At the Center of the Season: It’s Not You!
Sunday, December 3rd, 2006
All of you probably know someone who loves to be the center of attention. Wherever they are or wherever they go, they are the ones that people are watching and paying attention to. There are some who crave and create the attention and others who try to avoid it but for one reason or another they always find themselves in the limelight.
Some are the center of attention because they have money. If Donald Trump or Bill Gates pulls up in a limo, every head is going to turn and people are going to point and stare.
Ability can make you the center of attention. I was eating at a restaurant in Syracuse and a couple of the basketball players walked in, Gerry Mcnamara and Hakim Warrick, two of the stars. Every eye in the restaurant was focused on them. People were asking for autographs and stopping to say “Hi.” The athletic ability of these two guys made them the center of attention anywhere they went.
Power and position and prestige can make you the center of attention. Prominent political figures and religious figures command the attention of people wherever they go. Each of these things create a stir and a buzz and whether they want it or not, those with these qualities and positions are the center of attention wherever they go.
There’s another type of person that finds themselves at the center of attention. Most of you can probably relate to this kind of person more than you can the others that we’ve mentioned. This is the kind of person with the unique, God-given talent to make an absolute idiot out of themselves. They are the jokers, the ones with no sense of shame or embarrassment, they are the life of the party. My pastor’s son in Ohio, who was in my youth group, was one of these people. It didn’t matter where we went or who we were with, Ryan was going to be at the center of it all. He was incapable of ever being embarrassed, although that certainly wasn’t the case for the rest of us. We went to a hockey game in Cleveland and halfway through the game I let the kids spread out and move to closer seats because the arena was nearly empty. Not 10 minutes later, who do you think landed on the big screen without his shirt and making waves with his belly? It was Ryan. He was having a blast and ended up on the jumbo-tron 4 more times that night in various poses and doing different stupid things. He danced with the mascot and was brought right down behind the bench to entertain the players. By the time we left, he was the most popular person in that arena. He was at the center of attention, no one cared about the game anymore! He loved the attention, and he invited it with his stupid stunts.
There are different ways to be the center of attention. Each one screams out in today’s society and demands to be noticed. As we celebrate Christmas, we’ll see that Jesus isn’t like that. We pause each Christmas and we talk about the reason for the season and the true meaning of Christmas and yet, even knowing the Truth of what that is, it is easily drowned out by all of the other things that call out to us and beg to be placed in the center.
I was at the mall a few years ago and Erin and I were shopping for Christmas, before we had any kids. I had stopped to sit for a minute while she went into one of those smelly candle and soap and perfume stores. I was on a bench right by a Nativity scene and I watched as a little boy stopped and looked at the manger. His mother kept going for a little while and turned around when she realized that he had stopped. I watched as she came back, obviously annoyed. The little boy was just the opposite, he was excited. He pointed at the manger and said, “Mommy, Look, it’s Jesus!” She grabbed his hand and pulled him away and said, “Come on, we don’t have time for that, we’ve got to finish our shopping.”
How many families go through Christmas with the wrong focus, the wrong center? How often do we fall into the trap of allowing everything around us to keep us from stopping and seeing Jesus amidst the lights and decorations? We talked about it last week, Shopping, Cooking, Decorating, Family, and many other things are crying out to be the centerpiece of the Christmas season, but Jesus is different. There is little about Him that demands our attention. There is really nothing flashy and certainly nothing showy about Him, that’s why He tends to get lost amongst everything else. The way He was born and the life that He lived was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah many years before.
ISA 53:2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He did not have money or power or prestige, he didn’t go out of the way to draw attention to himself. In fact, in His ministry, he would often tell people not to tell others what he had done and he often went off by himself seeking solitude and time alone. His birth was nothing spectacular. It was not in a castle or a great kingdom. It was in a small, out of the way town to a seemingly ordinary girl, in an ordinary stable. The most spectacular event of that day was a chorus of angels. But even this was different, instead of singing for kings and nobles and inviting them to see the baby, they sang to ordinary shepherds. To the average person then, it was unspectacular, and to the average person today, it stays the same. Ordinary doesn’t make people stop and stare, ordinary will not make you in the center of attention. If you are looking for Christ in the flashy displays of Christmas Spirit and cheer, you won’t find Him. If you are looking for Jesus in the hustle and bustle of holiday busyness and chaos, you won’t find Him. Other things scream to be the center of the season and are easily recognized and enjoyed. Jesus is the still small voice, the whisper among a thousand shouting voices. Only when we stop and focus, like we talked about last week, can we see the center through all of the confusion. When everything else fades into the background, we’re left with God, Himself, lying in a manger. When we see Him clearly and when He becomes our object of worship and devotion, then we’ve captured the essence of Christmas and we can celebrate in a way that pleases God. We can have that memorable, meaningful, Christmas that leaves us full of joy, not empty and worn out.
