God Sees Better in Us

Sometime back, Moody Magazine told the story of a guy named George Mason. His life was consumed by his work. He lived alone, which only contributed to his work addiction. Although he had few friends, each Christmas he received several invitations to spend Christmas Day with a family. He always declined the offers. This particular Christmas was no exception. On Christmas Eve, after all his employees left, George Mason went into the office vault to get a little extra cash. To his shock, the heavy door of the walk-in safe shut behind him. Desperately, he pounded on the steel door. But no one was around to hear. Even the custodian had left early to do some last-minute Christmas shopping. The lonely miser consoled himself, “I can make it alright until morning.” But suddenly he recalled, the next day was Christmas. No one would be coming in for two days. He panicked as he tried to figure out if there would be sufficient oxygen. Then he remembered: The vault had recently been installed and was supposed to have a safety airhole built in somewhere. He felt around in the dark and eventually found the emergency feature in a corner near the floor. On the day after Christmas, early in the morning, the chief cashier arrived and, as was his routine, unlocked the vault but didn’t bother opening the door. George Mason, exhausted, faint, hungry, and thirsty, exited the human-size safe without being spotted. And by the time he went home, showered, dressed, and returned to the office, no one suspected a thing. Life went on as usual—except for one thing: George Mason had missed Christmas.

He missed Christmas because a door slammed behind him. But, unfortunately, people all around us miss Christmas each year because they never get around to shutting the door on the pressures of life.

If your Christmas calendar has left your world in a spin, Can I suggest that you add a Christmas greeting to your world? If you add a French greeting NOEL, your world will suddenly change into a focus on the WORD.

Many experience the rush of the holidays and even enjoy the love of family and friends, but they never encounter the living WORD of God.

I invite you to listen to these theologians as they debate how they see the Word in our world.

Play Video clip from https://youtu.be/z9qLonZ3A6E

For many, the holidays set us up for depression. We convince ourselves that we do not deserve peace, love or joy. We emotionally build a fortress around us so that we miss Christmas, just like George Mason.

But what if God sees something in you that is worth loving, something that would benefit from peace, or something that would be blessed by joy?

Transition: Shepherds in the ancient world held little social influence. Just as cowboys or ranchers today, the livestock didn’t always smell like a fresh shower, the demands of a 24/7 flock or herd forced them to miss friendly gatherings, and they were generally dismissed as insignificant. But God saw something better in them.

God sent a Heavenly Choir (vv.8-14)

The Creator became a creature

the Word became a speechless baby.

The first announcement of the Nativity was to Shepherds

1. They were ceremonially unclean.

2. Their duties prevented them from becoming clean according to the laws of purification.

3. Shepherds were considered shady characters and weren’t allowed to testify in a court of law.

4. This was a message of God’s grace.

Jesus came as both the Good Shepherd (Jn.10) and the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29)

· Some have speculated that these shepherds were watching sacrificial lambs.

The Angels proclaimed good news for all people

· not just high class or a certain race.

· The Pax Romana had been in place since 27 B.C. so the peace that the angels describes was not merely absence of war.

Perhaps many of us miss the divine in Christmas because we are so concerned with external influences. The peace the angels proclaimed had little to do with war between nations or the things of this world.

Maybe you heard of the little boy with the learning disability. He worked really hard to keep up with the others in his classroom, but because of his unique challenges, he kept falling behind. As a result, his backpack was crammed full with homework every night. There was no letup. He no longer could play outside with his friends after school. By the time he had made a swipe at all his schoolwork, it was time for bed. The parents consulted with the elementary school guidance counselor and decided that their son needed to be placed with a class of slower learners. It quickly became apparent that the right decision had been made. The third grader got his childhood back, complete with after-school play, positive self-esteem, and grades that matched the front end of the alphabet. After several weeks of asking his dad if they could play together after dinner, he grew weary of the same response: “I’m sorry buddy, I have a briefcase full of work I have to do.” One day he simply said, “Well, Dad, can’t they just put you in a slower class too?”

What about it moms and dads? Has our work become all-consuming or do we take time to encounter the divine and enjoy the peace of God that the angels proclaimed?

Transition: The message of the Choir gave the shepherds a mission.

God sent them on a Quest (vv.15-20)

They committed to go even to Bethlehem (v.15)

· It may have been some distance and wasn’t convenient

They found the newborn baby (v.16)

1. This word implies “after a search”

2. Knowing what to look for, and applied effort to pursue it

They acted upon faith with obedience.

· The angels told them what to look for and they went to verify it.

The shepherds replaced the angels as the bearers of glad tidings of great joy.

Transition: I don’t want to leave this sermon as a lesson from a Judean field 2000 years ago. How might God’s view of us lead us to Better Christmas?

God entrusts to us a Commission

In some ways today I am preaching to the choir.

1. You are the ones who chose to be in a place of worship this morning.

2. You are the ones who are pursuing an encounter with the divine.

You must act intentionally

1. Sitting in a doctor’s office won’t make me well. I won’t experience health unless I act upon his prescription.

2. Sitting in a restaurant won’t satisfy your hunger. You have to take in the meal.

3. Sitting in a church won’t eliminate your despair.

I know that I am unusual and that I am probably the only person that does this. But, I have been known to physically be one place and my mind was hundreds of miles away. I may be sitting at a restaurant with my family, but my mind is on the counseling appointment I have after lunch. My wife may be sitting five feet from me, but if I’m reading the newspaper or watching the news, or the Chiefs are on TV, I don’t really hear what she says.

I guess that there might be 1 or, maybe, 2 people like that this morning. You’re sitting among God’s people, singing great carols, hearing the Word of God proclaimed, but your mind is focused on that gift that is on sale at J Roberts and this morning you have not encountered the Divine.

4. Just as the shepherds intentionally left their flocks and went to find Jesus, I am calling each of us to set aside the temporary concerns of work and shopping and social obligations and seek a face-to-face interaction with the God who became one of us.

Conclusion:

Poor George Mason. Remember him? When he finally pushed the door open and walked away from the vault, no one ever knew he had actually missed Christmas. Because he had isolated himself from others, when he was unintentionally partitioned off, no one even noticed.

Unless we intentionally close the door on business-as-usual, to seek an encounter with the God of Christmas, we may very well find ourselves locked out of the very thing we long for—a season of wonder unlike any other.

God does not wish for you to be isolated, He sees something Better in you. He sees you as His ambassador!

2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV:2016

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

As God’s representative this morning, I implore you (if you have never done so) be reconciled to Christ! It is as simple as A,B,C that is printed in our bulletin every week.

If you have been reconciled to God, I remind us that we don’t have to be impressive to be used:

1 Corinthians 1:26–27 ESV:2016

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

It is time we stop disregarding ourselves and realize that God sees something better, something more useful, in us! God is not waiting for Christian athletes, actors, musicians and politicians to evangelize Chase County. He sees better in US as His representatives.

2 Corinthians 5:18–19 ESV:2016

18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.