CHRISTMAS HANGOVER BLUES
Matt. 2:19-23
INTRODUCTION
A. SONG: “The 12 Pains (not ‘Days’) of Christmas,” by Bob Rivers;
1. “The first thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me, Is finding a Christmas tree.”
2. “The second thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me: Rigging up the lights, And finding a Christmas tree.
3. The third thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me: Hangovers… (I’ll spare you from the rest, but...)
2. ALL 12 PAINS IN REVERSE ORDER:
Singing Christmas carols
Stale tv specials
Batteries not included
No parking spaces
Gotta go to the bathroom!
Salvation Army
Fa-cing my in-laws
Five months of bills!
Sending Christmas cards
Hangovers
Rigging up the lights
And finding a Christmas tree.
B. IDEA
1. Bob Rivers mentioned “hangovers.” Of course, he was talking about alcohol aftereffects, but Christmas can have similar aftereffects that drag on us for weeks if we don’t redirect. What am I talking about?
2. It takes so much effort, planning, energy, and passion to pull off a memorable Christmas, that once it’s over, we can find ourselves in an exhausted, unfocused stupor.
3. I know ladies who buy gifts for loved ones starting 6-8 months early. They plan what they’re going to eat on Christmas, who’s coming over, how the house will be decorated, what activities will entertain the family all day. They shop and wrap presents. Billions of dollars go into Christmas each year. We want everyone to go home with satisfaction.
4. At last, everyone DOES go home. Loads of trash must be gathered up, food put away, dishes washed, the house returned to a clean, orderly state. WE GOT IT DONE! PRAISE THE LORD! WHEW!
5. We get up on the 26th and the purpose which had driven millions of people no longer exists. What now?
6. That’s the same thing that happened to Joseph & Mary. They were consumed with the pregnancy, dreams & visions, Jesus’ birth, the shepherds and wise men, and then moving to Egypt to save Him from Herod. Then --- all the excitement subsided and life went back to its ordinary and dull state. Let’s read what happened in Matt. 2:19-23.
C. TEXT
19 “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that He would be called a Nazarene.” Matt. 2:19-23.
D. TITLE: CHRISTMAS HANGOVER BLUES. Joseph & Mary show us the way to recover from Christmas.
I. WHAT JOSEPH & MARY HAD TO DO
A. GO BACK TO WORK
1. The people of Nazareth knew Jesus as “the Carpenter’s Son” Mt. 13:55. This means that Joseph established a carpentry business in Nazareth and became prosperous enough to provide for his family even until Jesus reached adulthood. Jesus Himself worked in Joseph’s shop and also became known as “the Carpenter” Mk. 6:3.
2. I wonder if, in the providence of God, Jesus might have shaped the very cross beams that He Himself was later crucified on. Jesus certainly created the tree and the iron that was fashioned into the nails and He created the hill of Golgotha, “the skull.”
3. I’m sure He often thought about His future crucifixion as He daily sawed trees into beams and planks. He used carpenter terminology to tell us about having a plank of criticism in our eye while trying to get a speck of sawdust out of someone else’s eye (Mt. 7:3).
B. RECONNECT WITH PEOPLE
1. Mary & Joseph had probably lived all their lives in Nazareth. It was a small town and they knew almost everybody. Their lives had been rocked by the scandal of Mary’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy.
2. When God directed them to go back there, they had to face all their old friends and family and “live- down” their old reputation.
3. I’ll never forget a radio broadcast I heard by a prison chaplain to inmates, telling them, when they got out of prison, to go back to their home towns. He said, “At first they’ll think of you as the thief or robber, but after a few years of living right, they’ll think of you as you are now. You will “Live-down” your old reputation and establish a new one. That’s what Mary & Joseph did. You can too!
C. SET NEW GOALS & WORK ON THEM
1. Joseph & Mary had at least 4 sons born to them (after Jesus) and two daughters (Mt. 13:55). So Joseph and Mary had to provide a house, food, clothes, education, church-life, etc., for their seven children.
2. They set new goals and worked on them. They made plans, raised their kids and did the best they could to make a good future for them. Mary & Joseph are good examples of how we should transition from one phase of our lives to another.
