Worship the King - Christmas Eve 2020

Intro

Good evening, everyone. So many faces I haven’t seen before, I love it. If’ you’re new with us this morning, maybe came by invite or with a friend, I want to welcome you. My name is Andrew and I’m the new guy here. I hope you’ve been made to feel welcome.

No matter your background, whether you are a believer or not, I have a goal this evening, but I’ll need your help to accomplish that goal. I promise it won’t be weird, I won’t make you stand up or say anything to your neighbor, or anything along those lines.

The goal I have is this: I want you to take a step toward Christ this evening. Whether you’re a seasoned Christian, or maybe you’ve been away from God for a while, or perhaps you’re just here to please a family member, my goal is to help you see Christ for who He is, and consider if He is worth taking a step toward.

The help I need from you is for you to suspend any discomfort you may have about being in church right now. Just take those shoulders that are touching your ears and roll them back down to a comfortable position.

Isn’t that better?

Ok, I’m going to read a poem, now.

Out of the night that covers me,      Black as the Pit from pole to pole,    I thank whatever gods may be      For my unconquerable soul.   

In the fell clutch of circumstance    I have not winced nor cried aloud.    Under the bludgeonings of chance      My head is bloody, but unbowed.   

Beyond this place of wrath and tears      Looms but the Horror of the shade,  And yet the menace of the years      Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.   

It matters not how strait the gate,      How charged with punishments the scroll,    I am the master of my fate:   I am the captain of my soul.

“Invictus”

William Ernest Henley

Have You Ever Considered…?

Now, let’s get right down to it. I want to ask… Have you ever considered the fact that God, the Creator of the Universe, would come down to earth as a tiny little infant just shouldn’t make sense? It’s ironic. Here you have the Creator of the world, everything in it, including you and me, and in this grand moment that generations and generations have been waiting for, the King who would be King of kings and the Lord who would be Lords of lords, came down to the earth humbly… quietly… As a child born to a virgin mother. Helpless… Harmless…

This was the king that was foretold, lying wrapped in swaddling cloths. He didn’t come with a lot of fanfare. Sure there were a few who came to pay him visit. And Herod made his despotic attempt on Jesus’ life, but He escaped, and no one suspected a thing. Herod was likely assumed successful in his attempt at retaining his throne. Royal crisis averted.

But I want you to consider… What is it that Christ came to be King over? What does it mean that the Bible calls him King of kings and Lord of lords?

Consider that it’s not over a land mass that He wishes to rule. It’s not about how big of a throne he has here on this earth. He IS the ruler of this earth and everything on it, but not all have submitted to Him.

No, instead, Jesus is the King of hearts and minds. And while there have been rulers and kings who have drifted into the category of religious figures, Jesus is the only One with the power to save souls. Think for a moment: What figure takes the top-spot in your life?

Consider if it’s a significant other, perhaps your children, or maybe, oddly enough, a world-leader. Do you live for their pleasure, goodwill, and happiness? Do you orient your life around the way that makes them most happy? Do you go out of your way to provide for them things that cause their happiness even if it costs you your own?

Some of that is self-sacrificial, and most of that is all good stuff. Especially in comparison with this next consideration.

Consider if you put yourself on the throne of your life. Are you the King or Queen that you worship? Do you live for your own happiness and comfort and entertainment? Orienting your whole life around your own wins and progress? To be the captain of your own soul, much like the poet from earlier? Oh, yes, you fight tooth and claw for your every step on the ladder of success, seeking to make a name for yourself, whether it be in your job or in the amount of your followers on instagram.

This is what the world tells you happiness is, by the way: Complete, unadulterated freedom and empowerment to be the exact version of you that you want to be. The problem is, people come to the end of their self-customization and self-aggrandizement and find the end-result to be… empty.

Perhaps we’ve been lied to by the world about the ultimate purpose of our lives. If we keep seeking the next big thing, or the next great cause, but continue to come up empty… Then perhaps the words of CS Lewis really do ring true:

If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.

The truth is, we all serve a king in our hearts. Not a single person doesn’t. Perhaps you serve people around you, slave to their thoughts and feelings about you, or maybe it’s yourself. By the way… No one is their own master. That’s the great hoodwink of sin: We think we’re pleasing ourselves and living it up! The truth is, we’re as much a subject as the next person in line…

But the King of kings did not come to subjugate His people under an iron fist. He came to free us to do that which we were made to do, and more importantly, be who we were meant to be. Scripture even says that the King strengthens His people.

Romans 16:25 ESV

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages

What kind of a King strengthens His people? Doesn’t the King know that when you strengthen them they want freedoms and self-governance, and all of these things?

I’ll tell you what kind of a King frees His people… The King who has totally won the allegiance of His people, and restores in them new hearts to follow and trust Him.

You see, when we serve ourselves, it’s a tricky thing, because while we think we are receiving what we most desire, the truth is we submit ourselves to sinful desire over and over again.

Our King does not bring about subjugation, but freedom. Freedom from sin, because He is a holy God. Freedom from self because He is a selfless God, and He wishes to establish that in His people.

How did He accomplish this? THE GOSPEL

So as you celebrate Christmas tonight and tomorrow, consider who your King is. Is it the King of kings, who frees and strengthens His people? Or do you serve a lesser king, one who wants you to be its subject, slave to your base instincts and desires?