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Old Testament predictions of the Messiah
Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6, Micah 5:2
Isaiah 7:14 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:6 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Micah 5:2 2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. “
Luke 2:1-20 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register. 4 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. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Christmas Is Over, Now What?
This Sunday falls between Christmas and New Years so I thought I’d pose the question, “Christmas is over, now what?” My son-in-law sets up their Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving and insists on taking it down the day after Christmas. Most of us leave it up longer than that but we do all take down the tree eventually. We take down the decorations and the lights. Why not? After all, Christmas is over.
We just read Luke 2:1-20 even though we read this same scripture on Christmas Eve. I think it’s rich enough to preach on more than once. Luke first fixes the story in history; when the census was taken, the first one when Quirinius was governor of Syria. He wants to make sure we know exactly when this took place. Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem for the census because Joseph is of the House of David, this is where King David came from too. The place is fixed geographically for us, we know where it happened. It is possible to go to Bethlehem and see the place where it is believed Jesus was born. This is a very real event fixed in time and place when our God who stands outside of time and place became one of us. The great God of the Universe, the Creator of All stepped down into history and became one of us. The baby is born and the angels appear to the shepherds with good news of great joy. The shepherds visit the baby and tell everyone what the angel said. The baby born this night is Christ, the Lord, he is your Savior. The shepherds went home, the fuss died down. A special night, a holy night.
What was it like that first morning in the stable in Bethlehem? The shepherds are gone, the specialness of the night fades and the stable must have looked even worse in the daylight than it did by night.
Scripture tells us the shepherds glorified and praised God and passed the story on to others. The story of the night the angel appeared and how they found the baby born that night who was the savior of the world. I wonder if any of them or their children ever followed Jesus thirty years later. I would think the ordinary events of life gradually pushed the memories further away as the years pass. Do we hold Christmas with its promises in our hearts through the year or do we let the ordinariness of life push away the specialness?
I want to hold on to the specialness, don’t you? I love the Christmas Eve service, the sanctuary filled with more people than we ever see on a Sunday, all our voices raised in the beautiful carols, it was very special, I would even call it holy. How do we hold on to it? How do we make it part of our everyday lives? Let’s look at what scripture tells us Mary did. Luke tells us, “but Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” This is how Mary held on to the wonder of what happened. She pondered, she spent time reflecting on the miracle. We can do the same thing. Spend time reading scripture, remembering God’s promises in it. We can hold the joy of Christmas Eve in our hearts; reflect on it throughout the year. We can rejoice for our Savior is born. Jesus has stepped down from the throne of heaven and come to reconcile us back to God the Father. Jesus has come to save us from our sin, to teach us about the kingdom of God and to give us hope. Jesus has conquered death, as one carol puts it “we will live forever more because of Christmas Day.”
Rejoicing is an important way to hold on to the specialness, the holiness of last night. Important enough that the rest of this sermon will be on rejoicing. Now rejoicing is not just about feeling a certain emotion. Rejoicing is a choice that we can make despite circumstances. It doesn’t matter if you had a thousand presents under your tree Christmas morning or had no tree or presents at all. It doesn’t matter if you are surrounded by relatives or spending Christmas alone. There is still reason to rejoice. Christmas isn’t about presents and trees, relatives or food. These are all fine things but they are not what Christmas is really about. Christmas is about the birth of our Savior, about the love of God made manifest in time and space. Christmas is a time to rejoice for Jesus Christ is born!
The first hymn we sang this morning was “Good Christian Friends rejoice, with heart and soul and voice.” I want us to let this be our model for this Christmas season. By the way, I know the retailers think the Christmas season is over but for Christians it has just begun. Joy, joy, Jesus Christ is born today. Let us rejoice with heart and soul and voice.
First, we rejoice with our heart. We start with the heart, it begins here. We need to feel the love of Jesus in our hearts. Jesus needs to be real, not just in an intellectual sense as something we agree with but Jesus needs to be real and true, we need to know His love, His grace and His mercy and we discover this in relationship. Only when we are in relationship with our Lord can Jesus work in our hearts to change us. If we don’t feel the love of Christ in our own hearts we won’t have anything to share with others. How will we show our adoration of the Lord Jesus Christ this Christmas season? Let us start by inviting Christ into our hearts to be both Savior and Lord! You may have done it before but it is good to recommit ourselves.
Second, we rejoice with our soul, with our entire being. We rejoice through surrendering our lives to God. We turn from trying to run our own lives and ask Jesus to run our lives. We live a life surrendered to God. Surrendering never sounds good to Americans. We are a stubborn and independent people. Surrender to God is different. We can rejoice because when we surrender to God our life is now for the first time on the right track and we will be aware of the difference. When we say “yes” to God we are saying “yes” to a life of commitment and purpose, of ultimate joy and peace. This doesn’t mean life will be a bowl of cherries, far from it. A life surrendered to God may be filled with difficulties and struggles. The difference is that God will be with us, Jesus will walk with us through all our trials and this is a reason to rejoice.
We rejoice with our voice: We use our voice in praise and thanksgiving, we lift our voices in song to God, we tell God how much we love Him and how much He means to us. Make a practice of thanking God for things throughout the day, big and small things. I think you will be amazed at what a difference it makes. This practice has been called an “attitude of gratitude”. I know I feel much better when I do this, so I make a habit of thanking God for various things throughout the day. Then we use our voice to share the Good News of Jesus with our relatives, friends and neighbors. I remember when I first came to know the Lord. The joy just came pouring out. I all but floated through life, singing and rejoicing. The change was evident to everyone who knew me and was a witness all by itself. Let the joy of the Lord fill you and overflow in witness to others.
Rejoice! Let your hearts be filled with joy. The angels have brought us news of great joy. This day in the city of David is born a Savior. He is Christ the Lord. I invite you to feel again the joy of the shepherds, know that you are loved by God and rejoice.