Christmas Is

Sermon Script: “Christmas Is”

Hillside Church of Marin – 29 December 2013

Ryan Reed, Pastor to Students and Families

During the Christmas season of 2010, a controversy between Christians and atheists broke out over the right of free speech on two different billboards that stood above the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. It made headline news across the country. Some of you may remember hearing about it.

The controversy began about a month before Christmas when the American Atheists organization decided to respond to the old adage, “reason for the season” by placing a billboard directly above the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel SLIDE 1 that read, “You know it’s a myth. This season, celebrate reason.”

Now, of course, this ignited a backlash of controversy and criticism. Within days, the Catholic League decided to respond to the message written by the American Atheists and placed this one directly beside the other. SLIDE 2 It reads, “You know it’s Real. This season, celebrate Jesus.

At the time, Stacy was living in New York City, and I actually remember seeing these two billboards for myself. I can vividly remember thinking, I agree with both! I love Jesus. I celebrate and worship him everyday. AND, I also value reason and exercising my God-given intellect and ability to think logically about issues, including theological issues about God.

For a brief moment, I thought about placing a third billboard next to the other two that read: SLIDE 3 “I celebrate Jesus as the reason for the season through reason.”

As these controversies tend to do, it sparked a nation-wide debate on free speech and the place of religion in the public sphere. Gosh, it was so timely that it was as though this controversy was planned ahead of time, right? What’s the Christmas season without another controversy of some kind about free speech and the role of religion? SLIDE 4

Controversies like this one feud Christians against atheists and people of other religious worldviews. It reinforces cultural stigmas and connotations between atheists and Christians. And for me – and for folks like me – the messages of these two billboards aren’t irreconcilable discrepancies. They’re much more in line than we think. If anything, these kinds of controversies and arguments during the Hoiday season actually raises the questions for me of what “Christmas Is”

And I get it… depending on your worldview, background, family history, religious beliefs, and faith, SLIDE 5 you will complete this sentence: Christmas Is ______ within the sphere of your context and circumstances.

Albeit, with Christmas being just 4 days ago, you may be thinking Christmas is OVER! Thank goodness! Or, Christmas is CHAOS! Christmas is EXPENSIVE. Christmas is CONTROVERSIAL. Christmas is a MYTH.

Each of one of us will complete the end of this sentence differently. But within the context of Christian faith, we learn about something much different than what we hear on the news. We read in the Bible about something much more significant than a quip that you may read on a billboard – or a soundbite that you’ll hear on someone’s Facebook feed. SLIDE 6

I want to offer this morning 4 definitions as to how the Bible defines what Christmas Is that both shapes our interpretation of the present holiday season, as well as our faith throughout the year.

First and foremost, and I think our kids and students probably most identify with this definition, SLIDE 7 Christmas IS Anticipation.

Christmas calls us back to the historical, biblical accounts of waiting, longing, and expecting. A true understanding of Christmas stirs within us the kind of faith that anticipates – the kind of faith that sits at the edge of your seat, waiting for something to happen.

The biblical accounts span a wide range of time, roughly about 2500 years. Whole books within the Old Testament by themselves cover hundreds of years of history. The book of Joshua for example covers over 250 years of history. We can read in a matter of moments what literally took decades, even centuries, to actually happen. SLIDE 8

And I think at times this can give us a false perception of the longitudinal, historical narrative of God. For us living in the 21stcentury, I think we misinterpret this definition of Christmas by applying our cultural overtones of instant gratification upon our faith. We want to believe that faith is instantaneous, don’t we? Pray and then POOF! Expect God to do something!

But that kind of instant feedback rarely happens, doesn’t it? Faith is more like a slow cooker. And that reality can be a hard one for us to swallow.

The idea of waiting flies against the patterns of our culture that prescribe to individualism and to a ‘right now’ kind of mentality. God, I need what I need right now!

Perhaps, a better and more faithful way to interpret the history and traditions of our faith is through the lens of waiting and anticipation.

What if we thought about God this way: in the Bible, we witness God acting gradually, but intentionally, over 6 major movements throughout history.

