AM Sermon preached at Syria Christian Church December 14, 2003
“Riches to Rags to Riches: the story of Christmas”
[SERMON TITLE SLIDE]
According to the Atlanta Journal "The Ten Commandments contain 297 words. The Bill of Rights is stated in 463 words. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address contains 266 words. A recent federal directive to regulate the price of cabbage contains 26,911 words." Just think how lengthy that directive would have been if the government had not passed “The Paperwork Reduction Act”!
John 1:1 and John 1:14 together contain only 49 words in the NIV translation. Yet what we find in them according to one commentary is the “most compact and pulsating theological statement in all of Scripture.” Another writer comments, “the force of what he says here is so staggering that the words almost seem to bend under the weight they are made to bear…” These two verses serve as the Springboard from which we’ll dive into this morning’s message “Riches to Rags to Riches: the story of Christmas.” We read them in the opening responsive reading. I‘d like to reread them now… [SCRIPTURE SLIDES FOR JOHN 1:1 & 1:14]
[SLIDE WITH 1ST SERMON POINT: the riches He gave up]
The Word was God. The Word became flesh. Christmas friends is about the Word God becoming one of us. So that when the shepherds decided to go to Bethlehem to see the baby what they saw was…The Creator in a cradle. Man’s Maker in a manger. God in a box. No matter how you say it…there’s an awe attached to it, isn’t there?
The Word was God. It had always been that way…even before time began…that’s the idea carried in that phrase “In the beginning.” Contrary to what some Jehovah Witnesses or Mormans might say about Jesus, this verse makes it clear that Jesus, the Word, had always been God. And this verse lets us in on the fact that the sacrifice of Jesus entailed much more than His death on the cross. The sacrifice of Jesus included every moment the Word dwelt among us in the trappings of humanity.
In an article titled “Gift Wrapping God” that appeared in Christianity Today (12-8-97, p. 32-33.), Mary Ellen Ashcroft wrote: “To get ready for Christmas, God undressed. God stripped off his finery and appeared – how embarrassing – naked on the day he was born ….What many don’t know about Christianity is that God has chosen to identify with their pain, their humanness, their flesh.”
Philippians 2 and Hebrews bear this out. [SCRIPTURE SLIDES] “Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” --Phil 2:5-7 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.” --Hebrews 4:15
Whenever we approach that ancient scene of Christ’s birth in our minds and hearts, we should do it with a sense of astonishment, wonder, love and joy as we recall not only the riches Jesus gave up to be able to live among us but also the life He chose to live in human form. [SLIDE WITH SECOND SERMON POINT: The rags He put on.]
[SCRIPTURE SLIDES --- THEN ON TO SECOND POINT SLIDE AGAIN]
Luke 2: 8-12 read: “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. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Through the years I’ve had to lay aside many of the ideas and notions I’ve had in my head about Christmas. Many of the things I’ve had to lay aside have been prompted by the traditions of men---some have been the creations of my own mind. For example---I’ve used to think Jesus was born in something that resembled a wooden barn and that when He was born he was laid in a wooden manger. Today I believe Jesus was probably born in something that looked more like a cave than a wood barn and He was probably placed in a feeding trough carved out of stone. I’ve learned we have no idea as to the number of wisemen---there could have been three…but then again their could have been two or four or eight…we don’t know---all we know is that there was more than one. And chances are the wisemen didn’t travel alone but they had a whole group of people make the journey with them. And most likely they arrived on the scene months and not moments after Jesus was born. On and on I could go. And truthfully I’d gotten to the point after nearly 2 decades of preaching and studying the Christmas story that I didn’t think there were many more details I could be surprised by. But then it happened again this week. I’ve had to change my mental image of the swaddling clothes. You see, I’ve always had this image in my mind that the reason Jesus was wrapped in strips of cloth was because Mary and Joseph were so poor. I’d always imagined that at some point before Jesus was born Mary or Joseph had either collected scraps of cloth or they had torn into small strips some aged garment throwing away the most worn pieces and keeping the better ones to use on the baby. But now I believe that that mental image has been wrong.
