Sermon for 12/24/2006
Up On the Housetop
Introduction:
Who is He in yonder stall, at whose feet the shepherds fall?
Who is He in deep distress, fasting in the wilderness?
Tis the Lord! O wondrous story! Tis the Lord! The King of glory!
At His feet we humbly fall, Crown Him! Crown Him, Lord of all!
WBTU:
A. These are words to a popular Christmas hymn written by Benjamin R. Hanby.
B. Benjamin Hanby was the son of a United Brethren minister. When he graduated from college, he served as the principal of a school in Ohio. Later, he preached in Lewisburg and New Paris. He composed another song quite popular among abolitionists of the time called, “Darling Nellie Gray.” It was a song against slavery. WE would think that a man of this description would be serious minded.
C. Mr. Hanby also wrote another song. Some of you know it, sing along with me.
D. Up on the housetop, reindeer pause, out jumps good ol Santa Claus. Down through the chimney with lots of toys all for the little ones Christmas joys. Ho, Ho, Ho! Who wouldn’t go? Ho, Ho, Ho! Who wouldn’t go? Up on the housetop, click, click, click. Down through the chimney with good Saint Nick.
E. He’s not so serious minded as we might think. Mr. Hanby got his thoughts for this song from Clement Moore’s poem, “Twas the Night before Christmas.” But where did they get this idea that there is a man out there who lands on the housetop, goes down through the chimney and delivers toys to the girls and boys?
F. Saint Nicholas is said to have provided a dowry for three women in distress. There father was going to sell them into prostitution but because Saint Nicholas provided money so they could get married, this did not happen. The legend says that up on the housetop, Saint Nicholas dropped gold coins through the roof to save them from this fate. This legend has grown and grown until this.
G. Something we must understand just from the legend of Saint Nicholas is that housetops in Bible times and housetops today are different. We think of Santa straddling his sleigh on the top of our roofs while he tries to keep his balance before he goes down the chimney. This was a foreign thought to those in Bible times. They did not have housetops, they had flat roofs.
H. In Bible times people did not build houses with the idea in mind that most of their daily living would be spent inside them. Their first interest was in spending as much time as possible in God’s out of doors. The house served as a place of retirement and the roof served in that purpose.
I. Manners and Customs of Bible Lands by Fred Wight says, “The roof was made by laying beams across from wall to wall, then putting on a mat of reeds, and over it a coating of clay or earth; sand and pebbles scattered over this, and a stone roller was used to make it smooth and able to shed rain.”
J. The roofs of Bible times are mentioned quite a lot.
Thesis: From the Bible’s perspective, what would we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch on the roof.
For instances:
I. See
The view is tremendous from a roof. See for miles and look down upon the streets.
A. (Judg 16:27 NIV) Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform.
From the roof of the Bible we can look down and see the ruined lives of many!
B. (2 Sam 11:2 NIV) One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful
The palace was above the roofs of Jerusalem, and David could look upon this woman lustfully. It leads to sin and many problems for David! But what about Bathsheba!
E. (Dan 4:29 NIV) Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, (Dan 4:30 NIV) he said, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?"
Nebuchadnezzar was looking at the city and he became filled with pride! Who gave him the power and the wisdom to do this? Some do this today! Don’t need God!
In the movie, “Shenandoah” James Stewart’s character is the patriarch of a large Southern family, running a very successful plantation when the Civil War broke out. Early in the movie the family sat down for dinner, and as they all bowed their heads, this is what he prayed: ’Lord, we cleared this land; we plowed it, sowed it, and harvested it. It wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t be eating it if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you just the same anyway for this food we are about to eat. Amen’
Spoken or unspoken, I think that may be the attitude of far too many hearts, even Christian ones. But the truth is that the foods we eat, the clothes we wear, the very air we breathe, are a fresh gift from God every day, for every man woman or child. Nothing is ours; nothing."
II. Hear
The villages of Bible times had town criers. The orders of local governors are proclaimed from the top of the highest house available. Such a proclamation is usually made in the evening, after the men have returned from their work in the field.
The call of the town crier is said to resemble a distant, prolonged railroad whistle and the town residents learn to listen for what follows.
A. (Luke 12:3) What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
This verse reminds us against the impossibility of hiding our sins in the Day of Judgment. Many vile accusations and exposure of family secrets were hurled from the housetops of angered parties in Bible times. (Mat 12:37 NIV) For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
B. (Prov 21:9 NIV) Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
The roof also was a place to go so that one doesn’t hear. In other words, to get away from all of the noise in the house itself. It could be a place of quiet and escape!
