(Need large Snow Globe hidden behind pulpit)
For too many people this is what Christmas looks like. (BRING OUT AND SHAKE SNOW GLOBE WHILE SINGING): “You’d better watch out, you’d better not cry. You’d better not pout, I’m telling you why. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I’m dreaming of a white Christmas. Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow.”
It’s fun, exciting, bright lights, warm, fuzzy sentimentality, eggnog, ribbons, and then the trash can is filled with gift wrap and it’s done. Over. The fake plastic snow has settled to the bottom of the SnowGlobe for another year.
But, have you ever thought about who determines your Christmas season? For eighteen hundred years it was the church. But by the end of the 19th Century, the start of the Christmas season was being determined by the major department stores. The retailers had hijacked the holy days and reinvented Christmas to be a time of giving gifts. Today the Christmas season is driven by the National Retail Federation and officially begins when the plastic Santas are on the shelf next to the Halloween skeletons.
And this weekend, all the Christmas stuff is 70% off. America’s retailers need to dump those Nativity sets and plastic angels at deeply discounted prices and get them out of our stores because in two weeks we need to start our marketing campaign for Valentine’s Day.
A few years ago, I had my own personal epiphany about Christmas that changed forever the way I look at this season. I’d always felt that let-down after Christmas day. All that excitement and anticipation building up to December 25th. The decorations. Lights. Carols. People were even being uncommonly NICE to each other. And then it was over and feelings of sadness would come over me on December 26th. And my epiphany was when I realized that even though I knew and preached the true meaning of Christmas, my worldview of Christmas had been determined not by the sacred but by the secular.
According to the church calendar, Advent starts a four week season of anticipation for the coming of Christ. Then on December 25th there is a twelve day time of celebration that ends at the feast of the Epiphany. If you didn’t know what the Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas referred to, you do now. We are still right in the middle of Christmas. Turn to someone and tell them MERRY CHRISTMAS!
See, it all takes on a new perspective for us when we take our focus off the snowglobe and put it on the manger. Santa and his reindeer are done. But the Christ child in the manger has just begun. And because we are worshipers, we never stop celebrating our Savior. In my house there is a sculpture of the nativity on the piano. There’s another smaller one in my bedroom. Those don’t get packed away each year. They are out to remind me that the celebration of the coming of Jesus is not just in December. It’s year around.
Let me suggest that you do something revolutionary. Take back your Christmas from the National Retail Federation. Be bold and use the Church calendar instead of Target’s and Macy’s calender. If you’ve ever experienced an emotional let down after Christmas – a disappointment that it’s over – then you’ve been using the wrong calendar.
The secular calendar on your wall with the cute kittens starts the year on January 1st, that’s obviously why we call it New Year’s Day. But the church calendar starts the sacred calendar on that First Sunday of Advent. In the secular world, Christmas marks the end of the year but in the sacred world, Christmas marks the beginning of your year.
Today is the first Sunday after Christmas and for those with a secular worldview: the parties, sentimental movies, gifts, lights, inflatable Grinches, joy and happiness are over. For those with Kingdom of God worldview, the joy and happiness has only just begun. Jesus has come. God incarnate. Emmanuel – God with Us – is here. Santa brings toys and games to good little boys and girls. But Jesus has come to bring us abundant life.
MARANATHA! The Lord has come. And in John 10:10, Jesus says "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Abundantly is a Greek word per-ISS-on meaning over and above. It means exceeding a measure of something. It means something superfluous – something more than you’ll ever need. It means superabundant. Exceeding what is common. But there’s an implication of excellence. When Jesus comes into your life, He not only brings you a superabundant life, He brings you a life filled with excellence.
How sad it is that John 10:10 is one of the main scriptures that prosperity preachers use to convince that Jesus has promised that you will have unlimited wealth and material goods. We know that the abundant life promised by Jesus is so much more than just money.
We celebrate the coming of Jesus during this Christmas time with hearts filled with gratitude because when we see the manger filled with the baby we also see the shadow of the cross in His future.
Emmanuel. God with us. Through His grace we have accepted Him. Trusted Him and have received an Eternally Abundant Life in the Kingdom of God.
The world starts the New Year on January 1st with loud noise and lots to drink. We start our CHURCH New Year in Advent that leads us to a babe in a manger. The world begins a New Year by making resolutions that are seldom kept. Let’s you and me begin our Church New Year by making some resolutions that we’ll keep. Here’s what I suggest that we commit to. Let’s Eat Better. Let’s Lose Weight. Let’s Exercise More.
Okay. I already know that some of you are thinking, “Well those don’t really apply to me.” In fact, by raise of hands how many can honestly say that you need to eat better, lose weight and exercise more? But I’ll let you in on a little secret here. The key to an abundant life in Christ is to eat better, lose weight and exercise more. Let me explain.
We become what we eat – what we feed ourselves. When my brother was a baby, something really weird happened to him. He started turning orange. I’m talking bright pumpkin orange. My mother took him to the doctor who put him right in the hospital. Orange skin on an infant can indicate serious problems with the thyroid or liver. As it turned out, the only baby food my brother really liked was strained carrots and he had eaten so much that he had taken on the coloring of the carrots.
In many ways, we take on the coloring of what we feed ourselves and become what we eat. None of us would think it would be healthy to exist on soft drinks and donuts. There are no nutrients but just worthless, empty sugar calories. We know we need to have some type of balance to the meals we eat. It won’t kill us to occasionally eat some junk food but if we want to remain healthy we need to put healthy foods into our body.
