Title: Holes At Christmas
Date: 12/4/16
Place: BLCC
Text: Luke 2. 1-7, John 14.9, Psalm 11.3-4
CT: The holiness of God fills our empty holes.
[Screen 1]
FAS: One of the most popular films at Christmas is a movie my daughter still watches every year as a marathon of this movie has happened every Christmas for the last several years. A Christmas Story. In the plot, young Ralphie sets his heart on an air rifle for Christmas, and endures ridicule and scorn in his quest for this gift he believes will make him happy. In the end, he has his toy weapon, and falls asleep on Christmas Day with a smile on his lips.
So what does this tale, which doesn’t even have Ralphie’s family going to church on Christmas, have to do with our purpose today? Everything. Ralphie was looking for happiness. We know he saw some goodness in that little BB gun. He saw himself as a secret agent, decoding Ovaltine messages from the radio, as a valiant cowboy defending his cowering family from violent thieves. He even assumed the role of hero for a moment, and, despite his size and cowardice, gave a good thrashing to the real villain of the film. In other words, Ralphie wanted to be a hero. He was really looking to fill up the deep hole he felt in his life.1
1)Cunningham, Pat W. Sermon-Filling The Holes…A Christmas Story; Sermon Central
LS: What or who do we as followers of Jesus look for to fill the holes we find in our hearts, especially the ones that often become more evident during the Christmas season.
[Screen 2] Holes At Christmas
This has been a tough week for many people in our church family and in our community. And if we are not careful we will give in to the sadness and despair of it all. Our holes can seem so large that we lose ourselves in them.
How do we avoid this as followers of Jesus?
Christmas. I love Christmas with all its nostalgia and wonderful memories of Christmases past. I love the spirit of Christmas that can bring peace and joy. That is what the first Christmas was for.
The problem for some people I know and love is that Christmas for them is so busy and chaotic they begin to dread Christmas and not enjoy it at all. I know one young lady that almost gets physically ill at Christmas.
Christmas is a time of interruptions. Now we enjoy a lot of these interruptions. We like to interrupt our diets to enjoy awesome meals prepared by good cooks.
We enjoy interruptions from work or school to celebrate with friends.
We enjoy interruptions when loved ones drop in unannounced to just say hi without any reason or wanting anything. Don’t do that much any more. Maybe we should.
But we could do without interruptions of terrible snowstorms or in our case this year firestorms that effect so many.
Or how about a call from someone like cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation. Remember him. [Screen 3]
Clark: So when did you get the tenement on wheels?
Eddie: Oh, That uh, that there is an RV. Yeah, yeah borrowed it off a buddy of mine. He took my house, I took the RV. It’s a good looking vehicle ain’t it?
Clark: Yeah, it looks nice parked in the driveway.
Eddie: Yeah, it sure does. But, don’t you go falling in love with it now, because, we are taking it with us when we leave here next month.
[Screen 4]
Talk about interrupting. Poor Clark.
Interruptions are a part of Christmas.
Interruptions are a part of life.
Just when you think you have got it all figured out and you are set something happens that changes everything. This happens to us all, at one time or another.
Just when you get the car paid off…major breakdown.
Just when retirement looks like it might actually happen…tuition comes due.
Just when everything is going great…job loss; sickness; broken heart; broken body.
All interruptions that shake us awake from the dream life we thought we had.
They bring fear and anxiety. They steal our sleep and take our joy. Literally.
They cause us to question God and even turn away from Him.
I have sat and grieved with several people who are facing very severe and devastating interruptions.
Loved ones lost to tragedy or illness.
Relationships shattered leaving behind loneliness and anger and rejection.
Financial crisis due to a lost job or crashing markets.
[Screen 5]
For many, these days we call holidays become hole-idays. Huge empty holes form in our hearts and soul.
Maybe you are finding yourself here this season.
More tear than cheer.
More fear than revere this Christmas.
Seeing other people with laughing happy children is a reminder of how empty your hole is.
Others going around from place to place with a busy schedule cause you to view your schedule as empty.
Images of happy couples and friends, only reinforces your pain, as you deal with losses of loved ones and relationships no more.
This is even tougher today in our world of Facebook where we see only the highlights of others lives. The struggles and pain are so often concealed.
Truth is, there are a lot of folks struggling all around you.
Maybe you are ready to skip Christmas this year. All this laughter and joy is more than you can stand. Maybe you are looking to December 26 more than 25.
If so, my goal today is to bring some light and hope into your life and point us all to the One who can fill our empty holes at Christmas.
I start with the familiar story of a young girl found in the Bible. [Screen 6]
Luke 2.1-7. 1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. [Screen 7] 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. [Screen 8]
4 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.
[Screen 9]
5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. [Screen 10] 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and [Screen 11] 7 she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
I am sure Mary tried to be strong. She did know God was with her. But here she was being taken away from her home, her family and her own warm soft bed.
She had spent the last several days on the road riding on a donkey fighting off the chill. The road was scary. Who knew who would be around the next curve in the road? They knew no one in the place they were headed and Joseph was surely worried about where they would spend the next night.
Mary had all this to worry her and her heart ached for her family. The family she loved so dearly, yet she now felt estranged from them. They didn’t understand this condition she now found herself in. Pregnant with no husband. Her relationship with them was strained at best.
It had been so hard to tell her husband to be about this child she carried that wasn’t his.
It took a miracle from an angel of God to get Joseph to stay with Mary.
Mary needed another miracle now.
This was nothing like what she had imagined giving birth to her first child would be like. She had dreamed about being surrounded by a loving family who would understand and support her.
But here she was in a place only cattle and sheep would dwell. And in this place she gave birth to a son.
She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Pretty simple scripture to describe the biggest event to ever take place.
Mary had to be completely wiped out. She was probably in pain and wishing only to lie down on the hay and sleep.
But first she had to do something. She had to see this face.
HIS face.
To touch his tiny cheek.
To gaze on those innocent eyes.
To be the first to whisper, [Screen 12] “So this is what God looks like.”
God became flesh. 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 Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus entered our world not like a human, but as a human.
He endured the same trials we do.
He felt pain just like us.
He felt loss and separation just like us. He wept over a tomb of a friend, Lazarus.
To see God, see Jesus. [Screen 13]
John 14.9, Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
Anyone who has seen me weep has seen God weep.
Anyone who has seen me laugh has seen God laugh.
Anyone who has seen me give myself for you has seen God sacrifice for you.
Any doubt of the father’s love for us disappeared the night God lay among hay covered with barnyard rags. [Screen 14]
God came into our world in spite of:
-A scandalous pregnancy that interrupted the life of Mary.
-An imposed census that interrupted God’s plan to come into our world.
-The long road to Bethlehem with all its dangers, God came.
-An evil king Herod who wanted this new child killed and interrupt the plan of God.
In spite of all the chaos God came to redeem and save His people even though they did not recognize or receive him.
In spite of all the restless nights, the hard work, the high stress you may find yourself in, the grief you may feel remember one thing. Jesus our Lord holds it all together. [Screen 15]
Colossians 1.16-17, 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. [Screen 16] 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Jesus holds all things together and if you let Him he will hold it together for you.
Amid all the holes the world punches in our heart and soul we find ourselves at a loss.
King David put it this way in Psalm 11.3 , [screen 17] “When all that is good seems to fall apart, what can good people do?”
Is this the same question we need to ask? When all that is good falls away, what can good people do?
When terrorist attack, when disease rages, when families collapse, when churches struggle…when all that is good falls apart, what can good people do?
Surprisingly, King David does not give us the answer per se. He instead makes a declaration in verse 4: [screen 18] “The Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord is on His throne in heaven”.
The point David is making is unmistakable. [Screen 19] God remains unshaken no matter what.
God’s plan will not fail no matter how many schemes the enemy tries to deploy. God is not hindered by our storms. God has the ultimate victory.
Is your Christmas this year a difficult one? Are there more holes than holly? Then take heart. I remember the old Christmas song and how relevant it is to our holes in Christmas. [Screen 20]
Good Christian Men Rejoice. With heart and soul and voice. Give ye heed to what we say. News! News! Jesus Christ is born today!
God is still in control.
He can still repair hearts.
He can still fix broken lives.
He can still fill the hole in your heart.
[screen 21]
CT: The holiness of God fills our empty holes.
Do you, like Mary, need a miracle this year?
It is yours to receive. The miracle of Jesus’ birth is the miracle that still fills our empty hearts with joy, peace, and a new life in Him.
Let Jesus be the king of your heart this year.
Bibliography
Lucado, Max. Because of Bethlehem: Love Is Born, Hope Is Here, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016. Print. Chapter 2,4
