SERIES: ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS…
“SOMEONE TO ADVISE ME”
(adapted from a sermon by Dave Stone)
ISAIAH 9:6-7
OPEN
When I was a child back in the 1960’s and 1970’s, there was one day better than almost all the rest. It was better than my birthday. It was better than visiting relatives in Georgia or Pennsylvania. It was almost better than Christmas day. It was the day the Christmas catalogs arrived at our house. Companies like Spalding and Montgomery-Ward would come to our house by mail. It provided long hours of fun.
But the most coveted catalog of all was the Sears & Roebuck catalog. My sister and I would fight over who would get to look at it first. We would take it and pour over every page – making detailed lists of all the things we wanted for Christmas.
In my day, it was bicycles, GI Joes, Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots, Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. For my sister it was Barbies, baby dolls, and Easy Bake Ovens.
In the 1980’s, the most desired gifts were Star Wars and He Man action figures, Rubik’s Cubes, Pound Puppies, Cabbage Patch Kids, My Little Pony, Teddy Ruxpin, and video game systems like Nintendo and Sega. In the 1990’s, when our two youngest children were young, the most desired gifts were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Action Figures, Pogs, Barney the Purple Dinosaur dolls, Power Rangers. Beanie Babies, Tickle-Me Elmo,. Tamagotchi, Furby, and Pokemon.
Some of you may have sung a song that showed a desire at Christmas time. It goes like this: All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth, my two front teeth. All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, then I could wish you, “Merry Christmas!”
Over the years, what we wanted for Christmas may have changed but for the most part, there is always something desired at Christmas-time. Today, as we look back a little bit, we might have a good laugh because those things that seemed so important at that time of life is probably long gone – sold at a yard sale or thrown out with the trash. Some of you may have some of those things tucked away in a box or tote somewhere.
We looked at those things as what we really wanted – what we really had to have. It was all we wanted for Christmas. It would make us happy. And we thought that if we would just be fortunate enough to get it that we would never want for anything else again. But we grow older and more mature and our wish list changes. We realize our wants and needs go much deeper than something to play with.
Last week, we introduced some ideas from Is. 9:6-7 – “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.”
Today, and through the next several weeks, we’re going to expand on those ideas in a series called, “All I Want For Christmas…” God knew what would truly satisfy us. The first deep need that He provided through His Son, Jesus Christ, is my need for “Someone to Advise Me.”
The passage from Isaiah is called a “Messianic passage” because it tells us hundreds of years ahead of time what we could expect in God’s anointed and appointed one – the Messiah, the Christ – Jesus. Jesus fulfills each of the roles that were foretold. The first role we’ll consider today is that of “Wonderful Counselor.”
The word “Wonderful” in Hebrew literally translates as “beyond understanding.” It’s difficult for us to comprehend what a wonderful counselor God is. Some translate it that He is “miraculously marvelous.”
The term wonderful counselor was a reference to royalty. Therefore, “Wonderful Counselor” would be the one who miraculously lead; he was a King giving direction. We have a King named Jesus. He wants to direct your life and give you advice.
Since the late 1980’s the number of Christian counselors has more than quadrupled in America. The same has taken place with secular counselors as well. Stress, broken relationships, grief, and unbearable pressures are no respecter of persons. We all need someone to advise us. Whether we are willing to admit it or not, we all want godly counsel and advice and Jesus came to do just that.
It seems appropriate to talk about the concept of a counselor during this time of year. During the Holiday season is a time that many people reach for alcohol as a coping mechanism instead of reaching out to their Savior.
There are many people who go through bouts of depression during the Holiday season. Perhaps their focus is on something that took place early in the year like the loss of a loved one and sometimes the grief seems unbearable.
This is the time to remember not only Isaiah’s prophecy but also how it was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. Lk. 1:26-35 – “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a
town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s
name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with
you.’ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel
said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son,
and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will
never end.’ ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy
Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will
be called the Son of God.’”
