Back to Basic Christmas

Intro

Thanksgiving is now behind us which means no one can shame me for listening to Christmas music or decorating for Christmas… what about y’all? When do y’all start getting into the Christmas spirit? Do y’all wait to get through thanksgiving or are you bringing in the yuletide as soon as humanly possible? — I really just love this time of year… I love when Mariah Carey and Michael Buble start to dethaw from the ice and bless our ears with the sweet sounds of Christmas, I love seeing all the lights and the decorations, spending time with friends and family, it’s just magical feeling, man.

And these things are super awesome, unless your’e Scrooge or something. But in a lot of ways for a lot of people that’s really what Christmas is about: The decorations, the giving & receiving of gifts, the quality time with loved ones… and maybe just maybe Christmas eve service is included in the plans… and we can certainly enjoy the Christmas music, and the decorations, and the gifts, and the quality time but what if we got back to the basics this year… what if we really made Christmas about Jesus, and not in some trivial sense where we only acknowledge Jesus as the reason for the season, but we give God all of our praise because we recognize the significance of the Divine Son of God who created the universe who became human to save humanity from themselves. — —

Now I’m sure to some extent we are all familiar with the Christmas story. But we’re going to look at it again — lucky you!

— Luke 1:26-38

Luke 1:26–38 NIV

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

and then we flash forward to the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:1-20

Luke 2:1–20 NIV

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

— Amen!!

So there is a lot here!

There is the unbelievable example of Mary’s faith as she responds to this huge life altering news with complete obedience in the Lord.

We see how much God values the lowly and the lost — After Jesus is born, an angel appears to who? The rich? Religious or political leaders? No, but the dudes taking care of the sheep.

But this is what Christmas is all about! The birth of Jesus! The Son of God!

Here’s a thing about me, I think one of my love languages or one of the ways I express love is through gift giving, but don’t get me wrong I don’t mind receiving a good Christmas gift. — but speaking of Christmas gifts, let’s try this one on for size— John 3:16 says:

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Is that not the best Christmas gift ever? The gift of a savior!

I think it’s funny that whenever we talk about the meaning of Christmas, I hear a lot of the standard (monotone dear in headlights) it’s about… the birth of… baby Jesus. — And yeah, of course! but think about it, Because God loved the world, the people He created in his image — Because God loves you so much, he gave us his son, so that whoever believes in him and seeks relationship with him will not perish, but have eternal life with God! — That’s Christmas!!

So let’s talk about not only keeping Christ in Christmas but emphasizing Christ this Christmas season.

— I’m sure you have heard this before right? Keep Christ in Christmas — I think this slogan started popping up because of how heavily commercialized Christmas started to become with extreme emphasis on buying stuff — and Christians wanted to push back against that and remind people of the religious roots of the holiday.

But here is the thing — y’all already know that… I think even most people who are not even Christian know that. — If you have seen any Christmas movie ever, then you have heard some variation of the “true meaning of Christmas” — you now the Christmas movie tropes, a selfish character undergoes a transformation where they learn that it is better to give than it is to receive, or it’s Christmas is about making time to spend time with the people you love, if your’e in a hallmark movie it’s about quitting your job in the big city and marrying the person from your hometown (or something along those lines)… but the list goes on and on. — — The true meaning of Christmas is about some positive and moral principle that sounds good on paper but it’s not really that either…

you see generosity, caring for and spending time with family, etc. are all good things. In fact, they are even themes from the Bible. — But they aren’t the main message. — in other words, these are all good things… But Jesus is the best thing!

So this Christmas, how do we make sure to emphasize the Christ in Christmas?

— Remember that generosity is good, but generosity in Jesus’s name is better!

— time with loved ones is good! … but time spent with loved ones where we bring glory to and praise the name of Jesus… that’s even better!

— Being thankful is good… but being thankful to Jesus is better!

In how the Grinch stole Christmas, the Grinch’s heart grows three sizes after he has a change of heart and returns the gifts to the people he stole from. — And that was only a result of him hearing the people singing together without their presents and the Grinch learning theft is bad. Could you imagine how many sizes our hearts could grow when we realize the Lord of the universe loves us so much he gave us the ultimate gift of a savior? So Let’s make this Christmas, and every subsequent Christmas season all about Jesus!

Let’s pray: