Philip Griffin, senior pastor of the Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, describes a lost dog sign he once saw. There was a big cash reward for whoever found the lost dog, and a description of the dog. It read: "He's only got three legs, he's blind in the left eye, he's missing a right ear, his tail has been broken off, he was neutered accidentally by a fence—ouch!—he's almost deaf, and he answers by the name “Lucky” (Philip Griffin, from the sermon “A God Who Redeems,” www.PreachingToday.com).
How did such a dog get the name “Lucky?” Maybe, it’s because he has an owner who loves him and wants him back.
You may not feel lucky today, but you have a Creator who loves you and wants you back, as well. Only, He’s gone way beyond putting up signs. He came Himself to look for you and me. And that’s what we celebrate at Christmas. We celebrate God becoming a human being, entering our world to seek and save the lost.
Are you feeling unlucky and lost today? Then I invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 1, Luke 1, where an angel announces God’s coming to Mary, through whom God entered our world.
Luke 1:26-30 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God (ESV).
Mary found favor with God. Literally, she found grace with God. She found unmerited approval in God’s eyes even though she was unlucky in the world’s eyes. She had a very common name with no less than six “Mary’s” in the New Testament.
On top of that, she was a poor, peasant girl from a town known for its wickedness and immorality. One of Jesus’ disciples once asked, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). The world would call her unlucky and unfavored, but the angel called her “favored one” (verse 28)—I.e., one that God fills with His grace, or one that God loves in a special way.
In the same way, you too can find favor with God. Even though the world might call you unlucky and unfavored, God calls you a “favored one” if you believe in His Son. The New Testament uses the original Greek word for “favored one” only twice—here and in Ephesians 1:6. In Ephesians 1:6, God calls every believer “favored,” or “blessed,” as its translated there. That means when you trust Christ with your life, God blesses you; God favors you; God fills you with His grace even when you don’t deserve it.
One of the most loved Christmas songs started out as an advertising gimmick. In 1939, Montgomery Ward tapped advertising executive Robert May to write a poem that their store Santa Claus could give away to children who came to visit him. That poem was “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, which first appeared in a little booklet published by the department store chain. They handed out more than 2.5 million copies that year; and by 1946, they had distributed more than 6 million copies.
Rudolph's story was made into a song in 1949 when May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, added music to the poem. Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore turned it down, but singing cowboy Gene Autry recorded it, and the rest is history. Today, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is the highest-selling Christmas song, at more than 25 million units.
Why is the song so popular? Some people might say that it's the pluckiness and courage of Rudolph, the alleged hero of the story. But the real beauty of the story focuses on grace. By grace, Santa chooses Rudolph even though he has been rejected by everyone else. Rudolph has a defect—his big, annoyingly shiny red nose—that disqualifies him from participating in all the “reindeer games.” But when the fog rolls in, Santa chooses the one with the weird, shiny red nose to lead his sleigh. He turns Rudolph’s “weakness” into a “strength”, which he used to accomplish his mission (Kristen Parrish, No Cape Required, Thomas Nelson, 2013, pp. 219-220; www.PreachingToday.com).
God wants to do the same for you. Just…
BELIEVE THAT HE LOVES YOU and trust His Son with your life.
Accept His grace. Rely on His unmerited favor. Then…
BELIEVE THAT HE WANTS TO USE YOU to accomplish his mission.
Believe that God wants to use you to introduce His Son to the world. That’s what the angel said to Mary.
Luke 1:31-33 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (ESV).
Mary is not all that great, but Jesus is! And God wants to use Mary to bring His Son to the world!
I like the way Janet Oke put it in her “Reflections on the Christmas Story.” She wrote: “Jesus—a simple name with so much power and meaning, but on that night so long ago, the tiny baby, wrapped by Mary in swaddling clothes, waving little arms, hungrily sucking a fist, was like any other newborn baby. He was helpless and dependent, and Mary was His hope of survival, His nourishment, His very lifeline. God entrusted His most priceless gift to a very human, very young, earthly mother. Why? Because God so loved—that He gave. He relinquished His hold on His Son and placed Him in fragile human arms (Janet Oke, “Reflections on the Christmas Story,” Christianity Today, Vol. 39, no. 14; www.PreachingToday.com).
