CPAC Christmas 2008 Luke 2: 22-40 “Seeing the Real Christmas”
Look at this beautiful flower….
How wonderful it is that we can see its beauty,
No specialized knowledge is necessary to appreciate the wonder of the flower.
Anyone could look at this flower and see it’s beauty,
but a scientist, is able to “see” much more of the flower than most of us.
A scientist could see
the beauty of the cells working together to support life;
the mystery of the flower’s colour, locked in its cells,
that attracted insects;
In short, a scientist would “see” much more in this flower in a few minutes that most of us would see in a lifetime of looking.
Christmas, is like that too.
We need to “see” Christmas in ways that move beyond the sentimental.
(Show Christmas card) - It can be too easy to see Christmas and the familiar Christmas story,
by looking at a Christmas card that has a neat and tidy picture of the Manger scene on it.
We look at it the way we might look at the flowers at the supermarket as we pass them by to get to the other groceries.
Our Winepress prayer talks about the shepherds, and us,
seeing something very different in the birth of Jesus.
The apostle John invites us to look at the coming of Jesus into our world (=incarnation) as a scientist would look at a flower.
As I was preparing this Christmas Day sermon it struck me that 2 of the 4 gospels, Mark and John have no nativity story, no animals in the stable, no angels, no shepherds, no Wise men, and so on,
BUT they do tell of the coming of Jesus into our world.
[[Mark highlights the deity of Christ.
He also stresses the facts and actions of Jesus’ life
rather than His words or sayings.
And he focuses, not on the beginning of Jesus’ life, but the end of His life. One third of the book is about the events of the last week of Christ’s life on earth, ending with His death and resurrection.]]
John wanted to stress that Jesus was God,
that He had come in the flesh,
and that He was the Messiah, or Chosen One from God.
Some of John’s most important words are in John 1:18
“No one has ever seen God. But the One and only Son Jesus is Himself God, and is near to the Father’s heart.
He has revealed God to us”.
That’s a very powerful statement.
That’s the message of Christmas, right there!
Jesus is God, and Jesus was born into our world to show us who God is.
I’m a Simon and Garfunkle fan.
They wrote one song called “Seven O’Clock News Silent Night”.
It begins with the beautiful tones of Silent Night as Simon and Garfunkle sing.
But very slowly and subtly, the voice of a News Reporter comes in.
At first the voice is in the background, but then, by the end,
you can’t hear the lovely song.
All you hear is the news about Vietnam, riots, arrests, murder and poverty.
Beyond… the silent, all is calm, all is bright night,
there is a hurting world that God came to help.
We can too easily miss the real meaning of Christmas by seeing only the decorations, the candles, the angels singing, the shepherds, and so on.
We can too easily forget the real world where all is not calm and all is not bright.
Jesus came into the real world, a world full of poverty, injustice and darkness;
a world full of sin, sickness and death.
Like this flower, there is so much more going on in our world and our lives, than we might first imagine.
There is a place beyond the lovely Carols where people are sick and in pain, and need healing,
and need hope,
and need to know the fullness of life that God offers.
Thankfully, by being here today, you and I have recognised that God.
We have recognised that something pretty amazing has happened in the history of our “real world”.
The bible says that people were “amazed” when the shepherds went and told everyone about all they had seen and heard.
Even Mary, the Mother of Jesus, pondered these things in her heart.
Of course, they were amazed!
It isn’t every day that you hear angels singing,
see a brilliant, piercing light from heaven ,
and find God lying in a manger crying!
This is something from another dimension, impacting our real world.
That is why it is so amazing!
Each one of YOU has heard reports of amazing things today!
Like the shepherds, you too must now tell everyone about all you have seen and heard.
When you tell people that, some will be astonished and amazed and believing.
If they persevere, they will find healing and hope for their life.
Others will laugh at you and be unbelieving.
But go and tell anyway, because that’s the way the “real world” is.
And that is why Jesus had to come into our world.
It was for the salvation of the real world that Jesus came on that silent night so long ago.
For “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal
life”.
God has given His Son Jesus, as a gift to you and I.
Gifts are meant to be unwrapped.
Unwrapping the gift of Jesus involves believing in Him.
Believing involves an act of faith and trust,
much like a man and a woman getting married and saying, “I will”, to each other.
This Christmas I want to encourage you to either renew that step of faith, or take the step for the first time, through a prayer I want to pray now.
So in the quietness of your heart,
I invite you to make this prayer your prayer.
Remember, it is a gift from God, not an imposition….
Following the prayer we will sing one of my fav Carols O Holy Night.
The words speak of a world that is “weary”, that is in need of a Saviour…
Claim the words as your prayer to God at this Christmas time and let the words gently massage your spirit to encourage and strengthen you and fill you with the joy and peace that Christ came to bring to our world….
Let us pray…
