The Reason for Christmas

Good morning, everyone. Great to be at church with you this morning. My name is Steve, the senior pastor here.

And if you've got your Bibles open there, that'd be fantastic.

And I'll take a quick look at that passage, which is in front of us in Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

I read an article this morning by a journalist who said that we are drawing the curtain on 2023 as we celebrate Christmas.

And it's a year that you really, that you could only really describe as bizarro year.

A year of great uncertainty and turmoil.

They went on and listed a whole heap of things that would classify as unusual, bizarre things that governments around the world are doing.

But also very mindful of a, we're closing the year at a time of great turmoil.

It's not far from our minds, conflicts in the Middle East, but also in Ukraine and Russia.

There have been tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of lives that have been lost in these conflicts.

Communities fractured, people stricken in life.

And they're just two of the big ones in terms of conflicts that are in the media in our world in this last year.

In 2023 alone, there were 114 wars globally.

We just really hear about two of them.

114.

The definition of a war is an active conflict where over 1,000 lives have lost.

And there's been 114 of them in this world this year.

Of the past 3,400 years of recorded history, there has only been 268 years war-free.

268 years with no recorded war.

That is a meagre 8% of recorded history.

That's all.

For those who think that religion is to blame for that, of all those recorded wars in history,

less than 7% have anything to do with religion.

Less than 7%.

In more recent history, from 1945 to 2015,

there were only 26 days of no recorded war somewhere in the world.

26 days.

So what are we to make then of the message that we just heard?

From Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

From 2,000 years ago.

That at the heart of Christmas,

which half of the world's population is celebrating right now,

what are we to make of the promise of peace?

It was right there.

Verse 14.

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.

Peace.

Peace.

That's something that we desire.

We desire peace in our relationships.

Our world is in desperate need for peace.

And frankly,

many of us would love peace deep inside of our hearts,

in the recesses of our hearts.

We're in turmoil and conflict with ourselves.

And the Bible promises peace,

and that's the reason for Christmas, we are told.

To bring peace to humanity.

So what is this peace that the birth of Jesus promises,

and how do we get it?

That's the three things I kind of want to, you know,

tackle this morning really briefly.

Say three things.

I want to treasure the message of Christmas,

and when we do, we find peace,

and when we find peace, we start to live fearlessly.

They're the three things I want to do

as we look at Luke 2 this morning.

So first of all,

treasuring the message of Christmas.

Really hearing the Christmas story

isn't easy to do when you've heard it so, so many times.

I mean, so many times.

There is an over-familiarity to the story of Christmas,

and to hear well, we know,

is the important thing in life.

Not just important in this passage.

We are told here that the shepherds

were told something by the angels.

Then they went and saw

that it was as they were told.

Then we are told in verse 17

that when they saw Jesus,

they then went and spread the word

about everything that they had heard about Jesus.

Verse 18 we read,

And all who heard it

were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

And there is an even deeper hearing.

In verse 19, it says,

Mary treasured up all these things

and pondered them in her heart.

This is more than just merely hearing some news.

You know, we all hear news every day

and on the most part,

it has no impact on us at all.

Those with children

know the experience of telling them something

and it's not being followed through with.

Probably those with husbands as well.

Did we hear the information?

Did they hear the information?

Yes.

Heard the information?

Did it get our attention?

Do we think through the implications?

I mean, really understand

of what we were told?

Well, on the most part, no.

The first thing we are told here

is that God speaks to and through the ordinary.

The shepherds get an angel

and everyone else gets a shepherd.

Just ordinary, low-class,

first-century shepherds.

Secondly, we are told

that Mary is a model for us

on how to hear.

She heard the news from the angel

and then she hears the news

from the shepherds.

And we are told she treasures it.

She ponders in her heart

what she has just heard.

The word ponder here

means to put into context,

to think it through,

to make the connections

between what I'm hearing

and the rest of my life.

How does it explain my life?

What does it mean for the way I'm living?

