Matthew 2:1-2;“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him”.

When is something that looks same, not the same? If you have ever been to New York City you have probably come across ‘street vendors’ selling their ‘Louis Vuitton’ bags. Bags that look the same but are a cheap imitation at best. Here, in our text today I think we have a good example that falls into this very category. Look at the difference in the text we have read from the gospel of Matthew: ‘Herod the king’ and ‘He who has been born King of the Jews’. Now, even though the Greek word of king (βασιλεύς – basileus) is the same word that is used in both instances, I like what most English translations have done by capitalizing the word ‘King’ for Jesus. For there is a galaxy-sized chasm between their kingship. You see, Herod may have been ‘king’ of Judea put he doesn’t come close to Jesus, King of the Jews. When we read through the Gospels we see many facets of Jesus and His character. We see a Friend, a Healer, a Teacher, the Son of Man, the Son of God, the list goes on. This started me on a train of thought about how many times we look at Christ and only see an aspect of Him that we want to see? The side that embodies Love, the side that Delights in us, the side that sees Him as our Best Friend. Don’t get me wrong these are all great things that we see in Christ, but it is just a part of who He is. HE IS KING! We must never forget that He is the King of Kings and the Lord or Lords, the One in Revelation Chapter 1 with the snow white hair, eyes of like fire, feet like bronze, a voice like the sound of many waters, and a face like the sun shining in all its strength. Couple that with Revelation 19 where we see a Christ coming on a white horse, clothed in a robe dipped in blood. This is also part of who Christ is. The word awesome is often misused in our conversations today, but it is definitely the appropriate word to use when describing our King, He truly is Awesome in every sense of the word. To understand Christ, is to know Him and everything that He is, from Friend to Coming King. Let us not forget that this is the Man that will Judge all of mankind. The Only One who is qualified to do so.

He is King! Whether Pilate did it from a place of truthful sincerity or if he was adding insult to injury, what he wrote on Christ’s Cross; “This is Jesus, The King of the Jews”, was incredibly accurate.

Glory to the King.

Ps. 36:18; “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted”.

The other morning I was driving to work and the strangest thing happened: as I pulled onto the main highway, the children’s nursery rhyme, ‘Humpty Dumpty’ came to mind. You know the one: 

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again”

As I kept repeating this nursery rhyme in my mind and wondering why it would not leave me, the word ‘Brokenness’ came to my mind. I started to correlate the ‘traditional’ tale of this egg-man who in his broken state on the ground, struggled to find help. There are many forms of brokenness. One such form is being broken physically. I remember as a young child attending Cubs (a young version of the Boy Scouts), we used to play a game called Elephant Charge, basically a manic version of Dodgeball. On one occasion as I tried to jump over an oncoming ball, I landed on top of the ball and was sent flying through the air. Of course the landing was not pretty, as I landed with all my weight on my left arm. The inevitable happened; I snapped my bone so badly that my arm was left looking like the alphabet letter ‘L’. Help was quickly assembled and the next thing I know, my dad is taking me to the hospital to ‘get fixed’. The doctors were great and ‘put me back together again’ and despite the annoying itching that a cast provides, within 7 weeks all was well. But there is a brokenness that the ‘king’s men’ cannot fix…..

Physical brokenness is one thing and the pain thereof that should not be discounted or downgraded; but the pain we experience with emotional brokenness runs much deeper. Why? Because this emotional brokenness usually stems from (though not limited to) the harsh words and provocation, lack of respect or love that is shown to us or a betrayal of someone close towards us. The closer the perpetrator is to us, the deeper the wound. All of these things leave their mark. They all invoke in us the deepest insecurities that we have buried from the majority of people that we surround ourselves with. I think of Hannah in the Bible and how she was provoked on a yearly basis by Peninnah, concerning her unfruitful womb. Can you imagine how Hannah must have felt when this time of the year was approaching? She knew what was coming. She knew that Peninnah was going to come and verbally attack her. Hannah could have been forgiven if she succumbed to this attack and allowed herself to feel like this egg-man character we know as Humpty Dumpty. It would have been a natural reaction to feel emotionally broken. But she didn’t let the situation break her. And the end of the story increases in its beauty. For all of us, like Hannah, in these times of brokenness to remember what the Psalmist said; “You track all of my sorrows and you put all my tears in a bottle.” I love this so much (Even if this Englishman’s bottle of tears may just by a tiny thing). Here we understand that God not only validates our brokenness and pain, but He does something about it. He gathers them all and stores them. He is fully aware of the moments of brokenness we experience.

One more thought concerning the emotional brokenness we experience, these sufferings can often leave us feeling a little bit like Humpty Dumpty; with one difference. We often feel like we have been pushed or kicked off the wall. And this usually is correct, and is why we are in a broken mess on the floor. It is the same for us as it was for Humpty Dumpty, all the king’s horses and all the king’s men, couldn’t put him or us back together again. They may be able to help with physical brokenness but not with this type of brokenness. The Psalmist again says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” We can’t put our trust in the coming cavalry or in men to help fix us. We must trust in one person alone for that. Our Lord. ONLY our Lord is able to bind us together again and make us whole.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted…..

Matt 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”.

