt when Jesus went through the bogus trials, the inhuman floggings and beatings, being mocked, spat upon, and sentenced to death by crucifixion? Did she feel fortunate when He walked with His cross up the hill to the place He was to die? How did she feel when nails were pounded through His hands and feet and He was placed on the cross, struggling to take every breath, mocked and scorned by the soldiers around Him?

And did she feel fortunate when Jesus turned to her and the following took place?

When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." – John 19:26-27

And then, she watched her Son, the one the angels and prophets spoke of, die. From all I have heard and read, unless you yourself have had your child die before you, you have no idea what it is like to go through it. I assure you Mary did not feel fortunate, then.

But let’s go back to the beginning.

The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of his father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end." – Luke 1:28-33

The inescapable conclusion is that if we are indeed “fortunate Christians,” and we are, our “fortune” has little to do with this world.

So what is our “fortune”? How are we, as Christian believers, fortunate? Many have made lists of our fortunes in Christ. I really like this one, by George Noble, written in 1909:

1. We are absolved from all charges.

Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses. – Acts 13:39

What are the charges? We are charged with sin, willfully disobeying God. Apart from Christ we have no defense, no excuse, nothing but our guilt, and the wages of sin is death. But in Christ we are absolved, declared “not guilty.”

2. We have a position.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. – Eph. 2:6

It is hard to even imagine what this really means. I think of having a good position at a company, like Vice President of Research. We are seated with Christ! We are in the uppermost levels of management, so to speak. We have a seat at the head table!

3. We have redemption.

God presented [Jesus] as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. – Rom. 3:25

To not be redeemed means to be a slave. We were slaves to sin, slaves to Satan, bound forever under Him. But Christ has given Himself to redeem us, to set us free. He paid the price with His own blood. We are free!

4. We have salvation.

For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! – Rom 5:10

We are saved. Saved from death, saved from ourselves, saved from the deserving consequences of our actions. Death will have no hold on us!

5. We are chosen.

For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. – Eph. 1:4

No less than Mary, we were chosen. Angels will say to us, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!”

6. We are delivered.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. – Rom. 8:1

It is not just that we have been redeemed and saved; if that were all, we might wander back into condemnation by sinning again. There is no more condemnation for us. We are being delivered, protected and sealed by the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ, straight to heaven.

7. We have an endowment.

And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. – Phil. 4:19

I think of Harvard, which has the largest endowment of any university. Harvard doesn’t hold a candle to God. God’s endowment will last for eternity. It will meet all of our needs forever.

8. We are filled.

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. – Col. 2:9-10

God has made us with a God-shaped hole in our souls, and many have tried to fill it in many unhealthy ways, sinful ways, including pornography, drugs, video games, and countless other ways. None of them satisfy; none of them fill us. Christ gives us fullness; we are filled and made whole and satisfied in Him.

9. There is happiness.

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh. – Phil. 3:3

There is no happiness, or perhaps more precisely, joy, like that when you glory in Christ. Music, art, poetry are all shadowy attempts to express what is only fully expressed when we glory in Him. Our souls were made to sing in Him.

10. There is grace.

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. – 2 Tim. 2:1

Grace is unmerited favor. We don’t merit it, and we don’t work it up. This verse doesn’t say to get more grace; it says to be strong in it. It’s there. God favors us.

11. There is an inheritance.

In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will. – Eph. 1:11

Our drama focused on other verses that talk more directly about our inheritance in Christ. The Greek word for “will” here, like ours, refers to a desire or intent to do something. An inheritance is the result of someone’s will. God’s will is no different. We have a glorious inheritance in Him.

12. There is justification.

Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. – Gal. 2:16

To be justified is to be declared righteous by God. Not only are we declared “not guilty,” we are declared holy, pure, righteous before God, if we have faith in Christ.

13. There is a keeping.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Phil 4:7

God will keep us eternally safe. We will be guarded, protected in our hearts and minds, through the peace of God.

14. There is life.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Rom. 6:23

We cannot even begin to imagine eternal life. Getting old is part of our lives – we see it, losing our abilities, having forgetful memories, and so on, as part of who we are, but it is not! We will grow in closeness to Jesus, in ability, in love, in every good thing, forever and forever!

15. There is sanctification.

To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours. – I Cor. 1:2

To be sanctified is to be made holy. God is transforming us, making us become more and more like Him. We are being sanctified in Him and by Him.

16. There is nearness.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. – Eph. 2:13

Nearness means intimacy. Jesus will be closer than a brother to us, closer than our parents, or our children, closer than our spouse, closer than anyone we have ever known. Nothing will compare to knowing and loving Him, in being known and being loved by Him.

17. There is oneness.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. – Gal. 3:28

This is not some sort of new-agey combining of souls; this is profound love in unity. Our unity will not be forced; it will simply happen as we are in Christ. As Christ is not divided, neither will we be divided.

18. There is acceptance.

In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. – Eph. 1:7

There are no “outsiders” in God’s kingdom; no one will be “picked last.” We will be accepted completely, redeemed totally, forgiven absolutely. We will be accepted as sons and daughters of the King.

19. There is completion.

And you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. – Col. 2:10

The concept of fullness includes the idea of being complete. What does it mean to be complete? We will be everything God ever imagined we could be in Him. We will lack nothing. We will be the complete fulfillment of His will.

Do you feel a bit overwhelmed? Good! That is my goal. To say that we are “fortunate” is to make the understatement of the year. But like Mary, our fortune is not in this world. Recall what Jesus said:

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. – John 16:33b