As we prepare for Christmas, sometimes I wonder if we have allowed the Savior to be stolen from our celebrations. I say this because “Merry Christmas” has been replaced with “Happy Holidays”, businesses exclude Christmas by saying “holiday sale” and when someone asks if you are ready for Christmas what they really mean is “have you done all your shopping.”
I realize that there is a physical or cultural aspect of Christmas that involves decorating our homes, putting up a tree, buying presents and eating and drinking. I am sure many of you have put in a lot of time to do these things but by this same time tomorrow, it will all be over. It will come to an end because anything earthly is temporary and lasts only for a season.
I am not finding fault with these family traditions or our children’s fantasies with Santa Claus because giving to one another and loving one another are certainly compatible with the gospel. But there is a weightier spiritual aspect of Christmas that is often neglected and that is Emmanuel came to be with us and live in us. In other words, love came down at Christmas!
Our God in heaven started the gift giving tradition but it wasn’t a few boxes wrapped in color paper. Instead He walked down the stairs of heaven with His son in His arms as His perfect gift of love for us. He then entrusted His son to Mary and Joseph so that they may raise him to live and endure the human experience of temptation, betrayal, trials, pain, sickness, sorrow and everything else you and I have gone through so that he can put all of them on the cross and pay for it in full. And so this evening if all I do is speak about Jesus and the Manger in isolation of his whole life and sacrificial love for us, I will be doing you a disservice.
Speaking of love, John 15:13 says “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” I want to spend the rest of the time I have tonight to speak about that kind of love. Before the time of Jesus, people knew that God loved them. After creating mankind, he walked and talked with them in the garden and even though they broke His laws, he kept fighting for and protecting us humans throughout the ages. But people did not really know how much God loved them until he gave us Jesus. When Jesus came, he called us his children and told us about a place he has prepared for all those who love him. He taught us about God’s love and showed it by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, hanging out with the poor, forgiving those who did wrong and told us that we too must live in harmony and love one another. Then at His death He proved that God’s love for us is unlimited.
In other words however unworthy you may be, however sinfully you may have lived, however weak and faithless you may be and no matter how messed up we are and though we deserve eternal death, our Lord chose to die in our place because he loves us so much. That is why he came. At Christmas He came as a sacrificial lamb to free us and save us from sin and adopt us as his children forever.
Friends, God’s love for you is deeper than the oceans and higher than the mountains which means even if you do not love him, he still loves you. He loves you if you’ve been good and loves you just as much if you weren’t that good. Yes it is true that Jesus came to us long ago at Christmas and was born in Bethlehem but if he is not born in your heart and mine, then celebrating Christmas or coming to Church on that day will really do nothing for you.
I believe there must come a time in our Christian walk when we turn our backs on the things of the world and fix our eyes upon Jesus. He is the author and finisher of our faith and He alone has all the solutions for this life. He is the one who has the keys to heaven and eternal life.
God’s love is far beyond what our eyes can see. He loved us before we loved him. He loved us before we were born and will love us long after we go to the cemetery. He loved our parents before us and he will love our children after us. He loves you when you are well and loves you when you are sick. He loves you through your good times and through the bad. In fact, he gets closer to you even more when you are down and out and instead of walking beside you, he picks you up and carries you in his arms. Many Christians think that they must be good in order for God to love them. The truth is no one is good and yet he came to us because he loves us. He loves the sinner though he hates the sin.
Jesus came to us not just for a visit and then say goodbye, he came to live in us and teach us what we need to do to be with him forever. My friends never lose sight of the miracle of God’s love. That is what Christmas is about. Christmas is a story of redemption. I don’t know what this season is like for you but if there are times when you feel lonely, when your hopes have been shattered, when your best plans go wrong, or when all others walk away, be assured He will still be there for you. His word says, he will never leave nor forsake us. God has an endless love for you my friends.
You might recall after Jesus was resurrected, he spent one last morning at the sea of Galilee and had a breakfast with his disciples. At that time he never asked them for thanks for his sacrifice or for healing and raising people from the dead or appreciation of all the other miracles he had done, instead he asked Peter three times, “do you love me.” He needed to hear that the most. The last words of anyone are usually the heaviest and most important. It reveals the deepest and innermost feelings of a person. Especially in the east when a person is on the death bed, the near and dear gather around him or her to hear their last words. Weighing heavily on his heart is that he wanted to know if he was loved. What about you my friends, do you love him? Remember this – God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Never forget that love and hope came to us at Christmas.
There is an old legend about a woman named Befana who is the gift giver in Italy just like Father Christmas in England or Santa Claus in America. The legend says that when the wise men came by her home, they invited her to go with them to find the place where the birth of Christ was born, but she was too busy with her chores to go with them. We are told that today she spends all of her time looking for the birthplace of the Christ child because she had been too busy when he first came. In like manner, I hope you don’t get too busy with all the Christmas preparations and in doing that like Befana miss the very meaning of Christmas itself.
The Lord Jesus Christ whom we exalt at Christmas is not just a baby in a manger. He is not a character in a children’s story. Yes he came to us as a child in a manger but the next time he comes the heavens will roll up like a scroll and the stars will fall from heaven. At that time every knee shall bow and tongue will confess that he is Lord. The sheep will be separated from the goats and will be caught up in glory to be with him forever more. The ones who never took him seriously with spend their eternity with their friend the devil. There is no middle ground my friends and the hard truth is that though God loves us, we will reap what we sow.
I wish all of you a wonderful Christmas but don’t leave tonight without receiving your gift – It is from God to you, and it is his only son. May Christ fill your Christmas and your heart with his presence. Amen.