The thought is almost unimaginable, but God did it anyway. He placed His Son in fragile human arms and used Mary to introduce Jesus to the world.
And so God wants to use you, as well. I know the thought is almost unimaginable, but God wants to use you to introduce His Son to your friends and neighbors. God wants to use you to bring Jesus to people who desperately need Him.
Before Jesus left this earth, He told His followers: Go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19); Be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). That’s the mission, and God wants to use you and me to accomplish that mission.
There is a legend about the time when Jesus returned to heaven after His time on earth. He bore the marks of his cruel cross and shameful death. The angel Gabriel approached Him and asked, “Master, do they know all about how you loved them and what you did for them?”
Jesus replied, “No, not yet. Right now, only a handful of people in Israel know.
Gabriel was perplexed. “Then what have you done to let everyone know about your love for them?”
Jesus replied, “I’ve asked Peter, James, John, and a few others to tell people about me. Those who are told will tell others, and my story will spread throughout the earth. Ultimately, everyone will know about my love.”
Gabriel frowned. “But what if they fail? Do you have another plan?”
Jesus answered, “No. I’m counting on them” (Bible Illustrator, #3603-3605, 5/1992.29).
That’s the plan. Jesus is counting on you and me to communicate His love. Please, believe it! Believe that God loves you. Believe that God wants to use you. Then…
BELIEVE THAT GOD CAN USE YOU to accomplish His mission.
Believe that God can use you to introduce His Son to the world. It’s one thing to want to do something. It’s quite another thing to be able to do that thing. I may WANT to fly, but I certainly CAN not fly. God WANTS to use you, and the wonderful news is He CAN use you in significant ways. God was able to use Mary.
Luke 1:34-37 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God” (ESV).
God can use a virgin to give birth to His child. God can cause an old woman to give birth to a child. God can do anything He wants to, because nothing will be impossible with Him!
God was able to use Mary, and God is certainly able to use you and me.
John Boykin put it this way: Many Christians feel more comfortable with the idea that apart from Christ they can do nothing (John 15:5) than they do with the other side of the coin: that they can do all things through Him who strengthens them (Philippians 4:13). “I can do nothing” lets me off the hook. “I can do all things” makes me wonder why I’m not doing anything (John Boykin, “The Gospel of Coincidence,” Christianity Today, Vol. 36; no. 2; www.PreachingToday.com).
To be sure, without Christ you can do nothing. But with God, nothing will be impossible! Please, believe it, trusting Him to do the impossible through you.
George Danzig was a senior at Stanford University during the Depression. All the seniors knew they'd be joining unemployment lines when the class graduated. There was a slim chance that the top person in the class might get a teaching job. George was not at the head of his class, but he hoped that if he were able to achieve a perfect score on the final exam, he might be given a job.
He studied so hard for the exam that he arrived late to class. When he got to class, the others were already hard at work. He was embarrassed so he just picked up his paper and slunk into his desk. He sat down and worked the eight problems on the test paper; then he started on the two written on the board. Try as he might, he couldn't solve either of them. He was devastated. Out of the ten problems, he had missed two for sure. But just as he was about to hand in the paper, he took a chance and asked the professor if he could have a couple of days to work on the two he had missed. He was surprised when his professor agreed.
George rushed home and plunged into those equations with a vengeance. He spent hours and hours, but he found the solution for only one of them. He never could solve the other. It was impossible. When he turned in the test, he knew he had lost all chance of a job. That was the darkest moment of his life.
The next morning a pounding on the door awakened George. It was his mathematics professor, very excited. “George! George!” he kept shouting, “You've made mathematics history!”
George didn't know what his professor was talking about. The professor explained. Before the exam, he had encouraged the class to keep trying despite setback and failure. “Don't be discouraged,” he had counseled. “Remember, there are classic problems that no one can solve. Even Einstein was unable to unlock their secrets.” He then wrote two of those problems on the blackboard. George had come to class late and missed those opening remarks. He didn't know the problems on the board were impossible to solve. He thought they were part of his exam and was determined that he could work them. And he solved one! He did the impossible.
That very morning the professor made George Danzig his assistant, and he taught at Stanford until his retirement (Rick Ezell, Defining Moments, 2001, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL; www.PreachingToday.com).
