“BEING THERE” AT CHRISTMAS
INTRODUCTION:
It seems the Big News this year is the purported “stealing of Christmas.” Consider:
The South Orange/Maplewood School District just down the road has banned all Christmas songs with religious references – even instrumental arrangements that contain no lyrics!
In Denver, CO a local non-profit group runs an annual “Parade of Lights” Christmas parade. They banned a local church from participating in their Christmas parade because their proposed float with a Merry Christmas sign and carolers had a “religious theme.” But they did allow a “Two Spirit Society’s” float, which honors homosexual American Indians as “holy people.”
A local school multicultural committee in Pennsylvania set up a holiday display that included a creche (manger scene), a menorah and a Kwanzaa scene. The principal demanded that the creche be removed, although the other items could stay.
Just yesterday, we had dinner at Pizza Hut for Isaiah’s Birthday. After quite a while my wife, Rachel, suddenly remarked how strange it was that the restaurant did not have a single decoration, light or sign nor was there any Christmas music. I remember remarking to her that it was probably corporate policy not to mark any religious holidays so as not to offend any one. Apparently, nobody considered that the absence of recognition can be just as offensive as its presence.
The list could go on and on. Consider these thoughts from Zig Ziglar, an evangelical and one of the world’s most sought after and respected public speakers and author:
In this Christmas season we hear people using the term “happy holidays.” Needless to say, when Muslims are celebrating Ramadan, nobody says to them, “Happy Holidays,” and when my Jewish friends are celebrating Yom Kippur, nobody says to them, “Happy Holiday.” However, at Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Christ (without which there would be NO Christmas), more and more people are sending “Happy Holiday” cards. When I’m greeted with “Happy Holidays!”, I smile (and I encourage you to do the same thing), thank them, and then say, “I’ll go you one better. I’ll wish you a Merry Christmas, since this is the celebration of the birth that had the most impact of any birth since the history of mankind.” When the Babe in Bethlehem was born it was announced that He was the Savior of the world . . .
What does Christmas mean to you? Is it a holiday or a holy day? Is it one day or season a year or is it a mindset? Does the Spirit of Christmas come only one month a year or is it a Spirit that can be with us 24/7/365? As we reflect on these questions, , I would like to challenge us all to a “Christmas Quest.”
CHRISTMAS QUEST: As we celebrate “God With Us”, will we commit to “be there” for Him?
PRAYER
I.Immanuel – “God With Us” Isaiah 7:14
Read aloud together, Pew Bible pg. 673.
Sounds great, but what does it really mean?
A.) Born to be there With Us Matthew 1:20-23, pg. 945
Many know I am a certified grief and trauma counselor. In all of those hours of training, there is one common, oft-repeated refrain: “nothing is more important, necessary or helpful than to just ‘be there’ for people – don’t talk, don’t do, don’t fix, just ‘be there’.”
“To be there” defines the essence of the Incarnation.
Jesus condescended Himself to leave perfect Heaven to come to our confused, chaotic, self-destructive, sinful and hurting world so we would know that especially in the worst of times, God is “there for us.”
B.) Born to be there As One of Us Philippians 2:5-8. pg. 1152
He came not in a great epiphany of power, might and majesty, but in every way as one of us.
Not just in appearance, but even in flesh and in nature. Jesus was 100% man and 100% God.
Nobody may truthfully say that Jesus can’t possibly understand because He has never been human like us, or has not experienced our emotions, hurts, pains and injustices. He did and He did it for you and for me!
C.) Born to be there For Us Matthew 13:1-3a; 15:30-32, pp. 958, 962
D.) Born to be there To Die For Our Deliverance
While everything we’ve reflected on so far is more than enough reason to celebrate and stand in awe, it is only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. What He came for, the principle reason He condescended Himself to be ’born’ a helpless human baby and endure the sufferings, derision, injustices and rejection of this world was in order to die the perfect sacrifice as the only means by which any could be saved from the penalty of sin – eternal death and separation from God!
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Acts 4:12 Nor is there any salvation in any other, for there is no name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved.
E.) Born to be there that we might Be Transformed
2 Corinthians 3:17-18; 5:17; pp. 1133, 1135
What does it mean to be transformed? “To change in condition, nature, or character.” When one genuinely accepts Christ as Lord and Savior that is exactly what happens. His Holy Spirit brings to new life the dead spirit that is within in and, through this process, utterly changes your very condition, nature and character! It may not all be apparent at first, but follow and trust Him and it will all emerge!
CHRISTMAS QUEST: As we celebrate “God With Us”, will we commit to “be there” for Him?
II.Being There For Jesus
A.) “Being”
1.Who? The unique, reconciled YOU
2 Corinthians 5:17-19 pg. 1135
2.How? By the power of His Holy Spirit.
John 16:5-15 pg. 1061
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you shall be
witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the
earth.
With the ascension of Christ and giving of His Holy Spirit, the incarnation is no longer something that just happened one day 2,000 years ago. The incarnation is something that happens to everyone who believes in Him!
At that time, the angels sang, “For unto you is born a Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord.” But, now, in the Holy Spirit we may sing “For in you is born a Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord!”
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a
sound mind.
- He has given and made available this power to all who believe. Do you?
3.What? Displaying His Character
Romans 12:1-2,9-21 pp. 114-115
Dr. Leonard Sweet has written:
“. . . The Christian be-ing is formed, reformed, and transformed by the character of Christ. But the more we become like Christ, the more we put on the mind of Christ, the more we morph into the face of Christ, the more unique our faces become. Christian be-ing is not an abandoning of identity but a turning toward God and an indwelling by God that enhances our identity and uniqueness. You become more you, more unique, more original, the more you become like Christ. . . Until our story is connected to God’s story, until our being is in a state of openness to God’s being and to the fullness of being, there can be no true Christian character. To be sure, character is transformed by action.” (Seeing Beyond Church Walls: Action Plans for Touching Your Community, Steve Sjogren, Ed., pp. 178-179).
4.What else? Serving as His ambassador
- 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 pp. 1135
5.Why? Others’ salvation Matthew 28:18-20
The Lord’s glory
1 Corinthians 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in
your spirit, which are God’s.
Jn. 15:8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
6.Where?
B.) “There”
1.Your Place
Your physical location at any given time.
Where you are is where God called you to be there for Him.
2.Your Context
The essence of incarnational theology of how we are to be, as one child once put it, “Jesus with skin on” is to be true both to our unique identity as a disciple of Christ and, at the same time, to be true to one’s unique cultural context.
Again, Leonard Sweet writes, “The scandal of Incarnation is that God sanctifies each cultural setting as a site for the divine birth” (pg. 180).
3.Your Spiritual Position
CHRISTMAS QUEST: As we celebrate “God With Us”, will we commit to “be there” for Him?
APPLICATION:
1.Do YOU have Jesus in you? Is His incarnation real in you, in your spirit?
2.Will you commit to “be there” for Him 24/7/365, even to the extent of serving Him above yourself?
3.Will you commit to “be there” for others that Christ’s presence may be known through you and He may be glorified?
PRAYER
