There has been much debate this year over Christmas. The politically correct, or should I say the politically incorrect has been working overtime in an attempt to remove Christ from Christmas, and any reminder of why we celebrate December 25th. Call it a happy holiday, or a winter break, but avoid wishing someone a Merry Christmas. I wonder of those same people who want giving trees removed from schools, nativity scenes from government property, and Merry Christmas removed from school lunch menus volunteered to work today for straight pay, or did they demand Monday off as a paid holiday?
I had read were two billion people will worship Jesus this weekend but lets be honest very few people are truly living their lives for Him. We gather tonight like so many others in churches around the world to observe the birth of Jesus. I had someone installing a gas furnace in the house two weeks ago and he told me which church he attends when he can. I asked if on that occasion he hears the Christmas story and he asked how I knew. For many, their worship of Jesus is limited to Christmas and Easter, and hopefully, the preacher will not speak longer than an hour because 2 hours a year is a lot to give, along with the dollar bill in the offering plate. Did I really say that?
Mel Gibson produced the Passion of the Christ which brought some people home, this year Disney has done a remake of the Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan, the Lion, might bring a few people back home at Christmas, we can only hope and pray. There is more to Christmas than a lion and a movie. What is it that gets so many peoples dander up when it comes to celebrating Christmas? It is Jesus Christ, the most influential person who ever walked the face of this earth. You love Him or you hate Him, there are very few who are indifferent to Him.
We have heard the account in Luke chapter 2. The New Living Translation reads, “1At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2(This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3All returned to their own towns to register for this census. 4And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5He took with him Mary, his fiancé , who was obviously pregnant by this time. 6And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the village inn.” His birthed fulfilled a number of Old Testament prophecies but that was not as controversial as His claim to be the Son of God. The uniqueness of His claim, fulfilled by how He lived His life, as brought barriers erected for those who believe and those who scoff. It is not new, it is as old as the day of His birth as people when about the census more concerned with their creature comfort than they were for a baby born in the stable rather than in the inn.
I am not seeking to share an account of history with you tonight so you can return to your homes and mark your calendar for Easter, I want to challenge you with His teachings so you will leave here with a greater understanding of why Jesus is such a controversial person, equipped with the knowledge which will bring you back next week to learn more about Him and how He can transform your life.
Jesus said in John 12:47-49, “47If anyone hears me and doesn’t obey me, I am not his judge--for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. 48But all who reject me and my message will be judged at the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. 49I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me gave me his own instructions as to what I should say.”
That is pretty heavy stuff because if we do not embrace Him, we by default have rejected Him and that rejection, our personal choice, brings judgment.
Jesus said in John 5:22-25, “22And the Father leaves all judgment to his Son, 23so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. But if you refuse to honor the Son, then you are certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.
24"I assure you, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”
If you are a follower of God, then you will honor His son, Jesus Christ, believing He is the Son of God and as a result, you will have eternal life with God in heaven.
The questions truly becomes what are you going to do with Him? People have attempted to ban Him, and so many have come and gone but He remains the same, the Son of God. Communists have attempted to legislate Christ out of existence and when they toppled, Christ remained with so many people under the former dictatorship falling on their knees to worship Him as even today revival is sweeping through those former Communist bloc nations.
The Roman Empire crucified Him and tried to drive His followers out of their land only to find that instead of being driven out, He entered in and while the Empire crumbled, He still remains.
Isn’t this someone you want to know more about? More has been written about Christ, pro and con, than any other person in history. There must be something about Him we need to know, a knowledge a lifetime of sermons would only scratch the surface in getting to know Him fully.
Jesus was the most unselfish person ever to walk the earth. In the finals of the Apprentice this year, the winner was given the opportunity to have the runner up take on one of Donald Trumps projects, it was his call. He said to Donald Trump there is only one apprentice declining the chance to offer someone else an advancement in life. Isaiah 53:12 said of Christ, “12I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among those who were sinners. He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners.” Rather than coming across as arrogant and proud, Jesus humbled himself, being born in a manager, laid in a pig trough, walking the earth with no place to call his own, dying a painful death on the Cross, all because he wanted to be counted with you and I, so we could relate to him the Christmas Eve and every day in our life.
John 3:16, 17, a familiar verse to many states, “16"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.” Instead of having an apprentice sized head, one that says its all about me, God the Father, and God the Son looked down on this earth, seeing the beginning to the end, looking at you tonight, saying this is not all about me, it is all about you, making a way for you to know the Father through the Son.
It goes against the selfishness of our world, it grinds against the status quo, it challenges the foundation of our greed and says God cares so much about you, that He made a way to come to earth as a child who grew to be a man so that He could demonstrate what true selflessness is about, dying so you can live.
So what do you do with Jesus? You can either accept His claim or reject it but you cannot ignore it. And how you live your life tells more about your decision than anything you might say.
In Philippians 2:5-8 we read, “5Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. 8And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross.”
What are you going to do with Jesus? What is your attitude about Christ and how you live your life.
The wise men came from the East we read in the Bible to worship Him because they recognized who He was and what their response should be. King Herod, in the style of this years apprentice didn’t want any competition, anyone horning in on his position and being a threat to his reign and realm sought to kill him, sending soldiers to Bethlehem, killing all the male babies 2 years and younger. They arrived too late to eliminate Jesus, he and his family had departed to Egypt at the time.
Today, He cannot be physically eliminated so men and women who are so set against him, much like Judas who betrayed him, attempt to eliminate any evidence he existed. They rewrite history, much like the movie being produced by Ron Howard, the DeVinci Code attempted to do. They try to take out signs and symbols and ask people not to participate in the celebration but history has shown and will continue to demonstrate, Christ will not go away because each day new people discover the miracle of Christmas, the truth of the Savior, the reason not just for the Christmas season but the reason for how we should live our lives.
The greatest gift ever given was the gift of a baby in a manger who grew to be a man, fully God, fully man, giving His life as the payment for the sins of mankind, your sins and mine included, so we could one day walk on streets of gold in heaven.
What are you going to do with Jesus, tonight? Jesus said if we would acknowledge him before man, He would acknowledge us before the Father in heaven. I want to give you that opportunity to walk down the aisle, to demonstrate to everyone here that you believe the baby born on Christmas morn, Jesus Christ, is the Son of God who takes away the sins of the world as we read and that you want to proclaim Him as your Lord and King, asking Him to forgive you of your sins and renewing you with the Holy Spirit. Then you get involved in church so you can know Him more. Are you ready to so something with Jesus tonight?
We are going to close in a song as we do, if God is speaking into your heart, don’t let the thought grow cold, make a bold decision and join me here in the front so I can rejoice with you this Christmas Eve.
