Home-Baked Happiness: Giving Christmas to Your Family

So last week, the title of the message is, Where Does God Fit In?

We look at the Christmas season, we see all of the stuff that's going on from

the lowly manger scene where the God of the universe was born as a human in

a cave and not in a princely palace.

And then we see all the tinsel and all the glitter and all the stuff that's

going on and all of the items that you can buy in the store,

and the things going—the Salvation Army ringing their bells and playing their

tunes and all of this type of thing,

and we wonder in all of the loneliness of the scene that is Christmas and all

of the frivolity that we see in the Christmas of today, we wonder, where is God?

Where does God fit in and all that? And this morning, we're kind of going to

continue on some of the same thing, looking at what is it really about.

The message title is Home-Baked Happiness, Giving Christmas to Your Family.

Now, we all look at what is the greatest Christmas gift of all,

and that's, of course, Jesus, but we look at what can we do at Christmastime?

Can we give to our families? I mean, I know that my family just cherishes those

Queen Anne chocolate-covered cherries that I buy Christmas Eve.

All I want for Christmas is Queen Anne chocolate-covered cherries.

So everybody needs to buy Phil some Queen Anne chocolate-covered cherries.

So it's Christmas time, and Lucy comes into where Charlie Brown is standing

and says, Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown.

Tis the season of peace on earth and goodwill toward men.

Therefore, I suggest we forget all of our differences and love one another.

Charlie Brown, whose face lights up at this, says, That's wonderful, Lucy.

Remembering all of those scenes where he went to kick the football and she moved

it away and he lands on his back, he says, I'm glad you said that,

but tell me, do we have to love each other only at this season of the year?

Why can't we love each other all year long?

Lucy retorts, What are you? Some kind of fanatic or something? No.

If we really get serious about Christmas, it seems that we're branded by the

world as some kind of fanatic.

Yet Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace on earth, goodwill toward men.

We're going to read from Luke chapter 2, verses 8 through 14, if you'd follow along.

Luke 2:8–14

And 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 the people.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord.

This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger.

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,

praising God and saying, Glory to the God in the highest heaven,

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

So I'm going to be reading, as we said, we're looking at this,

and we see this, and we see this scene where the shepherds are out on the hillside.

The shepherds are not your highest class of citizen.

Shepherds are some of the lowliest. They often are living out in the hills and

the crannies of the area around there in the wilderness.

And can you imagine how wonderful our homes would be?

Can you imagine how wonderful our lives would be and how wonderful our world

would be if we really did put into practice what they heard on that hillside?

Peace on earth, goodwill toward all people.

As Christmas comes around for another time, and some of us have seen more of

those than others, we think once again, maybe it's not impossible.

Maybe we can have hearts filled with love.

Maybe we really can be kind to each other, even the person that cuts us off

on the highway going out to Walmart.

And not just once a year, but all year long. I'm sure that most of us have already

begun our Christmas shopping. I must admit that I really don't do it.

I let my wife do all of it, and then I kind of feel guilty, and I,

at the last minute, run out and get something.

My wife and I, years ago, stopped giving each other presents for Christmas because

we get everything we need, and I know that for 42 years, I've been her greatest gift.

But she might say the other way around, and she might be right.

But if I were to start buying Christmas gifts before Halloween,

like the stores have them out,

if I were to start buying for those loved ones, I know that I would buy more than is on my list.

And that's for maybe most of us.

We seem to think that buying of the gifts equates itself with Christmas.

But I'm sure that most of you have spent a great deal of time and thought in

choosing just the right gift for that special person in your life.

We think about their needs and their wants and what might make them happy.

There's something very enjoyable in shopping to share the love we have in our

heart for someone else. And so we all go out and buy that gift card, right?

Yeah, that's what we do because we put so much thought into it.

And when that person who we've given that special gift to open the box and looks at the gift,

we eagerly anticipate them surrounding us with joy and giving us a hug of delight

when oftentimes they just kind of put it to the side and wait for the next one.

Isn't that the way we do at Christmastime? But if there were any expressions

of joy and delight, we can be quite disappointed, can't we?

Because in receiving the gift they are receiving us. if they put it aside,

it's as if they aren't receiving us.

Or if they reject it, they're rejecting us. At least that's the way it feels.

And even while we're watching the faces of others to see how they receive their

gifts, others will be watching our faces to see how we receive their gifts.

You see, giving and receiving is an important part of the Christmas season.

I've often thought that actually instead of doing gifts, what we ought to do

is take everybody on our lifts and make a Christmas card out,

put a check for $15 in there or something like that,

send it to them, and then they would send a check to $15 back for us.

It's kind of like chain letter Christmas, you know.

You do all this sending it around, and then you don't have to worry about all

of the trouble of beating the crowds to Walmart and the shopping centers.

But I want to be a little more specific about this gift that was given to us at Christmas.

For in actuality, God gave us several very valuable gifts.

First thing is, is God gave us the opportunity for the healing of our sins.

In Jesus Christ, God gave us the gift of forgiveness of our sins,

and I know we talk about that a lot, and it seems like we almost gloss over that.

But if you really stop and think about that, how much more magnitude that has

than any gift we could possibly buy.

You see, we'll never have peace with our fellow man until first we have peace

with ourselves and with our God.

We could never have peace with ourselves, as I said, unless we have peace with God.

