PEOPLE WHO MISSED CHRISTMAS
Luke 2:4-7; Mt. 2:1-11
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. As we were putting out cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, I accidentally dropped one. "No problem," I said, picking it up and dusting it off before placing it back on the plate.
"You can’t do that," argued my four-year-old. "Don’t worry. Santa will never know."
He shot me a look. "So he knows if I’ve been bad or good, but he doesn’t know the cookie fell on the floor?"
2. This week I heard about a minister who delivered his Christmas sermon in nine minutes, which was about half the usual length of his sermons.
He told his congregation, “I regret to inform you that my dog, who is very fond of eating paper, ate that portion of my sermon which I was unable to deliver this morning.”
After the service, one of the visitors shook hands with the preacher and said, “Reverend, if that dog of yours has any pups, I want to give one to my minister!”
B. TEXT
Lk. 2:4 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. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Mt. 2:1 “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied…7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”
C. MISSING A GREAT OPPORTUNITY
1. Missed Opportunities! Walter drove his friend Arthur way out in the country. They drove off the main road and through groves of trees to a large uninhabited expanse of land.
2. Walter stopped the car, got out, and said, “I’m going to build a park right over there. It will take all my money. But the land bordering it, where we’re standing now, will in just a couple of years be jammed with hotels and restaurants and convention halls. I want you to have the first chance at this acreage, because in the next five years it will increase in value several hundred times.”
3. But Arthur thought to himself, “Who in the world is going to drive twenty-five miles for this crazy project? I knew he was wrong,” Arthur tells the story today. “I knew that he’d let this dream get the best of his common sense.”
4. So Art Linkletter turned down the opportunity to buy the land that surrounded what was to become Disneyland, as his friend Walt Disney suggested! What a missed opportunity!
D. ANOTHER: MISSING CHRISTMAS
1. I am convinced that most people miss Christmas. They’re oblivious to the reality of what they are celebrating. The Christian holiday has been high-jacked by the culture.
2. One newspaper did “man-on-the-street” interviews where people offered their opinions of the real meaning of Christmas.
a. Some were sentimental, saying Christmas is a family time, a time for children, and so on.
b. Others were humanistic, seeing Christmas as a time to celebrate love for one’s fellow man, the spirit of giving, and so on.
c. Others were crassly hedonistic, viewing Christmas as just another excuse to party.
d. Not one person mentioned that it was the Birth of Jesus Christ! Is it any wonder that so many people miss Christmas? [John MacArthur, God With Us: the Miracle of Christmas]
E. THESIS
1. LESSON; One thing hasn’t changed since the time of Joseph and Mary: most people missed that first Christmas too!
2. Today, I would like to note some of the people who missed that first Christmas. As I go through this list, see if you recognize yourself in the list.
I. THE INNKEEPER
A. BRAGGING RIGHTS
1. The first person I want to mention who missed Christmas
was the Innkeeper. Hotels today(just like restaurants & cities) love to brag about important people who stayed or ate at their establishment. They frequently post pictures of the singers, movie stars, millionaires or politicians who visited them.
2. Imagine the story the inn keeper could have told if only he had known who it was that came to his inn seeking refuge. I can see the sign he would advertise with for years to come: "Come stay in the #1 hotel chosen by God Himself."
B. UNUSUAL BEHAVIOR
1. That night in Bethlehem, an Innkeeper was confronted by a man and his very pregnant wife. He turned them away saying he had no room for them. Also, he apparently did not even call for anyone to help a young mother about to give birth.
2. The Jewish people of the first century were not a barbaric people. They were not like some aboriginal tribes that send their young women off into the jungles to have their babies alone on a banana leaf! They were civilized, intelligent, educated and, above all, hospitable people who cared deeply about human life.
3. It would have been highly unusual for a young woman about to give birth to be turned away from an inn and left to give birth alone in a stable. And yet, that is what happened.
4. The Innkeeper missed the birth of Jesus because he was preoccupied. His inn was full. It was census time in Bethlehem, and the city was bulging with people from all over the country. The Innkeeper was busy. There is no indication that he was hostile or even unsympathetic. He was just busy, that’s all.
C. COMMON TODAY
1. The Innkeeper was exactly like so many people today. They are consumed with activity—not necessarily sinful activity. They are just active with things that keep them busy.
2. Working, shopping, parties, concerts, studying, school activities, and other things all compete for attention. And in the clutter of activity, many preoccupied people miss the Son of God.
II. THE CITIZENS OF JERUSALEM
Second, the entire city of Jerusalem also missed Christmas.
A. THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY
1. It is absolutely amazing that no one in Jerusalem took any notice that Jesus was born just a few miles away in Bethlehem.
2. Matthew 2:3 says that when the Magi came, that the whole city of Jerusalem was stirred.
3. Bethlehem was literally within walking distance – only 6 miles from Jerusalem, yet the people of Jerusalem made no effort to go see the Christ child! Not even one!
B. THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS
1. Even more shocking is the fact that the religious leaders, who were called in by Herod to advise him on what the scriptures said about the birth of Christ, made no effort to go see if the Christ was born.
2. Here were the Guardians of the truth, guides to the blind, experts in the scriptures, those most interested in spiritual things, but weren’t interested if the Messiah even came! Why?
C. THE REASON?
1. Why did Jerusalem miss Christmas? One answer may surprise you: RELIGION. The people of Jerusalem were very religious.
a. The Temple was there, and everyone who wanted to make a sacrifice had to come to Jerusalem.
b. The people were so busy with the trappings/ symbols of religion that they missed the reality. Religion can be a trap, by making us feel spiritual when in fact we’re not right with God.
c. Religious activity is not the same as genuine righteousness. Religion will damn people to hell as surely as immorality. The people of Jerusalem had religion, and they missed that first Christmas.
