Merry Christmas

Introduction:

Scrooge

On December 19th 1843 Charles Dickens published The Christmas Carol. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the story.

Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character story. A cranky old capitalist, who seemingly hates everyone, and only cares about greed and material prosperity.

He does not like people, and he *ESPECIALLY* Does not like Christmas. And he is grumpy mean old guy who goes out of his way to make everyone else's life miserable, especially around Christmas.

Well of course you know the story, 3 ghosts come to visit old Scrooge, rebuke for being a curmudgeon, and show him why he is the way he is and why he needs to do better.

And he wakes up on Christmas morning a changed man! He runs through the streets, wishing people a Merry Christmas, and giving away money to everyone he runs into.

The Grinch

You guys remember the story of the grinch? How the Grinch stole Christmas? The Grinch was a lot like old Mr. Scrooge. He hated Christmas.

He hated the games, and the toys, and the joy, and the fun, and he especially hated the singing.

And Grinch was what the kids now a days call a bit of an introvert. He hid in his house which was up on a mountain far far away from Who-ville, which is where the rest of the Who’s lived, because he didn’t like people, and didn’t like being around people.

Of course, the Grinches main problem was that he had a heart that was 3 sizes to small.

So one year Grinch finally decides he’s going to do something about his Christmas problem. He dresses his dog up as a reindeer, he dresses himself up like Santa, he builds a sled, and he goes down to Who-ville in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve, and he steals all of the presents, in hopes that this will quite down all the Rokus, and especially stop the singing.

Well the Grinch get’s all the presents, and he’s going back up the hill to his house, and right about the time the sun starts to rise, he begins to hear something stirring in the town down below. So he stops what he’s doing in excitement, and listens more intently, hoping that he’ll hear the sound of grumbling and complaining.

Upon listening closer, much to his dismay and devastation, the people are not groaning and complaining, but instead they have gathered in a circle with one another and they are SINGING.

Well, when Grinch discovers that taking away all the presents didn’t rob the people of their celebration, he is awe struck by this. And as he stands there listening to them sing, wouldn’t you know it, his heart grows three sizes, and he is a changed Who.

He takes all the presents back, and stops hating Christmas.

We have a lot of stories like these around Christmas time. Throw in a handsome business tycoon who get’s snowed in to his home town during Christmas, and a beautiful women who runs a failing coffee shop that has sworn off love, and you have 532 variations of this same story every year on the Hallmark Channel.

The message of all of these stories are the same. Christmas is a self evidently joyful time of year, and anyone who doesn’t agree is either crazy, or broken in some other way, and they need to be fixed.

But is it really just self evident that Christmas has to be a joyful time of year?

I mean, you got the gifts, the decorations, the singing, the mistletoe, the jingle bells, and so forth. And that stuff is all fun I suppose. Does that make Christmas self evidently happy?

Honestly, What is so Merry about Christmas?

My Story

About 11 years ago or so I found myself wrestling with this same question. What is so Merry about Christmas? It was Christmas time, and Katrina and I were living up in Northern Indiana about 3 hours away from family.

I was working 3 jobs, and between 60 and 70 hours a week on a pretty regular basis. Two of those jobs were retail jobs, and one of them was pastoring a small church plant, where the pastor that had been there before me thrown in prison for doing some very very bad things with children. Life was hard.

I hardly ever saw Katrina and the kids. Most of our conversations were business conversations. We were sort like ships passing in the night.

And, as some of you know, Christmas time is the *WORST* time of year to work retail. Customers are grumpy, everyone is in a hurry, nobody is ever satisfied, and so forth.

I think it was the Friday before Christmas, I was working at Family Christian. There was a HUGE line of people. And this woman comes up, and she says she needs to pick up an order of some books that she ordered for her church bible study. So we look, and the books haven’t come in yet.

So I go back out and tell her “Sorry ma’am, there must be a delay with the publisher, because your books haven’t come in yet, we’ll give you a call when they get here.”

Upon hearing this news this woman cussed me up one side and back down the other. I mean, she called me everything but a child of God.

When she finally got done yelling, she proceeded to walk out the store, and slam the door as hard as she possibly could on her way out.

Little bit later when the line finally died down I looked my manager and I asked “What was the deal with that women.”

To which she responded “Oh, yeah, she’s pastor so and sos wife.” My jaw dropped.

And I’ll never forget the words that came out of my mouth next.

I said “I hate Christmas.”

In that moment I sort of became the villan of every Christmas movie, without abs and big city corporate job.

What I learned that day, and what I’m sure a lot of you have experienced in your own lives, is it’s not always immediately obvious why Christmas should be a happy time.

And so for the next few minutes I want take some time and look at this piece of the story of the Birth of Christ, where Jesus has now been born, and Angels of the Lord appear to some shepherds in a near by field, and announce the birth of Christ to them.

And I want you to see in this announcement of the birth of Christ what is so Merry about Christmas.

Body:

1. Christmas is Merry because Jesus is our Savior

1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

2. Christmas is Merry Because Jesus is the Christ (Messiah)

Isaiah 9:6–7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.”

Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

3. Christmas is Merry Because Jesus is The Lord

Notice the definite article in front of the word “Lord” here.

Jesus is not “a lord” he is The Lord. As in the Lord of lords and the King of kings.

Psalm 110:1 “The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

Psalm 2:6 ““But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.””

Psalm 2:8 “‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.”

4. Christmas is Merry because of What Jesus is accomplishing in the Earth. (v14)

Peace on Earth, and goodwill toward men of Goodwill.

That’s what Christ came to accomplish, and that is what he is presently accomplishing in the world today.

Conclusion: