Home For Christmas (December 12, 2021)

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Text: Luke 2:1 - 7

Luke 2:1-7  In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.  (2)  This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.  (3)  All went to their own towns to be registered.  (4)  Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.  (5)  He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.  (6)  While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.  (7)  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (NRSV).

“ On December 17th, 1903, after four attempts, the Wright Brothers flew their “flying machine” for the first time. Wilbur rushed to the local telegraph office and sent the following message: “We have flown for 12 seconds – will be home for Christmas!” Upon receiving the telegram, their sister Katherine went to the newspaper office and told them the news. Two days later, the local paper placed the following headline on page six: “Wright brothers home for Christmas.””https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/home-for-christmas-brian-bill-sermon-on-christmas-130008 Joseph was going back home to his hometown the city of David called Bethlehem. Joseph was there for the very first Christmas. Micah 5:2 even prophesied about the Messiah being born in Bethlehem 700 years before Christ was born.

Most people want to be home for Christmas don’t they? Why do they long for home at Christmas time? Do they hunger for the good old days of Christmases past? What about those who avoid going home because of pain or bad memories?

A good friend of mine named Bob has in his home an item that says, “Because someone we love is in HEAVEN there’s a little bit of HEAVEN in our home”. God sent us His only begotten Son Jesus to help make heaven our home. Could it be that is the real home that people hunger for--- a home in heaven? How is that even possible? Its possible because Jesus’s birth brought heaven to us!

Today we will explore longing for home, coming home and home in heaven.

LONGING FOR HOME

What is one of the most common elements to just about every Hallmark Christmas movie and a lot of Christmas movies in general?

1) Guess: In a few words what would your answer be? Is it the commercial side of Christmas? Is it the joy of Christmas? Is it the dreams of a white Christmas? Is it the exchange of gifts? Is it the Christmas parties?

2) Cliche: What do they call it when an idea is used again and again and again making it use almost boring in movies and books? Have you ever noticed how many movies that they re-make? Is it because they ran out of ideas---a cliche or is it the idea of remaking an old classic for a new generation?

How many people wrestle with the idea of going home for Christmas? Why do you think people struggle with this in movies and even in real life? How have you or how are you struggling with it? How many know the real meaning of Christmas?

1) Give us light: “The highlight of the Christmas play was to show the radiance of Jesus. An electric bulb was hidden in the manger. All the stage lights were to be turned off so that only the brightness of the manger could be seen. At the appropriate time all the lights went out! Silence was broken when one of the shepherds said in a loud stage whisper, “Hey! You turned off Jesus!” (Michael Hodgin. 1001 Humorous Illustrations. Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1994, p. 62). How many people struggle because they have failed to turn on the light of Christ in their lives? Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season! The season bears His name because through Him God’s love came down at Christmas!

2) Longing: Don’t we associate a longing with an unfulfilled desire? How many people at Christmas time have a yearning to fill the emptiness that they feel? The problem is that too often too many place worldly things and ideals in the God-shaped space in their lives.

There is something of a homing pigeon instinct that God has placed in every one of us. Our heart is a metaphor for the Inn because its full of everything but Jesus!

Jeremiah 31:33  says,”But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people”. Yet we tend to have wandering hearts, don’t we?