How to have a Merry Christmas?
1 John 1; 1 John 4; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
December 23, 2018
It still boggles my mind that we are 2 days away from Christmas! This year has been the longest possible shopping season and amazingly next year, will be the shortest.
I’m not sure which is better. Some of us need more time to get done what we need to get done! The shopping, the parties, the time off. Yet, for so many people, the Christmas season could be a week long or 2 months long and they will still wait for the last minute.
It seems that Christmas always catches us off guard, and can be so chaotic, can't it? This whole season can be such a disconnect between what we expect and what we end up experiencing. Sometimes we get so caught up in all of the extras, that we don’t really enjoy Christmas.
We all want to enjoy this time of year. We want to enjoy family, friends, and each other. We all want to have moments of pleasure and peace that remind us that this is a time like no other.
Yet, in order to experience this, we end up gritting our teeth and trying to force a sentimental Christmas. Maybe you’ll watch a lifetime movie or listen to some music, go to a special worship, hum along while shopping. Call an old friend, visit someone, make an extra dessert to pass on.
Sometimes, we try to recreate what worked in the past. But in spite of our efforts, we tend to get caught up in the side shows of Christmas, instead of Christmas and what this magical, mystical and mysterious day is about.
We get ourselves worked up about that one family member or friend who will be at dinner. We get caught up in what someone wore, or the extra comments or looks. Then we get caught up in the gift exchange. Who got what, how many did they get, and we estimate the cost of their gifts vs. the cost of our gifts.
We lost sight of what this day is all about. All the build up. It’s like the build up for a great vacation or for the super bowl or for the new movie . . . and when it happens, it’s really a let down. We get caught up with the stuff of Christmas instead of Christmas itself.
I read about a woman who was doing her last-minute Christmas shopping at a crowded mall. She was tired of the crowds, tired of the lines, tired of walking. Her arms were full of bulky packages when an elevator door opened. It was full. So the people grudgingly squeezed together to give her a small space for her.
As the doors closed, she blurted out, "Whoever’s responsible for this whole Christmas thing ought to be arrested, strung up, and shot!" A few others grunted in agreement. Then, from the back of the elevator, a quiet voice said ~ "Don't worry. They already crucified Him."
So, with 2 days left . . . only 2 more days to get into the Christmas spirit. How can we put MERRY back into Merry Christmas? How can we actually enjoy Christmas when we're not there. For whatever reason, life isn’t going as expected, our reality isn’t filled with sugar plum fairies. And we’re dreading the next couple of days.
Or maybe there’s nothing wrong. Life is good! But you’re busy and you’re really not getting the Christmas spirit. It’s just another day of busy-ness and running around and cooking and a day off of work, then back to the grindstone.
I want you to know I really struggled with what comes next. I don’t usually admit that. I was enjoying coffee, all was good, but I didn’t really know what to say next. But I really did!
You see, as a pastor, my struggle came in the fact that I have to preach today and tomorrow. I have to kind of say the same thing but in different ways. I’m just being honest. I’m not complaining. I love my calling! But that’s my reality.
You see, I’m guilty too! Most of us are! Maybe there’s a few who aren’t. I really haven’t taken the time to just sit and read the Christmas story. We know it, so we don’t need to read it, but that’s poor thinking. We need to reread it again and again and again. We need to know it so well, that we see the newness in the story all of the time. That’s the curse and the beauty of knowing the story so well.
Tomorrow night we will read the Christmas story. This morning, I want to read some passages from 1 John - -
9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him, and He in God.
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. – 1 John 4
AND
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
7 If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1
You see, this is the point of Christmas . . . and I know you know. We all know the story, even those who don’t believe, kind of know the story, and I think most of us would say we know the story, but do we know why.
Because when we know why, that should put the MERRY in Merry Christmas. It should make this holiday a real holy day. It should lead us to have an extra skip in our step, even in the crowded mall, in the jam packed elevator, when we can’t find that special gift, or don’t know what to buy. It won’t matter because our spirit is filled with the power and passion of Christ. We’re overjoyed that God sent His Son into the world for us.
That’s what these passages are about. God wasn’t bored out of His mind and had nothing better to do, than talk it over with the Son and Spirit. It wasn’t a game time decision. It was part of the plan before you and I were ever thought of by our parents. God knew the plan.
The plan amounted because of our sinfulness. On our own, God knew we couldn’t stand before Him. There was no way. We could never do enough right, because we’ve already done enough that is wrong. God knew we couldn’t earn our way into heaven. There wasn’t a master list of the top 10 things to do in order to earn your way into heaven, to gain salvation.
So, God did what only God could do. He sent His Son into the this crazy world. It was crazy back then too. There were murders, theft, adultery, abuse - - you name it, it was there. They just didn’t have the Internet to publicize it. People were just as vicious 2000 years ago as there are today, we just have different ways we go about it.
So, God sent His Son so that Jesus would be what John calls the PROPITIATION of the world.
That word in Hebrew literally means the Mercy Seat of God. It’s from the Old Testament. And what happened? What makes it so vital is this ~
The mercy seat was sprinkled with blood on Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:14). Yom Kippur is the holiest of Jewish holidays. It is the DAY OF ATONEMENT. It’s a day of fasting and repentance. And on that day, the people offerred sacrifices and the High priest went into the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifices for the people and
blood would be sprinkled on what was called the JUDGEMENT SEAT. But as the blood was sprinkled on the seat, it became the MERCY SEAT because in that act . . . God would extend His grace and mercy to the people.
The punishment deserved became grace.
GRACE means we receive what we don’t deserve . . . and
MERCY means we don’t receive what we deserve.
So, God sent His Son into the world so we could be forgiven of our sins. He sent Jesus to be the propitiation or atonement for our sinfulness. His death satisfied the Father. When we proclaim Jesus, it allows us to come before God, to gain access to His throne of Grace and make our requests known, to experience His power, peace, presence and protection.
You see, when we have Jesus, Paul tells us ~
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them,
and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us:
we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
You see, when we proclaim Jesus, we become a new person. That’s evidence that we are in Christ, the old is gone, and the new has come. Yes, it’s not easy to get rid of the old person, that comes with help from the Spirit of God.
Yet, Paul tells us we become a new person, our heart is changed. That old mean, bitter, angry heart changes into one filled with grace, compassion and love. WHY? Because we’ve experienced the power of God’s love. We recognize, we believe . . . He loves us and came for us and died for us.
Ultimately, we can stand before God because He and only He has cleansed us. He’s washed away our sins. He reconciled the world to Himself, and He no longer counts our sins against us. He offers us freedom like we’ve never experienced, if we’re only willing to accept it. God no longer looks at us as miserable sinners. He now looks at us as new creations through the ministry of reconciliation through His Son Jesus.
Friends . . . that’s the great news of Christmas.
So, in the final hours before this holy day . . . STOP! Really, STOP! Give thanks to Him! Give thanks to the Father for sending His Son for you! Give thanks that God doesn’t count all of your sin against you . . . instead . . .
Because you’ve accepted Him as Lord and Savior . . . He forgives you. He no longer counts your sin against you.
In fact . . . you are adopted into the royal family. You are considered
Chosen
Holy
Dearly loved
Accepted
Forgiven
Now, that’s worth celebrating!
That’s worth having a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