There really wasn’t anything special about the swaddling cloths that wrapped baby Jesus. It was the normal practice of the day to wrap newborns in swaddling cloths. The cloths used to wrap babies in Jesus day normally consisted of a square piece of cloth with a long strip of cloth coming off of it. A newborn would first be wrapped up in the square cloth and then the long strip of cloth would be wound round and round the baby. This was done because it was believed it would help the baby to develop strong limbs. I was both interested and concerned to learn that newborns were rubbed with oil and then sprinkled with salt. I don’t know I guess its because that oil and salt thing sounded more like a recipe for a roast that a welcome to our world! In any case, the sign the angels told the shepherds about wasn’t a baby wrapped in cloths---that was a normal thing---no, the sign was a combination of finding a newborn baby boy wrapped in cloths who was lying in a manger. And of course, that’s what the shepherds found when they found Jesus.
Jesus riches to rags story takes Him from the glory and power of God to take on a human form so that as a baby He can be placed in a manger after being wrapped in cloths the way most newborns were wrapped. The swaddling cloths were traded for a toddlers attire which gave way to a teenager‘s threads then to a carpenter‘s apron and eventually to a prophet‘s robe. But you see, Jesus rags included the whole of His human experience. His rags included first steps, belly aches, bumps, bruises and boo-boos. His rags included coughs and head colds, sore throats and skinned knees. Raised as the son of a carpenter Jesus no doubt had to deal with splinters, cuts and mashed fingers. In the role of prophet and priest Jesus put on a servant’s towel and taught us much about humility and what it means to be great in the eyes of God. Jesus also put on a scarlet robe and a crown of thorns. And within a few hours these things gave way to Jesus being wrapped once again in strips of cloth---only this time they were the dying kind, not the birthing kind.
Anthony Robbins in his book Unlimited Power (pp. 184-185. New York: Ballantine Books, copyright 1986) relates a story told by [Richard] Bandler. Bandler tells about visiting a mental institution and dealing with a man who insisted he was Jesus Christ - not metaphorically, not in spirit, but in the flesh. One day Bandler walked in to meet this man. "Are you Jesus?" he said. "Yes, my son," the man replied. Bandler said, "I’ll be back in a minute." This left the man a little bit confused. Within three or four minutes, Bandler came back, holding a measuring tape. Asking the man to hold out his arms, Bandler measured the length of his arms and his height from head to toe. After that, Bandler left. The man claiming to be Christ became a little concerned. A little while later, Bandler came back with a hammer, some large spiked nails, and a long set of boards. He began to pound them into the form of a cross. The man asked, "What are you doing?" As Richard put the last nails in the cross, he asked, "Are you Jesus?" Again the man said, "Yes my son." Bandler said, "Then you know why I’m here." Somehow, the man suddenly recalled who he really was. His old pattern didn’t seem like such a good idea. "I’m not Jesus. I’m not Jesus!" the man started yelling.
The reality of the crucifixion, friends, the fact that the Word God would condescend from heaven to take on a human form and be placed as a baby in a manger so He could later, as a man, be lifted up on a cross ought to shake us all up. But the riches to rags story doesn’t stop there. [SLIDE WITH 3RD SERMON POINT: The riches He’s had given to Him]
The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus not only died for our sins, but that He was raised from the dead and that God has exalted him [SCRIPTURE SLIDES] ---Philippians 2 says “to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
[SLIDE WITH 3RD SERMON POINT: The riches He’s had given to Him]
Now when we read that passage about Jesus being wrapped in cloths, we learned the type of clothing Jesus wore that night in Bethlehem some 2000 years ago. I want us also to look at Revelation 19:11-13 this morning so we can get a word picture of the type of clothing Jesus will be wearing when He returns. John the Apostle writes, “11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.” Verse 16 adds, “16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
[SLIDE WITH 4th SERMON POINT: We can go from rags to riches]
The story of Jesus, the Christmas story in all of its fullness, is a riches to rags to riches story, friends. The Christmas story entails all that is included in the phrase “the gift of God.” And the good news is that that gift of God includes the opportunity for you and I and everyone who puts their faith in Christ to experience their own rags to riches story. Now I’m not talking about financially going from rags to riches---I’m talking about spiritually going from rags to riches.
