OPEN: Preparing for large Christmas Eve family gathering, a mother had been giving out orders like a drill sergeant: "Pick up your things! Don’t get your clothes dirty! Put away those toys."
Well, her 4-year-old daughter had been underfoot all day, so she sent her to the next room to play with their wooden Nativity set.
As the mother scurried around setting the table she overheard her daughter talking to her toys in the same tone of voice the mother had used: "I don’t care who you are, get those camels out of my living room!"
APPLY: For years, many have attempted to get more than camels out of the living room. Over the years, there has been repeated and concerted efforts to get Christ out of Christmas.
Everything from removing Christmas carols from the public schools, to banning nativity scenes on the public property, to taking the name of Jesus out of any connection with Christmas in public life. It has been a persistent and unrelenting push to remove any influence God may have on this holiday.
ILLUS: Back in 1991, Dave Barry commented on the effect this phenomena has had in Florida:
“To avoid offending anybody, my son’s school has dropped religion altogether and started singing about the weather. They now hold the winter program in February and sing increasingly non memorable songs such as ‘Winter Wonderland,’ ‘Frosty the Snowman’ and--this is a real song – ‘Suzy Snowflake.’ All of which is pretty funny because we live in Miami. A visitor from another planet would assume that the children belonged to the Church of Meteorology.”
The effort to remove Christ from Christmas has been so successful that, according to a survey conducted a few years ago by the Barna Research Group (of a sampling that had 88% identifying themselves as “Christians) they found that:
· 37% of adults in the national survey said the birth of Jesus is the most important aspect of Christmas.
· More than 75% of evangelical Christians placed Jesus’ birth as of first importance on Christmas.
· Only 32% of those who identified themselves as fundamentalists gave that answer.
· Only 29% of Catholics placed Jesus’ birth first.
· Only 24% of theological liberals said the birth of Christ made Christmas important for them.
I. Now, I’m not really sure that should concern us that much – after all Christmas really isn’t a Bible based holiday.
There’s no place in Scripture that tells us that the early church even celebrated the birth of Christ
They celebrated His death on the cross (communion) and His resurrection from the dead (worshipping on the 1st day of week). They did that every Sunday.
BUT, for over a 1000 yrs the church has celebrated the BIRTH of Christ in December. I see no reason to give up on using such a powerful tool to teach people about Christ. After all, it is in the story of the baby in the manger we hear about the greatest gift man has ever received, presented in the humble wrappings of “swaddling clothes”
Given that God has given us such a wonderful and loving gift - how can we make other people know more about this gift that Christmas represents for us?
II. The first thing we need to realize is that people have trouble understanding what God has given them.
REREAD John 3:3-12
You can almost sense Jesus’ frustration with Nicodemus: “you’re a teacher and you can’t understand this?” Nicodemus was one of the most educated men in his society and yet he had trouble understanding what Jesus was trying to teach him.
But it’s hard to blame him… even Christians have trouble understanding all this
ILLUS: A preacher had once to illustrate the free nature of God’s gift of salvation. They stood in the pulpit one morning held up a poinsettia plant and said: “Whoever wants this beautiful Christmas poinsettia may have it. All you have to do is take it.”
They stared at me. I waited. And waited.
Finally a mother timidly raised her hand and said, “I’ll take it.”
“Great!” said the preacher, “It’s yours.”
But to my astonishment, she nudged her son, “Go get it for me.”
“No,” I said. “Whoever wants this gift must come and get it personally. You can’t send a substitute.”
She shook her head, not willing to risk embarrassment. I waited again. It was a gorgeous flower, unusually large, wrapped in red cellophane with a gold satin ribbon. It was set in front of the pulpit to brighten our small sanctuary during the holiday season. Several people had commented on how beautiful the plant was. Now it was free for the taking.
Someone snickered, “What’s the catch?”
“No catch,” I replied. “It’s free.” No one moved.
A college student asked, “Is it glued to the altar?” Everyone laughed.
“It is not glued to the altar. Nor are there any strings attached. It’s yours for the taking.”
“Well,” asked a pretty teenager, “can I take after the service?”
I shook my head. “You must come and get it now.”
(I was beginning to wish I’d never started the whole thing, when a woman I’d never seen before stood up in the back.) Quickly, as if she were afraid she’d change her mind, she strode to the altar and picked up the plant. “I’ll take it,” she said.
