Romanticized to Real

3:33 - Hey welcome back to the room - Again congratulations you did it!! You made it to church! You are the die hard MN peeps! Love it.

Of course it’s a great week to be here! Let’s be honest it’s always a great week to be here! I love this place. I love all of you. So many great connections here. So many REAL people. Which is not something you and I can find just anywhere…

I’ve heard it said before that reality can never compete with fantasy. And I suppose to some degree that’s true. Like the reality of our life is never going to compete with the fantastic dreams that we might have. Or the fantastical ideologies of what we think perfection is. The perfect house, the perfect family, the perfect job, the perfect children the perfect fill in the blank.

I suppose it’s true, that our expectation of perfection, that the fantasy world we create makes the Romanticized difficult for the REAL to compete with. Afterall, that is probably why there is an entire Hallmark channel in existence of nothing but Christmas movies. You know how these shows play out right - ALL OF THEM - ok well that may or not be true but the 10 minute glimpses I get when I go down to talk to my mom all seem like the same story line.

Somebody, usually a woman that is longing to find the love that she needs it desperately. Just when all hope seems lost, in the 11th hour before the clock strikes Christmas the hero hero’s and love loves…The houses are immaculate - even the gingerbread house looks like its straight out of Better Homes & Gardens.

(I actually have a friend whose family tradition of elaborate Gingerbread houses have been featured in Better Homes and Gardens)

While it may be hard for reality to compete with fantasy…REAL is always better than ROMANTICIZED.

REAL > romanticized

Unfortunately, we do not always believe that do we. We get caught up in the romanticized and can miss out on the real. The same is true with the Christmas Story - even in saying like that - STORY - as if it were some kind of Hallmark Special. To some degree - as beautiful and god-honoring they are - some of the favorite Christmas Hymns have the poetic romanticized language…

Why are so many of our beloved Christmas Hymns romanticized - They were written or conceived during the height of the Romantic Age 1800 - 1850

“All is calm, all is bright / Round yon virgin mother and child. / Holy infant, so tender and mild…” ~ Silent Night (1818)

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, / For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.” ~ Holy Night (1847)

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, / But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes. ~Away in a Manger (1882)

Angels we have heard on high / Sweetly singing o’er the plains…” ~Angels We Have Heard on High (1855)

I love these, they are some of my favorite! No doubt - AND AND AND if we where to take this night of Jesus’ birth on the face value of the songs - Romanticized imagery would arise for sure. We get this image of the manger scene…

All is calm…A Thrill of hope and the weary world rejoices…the baby awakes…but No crying he makes…Angles sweetly signing over the plain…

(Manger 1)

Beautiful, honoring, traditional, we should sing them and enjoy them…AND recognize the romanticized nature of the lyric. Why…here’s the thing - The romantic depiction expresses joy and beauty and perfect peace - which is typically not the space Jesus steps into…

So today we are going to flip Christmas - We are going to be Flipping Christmas from Romanticized to REAL

Flipping Christmas Slide Romanticized / Real ——> Next Slide Flip it to REAL / Romanticized (second word under first and upside-down)

Why do we need to FLIP Christmas - Whats wrong with Romanticized version of it? REAL beats Fantasy - BUT if we walk around with the Norman Rockwell image of Christmas time we will miss the beauty of the MESSY. The Revelation of the REAL!

I think we benefit from seeing the reality of a woman walking 80 miles on Donkey and foot 9 months pregnant only to arrive and get stuck with the animals to find shelter. Seeing a woman who is EXHAUSTERWHELMULATED as she walked into messy, animal stable to have her beautiful cherished baby in the food dish of an animal.

EXHAUSTERWHELMULATED

(Manger 2)

Not a picturesque image of perfect - tidy - calm - peaceful - clean scene - but one that is more like your life and mine. Its real, raw, messy. This…this is the place where REAL defeats Romanticized - because most of us cannot really connect our lives to the fantasy but we can see ourselves in the messy day to day realities of life.

