Isn’t the Christmas story a wonderful story
It is a story that we hear every year.
But it is more than just any old story
It is something that happened in history that affects you today
and affects your future
When we open our eyes and ears
and be honest with ourselves
We realise that mess surrounds us
That we live in a mess
Our world is not neat and tidy
It has problems
and we have problems
Now some of us may try to hide the mess
At times we think by not seeing the mess, the mess does not exist
By not talking about the mess, the mess will evaporate
But that is like someone refusing to watch the news and then saying wars, poverty and evil do not exist
Or like a teenager who throws their dirty, roughed up clothes under a bed and tells mum they have cleaned up their room
With wars, poverty, people dieing, murders, environmental problems and the drought
It is not to hard to see that there is mess in the world
But the mess is not just in other peoples lives
The mess of this world extends into each of our lives
In your life there are some messes
Things that are not quite right
There are things not completed
Things we wished we hadn’t done
Relationships that are broken and need repairing
We have failed to love God and love others
What are some of the things or people that untidy your life
There are many other things that makes your life untidy and messy
Sometimes we pretend that everything is ok, when it is not
At times we go to extraordinary lengths to hide our faults,
the things and people that mess up our lives
That we don’t want others to know about
But no matter how hard we try God still knows every detail of our lives
And the mess we are in
And despite him knowing how messy our world is
How messy our lives are
as baby Jesus
he entered our messed up world
We spend a lot of time prettying up Christmas
Making it just right
But never forget that Jesus came to us in a messy way
It has been said that if Jesus was interviewed for the job of saviour he wouldn’t have got it
He wasn’t even born in the town his parents lived in
He was born to a couple who were not yet married
He was born in a cattle shed
Ever, smelt a place where cows, sheep and horses sleep?
Ever, walked through the animal enclosures at the show or the zoo?
They are not the most pleasant places to be
In fact they stink!!
And stink distracts us
And the affects of mess is that it can distract us from what is good
Some time ago I visited a garden full of beautiful flowers
But it was not a pleasant place to be
You see that garden was full of fertilizer
Cow manure, blood and bone and it stunk…
The smell distracted me from the beauty of the garden
And the mess in our lives has the same affect on us
The mess in our lives distract us from what is important
Think about it,
when you have a problem in your life
that problem can consume your time and energies
It keeps you away from what is good and helpful
But remember this
Despite the mess we live in
Jesus came to live among us
Would you rather visit a messy, smelly place or a nice clean place?
The fact is Jesus chose to visit our messy world
He chose to live in our messy world
To do His father’s will
Why???
It is simple…..because HE LOVES US…..HE LOVES YOU
He came to be the solution for our mess
In fact, he is the only guaranteed solution for our mess
All other solutions simply cover up our problems
All other solutions may make life pleasant for a little while,
like a fake smile or sweeping the dirt under a mat
But Jesus came as a human to deal once and for all with our mess
With the mess that affects us now and has the potential to prevent us from receiving the inheritance God wants to give us.
And he came for all people
Listen to Titus 2, verse 11, this time reading from the New Living Translation
For the grace of God has been revealed bringing salvation to all people
And
From verse 15
He(that is Jesus) gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.
Jesus wants to help everyone
Help each one of us have our relationships restored with His father
and with each other
Will you allow Him to help you??
He wants to remove affects of the mess from our lives so that we receive the riches He promises
This Christmas as you unwrap the Christmas gifts you receive
Remember the gift of baby Jesus.
The gift that came to live among your mess, deal with your mess and clean up the affects of your mess
Which as believers we will fully experience when he comes again
Let us pray…..
And if anyone wants special prayer for Jesus to deal with a particular mess please use the moment of silence during the prayer time or see me after the service
AMEN