(Overhead 1) Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby are right, “Kids do say the darnest things.” We never know what they are going to say and sometimes they say the most insightful, amazing, and even somewhat shocking things, especially this time of year when it comes to Jesus and the manger.
In his book, Early Morning Book, John Timpson tells the story of a small boy who was bitterly disappointed at not being cast as Joseph in the school Nativity play. He was given the minor role of the innkeeper instead, and throughout the weeks of rehearsal he brooded on how he could avenge himself on his successful rival.
Came the day of the performance. Joseph and Mary made their entrance and knocked on the door of the inn. The innkeeper opened it a fraction and eyed them coldly. “Can you give us board and lodging for the night?” pleaded Joseph, who then stood back awaiting the expected rebuff.
But the innkeeper had not pondered all those weeks for nothing. He flung the door wide open, beamed genially and cried, “Come in, come in. You shall have the best room in the hotel.”
There was a pause, then with great presence of mind, the youthful Joseph said to Mary, “Hold on. I’ll take a look inside first.” He peered past the innkeeper, shook his head firmly and then announced, “I’m not taking my wife into a place like that. Come on, Mary, we’ll sleep in the stable.
Kids do give us many gifts – the gift of insight, the gift of laughter, the gift of love, the gift of imagination, and sometimes, the gift of self-reflection, that perhaps was given to those who viewed that particular school play.
This Sunday and next we are going to look at several important gifts kids give us, not just this time of year, but every day through our lives and not just our own kids, or our relative’s children, but all kinds of kids including, most importantly, God’s kid, Jesus Christ . Gifts that are more important than presents that are good one day and then too small or all used up the next.
We will be spending time in the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel visiting with some people who were a part of the baby Jesus’ birth. I would encourage you to read through those two chapters this next week.
Luke opens his gospel account with the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth; two people whose childless existence parallels that of Abraham and Sarah of the Old Testament. Both Zechariah and Elizabeth had roots in the priestly tradition of ancient Israel. They were, as indicated in verse 6 a couple that were deeply devoted to God and served Him deeply and passionately. But they had no children and as we see in verse 25, would have that disgrace and deep disappointment taken away with the birth of their son, John the Baptist.
With the news that Elizabeth would become pregnant, Zechariah, and Elizabeth as well, were given the gift of new priorities that were God’s priorities. (Overhead 2)
Kids change our priorities. (I’m not just talking to parents this morning. If we all were to stop and think about it, all of us can recall a time when a child has made us stop and at least reconsider, our priorities.) We may have a certain destination in mind on a particular day or a certain task to be accomplished but with the whisk of the hand or the flick of a switch either our children or another child changes all of that. Right?
Zechariah and Elizabeth had waited and waited for years to have children and just when it looked like they would never have any, Gabriel comes to Zechariah as he is serving the Lord in the temple and announces to him that he would indeed become a father. Life would forever change for this saintly couple. Instead of silence there would be the cry of a son, and not just any son, one who was sent by God to prepare the way for His son!
So the priority changes in their lives would revolve around the priorities that God had in place as we read in verses 14-17:
You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice with you at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or hard liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will persuade many Israelites to turn to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah, the prophet of old. He will precede the coming of the Lord, preparing the people for his arrival. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will change disobedient minds to accept godly wisdom.”
Listen again to the things that cause a change in priorities for Zechariah and Elizabeth:
He will be great in the eyes of the Lord.
Now all of our children are important to the Lord. He values each and every one of them. None of them, and none of us are insignificant in God’s eyes. God wants our children to follow and serve Him. But in this particular case this particular child, John, would be a part of God’s plan to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus Christ. And it would require his parents to have a different set of priorities as they raised him because not just his birth alone but who he was and who he was to become would require a change in priorities.
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.
We see this in verses 39 through 45 when Mary visits Elizabeth and John, at the sound of Mary’s voice, does summersaults inside his mom. The Holy Spirit is very much present in both Elizabeth and in Mary.
He will persuade many Israelites to turn to the Lord
He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah
He will precede the coming of the Lord, preparing the people for his arrival.
He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children
He will change disobedient minds to accept godly wisdom.
We become aware of John’s ministry in Luke 3 as well as Matthew 3, Mark 1 and John 1. His words are blunt and powerful and call people to repentance and obedience and he is the one who baptizes Jesus prior to the start of His ministry. He becomes a no holds barred preacher, an irritation to community leadership, and somewhat of a media sensation.
The change in priorities for John’s parents will require them to parent John as God’s not their own. Though they will be his biological parents and he their biological son; and though the will love him dearly and deeply, and he them as well, the place and purpose that God has for John will require Zechariah and Elizabeth to have different priorities because God has an important mission and place for their son. Their lives are forever changed by John’s conception and arrival. Kids have changed people’s lives throughout human history and will continue to do so until the end of time as we know it.
Kids and Christmas go together. Our thinking and our buying habits are shaped perhaps more than we realize by kids. But, how has the gift of changing priorities shaped your life through the other 11 months of the year?
