Opening Remarks and Introduction
Tonight, we’ll finish up the Christmas Lights sermon series by looking at the world and what it wants. Much of this series has looked at how others can affect our celebration. With Christmas Eve and Christmas Day both behind us, much of the busy-ness of Christmas is in the past.
Did any of you hear the question, “What do you want for Christmas?” Did anyone ask that to someone else? It seems like every year I’m asking that question to one person or another because I don’t know what everyone wants.
In our lesson tonight, we heard about Simeon and what He wanted. He didn’t realize it was Christmas, but he wanted something too. He wanted to see the savior… and that’s exactly what he got. Tonight, I want to take a look at the wants that are in and around our lives. We’ll take a look at:
- What the world wants
- What God wants for us
and
- What we should seek
1. What does the world want?
So, what does the world want? Outside the church, it’s interesting to see what the world runs towards. It’s not always a rush for peace on earth, but more often than not, it’s a mob moving towards the sales of the day.
For some, the mad dash for holiday gifts is what they want. There’s something about a sale that seems to drive some people crazy. Have you ever been in a store during Black Friday? Something takes over some people to get the latest and greatest deals. The day after Thanksgiving, people line up outside stores… sometimes for hours… waiting for the doors to open. Once they open, crowds push, pull and sometimes even trample others to get to the latest and greatest sales.
Part of the reason for all of the pushing and shoving probably has to do with time. There doesn’t seem to be enough of it. With Christmas comes extra shopping, cookies to bake, events to attend, and even decorations to hang. Each of these can be pretty fun. But, the same demands of work, school and family are still there. For some, the pressures of time are immense and people look for anyway they can to shave a few moments off of their schedule.
With so many wanting to buy something, it’s not uncommon to see some people cut in long lines to reduce their own wait time. Of course, the side effect is that someone else has to wait a bit longer. The world is not concerned about someone else’s time.
Another problem is traffic and finding a parking spot at a crowded shopping center. Some drivers might choose to grab the first spot they find, no matter who may be waiting for it, no matter who is inconvenienced. The world is not all that interested in making room for someone else.
With all the pressures of attending holiday events, and buying gifts, there just doesn’t seem to be enough patience to help others. The hustle and bustle of the season can sometimes make peace a thing of the past. Sometimes the world needs to slow down to allow people time to breath. Too much to do, and everything is a priority.
The world wants everyone else to get out of the way. It’s not patient. It’s not kind. It’s not fair. It has no time for anyone because it’s too concerned about itself.
2. What does God want for us?
But not everyone is concerned only about themselves. In our lesson tonight, we heard about Simeon and what he wanted.
He wanted to see a savior that would console Israel. He wanted to see a time when the Gentiles would understand the glory of God. Simeon wanted to see God’s plan unfold. He wanted to see what God wants for us.
What He really wanted to see, was the coming of the Christ… or like every kid in America before opening gifts, He waited anxiously for Christmas to come.
To really understand what that means, we have to go back to the very beginning. We have to go back to the Garden of Eden to see what God wants for us.
Shortly after Adam and Eve stumbled, and committed that very first sin, God had a plan. In Genesis chapter 3, the serpent talks to Eve and convinces her to eat the forbidden fruit. Then she gives the fruit to Adam and they both break God’s law.
Following that first sin, God confronts the serpent, Adam and Eve. To Eve, He gives pain in childbirth. To Adam, He give hard work of the land. But it isn’t all bad news. God also announces that a savior would defeat the serpent. Genesis 3:15 reads “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, CSB)
A descendent of Adam and Eve would strike the head of the serpent. Head injuries are often fatal, but heel injuries might make you limp. This descendent was the messiah who would defeat the serpent, defeat the devil, defeat sin. Here in the Garden, God had a plan of salvation from the very beginning. Here in the midst of handing out punishment… God wants us to be comforted. He wants us to know that salvation is coming.