The first movement we observe from God is God dreaming and imagining and creating and setting into motion the universe and all within it, including us, humanity. According to Genesis 1 and 2, God is pleased with he created, especially with humanity. God takes great delight in his perfect, harmonious relationship with Adam and Eve – more so as we’re told than anything else that God created. Creation is the first movement of God.

The second major movement that we observe from God is God remaining faithful to Adam and Eve, despite their disobedience to him. Genesis chapters 3-11 describe our shadow side as human beings. In Genesis 3, it wasn’t enough for Adam and Eve to be created in the image and likeness of God – as amazing as that is in and of itself.

Rather, Adam and Eve want to actually be God, right? They want God’s power. They want God’s control. The serpent says in Genesis 3:5 SLIDE 9, “God knows your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Think about the areas of sin and disobedience in your life. At their root lay power and control.

Adam and Eve’s story represents our story. At some point in our lives, we wanted to be our own god and live with the glory and honor and worship that belongs only to God. SLIDE 10

As a result, we’ve irreparably harmed our relationship with God. This is the substance of our broken relationship with God. Not some fruit. But that we wanted to take God’s place. And by doing so, we harmed our relationship with him so much that we couldn’t do anything to repair it. ***Pause***

But God didn’t abandon us!

In the third major movement that we observe from God in history, God chose in freedom not to uphold his right to condemn us.

Rather, in Genesis chapter 12, beginning with Abraham and Sarah and going all he way through the end of the Old Testament, we read about God stopping short at nothing to restore our broken relationship with God.

In fact, as soon as Adam and Eve realized that they were naked in Genesis chapter 3, the Bible records that God sacrificed a ram and made clothes for Adam and Eve… so that they would not live in shame with what they had done.

This is the first glimpse of God not letting us go. God doesn’t guilt us. Instead God makes a sacrifice for Adam and Eve to make things right… a clear foreshadow for what’s ultimately to come several millennia later.

God doesn’t give up on us.

And ultimately, the sacrifice that God made for Adam and Eve to provide them with clothing all comes to fruition thousands of years in our observation of the 4th major movement of God in our world!

It is the climax and crescendo of God’s movement in humanity. We read in the Gospels that God entered fully into our world as a human being – the incarnate Son of God – or as I like to say God in a Bod – as a little baby boy, laying in a manger, a simple feeding trough, in a small agricultural town called Bethlehem.

We broke what God wanted so much for us, a perfect relationship. But yet, in total grace, God entered fully into our human predicament of pain and uncertainty on that Christmas morning some 2000 years ago and, he set into motion the events that would restore our relationship with him. The event of Jesus’ humble birth into our world announced the onset of redemption for those who believe.

Christmas celebrates an event that literally culminated over thousands of years of history.

So, what you may perceive from God at times as slow, distant, or still is in actuality the intentional working out of God’s grace upon you. Scripture tells us about a God who is active and alive.

Within the scope of God’s timeframe, his movement in both our world and our lives occurs at exactly the right appointed time. And what we know now – on this side of the first Christmas – is that God didn’t lose interest in his people, and God hasn’t lost interest in you and me.

Christmas is a reminder that your faith in God is not misplaced. At times, it may seem like God has forgotten you, and that your faith is archaic and obsolete. But the final chapter has not yet been written. Christmas is about anticipating the movement of God, and that movement is what we learn about in the second definition of Christmas, which is:

SLIDE 11 Christmas is Redemption.

Redemption is the heart of the Christmas narrative.

Luke records that after Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist, who is Jesus’ cousin, John’s father Zechariah’s first words were, SLIDE 12 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a Savior from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago” (Luke 1:68-70 NLT).

The writer Luke tells us that Jesus is God who visited and redeemed the people.

The very name Jesus, Emmanuel, as recorded in Matthew, means “God with us.” The very fact that both Matthew and Luke record the name of Jesus as God with us bears significant historical importance for how we understand the nature of redemption. SLIDE 13

A common similarity held by all world religions and philosophies both then and now, with the exception of Christianity, is that for God to show favor upon an individual that person must first reach up to God. In other words, we must be the first mover in our relationship with God.

