Introduction:
A. Good morning and welcome to our annual special worship service on the Sunday before Christmas.
1. I hope and pray that you have a very happy and healthy Christmas holiday filled with much joy and peace.
2. Although none of us knows the exact day when Jesus Christ was born, His coming into the world is one of the most important moments in history.
3. And with regard to our salvation – His coming is the beginning of our salvation.
4. Jesus is God’s gift to us – salvation is a gift, it cannot be earned or purchased, it must simply be received.
5. None of us will receive a greater gift in all our lives.
B. During this Christmas season you will likely receive some other gifts as well.
1. I heard a story about a boy who received an electric guitar for Christmas from his uncle.
2. After the holidays were over, his uncle came for a visit, and the young boy said, “Thank you so much for the electric guitar you gave me for Christmas. It’s the best present I ever got.”
3. “That’s great,” said his uncle. “Have you learned how to play it?”
4. “Oh no, I don’t play it,” the little fellow said. “My mom gives me a dollar a day not to play it during the day and my dad gives me five dollars a week not to play it at night.”
5. That’s a gift that keeps on giving!
C. Today’s sermon is the second in our short, three part series called Christmas Classics.
1. Each week we are using one of the Classic Christmas movies to illustrate the spiritual ideas we are trying to grasp.
2. I’ve titled today’s lesson “Miracle on 1st Century Street,” which might cause you to think about the classic movie Miracle on 34th Street.
3. How many of you have seen that 1947 film? It is one of my favorites.
Background:
A. Miracle on 34th Street (also titled The Big Heart in the UK) is a 1947 film starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn.
1. The film won several Academy Awards including one for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Edmund Gwenn who plays Kris Kringle won the award)
2. It was also nominated for Best Picture, losing to Gentleman’s Agreement.
3. In a Thanksgiving tradition, NBC airs the film every year after the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
4. There have been four remakes of the movie, as well as a Broadway musical and a Lux Radio Theater broadcast adaptation, but none are as good, in my opinion, as the original.
5. Let’s take a look at the story.
Story:
A. Miracle on 34th Street is a story that takes place in New York City following Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and leaves people wondering whether or not a department store Santa might be the real thing.
B. As the story progresses, we discover that Maureen O’Hara’s character, Doris Walker, has been disappointed in life and in love.
1. She is determined to make sure that her little girl, Susan (a very young Natalie Wood), is raised with no illusions about life.
2. There are no fairy tales for Susan, no make believe, and certainly no Santa Claus.
3. Susan is a bright little girl with an eerily adult sedateness about her.
4. Her matter-of-fact attitude toward life worries their neighbor, Fred Gailey (John Payne), who is in love with Doris.
5. There seems to be no place in Doris and Susan’s lives for silliness whether it involves sitting on Santa’s knee or believing in the hope of romantic love.
6. Kris Kringle is also concerned. He is disturbed that Susan is growing up without the slightest bit of imagination and spends no time playing as most children do.
C. The story begins with Kris Kringle indignantly discovering that the person assigned to play Santa in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is intoxicated.
1. When he complains to the event’s director, Doris Walker, she persuades Kris to replace him.
2. He does such a fine job that he is hired to be the Santa for Macy’s flagship New York City store on 34th Street at Herald Square.
D. After Kris goes through training, he ignores the instructions to steer parents to goods that Macy’s wants to sell, and tells one woman shopper to go to another store, Schoenfeld’s, for a fire engine for her son that Macy’s doesn’t have.
1. The lady is so impressed, she tells Shellhammer, the head of the toy department about it, and that she will become a loyal Macy’s customer because of this good service.
2. Kris later informs another mother that Macy’s archrival, Gimbels, has better skates for her daughter.
E. Fred, who is an attorney and neighbor of Doris, takes the divorcee’s nine-year-old daughter Susan, to see Kris Kringle the store Santa.
1. Well when Doris finds out, she lectures Fred about filling Susan’s mind with fantasy, because she has been raising Susan to be a practical young woman.
2. Meanwhile, Susan witnesses Kris talking and singing with a Dutch World War II orphan girl in her native tongue and begins to wonder if perhaps Kris is really Santa.
3. When Doris asks Kris to tell Susan the truth, Kris surprises her by insisting that he really is Santa Claus.
F. Upset that Kris really believes he is Santa, Doris decides to fire him.
1. But Kris has generated so much good publicity and customer goodwill for Macy’s that a delighted owner, R. H. Macy, promises Doris and Shellhammer generous bonuses, making it awkward to discharge the old man.
2. To overcome Doris’s misgivings, Shellhammer proposes sending Kris to get a “psychological evaluation”. (Do you remember when Jesus’ family wanted to do the same thing?)
3. Kris easily passes the test, but antagonizes Sawyer, the psychologist, by questioning Sawyer’s own psychological health.
G. Macy’s expands on the referral marketing concept with great success.
1. Anxious to avoid looking greedy by comparison, Gimbels implements the same referral policy throughout its entire chain, forcing Macy’s and other stores to respond in kind.
