“The Gift Of Relationship”
The Gifts Of Christmas – part three
Today is our 3rd week in a sermon series we are calling the gifts of Christmas. It is a four part series designed to make sure that Christmas 2001 is the most Christ-center Christmas any of us has ever had…
In week one we talked about the gift of joy… When the angels came on that night 2,000 years ago – they came with good news of great joy for everyone… In fact, the Greek literally says they came with good news ‘mega’ joy.
HOWEVER – we all know that joy can be a very elusive thing – and often during this time of year, many people loose their joy. AND that was where the Grinch came in…
GIVE your worries to God
Refuse to focus on what you don’t have
Include time for rest
Never forget the reason for this season
Consider your future
Hold your thoughts captive
Last week we unwrapped the gift of significance… LISTEN – a lot of people don’t feel very significant (maybe you are one of them), they don’t feel like they measure up…that they count, that who they are and what they do - matter…
AND last Sunday Mary, Joseph, The Shepherds & Bethlehem taught us in a very powerful way that is NOT – our career, where we live, how much money we have, what our family background or social pedigree is; It’s NOT our talents OR what we look like – that make us significant… Rather it is - our heart faith, it is - having a servant’s heart, it is - Christ living in us and us having a heart passionate for the kingdom, THESE are the things that give you true, eternal, lasting significance.
“You matter to God – and that is all that should matter to you (in regards to true significance)
Today I want to talk about another gift – the gift of seeing God.
PRAYER
I want to start this message off with four pictures… Four quick snapshots that I want you to try to visualize in your mind.
Snapshot #1
They had never felt like this before. Things were different, things had changed and it wasn’t for the better. Their perfect garden paradise no longer seemed like home. They were no longer the same people – they didn’t even looked the same. They were wearing sown together fig leaves because they were for the first time ashamed of their nakedness. They were afraid, they were confused, they were; downcast - dejected – depressed – downhearted – AND they were hiding. Adam & Eve were trembling together, huddled in the bushes – terrified of seeing God or being seen by Him.
Snapshot #2;
They had been out of Egypt for about 3 months – they had crossed through the Red Sea, ate bread that rain down from heaven and they had marched to the valley below Mount Sinai, where they set up camp.. On the 3rd day, the silence of the morning was broken by thunder, lightening and a loud trumpet blast!
Everyone in the camp trembled in fear. Then Moses had them break camp and he took them to the base of the mountain – over a million people. Moses set up barriers that they were not allowed to cross.. When the people looked up at the mountain it was covered in fire and smoke – the whole mountain was trembling violently and the sound of the trumpet keep getting louder and louder…
You see, the Lord has descended on to the mountain. And told Moses, ‘warn the people not to cross the boundaries. They must not come up here to see the Lord, for those who do will die…”
Snapshot #3
He had been on the mountain with the Lord for many days. It was a powerful encounter with the author of life – hearing the voice of God, sitting within the smoke… BUT Moses wanted more – finally he got up the courage and he asked the Lord, to show him his glory.
And the Lord granted his request, well kind of… Moses stood behind a rock and as the Lord’s glory passed by God covered Moses with his hand until he had completely passed – only then did the Lord removed his hand and Moses was able to see the Lord’s back…
UNDERSTAND - God could not let Moses see his face – for God himself had said, no could see His face and live….
Snapshot #4
It was a magnificent structure…The Temple itself was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and 30 feet high… More than 150,000 people were involved in it’s construction… It stood on top of Mt Moriah (the same Mt were Abraham took Isaac). As you approached the Temple you first encountered the Court of Gentiles – no Gentiles could go past this point, Then you came to the court of women – no women could go past that point, Then came the court of Israel’s men – no Israelite male could go past that point, then you came to the court of priests and no priest could go past there (except one priest who would come and over the daily incense in the holy place –
AND FINALLY there was the most Holy Place, sometimes called the Holies of Holies, a 30 x 30 x 30 foot room (a perfect cube) overlaid with 23 tons of pure gold… In this room stood 2 huge golden cherubim each with 30 foot wings spans – guarding, looking down at the ark of the covenant – … This room represent the presence of God and only one person could go into that room and he only once a year…(High Priest)….
NOW - I think those snapshots give a pretty clear picture… Seeing God being in His presence was not some thing that His people were able to do… Adam & Eve Hid, The Israelites stayed at the base of the Mountain – trembling in fear as Mt Sinai shook, Moses was placed behind a rock, with the hand of God covering over his eyes…(Moses was allowed only to see the Lord’s back…) And at the Temple - only the high priest could enter the room which ‘represented’ the presence of God, and he - only once a year…
LISTEN – God’s people were unable to see God, they were unable to be in His presence… And then as John writes in the first chapter of his gospel;
I
“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the ONE and only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth…” Jn 1:14
The magi saw HIM
“After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they SAW the child with his other Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him.” Mt 2:9-11
The shepherds saw HIM
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and FOUND Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in a manger.” Luke 2:15,16
Simeon saw HIM
“Now there was a man named Simeon, who lived in Jerusalem. He was a righteous man and very devout. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he eagerly expected the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God saying,
‘Lord, now I can die in peace!
As you promised me,
I have SEEN the Savior
You have given to all people.
He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
And he is the glory of your people Israel!” Luke 2:25-32
The disciples saw HIM
“The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have HEARD and SEEN. We SAW Him with our own eyes and TOUCHED Him with our own hands. He is Christ, the Word of life. This one who is life from God was SHOWN to us, and we have SEEN Him.” 1 Jn 1:1,2
LISTEN – something changed 2,000 years. AND it was not a small change it was a drastic change… a radical change, a revolutionary change…
THINK – about it?
When the shepherds came to the manger and saw Jesus, when Simeon held him in his arms, when the magi arrived at the house and saw the child, when John heard Jesus, walked with Jesus when he looked at Jesus…….UNDERSTAND (after that blessed night 2,000 years ago) - the days of hiding in the bushes from God’s presence were over and the times of trembling at the base of the mountain making sure you don’t see God or you will die were no more…
LISTEN – one of the gifts of Christmas is that we no longer like Moses have to hide behind a rock with the Almighty’s hand over our eyes so we don’t see Him – we no longer have to go to a Temple full of one barrier after another – whose purpose in fact, was to keep you from his presence to keep you from seeing Him.
For thousands of years – From Genesis through Malachi – from the gospel to the fall - God’s people were kept from his presence – they saw Him only through bushes, smoke, fire and lightening, they saw Him only through a veiled room in a Holy Temple – BUT on that first Christmas night, all of that changed, and it changed forever…
Could you imagine what it must have been like to see Jesus… IF you knew he was around – would you have made the trip to see Him…. If you were anywhere’s close to Bethlehem that night would you have put on a pair of Air Samson’s and ran over to see Him? Would you have gone ?
I came across a story about a shepherd who lived 2000 years ago…
The story is about shepherd who was a youth on that first Christmas night. And now he is old and as his grandson sits on his knee he recalls that night, "A long, long time ago, when I was a little more than a boy, I was out on the Judean hills one night with some other shepherds, keeping watch over the flock. And an angel of the Lord came upon us and the glory of the Lord shone roundabout us. And we were very afraid. But the angel said, "fear not... for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord... you shall find the baby in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
When he had said this the old man’s lips quivered and ceased to move and there was silence. Then the grandson turns and looks with wide, puzzled eyes into his grandfathers face and says, " But, grandfather is that all? What did you do when you heard the good news? Was what the angel said really true? Was the Christ child ever really born?"
The old shepherd sadly shakes his white head and answers, " I never knew. I never went to see. Some say that it is all a myth. Others say they found in Him, the light of God and the power for life. But for me I could never be quite sure. Because I never did go to see."
NOW – I don’t know if there really was a shepherd who didn’t go see Jesus – BUT – I do know because the bible tells me so - that there were some people who knew of his birth BUT never went to see him… Matthew tells us in his gospel – He says that when the magi came to Jerusalem inquiring about the Christ – That Herod called a meeting of all the chief priests and teachers of the law… and Herod asked them where the Christ child was to be born – and LISTEN - without hesitation these men, these leaders, these scholars of God’s word…said, “in Bethlehem” and they proceeded to quote from memory the prophet Micah…
DO YOU see that picture - God’s great plan for the Redemption of his people, a plan that had been spoken of, and waited for, since the garden of Eden was now dramatically unfolding and reaching it’s climax. The scriptures that they had studied, read and taught all their lives were being fulfilled in their very own lifetime just 20 miles down the road, and they didn’t even care enough to go and check it out – they never took the time or made the effort to see to go see Him.
