Christmas Banquet Devotional – December 2, 2012
Good evening everyone! I want to take a few minutes tonight and to share with you two stories – one about a grown man and one about a tiny infant. The first story is told by radio commentator Paul Harvey. The second is written by God Himself and yet the two stories are irrevocably tied together.
The man in the first story, “The man I’m talking about, was not a scrooge now, he was a kind, decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men, but he just did not believe in all that incarnation stuff which the Churches proclaim at Christmas time. It just didn’t make sense. And he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He could not swallow the Jesus story about God coming to earth as man.
He told his wife, “I’m truly sorry to distress you, but I’m just not going with you to church this Christmas Eve.” He said he’d feel like a, “hypocrite.” That he would much rather just stay home, but that he would wait up for them. So he stayed and they went to the midnight service.
Now, shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier, then he went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. And then another and then yet another. At first he thought somebody must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But, when he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled out there, miserably, in the snow. They had been caught in the storm. In a desperate search for shelter they had tried to fly through his large, landscape, window. That was what had been making the sound!
Well, he couldn’t let those poor creatures just lie there and freeze. So he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter – all he would have to do is direct the birds into that shelter.
Quickly he put on a coat and galoshes, and he tramped through the deepening snow to the barn, and he opened the doors wide, and inside the barn he turned on a light so the birds would know the way in.
But the birds did not come in. So he figured that food would entice them. He went back to the house and fetched some bread crumbs, and sprinkled those on the snow making a trail of bread crumbs to the yellow lighted, wide open, doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs.
The birds just continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them – he could not. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms – but instead they scattered in every direction – every direction except into the warm, lighted barn.
And that’s when he realized that they were afraid of him. They were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange, terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know they can trust me; that I’m not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how? Any move he made tended to frighten them and confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led, or shooed, because they feared him. And he thought to himself, “If only I could be a bird now, I could be a bird and mingle with them, and speak their language, and tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to the safe, warm barn. But I would have to be one of them, wouldn’t I, so they could see and hear and understand.
At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells. Adeste Fideles. Listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow. (Paul Harvey)
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I think we’ll leave that man kneeling in the snow for just a while as we listen to our second story of the evening – though calling it a “story” does it an injustice. What I’m about to read to you is history being lived out. It comes to us from the pages of the Bible and it’s a story we read every Christmas Eve in our home as I was growing up. When we were old enough, my sister and I would take turns reading that story out loud for the whole family as we sat around the fireplace before bedtime.
That story begins with these words … “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” (Matthew 1:18–24, NIV)
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. … And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. … While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.
“… And [Joseph] gave him the name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:25, NIV)
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” (Luke 2:1–20, NIV)
That’s our second story for the evening. And now, having heard both, perhaps we’re left wondering what they really mean and who these stories are really for. And those are good questions and they deserve an answer.
Folks, somewhere out there tonight the sound of a widow’s grief fills the night air. She stands at the fresh grave of her husband and looks into a future filled with shattered dreams. This story is for her.
And in a rundown apartment, in a dingy old building surrounded by other dingy old buildings, a baby is crying. It’s a cry of hunger and loneliness and despair. The child’s mom is working two jobs, and trying to raise this baby alone, but she feels she is at the end of her rope. She can’t take much more. This story is for the two of them.
And in a hospital not so far away a woman lies in ICU. The beeping and whirring of the machines that are helping keep her alive will be the music of Christmas for her family this year. But it’s her story too.
In another home a man sits at the dinner table with his family, much as we have done this evening – talking and laughing. Life is good and full and their troubles are small. This is their story as well.
In a few hours a woman is going to go into labor. It’s not going to be easy and it’s going to take some time. But it’s going to end well. It’s a little boy. And that boy is going to grow into a man one day, marry the girl of his dreams, and together they will raise a family. They will make some mistakes, they will have some regrets, there will be some pain and suffering, joy and sorrow, happiness and despair in their lives. They will grow old together. This story is their story too.