That sounds like a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 9. It was written centuries before Jesus would appear on the scene. What Isaiah prophesies finds fulfillment in Jesus who left a perfect place called Heaven and came to earth as a tiny, helpless, defenseless baby. He was divinity in the flesh. That little baby is the King and the King is a wonderful counselor.
There are some essential qualities in a counselor. We need the work of Christ as our counselor to live in a way that honors Him for what He has done for us – dying on a cross for our sins, rising from the dead, ascending back to heaven, and now waiting to come take His faithful followers back home with Him.
The first essential quality is…
HE WILL LISTEN
Some of us really struggle in the area of listening. Just ask my wife. She says that I never listen. And she’s partially correct. There are times when my listening skills are less than they should be. It’s one of the reasons I avoid doing long-term counseling. A counselor needs great listening skills.
Years ago the well-known Methodist preacher, Charles Allen, described his style of pastoral counseling. He said, “A church member would come in and I’d say, ‘Well tell me, what is your problem?’ And they would talk for a while and I would sit and listen.
And then I’d say, “Well, what do you think you should do?” And I’d listen and say, “I think your right.” Then they would get up from their seat and thank me profusely for the counsel I had given.”
A listening ear enables you to “advise” someone. How good of a listener are you? I heard about a couple that had been married for sixty years. One night the wife whispered to her husband in bed, “I’m proud of you”. The man said, “Huh?” She said again in a soft voice, “I’m proud of you.” And he said, “Well I’m tired of you too!”
I think Jesus must have been a great listener. Jesus’ interaction with people showed His listening skills. His skills were obvious when He spoke to the women at the well, when He was speaking to Nicodemus at night, when the centurion was worried about his servant being healed, when He was on His way to Capernaum and overheard the disciples arguing, and the list goes on and on.
Perhaps the strongest proof that your wonderful counselor listens are the words of the Apostle John in 1John 5:13-14; “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
On the popular television show, Frasier, Kelsey Grammar’s character was a psychiatrist who had a show on a talk radio station in Seattle. He would encourage his listeners to share their problems and seek his advice with a two-word phrase: “I’m listening.”
Let me assure you – Jesus is listening. He hears us. For the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit NOT to listen to your needs would be a contradiction and inconsistency within the very nature of God and of the Bible itself.
He will listen. Another quality of a wonderful counselor is …
HE WILL UNDERSTAND YOUR SITUATION
Author Stephen Covey recalled an incident while riding the New York City subway one Sunday morning.
The few passengers on the train were reading the newspaper or dozing. It was a quiet, almost silent ride through the “underground” of the Big Apple. Covey was engrossed in reading when a man accompanied by several small children boarded at the next stop. In less than a minute, bedlam erupted. The kids ran up and down the aisle shouting, screaming, and wrestling with one another on the floor. Their father did not even attempt to intervene.
The elderly passengers shifted nervously. Stress became distress. Covey waited patiently. Surely the father would do something to restore order. He would issue a gentle word of correction, a stern command, or something. But he did nothing. Frustration was mounting.
Finally Covey said that he turned to the father and said kindly, “Sir, perhaps you could restore order here by
telling your children to come back and sit down.”
The father turned to Covey and said, “I know I should do something, but we just came from the hospital.
Their mother, my wife, died an hour ago. I just don't know what to do.”
Having knowledge and information changes how you see a situation. If you know all the facts, frustration leaves and your heart is filled with compassion. That’s how it is with your Wonderful Counselor. He knows the home from which you have come, He knows the struggles you have faced, and He understands.
We sometimes think that we can understand why people act the way they do, but we don’t always have the full story. We don’t always know everything so we form more of a perception based on what we have seen. We don’t always have the facts. We have limited information when it comes to counseling, but rest assured that there is a Wonderful Counselor who knows it all.
We tend to make judgments early on because we don’t understand. But Jesus understood. He had the advantage of knowing everything, but also of being able to relate to people from all walks of life.