My father is a hunter. He loved to go out into the woods and sit while he waited for the perfect deer to come by. I remember him telling his stories excitedly. He would talk about getting up early and walking through the rain to get to his tree stand. He would be wet and cold and not see a thing all morning and he could still come back excited. He invited me once. It was snowing and about 3 degrees out and he was going to get up at 3:30. I can’t tell you how unappealing the whole idea was. I stayed in my nice warm bed and killed the same number of deer as my dad did that morning! One thing that he would have to do often was to site in his scope. If you didn’t, it would be off and you would never hit the target.
This morning we’re going to do something a little different. We’re going to pause and site in our scopes so that Christ can work in our hearts this morning. We’re going to take communion together and work it throughout the message and the service. Why did Christ command His disciples to remember Him in this way, in the way that we do when we take communion together? It was the same reasons that we’ve been talking about today and last week. He knew that our lives can get out of control and that what we begin with good intentions and a pure heart can quickly take on a life of its own and we can forget what’s really important. He commanded it so that we would take the time to readjust our sights on a regular basis and to make sure that we always have the sacrifice of Christ in the crosshairs, in our focus, at our center.
You’ve already heard, this morning, the beautiful words of worship known as Mary’s Song. I want to look with you at three attitudes that are displayed by this remarkable young woman as she worships the Lord in preparation of the first Christmas. These attitudes, taken together, helped her to keep what God was doing at the center of her life. These attitudes, if found in us this season, will give us a blessed Christmas and more importantly, a Christmas that blesses God and others.
We’ve already mentioned that the birth of Christ, to those looking on, was unremarkable. It was ordinary, and certainly that description fit Mary as well. Mary was a young woman, scholars guess that she was anywhere from 12 to 15. She was not nobility nor was she royalty, she was not from a wealthy family. None of those things factored into the criteria that God used. As we looked at throughout the book of Matthew, God is interested in the heart. There was something about this young lady that only God could see that qualified her to be the mother of God’s Son. When He settled on His choice to bring His gift to the world, He sent an angel to bring the news to her. Now think of how a teen today might respond to something like this! Are you kidding me? You want me to do what? Can’t you at least knock, my door was closed! A young teenager is about the last person that we would choose for such an important task. Mary could have chosen to decline, she could have chosen to ignore the request or to not believe that it could happen. She asks a fair question, “how can this be since I am a virgin?” When the angel explains it, she shows the depth of her character and faith and says:
LK 1:38 "I am the Lord’s servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."
She shows an incredible amount of courage, but more than that she shows understanding and faith. She doesn’t say, “I can do it.” Or “I can handle this.” She says “may it be to me as you have said.” Literally, may it be done to me. May it happen to me, what God has said, may He do. She understood that this would be a work of God alone.
Mary leaves and goes up to see Elizabeth, her relative and the woman who is carrying John the Baptist. Elizabeth greets her and rejoices over the miracles that have taken place and it’s at this time that Mary answers with the Magnificat.
The first attitude that we see in Mary’s life that keeps her focused during this first Christmas Season is:
I. Attitude of Rejoicing
And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Mary uses the terms soul and spirit to convey that she is thankful and rejoicing in God from the very core of who she is. Everything in her is crying out in praise and worship to the God that she serves, who has blessed her life in an unexpected way. Mary was Jewish and she would have known the prophecies of the Messiah. She, like her family before her, would be living in expectancy of the coming One of God. Imagine the feelings and emotions that would come with knowing that God’s promises are going to be fulfilled and that they will be fulfilled through you! Mary has an attitude of rejoicing that she will be the vessel through whom God will change the world.
As exciting as that is, she also had every reason not to rejoice. She lived in a time when adultery was punishable by death. She could have been stoned when people saw that she was pregnant out of wedlock. She was also engaged, how would this look to her fiancé, Joseph. She could lose everything. Imagine telling your parents that you’re pregnant and that God did it. You think that story would fly today? There were so many factors that could have gone wrong and so many relationships that could have been affected that no one would have blamed Mary for being a little stressed, but she maintains her focus by keeping God in the center. She rejoices in Him and leaves the details for Him to provide. What a remarkable display of maturity in a child. As God accepts her praises, you can picture the smile on His face because He sees that the one He has chosen gets it.
Does rejoicing describe your attitude this morning? Mary put off all the worries and doubts and outside stuff that could have kept her from experiencing the joy of the Lord and she rejoiced. This Christmas, stop and focus and then rejoice in what God has accomplished for you. Rejoice in what God is doing in your life and in the lives of others in your family. Rejoice because He loves you, rejoice because He died for you, rejoice because He lives in you. Throw aside those worries and cares that are keeping you from rejoicing, push aside the pressures and the stresses of Christmas time and return to rejoicing. As Paul wrote to the early believers, PHP 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! When we do that, we will see that all of that other stuff that distracts us and weighs us down doesn’t seem so urgent or important in light of the blessings of God on our lives and the privilege of serving Him. Mary rejoiced to carry the Messiah. Today, God has seen fit to allow each of us the privilege of carrying Him in our lives. Does this cause you to rejoice? An attitude of rejoicing will begin to site in that scope so that the focus is on the Glory of Christ this Christmas.
II. Attitude of Humility
As Mary continues her reply to Elizabeth, we see that her attitude of rejoicing flows from another attitude. It comes from an attitude of humility. There are a lot of different things that come to mind when we think of the word humility. In today’s language, it has come to stand for someone who is weak or easily manipulated. In Mary’s case, it certainly was no sign of weakness. For Mary, humility was evidenced by understanding and recognition of reality.