III. Taste
The roof was a place where a meal could be eaten. Prepared in the house and taken on the roof in a nice day. It was eating in the open air. Considering Jesus’ commandment in (Mat 6:6 NIV) But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. The roof would be a good place to do this on many occasions. It was a good place to fill up the belly and the spirit.
* (Acts 10:9 NIV) About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.(Acts 10:10 NIV) He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.
Martin Luther said, “Prayer is the better part of study.” This year we have been reading through the entire Bible. This should lead us to more prayer. The Bible talks about a person. As we learn more about that person, Jesus Christ the Word, we want to talk with him more.
(1 Pet 2:2 NIV) Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, (1 Pet 2:3 NIV) now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
IV. Smell
The flat roofs in Bible times so exposed to the air and sunshine were well suited for storing grain or fruit to be ripened or dried. Roofs would have smelled like potpourri.
A. (Josh 2:6 NIV) (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.)
On the roof of the Bible we smell that flax and we notice the events of the fall of Jericho.
Is there a problem in our lives that we need to be set free from? Climb up on the roof and we will find God waiting for us! He will protect us, shelter us, and save us!
B. (Mark 2:2) so many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. (Mark 2:3) Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.(Mark 2:4) Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.
These men would have taken this paralyzed man up the stairs that were usually on the outside of the house up to the roof. The sticks, mortar, and earth of the roof were broken up, and thrown aside to let the sick man down into the house. This can be done easily and repaired easily. The one difficulty about such a process, with the crowd below, would be the amount of dust caused. The smell of dust would have been abundant.
This shows us that we need to do whatever it takes to get to Jesus. In our day, belief, confession, repentance, and baptism. Also, there are others who need to lead us to Jesus and need to go to extravagant measures to get us there. These 4 were deeply concerned about their friend and wanted to see him helped.
V. Touch
A. (Psa 129:5 NIV) May all who hate Zion be turned back in shame. (Psa 129:6 NIV) May they be like grass on the roof, which withers before it can grow.
With the roofs of the houses made of dirt and clay, one can easily imagine how grass could grow on the tops of the houses. After the winter rains, every flat roofed building is overgrown with grass and weeds, which soon perish. If one on the roof, he could reach out and touch all of the grass and weeds.
Application is here: (Luke 8:13 NIV) Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.
The German theologian Helmut Thielicke, once commented, “There is nothing more cheering than transformed Christian people and there is nothing more disheartening than people who have merely “brushed” by Christianity, people who have been sown a thousand seeds but in whose lives there is not depth or rootage. Therefore, they fall when the first whirlwind [of adversity] comes along. It is the half-Christians who always flop in the face of the first catastrophe that happens, because their faith does not stand the test. This is the wood from which the anti-Christians are cut. They are almost always former half-Christians. A person who lets Jesus only halfway into his heart is far poorer than a one hundred percent worldling.” [as quoted by R. Kent Hughes. Luke: That You May Know the Truth. Vol. 1 (Wheaton: Illinois, Crossway Books, 1998) p. 290.]
Conclusion and invitation:
A. One time Jesus mentioned to his disciples that the temple and the other buildings in Jerusalem would be destroyed. The disciples asked Jesus when this would happen. He doesn’t give them a straight answer but one statement he says is: (Mark 13:15 NIV) Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out.
In a day when escape from evil was necessary, the people in a city or town could do so by going from roof to roof, because the houses were located so close to each other. A person could walk to safety by going housetop to housetop.
In the legend of Santa Claus, he goes from housetop to housetop on Christmas Eve. He is unnoticed because he lands on the roof much like what this verse is talking about.
In Matthew 24 and Mark 13 Jesus not only mentions the destruction of Jerusalem but he goes beyond this and also discusses the Day of Judgment. When we accept Jesus, he lifts us up to see beyond this life. We don’t dare hold onto this life so much that we are not ready for his return.
(Mark 8:35 NIV) For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. (Mark 8:36 NIV) What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Our possessions we cannot take with us. So many people hold onto worldly things so tightly that they never want to part with them.
(1 John 2:17 NIV) The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
(Luke 21:28 NIV) When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
Not long after Jesus’ birth, Wise Men came from the East following a star. (Mat 2:2 NIV) and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
When they finally went to Bethlehem, we read (Mat 2:9 NIV) they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
If we were on the housetop on that night in Bethlehem, we would have seen this beautiful and peculiar star that rested over the house of Jesus.
Jesus calls himself the bright Morning Star (Revelation 22:16). One day the Morning Star is going to come again and we dare not go back into the house or else we will be left. Keep looking up for the soon return of that beautiful star, the Morning Star.