The history of the Christmas narrative, however, records something very different… God came down to us to live and be ‘with us.’ In fact, the entire Bible records God moving first on our behalf, not the other way around.

Every one of the 66 books in the Bible records God always moving toward us. God finds us in the midst of our sin and brokenness, and offers us salvation right there – just as we are.

SLIDE 14 Paul writes in Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

We broke our relationship with God when we desired his power and control over a fulfilling relationship with him. At that moment, we acquired a debt. And that debt required a payment. The only kind of payment that could satisfy a debt that large is death. SLIDE 15 Paul writes in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.” No other consequence could possibly suffice after our decision to rebel against God. Yet, in mercy and love, God chose himself as the very consequence of our decision, as the rest of that verse 23 states, SLIDE 16 “But the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I don’t think I fully grasped the radical concept of God coming down until I visited Kolkata, India.

Many of you know that Brian and I led a group of teenagers to Kolkata last July. Going to Kolkata was worth the price of admission just watching Brian navigate the streets of the city. He was like 3 parts Indiana Jones and 1 part Crocodile Dundee!

On our last day there, Brian rounded all of us together and told us that he wanted to take us to Kalighat Temple. This temple in particular was the house of worship for the goddess Kali, the third god in the Hindu lineage, and the god after which Kolkata is named. SLIDE 17 Above me is a photo of Kali.

Kali is the goddess of death and destruction. She wields a sword and wears the heads of men she beheads. The city resembles every bit of what she stands for. It is a broken, desperate city.

And right in the middle of this desperation is Kalighat.

SLIDE 18 The temple itself is living history. It is over 800 years old, and ever since it was built, hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of people make an annual pilgrimage to Kalighat each year.

The main reason for pilgrimage is twofold: first, families make sacrifices to Kali in order to ward off her sword of destruction over them; and second, husbands and wives make sacrifices to her for fertility by offering expensive flowers and perfumes and kissing statues of human parts that resemble that process.

The day that Brian took us to Kalighat, the temple was jam packed full of people. It was standing room only throughout the entire temple, and everyone stood shoulder to shoulder.

SLIDE 19 At one point during our tour, Brian showed us a goat sacrifice. Our guide told us through Brian that the family had been saving for months to purchase a flawless goat to sacrifice. The family wanted good luck and prosperity from Kali. Brian told us that the goat could have provided a meal for that family for weeks or could have been sold on the market for several months’ wages.

At the point of the sacrifice, I realized something that I couldn’t fully grasp until then. For us Westerners who value reason and logic, we rationalize God out of our worldview and make Jesus irreconcilable to life.

But in doing so, we miss the gift of redemption and a relationship with God who makes perfect sense. You see… God didn’t come down to us in the form of an elephant or a 4-armed monster, wielding a sword over us and wearing our heads as a necklace. God didn’t choose terror as a means of redeeming us.

Rather, God came down to us in our form, a human being created in his likeness, and spoke our language, felt our pain. In Jesus Christ, God volunteered himself to buy us back from death. Christmas is redemption.

SLIDE 20 As a result, the third definition to follow is that Christmas Is Family.

During the holiday season, one of the values that our culture celebrates is family. Though every family looks different, celebrates different values, and upholds different customs and traditions, our culture, especially here in Marin, thinks highly of the family. Christmas time means family.

But it’s also about another kind of unique family. Christmas is about the family of God. Many of you know the traditional Christmas story from Matthew and Luke. But do you know the Christmas story from the book of Galatians?

SLIDE 21 It begins in chapter 4, verse 4, saying: “But when the time had fully come.” Before we go on any further, do you hear the underlying murmur of anticipation within Paul’s opening statement? He knew what it meant to wait and anticipate. He understood the major movements of God throughout history. He knew the longing of humanity for freedom, restoration, and salvation. And he understood the meaning of waiting for God. Paul got this, and he’s recalling this notion when we begins by saying, ‘But when the time had fully come.’

He continues writing, “God sent his son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his son into our hearts, prompting us to call out ‘Abba, Father!’ Now you are no longer a slave, but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.”

