MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
TEXT: Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:37-41; Malachi 4:2b
Why is so much attention given to Christmas? Mother's Day, Father's Day, 4th of July, even Easter, are important holidays, but put them all together & they don't make the impact that Christmas does.
What is so very special about Christmas? What is it about Christmas that seems to bring about such a transformation in our communities, our homes, & even in the lives of so many people?
And what do you think of when you think about Christmas? What words pop into your mind? Home? Family? Christmas trees? Presents? Crowds? Food? All of these, & more, I imagine!
This morning, as we look at the familiar passages of the Christmas story as recorded by both Matthew & Luke, there are some other words that come to mind - words such as Wonder, Joy, Love, Fear, Peace, Purity, Righteous & Blessed.
But this morning I want us to focus on the words Joy, Purity & Righteousness, & Love.
I. JOY!
A. The 1st word is "Joy." When the angel appeared to the shepherds the first words out of the angel’s mouth were “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)
After Mary listened to the angel & asked how she could possibly find herself expecting a child, the angel responds in Luke 1:37, "Nothing is impossible with God." Then the angel leaves.
For just a moment, put yourself in Mary's place. She is all alone. The angel has just told her that she will bear a child & his name will be Jesus. She isn't married. Then the angel is gone & she is all alone.
On the one hand there is the joy of the angel's announcement. But on the other hand there would be all the gossip & rejection that surely would come her way. Who would believe her? Would her parents? Would Joseph? What could she do?
Finally, it was decided for her to visit a kinswoman, Elizabeth, who was also much older & also expecting a child whom we now call John the Baptist, & he was also the result of a miracle from God.
Luke 1:39 says that Mary got ready & hurried down to a town in the hill country of Judah. That trip probably took several days.
As she travels along, she thinks about the angel's announcement, & the child inside of her & the glory of it all, yet wondering how Elizabeth would react. How would she receive the news? Would she believe Mary? But God had already taken care of that.
B. Listen to the amazing words of Luke 1:41, as Mary entered Elizabeth's home, "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb & Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
“In a loud voice she exclaimed, 'Blessed are you among women & blessed is the child you will bear. Why am I so favored that the mother of the Lord should visit me?'"
What a greeting! What a confirmation of the angel's announcement! And in Luke 1:46-55 Mary opens her heart & praises God for His great love. Her’s is a joy that can't be contained anymore.
C. There is a wonderful passage of Scripture in Malachi 4:2 on the last page of the O.T. Malachi is talking about the “Day of the Lord.” In the last part of vs. 2 he says, "You will go out & skip about like calves released from the stall."
ILL. You who are farmers & ranchers know what that is talking about, I presume. One man explains, "I can remember calves being born in the cold of winter & how Grandpa would take care of them & make sure they had plenty of straw.
“Mother made sure they were warm & had plenty to eat. Throughout the cold days of winter they were always kept in the barn because it was too cold outside.
He says, "I can remember when the first warm day of spring came & Grandpa opened the barn door & turned the calves out to pasture.
“When they got outside you could see them running & skipping & clicking their heels together & raising their noses & snorting because they were breathing fresh air. They were so overjoyed they could not contain their joy.”
Malachi prophesied that when we understand what Christ & Christmas is all about there will be so much joy in our hearts that we can't keep quiet about it.
II. PURITY & RIGHTEOUSNESS
The next words are "Purity & Righteousness." When you think of Mary you think of purity. Here is Mary, probably a teenager among many other teenage girls. There must have been many temptations.
But when the angel comes & tells her that she is going to be the mother of the Son of the Most High, she asks, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" There was a quality of purity in her life that would not allow her to defile herself.
ILL. Now, who can we think of as a contrast to Mary? How about some of the female celebrities of today? Think of Mary, & then think of them. They are worlds apart as different as they can be.
Now listen carefully to Matthew 1:18 25. "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
“Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man & did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream & said,
‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, & you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.’
"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child & will give birth to a son, & they will call Him Immanuel’ which means, ‘God with us.’
"When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him & took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave Him the name Jesus."
Notice that Joseph is called a righteous man, one who is all right with God. Out of his mouth come words of integrity. He is an example of what men ought to be.
ILL. Now contrast Joseph to some celebrities who are well known today, movie stars, sport stars, & politicians. Joseph is everything that some of them are not. Many of today’s celebrities seem willing to do or say anything to get what they want.
It seems that our world teaches that to enjoy life we must be more like them than like Joseph. But Christmas comes to say that it is all right to be pure & that there is joy in being righteous.