(Overhead 3) Another gift that kids give us is the gift of purpose. When we have kids, our lives are no longer our own. Our calendars are no longer our own either. Nor are our televisions, car radios, DVD players, VCR’s, or CD players! Kids change the purpose of our lives.
It was true for Mary - a younger woman, a virgin, engaged to be married to a descendant of King David, Joseph. In Luke 1:26 and following we read of a visit by the angel Gabriel who tells her that she will become pregnant in an unusual way and that the baby she will deliver is God’s son who shall be called Jesus.
Christin Ditchfield, in a recent issue of Focus on The Family magazine, writes that basically Mary took the news in stride. “[She] didn’t demand a sign,” notes Ditchfield, “some sort of proof or additional confirmation. She voiced no complaint at the total disruption of her life. She knew now that things would not turn out the way she had planned at all.” She concludes, “But in her heart there was no resistance, no rebellion. Just a sweet, simple submission-surrender to the will of God.”
When Gabriel stood before Mary and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” the gift of purpose was given to her in both the announcement and the birth of the Christ child. She would no longer be living to just be living; she would be living for a larger purpose than what she or Joseph had in mind.
C. Richard Stone has written, “It isn’t so much how busy your are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised; the mosquito is swatted.” We are busy this time of year - the social gatherings, the school events, the shopping, the office/work parties, and the church activities in addition to all of our regular routines. Why? What is the purpose of it all?
Kids have a great way of bringing us back to the reason we celebrate Christmas as seven year old Johnny pointed out to his father as they assembled the life sized nativity scene on the lawn. “Daddy guess what’s missing?” “What?” the father answered as he set up Joseph. With a frown, Johnny said, “The baby Jesus. If we can’t find Jesus, there’s no need for us to put up the manager scene at all.”
Without Jesus, Christmas has no purpose at all. It is a child, the Christ child, who brings meaning and purpose to this holiday. It is all about Him and not us.
Parents well remember the moments when their first child is born. It is a spiritual experience. When they lay eyes on that newborn infant a realization occurs that they have created a new life that now they are responsible for.
They look at their home or apartment or trailer and see it in a different light than before. Before they placed cleaning chemicals down low for the sake of convenience, now they realize that they have to move those chemicals to a higher place. Before kids, electrical outlets were sources of power that were easily accessed; now they must be covered up and uncovered only when necessary.
When children come into our lives the gifts of priorities and purpose are the gifts they give us. And sometimes these gifts cause us inconvenience or frustration. But these gifts also are gifts from God.
Never in my life did I feel as overwhelmed and challenged and truly human (except for the day I was saved) as I did the day that my first son was born. But, I would not give him or his brother back for anything in the world. The gifts of priorities and purpose that both Jonathon and Daniel have given to me are ones that God Himself gave to me. I am glad to be a dad. I am not a perfect dad (and I will be the first to admit that) because sometimes these two gifts that have been given to me create a battle with my priorities and my purposes.
But God gave them to me, and to all us, when the baby Jesus was born and placed in the manager. For the message that Jesus would give to us (and is recorded in the Bible) is the a message that requires the acceptance of a gift in which our priorities (like Zechariah and Elizabeth) and purposes (like Mary) are challenged to be changed into those which God has wanted us to have from the very start of human existence. (Overhead 4)
Why? Because the message of Christmas goes to the heart of our priorities and purposes. The Christmas message is about the change in our priorities and purposes that the baby in the manger came to bring about. Changes that took place in the lives of those we have visited with this morning.
Have you received that gift? For the greatest gift that can be given is the gift of a changed heart and a changed life and that is a gift that each of us must individually decide to give only as we allow the child in the manger into our lives to change us from the inside out with new priorities and new purposes in place.
If you have never invited Christ into your life and confessed your sins, I invite you to do so this morning. It requires us to admit our need of a change in our hearts and lives that only God can make happen as we confess our faults, failures, and brokenness to God and ask Him to forgive us of those things.
It’s easy to do. In fact, I would ask that all of us close our eyes right now and if you have never prayed a prayer of confession to God, I am going to lead us in one right now and invite you pray this prayer so that you can receive the gift of a new and better life because of what Jesus Christ came to do and which started at a manger in Bethlehem. Let’s pray:
God, I need to make a change. My life is not what it should be. I need to make a change this Christmas season and I ask for your forgiveness of and release from my faults and failures that have kept me from experiencing the life that you are offering me.
I accept your forgiveness and the new priorities and purposes that you have for me. Thank you for your forgiveness and new life that you have given to me. Help me to start living for you right now and give me the courage to tell some this day about this decision. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
If you prayed that prayer for the first time, I would like to meet with you down front following the benediction so that I can celebrate with you and help you get started in the new direction that you have made this morning. Amen.
(Overheads available by e-mail me at pastorjim46755@yahoo.com and asking for 121403 overheads)
