A Christmas To-Do List

Today is the fourth message in our 2022 Advent series The Wonder of Jesus' Birth. With Christmas Day in just a few more sleeps, people tend to look carefully at their Christmas to-do list. I want to credit Pastor Mark Mitchell for some great ideas that I’ve latched onto in my preparing this message.

Today, I want to look a bit deeper into the Christmas story which can help us with our Christmas to-do list.

You see, in Luke's gospel, the Christmas story is not just about one birth. It's about two births. Before we read about the birth of Jesus, we read about the birth of John. In fact, the surprising thing is that John's birth gets more coverage than Jesus' birth. John gets 24 verses, while Jesus only gets 21.

So let’s look at both births. Luke 1.57-66 “Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her. And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father. But his mother answered and said, “No indeed; but he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.” And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished. And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.”

Then just a bit farther, you come to Luke 2.1-21, which we’ve read several times already, this Advent season, dealing with Jesus’ birth.

Luke's Christmas story includes not one, but two births. Look also at the location of these two births. The first one took place at home, while the other took place far away from home. Zechariah and Elizabeth were from the hill country of Judea, and that's where their son was born.

But not so for Joseph and Mary. Joseph and Mary lived up in the region of Galilee, in the little town of Nazareth. For the last six months of her pregnancy, Mary had been there, no doubt expecting that to be the place her son would be born. But Luke tells us that when Mary was great with child, Caesar Augustus sent out a decree calling for everyone to return to their hometown for a census. Joseph, being from the line of David, would need to return to Bethlehem. But Joseph wasn't about to leave Mary alone in Nazareth, so the two of them packed up and headed south for Bethlehem.

But the location was not the only difference between these two births. One of the best things about bringing a new child into the world is getting to share it with your friends and family. In the case of John, all the friends and relatives were in attendance. This is what you want when a child is born.

It wasn't quite that way for Mary and Joseph. Jesus was born without any extra relatives around; without any fanfare. The shepherds actually get more attention in the Christmas story than Mary or Joseph.

That's not to say there wasn't a lot of joy in this event. We read that there was rejoicing among Elizabeth's friends when John was born. But the shepherds brought joy of a different order. It all started with the angel. He said, "I bring you good news of great joy."

At the end of chapter one, Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, shares praise to God with what has been called the Benidictus. It's a prophecy, more about Jesus than John. He praises God for bringing redemption and salvation to his people. He sings about God's tender mercy, which will result in the forgiveness of sins. And he compares the coming of Jesus to the sunrise that will give light to those who sit in darkness and guide them in the way of peace.

But Zechariah' song was nothing compared to the choir of angels that joined Gabriel out there in the fields when Jesus was born. These angels were praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased." It was a short song, but the lyrics were significant. Glory should be given to God in the most exalted of ways, while on earth this child brings peace for those with whom he is pleased.

One more thing that we see in both births: In Jewish culture, after a son was born, friends and relatives would gather at the home to celebrate for eight straight nights prior to the circumcision. At that time, the son would officially be named. In the birth of John, this created quite a stir among the relatives. The angel had told Zechariah that he was to name the boy John. But they don't know that because Zechariah has been kind of quiet lately. The relatives assume they'll name him after Zechariah. That's what you did back then. God had already named this baby; John.

It wasn't quite so hard for Mary and Joseph. Luke just says, "When eight days had passed, before his circumcision, his name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb."

So we have not one birth, but two births. One took place at home, with friends and relatives in attendance; the other took place far away from home in a stable with no one there but animals and a few shepherds. Both of them were occasions of great joy and singing. Both of them took place in accord with Jewish law—naming and circumcising the boy on the eighth day.

You might be thinking, That's all fine and good, but what does all this mean for me? I believe Luke presents these two births side by side to teach us something about what to do at Christmas. At each of these two births, we see responses to them; which, I believe, can teach us something about our response.

The two births teach us what to do at Christmas. Here is where I will finally get to sharing our Christmas to-do list.

Believe

The first thing this passage can teach us about what to do at Christmas is simply to believe. In prior verses, we see how Zechariah failed to believe that God would do what the angel promised him. That's why he's silent until his son is born. Then we remember how Mary, in contrast to that, believed that what the angel said really would take place. But with the shepherds we see another example of faith. After the angels leave, they look at each other and say: What are we waiting for? Let's go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.

There is no debate. There is no procrastination. They don't decide to sleep on it. They don't go to the local library for research. They just figure that it's all true. That's faith. Put that one on your to-do list. Scripture says, without faith, it's impossible to please God. Then we remember the angel said, "Peace on earth among people with whom he is pleased." Who is that? It's those who respond to God's gift through faith. Scripture says, "For by grace you are saved, through faith …."

Faith means you say yes to all that God was doing through Christ. Yes, he is the Savior of the world. Yes, he came to die for my sins. Yes, through him I find forgiveness and new life. Yes, I want to follow Christ as Lord. Faith is an active embracing of all that God has promised in Christ. When God brings you to a certain point, it's not a time for debate; it's not a time for sleeping on it; it's not even a time to do more research. It's a time to act in faith upon what the Lord has said.

