Looking Forward to Christmas

The Christmas Season is upon us isn’t it? The sanctuary is decorated. It looks nice. Thank you to the decorating committee for that. How many of you have your trees up at home already? Yes. And now the anticipation begins. We will look forward to Christmas for the next 3 weeks, won’t we?

And that is what this morning’s message is about is “Looking Forward to Christmas.” But I won’t be talking to you about how much we are looking forward to Christmas, but about what it was like for Old Testament believers to look forward to Christmas. Now, they wouldn’t have called it Christmas. They would have spoken of it as the Messiah’s coming. But as we begin our Christmas sermon series titled “Christmas in the Old Testament,” we want to consider what it was like for the faithful believers of the Old Testament to look forward to that day that we look back on and call Christmas. What did it mean to them?

Transition: Open your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 9. (p593)

1. Christmas is Meant to be a Light to Those Living in Darkness

As you turn there, let me give you some context for this passage that will give it a deeper and richer meaning. The prophet Isaiah lived over 700 years before Jesus’ birth, and in chapter 8 he prophesied that the Assyrian Empire would soon attack and conquer much of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and that’s exactly what happened. The Assyrian army invaded from the north, so the northernmost territories of Naphtali and Zebulun and Galilee were hit the hardest. But the Assyrians didn’t stop there, they attacked and plundered the rest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and even came down into the Southern Kingdom of Judah and nearly overwhelmed it as well.

Isaiah is prophesying that this will happen before it occurs, and in Isaiah 8:21–22 he describes what those days will be like for those living through them. He says, “Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.”

Isaiah foresees this time when God’s people will be living in a land ravaged by war. They will be distressed and hungry. When they look at their lives they will see only distress and darkness and gloom. And it is into this bleak situation that Isaiah speaks the prophecy of chapter 9.

Isaiah 9:1–2 (p593)

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

Isaiah looks beyond the gloom of their immediate future and off on the distant horizon he sees hope. The immediate future of Zebulun, Naphtali, and Galilee, would be all darkness and gloom; but the prophet sees a day when light would dawn on all of Israel beginning with them. I like the way one commentary put it. It said “The same region which was so darkened once, shall be among the first to receive the Messiah’s light. It was in despised Galilee that Jesus first and most publicly exercised His ministry; and it was from there that He chose most of His apostles.” [Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 1 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 440.]

So, for the believers in the Old Testament who were looking forward to Christmas, the coming of the Messiah was a sign of hope. His coming would put an end to gloom for the distressed. It would bring honor to the humbled. It would give light to those walking in darkness. It would be like the first rays of dawn shining on people living in the land of the shadow of death.

But If that’s the case. If Christmas is meant to bring hope to those stuck in gloom and despair and suffering, if it’s supposed to shine light in the darkness, then why do so many people suffer from depression at Christmastime? What is it about this holiday specifically, that plunges people deeper into gloom and despair?

To me the only possible answer is that we have made Christmas something that is devoid of Jesus. It is a symptom of what I call Hallmark Christianity. If you watch Christmas movies and listen to what our culture says about Christmas, then what you will hear is that Christmas is about spending time with family and loved ones. It’s about getting away from the corporate grind. It’s about falling in love. It’s about drinking hot cocoa by the fire and loving your kids. If you take Hallmark movies as the authority on the subject, then this is what Christmas is about.

That sounds so good doesn’t it? How could you argue with that? It’s so nice, so sweet, so loving, so warm and cozy. What could be wrong with that? Who is going to argue with that? (sheepishly raise my hand.)

I am. I’m here this morning to disagree with exactly that. Now, I’ve said some pretty controversial things in this pulpit over the last several years, but I don’t know if I have ever said anything more controversial than what I am about to say. Christmas is not about family. It’s not. Christmas isn’t about family. It isn’t about spending time with your loved ones. It’s about the light and hope that Jesus brings.

I know it seems harmless and fun and even “Christian” to say that Christmas is about spending time with family. But if that’s what Christmas is about, then what about the 75 year old widower whose kids won’t talk to him anymore... who just got diagnosed with cancer and is just barely hanging on? If Christmas is about family and he’s sitting at home on Christmas day eating a frozen dinner he heated up in the microwave while he watches movies about other people’s happy families, then what does Christmas have to offer him? Nothing, but a reminder of his gloom and despair and darkness.

Or what about the young woman living on the streets of Nashville. She was lured away from her family and pimped out as a teenager… she’s ten years older now and she’s finally figured out how to make the way of life that she was forced upon her work out in her favor. She lives as a prostitute. She’s aborted every pregnancy she’s ever had, and her family has disowned her. What about her? She is literally living in darkness. She’s living in the land of the shadow of death. What does Christmas have for her? If Christmas is about family, and finding your one true love, and quiet moments by the fire, and coming back home? Her home won’t take her back. If that’s what Christmas is about, then Christmas has nothing but despair to offer her.

You see, if Christmas is about spending time with family, then Christmas isn’t for everyone... the hope and light of Christmas aren’t for everyone. And for some people, maybe even for you, that kind of Christmas, that Hallmark Christmas, is only going to bring despair and gloom. But if Christmas is about Jesus and the light and the hope and the forgiveness and the deliverance that He brings, then it is for EVERYONE!

