My December 28 Sermon follows the
Christmas Eve Sermon
Christmas
Eve - The Birth of the Savior
Christmas is the celebration of God’s
gracious decision to become human in the baby of
So we sang Christ is born in
A Sunday School
teacher had just finished telling her class the Christmas story - how
Mary and Joseph went to
Of course she expected them to say Mary.
But a little boy raised his hand and
answered “Eve”
Why do you think Eve is the
most important woman in the Bible?
Because they named two
days of the year after Eve. You know,
Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
Christmas Eve is the night when God
assumed flesh, took on our life, moved into our neighborhood, in
order to get to us.
The One who is eternal stepped
firmly into time.
The One who created the world, moved
into the center of worldliness.
The One who is pure
power and limitlessness, took on our weakness and limitations.
“I like the baby Jesus best.” That’s what Will Ferel
says in the comedy Tal-a-deg-a Nights, when he’s playing a stock car
racer.
He prays “Dear baby Jesus with your golden
fleece diapers.”
His wife interrupts him, “Jesus did grow
up. You don’t always have to call him baby.”
A typical husband, he ignores his wife, and
so he continues his prayer, “Dear newborn infant Jesus, so cuddly,
but still omnipotent...”
We like the baby Jesus too. We love to sing “Away in the manger, no
crib for his bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.”
We enjoy Christmas pageants with
glittery stars and shepherds and sheep in costumes. We sing “Silent Night, holy night... Holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace.”
But He did grow up, and the baby
Jesus is not quite as valuable as the adult, real Jesus.
The movie Crocodile Dundee was about
a man from
At one point, Dundee and his lady friend are walking in New York City and are held
up at knife point by a young gang wanna-be.
When the real thing comes along, everything that
came before pales in comparison.
The challenge is to look beyond the dear
infant in golden fleece diapers to the adult, real
Jesus, who is the Son of the most high God.
While commemorating what God did long ago
at
Our carols of gladness are not just over
what God did, but over what Christ does today to straighten
what is crooked in human life and to set right that which has fallen.
Mary named him “Jesus” as the angel
had instructed her, because the name means “God saves”. The name announces that God is
working through his Son, to save us from sin and death.
As the Christmas Carol says “Good
Christian friends rejoice, with heart and mind and voice. Now you need not fear the grave: Jesus Christ
was born to save.”
Jesus is Emmanuel, which means “God
is with us.” The promise of
Jesus is that God is with us and for us, in every
time and place and situation.
The baby born in
It is easy to worship a baby who asks
nothing from us but a diaper change.
But are we willing to praise King Jesus
who gives us the directive Love your enemies, do good to those
who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse
you. 6:27-28
Are we going to adore the ruler
and Lord who says If anyone strikes you on the
cheek, offer the other also.
Will we gracefully bow to the one who
commands Give to everyone who
begs from you. 29, 30
It’s easier to worship a powerless
baby, to sing Silent Night... Sleep
in heavenly peace.
But if we follow the commands
of King Jesus, our Lord - if we do love our enemies, do
good and give without expectation of return, we will be acting as obedient
servants of our powerful king, who promises Your reward
will be great and you will be children of the Most High. 35
Following Christ impacts how
we deal with others, for he calls us to loving service to others.
It’s a way of life that you can be proud
of.
For Christ would redeem us for himself,
as a people of His own who are zealous for good deeds. Titus 2: 14
We may meet Christ at this season as
the cuddly baby in the manger, who reminds us of the innocence with
which life begins. But when we
follow him from the manger into the world, we are asked to follow Him
to a cross. Our Christmas joy
derives from knowing that not even a cross could defeat Christ.
For the grace of God
has appeared bringing salvation to all. - Titus 2:11
In Jesus Christ we meet nothing less than
the revelation of Almighty God.
Jesus is the revelation of God’s nature - in every way like
God.
Divine revelation is not obvious and
does not document itself with foolproof evidence. We are not provided with irrefutable
grounds for faith. Thus, one person can say "It’s a miracle”,
while another says "It's coincidence."
We are always left with a choice and
simply invited to believe that Jesus is who he says he is.
