ADVENT
1
Nov.
30-Dec. 2
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Jeremiah 33:14-16
“HAVING
A REAL CHRISTMAS REQUIRES…”
1.
A
real view of real sin.
2.
A
real desire for a real Savior.
“Why can’t we have a real Christmas?”
While a decade ago maybe only a child whose life got turned upside down would
whine that question, it is likely that everyone older than 7 in this room at
least felt like whining that question. Why can’t we have a real Christmas? All
of us older than 7 remember what Christmas was like during the time of the
government shutdown when for a time schools and churches were not allowed to be
open and then when we resumed all kinds of restrictions went into place. We all
lived with them. And then came something important, Christmas. Many extended
families did not get together. Many did not travel. And then there was the
school children’s Christmas service here at Jacobi. Do you remember? We
recorded individual recitations and classes singing by themselves. Mr. Walker
put in hundreds of hours splicing and requesting re recordings. And then we
invited people to come and watch the prerecorded service on our big screens in
4 separate viewings. Many chose not to come. Do you have any idea how many
times we all said or felt, “Why can’t we have a real Christmas?”
Well, we could back then and every
year. Those frustrated feelings we have or had simply reveal that all of us
have spent too much time in an American culture that has no idea what a real
Christmas is all about. Likely without even realizing it the slow boil of the
secular Christmas has done its work. Think about it. Most of the things we
associate with a real Christmas are the externals. Lights. Trees. Presents.
Food. People. Wonderful blessings for us to enjoy with thanksgiving to God but
not really what Christmas is all about. Today we begin the Church Year season
of Advent. Advent means arrival. Its themes are often an encouragement for
spiritual renewal, an urgency to be ready. As we kick of this season then God’s
word urges us to get ready to have a real Christmas.
How do we do that? We learn from those who
already pulled it off. As I read my Bible, I often find myself wishing I could
be like the people I read about. I want the faith of Abraham who has the knife
poised in the air to take Isaac’s life because he has firm trust in God’s power
to resurrect. I want to be like Job who can say of God, “Though He slay me, yet
will I trust in Him.” And I want the real Christmas joy of the shepherds who
upon hearing the Christmas message immediately went to see and then returned
glorifying and praising God. Why? They were Old Testament believers. They had
never been exposed to all the externals of Christmas that we have. But they had
been exposed to the word of God like these words of the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 33:14-16 (EHV) “Listen, the days
are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the good promises that
I have spoken to the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah. 15 In
those days and at that time, I will cause a righteous Branch to grow up from
David’s line. He will establish justice and righteousness on earth.” The shepherds had
real Christmas joy because they realized that what Jeremiah was talking about
here was happening before their very eyes. God had promised a righteous branch
from David’s line. A descendant of David would be their Savior. And they knew
they needed one. God’s people were painfully aware of their sins. At Jeremiah’s
time the nation went into exile. At the shepherds’ time they were ruled by the
Romans. Painful reminders of the people’s unfaithfulness to God. They had a
real view of their real sin that prepared them to have real joy that first
Christmas.
The same thing will work for us too. While
we don’t live in a conquered nation there are painful reminders of sin in our
lives. For some of us it is the ongoing struggle with alcohol abuse or drug
addiction. For some of us it is the guilt of words and actions that have
fractured our families. Every death of every loved one, prayed for or
unexpected, is a real reminder that sin is real and it has real consequences.
When those consequences are in our face, when we can’t escape from them or undo
them, we find ourselves with a real view of real sin, the kind that pushed the
Apostle Paul to exclaim, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
Why a real Savior of course! “10In
those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. This is what
she will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.” Judah and
Jerusalem are used here as names for the Church, believers in Jesus. Like the
shepherd and you and me. God’s good promise was that when the descendant of
David, the Righteous Branch, came, God’s people would know that they are saved.
They would have righteousness. No wonder the shepherds left their flocks and
went to see. And no wonder that even though all they saw was a newborn boy they
were glorifying and praising God. What a blessing! Christmas had come. Their
Savior was born. They would have righteousness.
That’s a blessing for us as well. Have you
noticed in other people, have you noticed in yourself, that we all have this
deep desire to be justified? We want to be considered right. You see examples
of that everywhere. After the election the pollsters were explaining how right
they got it even though to many people it did not seem that way. Think of the
last disagreement you had with a spouse, a parent, a teacher. How easily it
devolves into a fight over who is right. Sometimes as I try to give good godly
counsel to people I ask, “Is it more important to you to be right or to get
this right?” You can just see the inner struggle people have to give up being
justified for the sake of something greater. I wonder if that happens in us because
deep down we know we really aren’t right in God’s eyes so we look to be right
in the eyes of others?
Did you hear some good news of great joy
that can help us have a real Christmas? With our real Savior Jesus we are
righteous. His righteousness becomes our righteousness. God said so. The day is
coming when we will no longer struggle with sin. The day is coming when we will
no longer live with our consequences. The day is coming when we will no longer
be separated from our loved ones who died in the Lord. All because we real
sinners have a real Savior whose birth we get to celebrate.
Why can’t we have a real Christmas? We
can. Every year. You know how people have profile pictures on their phones so
when someone they know calls that picture shows up? So often it is a nice
picture from a nice memory. Ask Chris to show you the profile picture she has
for me on her phone. Do you know what she set as my profile picture when I call?
The face of the Grinch. Now before you get ready to tar and feather her for
doing such an awful thing you need to know I’ve earned that profile picture.
How? By expressing my distaste for so many of the extras of Christmas. In the three
weeks leading up to Christmas we make ourselves super busy with lights and
baking and parties and present buying and tree trimming. And yes there are
extra worship services and Christmas concerts. Those I don’t mind. But the
other stuff, when I get tired, it is entirely possible that I act a little
Grinchy. Part of it comes from my sinful nature. All the busies just make me
tired. But part of it comes from my Christian nature. Most of the extras have
nothing to do with a real Christmas. Now you can do or not do, all the extras.
That is up to you. Whether you do or do not let’s get ready for a real
Christmas by being real about sin so we can be really excited to hear again
that we have a real Savior, Jesus. Amen.