Please, don’t limit God’s power in your life, because you’ve already decided what God cannot do. Nothing will be impossible with God, so believe Him! Believe that He loves you. Believe that He wants to use you. Believe that He can use you. Then let Him use you for His glory.
SUBMIT TO GOD.
Offer yourself as His servant. Commit yourself for His use in any way He sees fit. That’s what Mary did.
Luke 1:38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her (ESV).
Mary’s response was simple: “let it be to me according to your word.” Would you say the same thing to the Lord today—let it be to me according to Your Word? Please, submit to God today if you want Him to use you for His glory. Commit yourself for His use in any way He sees fit.
Ray Ortlund asks us to imagine: a big table, leather chairs, coffee, bottled water, and a whiteboard. A committee sits around the table in your heart. There is the social self, the private self, the work self, the sexual self, the recreational self, the religious self, and others. The committee is arguing and debating and voting, constantly agitated and upset. Rarely can they come to a unanimous, wholehearted decision. We tell ourselves we're this way because we're so busy with so many responsibilities. But the truth is that we're just divided, unfocused, hesitant, and unfree.
That kind of person can “accept Jesus” in two ways. One way is to invite him onto the committee. Give him a vote too. But then he becomes just one more complication. The other way to “accept Jesus” is to say to him, “My life isn't working. Please come in and fire my committee, every last one of them. I hand myself over to you. I am your responsibility now. Please run my whole life for me” (Ray Ortund, “#9: What Does It Mean to Accept Jesus?” Ray Ortlund: Christ Is Deeper Still (blog), 6-4-10; www.PreachingToday.com).
Don’t just add Jesus to the committee. Fire the committee and let Jesus run your life.
It was Christmas, 1944. Corrie Ten Boom’s sister, Betsy, had died, and Corrie herself was in a hospital barracks in Ravensbruck—a German concentration camp—wondering why God had put her there. Here is what she wrote of that experience in her book, Corrie’s Christmas Memories:
Dark it was in my heart, and darkness was around me.
There were Christmas trees in the street between the barracks. Why, I don’t know. They were the saddest Christmas trees I ever saw in my life. I am sure it was with the purpose of blaspheming that they had thrown dead bodies of prisoners under the Christmas trees.
I tried to talk to the people around me about Christmas, but they mocked, ridiculed, and sneered at whatever I said. At last I was quiet. It was in the middle of the night that I suddenly heard a child crying and calling, “Mommy! Come to Oelie, Oelie feels so alone.” I went to her and saw a child not so young, but feebleminded.
“Oelie, Mommy cannot come, but do you know who is willing to come to you? That is Jesus.”
The girl was lying on a bed next to the window, not far from my bed. Although Oelie was completely emaciated from lack of food, she had a sweet face, beautiful eyes, and wavy hair. It was so touching to hear her call for her mother. Oelie had been operated on and the incision on her back was covered by a bandage of toilet paper.
That night I told this poor child about Jesus. How He came into the world as a little baby—how He came to save us from our sins.
“The Lord Jesus loves Oelie and has borne her punishment on the cross. Now Oelie may go to heaven, and Jesus is there right now. He is getting a little house ready for Oelie.” Later I asked her what she remembered of what I had told her.
“What is the little house like,” she asked.
“It is very beautiful. There are no wicked people as in Ravensbruck, only good people and angels. And Oelie will see Jesus there.”
Then Oelie folded her hands; together we gave thanks.
Then I knew why I had to spend this Christmas in Ravensbruck—1944 (Corrie Ten Boom, Corrie’s Christmas Memories).
It’s not where Corrie Ten Boom wanted to be, but God wanted her there to introduce His Son to Oelie. Maybe, you’re not where you want to be today; and maybe, you wonder why God put you there. Just submit to Him anyway, and let God use you to introduce His Son to someone in that situation.
No matter what situation you find yourself in this Christmas, please believe that God loves you, believe that God wants to use you, and believe that God can use you. Then let God use you for His glory. Submit to Him, and say to Him what Mary said to the angel: “Let it be to me according to your word.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who also spent time in a German prison camp, said, “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans... sending us people with claims and petitions. [So don’t think your] work so important and urgent that [you] will allow nothing to disturb you. [Instead, embrace] God's crooked yet straight path [for you]” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Martyred Christian,” Christianity Today, Vol. 30, no. 1; www.PreachingToday.com).
