Getting Past the Glitter
#2 - Speaking Differently about Christmas
Romans 12:2, Luke 2:8-14
December 5, 2004
Introduction
Have you noticed how hard it is to find anybody willing to say "Merry Christmas" anymore, especially people in public places like government offices and retail stores?
I have. It’s almost like people are afraid to say it because they’re afraid the politically correct crowd will get upset.
And it’s happening more and more, especially in city, state, and federal government agencies.
But as bad as that is, what gets my goat all the more is people who smile and talk about Jesus, but it’s just the cutesy baby Jesus talk.
They acknowledge Jesus and the fact that Christmas celebrates His birthday, and they may even attend a Christmas Eve service or something. In fact, they may even get some pretty "religious" cards to send out.
Or maybe even they say something cute like, "Jesus is the reason for the season."
You know the people I’m talking about.
Listen. I’m all for talking about Jesus, but I don’t think Jesus is honored by either ignoring the significance of His birth in your speech, or by quaint religious platitudes and bumper-sticker sayings about Christmas.
A couple weeks ago, I received an advertisement for Teen Mania’s Acquire the Fire convention, and I just love it.
It’s going to be hard to see in the back, and I wish we had our projection system up so you could see this.
I’m going to contact Teen Mania and ask if we could use this in a newspaper ad for the church sometime.
It shows a bobblehead Jesus figure, and above it, it says "Don’t you just hate plastic Christianity?" And beneath it, it says, "So do we."
Don’t you just love that? I do! And it’s true - we should hate plastic Christianity, and I can guarantee you that Jesus hates it. And not just at Christmas, but all year ’round.
So how can we go about not being so plastic about it?
Well, the first step is to get serious about spending serious time with God in the Bible and prayer, and what better time to get that to a higher level than right now?
And another way is to begin speaking differently about Christmas - getting past the clichés and into some real substance about what Christmas is really all about.
Our theme verse for the Christmas season is Romans 12:2, and I’d like you to read it aloud with me as we begin our message time today.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Premise: Going about Christmas the way the rest of the world does is not honoring to God. Christians need to do things differently, in hopes of shining the light of truth to those who need to hear the message of Christ and Christmas.
The passage that forms the basis of our time this morning is Luke 2:8-14, where the angels announce the birth of Jesus to the shepherds.
Rather than read the whole passage, we’re going to go through this passage a little at a time. The whole passage is printed in your note-taking guide, so you can follow along.
In this passage we find the angel and his gang announcing the birth of Jesus. And in this announcement we can find some really cool lessons about how to speak differently about Christmas than the rest of the world.
But let me warn you: if you’re serious about putting this stuff into practice, people will notice.
Why? Because the focus won’t be on you - it will be on Jesus.
Now, I mentioned last week that during this time of year, people expect others to mention baby Jesus on occasion, but it usually ends right there - baby Jesus.
I think that using these four hints for speaking differently about Christmas will help you and them get past that - to the purpose of Christmas.
So let’s look at what we can learn from this angelic announcement about the birth of Jesus, about how to speak differently about Christmas.
Speaking differently about Christmas
means...
...speaking comfort and courage.
We start with verses 8-10 - (the end of verse 10 is under the second point in the outline)
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people."
Think about this scene for just a moment. Here these shepherds are, just minding their own business, doing whatever shepherds do at night, in this case, keeping watch over their flocks.
Maybe roasting Middle Eastern wienies or marshmallows over their fire, singing Middle Eastern cowboy-type songs like, "Oh give me a home, where the stupid sheep roam, and the donkeys and camels play." Or "Cool, Clear, Grape Juice (since we’re Wesleyans, they probably were too, right...?).
You get the picture. Anyway, there they are, doin’ nothin’ to nobody, and all of a sudden this angel comes out of nowhere and scares the snot out of these guys.
And what’ the first thing the angel says? "Do not be afraid!"
"Easy for you to say, buddy! You’re not the one probably needing cardiac rehab right now!"
The angel says to not be afraid. He knew he needed to calm them down so they could here the message. He spoke comfort and courage to them.
"Don’t be afraid. It’s okay. I’m one of the good guys, okay? I have a message just for you, so listen up."
There’s a story about a young woman who went away to college in the fall, leaving her plants and her goldfish in the care of her mother, who had a tendency to be forgetful. Some of us may know somebody with a "brown thumb." This mother had one. The plants that the daughter left behind in the care of her mother died at the end of the month. The mother dutifully broke the bad news to her. When the young woman called a week later, her mother confessed that the goldfish had died too.
There was a long pause, then in a fearful voice the girl asked, "How’s Dad?" (SermonCentral.com - Paul Decker)
How does that apply to what we’re talking about today? Just that when we talk about Christmas, we should make it a point to talk comfort and courage, as well as grace and peace.
But what tends to dominate a lot of conversations at Christmas time, even among Christians?
Things like shopping, the malls, parking while you’re shopping at the malls, the crowds, the lady who snatched the sweater right out of your hands, and either the great sales or the outrageous prices, depending on your point of view.
When was the last time you included in your conversation something like this: "How are you doing this season? Are things okay with you?"
For some people, Christmas is not a joyous time - it’s a tough time, for a lot of reasons, some of which those of us outside the situation may not understand.
