Home > Sermons > December 24th
The Bible says Mary took her little baby, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. It was the happiest moment of her life. There was every reason to be: that special star hung in the sky, the angels sang, shepherds came to worship, and Kings bowed down and brought gifts.
But there were also causes for concern. Isaiah had predicted the One to come would suffer and die. He would be a despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. That his body would be pierced for the sins of many (Isaiah 53:3-5). One of the Wise Men brought a very strange gift. The others brought gold - the gift for a king, and frankincense - used by the priests in Temple worship. But then there was the gift of myrrh - a burial spice used at funerals. When they went to the Temple to honor God for the gift of this baby, they met an old man. Something happened inside him when he saw the baby. His heart was filled with joy as he took him into his arms. He praised God and said now he could die in peace and fulfillment. But then the shocking words, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against 35(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."
I wonder if Mary understood. I wonder if she dared try to understand. A manger is a feeding trough for animals; often made of crude scrap wood nailed together. I wonder, as she placed her baby in that manger and saw her son surrounded by that rough wood, if she could vision his body surrounded by the wood of an old rugged Cross. How difficult to know your baby is born to die? I wonder if Mary saw the connection between Christmas and the Cross.
The hardest things I have done this year were funerals for three little babies. One set of twins, born still. Another born and lived for but a few hours. The pain of that is almost unbearable. I think about those in Iraq and Afghanistan tonight. Those working, fighting, sacrificing for freedom and peace. I think about moms and dads, wives and children and how they worry for their loved ones, for some will not come home. Even for us, there is a connection between Christmas and the Cross.
What does Christmas mean? What is the purpose of Christmas? For Jesus it was leaving heaven, coming here to be born, and giving His life on a Cross for us. He was born to die. I think, what a gift. It is a gift I need to open, explore, and appreciate. What does it mean for Christmas to connect to the Cross? First of all it means ~1. Our PAST can be PARDONED. Many of us look at our pasts, what we have done and left undone and think there is nothing that can be done for us. Why would God want anything to do with the likes of me? God is good, holy, righteous, and I am not. Why would God care about me?
The good news of Christmas is Jesus came for us - all of us. The Bible says that no one is good but God alone. All of us are sinners and have fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). So we need help. God could have decided to leave us in the disaster we make of our lives. Instead, God sent help. He sent Jesus to help us, to save us. He was born in that manger but went to the Cross to die, to pay for our sins, yours and mine, so our past could be pardoned. His name, Jesus, literally means, 'God saves.'
Everyone who ever went to Jesus and honestly said, "My life needs help," He helped them. He pardoned them, He forgave them. He hung there on that Cross and said to all of them and all of us, "Father forgive them."
One Christmas Eve, the great theologian Karl Barth, went to preach and serve Holy Communion to prisoners in a prison in Switzerland. Here's what he said to them in their prison dungeons: "The place where the Savior enters in looks rather like the stable of Bethlehem. It is not beautiful, but quite ugly; not at all cozy, but really frightening, not at all decently human, but right beside the animals . Down here, Jesus Christ sets up quarters! Even better, he has already done so! Yes, praise be to God for this dark place, this manger, this stable in our lives! Here He greets us. What else can we do but return His greeting and bid him welcome? Let us not be ashamed that the oxen and the donkeys are close by. Precisely here He firmly stands by us all! In this dark place, He will have Communion with us." It is true, Jesus does His very best work in the sin and failure of our lives and comes to pardon us.2. Our FUTURE can be FIXED. Wouldn't you like to know your future? Wouldn't you like to be sure of your destiny for all eternity? The Bible says our eternal home is in heaven. God wants all of us there and has provided a way for that to happen. It is not your way, it's not my way, but it's God's way. The most known verse in the Bible, John 3:16 says, 'For God so loved the world He gave His only Son, and whosoever would believe in Him, would not perish but have everlasting life.'
Just before He died, Jesus called his disciples together. They knew what was going to happen and He saw the sadness on their faces. He said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I tell you that I go to prepare a place for you? As I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:1-3).
He is talking about heaven and our being there. What's heaven like? I'm not sure, but I know it's not anything like here. In heaven there is no war. In heaven people don't die of cancer. In heaven people don't starve to death or go homeless. In heaven there is no sadness. Jesus said, 'I will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death will be no more' (Revelation 21:4). That's what He has prepared for those who believe in Him. Jesus Christ came here at Christmas to fix our future. Isn't that great news? You'll never get a better Christmas present than that. Finally ~ In3. Our PRESENT can have JOY. Tomorrow morning, in our Christmas Day worship service here, we will sing, 'Joy to the World,' the Lord has come! Let earth receive her King.' We can have this joy because God is with us. Almighty God has come to earth, incarnate in a baby, Jesus Christ. Emmanuel - God is with us. Another verse of this great song says, 'No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the grown; he comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, far as, far as, the curse is found.'
What is the curse? It goes all the way back to the beginning - to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and so were cursed with hard work, pain in childbearing, and separation from God. There they would have to provide for themselves and ever since that time all people have died. The Scripture says that the worst sign of that curse would be to hang on a tree - crucified on a cross. But Jesus came to shatter the curse by dying on a tree - the Cross (Galationas3:3) and He shattered the curse by rising from the dead. So He can pardon our past, fix our future and today we can have joy and tomorrow we can sing, 'Joy to the world, the Lord has come.'
We received a very beautiful and unique card this Christmas. In it was a carpenters nail tied with a red ribbon and a poem called, 'The Nail.'
Amidst the glitter and sparkle that decorates my tree, hangs a simple nail as a reminder of He who was born and died for me.
It held His crib together that night so long ago, it secured the boat He taught from so all of us would know....
That His life was the most precious gift we ever would receive, and all we have to do is accept Him and believe.
It pierced His perfect, sinless body and held Him on that tree, so I could be forgiven so I could be set free.
The nail gets lost within the clutter of the shimmering silver and gold, like Jesus is so hard to see, in a world that's bought and sold.
It's just a simple carpenter's nail, it hangs within my tree.
It reminds me of the gift God gave when He gave His son for me.
I wonder what Mary thought as she placed her baby in the manger that night. I wonder if she saw how Christmas is connected to the Cross. He came that night to her; He comes this night to you and me. I wonder if we see how Christmas is connected to the Cross.
In a moment you too will have an opportunity to light a candle and sing Silent Night. As you do, I want to encourage you to pray. Jesus came here tonight just for you and He called you here tonight to connect with Him. Tonight you can have a relationship with the God of all eternity. Just pray, 'Jesus, come into my life, be born in my heart tonight as you were born in that manger 2000 years ago.' No matter what happens here, your life and destiny will never be the same. He loves you, I love you. Merry Christmas.* Candle lighting * Silent Night * Christmas Prayer - dismissal in silence
Luke 2: 25Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, 28he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; 30for mine eyes have seen thy salvation 31which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel." 33And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; 34and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against 35(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."
Galatians 3: 3Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, 'Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree.'