Last week, I talked about how Christmas is a time of love. God loved us enough to send His Son to be our sacrifice. Jesus loved us enough to be that sacrifice. And now, God wants us to love Jesus enough to sacrifice our will to Him.
I explained that love is the willingness to sacrifice something you might really want for something someone else might really need. But not all of us understand what love is.
If you have ever read the Peanuts comic strip, you will remember the animosity between Charlie Brown and Lucy. For that matter, it was animosity between Lucy and just about everyone else, actually. Well, one Christmas Lucy comes to Charlie Brown and says, “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown. This is the season of peace on earth and good will toward men. Therefore, I suggest we forget all about our differences and love one another.”
Charlie Brown’s face lights up like a Christmas tree, and says, “That’s great, Lucy, but can’t we continue to do that all year long?” And Lucy replies, “What are you, nuts?”
In LUKE 2:8-14, we read,
8- 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. 11- Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 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.”
Wow! Can you imagine how wonderful our homes could be, how wonderful our lives in general could be, how wonderful our world could be, if we really did put the blessing of “peace on earth” into daily practice? As Christmas comes closer, we should think that we really could have hearts filled with love. Maybe we really could be kind to each other all the time, as Charlie Brown suggested, instead of just once a year like Lucy intoned.
When we buy presents for somebody, most of us put a lot of thought into what we are going to buy. We think about their needs, their desires and what would make them happy. Then, armed with this information, we go shopping to find that “perfect gift” for that person.
After we decide on just the right gift, we purchase it, sometimes spending more money on it than we had planned, and we get it gift-wrapped and then we start to anxiously await the moment when that person will open our gift. We enjoy seeing their joy and delight as they see, for the first time, the gift we put so much love and effort into getting for them. We enjoy seeing the look of appreciation and acceptance on their faces and in their eyes as they see that gift.
Now, have you ever got a gift for someone that they did not like? It is a most disappointing thing for the giver to go through, believe me. It’s as if when they show disapproval of the gift, they are actually showing disapproval of giver. Our nature is to see the acceptance or rejection of the gift as a reflection of how they view us as individuals.
We need to remember that, as we are looking for their expression of acceptance, they are looking to see whether or not we are accepting them, through the gift they gave us.
The exchange of gifts is a very important part of our Christmas celebration, isn’t it? Last week, I said that when the wise men gave gifts to Jesus, it started the tradition of giving at Christmas. Actually, God was the One who actually started the giving. Let’s talk about that.
What was the gift that God gave us? Most of you would agree that He gave us His Son. Some may say that He gave us His love. Both answers are correct. But, we are going to talk about some other gifts that God gave us.
1. GOD GAVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE FORGIVEN
You’ve heard the expression “Nobody will like you if you don’t like yourself”. That is a true statement. But taking that one step further, you will never have any peace with anyone else until you have peace within yourself. And, we will never have peace within ourselves until we finally have peace with God. And, we can never have peace with God until our sins have been forgiven.
I heard once that a cookbook had been recalled not too long after it had been placed on the market. Now, I have heard of a lot of things being recalled, but I have never heard of a cookbook bring recalled. It was recalled because one recipe had left out one very important ingredient, and without this ingredient, when you put the other ingredients into the oven, the whole thing could literally blow up!
Now, I don’t understand what type of things you want to cook for dinner, but whatever is in there that would blow up, makes me think I don’t want any of it in the first place! But, as I heard that, I couldn’t help but think there had to be a sermon in there someplace!
And I found it. God has given us the recipe for life. He wants us to have peace – real peace! To have this peace, we must find forgiveness through Jesus Christ. We must then live according to God’s rules. The ingredients that God gives us, found in His holy Bible makes all that possible.
But, if we leave out some of His ingredients, or stick in some of the ingredients of the world, then what happens? Life can literally blow up in our face, can’t it? This is why there is so much depression and so much rejection of others in this world. It is simply because there are too many of us that are following the wrong recipes for life.
So, God says – “Here is my gift to you. It is not the gift of the world, but a gift that I offer you the forgiveness of your sins and eternal salvation for each of you who accept my gift. My gift is my Son.”
The most important thing we can ever have in our lives is to be truly forgiven of our sins. God has given us the opportunity for that forgiveness, but it is still up to us to accept that gift.