It is focused mental discipline.

Treasuring is also a little bit more emotional

than just mere study.

It means to keep this news alive.

It is to keep the fire burning,

to relish it,

to savor it,

turn it over and over

and get in my mind

heart

to see how it connects

with my life.

That is,

what we are told here

is Mary doesn't

just know the news

of the arrival of God intellectually.

She fans the flame of it

in her heart

by pondering it again

and again

and again

and again

and making connections

in the rest of her life.

She takes this news

into the centre

of her being

until it means

everything to her.

This hearing that she has

is an attitude

of the heart.

We shouldn't underestimate

our ability

to hear

and also

not to hear

the good news

of Christmas.

We don't really want

to be like the crowd

who just marvels

at this birth.

We want to be like Mary

and ponder

and treasure

the good news of Jesus

and the reason is

is because when we do hear well

we discover

the remarkable promise

of peace.

Have a look at it there

if you've got your Bibles

verses 13 and 14.

Suddenly

a great company

of the heavenly hosts

appeared with the angel

praising God

and saying

glory to God

in the highest heaven

and on earth

peace to those

on whom

his favour rests.

It's a very

specific

promise

of peace.

It's peace

for those

to whom

God's grace

and favour

and mercy

rest.

On the surface

it looks like

well this is just

a promise

for a select group

of people.

That's all this is.

But you have to read it

in the light

of verse 10.

The angels

said to them

do not be afraid

I bring you

good news

that will cause

great joy

for all

people.

Today

in the town

of David

a saviour

has been born

to you

he is the

Messiah

the Lord.

So what

Luke

the writer

of this

the recorder

of this biography

is saying here

is that one of the

great benefits

secrets of grasping

the good news

about God's grace

to us in Jesus

Christ

at Christmas

is that you now

have peace with God.

That's crucial.

That is so crucial

because one of the

great

and important

themes

of the

New Testament

is that

before we embrace

God's grace

grace and mercy

we are

in fact

at war

with him.

Most people

don't believe

that.

Most people

have not grasped

that aspect

of the Christmas

story.

Many would say

that they just

don't simply

don't believe

in God

or that they

are indifferent

to God.

Hardly

anyone

wanders around

and says

I'm hostile

towards God.

I'm in

open conflict

with him.

And yet

the New Testament

puts it like that.

It says

the mind

governed by

the flesh

is hostile

to God.

It does

not submit

to God.

That is

at the heart

of Christianity

before it's

great news

of God's love

is the

reality

of open

warfare

against God.

Our

relationship

with God

is not

disbelief

and indifference

it's actually

hostility

towards him.

And let me

just be clear

this is for

both the

religious person

and the

irreligious

person.

Open

hostility

overtly

asserting

our independence

from our

creator.

Both the

religious

and the

irreligious

are openly

declaring

they want

to live

life

their way.

The

religious

person

covertly

asserts

their

independence

from God.

You know

they do

religious

activities

you know

they turn

up to

church

they read

the Bible

they pray

try and

follow the

Ten Commandments

that kind

of stuff

try to be

a good

person

with the

expectation

that it

wins God's

favour towards

them in some

way.

It's an

attempt to

control

my life

and my

relationship

with God.

It's a

declaration that

I ultimately

do not

trust God.

No matter

who we are

in our

nature we

are hostile

to God

and particularly

in the

western world

we are

committed to

the idea

that we

will only

ever be

truly

deeply

happy

if we

are in

charge

of our

own

lives.

The

mark of a

real Christian

is that they

come to see

the hostility.

They've seen

not only that

they have done

wrong things

but even

the right

things that

they've done

have been

done for the

wrong reasons

the wrong

motives.

Christmas

is the

beginning of

what God

does for us

through Jesus

Christ to

initiate a

peace treaty.

God's grace

to us and

peace go

together.

Those who

grasp the

grace of

God are

those who

have peace

with God

and at the

very least

it means

Christmas

sorry at the

very least it

means that for

Christians we

ought to be

peacemakers.

