Carols by candlelight. Peace on earth. WBC 19.12.2004 pm. Luke 2:8-20
A mother and father went Christmas shopping one Saturday afternoon with their seven-year-old daughter. The Little girl was so thrilled and enthusiastic about the season. But her parents were just the opposite- - they were so grumpy, so tense and uptight, so worn out with all the traffic jams and lists and bills and long line.
When the family returned home that night, the little girl was singing Christmas carols; but her mother and father were arguing and irritated with one another. Finally, the father, told the little girl to stop singing and go to bed.
The little girl started upstairs to her room; but she stopped on the stairway, opened the window, and looked out. "Why did you open the window and let in the cold air?" Her father asked. "Because I thought I heard the angels singing," she answered. Still angry and tired, the father said, "I don’t hear any angels singing, and neither do you. Now get upstairs, and get in that bed right now!" The little girl started up the stairs; but then she paused and said gently, "Daddy, if you want to hear the angels sing, you have to listen with your heart."
What Should Christmas Look Like? by John Kah www.sermoncentral.com
Or- thought you might appreciate a response to one of our newsletters from some really good friends. Only the names have been changed to protect the guilty!
Hello all you Huffys
This is the ‘Jones’ Christmas letter and its only to you. Your family life sounds so wonderful, and we are very envious as only this week after much gnashing of teeth part of a hot chicken was thrown across the kitchen aimed at a disgusting teenager! (we scraped the chicken off and ate it for tea the next day) and another disgusting teenager left home in his sock feet. he didn’t stay away for long but promised to leave for longer next time. (i went and tried to help him pack his bags). Hannah still manages to stay the sweet calming influence for all of us. (ok so i lie)
last year i went on a "how to manage your teenagers" couldn’t remember a word of it when most needed.
Of course they are all the apple of our eyes, just amazed at that special love given to you when they are born. Talking of births have a very splendid restful mad hectic family Christmas time because we certainly will. Wonder if Mary ever chucked hot chickens at her little darlings?
would love to get you chaps over here sometime next year lots of love Susan and John
Peace. The message of the angels… and the OT prophets regarding Christmas is one of peace
- but what are they talking about? What did they mean?
- Busiest time of year for most of us! Anything but peaceful
o A four-year-old and a six-year-old presented their mom with a houseplant for Christmas. They had used their own money to buy it and she was thrilled. The older of them said with a sad face, "There was a bouquet at the flower shop that we wanted to give you. It was real pretty but it was too expensive. It had a ribbon on it that said ‘Rest In Peace,’ and we thought it would be just perfect since you are always asking for a little peace so that you can rest.
o Contributed by: A. Todd Coget on www.sermoncentral.com
- And there wasn’t much peace, then
o Message came to an area occupied by a military force
Bethlehem, no less. Still war torn. The one area we couldn’t go freely to when I was there
There were militants being ‘heroes’ to their own folks and ‘rebels’ to the occupiers
- And really things haven’t changed since
o In fact: have got worse.
o Illustr: Freeview, people’s century. 20th century was the bloodiest in history. Pol Pot. Natzis… I could go on
It’s not surprising: Jesus Himself said there would be ‘wars and rumours of wars’ until the end
So – what’s being spoken of, here? What is this ‘peace’?
- was it just ‘false promises?’
- when Isaiah called this baby that was to be born ‘the Prince of Peace’, 750 years before it he was born
o was he just being cutsie and sentimental?
o (a story about a peaceful baby of whom it can be said ‘no crying he makes’)
LACK OF PEACE
Well- people are searching for peace, today
- in fact, it is one of the things people are most hungry for in our society
o inner peace. Outer peace.
o We live so fast…move so fast-
and the trouble with living life in the fast lane is you seem to get to the end so quickly!
