2023-12-03 - Christmas 2

Silent Night

Intro:

Let me show you one of my favorite Christmas decorations - Silent Night wind up organ from Mom, tell the story how she bought it to give as a gift, she loved it so much she kept it. I loved it gowning up and she gave it to me a number of years ago. Some day, I may pass it down to my Christmas loving daughter Sarah.

Tell the Story of Silent Night

Poem written 1816 by Joseph Moore in Austria

Christmas Eve Service at Midnight organ broke

Pulls out old poem, takes it to Gruber Franz to write music in about an hours time

Had to be played on guitar

Easy to learn

Performed in 4 part harmony by a choir last minute

Link:

The night Jesus was born, may have been a Silent Night and this is what we sing about it. I believe God wants us to make sure that during the Christmas season, we find moments to be silent and reflect on Jesus Birth, His goodness & love towards us. But like for many, Christmas time is anything but Silent.

Let’s take a look in our Bibles this morning at:

Luke 10:40 “But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

Cultural Background Study Bible:

This must have been a larger home to host Jesus and his disciples.

It was considered an honor and the Jewish culture to be able to host a great teacher.

For someone to sit at teachers feet was an indication that they were a disciple of that teacher.

Women were able to hear the Torah taught in the synagogues, or occasionally in lecture, however, they were not taught by rabbis directly.

So for Mary to be taught like this by Jesus, would have been an especially special moment.

In the Jewish culture at that time, women were expected to fulfill domestic responsibilities. Therefore, we can see that Martha‘s behavior, fistic, cultural expectations while Mary’s violated it.

What we see here is that when it is time to spend special moments with Jesus, the distractions of life can take over, or when somebody is spending time with Jesus, the distractions of life try to take over.

Doesn't this seem a lot like our Christmas a lot of times? At Christmas we hope to take extra time to spend with Jesus, but then, as we say it, “life happens”, maybe like this:

Our List:

Christmas Cards

Buying & Wrapping Presents

Decorating

Parties

School

Work

Sports

Cooking

Cleaning

ETC.

But where is the time where we focus, we mediate on Christ and the real reason for why we celebrate Christmas?

I’d never want to promote to you not celebrating and partying and doing traditional American Christmas things but we have got to take time to focus and mediate on the real meaning of Christmas.

but in life in general, and during this Christmas season, we’ve got to be so careful to Guard our time spent with the Lord! We must guard our time that we have set aside to spend with Jesus otherwise we will miss out on our main reason for being here, A love relationship with Him. If we miss this special time with Him, we will miss out on His showing us what he wants us to do together with us.

In life we must step back to:

Reflect -

Proverbs 27:19 As in water face reflects face, So a man’s heart reveals the man.

To remember the wrong in our lives so we wont redo those things.

To remember the good so we can be thankful and not loose sight of the good.

Focus

So we can prepare for the things we need and desire to enjoy that which is good.

So we can succeed in what God is wanting to do in and through us.

If you don’t reflect on where we’ve been taken from and then focus on where God is taking us to, you will miss out on so much. You’ll end up having hatred & bitterness in your heart rather than love.

ILL: Mitsuo Fuchida, commander of the Japanese Air Force, led the squadron of 860 planes that attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 (82 years ago this coming Thursday) .

American bomber Jacob DeShazer was eager to strike back, and the following April 18th, he flew his B-25 Bomber, the Bat Out of Hell, on a dangerous raid over Japan. After dropping his bombs on Nagoya, DeShazer lost his way in heavy fog and ejected as his plane ran out of fuel. He was taken prisoner, tortured by the Japanese, and threatened with imminent death. For almost two years, DeShazer suffered hunger, cold, and dysentery.

In May of 1944, he was given a Bible. “You can keep it for three weeks,” said the guard. DeShazer grabbed it, clutched it to his chest, and started reading in Genesis. Scarcely sleeping, he read the Bible through several times, memorizing key passages. On June 8, after reading to Romans 10:9, Jacob prayed to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior.

Immediately Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,” became a critical text for DeShazer as he determined to treat his Japanese guards differently. His hostility toward them evaporated, and every morning he greeted them warmly. He prayed for them and sought to witness to them. He noticed their attitude toward him also changed, and they would often slip him food or supplies.

After the war, DeShazer returned to Japan as a missionary. Copies of his testimony, “I Was a Prisoner of the Japanese,” flooded the country, and thousands wanted to see the man who could love and forgive his enemies. DeShazer settled down to establish a church in Nagoya, the city he had bombed.

One man in particular, deeply affected by DeShazer’s testimony, was led to Christ by Glenn Wagner of the Pocket Testament League. Shortly afterward, the man paid a visit to Jacob DeShazer at his home, and the two became dear friends and brothers. It was Mitsuo Fuchida, who had led the Pearl Harbor attack. As DeShazer served as missionary in Japan, Fuchida became a powerful evangelist, preaching throughout Japan and around the world. - Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes, electronic ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), 318–319.

But what if DeShazer hadn’t reflected on his sin, gotten saved, reflected on the goodness of God, Focused on what and how God desired to have him partner with Him?

Just think of the souls lost to hell had he not been faithful.

Another thing we need to do not just during the Holidays but all through the year is to do what we saw DeShazer doing and that is he MEDITATED:

Meditate

Definition: Meditation is the act of focusing one’s mental energies on a specific topic in an effort to achieve resolution or peace of mind.

I think it would be wise of us right now to understand the difference between Godly meditation and worldly meditation. With all things that are good of God, Satan has taken these things and has made an antithesis, an opposite of what God has created. So there is Biblical, Godly Meditation & there is Satanic Meditation.

Biblical Meditation: a spiritual exercise focused on Scripture. Simply put, to focus in on what is right and true and how to glean from that the wisdom that we need to move forward in a good and honoring way to the Lord.

Worldly or Satanic Meditation: Where one must clear there mind of anything and everything. This is grounded in Hinduism and is Anti-Biblical, meaning it is not only against but in place of the Biblical way to meditate. God doesn't want our minds void but wants them filled with Him.

This is why we strongly oppose Yoga.

Yoga means “Union,” and the goal is to unite one’s transitory (temporary) self with the infinite Brahman, the Hindu concept of “God.”

The god that is in everything, even you. In essence, your worshiping yourself, b/c you see yourself as a god.

Each Yoga pose is a prayer, an act of worship to a god, to satan.

So God does want us to Meditate, it just needs to be how He has instructed us.

Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Psalm 119:15–16 I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. 16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

Psalm 77:12 I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds.

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

Psalm 1:1–2 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.

Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh..

How do we walk in the Spirit if we don’t Meditate on God’s Word?

Back to Martha & Mary

It’s not that God doesn’t want us to not eat, to not have fun, to not enjoy the things of life. But we need to be more like Mary, taking the needed time to be with Jesus.

We need to make time to be Silent, to enjoy our Savior and spend time with Him, or will miss out what blessings He may have for us in our relationship of love to Him.

Challenge: However God doesn’t want us to get so wrapped up in what were doing for Him or for ourselves, friends and families or even our church, that we miss spending time with Him.

God desires for us to Reflect on Him, Focus & Meditate on Him. This will bring us closer to Him in our love relationship with Him.

How will we know where or what He wants us to do if we neglect this? Perhaps if we neglect it, will keep on going in the same direction we are today????

BALANCE, its all about balance. Life without Balance is neglect. - Author, I don’t remember where I took the quote from

Unsaved: If you find yourself today thinking, “I am like Jacob DeShazer, not knowing Jesus,” will you come to Him today?

Closing Song: Silent Night