JESUS: LIGHT OF THE WORLD - No glitz, just glory 12-11-22

JESUS: LIGHT OF THE WORLD - No glitz, just glory 12-11-22

 

A light in the darkness

 

A simple Christmas

               Our live tree

               Our lights on the house

               Our cards on the wall

 

A Sunday School was putting on a Christmas pageant which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. One boy wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, a boy he didn’t like was given that part, and he was assigned to be the inn-keeper instead. He was pretty upset about this but he didn’t say anything to the director.

 

During all the rehearsals he thought what he might do the night of performance to get even with this rival who got to be Joseph. Finally, the night of the performance, Mary and Joseph came walking across the stage. They knocked on the door of the inn, and the inn-keeper opened the door and asked them gruffly what they wanted.

 

Joseph answered, "We’d like to have a room for the night." Suddenly the inn-keeper threw the door open wide and said, "Great, come on in and I’ll give you the best room in the house!"

 

For a few seconds poor little Joseph didn’t know what to do. Thinking quickly on his feet, he looked inside the door past the inn-keeper then said, "No wife of mine is going to stay in dump like this. Come on, Mary, let’s go to the barn." And just like that...... the play was back on track!

 

No glitz, just glory - that’s how our Father told his story.

 

I.  A SIMPLE BEGINNING

 

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

                              Luke 2:1-7 NIV

 

        A.  Expecting parents

               B.  An unexpected child

               C.  An unusual place for a king

 

 

II.  A SIMPLE BIRTH

 

A little glitz and lots of glory (as if heaven could not help itself)

 

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”

                             Matthew 1:18-25 NIV

 

               A.  A baby was expected.

               B.  There was a lot of drama (as there always is).

                   1.  Unexpected pregnancy.

                             2.  Angels singing

                      3.  Shepherds telling stories

                              4.  A man takes responsibility 

               C.  A baby was born.  (The story just moves on to the next chapter like nothing happened.)

 

III.  A SIMPLE MISSION

 

A little five year old girl took a sheet of brown construction paper and cut out the letter “E” with her safety scissors. She wrapped it and gave it to her dad for Christmas.

 

When dad opened the present, he looked at it with a smile and asked, “what is this?”

 

His daughter replied, “What you said you like for Christmas. A brown ‘e.’”

 

A misunderstood gift

 

No glitz, unusual glory

 

“Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

                              Isaiah 53:1-12 NIV

 

               A.  He came for a reason.

               B.  He came to die.

C.  He saw the light of life.

 

“When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.”

                              Luke 2:22-33 NIV

 

The Work of Christmas by Howard Thurman

 

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among brothers,

To make music in the heart.

 

CONCLUSION

 

He came as a light so we could find life everlasting.

 

An eight-year-old boy describes his father's celebration of Christmas:

 

Dad just finished putting up the Christmas lights. Dad likes to put up the Christmas lights. He puts them all over the house. He puts them all over the yard, too. He puts them in the trees and puts decorations in the yard. He says we have more lights than anybody else in town.

 

Dad likes to show everybody the lights. He shows them lots. As soon as he gets home from work, he turns them on. He watches all night long as people drive by. He goes out and talks to the people and shows them how he did it and tells them how much money he spends on them.

 

I guess it's a pretty important job showing people all these lights. Dad even had to miss the Christmas program at church last year so he could show people the lights.

 

I wish someone could help my Dad with the lights. It's a really hard job. When he works on them, he gets mad and yells a lot. He is too busy with the lights to do much with me and Mom. Mom says he loves us a lot, but I think he might love his lights more. I don't think I'm going to have Christmas lights when I grow up. I think they're pretty; I just don't think I will. I think I'd rather do other things.

 

A simple beginning.  A simple birth.  A simple mission.

 

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.  Who needs to hear the real Christmas story?

               2.  Who will you tell about the newborn king?

               3.  How will you tell them?

               4.  When will you tell them?

               5.  Tell them!

 

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.