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 that 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, with everything picture perfect.
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.
We may even think 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.
It is 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.
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?
Think about it for a moment, what are some of the things and people that mess up your life?
There are many 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.
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.
That’s right God still came into 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 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 this is where God chose to enter the world in a stinky, messy stable.
And there is something about bad smells, they distract 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 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 Jesus didn’t come for a select few, he came for all people, even you.
Listen to Titus 2, verse 11, this time I am 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.
And when he comes again every believers will fully experience how Jesus has worked.
Let us pray…..
And if anyone wants special prayer for Jesus to deal with a particular mess you are invited to come forward and kneel at the manger as we close our service.
AMEN