So, let’s go back to the story. Let’s start with Mary…The real image of Mary as told by Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Luke 1:26–28 (CSB) In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”

The very next line describes Mary’s very real condition upon the visit from Gabriel.

CONFUSED AND DISTURBED

Verse 26 starts with describing Mary and confused and disturbed. - at least in the NLT. The CSB - says “Deeply Troubled by this statement”

NLT - Confused and Disturbed; CSB - Deeply Troubled; ESV - Greatly Troubled;

KJV - Wast aghast inidts her thoughts

Just kidding it just says troubled. BUT BUT BUT - troubled in the modern context - I do not think catches the greek word that well here. EXHAUTERWHELMULATED - yes. The greek word is Diatarasso and it is only used in the NT in this verse.

The author could have used the other word translated as troubled - used 17 times actually throughout the NT - so why diatarasso - because It carries this weighty emotional and spiritual nature of being thrown into disarray - distress - disturbed - confusion - OR EXHAUSTERWHELMULATED - exhausted due to and overwhelming and over stimulating situation you find yourself in.

When the Angel Gabriel stepped into the town of Nazareth, into the life of Mary he sent her into a state of confusion and disarray. It was a shock to her system.

Thats real life! This is where Real beats Romanticized! If you think for one second you have to have all of your things in order before Jesus will step into your life, you’re missing it. Maybe this is where you find yourself. Life has taken a turn and you had a physical, emotional, and perhaps even spiritual shock to the system. You didn’t know really how to respond - but you did have this desire to be in a church.

You are not sure if you can trust your emotions, you are not sure you can trust the church - but you cannot unsee you cannot unfeel this moment in your life. So, you are just trying to find the people who can maybe help you answer some of your questions. People who might have answers or help you make sense of it all.

If that is you…well you’re in good company because that is what Mary did. As soon as the Angel leaves Mary jumps to her feet and quickly makes her way to Elizabeth. When you read your translation you might miss this…This is how the CSB translators wrote it…

Luke 1:39–40 (CSB) In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.

I love this - She isn’t all meek and mild and all put together - she is a scared teenager who just had an encounter with God’s angel whose name means “God is my Warrior.” She jumps up and goes to someone who can help her find answers - Elizabeth and Zechariah the priest!

But check this out - they too have had a REAL encounter with God!

Meri’s uncle was a priest. And it just so happened that a few months prior to this encounter that Mary had, Zechariah and his wife had an encounter with the same angel. While Zecheriah was doing his work - in the temple Gabriel appears before him too!

Luke 1:11–12 (CSB) An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified and overcome with fear.

Not romanticized - this is the real footage. Zechariah a servant to the temple for many years, a man of faith, a man of prayer, a man of faithful service has a life altering encounter. I love this moment - Zechariah is supposed to have it all figured out right? I mean he has served faithfully in the temple for years. He and his wife - faithful through the difficulties within their marriage - faithful in hope deferred. The hope of having a child - All of a sudden God steps into their story with a message from HIS angel.

What comes next is so real and raw - Zechariah first is afraid - similar word but different. It doesn’t have the same spiritual component that Mary’s response did - he was tarasso (terrified) and filled with phobos (fear). Put into a state of terror and was afraid - shaken - jolted - fight or flight or freeze moment.

This is that moment in those videos I know you all watch…you know the ones where there is some dude in a creepy clown costume hiding in a trash can - he jumps up and the person in the video goes from minding their own business to either Punching the Clown in the face or running home to change their shorts or taken over with some form of paralysis.

Zech - petrified - and receives a message from God about the blessing of his son to come - the answer to years if not decades of prayer - His son will be John the baptist. In a crazy wild twist - that fear turns into cynicism - or at the very least strong doubt.

REAL > Romanticized

This isn’t a scene of are you sure - its got more weight to that. This man of faith expresses actual doubt in the face of God’s messenger that just put him into a state of terror and fear…Even though he said - No Phobos Zech its all good. Check this out…

This real moment - this raw encounter is good news for those of you who have been faithful servants of God for many years but find yourself in a season of doubt or cynicism or struggling to hold firm to believing God’s promises are for you too. For years you have seen others who are faithful receive blessing after blessing from God. And you know it’s true. You know God has a Blessing for you, but you doubt. You truly wonder if it’s for you too.