o it’s one of the reason programmes about ‘getting away from it all’ … or watching in on Scotland in ‘Monarch of the glen’ are such a big hit
People move to Spain to find peace
I recently read of a couple who retired in 1980. They were alarmed by the threat of nuclear war, so they undertook a serious study of all the countries of the world which would be least likely to experience war. They wanted to be sure they spent their last years in peace and security. They studied and travelled all over the world, talking to people and garnering as much information as they could. Finally they found the place which seemed the most out of the way spot where they could live in peace. The Christmas of 1981, they sent their pastor a card from their new home — in the Falkland Islands. As you will know, these small islands off the coast of Argentina, which seemed like paradise, were turned into a war zone early in 1982 when Argentina’s then military government decided to invade the islands. The war lasted 72 days and claimed nearly 1000 casualties. Obviously, the couple did not find peace in the Falklands.
from Where Is Peace? Ephesians 2:13-2:17 by Rodney Buchanan on www.sermoncentral.com
The problem is- you move to find peace, but you take yourself with you! So the restlessness follows… and peace evades
Because peace is so important- leisure becomes SO important
- it’s a huge industry
- (and I could keep it going just with skiing trips, so I’m not complaining!)
But you can go on holiday or watch a video, and not have peace
- not time to watch!
- (cf Amazon DVD club. Probably won’t get the time to watch them!)
- remember the days when Amstrad bought out that double Video deck? Record and watch at the same time!
o died a death as never get the time to watch
o becomes a pressure: ‘right, I’m gonna relax, tonight!
There’s always shopping. Our chief leisure pursuit, I’m told
- not cogito ergo sum. Tesco ergo sum
- It was a few days before Christmas on the Oregon coast. Two men whose families lived next door opted to go sailing while their wives went Christmas shopping. An unexpected storm surprised the weekend sailors. Before long, the sea became angry, and the two had a difficult time keeping the sailboat under control. While heading toward the harbour, the craft hit a sandbar and grounded. Both men jumped overboard into the icy water and began to push and shove in an attempt to get the sailboat into deeper water. Knee-deep in mud and repeatedly bounced against the hull by unfriendly waves, the one said to the other, “Sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn’t it?” Contributed by: Jim Kane on www.sermoncentral.com
If shopping doesn’t work-maybe we can medicate or meditate our way to peace
My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start.
So far today, I have finished 2 bags of chips and a chocolate cake.
I feel better already. SOURCE: http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh
But all these good things can’t satisfy because they don’t reach the root of our restlessness. The root of the problem. Don’t fill the gap.
- because they don’t bring the kind of peace the angels sung about
REAL PEACE
The peace the angels bring is not
- the absence of war (boy did they get it wrong if that’s what they meant!). Peace between men.
- inner peace, even! (seriously! That’s not what they were talking about: “silent night and still hearts”)
o the manger wasn’t quiet and the shepherds were terrified!
o that can be a RESULT of the peace they’re singing about
They are talking about something fundamental to our…humans’…make up. That without it you cannot know ‘inner’ peace because you’re:
- fighting against the way you were made. What you were made for. Your genetic code. The whole fabric of the universe.
They are talking about peace with God.
It’s like this: our life is a journey. We’re all on it, like it or not. Young or old.
- on that journey we all make decisions. We take turns. These turns either take us closer to God or away from God.
o And because He is the one who made us, designed us..: these turns also take us closer to or further away from being fully who we were made to be. Fulfilment. Satisfaction. Inner peace.
Because we are not following the maker’s instructions, designs
o But the real root is we have no peace with God. In fact- we’ve taken so many little turns we don’t even know what He looks like or how to get back
And because He’s so distant we intrinsically seem to make choices that only take us further away
• Make us search more frantically for a remedy to the restlessness in our soul
So-it’s talking about the restoration of people’s relationship with God
- peace between us and Him
- because, right now, we’re miles away… and the journey’s been messy… and the place we’re at isn’t very nice: but we’re driving so fast we can’t even see that as the scenery is just a blur
And the thing is: we’ve got loads of road dirt on us, and C.R.A.P. from our decisions and turns we’ve made
- and this God is big and holy… and we’re not!
o And something needs to be done about this dirt
That’s the real root of the issue. It’s a spiritual problem, not a psychological or sociological one.