And those who put their faith in Him
are empowered to be children of God, drawn into the family of
God and made recipients of the divine mystery.
The Shepherds were out doing what
shepherds are supposed to do.
Suddenly their night is interrupted by a heavenly messenger, who
promises good news for all people.
And they are invited to see for themselves - go to
Now the choice is theirs.
Will they accept the
invitation and leave their flocks?
Like other disciples who left their fishing
nets or their tax tables, they accept the invitation and go with haste.
Will you accept His
invitation to believe and follow
- follow all the way to the cross?
Wally was big for his
age--seven years old.
Everyone wondered what role the
teacher would give him in the annual Christmas play. Especially
considering the fact that he was also a slow learner.
To everyone's surprise the teacher gave Wally the role of the innkeeper.
The boy of course was delighted. All he had to learn was one line: "There
is no room in the inn." He had that down in no time.
Then came the night for the program. The parents took
their places. The children entered singing "Oh come all ye faithful."
The lights dimmed. The curtain opened on Scene One. Mary and Joseph entered the
stage and walked up to the inn. "Please sir, my wife is not well. Could
we have a room for the night?"
Wally was
ready for his line. He had rehearsed it all night. He began, There
is...and he hesitated. He started over again. There is.
. .and his mind went completely blank.
Joseph thought he would improvise and
started walking away toward the stable on stage left. Seeing him walking away
Wally
in desperation called out: "Look, there's plenty of room at my
house, just come on home with me."
The question for you and to me is, Do we have room for Christ in our lives?
Have you made room for the Christ in the
inn of your heart?
Will you take Jesus home
with you?
December
28 The Holy Family Sunday
It’s the first Sunday after Christmas.
After Christmas provides the chance to step back from the frantic pace
and frenzy of the holiday season to reflect on the meaning of Jesus coming into
the world.
In the gospel we pick up the story eight
days after Jesus birth with his initiation into the covenant. Then we go with the Holy family to the temple
in
In the temple they meet two prophets, Simeon
and Anna. They say Jesus is the
salvation promised by God - the glory of
This child is destined for
the rising and falling of many in
Jesus will prompt division. Everybody isn’t going to love him and listen
to him. He’ll be a sign that will be
opposed. There will be resistance
and finally rejection of Jesus by many.
The opposition will be so strong, Simeon
prophesies, that A sword will pierce your
own soul too, Mary. 2:35
As his mother, she will have
to witness Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross. While we know how the story ends, Mary and
Joseph didn’t. So they could only have
been perplexed about this aspect of their son’s future. Jesus is the Messiah
and Savior, but our redemption will come at a high price - like a sword
piercing the soul.
One more subtle point in
today’s gospel. In the first few verses, the word “Holy
Spirit” or “Spirit” occurs in each sentence.
In the new age inaugurated by Jesus’ birth, the Holy Spirit will be at
work in all believers, not just the prophets. As Paul writes:
God sent His Son, born of a
woman... in order to redeem us... so that we might receive adoption as his
children. And because you are children,
God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts... Galatians 4:4-6
God is making two moves at Christmas - the
sending of His Son, Jesus to be our Redeemer, and the sending of the Holy
Spirit - the on-going presence of His Son among us.
God sent His Son, born of a
woman -
wholly human with all the consequences - fear, loneliness, suffering,
temptation, doubt and finally feeling forsaken by God. He lives life in solidarity with us. Not only does he understand us because He’s
been through it all, but beyond that he offers us a share of His Spirit.
We are adopted children of the heavenly
Father and have been given the Spirit of His Son. The Spirit overrides our timidity and enables
us to pray, boldly saying Abba, Father.
When you pray, the Spirit works in your mind to
help you.
We are drawn into a new family - the family
of God - and given the freedom of His sons and daughters - and called to joyful
obedience and worship because God has sent the spirit of His Son into our
hearts... His Spirit empowers us to
walk in His way.
It’s also the Sunday before New Year’s
Day. A time what we might reflect,
looking back at 2008 and ahead to 2009.
We can review the past year, giving thanks
to God for all the ways he blessed and provided for us.
