Love

Luke 2:15-20

“Love”

This might sound like a silly question, but let’s ask ourselves anyway…

What is Christmas and when does it come?

I know it’s in 11 days, but…

…surely, it’s more than a date on a calendar.

And it’s got to be more than Christmas trees and colored lights.

Christmas can’t just be about Santa or flying reindeer.

Surely Christmas is more than poinsettias and presents and pageants and parades as nice as those are.

I mean, what puts Christmas deep into our souls?

What writes the Christmas spirit indelibly on our hearts?

Well, of course, the essence of Christmas is love, God’s incredible love for us, expressed when God sent Jesus Christ into the world to save us.

Whenever and wherever God’s love is accepted and shared, Christmas comes again!

My favorite Christmas memory is the Christmas of my Freshman year of college.

I had been a long haired, hard partying, heavy metal dude in high school.

I loved heavy metal music and the lyrics to those songs, and I lived them out best I could.

And that was how I was known.

That was who Ken Sauer was.

In November of my Freshman year, I had a radical born again experience and decided to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

And it changed my heart.

It changed my personality.

It changed my behavior.

When I came home for Christmas break I went to a lot of parties with kids from my high school.

I still had the long hair.

I looked the same on the outside…

…except for the smile on my face…

…and the way I interacted with people, the way I talked, opened up.

I was the talk of the town.

Look what happened to Headbanger Ken!

Many, many years later I overheard my father talking about that time.

He was saying to someone, “When Kenny came back from college it was like he was a completely different person.”

And in so many ways—it’s true.

That was a great, great Christmas.

The best I’ve ever had.

My faith was fresh and new.

And the meaning of Christmas had become incredibly meaningful to me…as a matter of fact, I guess you could say: I experienced it for the first time!

When we, like the shepherds, fall down in awe, wonder and commitment before the manger of God’s love, there it is: Christmas!

When we, like the three wise men, give our best to the Master, there is Christmas!

When we, like Mary and Joseph, trust and obey God and try our best to do God’s will, there is Christmas!

One of the best known and most beloved verses in all the Bible is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

That’s what Christmas is really about.

We needed a Savior and God sent us one.

We needed a Messiah and God sent us one.

We needed a Christ and God sent us one.

God so loved the world that God gave the world God’s Son!

When we bow down before that, when we come to grips with that, when we accept God’s love, when we receive the Messiah into our hearts and commit our lives in faith to him…

…whenever and wherever, that happens, there is Christmas!

Whenever and wherever, that happens, Christmas comes again!

Many years ago, there lived in a small village a shoe maker by the name of Conrad.

Day by day, early and late, the tap, tap, tap of his hammer could be heard as he fixed the shoes brought to him by the villagers.

Though he was alone and poor, this kind man always had a warm and friendly word for everyone.

Because of this, many folks left his shop feeling better than they had when they had come.

Now, as we know, Christmas is a time when many families get together, but Conrad had no family.

On Christmas morning, some neighbors, thinking how lonely Conrad must feel, decided to stop by for a visit.

They found him sweeping away the snow in front of his house, and to their surprise his face was radiant and happy.

As they entered his house, they looked around in amazement.

Instead of a dark and dreary room they saw a Christmas tree and decorations.

And most surprising, the table was set for two!

“Who is coming to visit you?” the neighbors asked.

Conrad replied, “Last night the Lord appeared to me in a dream.

The Lord told me that I would not be alone on Christmas Day, for God was coming to be my guest.

Everything is ready.

I’m waiting for him to arrive.”

After the neighbors left, Conrad sat by the window, quietly watching and waiting for God to come.