Getting Christmas Right

Christmas Eve 2005

Intro

I wonder how many of you have ever experienced buyer’s remorse. Something catches your attention—some object or piece of clothing—I don’t know what it is, but it catches your eye. You read up on it. You go look at it. You save your money. You think this is going to be the greatest experience of your life if you can only acquire this particular thing.

You buy it, and then you get it home and you use it or you wear it or you drive it. You have that gnawing sense of dissatisfaction in your spirit and you go, “Oh, why did I go and do that? Why did I put all that money into it? This isn’t giving me the payoff that I thought it would.” Buyer’s remorse—that’s what we call it!

I mention that because I think I’ve picked up another kind of regret in the circles that I’ve been traveling this season. It’s called Christmas remorse! When you ask people how their Christmas is going, there’s this frantic look, sometimes people drop their eyes, shake their heads, and lower their voices…and they say things like… “What happened? I had such high hopes going into this Christmas season. I wanted this to be the most spiritually tuned in Christmas ever. I wanted to be filled each day of the Christmas season with worship and wonder at our great God and the sending of his Son. I wanted there to be some wonderful family times that wouldn’t be rushed, and that we could be together and celebrate Christmas…Now It’s all gone by so fast and I just feel exhausted…”

And then like dedicated Redskins and 49’ers fans they say, they say, “But next year, next year, I promise—next year, I’m going to get Christmas right.”

About 48 hours ago I realized in my frantic rush thyat I hadn’t taken time to do the one important thing that I needed to do…to read the real Christmas story for myself…So I began to take some breaks and begin to read and let the Lord open up the story again… So to make sure we get Christmas right in at least this way, would you join me in standing while we read that wonderful simple Christmas story?

The Gospel (Luke 2:1-20)

Every time I read this story something new jumps out at me…some point, some truth God illumines and applies to my life. I hope this isn’t the last time you read or listen to this story! I hope you will read it again and again this Christmas season. Let the feast of images soak in to your mind…the bustle of crowds in Bethlehem, the desperation of a young couple trying to find some place to have their first child…a smelly and messy stable with a food trough for a crib…shepherds and angels and choirs…and all of it circling back four times to this one simple fact that grips Luke: “and there you will find a child, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

And I hope you will allow this story to raise in your mind the same question that it raised in Luke’s mind:
What Child is this…
And Why did He come??

So to get Christmas right this year, would you consider with me some of the facts of this story, and some of the symbols, and let those facts and symbols tether you to six Christmas truths…

He came… just in time!
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria).” Luke 2:1-2 NIV

HE CAME: if there’s nothing else you remember from this message tonight, no other Christmas truth, would you remember this…The radical, unique truth of the Christian faith is just this… God came to you and me in the flesh. He became one of us! Not a spirit, not a force, not a theory or a philosophy…Not by a messenger…God himself became a living, breathing flesh and bones human being who experienced the same joys, the same hurts, the same disappointments and frustrations…the same temptations…that you and I do everyday.

NOT a Myth….NOT a fanciful fable…He came AT A SPECIFIC TIME AND POINT IN HISTORY. Luke the historian specifies the reign and the time, so that you and I will get the fact that God is not just out there somewhere…in a radical invasion he has actually entered our time and space. He is real…He is one of us…and like the shephereds we too can go and check out for ourselves this child who is God in the flesh who has entered our time.

He came during the first census: At a time when the equivalent of the most advanced technology, by the most advanced culture in the world, was being used to bring order out of the chaos and disorder of the known world…does that sound familiar…does that sound like the kind of culture he might enter today?? And at the spearpoint of human knowledge, culture, technology, and PRIDE how does God come? He confronts that pride in the form of a helpless human baby—as he always does, in a way that disarms us and takes us by surprise!

