Not X-mas, But CHRISTmas
Luke 2:1-16
Intro:
Lindsay had a father that was a distant and severe man. For whatever reason his father worked him especially hard during the holiday months. Lindsay was given extra chores at the family ranch and was whipped if he did not work hard enough. Lindsay lived in fear of these beatings, which would often draw blood. Even worse than the beatings were the verbal insults the names and the put-downs. Theses memories stayed with the boy all of his life, mostly during the time of December. One friend said “Lindsay was never able to find true happiness. He became a hard drinking hell raiser who went from woman to woman and couldn’t find peace or success.” At the age of 51 he sat angrily watching Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas.” Lindsay took a gun put it to his head and committed suicide. He once said “I hated Christmas because of pop, and always will.”
Ironically Lindsay was Lindsay Crosby- Bing Crosby’s own son.1.
This story shows what really happens when we take the true meaning out of Christmas. If only Lindsay would have really understood the saying “Jesus is the reason for the season.” It is not about X- mas, but CHRISTmas.
People all over the world are going to celebrate Christmas this week with expectation of gifts and being with family. But many people are going to gather without any excitement at all. The main reasons why, The wrong meaning. Christmas is not about the dinners, the festivities, the gifts, Christmas is about Christ.
If you do not have the “Christmas Spirit” then there must be a reason why. In this message I am going to ask a couple of questions for you to honestly answer. In answering these questions you may find why Christmas for your life is more about Xmas than CHRISTmas
1. Do you have Room For Christ? (Luke 2:1-8)
A. No room in the Inn.
2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, Ceaser being the first roman emperor that all the world should be taxed. (Registered)
2 (And this census was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) The Roman census was taken to help with tax collection. Jews were not required to serve in the Roman army, but were required to pay taxes to the Romans
3 And all went to be registered, every one into his own city. A person was not registered in their present place of dwelling, but in the City in which was their ancestral home. This is going to be very important, as you will see.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) The prophet Micah prophesied in Micah 5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Micah prophesied Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, but Mary and Joseph lived in Galilee. This census can be seen as God’s great plan in work as this census is what brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.
5 To be registered with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Just as there was no room in the inn for the savior we have to ask our self do we have room in our inn for Jesus?
B. Is there room in your Inn (heart)?
Jesus said in Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:
Matt 15:18 “This people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
You can never really understand why we celebrate the Birth of a Savior until you receive the Savior. Your mind can comprehend the story, you can celebrate the story, but you can never really understand what it is all about until you allow Jesus Christ to have room in your heart.
Isaiah said “his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 7:6) The wonder of it all, the worlds greatest counselor, the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God, the aspect of eternity with a never changing God, the peace of God that passeth all understanding, can never be understood, until the baby born in a manger becomes Lord of your life, and Lord of you life he wants to be. John 3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
C. Is there room in your Inn (Life)?
Some people want the blessings that come with being a Christian, but they don’t want the commitment.
Ill. When the Charlotte Hornets (now the New Orleans Hornets) came to town, the news talked about the New “Buzz” in town. everyone was excited, from the NBA fan to the merchants. For around six years Charlotte won the Attendance record banner, soon after because of things that happened with players and in management, talks of a new arena; when the other was not even ten years old, fans began to get disgusted and quit going to the games, The team packed up and moved to another city. The fact of the matter is the Hornets at one time had a part in peoples lives, Soon no one had the Hornets as part of there lives, and the Hornets left because the commitment of the fans had left.
Jesus said Luke 9:23 “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Many people want the blessing of being a Christian, but not many want the commitment that Christ requires from us. We say “Lord here am I” for the blessings, but we run and hide when he asks for the commitment.
The Poem say’s
More like Jesus would I be,
Let my Savior dwell in me,
Fill my soul with peace and love,
make me gentle as a dove,
More like Jesus while I go,
Piligram in this world below,
Poor in spirit would I be,
Let my savior dwell in me,
More Like Jesus when I pray,
More like Jesus day by day,
May I rest me by his side,
Where the tranquil waters glide.
The Innkeeper had no room for the Savior, is there room in your heart, and life.
2. Have you heard and received the message? (Luke 2:8-15)
A. The Good News Proclaimed
8Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, The job of a Shepherd was a job that was very low in prominence in the eyes of the Jews. The Shepherds were the first the Hear the “Good News” what this say’s to us is it does not matter what your economical structure is, It does not matter what ethnic group you are part of, it does not matter what sins you have committed, Christ was born to be the savior of all man kind, Jesus said in John 10:9 “I am the door, if anyone enters by me, he will be saved.”
The shepherds were keeping watch over their flock by night. They were keeping watch so thieves or animals would not come and take the sheep 9And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11“For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12“And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”#
The word Gospel means “Good News” as the angels brought the message to the Shepherds so have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, brought us the Message of the Good News
What is the Message?
1. The message of Salvation
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. #
All of us are faced with receiving the message just the Shepherds were. The Shepherds had a decision to make, the could stay and protect their sheep or the could leave and meet their Savior. If the shepherds would have stayed in the fields they would have never meet the savior.
We to if not willing to repent, if not willing to leave the world of sin, will never meet the savior.
In the story we find that Shepherds did leave their flock and went to meet the savior V. 20 tells us “Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.# Salvation will too bring “joy unspeakable and full of glory” to you life.
2. Message of sanctification
1 Thess 4:3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: #
1 Thess 4:7 “For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.#
The Christian journey begins at salvation and ends in glorification, but in the middle is Sanctification. The Word Sanctification means to be “set apart“, it is a point in our life when we allow God not only fifty percent of our heart and life, but we tell God to “Take my life and let it be CONSECRATED Lord to thee.”
Sanctification is not just a one trip experience, Paul told the church in Ephesus in Ephesians 5:18 “do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,# The Thomas Nelson Study Bible say’s of this verse “The Tense of the Greek word filled indicates that filling is a moment-by-moment repeatable action.”2.
We are to live our lives seeking the continual filling of the Holy Spirit, not living off of past experiences or emotions.
3. Message of a soon coming King
John 14 “1“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.#
Some people don’t like prophesy, people say they have heard for years and years that Christ would return. The Old Testament told of a Savior from the first prophesy of Christ in Genesis 3:15 through the books of Daniel and Ezekiel, through the major and minor prophets everyone heard and waited on a savoir and some 1000 years later comes the message" I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11“For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Today we wait on the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, some day God will tell his son to go get his children, and every knee will bow and ever tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all.
Jesus mentions the word sign or signs twenty times in the Gospels and only a couple of times does he deal with his return.
One of the most recognizable times Jesus mention signs is in Matt 16:2-4 ““When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3“and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4“A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” #
Some people relate this to not looking for signs of Jesus return, but if you read the verses in context you find the Scribes and Pharisees wanted a sign from heaven for him to prove he was the Son of God.
When seeing what Jesus say’s about his coming let us turn to Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
25“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26“men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. 27“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28“NOW WHEN THESE THINGS BEGIN TO HAPPEN, LOOK UP AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, BECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWS NEAR.”#
34“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35“For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.#
Conclusion:
This Christmas Season are you celebrating, because you have recieved the Savior and waiting on his return, or are you celebrating just going through the motions.
Do you have room in your heart and life?
Have you received the message of Salvation and sanctification?
Can you rest with assurance that when Christ comes the next time not in a manger, but in Clouds of glory that you can look up with joy because your redemption draweth nigh?
All scripture taken from the NKJV unless otherwise noted
1. Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes (2000, Thomas Nelson Publishing))
