Sermon Sandwich
Sermon Sandwich—An Evil King and the Secret Birth of a Savior
Trinity Church, 1589 Hwy 174, Edisto Island, SC 29438
www.trinityedisto.com 843-869-3568
Christmas II, January 1, 2023
Holy Eucharist - Renewed Ancient Text; 2019 BCP, p.123
Matthew 2:1-18 Sermon Notes
A Basic Plot line - An Evil King and the Secret Birth of a Savior
The Legend of King Arthur -
2. The Legend of Luke Skywalker of Star Wars -
3. The Historical Account of Moses and the Exodus -
4. The Historical Account of Jesus and Salvation -
The Main Characters -
In simple stories, the Protagonist, Antagonist, Guardian, and Contagonist are all major drivers of the story. Whatever the object of their efforts, Protagonist will be trying to achieve it, Antagonist will be trying to prevent its achievement, Guardian will act to aid the achievement, and Contagonist will act to hinder. (The Book Shepherd at www.bookshep.com
Protagonist Guardian
King Arthur Merlin
Luke Skywalker Obi-Wan Kenobi
Moses Miriam/Daughter
Jesus Joseph
Just to be clear. The Protagonist is Jesus. The Antagonist is the Devil and his Contagonist is King Herod the Great. But the Guardian is … Joseph.
Joseph the Guardian
Matthew 2:13-15 — 13 Now 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.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Joseph shifted in his understanding of Righteousness -
From the Righteousness of Law to the Righteousness of Grace
II Corinthians 5:21 - For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Joseph shifted in his understanding of Obedience -
From the Obedience of Law to the Obedience of Faith
Joseph was taking steps of faith! He responding to the call of the Angel of the Lord and took steps to serve and sacrifice for who? The Protagonist! Jesus!
The Question - Who Am I in the Story?