REACTIONS TO CHRISTMAS
Mt. 2:1-12
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR:
1. There are a lot of things we celebrate this time of year. Several major holidays;
a. December 5 is National Ninja Day. Some of you say, “I didn’t see that coming.” That’s because it’s Ninja Day.
b. December 16 is officially Chocolate-Covered-Anything Day, which I think is awesome because chocolate covered anything is awesome.
c. December 18 is National Wear a Plunger on your Head Day.
d. And then, of course, for all you Seinfeld fans, December 23 is “Festivus for the rest of us.”
2. No disrespect to any of those, but I think there’s something special about Christmas. Even beyond the traditions, and the family time, the gifts… there’s something special about the story of the divine intersecting the human. [JD Greear]
B. DIFFERENT IMAGES OF CHRISTMAS
1. What do you think of when you think of Christmas? To most Christmas elicits images of:
a. Christmas parades
b. Decorations
c. Christmas trees – lights & glittering ornaments
d. Christmas carols & choir, dramas
e. Joy, goodwill.
2. Not everyone sees Christmas the same way:
a. For some – it’s a happy time of celebration.
b. Others - it’s an emotionally tough time.
c. It may be lonely - if not spent with family.
d. Some may not look forward to Christmas.
3. We’re going to find it was no different when Jesus came; there were all kinds of different reactions to Christmas. Let’s read about them.
C. TEXT
1...During the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." 3When KING HEROD heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's CHIEF PRIESTS and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied [and they quoted Micah 5:2]. 7Then Herod 8....sent [THE MAGI] to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me...” 10When they [the Magi] saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On 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 and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Mt. 2:1-5, 7-8, 10-12.
D. THESIS
1. There were at least 3 different reactions of people to Jesus that first Christmas.
2. Each of us will respond to Christ in one of those three ways: We’ll either be Troubled by Him, Indifferent to Him, or a Worshiper of Him. Which will YOU be?
I. YOU MAY BE TROUBLED BY CHRISTMAS
A. SOME WERE TROUBLED BY HIM
1. HEROD WAS TROUBLED because this King was a potential rival to his throne. Herod considered himself the "King of the Jews." This rival posed a real threat to his control and rule.
2. AND ALL JERUSALEM WAS TROUBLED with him" (V3) Why? Maybe they were afraid He might change their way of life. We get comfortable with our circumstances and control.
3. THE STATUS QUO WAS TROUBLED. A lot of people today – even Christians – would not be happy to learn that Jesus was coming back within 30 days. Their lives would be unpredictable.
B. CHRISTMAS IS TROUBLING TODAY!
1. CHRIST SPOILS OUR PARTY
a. THE BABE OF BETHLEHEM looks harmless enough, lying in the crib, but any thinking person knows that He won’t be a defenseless Baby when He comes back.
b. Biologist Sir Julian Huxley was asked by the British Broadcasting Corp. why the "Theory of Evolution" was so readily accepted by the scientific community. He responded, "I suppose the reason why we leaped at The Origin Of Species was because the idea of God interfered with our sexual mores." (Kennedy, p.46, CHARACTER AND DESTINY).
c. In other words, God was spoiling our party. So let's get rid of God! No wonder evolution is the Sacred Cow of Science.
2. CHRIST CHALLENGES OUR LORDSHIP
a. Just like Herod, we have our own "realms of power" we want to rule over. Christ's lordship is a threat to our own worldly freedom!
b. Jesus demands the position we want for ourselves; “God doesn't have the right to govern my behavior." No? Christmas means that the King has Come!
3. THE INTRUSION OF CHRIST EXPOSES OUR SINFULNESS. Jesus said, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin” Jn. 15:22. He tells us that we are sinners!" What an unpleasant truth!
4. Illus. We think the air in our living room is clean, until a ray of sunlight escapes through the curtains and shows us how much dust is actually floating in our air. It’s true spiritually.
2ND REACTION:
II. YOU MAY BE INDIFFERENT TO JESUS
A. SOME WERE INDIFFERENT THEN
1. The religious leaders were (Vs. 4). These were men knowledgeable about the Scriptures. They ought to have cared about the Coming of the Messiah. They quoted Micah 5:2.
2. Shouldn't they have at least been curious? Shouldn’t they have been excited about the possibility of Bible-fulfillment?
3. Shouldn't some of them have gone with the Magi to see this great sign – not six miles away?
4. But did they? No! They didn’t care if the Messiah came back. He wasn’t real to them and was no part of their current lives.