“But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” Galatians 4:4-5 NIV

He came JUST IN TIME…at just the right time in history: When Rome had conquered the known world, built roads to facilitate commerce and the exchange of ideas all across that known world; When Greek language and culture had given a certain cohesion to society; when the old God’s and myths were beginning to lose their grip on the common people, so that the hearts and minds of people everywhere were hungry for a faith that was real and satisfying. It was a time when the Law of Moses had done it’s work of preparing people for Christ, holding them under its teaching for 1300 years and bringing them to the realization that no matter how hard they tried to be good, they could never satisfy this master, this Law. They didn’t need more law, they needed grace and forgiveness…

And that means, dear ones, that this baby who came at this time, and just in time, is the one who can really and truly come into your time , your life, your history, and …that he is as concerned about your time, and the timing in your life, as you are…and more!

He came to satisfy our hunger

· Bethlehem means “The House of Bread”-- Jesus was born in the house of bread!
· The manger… a feeding trough!
· You know, the human heart has a deep hunger: The leading psychologists of the twentieth century have all recognized this. Freud said “People are hungry for love”. Jung said “People are hungry for security” Adler said “People are hungry for significance…and all the while people are trying to meet this hunger in their quiet, and sometimes noisy pursuit of “the good life”—understanding not much but the fact that there is a hole inside of them and that however much food and drink they pour into it, however many friends they parade around the edges of it, however many Chriustmas presents they try to fill it with…the hole and the hunger aches.

And Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35 NIV

In other words, if you want your hunger satisfied come to me…I was born for this, in the House of bread, and my first home was a feeding trough! So don’t try to fill your hunger with anything else…come to me!!

He came for all of us!
And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ, the Lord!” Luke 2:10-11 NIV

You know, that was the first Christmas Card! The first Hallmark greeting card! “Angel” literally means messenger… And these messengers had a greeting and a blessing and an invitation they wanted to extend to all people! Not just the churchgoers. Not just the Anglicans! Not just the good folks and the respectable… it was for all the people.

How many of you get Christmas cards? I received my first Christmas cards the day after Thanksgiving. And when I got them, again, my first deep thought was, “Whoever sent me this is under challenged. They need a bigger challenge at work. They need to find a place of volunteerism at the church. If their lives are so in order that they can get their Christmas cards out the day after Thanksgiving, they’re under challenged.”

Am I digging a hole for myself here? But can I explain to you the facts of life about Christmas card sending? Some of you don’t understand how this really works. Here’s what people do. Throughout the course of their year, they evaluate their relational world. And then, when it comes around Christmastime, they actually form a list. And it’s a list of their friends. And they want to touch or bless the lives of their friends around Christmastime, so they send them a card for encouragement.

Whenever you receive a Christmas card, first thing you ought to think is, “I’m on someone’s friendship list.” That’s a beautiful thing. Thank God for friends. Thank God for friends who have you in mind and who want to bless your life with a little encouragement via a card.

So when you get it, you say, “Oh God, thank you for friendship and that I’m on someone’s friendship list. But you know what’s even better? It’s the Card from the Angels that says he has good news for ALL people! The Bible says that when I’ve opened my heart to Jesus Christ, I’m on God’s friendship list.”

Jesus said one time in John 15:15 to a group of followers, “I, now, call you my friends.” Do you know what it means to be on God’s friendship list? You’ve got to ponder this a minute. You know, the best human friend you have is flawed. They don’t have unlimited time for you. They don’t always have perfect listening skills or empathy, perfect counsel. You know, the best human friend you have is flawed.

They try. I try. You try, but we’re flawed. When you’re on God’s friendship list, you’re in a relationship with a flawless friend. His love is love of another kind. It’s never flawed. His listening skills are unparalleled. He’s available 24 hours a day. His counsel to you is always wise and true. His power and his resources are infinite. And he makes them available to you.

He came to make peace between us and God
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:13-14 NIV

That’s the message of the Angels too… But when the Bible talks about peace, it’s never in the poor sense that we think about it, as simply the absence of conflict…You know, there’s places in the world today where there is peace, but conflict is just simmering below the surface waiting to break out…maybe that even describes your own home!

