Getting Past the Glitter
#3 - "Doing" Differently about Christmas
Romans 12:2, James 1:26-27
December 12, 2004
Introduction
One of the cool things about the holiday season is the abundance of chocolate, at least that’s cool to me.
And confident of the fact that there are others like me here today, I want to offer you some rules for chocolate this season:
Rules of chocolate:
If you’ve got melted chocolate all over your hands, you’re eating it too slowly.
Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.
The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car. The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.
A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Isn’t that handy?
If you can’t eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can’t eat all of your chocolate, what’s wrong with you?
What do we call equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate: a balanced diet.
Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.
Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you’ll get one thing done.
Today we continue our look at getting past the glitter of Christmas, with the idea that Christmas is more than the holiday decorations.
And though we are followers of Christ, there doesn’t seem to be much difference between how we "do" the holiday and the way the rest of the world does.
Well, I think that shouldn’t be the case. The world should be able to look at us and look at our celebration of the birth of Jesus and see something different.
Our theme verse for this season is
Romans 12:2 -
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.
Typical of last minute Christmas shoppers, a mother was running furiously from store to store. Suddenly she became aware that the pudgy little hand of her three year old son was no longer clutched in hers. In a panic she retraced her steps and found him standing with his little nose pressed flatly against a frosty window. He was gazing at a manger scene. Hearing his mother’s near hysterical call, he turned and shouted with innocent glee: "look mommy! it’s Jesus - baby Jesus in the hay". With obvious indifference to his joy and wonder, she impatiently jerked him away saying, "we don’t have time for that!" (SermonCentral.com - SOURCE: From "THE WONDER OF CHRISTMAS" by Glenn Pease. http://www.intohisword.net/luke/luke17.)
The passage that forms the basis for our time together this morning is James 1:26-27 -
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
I’d like to use this passage to show you three ways we can "do" Christmas differently this year, and in the years to come. First...
1. Take a realistic look at yourself and your faith.
If anyone considers himself religious...
Romans 12:3 (NLT) -
Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you.
Two extremes to avoid:
The first is thinking too highly of yourself. You might think you’re some sort of spiritual giant, but you’d be mistaken in most cases.
"Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the one who has it" ("Our Daily Bread," December, 1986). (SermonCentral.com -
Contributed by: Donnie Martin)
And you know what, pastors aren’t exempt from pride. Maybe you’ve heard about the pastor who found a shoe box in a closet. Opened it and found strange contents. Inside was an egg carton with 5 eggs inside. Next to the eggs was a stack of bills that totaled over 10,000 dollars.
As soon as his wife walked thru the door he stopped her to ask if she knew anything about this odd combination. ’Yes, dear, after we got married I decided that after every sermon you preached if it was a bad one I would put an egg in this shoebox’. The preacher thought with pride about all the years they had been married and that only 5 eggs were in the box. ’But honey, what about the 10,000 dollars?’ ’Oh, well everytime I got a dozen eggs I sold them’. (SermonCentral.com)
Listen to these words from 1 Peter 5:5-6 -
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Now here’s something to think about: have you ever known someone who’s proud of being humble? Pride and humility don’t go together. It just doesn’t happen.
But you know what? There’s another extreme we need to avoid, and that is the extreme of thinking too lowly of yourself. There’s a danger in that.
You know what a "life verse" is? It’s a verse or passage that someone picks as kind of the goal or guiding Scripture for their life.
Mine is Luke 8:15 -
But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
If someone were to ask me what my life verse is and what I want to have God do in my life, this is it.
Let me give you a very dangerous life verse:
Psalm 22:6 -
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
If that’s your life verse, then you’ve got a problem!
Look, if you’re a person who struggles with having a healthy self-image, let me suggest that you take the time to read and meditate through Psalm 139 and Isaiah 40.
These are just two awesome passages that talk about how God knows and cares for you intimately. Another great place to read Jesus’ words on this matter is Matthew 6, where Jesus says that the very hairs on your head are numbered by God.
You are not a worm. You are created in the image of God Himself and He loves you with an immeasurable love.
Scripture is full of affirmations of people and individuals.
Here’s the bottom line here: develop a healthy, Biblical self-image, and you will avoid the traps of pride, either by thinking too highly of yourself or too lowly.
