After Christmas, Now What?
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41 Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival.
42 When he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to their custom.
43 After the festival was over, they were returning home, but the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t know it.
44 Supposing that he was among their band of travelers, they journeyed on for a full day while looking for him among their family and friends.
45 When they didn’t find Jesus, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
46 After three days they found him in the temple. He was sitting among the teachers, listening to them and putting questions to them.
47 Everyone who heard him was amazed by his understanding and his answers.
48 When his parents saw him, they were shocked. His mother said, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Listen! Your father and I have been worried. We’ve been looking for you!”
49 Jesus replied, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house?”
50 But they didn’t understand what he said to them.
51 Jesus went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. His mother cherished every word in her heart.
52 Jesus matured in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with people.
After Christmas, Now What?
Yesterday we celebrated Christmas. All the excitement leading up to Christmas is now over. All the gifts have been unwrapped. We’ve eaten way to much junk food and now we’re trying to figure out how we’re going to lose those extra pounds that we’ve put on.
After Christmas morning is over there can almost seem to be a letdown. We know that the long cold days are ahead of us. It’s almost time to take down the tree and all the decorations. For a lot of people there is a period of discouragement and even depression after all the excitement of Christmas day.
That letdown or discouragement can be a natural response. After every high point in a person’s life there always seems to be a valley that we go through where life gets back to normal and we get back into the routine of just everyday life.
Christmas day has come and gone, now what? Vacations will be over this week, school will start again for our kids, it’s time to get back into the old routines. I was thinking about that this week. Does it have to be that way?
Think about the shepherds that were out with their sheep that holy night when the angels burst into their world. They had just been told the greatest news ever. They went and found the newborn Messiah just as the angels said. Do you think they went back thinking now what?
I want to think that maybe they did. What were they to do with that news?
17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
What about the Magi from the east? They set out on a journey to see this newborn king. What happened when they had finished their adoration?
12 Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.
I have talked with people who grew up in church but have never really known God. I’ve challenged them to read the Bible and learn what it has to say. I have had several say that it was through reading the Bible that that they came to true saving faith in Jesus Christ. No longer was it just ritual and practices, but it was reality in their lives.
I have talked with many people of my years in ministry about how much God loved us that He sent Jesus. Even today, 15 or 20 years after coming to faith in Christ there is still that excitement when they talk about God’s love for them.
There are Nazarene’s that lived like those people who for many years were just going through the motions but not knowing anything about their faith. The church has failed them in not discipling them.
Even with Christmas day being over with, there still should be an excitement about the fact that God has come to us in the person of Jesus. Now that He has come, it’s right and appropriate to ask the question, now what?
Now that you’re a Christian, now what? Let’s take a look at our scripture this morning and see if we can come to some answers to that question.
Did you ever lose one of your kids? Now, I’m not asking if you hoped you would lose one of your kids. Did one of your kids wander off on you and you couldn’t locate them?
I had a niece do that to my one sister. I was with her and we were in a store and my niece wandered off. When we realized she was gone my sister was frantic. Pretty soon over the PA system my sister’s name was called to come to the customer service desk. There was my niece. My sister’s emotions went between being angry at her for wandering off and happiness that she was safe.
Fast Forward 12 Years
In the life of Jesus, our Scripture jumps ahead 12 years. Jesus is now 12 years old. Mary and Joseph are good parents, ensuring that Jesus participates in the community practices. They’ve traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.
Before we moved her to Boswell, we had to drive from Johnstown to here for Church. When we came to the church for the Christmas Eve service, we often noted how full the parking lots were at the churches we passed. They were packed out. We call them two-fers. They are the people that come for two church services a year, Christmas and Easter.
That tradition started with God in the Old Testament. God in Deuteronomy 16:16
16 Three times a year every male among you must appear before the presence of the Lord your God in the location he will select: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. They must not appear before the Lord’s presence empty-handed.
Those three times were for the Feast of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. In church today we still have three, Christmas, Easter and Mother’s Day. I don’t know when Mother’s Day replaced Pentecost as an important Sunday in the church, but if you look at those three Sundays, they have the highest attendance for the year.
Passover
Joseph and Mary and Jesus and their family travelled to Jerusalem for the Passover. Once it was over with they packed up to head back to Nazareth. It wasn’t like jumping in the car driving there, they had to take everything that they’d need for the journey with them. They traveled with extended family and friends so it was quite a group of people.
Somehow a day into that journey they realized that Jesus wasn’t with them. Think about that, they went an entire day thinking that Jesus was with this large group someplace and that he’d show up. After a day’s journey they looked for him in that group and didn’t find him and Luke says they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.
Think about that for a moment, they in reality lost God. I wonder, do we in all our business of life ever lose God? Do we ever get so busy and distracted that we forget to pray, that we forget to read His word, that we forget to attend church?
We might be tempted to criticize Joseph and Mary for not paying attention and keeping track of Jesus. It’s always easy to play armchair quarterback and criticize someone else, but sometimes we need to go look in the mirror and ask ourselves; Have I neglected my relationship with the Father? Have I allowed the business of life to crowd out God in my life?
Can you imagine just for a moment how frantic Joseph and Mary must have been? They knew who Jesus was; they knew that he wasn’t just an ordinary kid. They knew that he was to be the Messiah, they didn’t understand all about it, but they knew.
