Don't Miss Christmas

I know some have seen posts or at least heard about The Christmas Star appearing this year on December 21st. I couldn't help but think how appropriate this occurrence is taking place this year 2020. Astronomers last time 1226

That got me thinking about the first time it happened when when Jesus was born, there was violence, chaos, corruption, political and social unrest. It was a dark time no doubt. The Magi found him by way of the star, Science says it was "the meeting" of 3 stars: Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. They followed the star until it rested on where he was and they began to worship him.

In a time where is was dark but light was brought in to our world. Jesus stepped in to the chaos and brought peace.

Fast forward to this year, 2020. Not much difference. It's a time of violence, chaos, political corruption and social unrest. It is dark time. Winter Solstice, December 21st, a time where the day is the shortest and night is the longest...it's literally the "darkest day" and is the beginning of what most would say the cold, dark winter season.

But on the darkest day this year, Jupiter and Saturn meet, giving us the Christmas Star! How fitting...that in the moment of time during the Christmas season that we get to see this beautiful reminder...that even in the darkest of times...Light will, and has, stepped in.

In our chaos He is there. In our darkest time, He is there. Jesus brings Light, and makes all things new

I asked David to sing this song again. Not just hear his voice as good as he can sing. It’s the the words he sings that make this song so special

"Mary, Did You Know?" Was written by Mark Lowry in 1984,. Hes addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, with lyrics

Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water? Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your Baby Boy has come to make you new? This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you. Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man? Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand? Did you know that y our Baby Boy has walked where angels trod? When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God? The blind will see. The deaf will hear. The dead will live again. The lame will leap. The dumb will speak The praises of The Lamb. Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation? Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations? Did you know that your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?

There is no doubt that Mary knew

Just how the child got there, Virgin Mary, The angels announcement, she had to know what a special child she was carrying

But not everyone did, It so easy to get so busy/preoccupied with our lives or the things that are going on around us that we can easily miss Christ at Christmas

Here is what most of our December calendars probably look like to some extent or another:

• Church attendance on Sunday, hopefully and Wednesday also.

• a couple of church related fellowships/events

• Fellowships you have been invited to at other churches

• Work celebrations

• School partys

• Family get-togethers

• Shopping

• Decorating

• Cooking

• And you still have to find time for things like eating and sleeping…

Then finally when it is all over we collapse and we ask ourselves again. “Where was Christ in Christmas?”

And that’s not even a chaotic covid year

It reminds me of the little girl who misquoted John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only forgotten Son.”

Tonight I’d like to take a look at a few who truly missed that first Christmas maybe we can avoid their mistakes

I want to encourage you to slow down a little and not miss the wonder of the birth of Christ. When news channels are filled with misery and heartbreak, Gods word tells of the greatest news in the world

Who were the people who missed Christmas?

1. The Inn Keeper

– His life was too crowded for Christ Too Busy Luke 2:1-7

Luke 2:1–7 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.

The innkeeper is the first person who missed Christmas. Christmas was literally out his back door, but he missed it. He met a pregnant woman with child but he had no room for them.

No room in the Inn. Didn’t he know anybody who could help? Nothing but a stable.

We’re not told exactly what this was but whatever the stable was, it wasn’t the cleanest place to have a child. It would have been full of animals, and their droppings. It probably would have been filled with smoke from a fire built by Joseph to keep Mary warm. It was not a place for any baby, let alone the Son of God come in the flesh.

The inn keeper was busy caring for his guest and his inn and whatever other things an innkeeper takes care of. He was preoccupied with dirty dishes, mud on the floors, customers upstairs who demanding more blankets or another wine skin. He wasn’t an evil man, and he wasn’t unloving or unsympathetic. He wasn’t angry or belligerent. He wasn’t even indifferent. He was just busy. Just too busy He had business to take care of. His family was a priority to him. He wanted to provide for them and spend time with them. He just couldn’t take the time to bother with a poor family who arrived too late. He was just too busy.

Think about your own lives this year. Have you spent more time shopping or decorating or baking than you have loving and serving others? Have you spent more money on stuff, than you have on investing in His Kingdom? Have you given more of your time and energy pursing things of the world than building relationships with people/sharing Gods Word

The innkeeper was too busy and completely missed Christmas. Let us not miss it as well.

2. King Herod – saw Jesus as a threat and intimidation Matthew 2:1-3

Matthew 2:1–3 NIV

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

Herod wasn’t ignorant. He was very well informed. So why did Herod miss Christmas? What is the reason? Fear, Herod wasn’t about to let this little child interfere with his career, with his position, with his plans, and his life style.

