Luke 2:15-20
“Love”
This might sound like a silly question, but let’s ask ourselves anyway…
What is Christmas and when does it come?
I know it’s in 11 days, but…
…surely, it’s more than a date on a calendar.
And it’s got to be more than Christmas trees and colored lights.
Christmas can’t just be about Santa or flying reindeer.
Surely Christmas is more than poinsettias and presents and pageants and parades as nice as those are.
I mean, what puts Christmas deep into our souls?
What writes the Christmas spirit indelibly on our hearts?
Well, of course, the essence of Christmas is love, God’s incredible love for us, expressed when God sent Jesus Christ into the world to save us.
Whenever and wherever God’s love is accepted and shared, Christmas comes again!
My favorite Christmas memory is the Christmas of my Freshman year of college.
I had been a long haired, hard partying, heavy metal dude in high school.
I loved heavy metal music and the lyrics to those songs, and I lived them out best I could.
And that was how I was known.
That was who Ken Sauer was.
In November of my Freshman year, I had a radical born again experience and decided to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
And it changed my heart.
It changed my personality.
It changed my behavior.
When I came home for Christmas break I went to a lot of parties with kids from my high school.
I still had the long hair.
I looked the same on the outside…
…except for the smile on my face…
…and the way I interacted with people, the way I talked, opened up.
I was the talk of the town.
Look what happened to Headbanger Ken!
Many, many years later I overheard my father talking about that time.
He was saying to someone, “When Kenny came back from college it was like he was a completely different person.”
And in so many ways—it’s true.
That was a great, great Christmas.
The best I’ve ever had.
My faith was fresh and new.
And the meaning of Christmas had become incredibly meaningful to me…as a matter of fact, I guess you could say: I experienced it for the first time!
When we, like the shepherds, fall down in awe, wonder and commitment before the manger of God’s love, there it is: Christmas!
When we, like the three wise men, give our best to the Master, there is Christmas!
When we, like Mary and Joseph, trust and obey God and try our best to do God’s will, there is Christmas!
One of the best known and most beloved verses in all the Bible is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
That’s what Christmas is really about.
We needed a Savior and God sent us one.
We needed a Messiah and God sent us one.
We needed a Christ and God sent us one.
God so loved the world that God gave the world God’s Son!
When we bow down before that, when we come to grips with that, when we accept God’s love, when we receive the Messiah into our hearts and commit our lives in faith to him…
…whenever and wherever, that happens, there is Christmas!
Whenever and wherever, that happens, Christmas comes again!
Many years ago, there lived in a small village a shoe maker by the name of Conrad.
Day by day, early and late, the tap, tap, tap of his hammer could be heard as he fixed the shoes brought to him by the villagers.
Though he was alone and poor, this kind man always had a warm and friendly word for everyone.
Because of this, many folks left his shop feeling better than they had when they had come.
Now, as we know, Christmas is a time when many families get together, but Conrad had no family.
On Christmas morning, some neighbors, thinking how lonely Conrad must feel, decided to stop by for a visit.
They found him sweeping away the snow in front of his house, and to their surprise his face was radiant and happy.
As they entered his house, they looked around in amazement.
Instead of a dark and dreary room they saw a Christmas tree and decorations.
And most surprising, the table was set for two!
“Who is coming to visit you?” the neighbors asked.
Conrad replied, “Last night the Lord appeared to me in a dream.
The Lord told me that I would not be alone on Christmas Day, for God was coming to be my guest.
Everything is ready.
I’m waiting for him to arrive.”
After the neighbors left, Conrad sat by the window, quietly watching and waiting for God to come.
As he watched, the minutes passed into hours, but he was so excited he barely noticed.
While he watched, a homeless man passed by his window, ragged, weary and nearly frozen.
Conrad called him in.
He offered him to sit by the fire and gave him shoes for his frozen feet.
After he left, a poor widow hobbled by, carrying on her back a heavy load of firewood.
Conrad ran out, lifted the load from her back, and helped her into his tiny house.
He gave her food and after she had rested a bit, he helped her on her way.
Once again, Conrad sat by the window to watch for God.
This time he heard the sound of a child sobbing.
Conrad opened his front door to find a little girl wandering lost and scared in the snow.
Conrad gave her some warm milk and spoke to her in soothing tones.
Soon, Conrad was able to get the child back to her mother.
After this, Conrad returned to his window to watch for God.
But now the sun was sinking, and the wintery Christmas Day was coming to an end.
Where was his promised guest?
Anxious, weary and somewhat disappointed, Conrad dropped to his knees and prayed, “Oh, Lord, where were you?
I waited and watched for you all day.
Why didn’t you come?”
Out of the silence came a voice: “Oh, Conrad, my Conrad, don’t be dismayed.
This very day, I came to your door three times.
I was the homeless man with frozen feet.
I was the widow you fed.
I was the little girl who was lost.”
The message of this story is a big part of Christmas.
Jesus said, “Whatever you have done for one of the least of these, you did it for me.”
When we see Christ in other people and love them, then at that precise moment Christmas comes again.
And when people see Christ in us, through a kind word, a warm meal given at no cost, help when someone needs it, love when someone is lonely, a visit when someone is sick or in prison Christmas comes again and again and again.
Jesus said, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this everyone will know you are my disciples if you love one another.”
This world is waiting, looking and searching for Christmas—REAL Christmas—God made Flesh.
They find Christmas when we Christians put our faith into loving action.
When we commit ourselves entirely to our Lord.
“I want to be like that!” people will say.
That’s what happened to me some 40 years ago and it changed my life and I experienced Christmas for the first time.
Have you experienced Christmas?
Have the people you see on the streets or in the stores experienced it?
When we love God, when we love other people Christ is born in people’s hearts and Christmas comes again!
Will you pray with me?
Lord God,
We thank you that you so love us that you came into this world to save us.
You offer us new life by the power of your Holy Spirit flowing through other people on to us in love.
Enable us to experience Christmas, not just in 11 days, but every day of the year.
And may we help others experience Christmas all year round as well.
For this is what it is all about.
In Jesus’ name and for his sake we pray.
Amen.