And then your expressions of your faith in word and deed will be genuine, not hollow, shallow, or forced.
And let’s think just for a moment about your faith, since we should be examining that.
Is it a Biblical faith? The kind that starts with faith in Christ and continues in faith in Christ, marked by loving obedience to Him and His Word, or is it the kind of faith the rest of the world has - a convenient, Sunday morning (unless the Vikings games starts before church, then God can wait until next Sunday) faith, that doesn’t need to impact how we live the rest of the week?
I hope it’s the first kind - remember, we’re not supposed to do things like the rest of the world, right? So show them a real faith that makes a difference in your life in the lives of others.
What’s this got to do with Christmas? Just this: when you get a glimpse of how God views you, then you can better appreciate the fact that Jesus came to earth to save not just mankind, but you as an individual, and you’ll be able to celebrate Christmas more authentically, which is pleasing to God.
In order to "do" Christmas differently is to take a realistic look at yourself and your faith. Next, you need to...
2. Hold your tongue.
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
This doesn’t mean to not speak, but rather that you not affect others with gossip, slander, backbiting, griping, and complaining.
The Bible says these things are not just not nice, they’re poisonous. And who needs that? It’s poisoning your own spirit, and it poisons others as well. And you don’t have that right, according to Scripture.
But let me give you a hint that might help here: rather than focusing on avoiding harmful speech, concentrate instead on putting out positive speech.
And when you do that, you find out that it’s not so hard after all, and speaking positively becomes easier and easier, and if you’re not careful, then you might end up making it a habit! Bummer, huh?
I’ve shared this story before, but I think it fits here.
When I was in college, there was a girl in the marching band who nobody seemed to like. They said she was loud, obnoxious, and generally made a fool of herself.
And so I watched. And you know what? They were right. She was all of those things, and so I found myself drifting away from her.
And the sad thing was, she was a friend of mine since before college. She was from a nearby high school and we had met at various music events. We got along great and hung out together at these events.
And then I get to college and find myself not wanting to be around her.
One day God got a hold of me and said, "You know, Brian, she was no different when you knew her in high school. Yet you focused on the positives, and you had a positive relationship. Now you’re focusing on the negative, and you have a negative relationship."
Don’t you just hate it when God speaks to you sometimes?
I had a choice to make. I decided I would make intentional efforts to be the kind of friend she needed me to be, regardless of what others thought.
And something else. I had to make a conscious decision to not join in the negative talk about her. And not just that, I had to make a conscious decision to talk well of her to these guys.
You can imagine the looks I started getting - "Okay, what planet are you from and what did you do with Brian?"
Focus on the positive.
"Winston Churchill was once asked, ’Doesn’t it thrill you to know that every time you make a speech, the hall is packed to overflowing?’
’It’s quite flattering,’ replied Sir Winston. ’But whenever I feel that way, I always remember that if instead of making a political speech I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big.’" (SermonCentral.com - Norman McGowan, My Years With Winston Churchill, Souvenir Press, London. Contributed by: Joel Smith)
Let me tell you something real quick: this whole issue of holding your tongue and concentrating on the positive doesn’t mean putting on some happy, plastic smile. Some people are genuinely sad during the holidays, and they should feel free to grieve and mourn. It’s okay.
At the same time, I don’t think you need to feel obligated to be sad during the holidays. Some people feel guilty about having a good time during the holidays after losing a loved one, especially if it’s been a while. You need to feel free to enjoy yourself and laugh. There is no guilt in that - it brings healing.
I think holding your tongue also means that you don’t offer fake "religious" speech meant to mask where your heart really is concerning Christmas and God in general. We talked about that last week, so we’re going to move on, okay?
So what does holding your tongue have to do with Christmas? Just this: your tongue can make the difference whether or not someone is able to enjoy the holiday.
If you’re the kind of person who is always complaining or griping, then you’re a downer to others and their celebrations of what is a joyous holiday.
On the other hand, if you’re the kind of person who is always encouraging, speaking positively and speaking love and grace into the lives of others, you’re an upper to others, helping people come to a point where they can once again enjoy the holiday, and enhancing and amplifying the enjoyment of others.
In going about "doing" Christmas differently, you need to take a realistic look at yourself and your faith, you need to hold your tongue, and lastly, you need to...
