It was just a few days before Christmas, when two men decided to go sailing while their wives went Christmas shopping. While the men were sailing a storm came up-a mighty storm that tossed the boat back and forth across the water. Finally the tiny sailboat was forced upon the shore of a small island. The men jumped out of the boat tried to push it back into the water. Suddenly, they realized they were being fired upon by the island’s hostile natives. As they dodged poisonous darts, standing waist deep in freezing water in the middle of a storm, one said to the other, "I realize that today hasn’t exactly gone as planned, but this sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn’t it?!" I hope your Christmas experience doesn’t become as drastic as these two guys and that today you can find a few moments of relief from the rush of the Christmas season as we focus on the life of Jesus Christ, the true reason for the season.
Last week we began our Christmas trilogy with a message on Christ’s birth and the parallel with the film Lord of the Rings, where in the rings Aragon is the heir of Isidur who’s origins were from the distant past and how he had been appointed to lead his people and in the process experienced suffering. Then comparing his fabled life with that of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is not fabled but recorded through eyewitness accounts and through past prophetic words written down in Scripture as one who came from the distant past to save His people from condemnation and through His suffering, His death on a Cross and subsequent resurrection has indeed delivered His people from eternal destruction to eternal life.
Why use Lord of the Rings? Because it provides a bridge for many people to understanding the truth of Jesus Christ. If we are unwilling to invest in the interests of people, we will never have the opportunity to invite them to understand the truth of Christ. That is why we use contemporary themes to share the timeless truth of the Bible. That is what Jesus did and the disciples did and what we should also be doing, building a bridge to tomorrow through investing in the current conditions of today so we can bring others across with us. That is how we will build people and build dreams for the Kingdom of God.
In Lord of the Rings, Aragorn comes to the place of his kingship, the destiny he was born at age 87. Jesus assumes his role, his destiny at age 30 when His earthly ministry begins.
Time. Abraham Lincoln said “Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time” The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 4 …when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law.
You might want to underline the phrase, when the time arrived that was set by God the Father. Have you ever heard the phrase, “Timing is Everything.”
The timing Paul wrote of is the right time for the one destined to become king. Its found in Luke 2 4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
VIDEO CLIP – SILENT NIGHT
There is a message here, a message that goes beyond a baby in a manager, it is a message of hope, a message that says God had a plan for mankind which was fulfilled in the fullness of time, and if He had a message of hope for the world which was predestined before the foundations of the earth began, than He also has a destiny for me. And that destiny is not determined by age but by time.
In Zephaniah 3 we read how God is with us, how He is might to save us, how He delights in us, how He is going to remove the struggles of life that have been part of us. In verse 20 we then read these words, At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes," says the LORD.
At that time, you might want to underline that phrase a time that began before time, in the distant past when God saw man was in trouble. A time that came to fullness in a manager in Bethlehem when the destiny of man was gripped with the terror of Rome that culminated in the ultimate sacrifice, one life for many. A time such as now while God waits, patiently, for mankind to embrace the truth so He can begin the process of restoration. This is much deeper than just the establishment of a homeland for the nation of Israel, it is a destiny for all believers who have been beaten down in life, who have given up so much for the Kingdom and been laughed and scoffed by society. There is a time of restoration coming when God will restore the fortunes of His people before their eyes. It is a destiny we need to embrace this Christmas season and every day of our life.
From obscurity came the Christ child, in a manager, set inside a cave against the hillside of Bethlehem. It was as a child He grew up in Nazareth, the step son of a Jewish carpenter and people would say what good can come out of Nazareth. Little did they know from small beginning, what was to change the world.
And now, it is our time. This Christmas I want you to think of what you can do to change the world around you. The birth of a baby is a small thing compared to the growth and maturity the child will bring. Lets begin to vision small and allow God to grow our dreams tall. Consider…
Paul Garelli, a publisher in Thorndike, Maine. Before Christmas 1987, Garelli noticed his neighbor Chris Greene, preparing gifts for people even worse off than she was. At the time Chris was receiving state aid. Garelli looked around at his own comfortable circumstance and asked Greene whether he could help her. "I had four families I was helping," Greene recalls, "and Paul said, ‘If you can do four, we can do 40.’" That was the beginning of a unique, private Christmas project called People for People. Every year since then, between Thanksgiving and Christmas dozens of volunteers gather goods to help needy neighbors. Last Christmas, People for People delivered food baskets to 443 households and gave gifts of toys and warm clothing to 753 children throughout Waldo County. The volunteers who make People for People happen range from farmers and single mothers to retirees and doctors. "A lot of our helpers are low-income people themselves who feel they should be doing something for others," says Chris Greene. Though Waldo County per-capita income is one of the lowest in the state, People for People raises more than $20,000. The organization finds needy families and individuals through a network of contacts developed over the years. "To make things happen, you just have to believe." I wonder, are there four families we can help?
Consider Brother Bill, 63. He is a difficult man to overlook with his 5-ft. 11-in., 220-lb. frame clad in a trademark flowing, sky-blue cassock made from hundreds of tattered denim patches. That robe has become an understood symbol of peace and humility in this place with precious little of either. Fifty-three times, by his count, he has waded into gunfire in order to stop it; 53 times, the gunfire has stopped; and 53 times, he has emerged unscathed. He talks trigger-itching assailants into putting away their guns and going home to their families. He sits beside wounded gangsters who hope to die and persuades them to live. And he insists that there is nothing special about him or his accomplishments. "I’m an ordinary man on an extraordinary mission," he says. He doesn’t preach, he loves. "I think he’s an angel," says a 22-year-old Vice Lord. "I really think God sent him here.
Brennan Manning asked, “What is the depth and quality of your faith-commitment? Is it a half-hearted intellectual assent to a dusty pawnshop of doctrinal beliefs? In the last analysis, faith is not a way of speaking or even thinking; it is a way of living. Maurice Blondel said, “If you want to know what a person really believes, don’t listen to what he says but watch what he does.” Christmas is a time to demonstrate our faith in the One, Jesus who was and is destined to be King.
I am struck by the question of existence, the call of destiny, the fulfillment of visions and dreams, the fullness of time and the heart of living out the call of God in my life and in the corporate life of our community. I become part of the contemplative who await the fullness of time in my life but don’t want that time to pass me by. I ask the question, “Lord, what can I accomplish with the time I have been given?”
What about you. Are you like Dennis the Menace who was with his friend Joey looking into the department store window at Christmas time and said, “Last month was our giving thanks holiday, an’ Christmas is God’s way of saying ’You’re welcome.’" Or are you contemplative and asking what can I do to further the Kingdom of God and proclaim the truth of His Son Jesus.
If you represent the latter, the contemplative, the ones who are seeking something greater than yourself, I want to pray for you. To pray that God will hear the cry of your heart and open the doorway for you to fulfill what He has spoken to you and that this Christmas will be the start of new beginnings as you endeavor to step into your destiny.
This is our time of destiny, to proclaim the name of King Jesus, to change the lives of people around us, and become world influencers.
Are you ready?
Prayer—close