Don’t we see that today everywhere we look? Stores and businesses are afraid that a nativity scene might cause them to lose customers. People at their jobs are afraid of being a witness because they might get a complaint raised against them or the boss might not like it. Teens might mess up their cool factor talking about God so its pushed to the side out of FEAR

People today are afraid of what Jesus might do to their business, their lives or social status, just like Herod.

Herod liked being king, and was not about to let anybody else be king. If not even his own kids, (killed 2 sons, several wife and a father inlaw) then surely not some baby born in Bethlehem. I bet if Jesus had come as just another wise man, or as a good counselor with some good advice, Herod would have welcomed him gladly. But not a king, He couldn’t stand that

Haven’t we seen that? There are people who want Jesus as a nice spiritual friend. They believe he was a good man or a good teacher or someone with some wise counsel. Want to keep Him in a neat little box reserved for Sunday morning. The rest of the week is filled with work and family and entertainment. Jesus is taken out on Sunday, but he has no impact or place on the person’s career and position and treasures.

Too many people have the same attitude that Herod had. They want to be king of their own little Kingdom and feel threatened by a baby born in a manger. The world is full of Herod’s who cry out “We will not have this man to rule over us.” And refuse to bow to Jesus out of fear for what He will do to their power.

3. Religious Leaders – too indifferent to take notice of Christ (Matthew 2:4-6)

Matthew 2:1–6 NIV

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

This group is the most shocking. The innkeeper we could understand, he was ignorant of what was happening in his own backyard and too busy to take notice. Herod knew what was going on, but was too evil and power hungry to give up his rule. But this third group of people should have never missed Christmas.

In verse 4, after Herod finds out from the Magi that a King has been born, he want to find out where this King was born. The text says he gathered “together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born.” Herod called the experts together: the theologians, chief priests, the captain of the temple police, the best of all teachers with great speaking skills, the pastors and elders, the seminary-trained professors with their Ph.D.’s and Doctorates of Ministry. And they all knew the Scriptures. They said: “Oh yes, we know where the Messiah is to be born.” And they quoted Micah 5:2, “He will be born in Bethlehem.” They knew where the Messiah was to be born. But they missed it

The Religious Leaders of the day missed Christmas. Does that surprise you? It doesn’t surprise us that they knew, for God made it very clear in Scriptures. What astonishes us is what they didn’t do. They didn’t go there . They didn’t go to Bethlehem. Since the time of Moses, they taught that there would be a Messiah. They longed and hoped and prayed for a deliverer. It had been the great hope of the ages. And the ones who knew, the ones who were the intellectuals, the leaders, the religious teachers, they never even bothered to walk the 2 or 3 miles south to Bethlehem to check it out for themselves.

The fact is, out of the entire population of Jerusalem and Judea, only a few shepherds came to see the Messiah. And do you remember what they did? After encountering Him, they joyfully told everyone about their experience until everyone in the Judean countryside heard about the birth of the Messiah. But even then, there is no record that anyone else, including the religious leaders of the day, came to see Jesus.

You know, Christ probably lived in Bethlehem for about two years. It was only after the Magi came and left that Joseph received the instructions to escape to Egypt. The religious leaders had two whole years to go visit their Messiah, but they missed him. And so we have to be honest with ourselves. I have to be honest with myself. The prospect here is chilling. Some might argue but I too am a spiritual leader. According to Gods word all of us are spiritual leaders in some respect. Not only do we miss it but we make others miss.

If you are a father or a husband, you are called by God to be the spiritual leaders in your home, both to your wife and to your children. Mothers also are called to be spiritual leaders to their children, to other women, to neighbors and people you come in contact with on a daily basis. Teenagers and even children can be spiritual leaders to their friends who don’t know Christ. We are all spiritual leaders and so this group of people who missed Christmas hits us right where we are. And we can miss Christmas just as they did.

Why did they miss Christmas? Indifference just don’t care. Of all three people who missed Christmas, this group is the worst. Having a Messiah was really no big deal to them. The religious leaders just didn’t care. They thought they were perfect and in their own self-righteous system, there was no room for the son of God in their lives.

They thought they had all they ever needed.

Today, many people miss Christmas because they don’t realize their need for Christ. Oh, they may have eternal life if they trusted in Jesus at some point as a child maybe. They may be going to heaven. They most likely “go to church.” They observe religious traditions. But that’s where it stops for many. They think they know what they need to know about Christ and who He is and what He did. They don’t really want to have a relationship with Him. They don’t really want to meet him daily in His Word and come before Him daily in prayer for direction and instructions in life.

This year has been unlike any other, chaos, hatred, division, hurt and pain,

Why not try to make 2021 a year like no other, lets start not drawing a little closer to the Christ, bowing down to the King of Kings and allowing Him to guide our lives into the next year and beyond