And we who sit here together tonight, with friends and family, enjoying the evening – we come from different backgrounds, different life experiences, different sorrows, different joys, but this story is for each of us as well. This story is for you … it’s for me.
When my children were younger sometimes they’d sleep so peacefully that it was hard to tell if they were still breathing. So I’d take their little bodies in my arms and I’d lay my head gently on their chest … and then I’d listen. I’d listen to hear the beating of their tiny little hearts and when I heard it I’d know that all was right with the world.
In the stories I’ve read tonight you’ve heard the heart beat of God. The love of God is wrapped up in the heart of Christmas. It’s expressed for us in the birth of this tiny bundle of life that Mary took in her arms that night. This wasn’t just any child! This was God in the flesh. “Immanuel” they called Him, meaning “God with us.” In the baby Jesus, God is with us – right there with us amidst the hurt and pain and need of life. The Bible tells us this: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 The love of God for the world – for you and me – is what I hear in the story of that night so long ago when Jesus was born - it’s the heart beat of God.
That’s the story of the first Christmas and understanding what God had done in Jesus is what brought that farmer to his knees in the snow. It had finally clicked for him - God did for us what the farmer only wished he could do for the birds. In the person of Jesus, God entered into our story in the flesh, in order to rescue us.
And that’s what He’s done. Jesus came – not as a random act or an afterthought – He came as part of a great need that every human being shares in. He came because of this thing called sin – it’s a word that means ‘to miss the mark.’ We miss the mark so often in the things we say and think and do – they all fall short, like the Bible says, of the glory of God. It’s all sin and because God is a holy God our sin separates us from Him. More than that it brings God’s righteous judgment. And because we each miss the mark and sin – and it doesn’t matter if you’re doing better than the person sitting next to you tonight - because the standard you are held accountable to is not Henry’s or Barb’s or whoever you happen to be sitting next to – the standard we are held accountable to is … God’s. And we’ve all sinned and fallen short of that which means we’re all under the penalty for sin which is eternal separation from God.
But that’s where the heart of Christmas, the love of God comes in. The angel said, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you.” A ‘savior’ - one who saves. Jesus saves us from the penalty of our sin. Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Being saved from sin, means the penalty for sin no longer applies. Jesus has paid that price for us. And it all began with the story of that first Christmas. With God who loved His creation so much that He wanted to find a way to deal with their sin so that Heaven could be theirs. A God who loves you so much that He longs to bear the hurts and the burdens and the pains and the disappointments of your life. He longs to make whole that which is broken. To mend that which has been torn. To heal that which has been hurt. To give new life where there is only death. To wash away the penalty for your sin in Jesus Christ. To grant to you a new and better future.
This is the real meaning of Christmas. This is the sound of God’s love – the beating of His heart – that flows through the pages of the Bible. And you can be a part of that. The theme for the banquet tonight is “Come and Be Filled.” You can see it written in various places on the walls tonight … Come and be filled with__________________, Come and be filled with ________________, Come and be filled with _____________. Well tonight I want to invite you to come and be filled with God’s love, to know firsthand the wonder of the Christmas story. Scripture says “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation the old has gone the new has come.” A new creation meant for God’s glory. A new creation at peace with God. A new creation full of hope for both the present and the future. A new creation because of God’s love.
How does this happen? Others have asked that question before us. This is the answer that they were given in the pages of the Bible: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” Believe that He was the Son of God who through His death took upon Himself the penalty for your sins that you might have forgiveness and peace with God. Believe this and you will be saved. Turn from yours sins and know the forgiveness of God that is found in Jesus Christ. For if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is our message of hope. This is what fills with joy. This is what brings peace. It’s where we find healing and hope. This is the message of Christmas. And my desire for you and your family, is that this Christmas you will be filled the hope, love, joy and peace that are found in Jesus Christ.
Thank you so much and God bless you!
