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Sermon: Christmas message 2014
Let's open with prayer
Well if you all are anything like me then I know you are looking forward to getting back to the back and enjoying some of that good food that awaits so I will be brief this morning but before we go and eat I want to take a few minutes this morning and share with you two stories – one about a grown man and one about a tiny infant.
The first story was told by radio commentator Paul Harvey.
The second is written by God Himself and yet the two stories are very much 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 christmas eve 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.
I think we’ll leave that man kneeling in the snow for just a while as we listen to our second story of the morning 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 that we read every Christmas in our churches and our homes
That story begins with these words …
Matthew 1:18–25
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is [a]conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name [b]JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and [c]they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Luke 2:1-20
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cesar Augustus, that all the world should be [a]taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be [b]taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5 To be [c]taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6 And so it was that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping [d]watch over their flock by night.
9 And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, Good will towards men.
15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, [e]the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
That’s our second story for the morning.
And now, having heard both, perhaps your left wondering what they really mean and who these stories are really for.
those are good questions and they deserve an answer.
Guys, somewhere out there tonight there will be the sound of a widow’s grief that will fill 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 of the machines that are helping keep her alive will be the music of Christmas for her family this year. This is her story too.
In another home a man sits at the dinner table with his family, much as we will have done this season 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 this morning, with friends and family, enjoying the season– 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.
In the stories I’ve read this morning 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 in
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'
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
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 –
we all fall short, like the Bible says, of the glory of God.
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 this morning - because the standard you are held accountable to is not Brother dicks or Franks 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.
This morning 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 with the hope, love, joy and peace that are found in Jesus Christ.
Let's pray!
