Ready or Not, Here it Comes.
1st Sunday of Advent
Well, the season is upon us once more. There has been a steady increase, since the beginning of November, in the lights around town and in the Christmas music that’s been playing on the radio and in the different stores that you go into. But now that Thanksgiving has come and gone and Black Friday has come and gone, we are officially into the Christmas Season!
I was playing hide and seek with my kids a few days ago. Hide and Seek used to be such a simple game. When you’re five, you can fit just about anywhere and the hiding options are endless. I used to be great at hiding. I could get into cupboards and drawers and under couches and behind furniture, I could squeeze anywhere. It’s a little different now! I am no longer a small person. I have to find someplace where I can stand up straight or lay down flat. I can’t squat for a long time or kneel or squeeze into tight spots, my hiding options are now limited to standing behind the shower curtain, hiding behind a closet door, or hiding under our bed. These happen to be the first three places that my kids look. Hide and seek is not as fun as it used to be for me. Sometimes I try and get creative and I try to find a spot that the kids will never find me and what always happens is that I hear those words, “ready or not, here I come!” and I am completely unprepared and end up standing in the middle of the room when they come bursting in to find me. I don’t have enough time to hide and before I know it, my time is completely up.
That’s how Christmas is for a lot of us. It was easier when we were younger. We had no responsibility, as far as planning and shopping, and just had to roll out of bed on Christmas morning and collect our presents, life was good. As adults, all of that changes and Christmas involves an endless list of things to accomplish, meals to prepare, gifts to buy, trees to decorate, cookies to bake, lights to hang so that your house looks better than your neighbors, houses to clean so that the in-laws don’t think you’re slobs when they visit, and in the middle of all of that, we’re also supposed to remember to worship God for the gift of His Son to us on that first Christmas morning. For many of us, we’re still trying to figure everything out and we hear those words, ready or not, here I come and Christmas has come and gone for another year.
For most adults, we no longer have those feelings of awe and wonder that Christmas used to inspire in us. I can remember unwrapping each ornament, as a child, and holding it for a moment just to look at it. I can remember setting up the manger scene and seeing baby Jesus in His manger with all of the angels and shepherds looking on and wondering what it would have been like to be there. I can remember my father reading the Christmas story and listening intently to all of the events that surrounded the birth of Christ on Earth. There is something to that story that stirs the imagination of all of us and touches a place deep inside of our hearts that nothing else can reach. Even those who don’t know the Savior feel something during this time. There is a sense that they need to be in church, a desire for meaning in life and a conscience clearing need to kind of get their God fix for the holiday season.
Some of you have probably heard of the church that was having a problem with mice. No matter how many they caught or killed, there seemed to be two more that would take their place. Finally, at the end of his rope, the pastor had a brilliant idea. He caught all of the mice that he could find, baptized them and made them members, then he only saw them on Christmas and Easter!
We joke about it, but there is something about this holiday that draws people towards God. Christmas is one of the “big two” in the calendar of the church. Along with Easter, it’s a time when we, as a church, have the rare opportunity to have our pews filled with those who need to know that this story is much more than a children’s tale. Often, however, the problem is that Christians have lost the meaning and the joy of Christmas and we have nothing to offer those who enter this place genuinely searching for something better.
All of us know the meaning of Christmas. All of us know the focus of the season and the true reason that we celebrate the holiday. All of us have sat through more Christmas series than we can remember and listened to the story from every perspective possible. All of us can list the ways that Christmas has become something other than what it was intended to be but we feel swept along with everyone else and powerless to change things. We have seen the removal of Nativity scenes from public property and in it’s place stands a smiling snowman or a bearded and jolly old St. Nick. Our school programs have largely done away with the classic carols that laud the birth of a Messiah and sing of Frosty and Rudolph instead. You can now go to Home Depot and buy a holiday tree as the staff wishes you a happy holiday, instead of a merry Christmas. It’s like being thrown out of your own birthday party so that the celebration continues but the one in whose honor it’s given is no longer welcome. I think that the biggest tragedy of Christmas among churches and Christians today is that the busyness and hustle and bustle of the season has robbed many of us of our joy and our focus has been distorted. We may still love Christmas and all that goes with it but is it a time of worship for us. Is it a time where we grow in our relationship with God and we teach our children to do the same or is it something that we just try to get through and we come out on the other side no different than before.
The title of this series that we will be going through in the next five weeks is “The Christmas You’ve Always Longed for.” And the purpose of it is to bring our attention and focus back to the basics. I want us to recognize and anticipate what the days ahead will bring and intentionally slow things down and reflect on those things that are truly essential this Christmas. It’s important to understand how quickly these days will pass by and it’s important to understand that the chaos of the season has the potential to be both good and bad and that we must force ourselves to slow down and evaluate everything that’s going on around us to make sure that this Christmas is the best that it can possibly be. That we are not simply going through the motions of another holiday season but that we are celebrating the birth of our Savior here on Earth and worshipping Him with glad and grateful hearts. I don’t want to come through these weeks drained like I normally am, I want to have a heart that is overflowing. I want each of you to have the same. Only then, when God has moved us and we have recaptured the joy of Christmas, can we minister and reach those who come into this place seeking something better than what they have now.
