Ghosts of Christmas: Present

Intro:

We are in week 2 of Ghosts of Christmas: Past, Present, and yet to come. The hope in the Christmas Carol was transformation. That is our hope in Christ as well. He redeems our past, He is with us in our present, so that we can have a hope and a future!

Last week we talked about how God heals our past. As a quick review, we were trained early on how to respond to life. That is why we can react to our present circumstances in ways that don’t make logical sense to those closest to us and even ourselves! We need to be healed and transformed! We need to have the NEW SONG that gives us. The new message that brings change. Our spirits our saved right away, but our minds need help: Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Today, I want to talk about being present.

Background:

— We have all heard the story…

Luke 2:8 “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”

— As Mary was giving birth, there was a heavenly first birthday party going on..

— These low income shepherds were given a front row seat. The GOOD NEWS always goes to the lowest places. In first century Palestine you can’t go lower on the socio economic ladder than these guys.

— There’s suddenly angels and singing and dancing.. I mean they were in a real life musical!

— The angel said:

Luke 2:12 “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.””

++ Luke 2:15–20 “When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

Story:

I almost got ran into the other day in our neighborhood because someone wasn’t paying attention. I am pretty sure they were distracted by the freak snow storm.. I’m thinking how can you miss my beautiful Honda Ridgeline? The next day I’m driving to Costco.. If you’ve been anywhere near Karcher or Marketplace Blvd. It’s definitely the Christmas spirit out there. You can get everything you need out that way but the fruit of the Spirit! Then it was me who wasn’t paying attention. Trying to do two things at once, being on the phone and driving.. Almost ran someone off the road!

Transition:

The problem was neither my neighbor weren’t fully engaged in the activity we were supposed to be engaged in. Namely, DRIVING!

— When I went to prepare this message this week, this text came to my mind.. “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

— I felt like I am supposed to just preach on that.. How am I going to make a whole message out of that sentence? But there is incredible insight into the life of Mary from that little sneak peak into her heart and life.

— She shows us how to be in the moment and to make your moments count!

moment has been in the making

— God had a plan from the start to send Jesus,

— 1 Peter 1:10–11 “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.”

— God revealed through His prophets this very moment.

— Specifically,++ Micah 4:8 “And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.”

— 700 years before Jesus, the prophet saw that Jesus would come to what is called in Hebrew “Migdal Eder” or tower of the flock.

— this is a specific tower that is near Bethlehem that the shepherds used over the centuries to keep tabs on their flocks.

— These sheep in this region were the sheep that people would buy for the sacrifice for their sins.

— What a profound connection to the cross. That the same shepherds that inspect the sacrifice for the yearly sin offering would inspect the Lamb of God. The spotless Lamb of God!

— The scriptures didn’t say when.

— But the shepherds weren’t off their shift that night. They were ready. They lived ready. They had no idea of this momentous occasion, this fulfillment of prophecy. But they were on the job 24/7. They were being faithful in the little things.

— Mary was ready to hear the GOOD news that these Shepherds brought.. This confirmation of what God had spoken to her earlier.

— She was not only ready for her moment, she was IN IT. She was engaged fully in it, and fully present.

2. not missing the moment

— She pondered, she treasured. She didn’t know what all of this meant!!

— But she knew this was significant. She took in the moment that God had for her.

— This moment has been in the making since the beginning of time. God ordained this very moment, it has been working and winding like a river to land at this exact point in human history.

— Though all the pieces couldn’t yet make sense, she took all these events spelled out in Luke 2 she was there for it. She took these mental notes. She took the mental pictures. She took the moment for all it was worth.

— You might think this was a special moment that won’t be repeated.

— But the GOOD NEWS was not meant for that one time. The GOOD NEWS would be for all peoples. What came to the Shepherds and then delivered to Mary, was like the pebble first hitting the water. Those ripples would end up coming our way.

— Jesus would die for humanity so that whoever puts their trust in Him would live.

