The First Christmas
Luke 2: 1-14
Luke 2
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
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:)
5 To be taxed 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.
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And 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, good will toward men.
Let’s go to the Lord in Prayer!
As I was looking on the internet for sermon ideas and illustrations last night I noticed that over the last several years the sermons have became more and more concerned with the commercialism of Christmas. I think this is one of the things that prompted some body to coin a phrase that we have all become familiar with today.
This phrase is “Remember Jesus is the Reason for the Season!”
We as a nation, and as a world have increasingly tried to cut religion completely out of CHRISTmas. It makes me think of a cartoon I saw.
It showed two homes decorated for Christmas. One had lights everywhere. There was a plastic snowman in the yard, a Santa on the roof, and a flashing sign in the front yard that said, “Merry Xmas!” It would have made Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, from Home Improvement, proud. The other home had only a simple manger scene in the yard. The couple from the first house was looking out their window at the manger scene in their neighbor’s yard and said: “Some people have to put religion into everything.”
Rodney Buchanan of the Mulberry St. United Methodist Church in Mt. Vernon Ohio wrote the following in his sermon “Christmas Through The Eyes of The World” wrote “In a culture which is increasingly secularized, there are many people who have no clue about what it all means. A friend of mine gave a Bible to someone who was going through a difficult time. The person was in real need, and their life had been one disaster after the other, but in all that time there was never any concrete attempt to give their life to God and follow him. As my friend gave a Bible to this person, and encouraged him to read it, he suggested that he might start by reading the Christmas story, since it was that time of year. The man looked at him with real surprise and said: “You mean the Christmas story is in the Bible?” For those of us who know what the Christmas story is and have read and heard the Christmas story many times from Scripture, it seems incredible that someone would not know something that basic. But there is a growing ignorance of spiritual things in our land as we attempt to separate our lives from the any contact with, or reference to, God.”
We find many people who do not know the story of the first Christmas.
We find that things have changed over the years. When I was in school all of us called the time we got off from school in December “Christmas Holidays” and it was on the school calendars that way. But today most if not all schools put it on their calendars as “Winter Holidays” as they don’t want to be associating anything with religion. I find it strange that here in America, a country that was founded on the words “IN GOD WE TRUST”, we find ourselves being pushed away from religion more and more everyday.
We used to swear in all witnesses in our courts by placing their right hand on the bible and having them state “ I swear the testimony I am about to give is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help me God!” Or some similar words.
Yet today we swear them in by simply raising their hand and swearing they are telling the truth and there is a joke that has been going around that say’s O J Simpson proved that we have the best courts money can buy.
So where does that leave us as a nation today. If we no longer want GOD in our class rooms, our court houses, our legislatures, and our public buildings. Then what do we expect our country to become. Do we expect that instead of saying “one nation under GOD’ in our pledge of allegiance we will be saying one nation with out a GOD! And that may be closer than you think.
But what does all this have to do with the first Christmas. Look at John 1: 9-11
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
He came into the world and the world knew him not. And do you know even today nothing has changed because the world knows him not. Oh yes just like then there are a few who do know him and who believe what the scriptures say about him but sadly enough most of the world doesn’t know him.
The following story really brings home this point and is one of the illustrations found on Sermon Central.
“A television interviewer was walking the streets of Tokyo at Christmas time. Much as in America, Christmas shopping is a big commercial success in Japan. The interviewer stopped one young woman on the sidewalk, and asked, "What is the meaning of Christmas?"
Laughing, she responded, "I don’t know. Is that the day that Jesus died?"
There was some truth in her answer.”
There are many religions out there in the world that have absolutely nothing to do with Christianity but all the merchants of the world want you to celebrate Christmas. They just don’t want it to have anything to do with Christ. What the merchants of the world want is to make this a Christmas that you will remember for a long time. So go ahead and charge everything! They don’t care about your soul or about the fact that two thousand years ago a savior was born. All they care is that it is just another day to get you to celebrate and spend your money giving gifts to others.