This Christmas, I want us to focus on one thing. Not pleasing the kids, not pleasing the family or the in-laws (they’re never going be happy anyways!), not on the perfect gift or the best decorations, I want us to focus on Christ and on what He thinks of the way we celebrate the season. We may need to make some adjustments, we may need to cut some things out but I want us to worship this Christmas and for God to be pleased with the gift that we bring. I think that the timing of the messages that we have gone through in the last two weeks was perfect. As we enter into the Christmas season together, it is always with one eye on the cross. It is the knowledge of what He came to do that allows us to appreciate even more the beauty of His birth.
So, as we anticipate the things that will demand the most of us in the coming weeks, I want to point out that the potential distractions and the things going on around us that haven’t changed much in the last 2000 years. Those who were there on that first Christmas morning had to deal with a lot of the same things that we do and those things had the same potential to take their focus away from the central event of the story: The Coming of Immanuel.
The first thing that all of us have in common during the Christmas season is that we have:
I. Family to See
Luke records for us that the Roman Government had ordered that a census be taken across the entire Roman Empire. For this to happen, families had to return to the city or town of their origin. Joseph was of the line of King David and so he went up from Nazareth to Bethlehem, a distance of about 80 miles. It’s important that this took place as Rome unknowingly played a part in the fulfillment of prophecy.
MIC 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. "
So, the prophecy was fulfilled and Joseph and Mary took part in a great big family reunion. God called families together so that His purposes could be fulfilled. The same is true today. Christmas has become something that it was never supposed to be, but in our families, in those times together, we can return it to the time of worship and celebration that God intended it to be.
Today, family is a central part of Christmas and just as the census called everyone home back then, the thoughts of food, fellowship, and family traditions call families home today. For the Christian we know that families are truly a gift from God. For a small minority, family gatherings at Christmas may look something like a Norman Rockwell painting. The children all dressed up and sitting quietly while the adults talk and laugh. Maybe the family is gathered around the piano as Grandma plays a carol and everyone joins in in perfect harmony. Maybe that describes your family gatherings. For the rest of us, there is one good word that describes our large family gatherings: chaos! The kids are running around, the dogs are barking, there are family members who are not speaking to each other, there’s the weird uncle who only talks about bugs, and half of the adults have already locked themselves in a quiet room because of the pounding migraine that comes with the bliss of a family get together. I love to get together with family, I love my family and I love to get together with them, but it is not always relaxing and can turn into one of the most stressful aspects of the holidays.
Add to the normal stresses of family, the intricacies of a blended family and things get very interesting. Erin and I used to feel tremendous pressure to please all of our family members during the holidays and it kept us from enjoying the time we did have with them. We both come from broken homes and both of my parents are remarried and her mother is remarried and none of them live close to each other. They would all love to have the grandkids around for Christmas but we know that it is impossible to visit them all and keep our sanity, so we take advantage of the time we have with whoever we’re with and we don’t try to cover all the bases each and every year. It was a conscious choice and it took something stressful, that Satan often used to cause tension in our home, and returned it to the joy that it was meant to be. As you look forward to being with your family this Christmas, use it as a time to worship and thank God for the ways that He’s blessed you. Remember, if you have unsaved family members, they can see the Christ of Christmas through the way that you handle yourself. So, whether your holiday involves a 10 hour car ride with three kids crammed in the backseat or three nights in a sleeping bag on the floor with the family dog, keep the focus on Him, be thankful and your family will notice and your family time can go from stressed to blessed.
Christmas should also be about your family here, your brothers and sisters in Christ. We can encourage each other and worship together. Some of my best Christmas memories include children’s programs and candle-light services. Take time for your church family too, this Christmas as we celebrate together. Don’t let the busyness push out the times that we have to share with each other.
Another aspect of the holidays that can turn our thoughts and eyes away from the baby in the manger is that we all have:
II. Gifts to Give
The most famous gifts of the first Christmas came from the wise men. Now, most scholars agree that they arrived much later in the Christmas story, Jesus was probably about 2 years old. But, for the sake of this message, we’ll include them in the story. The wise men were actually sent by Herod to find Christ so that Herod could kill Him. They came instead and worshipped the child and had to find the perfect gift to give a child King. They came with gold and frankincense and myrrh. They chose the best gifts they had to honor the one that they had traveled to see. They gave gifts fit for a king.