It’s the same thing with our mind. We color our soul – our mind – our psyche by what we feed ourselves through what we watch on TV and read and do on the computer. Research has shown that an entire generation is being formed and colored primarily by the violent video games that both males and females are immersed in. We can be formed and colored by an unhealthy immersion into reality TV shows or romance novels.
So when I suggest that some of us may need to eat better this year. I AM talking about what we feed ourselves but I’m NOT talking about food. I’m NOT talking about what we put in our mouth. I’m talking about what we put into our mind. I’m talking about what we feed our soul. I’m talking about the word of God.
The Bible inspires our faith. Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
The Bible has withstood the test of time. You can’t argue it or negate it. 2 Samuel 22:31 “As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”
In these days of political correctness, Evangelical Christianity has withstood attacks on our faith as we continue to trust in God’s word as our standard of righteousness. But we can only articulate our 2,000 years of doctrine grounded in scripture if we are being well fed by the scripture we quote.
Psalm 19:9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. Psalm 33:4 For the word of the LORD is right, And all His work is done in truth.
The word of the Lord is right – it’s our standard for living. But if we are not familiar with God’s word then we have no standard of righteousness and we can only do what seems right in our own eyes. We need to feed on God’s word daily.
We need to be colored by God’s word. We need to be so immersed in scriptures that they just automatically flow from our heart and our mouth. Deuteronomy 30:11 " For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 "It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' 13 "Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' 14 "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
Feeding on the word of God puts His word in your mouth and in your heart and we need to feed on both Old and New Testaments. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
A donut and a Pepsi won’t kill you. But a diet of nothing but donuts and soft drinks will kill you because you’ll be deprived of the nourishment your body needs to be healthy. A TV show, romance novel or video game won’t kill your mind but a steady diet of those will. That’s because you will be deprived of the nourishment that your soul needs to be healthy.
How many of you would now say that you need to start the Church New Year by eating better – feeding on God’s word more often? Watching what you put into your mind?
And some of us need to lose weight. And the weight I’m talking about can’t be determined by standing on a bathroom scale or looking at a number on a clothing label. Imagine for a moment, looking at yourself in the mirror. Look at your face. Stare into your eyes.
Look at your posture. Are you straight and tall or are you bent over because of the baggage and burdens you carry? What are your bags full of? Worries? Stress? Unforgiveness? Unresolved grief? Doubts? Anger? What are you carrying around with you? What is it that weighs you down? What are you tired of hauling around? What is it that keeps stealing your joy? What do you want to get rid of? How much weight would you like to lose this Church New Year?
See part of that superabundant and most excellent life that Jesus promised for us means that He is more than willing to carry our baggage. We just need to give it to Him. But it’s up to us. God allows us to exercise our free will and stagger around with the weight of our baggage if that’s what we want. Jesus said, I’ve come to give you an abundant life. And some of us have said, “No thanks Lord, I’d really prefer to suffer with the burden of my anxious life.”
And that’s your choice. But when you’re carrying burdens that God never meant for you to carry, you are not living the plans that God has for your life. Jeremiah 29:11 says: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. That’s God’s plan for your life. God’s plan for your life is that you have peace and goodness. That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
The burden of a Christian believer is not heavy, it’s light. Jesus says, let me do the heavy lifting in your life. Give Me your heavy baggage says Jesus.
Eating better – feeding your soul. Losing Weight – giving your burdens to the Son of God and Exercising more. And the exercising I’m talking about doesn’t require a gym membership or a stationary bicycle in your bedroom.
I’m talking about exercise that’s good for both your heart and soul. Dancing. Moving your arms and clapping your hands. Bowing. Kneeling. Standing. Raising your hands. Are you a Christian believer? If so, 1 Corinthians 6:20 says that, “..you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.” God created our bodies to glorify him and Psalm 47:1 says “Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!”
Psalm 95:6 tells us “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” and Psalm 149:3 says “Let them praise his name with dancing.”
Psalm 22:23 says that we need to “Stand in awe of [God].” And Paul tells us in 1Timothy 2:8 “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands.” And Psalm 134:2 says, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.”
Clapping, shouting, bowing, kneeling, dancing, standing and lifting your hands to God the Father. In 2014, that’s the exercise program we need to be on. Scripture commands us to be expressive in our worship and whenever God commands us to do something, our two choices in how to answer Him is “Yes, Lord” or “No, Lord.”
But some of us still may feel awkward clapping, or raising our hands or even saying “amen” out loud. And if so, here’s what we need to realize. When God commands in His word for us to do something it is always for His glory and for our own good. That’s such an important kingdom principle that I need to repeat it. When God commands in His word for us to do something it is always for His glory and for our own good. So for those of us who are a little shy and introverted... for those who tend to be more reflective in their thoughts and less expressive in their actions... Denying God’s exercise program hits at the center of what we have struggled with all our life. Is it pride? Or insecurity? Or an emphasis on what other people think of us instead of an emphasis on what God thinks of us?
See God’s plan for you is that you put Him at the center of your life. Any time we say, “No Lord” we are elevating ourselves above Him. When we say, “Okay Lord, I’m not real comfortable with this but I’m going to do it because scripture commands it...” When we worship Him the way He tells us to... Then our expressive worship draws us out of our preoccupation of ourselves and glorifies God. And when that happens and we willingly participate in our exercise program of expressive worship, our soul is strengthened and God receives all the glory.
Christmas is not over. We’re in the middle of the celebration and yet the good news of Christ’s coming to earth will be celebrated by us eternally forever. Let’s focus not on the snow globe but on the manger. Let’s pay a little more attention to the church calendar. The year has just begun. And, how many of you now are ready to start a new Church Year by pledging to Eat Better, Lose Weight and Exercise More?