In PSALM 30:3-5, the psalmist writes,
“Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But You offer forgiveness.”
2. GOD GAVE US HELP SO WE CAN GET THROUGH OUR STORMS
On the night of Jesus’ birth, the shepherds were sitting out on the hillside, in the country, tending to their sheep. Things were pretty rough for them.
First of all, shepherds were considered “less than human" by other people. They were always out with their sheep, and if you know anything about sheep, well, let me just say they smelled just like the sheep - and sheep really stink.
Back in the early days of the American west, cattle farmers would actually start range wars with sheep farmers because they considered the sheep as filthy, unwanted animals. It was common for cattle farmers to ride out in the dead of night to go kill sheep. So, shepherds stayed with their sheep. They actually lived with them. And, like I said, they smelled like them.
They spent their time outdoors. I can’t begin to imagine how cold it was on some nights. But they endured. They stayed the course. I believe we can all see just how rough their lives could be. Their lives were very hard, and there wasn’t any sign of things ever getting better, either.
Then, on one very glorious night, an angel from God appeared to them and told said, “Unto you is born this day, in the City of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” Then, a great company from Heaven joined the angel to praise God and sing, “Peace on earth, good will toward men.”
And suddenly, everything was changed! Whereas God had been this entity they had always “heard about”, He now became very real to the shepherds. He had come to save them. God had come to bring peace, and to bring good will to men!”
They now had something to hang on to! They had something that would help them get through the rough times in their lives. And, that same gift God gave to them is available to each of you today. God is just as real to each of us as He was to those cold, lonely poor shepherds, who sat in the fields with their sheep on the night our Savior was born.
That was the shepherds. Now, at the other end of the spectrum were the Magi, the wise men. They were very powerful authority figures who may have represented kings in their lands. And they brought treasures with them to offer the Christ-child. And, as much as they had, there was still a vast emptiness in their lives. A hole in their souls. And, when they saw the star, they knew that they had to follow, because that star would lead them to something more important than had ever been before.
Don’t we have people just like that in our society today? We hear all the time about those who are rich, famous and powerful who do drugs, commit adultery, commit suicide, or in some other way, show that they are tormented. These people are just as empty as the Magi were before they saw the star of Jesus.
Whether we are rich, poor, powerful or weak, we all need help. God promised that when Jesus enters our hearts, we will receive His help. And, when we do receive that help, there are two things that happen: We realize that our problems tend to not be so overpowering as they were before; and we see that our hearts become more sympathetic to what others are going through. We actually start to feel a love for other people that we did not feel before.
In 2 JOHN 6, it says,
“Love means doing what God has commanded us, and He has commanded us to
love one another…”
In 1 JOHN 4:11-12 [NLT] it says,
“Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lies in us, and His love…”
A man stopped to fill his car up with gas, and he was wearing a suit. As he took the gas cap off, he dropped it and it rolled under the car. It had been raining, and it was lying in a mud puddle under the car. He thought for a moment, and then decided to fill the car up, then pull it forward a few feet, get out and then get the gas cap.
But, before he could do this, a man in overalls came up, and without saying a word, got down on his knees on the wet pavement, reached way under the car and got the gas cap. As he handed it to my friend, he smiled and said, “Have a nice day, and God bless you.” That is a Godly kind of love. That is the kind of love we start feeling when we finally relax and let Jesus come into our hearts.
At Christmas, we tend to be a little more considerate and sensitive to others, don’t we? We give to the bell-ringers a little quicker and we donate to the hungry much more than at any other time of year. As negative as we can sometimes be, maybe we have more good in us than we give ourselves credit for.
Maybe – just maybe – the foundation is in our hearts to be Christians. Now, I am not talking about those who consider themselves Christian because they go to church and try to be good people. I am talking about real Christians; those who have a hunger to read the Bible, a thirst to have a relationship with Jesus, a need to get closer to God. Maybe we already have God’s imprint on our hearts. Maybe we just need to realize it is there.
How many times have we seen disaster strike, or when something occurs that demolish whole communities and tear lives totally apart? How many times have we been touched by the outpouring of help from other people?
If we are touched by the love shown in those situations, how much more should we be touched at the knowledge that Christ is God, and He chose to come to us in our weak and humble form, to cry with us, to help us when we need it, to love us enough to give up His life for us. When we realize this, we find that true peace on earth begins with peace in ourselves, and good will toward men starts with God’s Holy Spirit showing His love to others through us.
