The busi(y)ness of Christmas

Introduction

personal introduction

Dismiss kids

Thank you to those who ahve given so much time and energy into making this Sunday night happen. It’s wonderful to have been able to come out and support the events of the church. Truly without people giving of their time, talents, and treasures we can’t serve the community and get the gospel to them.

I love the holiday season. Thanksgiving is great and Christmas is wonderful. Often times its the time in between that we find ourselves going a little crazy. Christmas shopping, meal planning, travel arrangements, or maybe even doing good deeds.

The truth is, the holiday season bring with it some of the busiest times of the year.

If you are like me though, that busyness isn’t always restrained to the this season.

Any given week we find ourselves overwhelmed with to do lists and action items that need to be cared for. Even when I speak to many of the retirees it’s always said to me “I didn’t know how I had time to work.”

This last semester I fell into a trap that many can and hit a wall the lasted few weeks. I’m grateful for the people who saw it happening and said things to me. I’m grateful for a mentor who told me the next time he sees me in January he wants me to tell him about my naps and my rest.

Today, on this week before Christmas I want to share with you what Jesus has been showing me over the last couple weeks in an effort to help you realize, as I have, the busyness we often find ourselves isn’t the lifestyle God intended for us to live.

Jesus said

Matthew 11:28–30 KJV 1900

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus gives rest not work.

However we have sung songs for years like “We’ll work till Jesus comes” and we tell ourselves we have to do so much for Jesus when in reality He doesn’t call us to do anything.

Maybe we aren’t doing things for Jesus, maybe we are doing things for ourselves.

Jesus lived a busy life. Maybe we should call it a productive life instead of a busy one.

He was busy though. He travelled on foot all across Israel. He spent time with many people, preached to large crowds, sailed on the Sea, and did many wonderful things.

However, in his productivity he never seemed busy. We don’t read of him being irritable or exhausted. We don’t find scripture to support the idea that he ever experienced burn out. Yet even as a boy He laid the foundation for his life when he got left at the temple.

Ever heard this story? I know around Christmas time we focus on the manger, and next week we will hear the Christmas story but today..I want you to look a little past the Christmas story to when Jesus was 12 years old.

Luke 2:41–52 KJV 1900

41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. 43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. 44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. 45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. 48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? 50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. 51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Luke 2:41-52

Let’s examine what’s going on here...

Mary and Joseph, a young jewish couple that have a heart for the Lord are obeying the custom of the day and going to Jerusalem for the passover feast.

They stayed there the required days and then left. They had done what was asked of them and then moved on.

After leaving with a group of travelers, they travelled for a day and then realized Jesus wasn’t with them.

They returned to find this 12 year old boy speaking with the teachers of the day and they were astonished by Him even then. And what wasn’t he told his parents when they found him?

Luke 2:49–50 KJV 1900

49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? 50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

Luke 2:49-50

I don’t know if we could ever relate to two people in scripture more than in this passage.

I imagine they thought they had been about God’s business…they had came to the temple, done what they were supposed to do, then left in such a way that they didn’t realize their son was missing.

Now, I understand that this was a caravan of people, but if I leave my child behind…I’m probably a little busy. Funny story, we left Kate here the other day. We thought she had got in each others cars.

I want us to look into what Jesus meant by being about His Fathers business.

As a follower of Jesus if there is one thing I want to be, it is about my father’s business.

Are you a person that wants to be about your fathers business? Yes or no?

Then let’s explore what it means to be busy for Jesus.

Remember, this isn’t just about Christmas. These are routines that need to be part of your life.

You always hear cconsistency compound, and it does. However, Routines Redeem.

The first thing we have to acknowledge about being busy for Jesus and accomplishing His work is that we can’t do it on our own.

We must Depend on our Savior Daily

1. We must Depend on our Savior Daily

John 15:4 KJV 1900

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

John 15:4

The bible speaks in various places, that we can do nothing without Christ.

Now if you are not a follower of Jesus, that is nothing to you. You would say you have been living without Jesus for all of this time…The problem of living without Jesus is you don’t know how great it is to live a life with Jesus.

For those of us that follow Jesus, this truth challenges what we really believe about the one who died for our sins.

In the busyness of Christmas, we an find ourselves with wrong priorities.

-If I work for more money, my family will have a better Christmas

-If I have a lot to do, I need to get up, get to work, and get it done

May and Jospeh were so focused on the thing they had to do, they neglected who they were doing it for.

We ask the question “Mary did you know?” and while she did know He was the Son of God, I wonder if she fully understood what that meant.

We do know. We do understand what it means to call Jesus the Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us, The king of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. And with all of this knowledge and understanding of His names and who He is, but we won’t even treat Him as king of our day or lord of our time.

Someone asked me the other day about tithing and fasting and things like that. What it does for us spiriually. While there are a few anwers I can give the most important for us to understand is this: Just as the sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath so was tithing and fasting.

The abbath was made so that we would rest and remember that even if we work 7 days 52 weeks a year, it’s nothing compared to working 6 days in a week when God is involved.

The tithe reminds that God will use our 90% better than we could ever use our 100%.

Daily give of your time, talent, and treasures to depend on your savior.

Fasting reminds us of the fraility of our bodies and dependency upon the provision the Lord provides

What daily routine do you need to insert into your life to depend on your savior daily?

The second routine to prevent busyness

2. Develop your Relationship with your family

2. Develop your Relationship with your family

Ephesians 5:25 KJV 1900

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Eph 5:25

Matthew 19:5 KJV 1900

5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

Matthew 19:5

Eph 5 men, calls you to love your wife, love your family…Not your work, success, hobbies or even your church. Jesus loves the church and gave Himself for it. Your job will replace you, your customers will find someone else to buy from, your vendors will find someone else to sell to, your hobby has plenty of other people involved in it, and your church needs you but not at the expense of your family.

