Christmas is about God breaking through at surprising times, and showing up in unusual places in the world. You never know when, where, or how God is going to show up. The Bible is full of stories of how God broke into the world at the very time that people thought he was nowhere to be found. We think of God’s meeting with Abraham, promising to make him the father of many nations. We think of the Red Sea and God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery. God shows up on Mount Carmel as Elijah offers his sacrifice. He appears with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace. He shows up with Daniel in the Lion’s den. And, foremost, he shows up in Bethlehem as the angels announce the arrival of God on earth: Emmanuel.
God continues to show up in our day, though largely unnoticed by an unbelieving world. When he comes again it will be impossible to ignore him, for “every eye will see him” (Revelation 1:7). But until then, we need to have eyes that see and ears that hear. There are many examples that I could use, but take this one for a start. Akiane Kramarik is only 12-years-old, but she has abilities far beyond her years. Her mother chose to give birth to her underwater at the family home on July 9, 1994 in Mount Morris, Illinois. The family now lives in Idaho. Akiane speaks four languages, writes poetry, plays piano and composes her own music, and most of all she paints. Her paintings have deep expression and magnificent, living colors. She explains that she had a spiritual encounter with God at the ripe old age of four, and that now her paintings are attempts to help people experience God through her eyes. She claims to have actually visited heaven and gives vivid expression to what she saw there. She wants to put on canvas what she has seen in her visions and dreams. She says, “I want my art to draw people’s attention to God. I want my poetry to keep people’s attention to God.” Her desire is that people find hope in her paintings. The picture of Jesus here is entitled, “Father forgiven them,” and was painted when she was 9. The next one is called “The Journey” — also painted when she was 9. This painting is called “Planted Eyes,” and the one next to it is called “Prince of Peace.” Both were painted when she was only 8. Her web site defines her goal as: “To be an inspiration for others and to be the gift to God.” That’s very profound for a 12-year-old — “to be the gift of God.”
But the interesting part of the story is that Akiane did not come from a Christian home. Her American father is a culinary art instructor and chef, and her stay-at-home, Lithuanian mother was an atheist. There was no teaching in the home about the Christian faith, they never went to church and there was no talk of God. The entire family has now converted to Christianity, but home was not the place where she received any spiritual training. She has appeared on many TV shows, and been featured in several magazines. How did God break through to a 4-year-old girl in an atheistic home? I have absolutely no idea. Why did he do it? Well, he gave this girl a vision and a mission. But beyond that, this is just what God does. He chooses unusual people in unexpected places. Jesus was not born in the Temple, he was born in a stable. His father was not a priest, he was a peasant. His mother was not wealthy, they lived in poverty. They did not live in Jerusalem, they lived in Nazareth. No one really knew about Jesus’ birth and very few cared anything about it. But God was changing the world, and only a handful of people were in on the secret, and even they did not understand the full impact of what was happening.
There are just three brief things I would like to say this morning. The first is this: Christmas informs the culture. Whatever the culture in which we find ourselves, the message of Christmas informs us. The message is that God loves the world and he cares about us. Now we are looking into God’s face. The angels said to the shepherds: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people, and then exploded with praise as they said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:10 & 14).
Whether the world wants to hear it or not, the message of Christmas is one of good news of great joy. Christmas announces that there is reason to hope. The number of people whose lives have been changed since the birth of Christ is incalculable. But not only have individuals been changed, whole cultures and entire nations have been changed.
Christmas informs the culture that there is meaning and purpose in the world, for the God who created the world has come to redeem the world. Christmas informs the world that the true King of the world has been born, and he will set up his everlasting kingdom. Isaiah prophesied about this when he wrote: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7). This is the message with which Christmas informs the world.
The second thing I would remind you of is: Christmas transforms the culture. We not only have good news of great joy; our message is not mere words about hope and peace, the Christmas message is changing the world. The Bible talks of the transformation of individuals and also the transformation of the world. The Scriptures first call us to personal transformation: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). But we are transformed in order to transform the culture around us.
The story is told of a man who was reading the paper while his children were in bed. Much to his chagrin, a young daughter appeared who said she could not sleep. He told her to go back to bed, but she began to cry. So he conceived a plan. In the paper was a picture of the world, and he cut the picture into several pieces. He handed his daughter the pieces and some tape. “Go sit in the dining room, and see if you can put the world back together,” he said. He sat back to relax, but after only a few sips of his coffee, his daughter came bounding back with the world put back together. He was amazed and said, “Sweetie, how did you do that so fast?” She said, “It was easy, Daddy. On the back side of the page was a picture of a man. When you make the man right, you make the world right.” Transformed people transform the world.