2. Eventually, Kris accomplishes the impossible: Mr. Macy shakes hands with Mr. Gimbel.
3. We learn the lesson that selfless service always leads to success and greatness.
4. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” (Mk. 10:43)
H. Dr. Pierce, the doctor at Kris’s nursing home, assures Doris and Shellhammer that Kris’ apparent delusion is harmless and disagrees with the vindictive Sawyer, who argues that Kris should be placed in a mental hospital.
1. Meanwhile, Fred offers to let Kris stay with him so he can be closer to his workplace.
2. Kris makes a deal with Fred - he will work on Susan’s cynicism while Fred does the same with the disillusioned Doris.
I. When Kris learns that Sawyer, the Macy’s psychologist, has convinced a young, impressionable employee, Alfred, that he is mentally ill simply because he is generous and kind-hearted, he is furious. (Remember when Jesus, filled with righteous indignation, cleared the temple.
1. Young Alfred plays Santa Claus at his neighborhood YMCA.
2. So Kris confronts Sawyer and, in a fit of anger, raps him on the head with his cane.
3. Doris and Shellhammer arrive at that point and only see the aftermath; Sawyer exaggerates his injury in order to have Kris confined to Bellevue mental hospital.
J. Tricked into cooperating and believing Doris to be part of the deception, a discouraged Kris deliberately fails his mental examination and is recommended for permanent commitment.
1. Fred persuades Kris not to give up.
2. To secure his release, Fred gets a formal hearing before Judge Henry Harper (Gene Lockhart) of the New York Supreme Court.
3. Warned by Mr. Macy to get the matter dropped, Sawyer pleads with Fred not to seek publicity.
4. To Sawyer’s dismay, Fred thanks him for the idea.
5. As a result, Judge Harper is put in an awkward spot - even his own grandchildren are against him for "persecuting" Santa Claus.
K. Fred quits his job at a prestigious New York law firm to defend Kris and has a falling out with Doris, who has no faith in his abilities and calls his resignation an “idealistic binge” over some “lovely intangibles.”
1. He replies that one day she may discover that those intangibles are the only worthwhile things in life. (How true – intangibles like faith and hope, joy and peace and love are everything.)
2. At the hearing, New York City District Attorney, Thomas Mara, gets Kris to assert that he is in fact Santa Claus and rests his case, believing he has proven his point and won the case.
3. Fred stuns the court by arguing that Kris is not insane because he actually is Santa Claus - and he will prove it.
4. The District Attorney requests that the judge simply rule that Santa Claus does not exist.
5. Judge Harper is warned privately in chambers by his political adviser that doing so would be politically disastrous for his upcoming reelection bid. (Remember the position Pilate as in when he was trying Jesus. It’s always about politics.)
6. The judge buys time by deciding to hear evidence before ruling.
L. So Fred calls R.H. Macy to the witness stand.
1. Mara cross-examines him, pointedly asking if he really believes Kris to be Santa Claus.
2. Realizing that denying Kris could ruin his Christmas sales, and remembering the expressions on the faces of small children upon seeing Kris and firmly states, "I do!"
3. Fred then calls the district attorney’s own young son to the stand.
4. The boy testifies that his father had told him that Santa was real and says that “My daddy would never tell a lie! Would you, daddy?” Outmaneuvered, Mara concedes the point.
5. Mara then demands that Fred prove that Kris is "the one and only" Santa Claus, on the basis of some competent authority.
6. While Fred searches frantically for a way to prove his case, little Susan, by now a firm believer in Kris, writes him a letter to cheer him up, which Doris also signs.
K. A mail sorter sees the letter from Susan to Santa and realizes the post office could clear out the many letters to Santa taking up space in their dead letter office by delivering them to Kris at the courthouse.
1. Kris receives Susan’s letter and is uplifted by this breakthrough.
2. Just then, Fred learns that over 50,000 pieces of mail have been delivered to Kris.
3. Seizing the opportunity, Fred first establishes the authority of the United States Post Office, and then presents Judge Harper with three letters addressed only to "Santa Claus" and notes that they have been delivered to Kris.
4. Fred nonchalantly admits he “has further exhibits.”
5. When Judge Harper demands that he “put them here on my desk”, the post office delivers all the bags of letters to Harper’s desk. (this is my favorite moment of the movie)
6. Fred then argues that the United States Post Office, a branch of the federal government, accepts Kris’ claim that he is the one and only Santa Claus.
7. This conveniently lets Judge Harper rule in favor of Kris. He says, “Since the United States government declares this man to be Santa Claus, this court will not dispute it. Case dismissed."
L. Afterwards, Doris invites Kris to dinner, but he reminds her that “it’s Christmas Eve!”
1. On Christmas morning, Susan is disillusioned because Kris was unable to get her what she told him she wanted most, a house in the suburbs.
2. As they are about to leave, Kris gives Fred and Doris directions for a different a route home, supposedly to avoid traffic.
