JESUS: LIGHT OF THE WORLD - Christmas Every Day 12-25-22

JESUS: LIGHT OF THE WORLD - Christmas Every Day 12-25-22 

Monica La Rose writes about her 5-year old niece, Annika.  Annika was puzzled.  If it wasn’t  Christmas yet, why were there already Christmas lights up?  And wreaths?  And garland?  As I explained that Christmas is not just one day but a season, her eyes widened with wonder.  “it’s Christmas every day!” she exclaimed, jumping up and down and clapping her hands for joy.

The Christmas season

Jesus is a light in the darkness.

Jesus is the glory of God.

Jesus is the centerpiece of life.

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. 

As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.” Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.” And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.” And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.” 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭5‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I.  THE BABY IN THE MANGER

In New York’s Hayden Planetarium a special Christmas holiday show was enhanced by an added feature. A giant lollipop tree was projected onto the planetarium dome, surrounded by a horizon filled with brilliantly colored toys which came to life and cavorted to the tune of "Jingle Bells." At the climax a huge figure of Santa Claus faded out in a snow storm, and the star of Bethlehem broke through into a sky that produced exactly the Palestine sky on the night of the nativity. The designer of this show may not realize that he dramatically staged the supreme Christmas message our world needs to understand: The recovery of the lost meaning of Christmas. This is not said in any criticism of Santa Claus; the effect must have delighted the hearts of all the children who saw it, without doing violence to their love of Bethlehem. But for adults it is a tragic loss to substitute "Jingle Bells" for "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing," and a lollipop tree for the manger of Bethlehem. The instinct is right to fade out these things in the light of the Christmas star. It is about God’s incarnation that the angels sing--God with us.

Robert E. Luccock in James W. Cox, The Minister’s Manual: 1994, San Fransico: Harper  Collins, 1993, p. 218.

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

‭‭ Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A.  The Incarnation

“Perhaps we need to call December 25th the Celebration of the Incarnation, to greet each other with Incarnation greetings – instead of “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” we could shout, “God chose flesh!” “God became one of us!”

“The Feast of the Incarnation is the time to dance to the descending scales of God’s throwing off omnipotence.

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us – God closer than close. That’s what we could be celebrating. This is the Christmas story as it should be told. This naked God is the path to God.”  (Mary Ellen Ashcroft, Christianity Today, 12-8-97)

1.  He is like us.

a.  Fully human

b.  Tempted 

C. S. Lewis said it well: "The Son of God became a man that men might become sons of God."

B.  The Atonement

1.  The High priest

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

2.  The Sacrifice  

“But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”

‭‭ Hebrews‬ ‭9‬:‭11‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A small boy was writing a letter to God about the Christmas presents he wanted. "I've been good for six months now," he wrote. After a moment's reflection, he crossed out "six months" and wrote "three." After a pause he changed that to "two weeks." There was another pause and another erasure.

Finally, the boy got up from the table and went over to the little nativity scene that had the figures of Mary and Joseph. He picked up the figure of Mary and went back to his writing and started again: "Dear God, if ever you want to see your mother again ..."

Larson, C. B., & Ten Elshof, P. (2008). 1001 illustrations that connect (382). Grand Rapids, MI:  Zondervan Publishing House.

II.  A FRUSTRATED  CREATION

Ben was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 16 years old. Hope is the one thing that kept his parents, Kevin and Laura moving forward. Hope is what kept them from giving up. His younger sister, Bethany, always kept her sights on the silver lining.

He went through a series of tests and a series of treatment. They discovered that the type of brain tumor he had was the same kind that took the life of his uncle a few years earlier. He underwent surgery that didn’t quite get all the tumor. Then he went through a variety of treatment that included chemo-therapy. Ben never lost his sense of humor or his compassion for other people through the ordeal.

For six months Ben went through that treatment--and then they ran more tests. In the middle of it all they had celebrated his seventeenth birthday. Someone had given them tickets to a Kansas City Chiefs game. They lived their life together and kept hoping.

A month after his surgery, tests showed the tumor coming back. Ten months after he was diagnosed with the brain tumor, Ben died.

Now for some of us that would have been the end of our hope, but not for Kevin and Laura. They have a different kind of hope today. They now hope for that day when they will be reunited with their son, Ben, in heaven. And they set up a special fund to raise money to give to research. They participate in candlelit walks around a high school track, raising money for cancer foundations. And they hope for the day when a better treatment for brain cancer and tumors will be a reality. They hold onto the hope that there will be a day when no other child or adult has to go through what Ben went through.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭18‬-‭25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A.  Suffering

B.  Expectation

C.  Groaning

D.  Waiting

A man did not believe in all that incarnation stuff that the Churches proclaim at Christmas time, so he stayed home while his family went to church on Christmas Eve. Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier, then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper.

Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another and another. At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. Well, when he went to the front door, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the storm and in a desperate search for shelter they had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn't let the poor creatures lie there and freeze. He remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter -- if he could direct the birds to it. He quickly put on his coat and galoshes, trampled through the deepening snow to the barn, opened the door wide, and turned on a light. But the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in and he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow making a trail to the yellow lighted wide open doorway of the stable, but to his dismay the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them, he tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms -- instead they scattered in every direction except into the warm lighted barn.

Then he realized they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature, if only I could think of some way to let them know they can trust me. That I'm not trying to hurt them, but to help them. How? Any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him. If only be a bird myself he thought. If only I could be a bird and mingle with them and speak their language, and tell them not to be afraid, and show them the way to the safe, warm barn. But I'd have to be one of them, so they could see and hear and understand. At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sound of the wind. He stood there listening to the bells. "Adeste Fideles." Listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

Stephen Sheane's Sermon "God With Us"

III.  A HOPEFUL PEOPLE

A.  Hope

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

B.  Love

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

C.  Faith

“For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.” Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.” And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.” And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.” 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭8‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬

1.  Joy

2.  Peace‬

CONCLUSION

The baby in the manger, a frustrated creation, a hopeful people

CHALLENGE

What will you do with what you have just heard?  How will you respond to the Holy Spirit working within you?  The Challenge is intended to give us an opportunity to contemplate what God is calling us to do in our lives.  Consider these questions and write down your answers.  

1.  Why is Jesus’ humanity important for your salvation?

2.  How do you demonstrate that you are saved to serve?

3.  How do we  groan inwardly?

4.  Are you a hopeful person?

5.  Do you have joy and peace as you trust in him? 

INVITATION

It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word.  You may want to follow Jesus.  You may want to proclaim your faith.  You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).  Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.  If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now.  If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.