At the

very least

peacemakers

are people

who have

admitted their

wrongs, their

flaws, their

hostility towards

God, they

have swallowed

their pride, they

have surrendered

to their God,

they've accepted

his grace and

his goodness and

they've found

peace with him.

And when that

happens between

you and God

it means that you

actually go out

into a world and

you do it with

others.

A

Christian

is someone

who knows

how to admit

that they are

wrong,

how to

forgive,

how to

reconcile

because that

is what God

has done for

them.

And we

become peacemakers

between races

and classes,

family members,

neighbours,

colleagues.

Peace comes

to those who

grasp God's

grace and

threw them

to the

world.

So,

treasure the

message,

discover the

peace,

and thirdly,

being at peace

with God

leads to

fearless living.

I get that

from verses

8 and 10,

have a look

at it.

Those,

sorry,

there were

shepherds

living out in

the fields

nearby,

keeping watch

over their

flocks at

night.

An angel of

the Lord

appeared to

them and

the glory

of the Lord

shone around

them and

they were

terrified.

But the

angel said

to them,

do not

be afraid,

I bring

you good

news that

will cause

great joy

for all

people.

The

shepherds

were terrified.

Angels

tell them,

don't be

afraid,

because I

bring you

good news.

That's the

reason why

you shouldn't

be afraid,

because I've

got good

news for

you.

Embracing

the good

news of

Christmas

means that

we can

be at

peace and

we can

live

fearlessly.

You see,

what normally

happens in

the Bible

is that

when God

shows up,

people are

terrified.

First time

it ever

happened was

in the

Garden of

Eden with

Adam and

Eve.

After they

sinned,

before sin

was in the

picture,

before there

was hostility

with God,

there was

no fear.

When we

have perfect

relationship

with God,

there is no

fear in

life.

that's so

crucial as

we come to

the end of

2023,

because most

of us come

to Christmas

living lives

of some

element of

fear and

anxiety.

The fear of

rejection,

the fear of

failure,

the fear of

bad things

happening,

the fear of

the future,

the fear of

death.

We live

each day

trying to

earn our

self-worth

and people's

respect,

and if we

don't constantly

get affirmation

and love from

people,

we just

die inside.

We are

slaves to

our performance

and other

people's

perceptions of

us.

It's a life

of fear,

knowing that

ultimately we

cannot control

our lives.

Deep down

in the

recesses of

our hearts,

we are in

conflict with

ourselves.

It's hard

enough trying

to manage

other people's

perception of

us,

us,

let alone

our own

perceptions

of us.

Every time

something

unexpected

happens to

us,

it's just

another

reminder

that we

are not

in

control.

We're

especially

afraid of

death.

In death,

we lose

absolutely

everything.

We are

filled with

fear,

but we

fill our

lives with

distractions in

order to not

think about

it.

Distractions

so that we

can't listen

well to

the good

news and

find peace.

We are

our own

masters and

we are

unqualified

for the

job.

And when

push comes

to shove,

we know

it.

We have

taken God's

crown and

placed it

in our own

heads, so

to speak,

and we

are way

over our

heads.

We are

usurposed

to a

throne that

we don't

deserve, nor

are qualified

for, and

on the first

Christmas, the

real king

turned up, and

we are

terrified.

His beauty

shows us

our

ugliness.

His power

shows us

our impotence.

His light

shows us

our darkness.

us.

And yet

his grace

to us

shows us

the solution.

Verse 11,

again, a

saviour has

been born

to you.

He is the

Messiah, the

Lord.

He is the

saviour of

the human

race.

To have

peace and

to live

fearlessly, we

need to

abandon

every form

of self

salvation and

rest in his

salvation.

salvation.

The baby

born in the

manger, we

are told

here in

verse 11, is

the Lord.

And the

word Lord

there in the

original language

is a direct

translation from

the Hebrew

word Yahweh.

Yahweh.

It's a

significant word.

It's the

covenant name

of God in

the Old

Testament.

The baby

born in the

manger is not

just a saviour

or a sage.

He is the

creator of

the universe.

That's what

that word

Lord means.

If the

God who

made all

things is

prepared to

humble himself

and to

come to

earth, for

us he is

trustworthy.

Is that

plausible?

way back in

1961, the

Soviet Union

put a man

in space for

the first

time.

27-year-old

Yuri Gagarin

orbited the

earth for

about 90

minutes, an

hour and a

half, something

like that.

When he

came back to

earth, the

head of the

Soviet Union at

time, Nikita

Khrushchev, said

that we have

sent someone

into space and

we did not

find God.

God does not

exist.

There's no God

up there.

The Oxford

scholar C.S.

Lewis read

that and

fired off an

article in

response called

the seeing

eye.

This is part

of what he

wrote.

The Russians, I

am told, report

that they have

not found God

in outer space.

Looking for

God or

heaven by

exploring space

is like reading

or seeing all

of Shakespeare's

plays in the

hope that you'll

find Shakespeare

as one of the

characters.

Shakespeare is

in one sense

present at

every moment

in every one

of his plays.

But he's

never present

in the same

way that

Princess Hamlet

is.

My point is

that if God

does exist,

he is related

to the universe

more as an

author is

related to a

play than as

one object in

the universe is

related to another

object in the

universe.

He went on to

ask the question,

how then do we

find God or

also avoid

God?

He first

answered how

we avoid

God and

maybe at

the end of

this crazy

year of 2023

this might be

a pertinent

message for

you.

He says,

avoid silence.

This is how to

avoid God.

Avoid silence,

avoid solitude,

concentrate on

money, sex,

status, health,

and your own

grievances.

Keep the radio

turned on or

the television or

YouTube or

whatever it is

he might have

said if he was

existing right

now.

Live in a

crowd.

Use plenty of

sedation.

If you must

read books,

select those

books very

carefully, but

you'd be better

off just to

stick with the

newspapers.

To some,

God is

discoverable

everywhere.

To others,

nowhere.

It depends

on the

attitude of

your heart.

And I

would add it

would depend

on the

level of

hostility that

you have

towards God.

Lewis went

on to write

that he had

less advice on

how to find

God, he

said because it

was God who

came to find

us on the

very first

Christmas.

His point

was that the

only way to

know God who

made everything

is if this

God writes

himself into

his own

story, as a

character in

his own story.

It's the only

way that we

would ever know

him.

If he chooses

to write himself

into the history

of the world

that he has

made, and

that is what

C.S.

Lewis says,

is the claim

of Christian,

the claim of

Christmas.

It's the

infinitely wonderful

moment of

Christmas, that

God writes

himself into

his own

story.

It means

that God

looks at the

world that he

created, he

could see the

terrible trouble

that humanity

was in, the

hostility, the

chaos, the

conflict, the

war, both

externally and

internally, and

he wrote

himself into the

history as

Jesus Christ, the

saviour of the

world.

And he

didn't come

simply to

embrace us, but

to take our

hostility upon

himself and to

die for us.

He lost his

peace so that

we can have

peace forever.

And so I'm not

sure what 2023

has been like

for you.

Many people are

claiming it's the

hope, the year

that they hope

never to revisit.

Look to

Christmas at the

end of the year

and find peace.

To the degree

that we grab

hold of the

good news and

ponder it and

treasure it and

play it over, to

the degree that

our fears will

diminish and

peace will rise

in our hearts.

What's your

next step?

Maybe it might

be just to

wander across,

literally take

your next step

and wander across

the atrium in

church here and

you'll find some

free resources such

as the case for

Christmas.

Is Christmas

believable?

Christmas uncut?

First part, maybe

it might be simply

this Christmas

season to grow a

bit of quietness

and a bit of

solitude and

ponder the

message.

Merry Christmas.