Obedience

That's why the second thing you should put on your list is obedience. We see obedience in the naming and the circumcision of both John and Jesus. Zechariah names his first and only son, John. It couldn't have been easy. He faced some pretty serious family pressure: John? There's no one in our family named John! What kind of name is that?

There is sometimes a time to break with family tradition; maybe the hardest time to do that is at Christmas. There is a time to say: "No. This is what God’s Word has told us to do. I know that's different than how it has always been done in our family, but I must obey him." Zechariah had learned that he doesn't call the shots, but neither does their family; God does.

We see the same obedience in Joseph and Mary. They knew God was doing something new through their son, but not so new that they would ignore Jewish law and skip the circumcision. And without question, they called him Jesus, in obedience.

We sometimes think of Christmas as a rather tame holiday. We think of sweet little baby Jesus asleep on a bed of hay—tiny little hands that could do no harm, and according to some paintings, a bright halo above his head. Everyone loves that because it's so safe. But Christmas isn't safe! That baby is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He has come to usher in a Kingdom that opposes the kingdom of self. That's threatening. He tells those who would follow him to take up our own cross daily and follow him—to lay aside our own right to rule ourselves, to surrender to his rule.

The world loves to celebrate the birth of Christ, but they hate to obey him as the Lord of their lives. Everyone wants to keep Christ in the manger. But the manger is meaningless apart from the cross. Christmas is a time for obedience.

Tell Others

One of the things Jesus told us to do is tell others about him. That's the next thing to put on your to do list—tell others. We see that at John's birth. It says that when Zechariah' friends heard him praise God, they began to tell everyone about it throughout the hill country of Judea. It spread like wildfire.

But again, it's in those shepherds that we see it best. It says when they arrived in Bethlehem and saw the child lying in the feed trough, "they made known the statement which had been told them about this child." Pay attention to the order: they heard the angels; they went to Bethlehem; they saw the child; and then they made known the statement.

You see, you cannot speak of what you have not seen and experienced in your own life. But when you belong to Christ, something happens to you. Paul says, "The love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5). If you, like the shepherds, have experienced that, you have to tell others about it.

By the way, those shepherds weren't preachers, they weren't missionaries; but that didn't matter. They had heard something. They had seen something. That something meant salvation for the whole world. If you saw a fire and heard a small child screaming from the window, you don't wait for the professionals; you run in there and get that child out.

I'm not one of those who thinks we should get rid of the Christmas trees and eggnog and exchanging of gifts. I like all that stuff. I like Christmas shopping … at least seeing the decorations. But, do you know what? If we do all that stuff, if we say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, but don't talk about Jesus—if we fail to speak of the real meaning of Christmas; if we neglect to tell someone that this child was born as Savior and Lord, that he was sent by God to die on the cross to purchase with His blood our own deliverance from sin, death, and separation from God in hell; if we neglect to make that known; we've failed to do Christmas right.

The angel said that this is good news of great joy which shall be for all the people; All the people. Not just religious people, not just Western people, not just poor people or rich people or smart people or not-so-smart people—for all people.

So don't let Christmas go by without telling people about Jesus.

Holy Wonder

The fourth thing to put on your to do list is what I would call the work of holy wonder. We see it in the people who heard the news about John's birth. In verse 66, it says, "All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, 'What then will this child turn out to be.'" We see a similar reaction when people heard what the shepherds were saying—all who heard it wondered. It's a good thing to wonder. It's a good start, but you don't want to stop there.

You get the feeling that Mary took it even a step further. That's why it says, "But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart." When you write your to-do list, put that on there, too. Amidst all the activity, I need to just stop and treasure all these things. I need to ponder them in my heart. I need to engage in some holy wonder.

How do you do that? Maybe that means you stop in the middle of your shopping and pull out your Bible or pull up your Bible app and just read the Christmas story. Maybe that means you gather your children around a nativity scene this week and unwrap different pieces and talk about the role they play in the Christmas story. Maybe that means you wake up early one morning this week and find a place you can watch the sunrise and meditate on Zechariah's words: "The Sunrise on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace." Maybe that means you write the words of the angel on a 3x5 card and pull it out every time you eat: "Behold I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all the people …."

Go Back

The work of holy wonder is the work of treasuring and pondering the fact that God invaded planet Earth on a rescue mission. When you do that, when you really let it sink in, you'll find yourself doing exactly what the shepherds did next. Verse 20 said they went back, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. You can put that on your to do list as number five. Go back! Just because you have seen the Christ doesn't mean you stay in the manger. You go back to where you came from, but you go back glorifying and praising God. You don't just wait until Sunday to do that. You go back and do that. You do that in the place he's called you.

Conclusion

The work of Christmas is the work of kneeling before the Lord Jesus, of praising him. But it doesn't start there. It starts with faith and obedience and telling others and taking time for holy wonder. Then you must go back and share with those whom God has placed in your life.

Don't leave out one of those things. Make sure you have them on your Christmas to-do list.