That’s crazy – why would anyone miss an opportunity like that? LISTEN - IF someone could have seen Jesus with their own eyes and yet they didn’t take advantage of that opportunity – I think we all would agree that those people would have to be the bonehead of all boneheads…
DO you agree? BUT - do you know what? It still happens today. People who have the opportunity to see Christ, still never get around to making the trip…
LISTEN - people all around the world, all over this country, maybe even in this room are just like those Chief Priests & fictional shepherd. They too have heard about Jesus, they know he lived. They may even have a Bible in their homes that tells of this Jesus who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They may even come to church now and then. But they have never in their own lives taken the time to go to Bethlehem to see Jesus. They never do what it takes to kneel before their Lord and Savior and give him their lives in heart felt worship.
What a tragedy to exchange cards and gifts, to decorate trees and homes, to go to Christmas parties, to sing Christmas carols, to even go to a Christmas service at church AND STILL NEVER REALLY FIND AND EXPERIENCE THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS.
To not be willing, to not take the time, to grab our staff and put on our sandals and make OUR journey to Bethlehem, and accept God’s gift of Jesus and of LIFE!! Is just crazy…LISTEN - Christmas is such a wonderful and happy time. But the sad, sad part about Christmas is that some, that far too many never experience the true meaning.
LET ME – ask you something. Does it ever depress you to see countless people running to the malls, buying gifts, decorating their trees, hanging lights on their homes, putting reindeer and Santa Claus on their lawns, drinking egg nog – having parties AND YET – never even acknowledge that Christmas is about God the Son leaving all the majesty of heaven – putting on human flesh… coming to be the Savior of the world…
HOW tragic – how depressing – it is to see so many never unwrap the greatest gift…
OKAY - the title for this message is, “The Gift of Seeing Him,” I want us to take just a few moments to unwrap this awesome gift of Christmas… IF you would picture a box… It is wrapped in beautiful paper – it has the most awesome bow you have ever seen – and the tag on the package says the gift of seeing Him…
NOW - Picture yourself removing the bow, taking off the wrapping paper, lifting the lid… and in the bottom of the box is a burgundy card embossed with gold letters (the card has just one word one it) – “relationship.”
LISTEN – that is what the gift of seeing Him means… Jesus coming to the earth means that man can have a relationship with God – it means that you & I can have a personal relationship with the LIVING God…
No more hiding in bushes
No more smoking & trembling mountains
No more being put behind a rock with the almighty covering our eyes as he passes
No more Temple that we can’t even get close to…
No more thick curtain between us & God
No more warnings of – you must not see Me or you will die.
Jesus said, “If you have seen me – you have seen the father…”
UNDERSTAND – when Christ came to the earth Him came to change things…
LISTEN – BECAUSE of his birth, his death and his resurrection – you can see God. You can know God… you can have a personal relationship with the creator…
CHECKOUT these verses from Hebrews chapter 10;
“So, brothers and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy place without fear because of the blood of Jesus’ death. We can enter through a NEW and LIVING way that Jesus opened for us. It leads through the curtain – Christ’s body… (19,20 (NCV)
LISTEN – as we have seen in the last few weeks – there are many gifts of Christmas…
Joy, mega joy, - a stubborn joy. A joy that refuses to bend in the wind of hard times, A joy that holds it’s ground against pain, heartache and disappointment. Yes because of Christ – joy is yours for the unwrapping…
And Significance is also yours for the unwrapping – true, lasting, eternal significance – is most definitely part of the Christmas story… QUIT trying to jump through hoops to measure up to the world – God’s is saying - you matter to me already, your significant to me right now – who you are, where you are, what you do counts with God.
And another facet of the gift of Christ and it sparkles with a radiance that outshines the sun – LISTEN - YOU – can have a personal relationship with God… you can see Him.. UNDERSTAND - it is not about religion – it is about relationship
You can have a relationship with Almighty God… (“I can have a relationship with God”)
LISTEN – those who hid in bushes, those who stood at the base of a thundering mountain and those who only saw the Temple from a distance would have been absolutely blown away at just the thought let alone the reality of having a relationship with God.
UNDERSTAND – having a relationship with God is awesome!!! To know the Almighty God – to know that he is with you, that is word is true and that is promises are for real… WILL change your life…
The Apostle Paul had some things to say about knowing God...about seeing Him, about having a relationship with God, in Ephesians 1:17 he wrote to the church in Ephesus.,
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better…”
“all things are worth nothing compared with the greatness of knowing Christ my Lord…I want to know Christ.” Phil 3:8,10
QUESTION - Why did Paul consider knowing God the most valuable thing in this life....? Why did he pursue God with such great intensity?