2. The other reason the religious leaders didn’t go was because of INDIFFERENCE. They didn’t care.
a. If the truth be known, they felt they didn’t need Him. They were self-righteous. They believed they were already all that God could ever ask of them.
b. Indifference is a common reaction to Jesus; people don’t think they need a Savior. “I’m all right the way I am” is a dangerous attitude.
c. Are we indifferent? Do we ignore Him? Do we also miss Christmas?
III. HEROD
A. THE REASON HEROD MISSED CHRISTMAS
1. Another person who missed that first Christmas was Herod. Matthew tells his story. Herod was different than the Innkeeper. He wasn’t preoccupied; he was very well informed.
2. Herod pretended that he wanted to worship Jesus, but in truth he was afraid of this One who was called King of the Jews. Herod did not want any competition to his throne. And so Matthew records that “when King Herod heard this [i.e., that there had been One born King of the Jews] he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him” (2:3).
3. The phrase he was disturbed in Greek means “agitated, stirred up, and shaken up — like the heavy duty cycle of a washing machine.” The word conveys the idea of panic. And Herod panicked because his supremacy was in jeopardy. He had no use for any other King of the Jews.
4. The Innkeeper’s problem was preoccupation, and the citizens of Jerusalem was religion, Herod’s was FEAR. Herod immediately felt threatened—even though Jesus was a baby and Herod was an old man.
B. HEROD’S PARANOIA
1. Herod’s panic and paranoia were legendary. He had two wives and twelve children. One of his wives, Miriamne, had a brother named Aristabulus, who was the High Priest. Herod was afraid of Aristabulus, and so he murdered him. Then he killed Miriamne too.
2. Herod was afraid that one of his two oldest sons might take his throne, and so he murdered both of them. His entire life was one of plotting and execution. Five days before his death he executed his surviving oldest son for plotting against his throne.
3. In one of the final acts of his evil life, he had the most distinguished citizens of Jerusalem put in prison, and
commanded that they be slaughtered the moment he died. “The people will not weep when I die,” he said, “and I want them weeping, even if they weep over someone else.” So even at his death there was a great slaughter.
4. When Herod realized that the Wise Men had outwitted him and that they were not going to reveal the identity of Jesus, he ordered that all male children under the age of two be killed in Bethlehem. In his mad effort to wipe out one child, Herod had scores of children killed. Meanwhile God had already warned Joseph and Mary, and they had fled to Egypt with Jesus.
5. So, Herod failed. Not only did he miss that first Christmas, but his rebellion propagated a great tragedy. All this was because of fear—jealous fear.
C. APPLICATION TO TODAY
1. There are Herod types even today. Herod’s fear was that someone else would take his throne. Lots of people are like him.
2. They won’t allow anything to interfere with their career, their position, their power, their ambition, their plans, or their lifestyle. They are not about to let someone else be the king of their lives. They see Jesus as a threat, and so they miss Christmas too.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS. – WALLY’S BIG HEART
1. A Christmas pageant took place in a town in the Midwest. Wallace Purling’s performance in it has slipped into the realm of legend.
2. Wally was nine that year and in the second grade, though he should have been in the fourth. He was big and clumsy. He
was always a helpful boy, and the natural protector of the underdog.
3. Wally wanted to be a shepherd in the Christmas pageant that year, but the play’s director, Miss Lumbar, assigned him to be the Innkeeper because that role did not have very many lines.
4. The big night arrived and finally it was time for Wally’s part. Joseph and Mary knocked on the door of his Inn.
5. “What do you want?” Wally said, swinging the door open with a brusque gesture. “We seek lodging.” “Seek it elsewhere.” Wally spoke vigorously. “The Inn is filled.”
6. “Sir, we have asked everywhere in vain. We have traveled far and are very weary.” “There is no room in this Inn for you.” Wally looked properly stern.
7. “Please, good Innkeeper, this is my wife, Mary. She is heavy with child and needs a place to rest. Surely you must have some small corner for her. She is so tired.”
8. Now, for the first time, the Innkeeper relaxed his still stance and looked down at Mary. With that, there was a long pause, long enough to make the audience a bit tense with embarrassment.
9.(“No! Be gone!” the prompter whispered from the wings.)
“No!” Wally repeated automatically, “Be gone!”
Joseph sadly placed his arm around Mary and Mary laid her head upon her husband’s shoulder, and the two of them started to move away.
10. The Innkeeper didn’t return inside his Inn, however. Wally stood there in the doorway, watching the forlorn couple. His mouth was open, his brow creased with concern, his eyes filling unmistakably with tears.
11. And suddenly this Christmas pageant became different from all the others. “Don’t go, Joseph!” Wally called out. “Bring Mary back.” Wally’s face grew into a bright smile. “You can have my room!”
B. ALTAR CALL
1. The Innkeeper missed the real meaning of Christmas because he was too busy to take the time to think about what it was all about.
2. The citizens of Jerusalem missed Christmas because they were overly involved in religion and thought they had God figured out. Others were just indifferent to Christmas: they didn’t care anymore.
3. Herod missed Christmas because he was too concerned about keeping control of his kingdom, of running things the way he wanted to.
4. As a result, all of them missed meeting the Savior, who was within ten miles of them! Friend, you don’t have to miss another Christmas!
5. Rather than being too busy for Jesus, why not invite him into your life. Turn from your sin, believe on Him and He will forgive your sin, change your life, and give you the greatest gift anyone can ever receive—eternal life!
6. PRAYER FOR SALVATION and a more devoted recognition of the mystery of Jesus’ birth.
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