- we need spiritual peace… need our relationship with God restored… dirt removed
And that’s what the angels are singing about. The message of Christmas is about.
SOURCE OF PEACE
So- how do we get it?
The answer is there in the shepherd’s fields. It’s in the manger.
Actually- the shepherd’s WOULD have understood
- Jewish tradition defined a place where ‘special lambs’ were to be born
- Later became written down in the Mishnah. Baba Kama 7:7- they were to be kept in the wilderness. Shekalim 7:4 – any lamb found between Jerusalem and a spot near Bethlehem must be presumed to be one of these
o A lamb for sacrifice in the temple
In fact: the shepherds were probably tending the flocks in what was known as the ‘shepherd’s fields’- where lambs born for sacrifice in the temple were raised! Born to die.
The Jews understood… only partly… that a sacrifice could wash away the ‘road dirt’. The bad choices & turns. The stupidity. The hurt. The debt our car crashes had got us into
- Christians know how: because Christmas and easter show us
God comes Himself… born and willing to pay the price for the car wash, insurance, road tax. To show us a road map. In fact- to buy a whole new car and start us afresh on the journey.
- (born again golf?)
- He buys our whole life back. Buys the whole car
- And with the road dirt washed off we have peace with the holy God who has always wanted it and always loved us
o And then ‘inner peace’ can come from this
I’ve tried to make something actually v profound as simple as I can
- for many of us the best thing I can recommend to getting your head around it is to come and ask your questions on an Alpha course
But this is what the angels were singing about- and is the ROOT of the issue. We need peace and a relationship with God
- Peace comes not from the absence of trouble, but from the presence of God
- Alexander Maclaren
I’m gonna tell you in a moment how you can get it- but first listen to the story of a man who got it
Fyodor Dostoevsky was 25-years-old when his first book captured the hearts of the Russian people. His fame quickly went to his head, and he began to drink too much and party wildly. It was in that state that he did something that altered the direction of his life. After drinking too much, he began criticizing the government. He was not only arrested but sentenced to death. Fortunately for him, those in power showed mercy and commuted his sentence to ten years of hard labor. So on Christmas Eve, 1849, Fyodor Dostoevsky was sent to Siberia, as he described it: “like a man buried alive. . . nailed down in his coffin.” But Dostoevsky was about to meet God and learn that he could bring about good even in the harshness of Siberia. As he arrived in that desolate region, two women slipped a New Testament into his hand, and when the officer’s back was turned, whispered to him, “search it carefully at your leisure.” As he poured over the New Testament in the Siberian labor camp, he discovered the beauty of the parable of the prodigal son — the parable that would influence all of his future writings. It revealed to him the marvelous mercy of his heavenly Father. He would later write from Siberia: “One sees the truth more clearly when one is unhappy, and yet God gives me moments of perfect peace; in such moments I love and believe that I am loved; in such moments I have formulated my creed, wherein all is clear and holy to me.” That life change led him to write novels after his release that have influenced millions of lives. When Dostoevsky surrendered his mind to Christ, he found deep peace. The struggle was over and he began to experience life in a way that he had never done before. The same will be true for you.
from Where Is Peace? Ephesians 2:13-2:17 by Rodney Buchanan on www.sermoncentral.com
How do you get it?
- start making turns to bring you back to God. Little turns.
o Ask, seek, knock. Alpha
- Accept the baby in the manger into your life…heart. Accept Jesus into your car, if you like: but for Him to DRIVE
o Baby described as “Christ the LORD”
= messiah, boss and God
o (He knows the journey better than you! Will drive you to God “I am the way” … the gate… ‘the car?!’)
- accept Him as the car wash specialist. The water, even
o “a SAVIOUR who is Christ the Lord”
o to save us from the road dirt and its consequences
The new journey can start tonight.
- sing ‘Oh little town’. “Be born in us today!”
- take Alpha news + Alpha invite + ‘Why Christmas’