Even though you find yourself within the community of the church you sometimes feel like you’re in the same boat as those in the fields - the ones who are wandering in the wilderness… just like the Shepherds in the field the night Jesus was born.

Luke 2:8–9 (CSB) In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

Phobos Megas! - Great Fear these poor shepherds juts settling in for the night with a can of lamb and beans around the campfire undoubtedly find themselves in one of the most terrifying moments in their lives.

An explosion of light in the middle of a dark night that left them terrified. Terrified AND AND AND invited to come and see the rest of the world was going to miss out on. Right there, in the middle of the field, separated from the rest of their people these shepherds got an invite to a VIP event. An Exclusive first look at the Prince of Peace!

In the middle of the messy field. Sheep have a sharp and sometimes described as skunky odor to them. We think of them as cute and cuddly - “Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow” kind of romanticized image of sheep. But thats not the case. They are pretty dirty animals.

I recall sleeping in the valley on Camp Pendleton one night and I recall the comments about the smell. But it was late and we needed to camp. The next morning when we woke up we saw why - the shepherds had recently brought their flock through the space.

Why does this matter?? GOD brought a special invitation to those who would never be included in the sacred events of the city or the temple. At the very least - never invited in their field clothes which would undoubtedly smell like the dirty little sheep they were caring for.

AND YET - these Shepherds got the invite to have a front row seat to: As Max Lucado puts it:

“Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter.” ~Max Lucado

Let’s not forget the Carpenter - Mary’s husband…very real very conflicted very honest husband…

You see God didn’t just step into the life of the the young would be mother, the faithful aunt and uncle, and the outsider shepherds, God also stepped into the life of a devout reserved honorable carpenter named Joseph.

Joseph was in a tough spot…Imagine this scenario as it played out. Your soon to be wife ends up pregnant and she says she “became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.” To which you’d be like…riiiiiight. Yes….the Holy Spirit…suuuuure. Then you walk slowly out of the room because in your mind you just dodged a huge bullet. The woman you were about to marry is loosing her mind, or lying one of the two. Either way, you just slowly walk out of the room backwards never breaking eye contact and shut the door and…BOLT down the road.

See the romanticized version is so sanitized we might miss the reality. Joe was not having it. He wasn’t trying to be the next contestant on one of those terrible reality TV - tell all get the DNA test shows - He was just going to discretely and quietly let her go her own way and he go his. UNTIL -

Matthew 1:20–21 (CSB) But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

No bright light in the sky, no in the room out of nowhere appearance from Gabriel. Just a subtle vision in the dream affirming the story Mary spoke to him, and confirming that he is up for the role as earthly parent to Jesus. Not romanticized or sensationalized - just REAL.

The REAL God of the universe getting a message to a righteous ordinary carpenter in a way that changed his mind, and put him on the path for success.

Matthew 1:24 (CSB) When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her

The reason that we are flipping Christmas from romanticize to real is to help us all see ourselves in the story. When we have it romanticized to such a degree, we never see ourselves in the story. But I could keep going.

I could talk about the magi, who are a great distance away. They’re confused on their spiritual journey. They are looking to the stars for guidance, and not to the one true God. And yet God spoke through the stars to put them in a place to worship the king!

A journey, undoubtedly, filled with peril. A journey that took more than a month. A journey that likely put them at the feet of a child of two years old, the toddler Jesus.

HERE IS WHAT I WANT YOU TO SEE TODAY -

THE REAL IS MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN THE ROMANTICIZED

The Real God of the universe spoken to the lives of real people. They scare teenage girl, a religious, faithful uncle, an outcast and Shepherd, a righteous, quiet man of faith, Joseph, and even eastern mystics the magi. God was not afraid to come to people in the way that would get thier attention and move their feet - to follow His lead.

