Ugly Christmas Sweater (1)
Ugly Christmas Sweater • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 8 viewsChristmas is meant to be a time of Joy, Happiness, and celebration of the birth of our Saviour, but too often, this gets lost in ugly thoughts, words, and actions. We are called to live beyond that... to overcome the petty attitudes of this world, and to live holy lives. So... How do we do that?
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In recent years, it has become a tradition to throw “Ugly Christmas Sweater” parties… You know … find the ugliest, most gaudy, most obnoxious sweater you can, and then wear it to a party where you can kick back, no worries, no judgment, and just have fun!
But some people don’t just wear ugly sweaters… some choose to embrace ugly attitudes… (We all know a few of them…)
Christmas is supposed to be a time of Joy… of Peace… of Love, based in our Savior, and celebrated with friends and family....
But, that fact often gets lost in ugly thoughts, words, motives, and actions.
This Christmas, we are going to focus on how things can change when we learn to celebrate Jesus in the way we think, speak, and live with the people around us.
You see… We are in a battle… And The War of Life is fought in the of the mind.
This is why Jesus says:
18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.
19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
The things we do… and the things we say… are first thoughts in our heads… and those thoughts effect our hearts.
I don’t know if you realize it or not, but… We are wired for negativity.
Think about it… In our brokenness… we lean naturally towards negativity…
I’ll give you an example…
When you text someone, and they don’t respond right away, what is your first thought? (Now, be honest!)
I’m willing to bet it wasn’t positive!
We are wired for negativity.
Now… Here’s the good news:
God can rewire us!
God can rewire us for Peace and Joy.
Question: All that stuff… All that negativity… All those bad reactions… frustration… anger… “Where did it come from?”
You see: Where it comes out is not where it comes from.
In other words, usually who you get angry and lose your temper on is not who you’re actually mad at.
We tend to lose our temper — to blow up — on the people we know will forgive us.
(there’s two lessons there)
Our ugly thoughts are where our ugly words, motives, and actions originate.
The question is: What caused this ugliness?
We need to discover the sources of our anger and ugliness…
Joseph’s part of the Christmas story reveals some of these things to us.
I. Event.
Matthew 1:18 (NIV)
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Look at that close…
Joseph was engaged to her… They were pledged to be married… In their day, that was no small thing…
They lived together as though they were married, just not enjoying the consummation of the marriage yet…
(In other words, they lived together, they cared for each other in every way as though they were married, they just didn’t have sex!)
The betrothal period was 1 year, and…
They were expected to be faithful to each other… Yet, Mary is found to be pregnant!!!
Can you imagine how Joseph felt?
He was ticked! He was hurt! He was confused! He felt betrayed!
Needless to say, he was having some bad thoughts!!!
Let me tell you: Some THING always causes you to have bad thoughts.
And your bad thoughts will cause you to do and say ugly things…
The root cause is always an event.
Now, Tell me if I’m right here…
A lot of times, when you are angry, it’s not even really that you’re angry at all, is it?!
Do you know what it is?
You’re afraid!
It’s fear!
Think about it… (Child runs out in the street…)
Fear starts it all.
Why?
Fear leaves us feeling vulnerable.
And rather than being vulnerable, we get angry!
Anger is a defense mechanism.
We try to work on our anger… on our temper, but… what we really need to work on is our trust!
Trust in God removes fear.
Now, don’t get me wrong here… It’s great to make a list of things you’d like to do differently, but it’s better to find out where it’s coming from… that way you don’t recreate a different issue caused by the same disease.
(It’s like the “Cannibus cures cancer” argument…)
If we try to do things differently, without finding out what the root cause is, we will just create a bigger problem.
It’s like putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound, but not removing the bullet…
26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
Is it a sin to be angry? NO!
Even Jesus got angry…
Getting angry is a natural human emotion… BUT… It doesn’t have to lead us into sin.
Paul says: Sinless anger is the requirement.
I don’t think Paul had perfect, sinless anger in mind when he quoted King David here, but he was pointing out that not all anger is rooted in the prideful, selfish soil of sin.
You see, sinless anger comes from our regenerate, Spirit-directed nature… This is what we might call “righteous anger”.
But… What is that? What is righteous anger?
(Jesus clearing the Temple - John 2)
Eph 4:26 means don’t let your anger destroy relationships, or keep others from coming to Christ.
If we are going to avoid “sinful anger,” then we have to learn to think differently… We have to have a one-track mind, and that mind must be on God!
We must learn to allow our anger to run through the filter of the Holy Spirit BEFORE it results in actions!
That’s what Joseph did…
19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Joseph was angry… He was hurt… BUT… He didn’t act quickly, he allowed time for God to speak to him…
II. Expectations.
What I mean is this: Your expectations of others are a source of your ugly words and actions towards them.
Again, look at Joseph.
Matthew 1:19–20 (NIV)
19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
The NKJV says that Joseph had in mind to “put her away quietly”.
Joseph’s thoughts were to put away Mary!
To divorce her…
You see… the events in his life cause him to have ugly thoughts toward Mary… WHY???