Because Paul knew the power that knowing God and having a relationship with him, brings to this life. For when we really know God we know that he is good, that he is powerful, that he is in control, that we can trust him with our life.... that he wants only the best for us --- and that he is actively working in our life to bring about good AND THEREFORE OUR FUTURE IS ONLY GOOD AND FULL OF HOPE... And we can with confidence and boldness face life’s tragedy and chaos, because we know someone who is much bigger than the chaos, someone whose goodness overwhelms every tragedy and someone who genuinely cares about us...
KNOWING GOD FREES US TO LIVE OUR LIVES, BECAUSE LIFE NO LONGER DEPENDS ON US WHEN WE DEPEND ON GOD....
SCRIPTURE RECORDS COUNTLESS STORIES OF ORDINARY PEOPLE -- WEAK, STUMBLING, SINFUL PEOPLE -- WHO FOUND A PATH TO KNOWING GOD AND STAYED ON IT...
HOSEA, PROCLAIMED GOD’S COMPASSION EVEN THOUGH HIS OWN HEART WAS SHATTERED BY AN UNFAITHFUL WIFE.
HABAKKUK, SKIPPED THROUGH MOUNTAINS WHILE TREMBLING WITH TERROR OVER HIS COUNTRIES IMMINENT DESTRUCTION.
THE HATRED OF FRIENDS, COULDN’T DROWN GOD’S FIRE IN JEREMIAH’S HEART.
AND PETER, WAS SO THRILLED WITH THE MEMORY OF CHRIST’S SACRIFICE HE DIDN’T FEEL WORTHY TO DIE IN THE SAME UPRIGHT POSITION AS HIS LORD. HE REQUESTED HIS EXECUTIONER TO CRUCIFY HIM UPSIDE DOWN...
AND WE HAVE ALL STUMBLED ACROSS SOMEONE WHOSE FAITH MAKES OURS SEEM SMALL -- WHO TALK ABOUT JESUS WITH THE WARM FAMILIARITY OF INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP AND WITH A GLEAM IN THEIR EYES.., SOMEONE WHO HAS ENDURED LONELINESS, SUFFERING, HEARTACHE... WITH AN UNCOMPLAINING SADNESS... ACCEPTING THE PAIN AS A DIFFICULT PRIVILEGE THAT OPENS THE DOOR TO A RICHER AND MORE LASTING FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.....
FRIENDS GOD DESIRES HIS CHILDREN TO KNOW HIM IN A MUCH DEEPER WAY THEN WE DO... KNOWING GOD IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE – HAVING AREALTIONSHIP WITH THE CREATOR IS WHY WE ARE HERE, IT IS OUR PURPOSE.... FINDING HIM IS TO FIND A PRICELESS TREASURE...
Yes, one of the gifts of Christmas – is the gift of relationship – the gift of seeing HIM…
Have you seen Him lately….
For fifty-one years Bob Edens was blind. He couldn’t see a thing. His world was a black hall of sounds and smells. He felt his way through five decades of darkness.
And then he could see.
A skilled surgeon performed a complicated operation and for the first time, Bob Edens had sight. He found it overwhelming. “I never would have dreamed that yellow is so….yellow,: he exclaimed. “I don’t have the words. I am amazed by yellow. But red is my favorite color. I just can’t believe red.”
“I can see the shape of the moon – and I like nothing better than seeing a jet plane flying across the sky leaving a vapor trail. And of course sunrises and sunsets. And at night I look at the stars in the sky, and the flashing light. You could never know how wonderful everything is.”
He’s right. Those of us who have lived a lifetime with vision can’t know how wonderful it must be to given sight.
BUT Bob Edens isn’t the only one who has spent a lifetime near something without seeing it. FEW are the people who don’t suffer from some form of blindness. Amazing, isn’t it? We can live next to something for a lifetime, BUT unless we take time to focus on it, it doesn’t become a part of our life. UNLESS we somehow have our blindness lifted, our world is but a black cave.
THINK about it. Just because one has witnessed a thousand rainbows doesn’t mean he’s seen the grandeur of one. One can live near a garden and fail to focus on the splendor of the flower. A man can spend a lifetime with a woman and never pause to look into her soul.