They were a day’s journey away from Jerusalem when they turned around to head back. Luke says that after 3 days they found him in the Temple. He wasn’t just hanging out in the Temple wondering how he was going to get home. Luke writes that he was:
Luke 2:46–48 (CEB)
46 After three days they found him in the temple. He was sitting among the teachers, listening to them and putting questions to them.
47 Everyone who heard him was amazed by his understanding and his answers.
48 When his parents saw him, they were shocked.
He was sitting with the teachers, listening to them, asking them questions, answering their questions. Luke says they were amazed. Little did they realize that they were talking to God Himself, the Messiah, the one who came to save them.
The dialogue between Mary and Jesus next is really important. Mary says to Jesus:
Luke 2:48 (CEB)
48 His mother said, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Listen! Your father and I have been worried. We’ve been looking for you!”
Jesus replied to Mary with these words:
49 Jesus replied, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house?”
Mary said to him: your father, meaning Joseph and I were searching for you. Joseph his earthly father, his legal father and Mary were looking for him.
Jesus said in response: “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Jesus wasn’t referring to Joseph, the Temple belonged to God. Jesus is referring to God, His Heavenly Father.
There is a shift beginning here as Jesus acknowledging that for the first time that he is not just Joseph and Mary’s son, but that he is the Son of God. It’s a subtle shift, but it’s important. There is a change in relationships happening.
When we come to faith in Jesus there is a shift in our lives and our relationships. When we enter into God’s family we are entering something that is bigger and grander than just our immediate family relationships. We are entering the Kingdom of God. We are called to put God first in our lives and everything else becomes secondary. We are called to leave everything behind to follow Jesus.
When we become a Christian, we are called, we are called to work and not just sit and let someone else do the work. We all have a part to play in the Kingdom of God. There is no such thing as a spectator in the Kingdom of God.
What does that mean for us today? Now what? Jesus has come, now what? I’ve become a Christian, now what?
The Apostle Paul talks about the Now what in his letter to the Colossian Christians. Look over at Colossians chapter 3 beginning at verse 12, Paul wrote:
12 Therefore, as God’s choice, holy and loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
13 Be tolerant with each other and, if someone has a complaint against anyone, forgive each other. As the Lord forgave you, so also forgive each other.
14 And over all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
15 The peace of Christ must control your hearts—a peace into which you were called in one body. And be thankful people.
16 The word of Christ must live in you richly. Teach and warn each other with all wisdom by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
17 Whatever you do, whether in speech or action, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through him.
Paul has just been writing about living a Holy life and he tells us that we are God’s chosen people. If you are a Christian this morning then you are a part of God’s chosen people. That doesn’t mean that some are in and some are out, no Jesus came for everyone, that whosoever believes will not perish.
The expectation is that we will live holy lives because of what God has done for us. We are dearly loved by God. We are loved to the extent that Jesus, God Himself died for us so that we might be saved.
Now what? Paul says:
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Clothing ourselves or some translations render that “put on” is something that comes from outside of us. Clothing ourselves comes from the Holy Spirit. This doing comes from who we are. Doing and Being are tied together and can’t be separated. We are clothed in these virtues because of who we are. It even points to our baptism, that outward symbol of an inward change.
Paul is writing about things that the Holy Spirit clothes us with: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Those aren’t too bad, but then he writes: “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
He’s starting to meddle in our lives.
Bearing with each other and forgiveness go hand in hand. It’s about our attitudes towards each other. Some people can just get on our nerves. Bearing with each other is loving that person in spite of who they are.
Forgiveness is at that very heart of the gospel. Paul says to forgive ad the Lord forgave you. How can you harbor bitterness or a grudge against you when God has forgiven you of all that things that you’ve done to offend him?
Are you holding a grudge this morning against someone? Forgive them, it will set you free to love them as Christ loves you. Forgive them to the extent that God has forgiven you.
14 And over all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
Love is the glue that holds all these together. Why did Jesus come that first Christmas? Love, he came because of love. For God so loved the world that He gave.
When we understand that and grasp the fact that God loves us it makes all the rest of what Paul wrote easy. When our love is right, it makes it easy to forgive, it makes it easy to bear with each other, it will drive our compassion and kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
15 The peace of Christ must control your hearts—a peace into which you were called in one body. And be thankful people.
Peace, that absent of conflict between us and God. You see when we die to ourselves and the Holy Spirit sanctifies us there is a peace that passes all understanding that will guard our hearts.
It’s not a peace that we manufacture, it’s a peace that comes from Jesus. Are you looking for peace in your life today? Look to Jesus, He will bring that peace.
Paul says to be thankful. When you pray do you stop to thank God for what He’s already done for you? We as Christians should be the most thankful persons on this earth for what God has done for us.
Paul next talks about worship. I don’t know how many times I hear people say “I don’t need to go to church to worship God.” There is some truth there, but it’s missing out on the broader picture that God calls us into a community, a family, His family. People who say that are really missing out on what it means to be a part of the Kingdom of God, the family of God. Paul lists some things that should be a part of that worship time when he writes:
16 The word of Christ must live in you richly. Teach and warn each other with all wisdom by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
He closes out his admonition with these words:
17 Whatever you do, whether in speech or action, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through him.
Now what? Paul says: Colossians 3:17 “17 Whatever you do, whether in speech or action, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through him.”
Now that Christmas day is over, it’s time to live in the everyday ordinary days, living a life that pleases God, living a life that points people to Jesus, living a life and doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Living a life empowered by the Holy Spirit.