God didn’t stop there. He used the prophets to give more details about the savior. These prophecies gave hope that God would stay true to His promise. Isaiah wrote this popular passage regarding the savior’s birth. He wrote: “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14, CSB)
A virgin birth, now that’s a fantastic sign. This passage was fulfilled in Luke’s gospel. He wrote: “26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.” (Luke 1:26-28, 31, CSB)
God used scripture to show that He keeps His word. God used unusual events, to remind us that He was still in control.
God wants to us to have hope, because He has a plan for us.
Hope can be very comforting. Throughout the Christmas season, we’re focusing on the most comforting of things, the birth of a savior.
Jesus didn’t come for the righteous. He didn’t come for only the best people or the most religious. He came for the broken people. He came for those who made mistakes and failed to meet God’s standard. In Romans, Paul wrote: “8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, CSB)
God want’s us to enjoy the peace of salvation, because a savior has already come.
Comfort, hope and peace. They all come from a savior sent into the world. That’s what God wants for us. But He wants us to seek some things too.
3. What should we seek?
The demands of the world can sometimes dampen the joy of the Christmas celebration. Peace may be hard to find when the noise of the crowds drowns out everything else. I’d like to look at three things that we should seek when the demands of the world seem to get in the way.
(Seek Manger…God Keeps his promises)
First, we should seek the manger and see how God fulfilled his promise. For generations, the Old Testament people waited for the savior to come and rescue them.
The Prophet Micah wrote about this. He wrote “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (Micah 5:2, ESV)
This verse was a prediction that a Jewish leader would come from the tribe Judah. God kept that promise with Jesus a distant great grandson of David.
King Herod recognized this prophecy and felt that his rule was being threatened.
The wise men also recognized the prophecy and followed a star and presented their gifts to Mary and to the child Jesus.
We should seek the child in a manger knowing that God keeps His promises.
(Seek Cross…the price was paid)
Second, we should seek the cross and see how God spared no expense to pay for the gift of our salvation. It wasn’t just a birth of a child that provided saving grace. It wasn’t the miraculous birth to a virgin, the star that shone in the sky, or the angels that celebrated His birth. Instead, the babe in a manger was the beginning of the journey.
A small child developed into a man. A man grew a ministry with twelve disciples, and the world condemned that man to death. That same child who was born in a stable, was nailed to a cross.
But He wasn’t alone. Our sins were also attached to that cross. He brought with Him our terrible secrets. He brought with Him our disobedience and our selfishness. Jesus brought on that cross every sin we ever committed, and by doing that, He set our path to redemption.
The manger was the good news that salvation had arrived. The cross was salvation in action.
We should seek the cross knowing that (read this with me) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, ESV)
(Seek Jesus…He provides peace)
Finally, we should seek Jesus and discover the peace of Christmas. It wasn’t just the Father who agreed to send Jesus into the world. Jesus also agreed to put aside his Godliness and become a lowly man. Jesus was part of that decision too.
He willingly endured being born in an animal’s feed trough, in a stable, where Bethlehem had no room for Him.
He put aside his power of creation, and allowed the world to mock Him, to ridicule Him, to whip Him, and yes, to kill Him. Jesus could have stopped it all. With a short word, He could have called all of the armies of angels to serve Him.
But He chose a different path. He chose to be a servant to all mankind. He chose to take the punishment that we deserve. He chose to take the guilt of our sin. And what does He have to say to us today? Jesus said:
28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30, CSB)
This is peace. When we feel worn out and broken, when we feel worked to death and caught up in the busy world around us, when we don’t know how to deal with the burdens of our jobs, or our school, Jesus will give us rest. If we put all of those problems at His feet, He will take the weight off of us. He’s already paid the ultimate price by living a perfect human life, and bearing our guilt when He was guiltless. He took all the terrible punishment the world could throw at Him, and in return, we got the peace of understanding that our sins are now washed away.
4. Conclusion
What a gift for us to see a babe in a manger. It wasn’t the birth that solved our problem. But, it was the start of something wonderful. A savior was born, and His name was Jesus.
Seek the manger, that’s where salvation begins.
Seek the cross, that’s where the price was paid for our sins.
Seek the savior, and enjoy the peace that only Jesus can provide