We all have problems and very rough times in our lives. We must realize that God did give us help to get through them a lot easier. That help is His Son, Jesus Christ. We just need to understand that, like with all gifts, we must choose to receive them before we can have them.
3. GOD ALSO GAVE US A HOPE FOR OUR FUTURE
In giving us His Son, God opened the door to Heaven, therefore, offering us a real hope for our eternal future.
What kept the shepherds going? It was hope. God had made a promise to their people. He would send a Messiah some day. And they knew that when the Messiah came, everything would be all right. That hope was burned into the hearts & lives of each Israelite.
What kept the Magi going? It was hope. Every night, they would go outside and search the sky for the star of promise. They knew that when they saw it, they would have to follow it wherever it might lead them, because it was a sing from God, and it promised the birth of a king. So, it was this hope that kept them going.
We all have troubles in life. We might have trouble in our jobs, in our marriages, or maybe it is financial difficulty. What keeps us going? It’s hope. It is the hope that eventually, all will be better. The job will ease up, the marriage will smooth itself over with love, or that you will soon be making more money.
And, through the birth of Jesus, God brings us hope. Maybe we will have to deal with the poor being hungry, and maybe we will have to deal with crime. Maybe we will have to deal with terrorism and violence, but there is one thing that keeps us going, too. One day, Heaven is going to open up, and God will fulfill His promise to us by sending Jesus back and our hopes and dreams will come true for all of eternity. That is what keeps us going.
JEREMIAH 29:18 tells us,
“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Going back again to PSALM 130:5, the psalmist writes,
“I am counting on the Lord ……… I have put my hope in His Word.”
One of the neatest stories of Christmas I have ever heard was about a school play. There was a boy named William Spurling. He was big for his age, and he was a little slow mentally. But he was a good kid, and all the other kids in the 7th grade liked him.
In the school play, he wanted to play a shepherd, but the teacher said he was too big, and he should play the grumpy old innkeeper. The night came and they were all on stage, and the audience was sitting there ready for it to begin.
During the part of the play when Mary and Joseph came to the door to ask for a place to sleep, William, in a gruff voice said, “There is no room in the inn.”
Joseph asked again, and instead of saying the same line, William forgot his line and there was a very long pause. It was the kind of pause that embarrasses the audience as well as everyone on stage. Then, from behind the curtain, William heard the teacher whisper, “We have no room at the inn, now away with you!” So, he repeated the line and the rejected Mary and Joseph turned to go away.
Being the good kid that William was, his heart began to break because he had said something that hurt them, so he yelled out, “Wait a minute! Come back! You can have my room and I will sleep in the shed!”
Now for all of you that think the play was ruined, here is something to think about. Without meaning to, didn’t William actually display the real meaning of Christmas? He was willing to give up his own room to help someone else.
Jesus was willing to give up His life to help someone else. To help you and me. To give us a gift. A gift of hope. Of hope for our eternal life in Heaven. William said, “You don’t have to leave, you can have my room and I will sleep in the shed.”
Jesus said, “You don’t have to die for your sins. I will do that in your place on the cross.” Jesus said that He would die for us, and that He would be our only way to Heaven.
In JOHN 10:9, Jesus told us,
“Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through Me will be saved.”
We celebrate Christmas, not because it just happens to be a holiday. We celebrate Christmas because it is the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without the birth, there would have been no Savior. Without the Savior, there would be no hope, and without the hope, there would be no Heaven.
We give gifts at Christmas, and eagerly await to see how the person will react when they open them. If their reaction is not acceptance, we feel like we have been rejected. God has given us the most important gift of all time, and He is now sitting back to see what we are going to do with it.
Are we going to unwrap it and show a joyful heart when we finally see that the present is Jesus? Or, are we going to flippantly throw it to one side, rejecting the gift of Jesus?
God is waiting with great anticipation and great love to see what we are going to do with His gift. See, what we do with the gift is also what we are going to do wit Him. If we accept the gift, then we have received Jesus as Savior and our sins have been forgiven. But, if we reject the gift, we reject any hope we shall ever have of going to Heaven.
God is offering that gift to you again this morning. He is waiting to see what you are going to do with it. I pray that you will accept His gift with love and eager anticipation,
INVITATION
