The Man Who Hated Christmas

Herod was the first to hate Christmas and be disturbed by the event, but he is not the last. There are people, and not just Ebenezer Scrooge and The Grinch, who hate Christmas because they don't like the idea of Jesus being a King. Oh, they don't mind the celebration, but the message of Christmas is threatening. Now, of course, some of us feel the opposite. We cherish the message, but find that parts of the celebration can become somewhat of a pain. Once again, I was in the store on December 23rd trying to find just the right present. But lots of folks like to shop, love to deck the halls and hang up the lights, but they want to avoid what the celebration is supposedly about. Oh, they are not really threatened by the Baby Jesus; He is kind of cute. But, like Herod, they are very much afraid of King Jesus. Friends, you see, that is the heart of the Christmas message. Jesus the King is born. Angels, shepherds and Wise Men, all came to worship a King, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Part of the message of Christmas is that all of us are called to worship the King. I tend to think that a lot of folks sing Christmas carols without really thinking about the words they are singing. I'm afraid some of the people who sing, "O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord," really have no intention of doing that, and if they realized what the words meant, they would probably not want to sing the song. Many folks have no more desire to acknowledge Jesus as their King than Herod did. Though they may hang up Christmas lights and put presents under the tree, they hate the true meaning of Christmas, that Jesus the Messiah and King has come.

But, as I was thinking about Jesus the King this week, I realized the problem is not just with the folks out there who want to take Christ out of Christmas. There are also people who sit in church pews most Sunday mornings, and even some who preach behind pulpits, who also are not real comfortable with the idea of Jesus being King. Oh, we don't hesitate to call Him that, but when it comes right down to it, we are not real excited about living that way. In fact, often we don't really think about what it means to live as a citizen of Jesus' Kingdom. Let's take a closer look at what it should mean when we claim that Jesus is our King.

#1) If Jesus is our King, He expects us to be loyal to Him. In the marriage vows there is a phrase which says "forsaking all others." That is what King Jesus expects of us. He will not allow us to continue to serve other kings. He will not share our allegiance with anything or anyone else. That means, for example, that we are to be more loyal to Him than to any other human being. Now, maybe you are thinking, "Wait a minute, Pastor. What are you saying? Doesn't God want us to be loyal to our family and friends?" Well, yes, you are right. He does. But, our loyalty to them should never equal our loyalty to Christ. In Luke 14:26, Jesus makes a very strange statement when He says, "The one who wants to be my disciple must be willing to hate his father, mother, brother, wife and children." We read that and we say, "What? The Bible says we are to honor our father and mother, husbands are commanded to love their wives, and parents should certainly love their children." Jesus would agree. His point, however, is this: If we wish to be His disciple, if we wish to live under His Kingship, our love for our family must never interfere or come before our loyalty to Jesus. As a Christian, He is our King. Our parents are not, our spouse is not, our children are not. In the vast majority of situations, obeying King Jesus will mean that we serve our family members. But, every once in a while, something will come up where it is very clear that the Lord wants us to do one thing, while our family and friends want us to do another. Maybe it involves a job change, or being involved in a different ministry. But, if Jesus is truly our King, we will say at those times, "I'm sorry. I'm going to have to do this, because this is what the Lord, my King, wants me to do." We can only serve one King.