Do you suppose that Joseph & Mary were in love with each other when they were younger? We don’t know. The Bible doesn’t say. But if they were, can you imagine them dreaming of sharing their lives with each other & growing old together & experiencing all the joys that would come their way?
Then one day Joseph heard that Mary was expecting a child. All of his dreams came crashing down. He knew that it wasn't his child, so the only logical conclusion was that Mary had betrayed his love & given herself to another.
Yet, despite that, Joseph's righteous character shines out because he was not willing for Mary to be disgraced publicly. In those days when you were engaged it took an act of divorce to dissolve the engagement, & he decided to divorce her privately & not to embarrass her. He really cared about her!
But after the angel revealed to him that which was in her womb was of the Holy Spirit, then Joseph did what the angel said, & took her to be his wife & cared for her.
Matthew 1:23 quotes the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The virgin will be with child & will give birth to a son." Then in vs. 25 Matthew adds that "Joseph kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son."
Mary & Joseph shine like bright stars proclaiming, "It is all right to be pure & decent." I think that deep inside of us there is a longing to be like that. I think God created us to be pure, & that the world is trying to sell us a lie.
Somehow being good has been painted as being boring, & being bad has been painted as exciting. And the world has said that it is only when you are bad that you are going to have a good time.
So some partake of forbidden fruits, & never find that life at its best comes only through the qualities of purity & righteousness.
But I suggest that if you will read the stories of Christmas all over again you will discover that the two who are having the happiest time of all are Mary & Joseph - & they are absolutely pure.
III. LOVE – GOD’S LOVE!
A. The final word is "Love" – God’s love.
ILL. Have you ever received one of those beautiful Christmas cards picturing the hills outside Bethlehem wrapped in a mantle of snow? The winter wind is blowing, & shepherds are huddled in their blankets trying to keep warm.
But nearby, in Bethlehem, there is a brightly lit stable & a manger containing a little baby radiating all the warmth & light of God's love.
I know that it rarely snows in Bethlehem. But somehow that picture says that in this cold dark world there is a place where God's love is always warm & avail-able. Shepherds can come there. Rich people can come. Poor people can come.
Happy people & lonely people & depressed people can all come there because Christmas is a time when God expresses His love through a family. He takes Mary & Joseph & Jesus & says, "Here is what life is all about. We are a family, & you can become a part of that family, too."
ILL. There was a sad letter printed in a newspaper a few years ago, written by a man telling how empty Christmas was for him. He was divorced, his children grown & his family scattered.
His conclusion was that Christmas is only for people who have perfect families who never experience divorce who always have plenty of love. Christmas is only good when children are young & enjoy opening gifts. Christmas no longer had any meaning to him.
If only someone could have told him, "That's not true. You don't have to have a perfect family to enjoy Christmas.”
That is just one reason why Christmas is so important. You see, Jesus came because some of us hurt. Jesus came because we have all sinned. Jesus came because sometimes we're old & depressed & life isn't all it's cracked up to be.
That's why Jesus came. If Christmas is just Christmas trees & ornaments & cards & presents then maybe it will be empty & have no meaning for you.
B. But the warm light that comes from the manger is for everybody. Our emotions are enhanced at Christmas time. If we love, we love more. If we hate, we may hate more. If we are depressed, we are often more depressed. If we are lonely, we are often more lonely.
But God comes through Jesus to say that no matter how you feel or how you hurt, Jesus can take care of it. And that is why Christmas is so special.
That is why Christmas gets more attention than any other holiday. That is why the world stops every December because Christmas says it is all right to be good. It is all right to be pure. In fact, it is only when you are, that you really experience the joy that you just can't keep inside.
At Christmas time God calls us together to make us a family again. A family filled with the warmth of His love.
That is why invitation time is so special because God calls us from the circumstances of life, regardless of what they might be, & invites us into the warmth of His love. It's there for you & for me.
ILL. I received a beautiful Christmas poem titled, "When Chances Come Again." Listen to its words:
If you had been a lowly shepherd who heard the angels sing,
Would you have left your sheep alone to find the baby King?
If you had been the innkeeper, pressed & hurried since the dawn,
Would you have done the best you could, or just told them “Move on”?
If you had been a wise man due respect & courtly graces,
Would you have left it all behind to search in unknown places?
We cannot know what we'd have done if we had been there then.
We only know what we do now when chances come again.
(Willo Lou Clark 1989)
INVITATION HYMN