But when the Bible talks about peace it uses the word SHALOM…a word which means wholeness, and health and restoration of relationship. And that’s the greatest gift that Jesus came to give us this Christmas…peace in our families,,,peace in our neighborhoods and communities..peace with our co-workers…peace with with each other…peace in the world

And above all, peace with God. Paul wrote in Romans 5:1--

“Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1 NIV

And in yet another letter, he put it this way (Read Ephesians 2:13, 14 and 17)…Another author in our own day put it this way:

“If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer…But our greatest need was for forgiveness. So God sent us a Savior.” --- anonymous

He came to make peace…
“And this will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:12 NIV

Wrapped in strips of cloth…You know, when I read that something occurred to me for the first time. I’ve read that story over and over and over again, But I never paid attention to what Luke was saying here—This will be a sign to you…not only the baby, but those strips of cloth he was wrapped in… They are a sign, they point to something…and all of a sudden they pointed me to the last scene in The Passion of the Christ where the wraps of cloth surrounding Christ’s lifeless body in the tomb collapse, like an empty cocoon…they pointed me to the end of the story, where those strips of cloth, carefully emptied of Christ, bear testimony to the fact that He has triumphed over sin and death for you and me by taking our place, dying on the cross, entering that cold tomb, destroying death itself and rising to life again in the flesh!!

And those strips of cloth are a sign to you and me that Jesus Christ can break the power of death, and despair, and hopelessness and purposelessness in your life and mine, separated from God: He can cancel the debt of all the things we have done wrong, and all the things we will do wrong, if we will only kneel at the foot of his cradle and give him thre gift of our hearts!

For this he was born for you and me…It was a sign of what was to come…and in the words of that great Christmas hymn:

Then let us all with one accord/ sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made heaven and earth of nought/ and with his blood our life hath bought!

He came to anyone who will seek him and see for themselves…
As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing…The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!
Luke 2:15-16, 20 The Message

You know, shepherds were not the best and the brightest… They were “anybodies”…Ordinary people like you and me, with the same frustrations and challenges and worries about job, and feeding the family, and paying the bills and staying on top of the same kind of things that you and I face.

But that night they received the greatest gift a person can ever receive—a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, and the joy of discovering new life in Him… And all they did was receive the message, and go and check it out for themselves…

God brought you here this evening for a reason He wants you to accept His Christmas gift, to not go another season without beginning that relationship with Him that Jesus Christ came to establish. You may have never known God personally. You’ve known about God. You believe He exists. You know about Him. You just don’t know Him. I know about President Bush. I don’t know him personally. But I know God personally and have had a relationship with Him for many, many years. And you can too.

Maybe you have a lot of questions, and need some time to check them out, and to check out the truth of the good news the angels delivered. Then do what the Shepherds did…don’t just go back to business as usual! Come back and see for yourselves what life can be like if you open your heart to Jesus and live your life as he would putting your whole trust in him! If you live in SR, come back next week and join us…and if you’re visiting, let us know where you’re from and we’ll connect you to a church in your area where you can see for yourselves, just like the Shepherds, who Jesus really is!

Maybe you’ve been close to God in the past and you’ve kind of drifted away. There’s not a better time to come back to God than at Christmas. You don’t need to talk to me, talk to God. Tell Him your heart. It doesn’t matter what you say. What matters is the direction of your heart. say, “Yes! I want to have a relationship with You.”

Let me clarify this. We’re not talking about a religion. You may have a religious background or you may not have a religious background. You may be Catholic or Protestant or Jewish or Buddhist or Baptist or I don’t know what. We’re not talking about that. We’re talking about a relationship with God that you were designed to have. And you can begin that today.

Prayer:

This is your moment to accept God's Christmas gift to you. I’m going to say a prayer and if it kind of expresses the desire of your heart why don’t you follow in. Say, “Yes, God, me too.”

Dear God, I don’t want to let another Christmas pass without accepting Your gift to me. Thank You for coming to earth so I could know what You’re like. I am amazed that You would want a relationship with me. I want to get to know You. I want to learn to trust You. Please help me to know the purpose that You put me on earth for. I know I’ve done a lot of things wrong and I’m especially grateful for Your forgiveness and Your gift of eternal life. From this day forward I want to be under new management. I want You to be the Lord of my life. Amen.