B. MANY ARE INDIFFERENT TODAY
1. The real meaning of Christmas is the Gospel of Jesus Christ -- the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
2. We’re all aware of the battle to exclude Jesus from our culture, even from His own birthday celebration! How bizarre!
3. But more sad is the commercializing of Christmas. It shows the slow slipping away of people from the real meaning of Christmas. We let it lose its wonder.
4. WONDER
a. Children see the world differently. They’re amazed by simple things—a caterpillar spinning a cocoon, a falling star, a minnow swimming in a ditch...children hear the story of Christmas and are filled with wonder!
b. Have we grown too sophisticated for that? Have we lost our wonder? Are we like Moses, walking past the burning bush, but instead of stopping, we hurry on and miss the miracle of the living God?
c. That’s why we don’t take time to look at the Baby in the Manger, to think about Who He is, and Why He came. We’ve stopped wondering, and started wandering. Jesus calls us to become children again—in our faith and trust.
5. Think of it! When the Angels spoke to the Shepherds in the field, they declared the most exciting news in human history. Are we too indifferent to check it out?
6. Let’s leave the commercial Christmas and go back to the stable in Bethlehem and see the Son of God for ourselves! Let’s behold him with OUR eyes!
3RD REACTION:
III. BE WORSHIPERS OF CHRIST
A. THE WISE MEN WERE...
1. Completing a long process of seeking (vs. 11). They’d studied; they’d traveled great distances; they’d sought with all their hearts.
2. When they found Him: they worshiped Him, they gave gifts to Him, they bowed before him.
B. YOU CAN BE A SEEKER OF CHRIST TOO
1. We will have to put aside our distractions and take time to pursue Him. God promises that if we seek Him we will find Him, Jeremiah 29:13.
2. The Wise Men were so committed to seeking Christ they were willing to set aside months or years to continue searching. It cost them much to attain Christ.
3. We’ll be no different if we want to apprehend and gain Christ. We must be willing to go “all-in” in our pursuit of Jesus. What about you? What kind of commitment have you made?
4. The Wise Men brought Treasures. We should too. THE GREATEST GIFT YOU COULD GIVE IS THE GIFT OF YOURSELF.
C. ILLUSTRATION: GIFT LACKING
1. An elderly widow decided it was too much trouble to get all of her kids and grandkids Christmas presents, so she decided to send them money in cards. A few days after she mailed all the cards, she discovered she’d forgotten to include the money in the cards. Imagine all those kids opening a card from grandma with a note inside that says, “Buy your own presents.”
2. Let’s don’t do that to Jesus! The greatest gift we could give Him is the treasure of ourselves. If we give ourselves – He has all the rest of us as well.
3. I want to challenge you: Give Jesus yourself for Christmas!
CONCLUSION
There were a number of reactions to Jesus that first Christmas: some were troubled by Him, others were indifferent to Him, and still others were seekers of Christ.
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. One of America’s greatest poets was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. On July 9, 1861 Longfellow’s wife, Fanny, was near an open window, sealing the locks of her daughter’s hair, using hot sealing wax. Suddenly her dress caught fire and engulfed her with flames.
2. Longfellow, running from the next room, desperately tried to put out the fire and save his wife. He was severely burned on his face and hands and Fanny died the next day.
3. Longfellow’s severe burns would not even allow him to attend Fanny’s funeral. In his diary for Christmas day 1861 he wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are the holidays.”
4. In 1862 the death toll of Civil War began to mount up and in his diary for that year Longfellow wrote, “’A merry Christmas’ say the children, but that is no more for me.” In 1863 his son who had run away to join the Union army was severely wounded and returned home in December. There is no entry in Longfellow’s diary for that Christmas.
5. But on Christmas Day 1864 – at age 57 – Longfellow sat down to tried to capture, if possible, the joy of the season. He began: “I heard the bells on Christmas day. Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
6. As he came to the third stanza, he was stopped by the thought of the condition of his beloved country. The Civil War looked dark, and he probably wondered what the end would be.
7. But he kept writing – “And in despair I bowed my head: “There is no peace on earth”, I said, For hate is strong, and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
8. But he glimpsed a vision of the final victory of Christ and wrote, “Then peeled the bells more loud and deep; ‘God is not dead, nor doth he sleep! The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men.’” And so came into being that marvelous Christmas carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” [Jeff Skinner]
B. ALTAR CALL
1. Are you here this morning and you’d say, "Pastor, I really need a vision like Longfellow’s to give me victory.”
2. Others might say, “I want to do like the Wise Men and go to the Savior and worship."
3. Others may say, "I’ve been caught up in the ‘material’ Christmas; I’ve been indifferent and I want to know the real Jesus. Pray for me."
4. Others, "Please pray for the Good Shepherd of Christmas to lift me out of my troubles." PRAYER