— The GOOD NEWS comes to us. A long time in the making!! That NEWS has been winding and turning through history til it finds itself revealed TO YOU amid the glory of God just like the shepherds had!!

— But the GOOD NEWS isn’t just a once and done. God is constantly moving. I need to hear the GOOD NEWS on the DAILY.

— let’s listen to this exposition by Spurgeon:

There was an exercise, on the part of this blessed woman, of three powers of her being: her memory—she kept all these things; her affections—she kept them in her heart; her intellect—she pondered them; so that memory, affection, and understanding, were all exercised about the things which she had heard. Beloved, remember what you have heard of your Lord Jesus, and what he has done for you; make your heart the golden pot of manna to preserve the memorial of the heavenly bread whereon you have fed in days gone by. Let your memory treasure up everything about Christ which you have either felt, or known, or believed, and then let your fond affections hold him fast for evermore. Love the person of your Lord! Bring forth the alabaster box of your heart, even though it be broken, and let all the precious ointment of your affection come streaming on his pierced feet. Let your intellect be exercised concerning the Lord Jesus. Meditate upon what you read: stop not at the surface; dive into the depths. — Charles Spurgeon

— So what stops us from these daily moments?

— Are you with me right now? Statistics show that I have lost many of you already.

— A recent study by Harvard with 2,025 subjects found that people were disengaged with what was right in front of them 47% of the time.

— 47% of the time their minds were somewhere else.

— We can be plenty distracted. One of the ways we can be somewhere else is cell phone use.

— The average cell phone user touches their phone 2,617 times per day. But that’s just average. If you are above average you can be up to 5,400 times per day.

— But that study was from 2016, it’s probably worse now..

— We can be distracted from our past. Regret. Pain. Shame. God wants to heal our past so we can move forward in Him!

—++ Luke 9:62 “Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.””

— And we can get thinking about our future. Worry for instance.

— Imagine with me the opportunity for Mary to check out of this moment. She just gave birth in a less than ideal environment, a place for animals. Jesus was placed in a rock that was hollowed out for animals to drink from. They were in Bethlehem to be registered so they could pay taxes. There was a lot for her to think about. But she took stock of the moment that God brought her, she was all in!

— or even discounting the small miracles today for the big ones down the road..

— This has been an issue for me. There have been times in my life where I am looking for the big breakthrough in my future.. Not seeing the ministry right in front of me even it seems small.

— We need to live like:

3. Every moment matters

++Psalm 118:24 “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

— Every day as a believer, you have the presence of God with you! We should recognize this. Live as if this is true.

— The ancients would say something like this throughout the Old Testament:

Psalm 1:2 “but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

— Every day I need Him. I need to value and treasure His Word and His Ways daily.

— Pondering His word, treasuring Him in every moment. The big moments. The mundane. He wants to walk with us.

++John 15:4 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

— We do need to recognize that we won’t get our moments back.

+++ Hour GLASS If you think about an hour glass. We all have a set amount of sand, an amount of time. We don’t know what that is. But it is limited!!

— We serve a TODAY God. A NOW God. He is with us now! We need to engage with what He is doing not only in us, but how He wants to touch others through us.

— Mary was engaged with what God was doing in this moment, but also the worst moments.

++John 19:25 “but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”

— Jesus shows us how to be engaged with what God is doing.

Luke 23:39–43 “One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.””

— Jesus was available. He was there in the moment to minister to this man. “Today you will be with me..”

— Story about dragging one of my boys through a store.. I was so hurried. I was anxious, getting to the next thing that I forgot whose hand I was holding!

Closing:

This Christmas I encourage us to be present. I know that Christmas brings us painful memories for all of us. But Jesus brings Good News. He brings healing from our past so we can be present. Whatever God has for us this season let’s be engaged. We can treasure Him and live for Him in every moment. Every mundane or momentous moment.. He is with us! We treasure Him and His Word. Live for Him, recognize and be available for what He wants to do in us and through us for others. Let’s seize every moment!