Preparation for the Celebration
Most of us are busy preparing for a Christmas celebration now. We want to gather with family and friends, feast, give gifts and remember the coming of Christ into the world 2,000 years ago.
Now it seems to me that our last Christmas celebration couldn’t have been more than 6 months ago! But when we were children Christmas seemed to take a very long time to come around again, didn’t it?
It seems that when we are really looking forward to something the time just drags.
God’s people through the ages have felt that way about the coming of Christ.
Our first passage from Isaiah 61: 1-4, and 8-11 is one of the first places in scripture that the people are given new hope of their long-expected Messiah.
This is the announcement of good tidings from God that the Old Testament prophet declares to the people.
Though everything has been distressful and the people have been downtrodden there is hope coming. He describes it as a YEAR of the Lord’s favor and also a DAY of vengeance. This reminds us that God has a constant attitude of favor and grace toward us and when judgment is necessary it is brief and swift.
The Spirit of the Lord promised someone was coming to bind up their wounds and proclaim liberty to the captives and give them beauty for ashes and the oil of gladness and a garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness or depression.
Literally there would be comfort for every sad situation they were in. That’s what we all want for Christmas, isn’t it?
This was a prophecy concerning the birth of Jesus and the coming Messiah. But the people still had to wait over 400 years before their deliverer came on the scene. He was born in Bethlehem and took the same time it takes any normal boy to grow up.
And it wasn’t until he was about thirty years old that Jesus began His public ministry by calling for the scroll of Isaiah and reading this very portion of scripture, telling them that on this day that particular scripture was fulfilled before their eyes.
We know that Jesus went about healing and doing good and we know that when he left to return to glory He said we would do even greater things in his absence through the work of the Holy Spirit in us. So the Christian faith is marked by a joyful soul and a sense of faith and hope in the future no matter how dark the clouds of doubt appear. Miracles occur all around us in answer to prayers and the work of so many servants of God everywhere.
Now our passage from John 1:6-8 and 19-28 tells us that John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the Jews as their Promised One.
The four gospels are often referred to as synoptic because they tell the same stories of the life of Jesus from different points of view. But John is the only one who leaves out our famous Christmas nativity story. He is more concerned that we know the grown up Jesus is their long-awaited Messiah.
And in verse one he begins at the very beginning when Jesus was the WORD in the creation story and now the word of God has become flesh and dwelt among them. The hundreds of years of waiting are now over.
I love a song that Kay Myrick sang in our cantata this year and I am going to share the words to it now:
Hope has hands, Freedom has feet, Truth will stand, The WORD will speak,
The Holy and lowly will finally embrace, for Love has a heartbeat and Grace has a face.
Compassion has a tear, Joy has laughter and here ever after, Peace has a smile.
Redemption’s blood has veins to flow in, a temple to glow in, the Light is a child.
You see the Old testament had revealed God’s standard of righteousness in precept and principle, but now God was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.
The people had thought maybe John was the Christ since he had been baptizing people. They sent a committee of leaders to ask who he was. They asked if he was Elijah or the prophet who was predicted to come in the Spirit of Moses.
(I think it is interesting to note here that they were expecting these two to return to earth again and they actually did return with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration!) So they were familiar with prophecies but mixed up on the signs and the timing.
That’s easy for all of us to do. The scriptures give us many clues that are cloaked in mystery now but will become easy to see AFTER they happen. But we are to believe and be prepared for what the Lord has promised.
John said he was not the Christ, nor any of the men they thought he might be, but he was appointed by God as a witness to the one who was the true light of the world.
I read a story about a father with three sons and he tried an interesting experiment with them. He said he would give his entire inheritance to the one who could fill a room completely with something they could buy for only a few dollars. The first son bought feathers but was not able to completely fill the room with them because they kept on packing down. The second son tried straw but found it was taking a lot of money and the room was still not filled. The third son bought one candle and a match and lit the candle and filled the room with light!
Jesus is the light which shines in the darkness of our world He gives us security in this life and in the life to come.
When John explained his purpose he quoted Isaiah saying they should make the paths straight to prepare for the way of the Lord.
Everything and everyone needs straightening up to prepare for the Lord’s coming. Just think how much preparation we make for company coming at Christmas and at other times! We must prepare our HEARTS for Christ to come in and abide with us.
They say a speaker’s message should be geared to the age group to whom they are speaking. Well, I’d say this morning we are all past the 50 yard line, right? So we know that life is hard and it doesn’t always turn out like a Hallmark channel movie, does it? Nope, aging isn’t for sissies! But no amount of suffering can prohibit the kind of joy the Bible tells us is given by the Holy Spirit.
We have the oil of gladness that comes to our battle-weary souls as we discover that through it all God is faithful.
We know that what we see here and now is not all there is and doom is not our destiny.
We don’t know what the future holds but we know WHO holds our future.
We have a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…so what we bear is not what we wear!
In our last scripture reference from I Thessalonians 5:16-24, we are told how to live in expectant faith until the final coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul is coming to the end of his first letter to the Thessalonians and he pens a string of advice in short sentences kind of like a mother when she sends her child off to college …
(You know, like, “be careful, don’t walk on campus alone at night, study hard, take your vitamins, call us often”….etc)
We know that God is doing His job and our job is to:
rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances.
We don’t give thanks FOR the circumstances but IN the circumstances. We remind ourselves of the many times God has gotten us through tough times before and now counting our blessings keeps us focused on what God is able to do.
When we turn to God in our circumstances praying it is like facing the sun which makes the shadows fall behind you, but if you turn your back on the sun the shadows stay right there in front of you.
Final advice, “Now hold fast to the good and abstain from evil.”
Then we are promised that God’s peace will keep our spirit, soul and body blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I love the way Paul says in verse 24 “He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.”
We know the scriptures tell us that Jesus is coming again. We look forward to the promise of this second coming as they looked forward to His first appearance.
Some are afraid of that day approaching. But just as the angels told the shepherds, “Fear not,” the scriptures tell us over and over not to fear.
Many of us are professing Christians but practicing atheists because we live in doubt and fear rather than belief and faith.
Faith is the remedy for fear. Faith changes our thoughts and our actions.
Our faith and hope is placed in the goodness and power of God. Just as He came the first time to live love and die and rise again, He has promised to return and make everything right and take us to the place he has prepared for us in heaven.
The whole story progression can be summed up from the CRADLE to the CROSS to the CROWN.
It doesn’t matter how long we have waited for the promise of his coming, the fact is He IS coming and for Christians it will be a time of unbelievable joy.
So my question for each of you this morning is, are you prepared for THAT celebration?
Merry HOPEFUL Christmas!
God bless you,
AMEN.
