Tuesday
12/24/19 - Sidney UMC –
Christmas
Eve – 7:00 pm/11:00pm
Sermon Title: “God shows up when it’s hard!”
(“Why
we need a little Christmas” Series – Part 5 of 5)
Old Testament
Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7
New Testament
Scripture: Titus 2:11-14
Gospel Lesson:
Luke 2:1-20
I want to welcome you all again, on this our Christmas Eve,
2019! I don’t know about you, but this year for me, has just flown by. It is
hard for me to believe that tonight is Christmas Eve, that tomorrow is
Christmas, and that soon we will be in the year 2020.
I have heard some people say recently though that they
“will be glad when Christmas is over!” They have told me that there is so much
work, so much preparation, and so much stress that goes into Christmas that
they are looking forward to it just being over. Can anyone relate to this?
You see, for many of us when we were little kids, which we
have some of tonight, Christmas was a magical time. For many of us Christmas
was a time of wonder, hope, joy, peace, and love. Some of us could hardly sleep
on Christmas Eve, as we awaited Santa Claus coming. Some of us got excited
about the Christmas tree, the cookies, the family time, going to the Christmas
Eve service, and many other things.
For most of us here though, we then grew up and became
adults. The Millennial generation that I am part of, calls this “Adulting”.
Basically, going from a kid to an adult. I think if we’re honest though, in
this process, many of us have lost some of the wonder, joy, peace, hope, and
love of Christmas that we had when we were kids.
Anyone here not look at Christmas in the same way that you
did when you were a kid? For some people they wonder if they can ever recapture
the spirit and the hope of Christmas.
Going to the Christmas Eve service, lighting the candles,
singing Silent Night, it’s just something that many of us do. Yet, if we have
lost some or all of the spirit of Christmas, then why do we come to Christmas
Eve service at all?
Well, I think we are here tonight for a few reasons, one
our parents or grandparents are making us go. Two, we have the day off from
work tomorrow, and we figured why not, everyone loves a new baby. Lastly, I
believe, and I hope this applies to all of us, we came tonight, because somewhere
deep down inside of ourselves, we want to recapture once again, the hope, love,
joy, wonder, and peace of Christmas. We want to believe and to have the excitement
that we once had, but might not have anymore.
Throughout this season of Advent, culminating on this our
Christmas Eve, I have preaching a sermon series called “Why we need a little
Christmas.” I don’t think that it is a mistake that we have movies in our
culture like “The Grinch who Stole Christmas,” “A Christmas Tale,” and it’s “A
Wonderful Life.” In all of these movies some of the characters loose the spirit
of Christmas.
Friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, whether we want to
admit it or not, I think all of us “Need a little Christmas.” I need a little
Christmas. I need to rediscover on this night that journey to the manger in
Bethlehem, to behold anew a child that will change the world forever. This
Jesus, Immanuel, “God with us,” will transform our culture and our world
forever, and as I said, everyone loves a baby!
The season of Advent, Christmas Eve, and the 12-day season
of Christmas exists solely because of Jesus Christ. We have this night of
wonder, hope, peace, love, and joy, because of Jesus Christ. Since God sent his
son to us on this night, born in a manger, in what was the equivalency of a
cattle stall, we can have hope knowing that God is with us. Not far away, but
right here with us.
We
can live this hope out as Christians every day individually, and as a church
community. As a church family we love our children, care for our sick, feed the
hungry, and live as a vibrant and a loving community in Jesus Christ. There is
always room for more, and we are growing here at the Sidney UMC, and God is
building something great.
So, I think, and I believe that we all “Need a little
Christmas.” We need to rediscover the joy and the wonder of this time of the
year anew.
I know that I have mentioned this story a few times now,
but I also know that we have some visitors tonight. So, I was at my parents’
house for Thanksgiving, and while I was there, my mother Susan asked me what I
was preaching about in Advent and on Christmas Eve. I told my mother Susan that
I was preaching a sermon series called “Why we need a little Christmas.” With
this, my mom then immediately put on the song “We need a little Christmas,” and
began singing it and dancing to it. Two things then happened for a moment
inside of me, one I thought maybe I don’t need a little Christmas, and two I
regretted telling my mom the title of my sermon series!
In this sermon series, thus far, I have picked but a few
ways that we can recapture some of what we may have lost around the hope and
the spirit of Christmas.
I don’t know about you, but for me, this has been another
year of shootings, wars, political scandals, violence, drug overdoses, my
Chicago Bears not making the playoffs, and etc. It is easy to become hopeless,
cynical, and just check out. Yet, the world is burning, and Jesus is coming
soon to show us a new and radical way to live and love. As Christians, we are
called to have “Hope
in Hopeless World.” Can we fix the whole world? No? Our faith and hope though can
propel us every day to share the light, life, and love of God, so that the
world will look better than when we started. We are people of resurrection,
people of love and mercy, and we are called to have “Hope in Hopeless World.”
To reclaim the spirit and the hope
of Christmas, we also need to realize that “God can use even us.” No matter how
young, old, weak, or strong that we are, God can use us. We don’t all have to
be pastors or priests, we just have to want to live and love like Jesus. The
caring and the compassion that exists in Advent and Christmas all systemically
comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ. In our increasingly secular culture, we sometimes
don’t even realize it. Yet during this time of the year, we are often kinder,
more generous, and more forgiving. If Jesus hadn’t been born, then what would
this month look like? I also know that Jesus was likely not born exactly of December
25th, but the church picked December 25th to celebrate
his birthday centuries ago. So this is the month of Advent and Christmas. In
this time of the year we share the love, the generosity, the caring, and the
hope of Jesus Christ.
I remember once when I was a little
boy at a Christmas Eve service. I sometimes got in trouble in church, and since
God has a sense of humor, He called me to be a pastor. One Christmas Eve
service I was being especially annoying, and my mom told me to behave and to be
nice, because it was Christmas. “On Christmas, we are supposed to be kind,
loving, and generous,” my mom said. Being the young inquisitive boy that I was
though, I then asked my mom, “So I can been and annoying the day after
Christmas?” My mom was really caught off-guard by this question. After a few
seconds of confusion, my mom just said, “No Paul.”
With all of
this said though, for some of us, not only have we lost some of or all of the
spirit of Christmas, but in addition to this some of us have become bitter or
sorrowful. We have become like Ebenezer Scrooge, or the Grinch, and etc. Jesus
tells us that if we come to him, and if we confess all of our sins and wrong
doings to him, that he will forgive everything that we have ever done. He will
make us a clean slate, a new creation, our past is gone, and our future is now with
him. One of things that prevents us from experiencing the true forgiveness of
Christmas though, is not that we don’t believe that God has forgiven us, but
that we haven’t forgiven ourselves. Shepherds, Wise Men, and many others
journey to the manger of Jesus, to be made new, and we can be to, but we also have
to forgive ourselves. Friends, “We are never beyond redemption!” Brothers and
sisters, you are good enough through Christ.
Last Sunday,
or two days ago, in this “Why we need a little Christmas” sermon series, I said
that the birth of Christ is so significant in our culture, that it “brings
families together!” Many of us have many extended family Christmases every year.
Further, when some of us have had these Christmases, we didn’t even like all of
our family members. Sure, we love them all, but we all have that aunt, that
uncle, or that cousin. Other than the birth of Jesus Christ, what could
possibly bring us all together? Christmas and the spirit of Christmas is real,
because it “brings families together!” The likelihood of all of us getting
together tonight, like we are right now would be highly unlikely without
Christmas, without the birth of Christ.
We do all
this, Christmas Trees, Advent Wreaths, Christmas Stockings, cookies, fruit
cake, and all those Christmas movies, because of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Christmas is more than just a historical event, or the birth of a historical
figure. It’s a day that millions and billions of people believe is day that
changed the world forever. For in a weary and dying world, one has come to make
things new. We can hope in him, and we can have “a little Christmas” anew.
Many people
that are people of faith therefore, don’t believe simply because we were told
to, we believe, because we have experienced God and His grace and love for
ourselves. Every Christmas card, phone call, e-mail, cookies, and so on that Melissa
and I receive, we feel more and more in the spirit of Christmas. I worry though
that in our culture we have begun to view God as a vending machine. Bad things
happen, and then we wait for God to fix it all. Sometimes God does, but often
he calls us to do the work, with Him working through us.