3. Don’t let the ‘Christmas Hangover Blues’ hold you back. It’s time to kick into action and get on with our new life! Here’s some suggestions of how to refocus.
II. WHAT WE NEED TO DO
A. LET’S GET BACK TO WORK SPIRITUALLY
1. Now that we’re past the whirlpool of Christmas activity, let’s get back into our daily routine of BIBLE READING.
2. Job said, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread” (23:12). Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” Matt. 4:4. The Bible is our spiritual food. The only way we can continue to live is if we eat; that means, taking in the Word of God DAILY. (Manna gathered daily, Ex. 16:4).
3. We also need a DAILY COMMITMENT. The Lord Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross DAILY and follow Me” Lk. 9:23. Fulfill daily vows, Ps. 61:8.
4. We need to be in DAILY FELLOWSHIP with God. God says, “Blessed are those who listen to Me, watching daily at My doors, waiting at My doorway” Prov. 8:34. “I call to You, Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you” Ps. 88:9.
B. RECONNECT WITH PEOPLE
1. Because of the Christmas holidays, we haven’t seen a lot of our friends and acquaintances. Now is a good time to reconnect with them.
2. The Bible says to ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER DAILY; “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” Heb. 3:13.
3. WATCH FOR EACH OTHER’S SOULS. “for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief” Heb. 13:17. It’s our duty to help others make it to heaven. If you see someone straying, you, as their friend, should try to turn them back to a good path.
4. YOU CAN SAVE THOSE WHO WILL LISTEN TO YOU. “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” 1 Tim. 4:16.
C. SET NEW GOALS & WORK ON THEM
1. Jude 1:3 says, “Beloved...I...exhort you [to] earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
2. Other translations of this requested action: “fight strenuously for the faith” AMP; “put up a real fight for the faith” PHILLIPS; “carry on the struggle for the faith” MOUNCE.
3. The idea is that, to possess all that God wants us to have in Christ, will take a struggle; our fallen natures & carnal thinking will resist our gaining the power of the Spirit and the mind of Christ. We will have to be diligent, therefore, to wrestle against all our tendencies in order to gain Christ and His victory!
4. Paul describes false Christianity as forms and rituals which “lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence,” [Col. 2:23 NIV1984]. We are either going to be “strong in spirit” (Lk. 1:80) or we’re going to be controlled by the flesh (Rom. 8:5,8,9,12,13).
5. Our true goal is not just Christian activities, but transformation into the likeness of Jesus (2 Cor. 3:18). For one nature to increase, the other nature must decrease (John 3:30). You cannot be full of Jesus and full of the world. You must DECREASE the world’s input into you and INCREASE God’s input. There’s no easy way. You must die out, for Christ to live in you (Gal. 2:20a)!
6. So let’s set our goals to read the Word daily, to fellowship with Jesus daily, to obey Him in everything we can, to cut down on media, movies, music, books, time with the ungodly, etc. ---anything of the world, and take in Godly input of Christian movies, music, reading, media, & people. For where your treasures are, there will your heart be also!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS.: What Does ‘Filled with the Spirit’ Mean?
1. When you’re sailing, is “being filled with the wind” an experience or a habit? Both. Catching the wind on a sailboat is clearly an experience. I vividly remember that first feeling of being seized and carried forward by a mighty power of the wind.
2. But it’s also a habit. If you don’t put the sails up, you won’t go anywhere, even if the wind is blowing. Sailing is the art of being available to the external power.
3. You rely entirely on the external power to get you anywhere. Sailors never imagine themselves to be powering the boat by their own strength. But they have to respond to what the wind is doing.
4. Being filled with the Spirit involves eagerly seeking out the Spirit and yielding to His influence. We can develop the habit of opening our spiritual sails each day and saying ‘yes’ when He sends us off our schedules to minister to someone. [Adapted from an illustration of Andrew Wilson].
5. Will you decide tonight and make plans to be conformed to the image of Jesus? Will you open your sails to the Holy Spirit to take you where He wants to?
B. THE CALL
1. How many want more of God in the coming days? Are you ready for a change? Are you willing to cut back on the world’s influence and increase God’s influence? Will you contend for God’s best for you and your family?
2. PRAYER