Christmas is indeed about family because it is about an invitation extended to you by God to welcome you into his family.

SLIDE 22 You see… redemption by itself isn’t enough for God, if you can wrap your mind around that. Redemption in its purest sense is a transaction. It’s a buyback.

If that had been enough for God, then after what God did for us on the cross, we probably would not have heard from God again. Redemption by itself was not the end. But simply the beginning for what God does next.

According to what Paul states, God goes one more step and invites us into a familial relationship with the him, the God of the universe.

Through what Jesus did on the cross, God essentially put his family crest on humanity, claimed us undeservedly as his own children, and invited you into his family.

Hear this, the God of the universe wants more than just to redeem you; God desires with all of his heart a personal relationship with you. God longs for your reciprocated love. Ultimately, God wants to hear you call him, Abba, Father. God wants to hear you call him daddy.

Christmas reminds us that God left the riches and glory of heaven and adoration to enter into our own, broken human predicament in order to pay the highest price – his own personal sacrifice – so that you could be redeemed, rescued, restored, and adopted into his family. And God desires for you to call out to him, the God of the universe, as Daddy, as your Father, as your personal Savior and Redeemer. God isn’t aloof and silent, tending to more important things. He isn’t a 4-armed beast waiting to slay you. God is for you right in the here and now!

And for those who believe – this is the most amazing thing – the result is that you as his children become heirs to his kingdom! Heirs! Do you know what that means? It means no more worrying … no more fear… no more wondering am I good enough? Am I worthy enough? It means no more sickness… and no more pain… it means hope, rightly-placed hope… it means love – the kind that will never fail you or take you for granted… To be an heir of the kingdom of God means eventually living in perfect communion with the one who knows you inside and out.

When I look at the manger and see the nativity, I don’t see precious baby Jesus swaddled in clothes… I see the first glimpse of God breaking into Earth, redeeming us undeservedly from our sin against God, adopting us as his very own into his family, and offering us the keys to his house, to his kingdom – not just to hang out in it – but to share it and extend it to others!

Christmas is adoption!

SLIDE 23 Lastly, Christmas is Mission.

The original Christmas began with God entering into our word and enacting his plan of redemption for all of humanity. God completed the work of redemption in a way that only he could by sacrificing himself upon a cross and raising from the dead three days later.

Only God could do that.

But as adopted sons and daughters, God makes room for us to carry on his mission through sending us forth into our communities and places of work. God longs for us to share about this great news that we’ve experienced!

After his resurrection, Jesus tells his followers who now include you and me, SLIDE 24 in John 20:21: Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

You and I now are part of a larger mission. Not as obligation or duty, but as privilege and an act of worship. SLIDE 25

One of the great theologians of the 20th century, Karl Barth, handwrote a theological text that totaled more than 6 million words in an attempt to describe the mission of God.

Before he started writing it, however, he hung over his desk a three-paneled painting of the crucifixion of Jesus. SLIDE 26 Above me is the center panel.

The painting depicts the entire Gospel narrative in one scene, which is why certain characters appear that aren’t in the historical setting.

You’ll notice on the right hand side a depiction of John the Baptist, who obviously is one of the characters in the painting not present in the historical crucifixion scene. SLIDE 27 This is a close-up view of John. In this painting, you’ll notice that he is pointing to Jesus on the cross.

One interviewer asked Barth why he chose this painting of all paintings to hang above his small desk. Barth responded by simply saying “I’m reminded about the mission of God when I see the finger of John the Baptist pointing at Jesus on the cross. I simply want my life to resemble the finger of John the Baptist. I want my life to point others to Jesus on the cross.”

Christmas is mission. Christmas is a special event during the year that calls us to be a catalyst, a pointer to others toward the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ all year long. SLIDE 28

As we turn our eyes toward a new year, perhaps you need a new beginning. Perhaps you need to think on what Christmas is: anticipation of God’s certain movement in your life; redemption from a life of consequence and shame to a life of love and freedom; adoption into the family of God as his very son or daughter; and embracing the mission of God as one who now shares and points others to the amazing news of the cross and resurrection.

Let’s pray…