John 3:16-17
“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 4 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!
Do you have a favorite Christmas memory?
My favorite Christmas memory is the Christmas of my Freshman year of college.
I had been 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 my identity.
I wasn’t a bad person, I was just lost and angry at the world.
I had no direction.
I was unhappy.
And then I made a friend who showed me Christ through his actions.
I had never met a Christ-follower who was my age before.
My new friend was so different than me and from the other friends I had.
He was living for Jesus.
He was loving other people no matter who they were.
He was sharing Christ through his words and actions.
And for the first time I saw that it really is possible to be transformed…
…to love…
…to have hope and a reason to live.
And I wanted what he had.
I wanted Jesus.
We often meet Jesus through the love of other people.
That’s how it worked for me.
How about you?
So, in November of my Freshman year, I decided to follow Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and put him first in my life.
I have not been the same person since.
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—old friends.
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, and the new confidence I had.
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, and wonder 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 were lost and needed a Savior and God sent us one.
We needed hope, direction,
transformation, salvation and love.
And so God became a human being.
We needed to know that God so loved the world so God gave the world God’s Son!
When we bow down before Jesus, when we accept God’s love, when we receive Christ into our hearts and commit our lives in faith to following 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 shoemaker 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 God 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, and somewhat disappointed and weary, 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 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 Christmas!
They find Christmas when we 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 nearly 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.
