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By Pastor Glenn Pease
Timing may not be everything, but it is plenty.
At the dedication service of the Statue of Liberty a boy was to wave a flag indicating that Senator William Evarts had finished his speech.
This way the signal for men high in the head of the statue to let go of a giant French flag, which in turn was the signal for the vessels in harbor to let loose with their whistles.
Unfortunately, the Senator paused too long, and the boy thinking he was finished set all this commotion in motion.
The Senator never did get to finish his speech.
Wrong timing ruined it for him.
On the other hand, the graduating class of Harvard in 1949 became the most successful group of graduates in history.
It was because of the longest, richest, and most wide spread peace time boom the modern world had ever seen.
The 49'ers, because of the timing of their entering into the economy, became rich.
One out of 5 became millionaires by 1974.
They became the leaders of the upper branches of American enterprise.
They became the chairmen and presidents of the largest companies and colleges.
The same thing happened to the class of 1915 at West Point, but for the opposite reason.
Because of the timing of the two World Wars, this class was called the class the stars fell on.
Many of them became generals, and one by the name of Eisenhower even became president of the United States.
Timing really does matter.
It is by precise timing that God works in history and in our lives to do wonders without miracles.
A pastor's wife back in the 70's was selected to be on the $128,000 Question.
It was a popular TV show in Canada.
She and her husband needed money badly, and so they prayed for guidance.
She got to the $16,000 level, but they needed double that, so she agreed to come back the next day.
Before the show the next day she relaxed by walking through one of Toronto's malls.
She picked up a book and leafed through it.
She found a page that listed all the plays of Agatha Christie and their opening dates.
This was the area her questions were in, and so she read the list through.
That night her $32,000 question was to list titles and opening dates of the plays of Agatha Christie.
She did not know these answers before that day, but she had picked them up in the mall and was able to win $32,000.
She felt that God had given her what she needed, and she refused to continue out of greed to get more.
She called it a miracle, but it really wasn't.
It was a matter of perfect timing, and that is what we call providential.
The point of all this is, it is time for us to focus again on the birth of our Lord.
It is time to focus on that incredible and incomprehensible miracle of the incarnation.
The incarnation was a miracle, but so many of the events surrounding it were providential.
That is, they were all a matter of precise timing.
Paul makes timing an issue in Gal.
4:4 where he states, "But when the time has fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.
What we want to see is that though timing may not be everything to Christmas it is plenty, and a focus on the timing of Christmas events can be quite revealing.
The whole of history had to be coordinated to bring about this event with precise timing.
Caesar had to give his order for a census at just the right time so as to get Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem at the time of her delivery.
The angel Gabriel had to come to Mary at the right time.
It was just 6 months after Elizabeth became pregnant with John the Baptist so she could have the consolation of another woman in her trying time.
Her own conception had to be timed to fit the scheduled delivery when she was in Bethlehem.
It was the right time in history for Jesus to come.
The whole world was prepared by Alexander the Great to carry the message of Christ to all the world.
He made Greek the common language of the world so that the Gospel could be carried to every land in that common language.
Timing plays a role in the shepherds being in the field, and the wise men seeking for a star.
Timing is the name of the game in the biblical events, and in the celebration of these events.
Consider for example,
I. THE TIME OF THE YEAR FOR CHRISTMAS.
Dec. 25th was a time of celebration long before Jesus came.
This was the time of the year when the sun began to return to the northern hemisphere, and the days began to get longer.
Up to that point the darkness seemed to be winning over the light, and it was pushing the light back further and further.
The sun was in retreat, and seemingly headed for defeat, but now there is a reverse process, and the sun if coming back.
On the basis of this observation, the ancient Persians and the Romans selected Dec. 25th as a day of celebration for the victory of the sun.
From a Christian point of view, not even looking at the birth of Christ, this fact of nature is a very positive one.
If you enjoy sunlight and longer days, and all the life that spring will bring, and all the beauty of summer, then it makes sense that Dec. 25th is a valid cause for celebration.
The early Christians were not anti-sun.
This was their holiday too, but they saw in it a chance to exalt the greater Son-the Son of God, who was the Creator of the sun of nature.
They adopted this holiday as their day of celebration of the coming of the Son into history to bring light to a world in darkness.
They made this pagan holiday a Christian holiday.
There are many who lament that Christians have been following a pagan custom by celebrating Christmas.
This criticism is true if Christians celebrate by abuse of their bodies in drunkenness.
But just the fact that celebrate the birth of Christ at the same time as pagans have always celebrated the ascendancy of the sun is no basis for criticism.
This type of argument is folly.
One just as well argue that all Christians should give the eating of breakfast because studies show that it was a pagan meal.
The Mafia and prostitutes, and drug addicts all eat breakfast somewhere between 6 and 9 in the morning.
Therefore, we are exhorted not to conform to the world, and so we ought to give up eating breakfast until closer to noon.
This is obviously foolish reasoning, it is also folly to reject the celebration of the coming of Christ on Dec. 25th because the pagans celebrated that day also.
It has always been a pagan holiday, and it always will be until Christ comes again.
The Christian has the choice of adding Christian content to the day and the season, or of just ignoring it all together.
Making Christmas mandatory would be a legalistic effort rejected by the New Testament.
No Christian is obligated to keep Christmas in any special way.
It is no where even hinted at, let alone required in the Bible.
Paul writes in Col. 2:16, "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a new moon celebration or a Sabbath day."
In Rom.
14:5 he writes again, "One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers everyday alike.
Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind."
If Christians want to ignore Dec. 25th, and make no big deal out of it, they are not in least out of God's will.
But if they want to fill the day with Christian content, and put Christ in Christmas, that too is the Christian privilege.
It is a matter of freedom and not a matter of law.
If you want to celebrate the birth of Jesus on Dec. 25th, it is a matter of good timing, for it is nature's time to give light the growing power over darkness.
There is no better time of the year to illustrate the coming of light into the world in Christ.
In other words, the Word of God and the world of God are saying the same thing in harmony at this time, and so the timing of Christmas is providential.
It is a very weak argument to reject the Christmas celebration on Dec. 25th because of the pagan origin of that day being a holiday.
Christians use the common names for the days of the week even though they have a pagan origin.
Sunday is the day of the Sun.
Monday is the day of the moon.
Tuesday is the day of Triva, a child of Woden the supreme god.
Wednesday is named after Woden.
Thursday is for Thor another of his children.
Friday is Woden's wife Frigg.
Saturday is from Saturn.
None of the days are named after anything Christian.
All are pagan gods and goddesses.
Our culture is a mixed bag of pagan and Christian influence.
The challenge of the Christian is not to try and weed out all the pagan influence, but to Christianize all that is pagan, and no where do we have a greater opportunity than at Christmas.
This is a time of year for us to redeem the time, and pack it full with Christ honoring, and Christ exalting events.
Proper timing of acts of love can have an impact in this season that they may never have any other time of the year.
This is true around the world where there are radical differences from our culture.
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