Today I want to launch us into this message with a reading from one of the great minds of theology
Dr. Seuss . . . I have here copy "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"
A favorite Dr. Seuss book . . . I want to read a portion of it to you (Read pages 1-2 of the story)
Every Who Down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, was singing! Without any presents at all!
He hadn’t stopped Christmas from coming at all!
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags!
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
Maybe Christmas, He thought, doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas...Perhaps...means a little bit more!
What is Christmas about? For many people Christmas is a depressing time of year
Tis the season to be morose, the season to divorce, the season of suicide
Christmas is marked by greater emotional stress
For others Christmas is frenzied, frazzled shopping
Buying more, spending more, getting more and having less . . .
So we run around trying to buy happiness, peace, joy and good will towards all men
Christmas has become ultimate holiday for committed hedonists
Christmas has become an excuse to . . .
The meaning of Christmas is slipping away from us
Have you notice HOW and WHAT the stores advertise at this time of year?
Stop by your local Hallmark store . . . what do the cards say?
Season greetings – Happy Holidays – genetic winter celebration good wishes
Imagine you are someone who never heard about Christ
What message would you get from what you see?
San Jose Mercury News told the story of a christening that was to be held many years ago by a very wealthy European family. Many guests were invited to the home for the occasion and came in the very latest fashionable garb. Their wraps and coats were carried to a bedroom and laid upon the beds. After the usual lot of conversation and commotion, they were ready for the christening ceremony and someone asked, "Where is the baby?" The nurse was sent upstairs to look and returned in alarmed distress. The baby was nowhere to be found! After several minutes search someone remembered that the child had last been seen lying on one of the beds, and after a frantic search the little child was found smothered under the wraps of the guests.
This pathetic story demonstrates what we have done to Christmas
We need Christ to put the real meaning into Christmas
But we have lost the realization of what Christmas is really about
We have become like the wife who said to her husband:
This year let’s give each other more practical gifts like socks and fur coats
What is the MORE behind Christmas?
Luke 2:7 Christmas is the CELEBRATION of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ dropped right into the middle of human history
He came at a time when everybody was busy . . . just like now
Where there is no place for Jesus to fit into our busy schedules
Luke 2:10-11 I bring you good news of great joy for everyone!
A Savior has been born to you!
That’s the MORE behind Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In the hopes the St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads;
Clement Moore continues in his famous Christmas poem "The night before Christmas"
To immortalize the Christmas elf who we know as Santa Claus
Santa Claus has become the central figure of Christmas . . .
It almost wasn’t Christmas - Santa doesn’t believe people care about each other so he won’t come
The night they saved Christmas - Santa’s workshop is being destroyed by explosions by men who are looking for riches in oil deposits they believe reside near the North Pole, if destroyed no Christmas
Is this what Christmas is about?
Maybe Christmas, I thought, doesn’t come from Santa Claus
Maybe Christmas...Perhaps...has a deeper cause!
Have you ever wondered why we celebrate Christmas?
I don’t mean why we do, but why people who have no knowledge of Christ
Who have no Christian up bringing – celebrate Christmas?
What do people think is the cause of Christmas . . . like to walk the streets and ask
What is the CAUSE of Christmas? Luke 2:11 Answers that question!
For today a Savior is born for you – A Savior is born . . . FOR YOU
Dative of advantage - Indicates the person for whose benefit something is done
Our great need of deliverance and salvation . . .
At Christmas God acted to save all people by giving us Jesus to save us
Luke 19:10 To seek and to save what is lost
1 Peter 3:15 share our hope with others
The deeper cause of Christmas is the great gift of God, forgiveness, restoration
Salvation found in Jesus Christ - That’s real CAUSE of Christmas
At Christmas time we hear a lot of talk about love, happiness and joy
This is the time of year of heart warming television specials
All of which center on attitudes of kindness, love and sacrifice
These emotive stories always warm our hearts . . .
And cause to remember the less fortunate among us
Even Charles Dickens’ story, A Christmas Carol . . .
Have you noticed that everything always works out in the end
That somehow the magic of the season works a miracle and everyone is ends up happy? Is that how it works out in your life?
Is this what Christmas is about?
Maybe Christmas, I though, doesn’t come from a television
Maybe Christmas...Perhaps...is God’s provision!
Christmas is a time for sharing our joy, happiness and good will towards all
But Christmas more then just those emotions
More than doing good deeds - More than exchanging presents
More than all those feeling that after Christmas leave us empty and unfulfilled
One of my favorite stories, that I know I have told before, is about a grandfather who found his grandson jumping up and down in his playpen, crying at the top of his voice. When Johnnie saw his grandfather, he reached up his little chubby hands and said, "Out, Gramps, out." It was only natural for the grandfather to reach down to lift him out of his predicament, but as he did the mother of the child stepped up and said "No, Johnnie, you are being punished-so you must stay in." The grandfather was at a loss to know what to do. The child’s tears and chubby hands reached deep into his heart. But the mother’s firmness in correcting her son must not be taken lightly. But he found a way. The grandfather could not take the grandson out of the playpen, so he climbed in with him.
This is what God did for us at Christmas, He climbed in with us
Matthew 1:23 Immanuel - God with us! This is what Christmas is about!
God’s provision for us is found in God’ free gift of salvation . . .
We who were once far away have been brought near - We who were lost are found
We who were endanger of the fires of hell, have been promised heaven
We who deserved nothing, have been given everything in Christ
Christmas is about giving, but only because of the great gift that was given us
And it is out God giving His very best for us, the giving of Himself
That we find the true spirit of Christmas
Jesus crucified and resurrected is God’s PROVISION for us?
For it is out of that, that we find what we really need
Every Who Down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, was singing! Without any presents at all!
He hadn’t stopped Christmas from coming at all!
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags!
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
Maybe Christmas, He thought, doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas...Perhaps...means a little bit more!