Is there someone you know who’ll have a rough holiday because they lost a loved or something else is in the way of their enjoyment? Do you know a lonely person without someone to enjoy the holiday with?
How about giving them a call or writing them a card to tell them you’re thinking of them? Or how about bringing them to your house to be part of your family for the day?
Make an effort to speak some comfort and courage, and some encouragement to someone this year. It’ll be a blessing.
Speaking differently about Christmas means speaking comfort and courage. Speaking differently about Christmas also means...
...speaking the good news of the Savior.
Picking it up with verse 11 -
"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."
It’s pretty easy to at least mention baby Jesus at Christmas time. Few people in our area will get upset about it. In fact, people who are not accustomed to talking about spiritual things will generally mention baby Jesus on occasion through the holiday season.
But I want to point out something here: notice that the angel didn’t say, "Today in the town of David a baby has been born to you."
What did he say?
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."
Not a baby - a Savior! Well, what’s a Savior? It’s someone who saves. Who does He save? Anyone who wants it! What does He save from? The penalty of our sins.
Oh, so you mean it’s not just about a baby, "no crying He makes?" And by the way, who ever thought of that, anyway? Tell me Jesus didn’t cry when He was a baby - He was human, too, you know! And guess what? He even needed His swaddling clothes changed once in a while!
But that’s beside the point.
Are you willing to tell people that Christmas was just the beginning of Jesus’ life on earth? And that His life on earth had a purpose?
Can you be intentional about this during the next few weeks? And throughout the next year?
What I’m saying is that we need to steer conversations about Christmas away from the holiday and into the reason for it. And not just with the cutesy "Jesus is the reason for the season," either.
Tell them that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the Savior. And this leads us to our third point.
Speaking differently about Christmas means...
...speaking about how to find Him.
12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Notice that the angel didn’t say, "Hey just wanted to tell you that the Savior’s been born in Bethlehem. You can go back to doing whatever you shepherd types do at night. Sweet dreams!"
No way! He said, "Go see Him for yourself. Find the baby and see the Savior with your own eyes." What an invitation!
And yet we fail to give that invitation at Christmas time, when it’s probably the time of year people are most likely to listen because they’re expecting Jesus-talk in some form or another.
We’re afraid people won’t like us anymore, or that we’ll say the wrong thing, or that it won’t matter, because we think they’re just not interested.
But you know what? There’s nothing in the Bible that says these shepherds were interested in hearing about Jesus.
Maybe they were - we don’t know. My point is that it’s not up to us to decide someone’s interest. Our job is to tell people, or otherwise make the information available.
Let me ask you a very pertinent question: if you had the opportunity to tell someone about how to find Jesus so they could be forgiven and have a home in heaven, could you do it?
Could you show them the Scriptural path to becoming a believer and follower of Christ?
Can you tell them what the Bible says about believing in Him for eternal life?
If not, then I wouldn’t leave here today without checking out the literature table in back. There are a few tracts back there that can help you learn some things to tell people in a conversation.
Or take an invitation card. On the back of these is a very quick gospel presentation. Learn this and you can have it ready whenever the opportunity presents itself.
But folks, we have to be people who are willing to tell others how to find the Savior, no matter what time of year, but especially during the Christmas season, because people are generally more open.
If you’re unable or unwilling to tell them, then bring them here - I’ll tell them.
And here’s something really cool - they might respond just as the shepherds did: they went and found Jesus.
Speaking differently about Christmas means speaking about where to find the Savior.
And lastly, speaking differently about Christmas means...
...speaking praise to God.
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
You know, of all things we should be speaking about Christmas, this is probably the easiest.
We come to church and we sing these awesome Christmas carols, we read the Christmas story that contains all sorts of praises to God, and that’s great.
I say, more power to ’ya. And I also say, "let’s do it some more."
How can we do that? One of the best ways to do that is simply to recite the Scriptures that do this for us.
Right here in our passage we have some great words of praise. In fact, read verse 14 with me, and let’s put a little punch behind it, okay?
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Listen to these words from Mary, when she was pregnant with Jesus, and visiting her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist. This is Luke 1:46-55 -
"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."
Did you know that was in there? Cool, huh?
Speak praise to God this Christmas. Tell Him how awesome and wonderful He is. He deserves it.
And you know what, the Bible says that God inhabits the praise of His people. I’m convinced that one of the keys to deepening your relationship with God is to praise Him.
Speaking praise to God is so contrary to what most people think of at Christmas. Yes, people are more likely to mention baby Jesus, but to actually speak praise to God is uncommon, especially if you do it outside of church.
But hey, that’s what we’re talking about, right - doing things differently from the world?
So speak praise to God this Christmas. By the way, not only did this bunch of angels praise God, the Bible says that the shepherds did the same thing after seeing the Savior.
Conclusion
Speaking differently about Christmas means speaking comfort and courage. It means speaking the good news of the Savior. It means speaking about how to find Him. And it means speaking praise to God.
I mentioned in the beginning of the message that if you’re serious about speaking differently about Christmas, others will notice.
So are you ready to back it up? Are you ready to answer the questions that might come up? If not, are you willing to help them get the answers? I hope so.
Because like the shepherds, I want them to be able to find the Savior. How about you?
Let’s pray.
