Luke 2:8-14 Now
there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping
watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord
stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they
were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid,
for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all
people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a
Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign
to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in
a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of
the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
A couple weeks ago, our
church welcomed Dr. Willie Nolte as guest Preacher for our first sermon of the
2019 Advent/Christmas season. Pastor Nolte explained that the word “Advent”
(from Latin “adventus”), means “coming” or “Arrival”. There is a term:
“unintentional inattention”, where things are happening around us but we miss
it. Sometimes, things are happening, but we miss the significance of them. We
don’t realize what we are looking at or hear right in front of us. We might be
missing the beauty, the value, the importance or what God is saying to us.
At Christmas, what child is
this? In the Christmas holiday season there is a lot of stuff going on. We
could miss what Christmas is all about. Why? Pastor Nolte suggests three
reasons. (1) Christmas is too familiar to us. We know the story of the Christ
child miraculous birth to the Virgin Mary in a Bethlehem merger, the Star, the
Angels, the Wise men and their three gifts. We can get to thinking that we know
it all already and don’t need to think about it. But in reality, when do we
know everything there is to know about someone? And especially, when do we exhaust
and fully grasp the true meaning of an infinite Creator God, who broke through
time and space in the Incarnate Christ among us, and the love, mercy and grace
towards sinners for their forgiveness, reconciliation and salvation? It hasn’t
happened yet: that takes a lifetime. Stop and look again. What time does a
society re-calibrate itself to the Son of God coming from Heaven to Earth with
His love and kindness in sight and in focus besides Christmas? We get too busy and
to cluttered with distractions. Christmas may be commercialized, but the more
lights and trees that go up, the more Christmas cards that are mailed and the more
get-togethers with family and friends will all come together and focus our
attention on the light of the world, God’s gift, and peace on earth.
(2) We could miss what
Christmas is all about by our preconceived notions or conclusions of who and
what the Messiah was and would be. Many have ideas already what God is like. Is
God all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present or absent and mad? What we have
decided in our minds affects our understanding, belief and faith. When our
understanding and associated belief differs from what the Bible says is
opposite, we tend not to accept that. (3) We could miss what Christmas is all
about by our existing paradigm (the way that we receive, act and react). Our
misconceptions and misunderstandings do not allow us to break through our preconceived
notions and conclusions, including the message of Christmas. Most understand
God as being transactional. If I do “this”, then God will do “that”. Example:
If I do good, then God owes me because that is a part of the deal. But, God is
not transactional; He is transformational. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” God is interested in breaking
into our world and changing the way that we think and act, giving us the
ability to start doing it in an improving and maturing sanctification process. The
spiritual and miraculous are above our intellect, yet exist and are true. Don’t
let Christmas become Christ missed.
Let's continue Dr. Nolte's message on the significance of Christmas in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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