LK 1:48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me--
holy is his name.
Now, when Mary mentions her humble state here, she is talking of the fact that she is really nobody. She is not someone of significant importance or means. But in this statement we see humility in more than just her outer circumstances. To be a servant, to serve, is to show humility. It is to bend your wishes and desires to the wishes of another that you deem worthy of serving. Mary had accepted the reality of her situation and she had done it with grace and faith and it was her humility before God, recognizing who He is and marveling that he would use her, it was this humility that allowed her to serve and it was this humility that made her the perfect choice in the first place. Mary attributed the power and the glory to God alone.
Now, I’ve never seen an angel that I know of (besides my wife). But as I think through this story, I think that an attitude of humility would be tough to maintain. In grade school, I was picked to narrate the Christmas program for the entire school. When the teacher talked to me and told me that I had been chosen, I was nervous. I also left that room thinking of all of the great aspects of my personality that qualified me to do the job. I figured they had made the only logical choice and it was a great one. Who better to do it than me! I told everyone that I had gotten picked to lead the show. It was an honor that I was picked but instead of being grateful, I figured that I deserved it. You don’t see any of that with Mary. She knows what is happening and she understands who God is and that she is, in her mind, the least qualified to handle the job. Yet, because God wills it, she will walk the road in front of her and her humility causes her to rejoice even more that “the Mighty One has done great things for her.”
Do you want to regain the right focus this holiday season? It helps to have this attitude. To understand the reality of what God chose to do and to know that there was nothing that we did to deserve it.
The Psalmist captures this attitude perfectly:
PS 8:4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
God did not need us, we needed God. That first Christmas morning, God came to us. Lowly, undeserving, unappreciating as we are, God came. And just as Mary was humbled that God would work through her, we need to have that same attitude and see what God can accomplish in and through us. Not because we think we can do it best or deserve to be chosen, but because we want to see God’s kingdom come and we want to see His will be done and if, in His wisdom, He sees a place for us to serve then let’s rejoice in His favor and serve Him with everything that we have. This Christmas, think about the sacrifice that the Christ child came to make for you and humbly serve Him in whatever way He asks you in the coming weeks.
III. Attitude of Remembrance
Finally, the last attitude that we see from Mary is one of Remembrance. She rejoices out of her humility and her humility comes from the ways that she has seen God exercise His power and goodness over the years. Read 50-55
Mary had a handle on what God had done in the past and because of that, she could look forward to that power working in the future. She knew the stories, she knew the people that God had used and what it cost them to be used by God. And now she had an opportunity to allow God to display His power through her in a way that was unlike anything else He had ever done. She understood this, she knew that her people held Moses and Abraham, and Noah in high esteem and because she remembered well the deeds of the past, she knew that what God would accomplish through her would cause her people to rejoice and for “all generations to call her blessed.”
As you go through the season, celebrate the traditions that bring the past into the present. Talk about the family members who went before you and what they mean or meant to you. Teach your children to celebrate, now, in a God-honoring way that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. Let the past play a big part in your Christmas of the present and make memories that your children or grandchildren can look back and remember as they celebrate many years down the road. But, more than just family stories and memories, our Christmas should include an attitude of remembrance for all that God has done in our lives and in the lives of our families. This Christmas, don’t just leave Christ in the manger. Remember what the crucified and Risen Lord had done. Let that be your focus and may this be a season of joy as we remember the goodness of the Lord to us.
As Mary stopped to reflect on what God had done and to rejoice at what He was going to do, we want to pause together to remember. We want to remember the life that was given for ours. We want to remember the blood that was shed. There is a movement in some very prominent churches to do away with the idea of the blood of Christ. They say that it is offensive to some. They say that we should concentrate on the “Good News” of the gospel. My friends, without the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, there is no Good News. As we pass the cup, let’s begin this Christmas season by remembering what that baby, born to Mary, came to do.
Closing:
I hope that these attitudes will help us to refocus and to place Christ at the center of our celebration this Christmas as we seek to have a Christmas that pleases God and is the Christmas we’ve always longed for. For some of us, developing these attitudes will take some time and some and there are other things and objects that occupy the center of our season.
Have you ever eaten a Tootsie Pop? I love those, they may be my favorite kind of candy. When I was younger they used to have a Tootsie Pop commercial that asked “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?” A boy went to ask the question to the wise old owl and after a few licks the owl always bit into it to get to the middle quicker and the question remained unanswered. The premise was that the outside was not nearly as good as what was in the middle.
No matter what we’ve placed at the center, Christ is at the heart, in the middle, of everything that Christmas means and is the very reason that we celebrate. Don’t get caught up in all of the outer layers, the candy shell. Everything that surrounds this holiday is not nearly as good as what’s in the middle. Focus on Christ. Site in your scope and make sure that Jesus in right in the middle. Rejoice in Him. Have an attitude of humility that can be used by God this season, and remember what He has done in the past so that you can recognize when He begins to work in the present.
