CHRISTMAS PRESENCE
INTRODUCTION: Everyone looks forward to receiving Christmas presents. The Jews had been waiting hundreds of years for their Messiah to come. The greatest Christmas present came in the presence of Jesus. 2000 years later, Jesus is still the greatest present. Tony Abrams said, “Christmas is not about presents but His presence!” Let’s see why the presence of Jesus is and always will be the greatest present of all.
1) The ultimate exchange. The days before Christmas are understandably busy but the days following Christmas are pretty busy too. It’s when people head back to the stores to exchange their gifts for something they really wanted. Well, Jesus made an exchange too. Phil. 2:6-8, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Seems strange that the One who enjoyed a living arrangement we could only begin to imagine became willing to exchange it for the ugliness of earth. Don’t get me wrong, Earth is a beautiful place but compared to heaven it must look like a dump.
And not only that, but Jesus left heaven as the Creator and became willing to be among the created. Left as the Master of the universe in exchange for becoming a helpless baby. Left a place where he was worshipped in exchange for a place where he would be whipped.
Why was he willing to perform such an incredible exchange? He did it because he loves us and he wants us to be saved.
Love brought the Savior to the world. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. There was a need for Jesus coming to earth; we needed a Savior; we couldn’t save ourselves.
However, having a need doesn’t necessarily constitute an action to meet that need. Knowing there are starving children in Africa doesn’t automatically result in me helping to feed them. Something else has to be there besides awareness-love. And true love is displayed in action-not just desire. I can have the desire to help but never act on it. In Jesus’ birth we see the result of the Father’s active love and compassion for the world. The Father let go of his precious son, knowing he would be subjected to mistreatment and abuse. Such was his love for the world that God was willing to let his Son go to the cross so we wouldn’t perish.
However, although God loves the world as a whole he also loves each one of us as an individual. If you were the only one in the whole world that needed salvation Jesus still would’ve left heaven and come to earth.
And consider this-not only did Jesus make this exchange because he loves you; he also did it because he wants to be loved by you. Jesus exchanged heaven for earth because he wanted to have an intimate relationship with people; he wanted the world to see him, touch him, know him in a way previously unknown since the Garden of Eden. Jesus’ presence gave people a glimpse of what things were like for Adam and Eve in the Garden. Everything changed when Adam and Eve sinned. That intimacy was removed-exchanged for a lesser relationship between God and man. Since then there was a boundary between God and man. Sinful man could not be in the presence of a Holy God. God presented a form of himself to certain people, like Abraham, Moses and Elijah, but it was limited to a select few. And once a year, the high priest was allowed to enter the holy of holies, the innermost room of the temple where God’s presence was, but that was it.
Now, after all these years, God would come to the world-not once a year, not for a select few but every day, for everyone. Now, because he was willing to become flesh, God could continually be in the presence of man. John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Now, the world could see God face to face. People could talk with him and learn straight from his own lips. Before, people had the word of God spoken through the Prophets. But now the Word became flesh and people could see and hear from him directly. It’s like if you have a pen pal. You spend years writing back and forth and then you have the opportunity to see each other face to face. Your pen pal leaves where he was to come and be with you. How exciting would it be to finally meet and spend time with the one whom you knew only through letters? Jesus left the glory of heaven to come be Immanuel-God with us.
He made the exchange because he loved us and wanted a close, intimate relationship with us and he did it to save us, to free us from spiritual death. Paul said in 1st Tim. 1:15 that Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Heb. 2:14-18, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers 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.”
When Jesus exchanged his glory for humanity it showed that he was willing to experience human pain, he was willing to subject himself to physical limitations and deal with human emotions as well as struggle with human temptations. In this exchange Jesus allowed himself to become uncomfortable and vulnerable. He took on unimaginable disgrace and humiliation. He endured unspeakable pain and torture. He became our sin and died a physical and spiritual death we cannot fathom in the least. All this because he loved us and wanted to free us from spiritual death. Jesus came to show us what perfect, sacrificial love looked like. He made the ultimate exchange.
2) The presents or the presence? So, what is your Christmas going to be about-the presents or the presence? What matters more? Ask the children whose father is over in Iraq what would matter more on Christmas morning-to see presents under the tree or the presence of their father next to the tree? Would we exchange the presence of our loved ones for more presents under the tree? I hope not. The material becomes immaterial compared to the people in our lives.
That’s especially true with Jesus. We may not have Jesus with us in a physical way but he is still Immanuel-God with us-in a spiritual way. Having the presence of Jesus in our hearts and in our lives is infinitely more valuable than all the presents of the world.
But we can lose sight of that during this time of year. Jesus can get lost in the shuffle. We get caught up in buying the presents and lose sight of the presence of Jesus. “A lady went to the mall Christmas shopping with her two children; after many hours of looking at row after row of toys and everything else imaginable, and after hours of hearing both her children asking for everything they saw on those many shelves, she finally made it to the elevator with her two kids. She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday season time of the year---overwhelming pressure to go to every party, every housewarming, taste all the holiday food and treats, get that perfect gift for every single person on our shopping list, make sure we don’t forget anyone on our card list, and the pressure of making sure we respond to everyone who sent us a card. Finally the elevator doors opened and there was already a crowd in the elevator. She pushed her way into the elevator and dragged her two kids in with her and all the bags of stuff. When the doors closed she couldn’t take it anymore and stated, “Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung up and shot.” From the back of the car everyone heard a quiet, calm voice respond, “Don’t worry. We already crucified him.” That’s one way to get the focus back on Jesus.
We need to keep our focus on the presence, not the presents. But this is not only a problem at Christmastime. We can have a problem keeping the focus on Jesus any time. You know how we go back to the store and exchange a present we didn’t really want for something else? There are times when we are tempted to exchange the presence of Jesus for something else; but in this case we aren’t trading up. We are trading in the treasure of heaven for the trinket of the world. We are exchanging gold for filth. It would be like having a million dollars and trading it for a penny. Sure it sounds foolish but that’s what we do when we decide, even if it’s for a moment, to put Jesus aside and grab something of the world.
Mark 8:36-37, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” If we exchange the presence of Jesus for anything else we are foolish. The presence of Jesus is invaluable and therefore not worth setting aside for any “present” the world has to offer. Paul said he considered everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus. No matter what present you may buy or receive this Christmas, I hope your main focus will be on the presence of Jesus.
CONCLUSION: “Marjorie Tallcott was married and had one child during the Great Depression. The family managed to scrape their way through, but as Christmas approached one year Marjorie and her husband were disappointed that they would not be able to buy any presents. A week before Christmas they explained to their six year old son, Pete, that there would be no store-bought presents this Christmas. “But I’ll tell you what we can do” said Pete’s father, “We can make pictures of the presents we’d like to give to each other.” That was a busy week. Marjorie and her husband set to work. Christmas Day arrived and the family rose to find their skimpy little tree made magnificent by the picture presents they had adorned it with. There was luxury beyond imagination in those pictures- a black limousine and red speedboat for Dad, a diamond bracelet and fur coat for mum, a camping tent and a swimming pool for Pete. Then Pete pulled out his present, a crayon drawing of a man, a woman and a child with their arms around each other laughing. Under the picture was just one word: “US”. Years later Marjorie writes that it was the richest, most satisfying Christmas they ever had. It took a present-less Christmas to remind Marjorie and her family that the greatest gift we can ever offer is ourselves, our presence. This too is the great gift that Christ offers to us-his presence; not only at Christmas but throughout the year. He is our Christmas presence.”