The problem is that Christians have typically seen Christianity as being only about them. Their goal is to “get saved.” They want to have their sins forgiven. They want to go to heaven. Many American style Christians don’t see much beyond that. Christmas is not just about having your sins forgiven, it is about being transformed. You become a new person and are truly changed. In turn, you begin to change the world. The culture is not just influenced, but begins to be changed as changed individuals live in it, participate in it, rub shoulders with others in the culture.
Unfortunately, many Christians have retreated from the “world,” and are afraid of it. We withdraw from the world. We don’t want to be influenced by the world or contaminated by it, and in protecting ourselves from the world, we have failed to be an influence in the world. As Jesus said, we are to be salt and light to the world, but the salt has lost its flavor and the light has been hidden under a bushel. You can’t do what salt is supposed to do if you stay in the shaker, and you can’t do what light is supposed to do if you never go into the darkness. There is nothing to fear for Emmanuel is here — God is with us.
Here is how Paul saw it: “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:26-28). We have seen the world as our enemy, rather than our mission field. But Jesus’ message is subversive. It seeks to undermine the present world order and replace it with his kingdom. Christians are to be a kind of fifth column in the culture. We live in the culture, but our true loyalty is not to the culture, our nation or to the world, it is to Christ and his kingdom.
Unfortunately, this is not how many Christians see their lives. In spite of the fact that nine out of ten Americans affiliate themselves with a religious group, and less than 5 percent of Americans claim a faith outside of the Judeo-Christian faith, nearly a quarter of those surveyed would describe God as distant and not active in the world. Most see God as a cosmic force which set the laws of nature in motion, not as the engaging Father who came in person to seek and save the world.
It is like the parable I read recently by Paul Kooistra, where he said, “I remember that one fateful day when Coach took me aside. I knew what was coming. ‘You don’t have to tell me,’ I said. ‘I’m off the team, aren’t I?’ ‘Well,’ said Coach, ‘you never were really ON the team. You made that uniform you’re wearing out of rags and towels, and your helmet is a toy space helmet. You show up at practice and then either steal the ball and make us chase you to get it back, or you try to tackle people at inappropriate times.’” Then he writes, “It was all true what he was saying. And yet, I thought something is brewing inside the head of this Coach. He sees something in me, some kind of raw talent that he can mold.” The potential is there, the question is whether we will get in the game. Will we be the transformed who transform our culture, or will we be transformed by the culture? Stanley Hauerwas, professor at Duke, says, “It’s hard to remember that Jesus did not come to make us safe, but rather to make us disciples, citizens of God’s new age, a kingdom of surprise.”
The third thing I would like to point out is: Christmas forms a new culture. Christ’s birth was the signal of something new. His kingdom would replace the kingdom of the world. Christmas is the announcement of the kingdom of God breaking through — a new world order. Let the world never forget who its Creator is, for he is coming to claim his creation. Furthermore, let it never forget that Jesus is King, for he is returning to reign. We confidently say with the writer of Revelation: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15). This is something the world has been looking forward to since the first day of creation. Paul explains it this way: “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved” (Romans 8:19-24).
Many Christians operate as though we live in two realms: one foot is in the spiritual world, and the other is in the material world. In their thinking, one is eternal and the other is temporary, one is good and the other evil, but we are citizens of both and have a sort of dual allegiance. We live as though there are certain things we have to do in order to get along in the “real” world, but in our spiritual side we can pretend the world does not exist. The message of Christmas is that the kingdom of the world is becoming the kingdom of God. What is mortal is about to be swallowed up by life (2 Corinthians 5:4). The message of Christmas is that, as the hymn says, “Jesus Who died shall be satisfied, And earth and Heaven be one.” Jesus has laid claim to earth. It cannot just do as it pleases. The King is coming. In fact, he is already here. God is always operating with a bigger agenda than we are.
The story is told that golfing great, Arnold Palmer, once played a series of exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia. The king was so impressed that he told Palmer that he wanted to give him a gift. But Palmer said, “It really isn’t necessary, Your Highness. I’m honored just to have been invited.” But the king insisted, “I would be deeply upset if you would not allow me to give you a gift.” Palmer thought for a moment and finally said, “All right. How about a golf club? That would be a beautiful memento of my visit to your country.” The next day, delivered to Arnold Palmer’s hotel, was the title to a golf club — thousands of acres, trees, lakes, and a clubhouse.
We have such a small idea of what God wants to do with us and our world. We have lost sight of the larger gift that God wants to give us. We just want him to forgive our sins or solve our problems, but Christmas is about a whole new world that is coming.
Rodney J. Buchanan
December 24, 2006
Mulberry St. UMC
Mount Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org