You see, Jesus came and lived and died for everyone. And because of him there is light and hope for everyone this Christmas. For every single person, no matter how alone they may be this Christmas, no matter how broken or hurt or despairing or dark their lives are…

You see Christmas is a reminder that there is a better way, that’s there’s still hope- hope for change in our lives, hope for restoration and reconciliation between us and God and between us and other people, hope that a miracle is possible. That’s what Christmas ought to be about. That’s what Christmas is about!

And the beautiful, unexpected bonus, is that because Christmas is about Jesus, then each of those people, the widower and the prostitute…and you, are brought into a family that we can spend Christmas with. Because in Christ we are all one family. In Christ, that old man who is celebrating Christmas alone at home on a TV Tray has a family to go celebrate Christmas with on Christmas Eve. And he ought to have a family within that church to invite him over on Christmas day for Christmas dinner. In Christ, that young woman on the streets is not left alone. She is given light and hope for forgiveness and life-change, and she is offered a new family, the family of God, to love her with the love of Jesus.

App- Don’t believe the lie that Christmas is about family this year. Is it good to spend time with your family at Christmas? Yes! Is it good to give gifts at Christmas? Yes. But when good things replace the best thing, they do major damage.

So, find ways to keep Christmas about Jesus this year and the hope that He brings. Christmas is about the needy, the hurting, and the despairing finding hope. Spend time with your family, but find some way to help the needy this Christmas. Find some way to give hope to the hurting. And if that’s you, then know that Jesus is the only one who can give you the true light and hope of Christmas. Let this year be the year, that you give someone a gift that matters. Give someone the hope that only Jesus brings. Or maybe let this year be the year that you finally accept that gift.

Transition: As we keep reading we learn something about how we ought to celebrate Christmas.

Isaiah 9:3–5 (NIV)

You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.

2. How to celebrate Christmas

Isaiah looks past the time when Assyria will take the northern part of their land and shrink Israel’s territory and he sees into the far distant future to the time of the Messiah when the territory of God’s people won’t be shrinking but expanding. He says, the Messiah will enlarge the nation. But Jesus didn’t come to enlarge a physical kingdom like Old Testament Israel. No. He came to establish and enlarge a spiritual kingdom, His church.

If you are a believer, then you are part of that kingdom of God. You are part of the church, and God’s church is meant to grow. It is meant to expand. As a church we must enlarge our borders. We must go out and find the hurting and hopeless and invite them in.

It can be easy in our day to see Christianity losing cultural influence in America and to shrink back and watch and wait for the church shrink as well. But that isn’t what Jesus came to do and that isn’t what He has commanded us to do. His kingdom has been expanding for more than 2,000 years, and it is our job to continue to expand its borders. And we do that by obeying the Messiah’s command to proclaim forgiveness in His name to all who will receive Him. You are called to shine the light of the gospel into the darkness of this world. You are commanded by God to call people out of darkness and into Jesus’ light.

And as Isaiah looks into the future he sees God’s people rejoicing because of the coming of the Messiah. He sees New Testament believers celebrating Jesus’ coming…celebrating Christmas you could say. And how do they celebrate?

He says that they rejoice as people rejoice at the harvest when many months of hard work and investment pay off. They rejoice because they know they could have lost all that time and investment, but they didn’t. They got a return for their trouble. These were hungry families, seeing that they would in fact have enough food to make it through the winter. They wouldn’t starve to death. They had battled against the hardships of survival and God had given them the victory. So they would rejoice and have a big feast. That’s what Christian joy is like. That’s how we should celebrate the coming of Jesus.

Then he says it’s like men dividing the plunder of their enemies. In Gideon’s day the Midianites kept the Israelites under their thumb and nearly starved them to death. They invaded their land all the time and ate their crops and ruined their fields and stole anything good that they had. Israel had been plundered by them many times. So, you can imagine the rejoicing that took place when God defeated the entire army of the Midianites with only Gideon and his 300 men. The Midianites fled and the people of Israel raided their tents. Everything that the Midianites had left behind went to God’s people. On that day there was plenty of food and money in Israel and God’s people were given victory over their oppressors. On that day the burden was lifted off their backs. Can you imagine the rejoicing?

Isaiah says that is what our rejoicing is like. We rejoice like people who have been delivered from our oppressors! We rejoice like people who know their will be no more war. We rejoice like people who know that peace has come.

That is how we ought to celebrate Christmas. With joy! Not the joy of gifts, or even the joy of family, but the joy that comes from knowing that God is growing His church, the joy of knowing that God has met our deepest need and has delivered us from our greatest enemy. The joy of those who finally know peace. That’s how I want you to celebrate Christmas this year. And I want us to start that right now.

App- If you have that peace and that joy this morning, then I want you to show it as the musicians come and we sing this closing song. And if you don’t have that peace and that joy that only Jesus can give then I want you to come forward now and let me show it to you, as we stand and sing- Joy to the World?

PRAY-

NOTES-

-It will be like taking a burden off one’s back (9:4).

John A. Martin, “Isaiah,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1053.

You know that feeling!

Whose load can you lighten this Christmas?

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