Not neat and Tidy - but Real and Messy

Confused, Scared, Unsure, Shocked, Tired, Overwhelmed (Mary) OR OR Doubtful, Comfortable, maybe even Cynical (Zechariah) OR OR Outcasted, Removed, Lonely, Separated (Shepherds) - or Thoughtful, Quiet, Reserved, Respectful (Joseph) God steps into your STORY!!

Are you Mary - Jesus will step into your story and bring peace, calm, joy

Zechariah - God still has more for you. God will step in and bring peace, calm and joy

Shepherds - You are not restricted access from God. God will bring wonder, awe, peace , calm, and yes JOY

Joseph - God will step into you faithfulness and change the lives of those around you. God will bring peace, calm, strength, and joy…

the Magi? - you’ve tried all the eastern or mystical stuff but you are drawn to Jesus…

There is no place God will not go. There is no person God will not make a relationship with him possible, there is no decision in your past that will prevent the creator of the universe, the God of all things to make himself known to you through His Son.

Think about it for a minute! This is the story of Jesus. The real story of Jesus. The story of the son of God, who left all the blessings of heaven to come to your neighborhood. The one who decided on purpose to enter the world through the womb just like you and me. The one who decided to grow up in dusty villages and towns from Egypt to Jerusalem. The one who would show up in the synagogue to lead others to a closer relationship with God. The one who would show up in the shelters, in the prisons, on the back roads, and the places nobody else wanted to go.

The one true God, in the one real story of your life. That is why the REAL is greater than the romanticized.

The real gets into your situation, in your neighborhood, in your family, in your clothes, in your heart - THE REAL story of Jesus changes your life!!

Hebrews 2:17–18 (CSB) Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

God didn’t step into some romanticized version of life - HE GAVE YOU ACCESS - Real access to him through His son Jesus.

So let me ask you…Have you given Jesus access to your REAL life?

Have you taken the time? Have you taken the invitation to respond to Jesus? Have you said yes, to following Jesus? Just like our friend David did during worship by expressing to all of you, his decision to follow Jesus through the act of baptism. As he made a public declaration of his permanent decision to follow, Jesus.

Have you said yes, to following Jesus? Not have you said yes to showing up in church once in a while. Not have you said yes to trying to make sure your good deeds outweigh your bad decisions. Not have you gotten your life all shiny and perfect…none of that.

Have you - the real parts of you - the innermost portions of you - have you said yes to Jesus? If not…The REAL Jesus is asking you to follow Him. That is why you are here…God is moving in your life…and there is a portion of you some portion of you willing to respond. OR you wouldn’t be in this room today…So are you ready to decide to give your life over to Jesus?

He is not afraid of where you’ve been, what you’ve done, or even how you think. He is inviting you to a newfound faith and trust in him. In a moment I want to give you an opportunity to respond. We may even have you decide to get into the tank today - on this very cold day. I even have some shorts for you if you need them. Shorts and t-shirts and towels. You got this…But first I want to know who is ready to follow Jesus to be convinced that your sins are forgiven and you are empowered to life a new life - make God honoring choices - to be set free from your past and walk by faith.

Two parts to this - 1 - If you are ready FOR THE FIRST TIME to say yes to Jesus I want you to stand where you are. Right now on the count of three is if you are ready to say with your mouth Jesus is LORD of your life, and YOU Believe in your heart He died on the cross for you, and raised to life 3 days later. that he offers you forgiveness and a new Spirit-filled life. Stand to your feet right now.

2nd - For those who stood or for those who have not been baptized but are ready to go public with your faith in Jesus. I want you to step out of the rows and come forward. If you are ready to be baptized today - maybe your family and those you want to celebrate this with re already here.. If you are desiring to be baptized - step forward and we will get you the clothes you need to make it happen.

Thank you God / Thank you for Jesus / I turn from my sinful ways / I need your forgiveness for my sins / I want to do life your way / Thank you for Jesus’ life / for his death on the cross / for the forgiveness of my sin / and for his ressurection / and the promise of new life. I trust you Jesus for salvation / I choose to follow you / Fill me with your Holy Spirit / Give me the strength to walk by faith / and honor you with my words / my actions / and my thoughts. In Jesus name Amen.