Have you heard the following question voiced in deep frustration; God, where are You? Often, times of personal or national loss and calamity bring this question to the forefront of any plea for help and direction. Indeed, there are times that God does seem absent, yet we know in our hearts that He is not far from each one of us. In an attempt to seek Him out we follow many familiar paths in the hope of ‘finding’ God. Yet, Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age”.

When we are searching for God, we are literally searching for ‘His Presence’. In the Old Testament, we see the priests and their interactions in the Tabernacle concerning the Table of Showbread (Otherwise known as the ‘Bread of the Face’). It seems to indicate that the priests could ‘see’ God as they turned their gaze upon this ‘Bread of the Face’. Therefore, since ‘presence’ is often translated as ‘face’ I suggest that when we ask the question; “God, where are You?” In essence we are requesting His Presence to be so close and real to us, that it resembles a face-to-face meeting with our closest confidant. And you may be surprised where you ‘find’ Him.

I was recently in Russia and I found God in a place I did not expect. In walking into some of the old established Russian Orthodox churches, I found a huge absence of His Presence. The face of His Son and His mighty works may have been on display for all to see, but I struggled to feel His Presence in this ecclesiastical setup. However, on another occasion, I went to a young church plant that rents out a Night Club in the heart of Moscow every Sunday to have their church services. I did not struggle to experience the Presence of the Living God in that Night Club. Truly, where two or three are gathered IN HIS NAME, His Presence is there. The vibrancy and life that emanated from the young Russian worshipers was a joy to behold. When some old church buildings in Europe are now being converted into Night Clubs it was refreshing to see a Night Club being converted into a house of worship. You can ‘find’ God in the most surprising places. God is not confined to a box of our own making.

They say that ‘Home is where the heart is’. I say to you ‘Home is where Jesus is’.

I’ll finish with a favourite song of mine from 1977:

“Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.
I can feel God’s mighty power and God’s grace.
I can hear the brush of angel’s wings,
I see glory on each face.
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place”.

Gen 17:16; “I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be of her.”

I am currently on a European flight looking out over God’s creation, and can’t help but think about one of His greatest creations: Hazel Hoskins. I have to be honest with you, as I think upon Hazel and her life, I am struggling to process and cope with the earthly absence that we now have since her passing. It was only two weeks ago that we were laughing and joking together as she thanked an intern for helping to clear out some of the ‘junk’ from Bob’s office. And if you have seen inside Bob’s office these items are more like artifacts than junk. Such was her humor. So permit me to share some thoughts on this marvelous woman.

Anybody who knows me well has probably heard me say these words over the years, “It doesn’t matter what Hazel asks me to do. The answer is always ‘yes’, before she even finishes her question.” Varying from requests of prayer, to dressing up as a gecko, the answer was always ‘yes’. Why was this so? The answer is simple; Respect and Honor. They say that Respect and Honor are ‘earned’, and although this is true, I prefer to say it is ‘given’. Hazel never did things to ‘earn’ respect and honor, she simply received it from others because of how she lived her life.

For those who never knew Hazel, they missed out. In Hazel, God had created a spiritual colossus of a woman. A faithful and prayerful soldier and loving mother. Faithful, because when God asked her to do something her answer was always ‘yes’. I would be surprised if she missed the will of God on any matter during her life. Prayerful, because she not only believed but knew nothing could be built for the Kingdom of God without prayer. My mind is taken back to my early days of working with OneHope over a decade ago. I remember that Hazel decided that we needed more prayer than we had previously had before. She set up a ‘prayer rota’ in the library and the staff would go there, sign in and pray around the clock in 15 minute segments. As a young man this left a deep impression in me that has never left. Hazel was also a loving mother, not only to her own flesh and blood but to everyone she knew.

When I think of Hazel, I think of Sarah. Sarah, which means princess, (and when we speak of Hazel, we do indeed speak of a royal princess of the King) was told by God that she would be a mother of nations. Hazel, who reached over 1 billion children around the world with God’s Eternal and Holy Word, truly became and spiritual mother to a multitude of children. To know that she is not only being blessed by God Almighty for reaching these young souls with the gospel but to know that she will also share in the rewards of the fruits of their ‘Kingdom Labor’ as they fulfill their own destiny, is both mind-boggling and awe-inspiring at the same time. Seldom has there been a ‘mother’ like Hazel Hoskins.

Although I never sat down one-on-one to have mentor-ship time with Hazel, she did indeed unknowingly mentor me over the years. One had to simply observe and learn from her life, her character and her words. Hazel set the bar of sanctification very high for those around her, by simply being herself. Never once did I hear an ill-spoken word leave her lips. Never once did I see a ‘chink in her armor’ concerning her character. She unknowingly challenged me to be better in every way.

No thoughts on Hazel would be complete without a mention of her humor and wit. I’ve already mentioned her humor involved in our last conversation, but this was not unusual. Her humorous spontaneous interjections of wit were a constant presence in all of our lives. Her ability to light up a room with a ‘one-liner’ was a gift and will be sorely missed.

I am well aware that my feelings of loss and depth of memories, pale in comparison to those who knew and loved her the most. And at this time our prayers should be with Bob and Hoskins family. They surely will need our support during this time of grief.

For a lady who loved the Word of God (KJV preferred) and loved to worship Him on the piano, I will adapt the words of an old hymn. “Hazel clung to the old wooden cross in life but has now exchanged it for a crown in the next.”

Beloved By All…