And look at all the things that they give you to spend your money on.
Christmas Cards: and most of them don’t say a thing about Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas. And even in the cards they try to get you to remember Christmases past. They mention going to Grandmas or how beautiful the past Christmases were with lights and glitter in order to get you to buy more and more trying to recapture that special Christmas of the past.
Gifts: they bombard the airways on radio and T V trying to get you to buy what they have. And if that isn’t enough they advertise on all the kid shows and get the kids to tell you that they want more and more. And even the movies the bring out about that time of year shows people celebrating Christmas with lots and lots of gifts and having dinner with family and friends so you go out and spend money for big meals that half of it is wasted.
Parties: they show people having parties all over the world to celebrate Christmas and all of them are drinking and having a good time. They are having lots of fun and they leave you with the ideal that if you aren’t going to lots of parties, or hosting them that you aren’t really celebrating Christmas.
And it goes on and on and on! Anything to get you to spend money and none of what they do really concerns the true meaning of Christmas.
I think that Mark Lowry really hit on the true meaning of Christmas with his song “Mary Did You Know”. On the official Mark Lowry web site it says the following about how that song came into being. And I quote:
“In 1984, Mark wrote the lyric to a song that would change his status as a songwriter forever. His church asked him to write a Christmas play, so he wrote a series of questions that he would like to ask Jesus’ mother, Mary. These questions were used as a ’filler’ between the scenes of the play. Six years later, after two other writers had already tried, Buddy Greene wrote music to Mark’s lyric, and a song was born... Mary, Did You Know? This beautiful song, which has become a modern Christmas standard, has been recorded by over thirty different artists including Michael English, Kathy Mattea, Kenny Rogers, Wynonna Judd, Billy Dean, Natalie Cole, Donnie Osmond, and, of course, Mark Lowry.” End quote
The series of questions that Mark wrote are a way of asking Mary if she knew certain things. Some of the questions are very thought provoking for each of us as to what role we should play in the story of the first Christmas. It makes us look at what we believe God did on that great occasion and on how much did Mary really understand at that time.
Some of the questions asked in the form of lyrics are, and I quote, “Mary did you know when you kiss your little baby you kiss the face of GOD ?
That your baby boy is Lord of all Creation? That your baby boy is Heavens perfect lamb? This sleeping child you’re holding is the great I AM?
And when you ask that question of Mary ask yourself could you see all that? Could you see in Christmas the birth of a savior that had built the world and the whole universe? Could you see in his birth the great sacrifice he made for you. As I have said before you cannot really separate the birth of Christ from the life of Christ or From the death of Christ, because without one you can’t have the other. Without the birth and life of Christ you could not have the Death on the cross. Without the death on the Cross the birth and life have no meaning. If Jesus didn’t die on the cross for us then there is no salvation no matter what kind of life he lived.
And think about this the little hand that held Mary’s finger is the same hand that would have a nail driven through it by a Roman soldier.
I remember when our son was born and he was our first child. Donna and I counted his fingers and toes and checked him over to be sure that everything was complete. I wonder if Mary as she looked at her first born, did she realize his feet would walk the paths they did or that his hands would heal so many and that he would eventually give his life for the lives of the whole world. I can understand where Mark got the inspiration for his lyrics and I can see this little child in a manger, putting himself in someone else’s hands.
The true meaning of Christmas is simply this.
God stripped off all his clothes and finery and made himself helpless and naked. In that condition he placed himself in the body and finally in the hands of a sixteen year old girl to look after him and take care of him. Because God could not be Immanuel or God is with us without becoming flesh and blood. So GOD became a helpless little baby that he could be faced with every trial, temptation, and feeling that we have and thereby overcome sin in the flesh that we might be granted the honor of becoming a child of GOD. The true meaning of Christmas is found in one verse of the book of John. It shows us without a doubt what GOD wanted for us. Listen as I read it. 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.
GOD loved us so much that he became flesh and lived among us just so he could save us that is the true meaning of Christmas! Join me in Prayer!