Remember Zacchaeus and how understanding Jesus was with him. Zacchaeus had absolutely no friends and yet Jesus said, “Let’s do lunch, let’s do it today and let’s go to your place.” You see, Jesus understood what it was like to be alone.
The Lord knows us inside and out. David says in Ps. 139:2-3 – “You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways…”
The writer of Hebrews says in Heb. 2:16-18 – “For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
Then a little later in Heb. 4:14-16 – “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
He listens. He understands. The third quality of a good counselor is…
HE WILL TELL THE TRUTH
The counselor you don’t want is the one who will tell you what you want to hear. You need a counselor who will tell the truth. Jesus did this very thing accurately and tactfully.
Remember the woman at the well? He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” She said, “I have
no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
Or do you remember when Jesus was talking to Simon Peter. Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go to prison
and die for you.” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three
times that you know me.”
Jesus always spoke the truth because He is the truth. In Jn. 14:6, Jesus identified himself as “the way, the truth, and the life.” Later in Jn. 14:16-17, Jesus tells his followers that he will be leaving but will send another counselor who would lead them into truth.
We don’t always know the truth and we don’t always want to know the truth. It’s not always true but it is often true.
Several years ago, there was a middle-aged schoolteacher who had invested her life’s savings in a business enterprise with a man who swindled her out of the money. When her investment disappeared and the wonderful dream was shattered, she went to the office of the Better Business Bureau. “Why on earth,” they asked, “didn't you come to us first? Didn't you know about the Better Business Bureau?” “Oh, yes,” said the lady sadly, “I've
always known about you. But I didn't come because I was afraid you'd tell me not to do it.”
The same is true with us when it comes to spiritual advice. There are some people who do not seek godly counsel because they are afraid of what they will hear. They are afraid of what God's word will say to them and
they have no intention of hearing it and doing it.
They are afraid they will be told to continue to pray and to persevere and stay with their spouse. They are afraid they will be told to step up to the plate and actually get involved in the lives of their children. They are afraid they will hear something they don’t want to do and, down deep, they’re not interested in following it.
That’s why you need some truth-tellers in your life. In Prov. 27:6, Solomon advises us, “Wounds from a
friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”
Isn’t it better to share the truth, the whole truth, up front even if it temporarily hurts someone? Even that is better than to conceal the truth in the hope that the problem will take care of itself.
Jesus listens. He understands your situation. He tells you the truth. And the fourth quality of a good counselor is…
HE HAS YOUR BEST INTEREST IN MIND.
In Lk. 4:18, Jesus says, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Jesus is referencing prophecies in Isaiah Chapts. 58 & 61.
In Mt. 11:28-30, Jesus gives this invitation – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Christ has your best interest in mind. What Jesus tells us to do may not always be what we want to hear, but it will always be the right thing and the best thing.
Jesus listens. He understands. He will not give you false hope or wrong direction because He tells the truth. He always has your best interest in mind. And the final quality of a good counselor is …
HE WILL GIVE YOU CLEAR DIRECTION
The best counselors don’t just listen, understand, speak the truth, and want what’s best for you. If they stop there they have come up short. They need to complete the journey by giving you clear direction.
Dave Stone, senior minister at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY asked some of the Christian counselors on staff about the one thing people have in common when they call for a counseling appointment.
One of them replied, “Yes, there is one thing. Everyone is in search of hope.”
I want you to know today that Jesus Christ can give your life hope and purpose. It can give you clear direction. Prov. 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
The wonderful counselor makes no bones about the clear direction He wants your life to take. Jesus boldly says, “Deny yourself, take up your Cross and follow Me.” That’s why Jesus looked at the woman caught in the act of adultery and tell her that she is forgiven but also for her to sin no more. He doesn’t trivialize the sin nor does he allow her to stay on that path. On the contrary He said, “Now go, and leave your life of sin.”
