The Questions of Christmas
Luke 2:8-20
It’s tough to miss Christmas if you live in America today. We hear the ads on the radio and TV, see the lighted houses and buildings, the decorated yards in our neighborhoods, and the displays inside every store remind us Christmas is coming in case we’ve missed all the other signs. The clues many times are there to tell us simply – be prepared. Don’t get caught without just the right gift, the right decorations and the right treats and goodies.
But what amazes me about all the hype and fanfare leading up to Christmas is the paradoxical picture it paints when you compare it to the world of first Christmas Eve 2000 years ago. Who do you think was fully prepared for the first Christmas? Were the stores that day full of last-minute shoppers in search of holiday gifts? Were the huts and houses decked out with twinkling décor? Did anxious children find it hard to sleep that night? My guess is the answer to all the above is “No.” It was just another day for them. But the first Christmas was not without its own signals and signs dating back a few centuries. The prophets had predicted a coming Savior, the Messiah, who would be born of a virgin, from the ancestral line of David, born in Bethlehem. All Jews were taught this from the time they were toddlers. And yet on the eve of the very first Christmas, business pretty much went along as usual for most. People came home from work and cleaned up for dinner. Children played in the dusty streets until bed time. Spouses cooked dinner and then straightened up the house. Ho-hum, life goes on.
So who knew what was happening on the holiest of nights? Apparently, no one. That night everyone in Bethlehem slept the night away. An angel had to wake up some shepherds to tell them the Good News. Some wise men were intrigued by a strange star and followed it to the manger. But apart from these unlikely guests, no one else really seemed to notice the first Christmas. Jesus came, and though many had been waiting for him, few noticed his arrival. The first Christmas might have been easy to miss. But the subsequent ones in our lifetime are practically impossible to overlook. Christmas for us today is a warm, fuzzy and sentimental holiday with nice music, too much good food, presents and family. But that first Christmas was more than that. It brought three questions which every person needed to deal with as they encountered the Christ child. Christmas isn’t so much about what God has done for us as it is about our response to the Christ child and to these questions.
First, what are you living for? The first person in the Gospel to answer this question was a man named Simeon, who wasn’t even at the Nativity. He was a righteous and devout Jew who was waiting for the coming of the Messiah. Luke uses the Greek word of anticipation to describe Simeon which literally means that he was “alert to His appearance, and ready to welcome Him.” Because he was living prepared for the arrival, the Holy Spirit prompted Simeon to go to the temple courts at just the right time on just the right day that Joseph and Mary were bringing their infant to the Temple. When Simeon saw baby Jesus, he knew that God’s promise had been kept. So he reached down and took Jesus out of Mary’s arms and began to praise God. This is what Simeon had been preparing and living for.
And throughout the rest of Jesus’ life when people encountered him, his very identity and purpose confronted them with the question, “What are you living for?” Jesus came to call us to live for the very purposes of God, “to seek and save the lost”, to minister to the needy and to reconcile people to God. Luke 19:10 God has called each of us to love Him with all of our hearts and He has commanded us to show that love through loving others by sharing the Gospel, the Good News, in both word and action with those around us.
What about you this Christmas, what are you living for? Many of us have gotten caught up in the Christmas of consumerism. Not only that, we’ve bought into the lie of the American dream which says the accumulation of stuff leads to happiness. Since 2005, Americans have spent $1.22 for every $1 earned. So for the first time in American history since 2005, we’ve entered a negative savings rate. How long could that last? We found out. Two and a half years. This is one reason why we have been going through the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. We have worshipped and served materialism rather than the Creator.
When you think about it: the American dream is really no different than hedonism which lives by the mantra “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” The American dream says you can be and make of your life whatever you want. The sky is the limit. But we are not as self made as we like to think. We are made by God for God. And yet it seems like we have pushed God out of almost every aspect of our lives: our schools, our courts, our families, our sporting events and even our Christmas. Look at what we have done. We have made this life all about us. Instead of building our lives around God’s priorities, we try to make God fit conveniently into ours. We’re in a serous place and time right now in our lives and who knows what lies ahead. But as we come to the manger, we all have to ask ourselves: what are you living for?
The second question is: “Who are you living for?” The first people to answer this question were the shepherds. They had been living for their sheep because that’s what a shepherd must do 24/7 to protect them. But when an angel announced the birth of the Savior to them, they left their sheep and found Mary and Joseph, and baby Jesus, who was lying in the manger. They then went and spread the word of the birth to all who would listen and then returned, glorifying and praising God. From that moment on, they were no longer living for their families or sheep or the wages they would receive when they took them to market. They were living for God. And every person who encountered the Christ child, and then Jesus as an adult, was faced with this second question, “Who are you living for?”
