Xmas Or Christmas?

Interesting, isn't it, that when the angels came to announce the birth of Jesus that they didn't go into the busy streets of Bethlehem?

A lot of people had come to Bethlehem. Many were there to pay their taxes. Merchants were busy getting every possible bit of money they could get. The inns were full & the streets were teeming with people.

So why didn't the angels appear over the busy streets of Bethlehem & sing their song of "Peace on earth, good will toward men?" Why did they select the hills outside Bethlehem, & the shepherds who were there watching over their flocks?

But maybe if they had hovered over Bethlehem the people wouldn't have listened. They were too busy doing so many things. It was the shepherds who were still & quiet, tending their flocks. They were the ones who listened, & they were the ones who went to see.

Maybe that is the lesson we need to learn. We need to be still & know that God is God. And that God is real.

B. Secondly, maybe we need to clean house. I don't know about you, but at holiday time it is so easy for trash to accumulate. Presents to open, guests to entertain, children & grandchildren everywhere. We just hope we can bulldoze through & find our way to wherever it is we are going.

And what about our hearts? Sometimes there are so many thoughts & noises & images that we can't see what we're supposed to see. Maybe we need to clean up our lives to make room for Jesus?

C. Thirdly, we need to become involved in the lives of people who are hurting. There is a strong temptation at Christmas time to focus inward, to buy gifts for the people we love & we like, family members.

There is a strong temptation to pat each other on the back & wish each other a merry Christmas, but to be immune to the hurt & heartaches & cries for help coming from the busy streets of the world.

If Jesus taught us anything, it was that as Christians we must be concerned about the people who don't know Him & who are in need. As His ambassadors we have a responsibility to reach out in a very loving & unselfish way, & thus to communicate the real meaning & purpose of Christmas.

ILL. One of my favorite Christmas stories is about the old shoe cobbler who dreamed one Christmas Eve that Jesus would come to visit him the next day. The dream was so real that he was convinced it would come true.

So the next morning he got up & went out & cut green branches & decorated his little cobbler shop & got all ready for Jesus to come & visit. He was so sure that Jesus was going to come that he just sat down & waited for Him.

The hours passed & Jesus didn't come. But an old man came. He came inside for a moment to get warm out of the winter cold.

As the cobbler talked with him he noticed the holes in the old man's shoes, so he reached up on the shelf & got him a new pair of shoes. He made sure they fit & that his socks were dry & then sent him on his way.