Matthew 19 reminds you that your to leave your old family, her inlaws, and cleave to her developing your relationship with her.

These passages are directly speaking to husbands about their wives. I’d like for us to take the principle and apply it to all of us.

The family unit is important. When we begin to get busy with work that is not the Lords, we will find ourselves neglecting the real work He has called us to,

Mary and Jospeh were so busy about what the beleived was work or actions for God that they neglected their son and left him behind for a whole day.

What work do you find yourself overwhelmed with that is taking away from your family? Fathers and Mothers, what work, hobby, anything, do you find that is keeping you from developing your relationship with your spouse and kids?

Are you not married with no kids? Who is your family? Maybe it’s not blood relationships, I get that. How are you developing your relationship with them?

Have you ever asked a child to do something and they get distraaccted by something on the way?

Maybe you have animals like me, and had some kids over the other night that ate chips and left some on the stairs. Ever had that happen?

Well when I was taking the dog downstairs to go potty, they got distrracted by those chips. Now, thankfully we made it outside in time. I noticed the floor wasn’t vacuumed the way ti should and when asked about it, I was told mom had to fix the vacuum. I asked how wasa it broke…it wasn’t…or she had already fixed it.

In both scenarios, the chips and the vacuum cleaner, both the dog and the child got distracted by something that kept them from staying foccused on what needed to be don, what was important.

Are you a person that has allowed busyness in something distract you from the business the Lord haas actually called you to?

What routine needs to be in your life daily and weekly to develop your relationship with your family? Weekly family night? Monthly or weekly date nights?

The next routine is

3. Develop yourself

3. Develop yourself

Romans 12:2 KJV 1900

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 12:2

This passage in romans is about renewing your mind towards the things of God. I firmly believe part of developing ourself is developing our knowledge of scripture and understanding of the Lord. However, God uses more than your scripture knowledge to bring Him glory and reach people with the gospel.

God has given you gifts, talents, and abilities that need to be developed so that you can better glorify Him. Developing yourself and the things God has made you good at is way to honor Him.

Are you a good communicator? Take classes, practice, etc.

Are you a writer? Are you a carpenter? Artist? Chef? Golfer?

Whatever talents or gifts you have, spend time developing them.

Spending time doing something you love usually isn’t work. You can be tired after it, but it’s not work.

I love preaching but I’m usually tired after church.

Find ways to grow as the person God made you as well as growing in your knowledge and understanding of who God is and what God has done.

What can you do daily to develop yourself?

The next routine to be busyt about your father business is

4. Deliver Value to Others

4. Deliver Value to Others

Matthew 20:28 KJV 1900

28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Matthew 20:28

This is where many of us can find ourselves. Expending all we are for others. Giving so much of ourselves that we operate on empty. Yes, we shouldd be serving, strengthening others, pointing them to Jesus yet if we stay here, we wont’ we be any good here.

This is also where your ddevelopmetn comes into play. Develop yourself in the gifts, talents, and abilities God has given you so that you can work with them to add to others lives. Whether that’s through the church or one on one.

Part of the business of the father is investing in others.

We invest in them to point them to Jesus and to strengthen them.

Hebrews 10:23–24 KJV 1900

23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

Heb 10:23-24

This is what Jesus was doing in the temple at 12, it is what he did His entire life and ministry.

How are you delivering value to others that glorified God and strengthens them?

The last routine is probably the most difficult if your a driven person. It’s one of the most difficult in our society.

it’s one that even we as Chrsitians forget.

5. Do Nothing for Jesus

5. Do Nothing for Jesus

Pastor, doesn’t that go against everything you believe? To do nothing for Jesus…Well…while I might not know the best grammar to use to convey this, let me use my voice inflection again…Do nothing for Jesus.

Take the time to do nothing for Jesus. Rest. We heard from Matthew 11 earlier about the rest He gives. We have examples in scriptures from psalms and Isaih to wait on the Lord, we have the example of God himself that worked 6 days and rested 7, we have the law to give us a principle that commanded the Sabbath.

Rest shouldn’t be a four letter word. Now…lazy is a four letter word that shouldn’t describe you. but rest is commanded of us. This is the ahrd one for me. Maybe it’s the ahrd one for you.

How could you incorporate the routine of rest into your life on a daily and weekly basis?

Jesus was always busy about His father’s business, not His. We often find ourselves always busy....but whos business are we truly about? The business of Christmas isn’t the decorations, lights, events, and gifts, thee business of Christmas is the gift that has been given to us in Jesus.

The business of Christmas is a business you can be in throughout the year if you incorporate these routines into your daily and weekly schedule.

You may say “Pastor, but I don’t have time to do all that.” I’m sorry, you misunderstand. I’m telling you that when you incorporate these 5 routines into your day and life, and say no to the other things, you will have your priorities in order and won’thave time to be busy about your business…you’ll be busy about your fathers business.

I’m excited to incorporate all of these routines this coming week. I’m grateful for what the Lord has shown me.

What has thee Lord shown you? How would your life look different if you made time for your fathers business and not your busyness?

Time of Response

Maybe you are here and don’t know Jesus. You don’t have any reason to trust Him.

Gospel rpesentation

Christians, you know Jesus…Are you busy about HIs business or not? If not, why not?

Woudl you make the decision I have and decide to develop routines that redeem the time so that you may be about your fathers business?

How would your relationships look if you incorprated these routines?