And a person can be all that goodness calls him to be and still NEVER see the author of life.
Being honest or moral or even religious doesn’t necessarily mean we will see him. No. We may see what others see in him. Or we may hear what some say he said. BUT until we see him for ourselves, until our own sight is given, we may think we see him, having in reality seen only a hazy form in the gray semidarkness.
Have you seen him?
Have you caught a glimpse of His Majesty? A word is placed in a receptive crevice of your heart that causes you, ever so briefly, to see His face. You hear a verse read in a tone you’d never heard, or explained in a way you’d never thought and one more piece of the puzzle falls into place. Someone touches your painful spirit as only one sent from him could do... and there he is -–JESUS.
The man. The bronzed Galilean who spoke with such thunderous authority and loved with such childlike humility. The God. The one who claimed to be older than time and greater than death.
JESUS. Have you seen Him?
Those who first did were never the same. “My Lord and my God!” cried Thomas. “I have seen the Lord,” exclaimed Mary Magdalene. “We have seen his glory,” declared John. “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked?” rejoiced the two Emmaus-bound disciples. BUT Peter said it best. “We were eyewitnesses of His Majesty.”
His Majesty. The emperor of Judah. The soaring eagle of eternity. The noble admiral of the Kingdom. All the splendor of heaven revealed in a human body. For a period ever so brief, the doors to throne room were opened and God came near. His Majesty was seen. Heaven touched earth and as a result, earth can know heaven.
Has it been awhile since you’ve seen him? IF your prayers seem stale, it probably has. IF your faith seems to be trembling, perhaps your vision of Him has blurred. IF you can’t find power to face your problems, perhaps it’s time to face him.
ONE warning. Something happens to a person who has witnessed His Majesty. He becomes addicted. ONE glimpse of the King and you are consumed by a desire to see more of Him and say more about Him. Pew-warming is no longer an option. Junk religion will no longer suffice. Sensation seeking is needless. Once you have seen his face you will forever long to see it again.
YES One of the gifts of Christmas is the gift of relationship… it’s yours to unwrap…
LET me close with a little story… An old man is excited because it is Christmas and because his grandson is visiting, it had been years since he had seen him. Early one morning as the old man was on his deck sipping his morning Mt Dew, his little grandson came over and sits next to him…
They talked about all kinds of things (school, baseball, frogs..) and then the young boy turns and asks “granddad can you tell me about Christianity…” He was studying it at school, in a history class, unfortunately the child had never heard about it at home… You see, by this time at least in this part of the world Christianity was nothing more than a relic of the past…
AND the old man begins to tell him about Christ… he tells how when he was young many churches dotted the landscape. He tells the boy about how Jesus was God, and how he came to forgive our sins – AND he told him, about how people back then talked about having a relationship with God …
The old man tells his grandson – about how a relationship with Christ not only brings forgiveness of sins but how it transforms people’s lives.
He said, “people who had a relationship with Christ had a living hope inside them that nothing could put out – not even death… They had a joy – like you’ve never seen – it was almost a stubborn joy that did not bend no matter what happen… I been told that these people could loose their jobs, watch loved ones die and even battle disease and still they were joyful… They were somehow able to rejoice inspite of suffering… AND that had peace they say – that just transcends this world and passes understanding…
AND the way I heard it told these people never worried anything; about food, clothes, where they were going to live, they said they didn’t need to – claimed their Father in heaven knew what they needed…and promised to provide.
They say that this God sent His own Spirit to live inside them and that he gave them the power to overcome sin and beat temptation… And because of this Christ, they were able to be content whether they had a little or a lot, whether they were cold or naked – whether they were living in plenty or in want…
And anytime they wanted to, through something they called prayer they were able to walk right into the very throne of their God – and they say their God even wrote them a book – they called “the Bible” and in it were the very words of God on how to take hold of life that is really life… They always talked of a place called heaven – some mansion in the sky or something that this Jesus was preparing for them…A place with no tears, sorrow, pain, death or disease…
The little boy was on the edge of his seat and eyes were more opened now, then if he had drank a case of Mt Dew… “Granddad – tell me is it true – could this Jesus really do all that – could you really have a relationship with God…”
The old man’s face dropped, and look came to face that spoke of lost dreams and tears rolled from his eyes – “I don’t know son – I never did go and see for myself..”