What about you this Christmas, who are you living for? In this time of year, it becomes all too clear that the answer for many is themselves. Christmas is about the things we want, the gifts we receive, and the parties we attend. Christmas is no longer about the Christ child, it’s become about us. And this is exactly what our culture tells us to do. This life is about you, your hopes, your desires, and your dreams and our lives begin to reflect this self-centered pursuit.
If the Christmas story is really true, what would the world be like? Seven hundred years before Christ was born, Isaiah prophesied that God was going to give us a sign so when it happens, we’ll know it’s God. “To us a child is born, to us a child is given and the government will be on His shoulders and he will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.” What would America look like, what would your life look like, if He really was Wonderful Counselor? What would America look like, what would your life look like, if He really was Mighty God in our lives? What would America look like, what would your life look like, look like if He really was the Prince of Peace?
If Jesus is Son of God, Emmanuel, God with us, born in the flesh, then He is the definitive reason for which we live. Some have surmised that it’s just too easy to live in this time and this place and so we have come to think that we don’t really need God. We’re doing just fine by ourselves. We’re too comfortable and secure really to depend on God. I heard a story recently of a pastor who visited the Far East and was talking to Christians there. They said they were praying for American Christians. He asked what they had been praying for and they said for more persecution. More persecution? “Yes. You have it too easy in America so your faith has become weak. What makes our faith strong is persecution and difficult times because we have to depend on God.” Now I don’t know about you but I’m not looking to add any more difficult times or persecution in my life, especially during the holidays. I’m pretty comfortable with the way my life is. Oh, there are things I would like to change and see improve but in comparison to the world, I’m pretty comfortable with the way things are, even if they’re not perfect.
It’s so easy to get away from God and live for ourselves when life is easy and things are going well. When do we cry out to God or return to God? During difficult times. Those prayers may have been right on. Our faith has gotten weak and comfortable. You see, Paul said a key barometer as to whether we are being faithful to the Gospel is how much pain, suffering and persecution we are undergoing for the sake of the Gospel. Why? Because the Gospel is always against the sinful ways of the world and when you try to change the world for the Gospel’s sake, the world will always resist.
In Jesus’ time, things were hard. The majority of people lived in poverty. They paid 60% of their wages in taxes. They were occupied by a foreign, pagan army and most of their freedoms had been stripped from them. Life was hard and things were hard all around. And they had lived this way for 100’s of years! In other words, they desperately needed a Savior. It was their only hope because they knew they couldn’t change things on their own.
So who have you been living for? Have you been living for yourself, “eat, drink and be merry,” or have you been living for the Christ child? If Jesus is not the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace, we shouldn’t be here or even playing Christian. And yet people are dying today because they believe in Jesus. In fact, there are more Christians dying today for their faith than at any time in history. If Jesus Christ is truly God in the flesh, if he truly is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but through him, then it demands an answer to the question of who we are living for. And if we say yes, it requires every single part of who we are. Jesus is meant to be the North Star from whom we take direction in every commitment, every decision and every action of our lives. It’s exactly as the Bible means when it says “For me to live is Christ.” It’s coming to the realization that I can’t do anything apart from Christ.
When Jesus was born, everyone who encountered him was faced with an eternal decision answered in these two questions: what are you living for and who are you living for? If you are living for Jesus Christ then you will invest all of yourself in the things that are important to God.
But there is a third question: what will you give to the Messiah? Christmas is not about how you feel. O, we’ll have family in town, great food, laughter, exchange gifts and have a lot of fun. But that’s the Christmas of consumerism. But when the Christ child enters the world and when the Christ child encounters your life, Christmas becomes about your response to the arrival of the Savior, who has come in the flesh to die on the cross to redeem the world, you and me, from our sins. Christmas is not about what you receive, it’s ultimately about the gift you’re going to give to the King.
Michael Sattler tells the story of Christmas 1930. His wife had just passed away the month before and he was lonely and heartsick. But mostly, he worried about the type of Christmas his girls would have. When Christmas morning came, they opened their presents with unusual enthusiasm and merriment and when they had finished opening the last gift, the oldest Catherine said, “We know how much you miss Mama. We have a surprise for you.” They scampered away. After a few moments a voice called out from the bedroom, “Close your eyes.” When he opened them, he saw standing before him the Three Wise Men. Catherine said, “We have no gold.” “Or myrrh,” Sandy said. “Or incense,” said Lucille. “And so” they said in unison with their arms spread wide open, “we bring you us!” Michael bent down, trying to hold back the tears in his eyes and scooped them up in is arms, embracing this great gift he had just received.
When we come to the manger this night, it’s not about how a newborn makes you feel. It’s not about what God has done for us. It’s about our response and our gift to Him. And the only thing we have to offer the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords and the Prince of Peace is us and that’s really the only thing he ever wanted. May it be so with us tonight, tomorrow and every day for the rest of our lives. Amen and Amen.