3. Along the way, Susan is overjoyed to see the house of her dreams with a For Sale sign in the front yard. (The house exactly matches the drawing she had shown Kris earlier.)
4. Susan demands that they stop the car and she runs up to the house and into it, followed frantically by her mother and Fred.
5. Susan explains that this is the house that she asked Santa for and can they buy it.
6. When Fred learns that Doris had encouraged Susan to have faith, he suggests they get married and purchase the house. And he and Doris embrace and kiss, realizing that is a great plan.
7. Fred then boasts that he must be a great lawyer, since he managed to do the seemingly impossible – prove that Kris was the real Santa Claus.
8. However, right then, he notices the only thing in this empty house and it’s a cane leaning against the fireplace that looks exactly like the one Kris used, he remarks uncertainly, “Maybe I didn’t do such an amazing thing after all.”
Application:
A. No matter how individual families choose to navigate the lore surrounding jolly old Saint Nick, I think that Miracle 34th Street is innocent fiction appropriate for all ages.
1. And I think that parents can use it to draw a distinction between fiction and biblical fact.
2. The film’s “identity-on-trial story” is a perfect segue way into the question of the identity of Jesus.
3. Is Jesus really who He claimed to be – the Son of God Himself?
4. Is He really the Lord? If not, then he was just a liar or a lunatic.
5. Those are the only three possibilities – liar, lunatic, or Lord.
B. When we turn to the pages of the Bible, we see that the birth of Jesus has all the marks of fact and history, rather than fiction and fairytale.
1. We are told exactly when it took place – in the days of Caesar Augustus, when the census was decreed – which was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
2. Everyone was required to go to their hometown to register, and so Joseph went to Bethlehem the town of David, because he was a descendent of David.
3. Not wanting to leave Mary at home in Nazareth so late in her pregnancy, he took her with him.
4. Because there were no more rooms in the Inn, they stayed in the stable with the animals.
5. Mary went into labor, and baby Jesus was born right there in the barn.
6. He was wrapped in strips of cloth and placed in a manger, a feeding trough for the animals was His first crib.
C. Everything surrounding the conception and birth of Jesus was miraculous.
1. The angel Gabriel had appeared to inform Mary, a virgin, that she would be impregnated miraculously.
2. When Joseph did not believe Mary’s story of a miraculous conception, an angel of the Lord appeared to him to convince him that the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit, and that what was happening took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.” (Mt. 1:20-23)
3. When Jesus was born that night in the stable, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds out in the field and told them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” (Lk. 2:11-12)
4. So the shepherds went and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
5. And they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed.
D. Baby Jesus was miraculously protected by God, and when He had become an adult, the time came for Him to fulfill His destiny and to accomplish the will of God.
1. During His three year ministry, He displayed the power of God through His teaching and the miracles He performed – healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out the demons, and even controlling nature..
2. Then came the moment Jesus had predicted so many times – He was handed over to the officials, He was beaten, tried and crucified, but then three days later, He arose from the dead.
E. The miracles on that 1st Century Street are altogether true.
1. The world has never been the same since Jesus came.
2. One of the important lines of the movie that sticks with me, is the line: “Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to.”
3. Faith is not believing in what is untrue, but faith is believing in something that is true, even though we may not have seen or experienced it, or even if it is otherwise humanly impossible.
4. As the angel explained to Mary in Luke 1:37, “For nothing is impossible with God.”
5. We believe in the God of the impossible who can do anything and everything!
F. I want to end with another story. This one is from a book called The Luck of the Roaring Camp, by Bret Harte.
1. Roaring Camp was the meanest, toughest mining town in all the West.
2. It was a horrible place to live as selfish men mistreated one another.
3. There was only one woman living in this town, a woman of questionable character, named Cherokee Sal.
4. She became pregnant and then died while giving birth.
5. Those awful men, took that baby and put it in an old box for a crib with some rags for bedding.
6. One of the guys said he didn’t think that looked very good, so he jumped on his horse and rode 80 miles to buy a rosewood cradle.
7. The cradle helped, but those rags still looked kind of nasty, so one of the other guys rode to town and bought some silk blankets.
8. Before long someone noticed that the baby probably wasn’t too safe on that old dusty floor, so a few of the guys got on their hands and knees and scrubbed the floor spotless.
9. It wasn’t long before someone decided to clean the windows, and wash the walls and ceiling.
10. One of the guys put up some curtains.
11. One of the guys suggested that they start watching their language around the baby, and have their wild parties somewhere else.
12. The guys began to bathe more often, and even shave on a regular basis.
13. The point of the story is that this baby changed everything.
G. And I submit to you that the coming of baby Jesus did the same – it changed everything.
1. Jesus came, lived and died, and arose – and through Him we have access to abundant and ever-lasting life.
2. His story and the miracles surrounding it are true – He is the way and the truth and the life.
3. Have you received the gift of Jesus?
4. It is a gift that keeps on giving!
5. But our first and most important response is to believe in the miracle of Jesus.