3. Exercise "real" religion.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Okay, PB, we’re not the Salvation Army, so what gives? What’s this got to do with celebrating Christmas differently?
Christmas is a religious holiday, is it not? So should not the church, that bastion of "religion" not be at the forefront of bringing pure and faultless religion? I think it should!
But for us to really investigate that, we need to get a good definition of "religion."
Let me see if I can give you what I think is a Biblical definition of what religion is, at least as it applies to how we relate to the world we live in.
I have this definition started for you in your note-taking guide.
"Religion" is not "church," or even "faith." Religion is the outward expression of an inward faith.
If you claim to be a religious person, or you claim to be part of the Christian religion, then it is supposed to show in word and deed. James says that without actions, your faith is dead - it’s not valid.
Society would say that this is not right. That your faith is personal, and you should keep your religion to yourself.
I’ve said it before, and you can count on me saying it more: your faith in Christ should be personal, but it cannot be private.
Jesus is very clear that His followers are to speak His name and act in His name in ways that impact those around us.
Not in an "in-your-face" sort of way. Please! But rather in ways that tell people you have a genuine, valid, healthy, authentic love for Jesus.
From our passage this morning, I find two ways we can express this real "religion," this real faith in Christ, to the world.
* Look after the less fortunate.
I don’t know about you, but I’d be willing to guess that widows and orphans are among the less fortunate in the world, how about you?
In Jesus’ day, orphans and widows had to fend for themselves many times. Thankfully conditions are generally better in our day and time, at least here in the USA.
But does that nullify our need to minister to these people? Not in the least!
So let me give you just a couple suggestions that you might take to heart in considering how to look after the less fortunate.
First, consider giving to organizations like the Salvation Army. Give money, groceries, time, or whatever God would have you do.
Why do I suggest this? First of all, because we don’t have that kind of benevolence ministry in place. We are not equipped with enough people and time to do that.
If you feel God leading you toward helping us develop such a ministry, then by all means talk to me or the board!
But in the meantime, the Salvation Army is great at what they do, and the lives of people are being changed by not only the material assistance they get, but by the spiritual help they get as well, as they here the life-changing news of Jesus.
Pray about supporting a child with World Hope, aside from what you give in the pocket-change offering.
Take it upon yourself to contact the lonely people from our church to let them know you’re thinking of them.
Invite them to take part in your holiday celebration. Get them a gift they will enjoy and make sure they feel they are not obligated to bring anything except themselves.
Those are just three ideas. I’m sure you can come up with more if you try!
The second way we can express "real" religion is to...
* Keep free from adopting the world’s mindset.
We discussed this at length two weeks ago, so I’m not going to go into detail here, but let me just say that one of the ways we stand out from the crowd is by putting the emphasis of Christmas on Jesus and others.
The "spirit of Christmas" in America is generally characterized by greed and materialism.
Don’t let that characterize you and your observance of Christmas.
Conclusion
"Do" Christmas differently. Do Christmas differently by getting a realistic view of yourself and your faith. Do Christmas differently by holding your tongue from negative speech and promoting positive speech. And do Christmas differently by exercising real religion.
Have you heard the story about the two middle-age women who were out on a Christmas shopping spree. They had purchased many gifts and they had dozens of packages stuffed into the trunk of the car. As they were driving home they passed by a local church where the caretaker was assembling the illuminated creche on the front lawn and putting up the other decorations. The church sign invited the community to the annual Christmas Eve Service. One of the women said to the other, "Why does the church try to take over everything! Look at that church, trying to horn in on Christmas." (SermonCentral.com - Contributed by: Gregory Dawson)
Folks, Christmas is only 13 days away. Remember when in the Peanuts cartoons, Snoopy would hold up a sign saying, "Only X amount of shopping days until Christmas?"
It was a bigger deal back then because shopping wasn’t generally done on Sunday.
Christmas is only 13 shopping days away. But in the next 13 days you can make a difference in someone’s life by "doing" Christmas differently.
Will you do it?
Will you spend some time with God to assess your spiritual condition? Will you spend time with God to evaluate your speech patterns, asking Him to redeem them for His glory? Will you spend time with God over the next 13 days asking Him to help you express an authentic love for Jesus in a way that tells others that your faith is real and not plastic?
Make a difference by doing Christmas differently.
Let’s pray.