In my
experiences in life, “God shows us when it’s hard!” Does this mean that I have
been visited by an angel of the Lord? No, I haven’t. It does mean though that
in dark times in my life, God and His people showed up in droves. The love of
God was so evident in the people that loved me that I knew without a shadow of
a doubt that faith is real, that God is love, and that the birth of Christ has
changed the world.
According to
many research statistics that I have read, we are living in a culture right now
with some of the lowest level of happiness in years. We work hard, pay our
bills, and watch Netflix. Yet many of us are hungry for relationships,
community, and real people that care. I am honored and privileged to be a part
of church like this, where the people love you with everything that they have.
So many
people I know are living lives with no joy, no love, and no hope. People are
starving to be connected, to believe, and to hope. Friends if you are in a dark
place are just going through the motions, you can life of victory. You can
journey with me and many others to the manger in Bethlehem, and maybe, just
maybe we will leave changed.
The prophet
Isaiah, hundreds of years before Jesus was born, told us of what this baby who
is going to be born this night would be like. Once again our reading from Isaiah
9:2-7 for tonight says:
“The
people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a
land of deep darkness—on them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the
bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on
the day of Midian. For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the
garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. For a child has
been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he
is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the
throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice
and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of
the Lord of hosts will do this” (Isa. 9:2-7, NRSV).
Hope, Joy, peace, love, and wonder is among us, for Jesus
is coming soon. Do we feel it a little more now?
In our reading from Titus 2:11-14 from tonight we hear of this
Jesus once again. Once again this scripture says:
“For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and
worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are
self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the
manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus
Christ. He it
is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify
for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds”
(Tit.
2:11-14, NRSV).
Friends,
brothers and sisters, do you “Need a little Christmas?” I know that I do, and
it we haven’t already, I pray that we find it again.
In our gospel
of Matthew lesson for tonight, we have one of the two gospel narratives of the
birth of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Matthew account tells us of the census
from the Roman Emperor Augustus, causing Mary and Joseph to head to Joseph’s
place of birth, Bethlehem, to be counted. Mary and Joseph find that there is no
room at the inn, and Mary gives birth to Jesus in a stable or perhaps a cave
like structure. Mary wrapped Jesus in cloth and placed him in a manger, likely
an animal feeding trough. The Shepherds came, were amazed, and left the manger
changed forever (Lk. 2:1-20, NRSV).
In the account
of Jesus’ birth in the gospel of Luke however, we have the story of the Three
Wise men who come to Jesus bringing Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Before the
Wise Men go to see Jesus, they meet up with and have dinner with King Herod
first. King Herod though doesn’t go to Bethlehem, and instead tells the Wise
Men to come and tell him if this Jesus was truly the Messiah.
A pastor I
know said this of King Herod’s choice. He said that King Herod probably didn’t
go to Bethlehem, because deep down King Herod knew that if he truly saw the son
of God and beheld him, that he himself would have to change. Instead then, King
Herod stayed in his castle and never went to Bethlehem, because how could you
possibly see Jesus and not be changed forever?
A few weeks
ago we had our monthly Sauce and Cross dinner and contemporary worship service
here at the church. In this service, I challenged everyone in worship to try to
remember what they gotten as gifts for Christmas from the age of 3-13. I encouraged
them all to go home and to write down each year on a piece of paper, and then next
to that year to write down the gifts that they received. Some of the people
could remember some of the gifts that they received from 3-13, but none of them
could remember all of them.
What could
they remember though? They remembered what happened at Christmas. They
remembered their families time together, that crazy uncle, our traditions, and
why Christmas is so important.
When it’s all said and done, Christmas is not about gifts, or
wrapping paper, or cookies, it about Jesus Christ, what he is doing in us and
through us, and how he bring us all together. Dear friends, if you have lost
some of or all of the wonder and the spirit of Christmas, I pray that this
night and tomorrow that you find it a new! Merry Christmas and God bless you
all. Amen.
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