The Gift of Grace

Have you ever found yourself in a situation like Louis described in the video? Do you find yourself getting annoyed, or even angry, when you hear people say “Happy Holidays!” or see it on decorations at a shopping centre? It kind of started when in Christmas Cards, instead of writing Merry Christmas, people started to write Merry X-mas! I can remember hearing people argue about this.

On the one hand there were people who would get fired up that it was taking Christ out of Christmas. On the other hand, some people claimed that the X was representative of the cross. Either way, on both sides of the argument were people who staunchly believed that their opinion was right. And then there were people who didn’t seem to care either way. Right now, I’m guessing there are people in this room or listening to the podcast, who can feel their blood pressure going up just thinking about it.

So then it has progressed to Happy Holidays as part of the political correctness crusade. I personally, am on the side of Merry Christmas. While I don’t quite go for the venom spitting version right in the face of someone who dares to say Happy Holidays to me, I do make a habit of responding with Merry Christmas every time.

I believe that it is important that we keep Christ at the centre of everything we do at Christmas. As the saying goes - Jesus is the reason for the season! So, as Christians, what is our role at this time of year? Our role is the same as it is for the rest of the year, to live out our Great Co-Mission with Christ -

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19 NIV

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Sermon Illustration - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfSNxVqprvM

We are so consumed by what we think is best for us in this lifetime - wealth, health and happiness (often in that order) - that we ignore what is best for us in eternity - accepting and receiving God’s grace in our lives.

Have you ever built up your own expectations about a gift you were going to receive? Like a Christmas present. You knew it was coming, but you had no idea what it would be. But even though you had no idea what it would be, you would think about it and by the time it came, you were sure that it was going to be incredible, even if you hadn’t managed to figure out exactly what it was...

Have you ever made it to that point, only to open the present and find that it was not at all what you expected… I mean, it’s certainly nice, and it’s definitely something that you wanted, but… surely there was a better gift that that person could have given you on this occasion, and then just given you this another time…

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I did exactly that about 14 or 15 years ago. As it got closer and closer to Christmas, I starting thinking about all the things I might get for Christmas. I can’t even remember what sort of things I would have been interested in back then, but I reckon it would have been something exciting… something that I could play with… something that I could share with my friends… but ultimately, no doubt those things would have lost their thrill over time, and probably sooner rather than later! So Christmas Day comes. There presents under the tree, and, hands up if, like me, you’ve ever looked at the presents under the tree and decided that at least an equal proportion of them must be for you… As in, if theres 4 people in your family and 20 presents, then, logic would dictate that 5 of them are for you, right? Well that’s where I was on this Christmas Day.

So, mum starts handing out presents, and eventually, she gives me one. I open it, and it’s this - put picture on the screen of planes. I like it, and I say thanks, but then I look back to the tree, waiting for my next present, the one that I will really like. But it never comes.

Now, I’ve replayed this in my mind many times, and I’ve tried to make it work out, but it just doesn’t. What happens next is, well, horrible!

I spent the rest of the day sulking. I shut myself in my room. I wouldn’t talk to anyone in my family. I got on the phone and complained to my friends about what a terrible Christmas it was. In all this time, knowing that mum had put a great deal of effort into this gift, and a considerable amount of money, didn’t shake me out of it. You see, a while earlier, I had been walking through a shopping centre with mum and had walked past a framing store. In the store, they had all the pre-made pictures for sale. I noticed these three individual frames with these pictures and descriptions, and I stopped to look, telling mum that they were really cool. I walked away and forgot about them, but mum didn’t. She went and found this and, even though it was more than she could really afford to spend on me at that stage, she bought it for me for Christmas.