There’s an old joke in the counseling profession that asks: How many counselors does it take to take to change a light bulb? And the answer is: Only one. But the light must really have the desire to change.
Counselors want to help you make positive changes in your life. They realize they can’t make those changes for you, but they can help give you the tools if you’re willing to allow the wonderful Counselor to bring about an amazing transformation.
In his book, The Dance of Hope, Bill Frey tells of a blind student named John whom he tutored at the
University of Colorado in 1951. One day Bill asked John how he had become blind. The sightless student described an accident that happened in his teenage years. The tragedy took, not just the boy’s sight, but also his hope. He told Bill, “I was bitter and angry with God for letting it happen, and I took my anger out on everyone around me. I felt that since I had no future, I wouldn’t lift a finger on my own behalf. Let others wait on me. I shut my bedroom door and refused to come out except for meals.”
The story surprised Bill. Obviously a change had occurred. The student he assisted displayed no bitterness or anger. John traced the change to a challenge from his father. The dad was tired of the pity-party and ready for his son to get on with life. He reminded the boy of the impending winter and told him to mount the storm
windows. He said, “Do the work before I get home or else,” and he slammed the door on the way out.
John reacted with anger. Muttering and cursing all the way to the garage, he found the windows, stepladder,
and tools and went to work. In his mind he thought, “They’ll be sorry when I fall off my ladder and break my
neck.” But he didn’t fall. Little by little, he groped around the house and finished the chore.
That assignment achieved the dad’s goal. John reluctantly realized he could still work and began to reconstruct his life. Years later he learned something else about that day. He learned something not about himself, but about his father. When he shared these words with Bill, his blind eyes misted. He said, “I later discovered that at no time during the day had my father ever been more than four or five feet from my side.”
The father had no intention of letting the boy fall and neither does your Father. Your Father, the Bible tells us in the book of Jude, is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.
He doesn’t want you to live in fear of falling. Our wonderful counselor promises to never leave you or forsake you. Regardless of the situation or circumstance, He says, “I will walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you don’t have to fear. I’ll be right there.” And because of that we say, “Wonderful Counselor.”
CLOSE
The most wonderfully majestic thing we can understand about Jesus is that He left the splendors of heaven to put on human flesh so that we could find light and life in Him.
Several years ago, Matt Proctor, president of Ozark Christian College wrote an article around Christmas time that appeared in the Christian Standard. In it, he sheds some light on the miracle of the Incarnation.
Proctor writes: My 5-year-old, Carl, and my 3-year-old, Conrad, love it when I dress like them. After they put on jeans and a blue T-shirt, they'll come ask me to wear jeans and a blue T-shirt. When I do, they have a saying. They will survey me, survey themselves, and say, “Look, Dad—same, same.” For my birthday, Carl bought me a North Carolina blue mesh shirt … because he has a North Carolina blue mesh shirt. We could be “same, same.”
When I play living room football with my boys, Conrad will not let me play standing—so big and scary and towering above him. The theological term for this is “completely Other.” Instead he insists I get on my knees. When I am down at eye-level, Conrad puts his hand on my shoulder and says, “There. See, Dad—same, same.” They like it when I enter their world ….
This summer, I scraped my leg working on my house. When Conrad fell down and scraped his leg, he pointed at my scab, then showed me his and said, “Hey, Dad—same, same.”
Here's the point … God himself has felt what we feel. In the Incarnation, he chose not to stay “completely Other.” He got down at eye-level, and in the Incarnation, God experienced what it's like to be tired and
discouraged …. He knows what it's like to hurt and bleed. On the cross, Jesus himself prayed a psalm of lament: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Psalm 22:1).
In your pain, you may be tempted to say, “God, you have no idea what I'm going through. You have no idea how bad I'm hurting.” But God can respond, “Yes, I do.” He can point to your wounds and then to his own and
say, “Look: same, same. Me too. I have entered your world, and I know how you feel. I have been there, I am
with you now, I care, and I can help.” That is what Christmas is all about.