I had thought about showing a video clip this morning from the movie The Santa Clause 2 showing a scene where this replicated Santa that had been created to keep things hopping at the North Pole in the absence of Santa became very legalistic and started demanding that all of the rules be kept to the letter of the law. In the process the replicated Santa decided that all boys and girls would get coal in their stockings and none would get toys---because none of the boys and girls had been good all the time. And to be the replicated Santa had a point. No little boy or girl is good all the time. And even though some of your grandparents may think that little grandchild of yours comes close---even you will have to admit they’ve had a moment or two in the last year when they behaved poorly, right? If Christmas was about getting what’s deserved, toys if we’ve been good and coal if we’ve been bad, then folks, the coal mines would be working around the clock to meet the demands of the season. But Christmas isn’t about getting what we deserve---it’s about our getting what we don’t deserve from God!
The Bible clearly teaches us that none of us is completely righteous, none of us is without sin (Romans 3:23). The Bible says that even our best efforts at being righteous fail to measure up to God’s standards---our best efforts are like filthy rags. [SCRIPTURE SLIDE OF ISA. 64:6 THEN BLANK SLIDE] “6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” No friends, if Christmas was about getting what we deserved the angel’s announcement would not have been “Don’t be afraid; I’ve got great, joy producing news” --it would have been “Be afraid, be very afraid--- You will soon encounter the wrath of God!” But you see Christmas isn’t about getting what we deserve---it’s about God’s being gracious towards us and offering us what we don’t deserve. It’s about God offering us the opportunity to trade in our filthy rags for new clean white robes.
Let’s go back to that 19th chapter in Revelation which described Jesus wearing many crowns and a robe inscribed with the title King of Kings and Lord of Lords and notice verse 14, [SCRIPTURE SLIDE] “The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.” You know who the armies of heaven are? That’s you and me and everyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We will be dressed in fine linen, white and clean---not because we deserve it but because its all a part of the package deal that becomes ours when we accept the gift of God. [USE NO SHOW FEATURE AND THIS TIME TO SWITCH BACK TO SONG SLIDES WITH INVITATION AND CLOSING SONGS!]
As we approach the singing of our hymn of invitation and decision, I want to share a few closing remarks about gift giving and receiving. Imagine for a moment a Christmas morning in a family with two children old enough to read the gift tags on the presents yet young enough to be completely caught up in the wonder of it all. Picture the excitement on the faces of the children as they scurry about the tree locating packages that are meant for them. Watch as their eyes grow wide when they notice that there are two identical packages that are far bigger than all of the rest. See the joy as they realize they each get a big package. And then watch them as they turn and walk away, never giving the packages another thought. Yeah right---we all know what will happen---those two will tear into those packages and rip that paper off the boxes faster and with more intensity than any tornado can strip siding off a building. Watch the little children this Christmas. Some things I’ve never known a small child to say to are “You spent too much. I’ll really can’t accept this. Take it back.” Small children are great receivers of presents. Is it any wonder that Jesus said, “"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
For you see, at that first Christmas tree on which hung not ornaments, but the very Son of God, there’s a present waiting for you---and it’s a big one----packaged all together in it you’ll find forgiveness, joy, peace, love, hope, the Holy Spirit, eternal life and more.
This Christmas, let’s be careful not to deny our Father in heaven the joy of giving---and let’s humble ourselves before Him so we do not ourselves miss out on the childlike thrill of receiving. As we stand and sing the hymn of invitation, please won’t you come forward if you’d like to receive Christ or become a member of our congregation?
[SONG SLIDES]
NOTE TO THOSE WHO READ AND OR CHOOSE TO MAKE USE OF ANY OR ALL OF THIS SERMON: I am sharing this sermon with the hopes it will be an encouragement to others. I know that coming up with new Christmas sermons every year can be difficult! I apologize for any blatant typing errors---I debated submitting the Christmas sermons I have this year because I have not taken the time to edit them. However, I decided that people will find them more helpful at this time than at other times of the year. So, there you go…. I try to give credit where credit is due, noting writers and or sources to the best of my ability. I have for years been drawing from a wealth of sources including this website. I recognize that my mind and writing processes are fallible. I may occasionally fail to properly identify a source. Please do not take offense if you see anything of this nature. I never intend to plagiarize. Having said that I want you to feel free to draw from my message. When appropriate I hope you will give credit as I do. But most of all I hope Christ will be lifted up and God will receive the glory in all things.