A father asked his young son to say grace
before their New Year’s dinner. The
little boy wasn’t sure what to say, so his dad told him “Just
thank God for all the family members that are gathered around the table,
and then thank God for the food we enjoy.”
The boy thought for a moment and then asked:
‘If I thank God for the broccoli, won’t God know that I am lying?”
While 2008 may go down in history as a year
of economic collapse - when years of growth ended and a deep recession began -
we made it through. God still was with
us, and we were blessed in many ways. So while some in
Three friends were reflecting on their long
lives. One asked the question: “When you
are in your casket and friends and family have gathered to mourn, what would
you like them to say about you as they look at you lying there.”
“I would like them to say that I was a
wonderful teacher who made a huge different in the lives of children.”
“I hope I’d hear them say I was a wonderful
husband and that I was devoted to my family.”
The last guy replies “I’d like to hear them
say, LOOK. HE’S MOVING.”
As you look back at 2008, are you satisfied
with your relationship with the Lord?
Change is inevitable - and our relationship with God does change over
time. We may be getting closer - or
moving away.
When thinking about our relationship with
God, there is a temptation to think that we can use our faith in Christ to get
what we want. Jesus does say that we
should present our needs to God in prayer - and of course that’s true. We ask as a child would ask their Father. We
keep hoping that Jesus is concerned with what concerns us.
But that is only one aspect of our
relationship. That attitude by itself
fails to appreciate that God sent His Son into the world as His means of
getting the kind of world that God wants for us. It’s not about what we want, but about what
He wants.
So maybe it’s time to look at where you
stand, in terms of what God wants. Through His word in the Bible is God
challenging you to make some change? Ask
where the Holy Spirit is convicting you of needed life change.
Maybe the first thing to examine is our own
willingness to be open to the Lord’s guidance.
Are we willing to look for ways in which we must be changed by God?
It’s sometimes hard and uncomfortable work
to move where God has directed us. It
may take resolutions and steps to catalyze our growth. Change is inevitable. We can embrace
attitudes and patterns that promote growth through change. Are there some bible truths - some aspects of
Jesus’ teaching that we want to shape our lives in 2009?
Remember the question is what does God want. We are
here to risk the possibility that hereby Jesus might use us to further His
purpose. Is there some area of service
that you might be called to?
Let me tell you about a young man who
ultimately became a Methodist pastor.
Initially that was not his goal - in fact, he didn’t have a goal. At the end of his junior year in college he
still hadn’t selected a major. “I don’t
know where in the world I’m going with this stuff.” This undeclared major kept being told “Do
something. Choose something.”
He worked part time with the youth group at
a little Methodist church. One evening
he was shooting hoops with some middle school kids. One by one they were picked up by their parents. There he was alone, it was getting dark, and
he’s shooting hoops by himself.
“Next year is my senior year. What am I going to do? Am I going to keep doing things at church?”
He reached down and pulled up some grass,
and threw it on the hood of his old car.
He said to God, “If you want me to be a minister, then blow that grass
off my car.”
Years later he was relating this story, and
a colleague asked: “Did God blow the grass off your car?’
“No.”
“Then what are you doing in the ministry?”
“What kind of God would he be if he took
orders from me?”
What kind of God would he be if He took
orders from you and me?
Don’t you think He sees more clearly than
you do - and has better understanding of what you really need?
It’s really not about what you want from God
- rather, it’s about what God wants from you.
Jesus can only be your Savior if you listen
to His word and are open to the guidance of His Spirit - if you are willing to
go where he leads.
Lord Jesus, You loved us so much as to
become incarnate, present, one of us and beside us. We thank you for your solidarity with us.
And yet, as one of us, you know exactly what
we are like. We have good intentions,
but often don’t follow through. We can
be lured away by temptation.
Lord, we know there are times when you will
need to stand against us rather than beside us.
Through your Word and Spirit, you may challenge and correct us.
We pray that at Christmas you would help us
to welcome you as you are, rather than who we might like you to be. Only when we let you be who you are, Our teacher and Lord, can you then be our Savior. Amen