As she returned to her seat carrying the free gift, I launched with enthusiasm into my text, Romans 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “The gift of God is eternal life! It’s free”.
When the service had ended and most of the people had gone home, the woman who claimed the poinsettia came to the platform, where I was picking up my Bible to leave.
“Here!” she held out her hand. “This flower is too pretty to just take home for free. I couldn’t do that with a clear conscience.”
I looked down at the crumpled paper she stuffed into my hand. It was a ten dollar bill.
Now, what does that illustration tell us? It tells us that people have trouble believing anybody, least of all God, would give them something for nothing. It’s a Gift. It’s free! And they have trouble understanding heavenly things, because they have trouble grasping earthly things (like poinsettias)
III. People around us have trouble understanding that salvation is a free gift
They want to “earn” their salvation. They want to clean themselves up before they come to God. OR they believe they don’t have to come to God on His terms, because they have already done enough to make themselves feel comfortable that “yes they will make it into heaven.”
They’ve pressed a ten dollar bill into God’s hands and said: see you in heaven.
Jesus said: “you can’t do it that way. In John 1:11-13 we’re told:
"(Jesus) came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
What does that mean? It means…
1.… you can’t become a Christian by being born one (of blood)
2.… you can’t become a Christian because you’ve decided you’re good enough (will of the flesh)
3.… you can’t become a Christian because somebody else decided for you (will of man)
It has to be your choice to accept God’s gift. AND you have to accept that gift on God’s terms – not your own. You can’t BUY this gift of salvation, you can’t earn it, you can’t collect brownie points or green stamps. You have to accept God’s gift in God’s way. What is that way?
BELIEVE John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
REPENT Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
CONFESS JESUS AS YOUR LORD & MASTER Romans 10:9 “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
BE BAPTIZED Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
None of that “buys” your salvation. BUT, it is the response that God requests of you to accept His free gift.
IV. SO, realize that people have trouble understanding that God would give them a gift
They have trouble understanding God’s idea of what salvation is all about. So that’s why YOU need to realize how important this gift is. That’s why YOU need to grasp how critical and vital salvation is for people you know & love. If YOU are not compelled to tell others about this Jesus we celebrate on Christmas then you will have a hard time convincing others who struggle to understand what God wants to tell them.
YOU MUST BE driven to overcome their lack of knowledge of God. YOU must be convinced that their very lives may hang in the balance. And YOU must be convinced that God believes that this gift was worth the sacrifice He made to give us salvation.
You see:
God gave… God sacrificed… His only begotten son so that we might have salvation.
It was NOT a trivial gift. It wasn’t a nice gesture
It was a sacrifice of love for you and me
CLOSE: One person wrote a poem of how they have reminded themselves of this fact:
1. “For God so loved the world, that He gave...” Jesus
It’s Christmas time at our house and we’re putting up the tree.
I wish I could find Some simple way to remember God’s gift to me.
Some little sign or Symbol- to show friends stopping by the little babe was born one day - but He really came to die.
Some symbol of His nail pierced hands the blood He shed for you and me -
What if I hung a simple nail on my shinning Christmas tree?
A crimson bow tied ‘round the nail as His blood flowed down so free
to save each person from their sin and redeem us for eternity.
I know it was His love for us that held Him to the tree
but when I see this simple nail I’ll know He died for me.
2. Remember Why He Came
It may seem strange at Christmas time to think of nails and wood,
But both were used in Jesus’ life to bring us something good.
From manger bed, to crown of thorns to death on Calvary,
God used the wood and nails of men to set all people free.
So celebrate God’s greatest gift, give thanks in Jesus name.
The wood, the nail, the blood red cord-
3. This is the Christmas Nail. (I had prepared 150 masonary nails with crimson ribbons to be passed out that morning, cost about $20)
It is to be hung on a sturdy branch, a branch near the trunk, a branch
that will hold such a spike without being noticed by well-wishers
dropping by to admire one’s tinseled tree.
The nail is known only to the home that hangs it.
Understood only by the hearts that knows its significance..
It is hung with the thought,
The Christmas tree but foreshadows the Christ-tree
which only He could decorate for us, ornamented with nails as this.
SERMONS IN THIS "CHRISTMAS GIFTS" SERIES
* The Gift of Fellowship
Leviticus 3:1-3:5
* What Do You Get For the God Who Has Everything
Leviticus 2:1-2:16
* God’s Christmas Gift
John 3:1-3:18