I’ve shared with you, in the past, the issues I have with gift giving for my wife. I never seem to be able to get it right. I learned early on in our marriage that things like vacuum cleaners did not make good Christmas gifts. The whole gift giving process is tough for me. I love my wife and I want to give her something perfect, I just wish she was easy to shop for like I am. We need gifts for our kids, gifts for our brothers and sisters and parents. We need gifts for teachers and for friends and gifts for your pastor! Buying and giving gifts is fun but it can, and has for many people, become the single most important aspect of Christmas. As parents, we want our kids to have nice things. But the gifts we give them don’t occupy them or satisfy them for long. I remember being bored with my Christmas gifts as a child by Christmas afternoon! Our thoughts and priorities this Christmas need to be on those gifts that we can give to others that will never fade or grow old. Parents, give the gift of time to your children this Christmas. I saw the line outside of Wal-Mart a few days ago for the new PlayStation 3. It was two days before it would come out and already there were 25-30 people in line to get one. I’m sure that those kids who get one for Christmas will be thrilled, but how many of them would benefit more from their parents time and attention. PlayStations break, any material gift will eventually fade away or be outgrown. This Christmas, think about gifts that you can give to others that will pay dividends for eternity.
I attended my Grandfather’s funeral this last week. As I sat and listened to my father and my two uncles talk about this man and the influence that he had on them, I was struck by an overwhelming sense of gratitude to God for my Grandpap. He gave his kids the gift of a relationship with Christ by living out his relationship in plain view of everyone. He followed God with all of his heart and left a legacy, a gift of faith to all of his family. I honestly don’t remember one gift my grandpa gave me for Christmas. But I realized this week that he gave me something of far greater value, a godly heritage.
As you think of the gifts that you’ll give this year, how many will last? Look for ways that you can give use the gifts that God has given you to invest in others. Giving can be a joy instead of a distraction.
Finally, on that first Christmas morning, as is true today, there were:
III. Decisions to Make
The shepherds were in the fields watching over their sheep. They had responsibilities, sheep to watch over, families to take care of. They had their routine of life and on the night Christ was born, that routine was blown away. The heavens erupted into song and the darkness was swallowed by a great light. As they looked into the sky, all of heaven declared the birth of the Messiah. God’s Son was born, the promised one had come, and God chose to reveal it to the shepherds! I’m not sure I’ve ever understood that. The angels gave the shepherds an invitation: Come worship the Savior. The shepherds could have sat back and enjoyed the light show and then gone about their business, but they accepted God’s invitation and they went and worshipped. They were willing to put everything else aside and go to bow before the Savior.
Chances are that we will not receive our invitation to worship from a heavenly chorus like the shepherds did that night. Even though the mode of communication may have changed, the invitation has not. We are invited to bow before that manger and to praise God that Salvation has come to Earth.
All of us have a routine in life, all of us have a routine at Christmastime. Does that routine include worship and if it doesn’t are we willing to set everything aside and bow in awe and wonder at the feet of Jesus. All of us have a decision to make, how will we respond to God’s invitation this Christmas to focus on Him. Will we let some of those things that we’ve talked about distract us and cause us to lose our focus or will we bring Christmas back to what it is, a God, His people, and a Savior. That’s the decision before us.
My uncle told this story at my grandfather’s funeral. My grandpap had Alzheimer’s pretty bad and was constantly forgetting things. Once my uncle drove down to GA to see my grandfather and noticed that he wasn’t wearing his glasses. He asked him if he had glasses and my grandpap said no that he didn’t wear them. My uncle was sure he did and asked a few more times and was told that he didn’t wear any each time. Finally, my uncle began to look around the room and he located the glasses under the bed. They were very dusty and dirty and looked like they hadn’t been worn in months. He washed them off and put them on my grandfather. My grandpap jumped up and began to tell anyone that could listen that he could see!
When it comes to Christmas, some of us have had our glasses knocked crooked and our focus has been blurred, some of us have had them knocked completely off and they have been covered with dirt and dust and we can’t even see what Christmas is supposed to be anymore. This Christmas, I want you to get your glasses cleaned up and put on right. I want you to see! I want you to see the manger and the child that would grow up and hang on a cross for us. When we focus on the true meaning of Christmas, we’ll see things clearly and those things that distracted us, those things that have gotten in the way, will no longer keep us from celebrating and we will have a Christmas that pleases God above all others.
With all that was happening around her, it would have been easy for Mary, the young girl, to be overwhelmed. But Luke 2:19 tells us what she did.
19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
She wanted to make sure that she didn’t miss anything. She wanted to make sure that she would remember every detail of what God was teaching her and doing in her life and so she stopped. She slowed down and she reflected on the goodness and glory of the Lord. She stopped to focus. This Christmas I challenge you to do the same thing. Slow down and reflect on the glory of the Lord, don’t allow anything to rob you of your joy and allow God to fill your heart to overflowing so that you can be a light during this holiday season. We want to worship the King this Christmas. Ready or not, here it comes! Don’t let this Christmas just fly by stop and reflect and I pray that it will be the Christmas that you’ve always longed for.