His expectations for Mary were not met!
Remember: The way others are treating you might not be a reflection of how they feel about you.
It might might be a reflection of how they feel about themselves.
Truth: We see in others what we see in ourselves.
99.9% of the things we accuse others of doing are things WE OURSELVES are doing!
Look at your neighbor and say: “My expectations are off!”
That’s why you have to be really careful not to let rejection… and what others think of you… take root in your heart.
Sometimes people are pushing you away — not because of anything undesirable in you — but because of what they find undesirable in themselves.
One of the most difficult things about Christmas decorating growing up was: Christmas lights… (pull them out)
It never failed… You’d pull them out… fight to untangle them… finally get a strand untied from the others, and plug it in… and....
It doesn’t work!!!
Most of us are old enough to understand this… There was a time when Christmas lights wouldn’t stay lit if just one single little bulb was out…
So you’d have to search through those lights… seeking that one little culprit… that one troublesome bulb… that one little gremlin…
And once you found it… everything worked again!
It is the same thing with us!
Rewiring our minds is a tedious and daunting task.
It takes years to formulate our thought processes and the default places our minds go to.
It’s going to take time to rewire all that!
Scripture tells us that our thoughts are a way of rewiring our lives. The two are forever connected.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Paul commands them to “Rejoice!”
Now, Paul is not being unrealistic. He understands the struggle.
Paul is familiar with all the reasons that his listeners have to grumble, complain, and be frustrated… They were oppressed… They were mistreated… They often suffered by no choice of their own…
The truth is, we often have the same feelings the people in Philippi did.
Feelings affect our thinking.
They make us anxious.
They make us jaded.
They make us question God.
They make us want to give up.
This all begins in our minds.
Paul says: “Rejoice! Even in the midst of all the reasons we have to grumble… to be negative… choose to rejoice! Rather than being anxious, bring these reasons to the Lord in prayer.... He is near… and that is ALL the reason to Rejoice!!!”
Paul even gives us a promise…
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The Peace of God will guard our hearts and MINDS in Christ.
How different would our lives be if we started with ALL the reasons to rejoice, instead of all the reasons to be frustrated?
BUT… How do we do this? How do we learn to rejoice in all things?
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
You know… They say, “You are what you eat”
“You become what you think.” — Pastor Tony
(expound)
Paul says, “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy; let your mind focus on these things.”
Of all the things we experience during Christmas, What is most true, most noble, most right, most pure, most lovely, most admirable, most excellent, and most praiseworthy?
Focus on that thing!
You have to get your mind right!
III. Emotions.
Joseph is hurt… He’s angry… He’s confused and frustrated… He’s decided to walk away from the woman he loves… and the angel tells him this:
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
Now… I don’t know about you, but my mind sometimes hears things like this, and says, “What????”
Sometimes it is difficult to tell where thoughts come from, amen?
Sometimes I have a thought, and I wonder… Was that God? Or was it me?
Is it just what I’m feeling right now, or are You trying to tell me something God?
It’s hard to search through your heart, to know what thoughts came from God, and what thoughts came from ego…
What thoughts came from Grandpa… and what thoughts came from Fox News… what thoughts came from Bloomberg… and what thoughts came from Twitter… from CNN and Facebook… Uncle Ray… Uncle Jimmy… Aunt Lucy… Aunt Martha… mom… dad…
It’s hard to know.
Am I the only one who feels this way?!?
That’s why we need the Holy Spirt.
That’s why we need Jesus.
I know it sounds simple.
It sounds like that “squirrel answer”…
I don’t know about you… But I need help with my heart this year.
I need help, because some of the stuff in here (point at head) is from God, and some of it is not!
I need help sorting it out!
Just like Joseph!
The words we use are windows into our hearts. They reveal our need for God to transform us from the inside out.
45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
Maybe the place we need to begin in changing our ugly words … our ugly actions… our ugly thoughts… is actually inside of us.
Sometimes we speak out of a broken heart, and it causes us to lash out at others.
Sometimes we speak out of a hurt heart, and it causes us to be cruel to others — to gossip… to make unfounded accusations… to spread lies that make us feel better… temporarily…
Sometimes we are hurting and we act out of our emotions instead of out of God’s Love in us.
That means that we have to take an honest look inside ourselves… We have to face the ugliness… and we have to let God correct it. Amen?
We have to use our words to speak life into others instead of more heartache and hurt…
Perhaps you’re like me… You’ve been hearing God saying: “You’ve been wearing some stuff that I didn’t put in your box!”
It’s time for you to go through your box!
12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
It’s time for you to go through your box!
Everything that does not look like Joy… Everything that doesn’t look like a garment of praise… TAKE IT OFF!!!
Everything that doesn’t look like the armor of God… TAKE IT OFF!!!
Everything that doesn’t loo like victory… TAKE IT OFF!!!
It’s time to take off the shame… the guilt… the fear… and put on the victory!
We are entering into a new season… and I don’t know about you… but I’m not coming in mad, upset, and angry…
I’m coming in in victory!
(prayer)