The scripture says, and Jesus very plainly said, love the Lord your God with

all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

And these are the greatest commandments that are given, and we can never have

peace with God until our sins are forgiven.

And so it is because of this that we understand that the greatest opportunity

Christmas brings, the greatest opportunity that God ever gave to bring the healing for our sins.

I read about something unusual that happened a few years ago.

It seems that in the eastern part of the.

I've never heard of a cookbook being recalled before. I've heard about meat

and produce being recalled.

I've heard about prescription medicine being called. I heard about cars being

recalled and car seats, for instance, infants and toasters.

But I do not recall ever hearing about a cookbook being recalled.

But it was. This cookbook was recalled not for something it contained,

but for something it didn't contain. The article said that one recipe in the

cookbook had left out a very important ingredient.

It seems, you know, if you leave out an ingredient in most recipes,

it just doesn't taste right, correct?

Or doesn't taste at all. And it seems that none of the proofreaders had caught this mistake.

It just normally was not a very big deal if you leave something out of a recipe.

It doesn't taste right, and you have to throw it away.

But after publishing the book and sending it out for distribution in the stores,

the producers of the book realized that if someone followed the directions of

this one recipe in this cookbook and left out that very important ingredient,

that the mixture would cause a reaction and literally blow up in the cook's face.

So because of that hazard, the cookbook was recalled.

It's safe to say that the publishers of this cookbook didn't want to get egg on their face.

You see, God has given us the recipe for a life. He asks us,

do you want peace? Then here's the recipe.

Confess your sinfulness and lostness in the light of God's holiness.

Reach out and accept forgiveness through Jesus Christ and live according to

God's principles and rules and blend those together for a life of peace.

Those are the ingredients that make it possible.

But if you leave out some of those ingredients or stick in some ingredients

of worldliness and selfishness, then what happens?

Life blows up in your face. That's why there is so much depression and so much

suicide and so much rejection.

It's because too many people are following the wrong recipes for life and seeking

after pleasure that doesn't last. but God says, here's my gift.

It's not just the gift of a baby, but it's a gift of an offer of forgiveness and salvation.

And so we see that God gave us the opportunity for healing of our sins.

But we also see that God gave us help for our present situation.

Think of the shepherds sitting out there on the hillsides watching sheep all night long. Now.

Common wisdom says if you're watching sheep that many, you fall asleep because you're counting.

Anyway, they didn't fall asleep. They were out on the hillside watching their sheep.

They were poor with not much prospect of improving their lives.

Life was hard and harsh for them without much hope of it ever getting better.

And then one glorious night, the angels appeared and made this awesome announcement.

Unto you is born this day, unto you is born this day in the city of David,

a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Now, I don't know about you, but if I were a shepherd, which I'm not,

out on the hillsides of Judea, which I'm not, and I'm the lowliest of all of

the castes of citizens, which I am, and I had a band of angels appear to me in the sky.

I might question my sanity.

Really? Can you imagine this? So it must have been absolutely so real to them,

that they chronicled it and reminded themselves of it over and over.

The story is written about it. They went in the streets of Bethlehem and shouted

at the top of their lungs about this child, or we picture them doing that,

But here we see, suddenly everything has changed. God has become real to them.

God had come to help them to be their Savior, to bring peace on earth, goodwill to men.

And in saying this to the shepherds, the angel was proclaiming that despite

what others might think, God found favor in them.

What a thought for the small and meek in this world.

At the other end of the spectrum were the wise men, magi, people with power

and authority and wealth, and yet there was an emptiness in their lives as well.

And when they saw the star, they knew what it meant that meant something great,

something greater than themselves, and they came because they needed something too.

I've often reminded people that we talk about evangelism to the poor and the downtrodden.

Well, I'm telling you, even the wealthy are poor in spirit.

Whether we are rich or poor, powerful or weak, every one of us needs help in

life, and God has promised that when the Christ child enters our hearts and

lives, then we will receive his help.

When we receive Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit, which is God's presence.

I've had an opportunity to speak to some of the students at the school about

this very same thing. When they bring up some questions about faith and God,

one girl asked what sanctification was.

I said, I'm glad you asked because I couldn't tell you what it's about unless you ask.

I said, this is the presence of Christ, the Holy Spirit who comes into us when we accept Christ.

That is the presence of Christ coming in to change us and renew us and call

us to him and consecrate us for him.

When we've been helped by the Holy Spirit, we develop a sympathetic feeling

towards one another also.

A gentleman was on his way home from work during one Christmas week,

and he stopped to fill up his car with gas.

As he did, he dropped the gas cap. It rolled under the car right in the middle

of the dirt and water and muck that had collected there.

He bent down and looked at it for a minute, wondering what to do since he was

dressed up in his business suit.

Finally, he figured that he would finish filling up the tank with gas,

move the car forward, and then pick up the cap.

But about the time he was thinking that, and before he could actually do it,

a man in construction clothes saw his dilemma, got down on his knees,

crawled partway underneath the car, got the gas cap, and handed it back to him.

Businessman stood there amazed and then thanked him. The man responded with

a smile and a Merry Christmas and then went on his way.

You know, at Christmastime, we would do well to be more sensitive to one another.

We should go around picking up gas caps or reaching into our pockets for money

to help someone in need or put in the Salvation Army buckets or delivering food

to someone who's hungry or because Christmas reminds us that God has reached

down to help us, we need to help others.

Maybe there's a more good in us than we give ourselves credit for.

Maybe we spend too much time beating ourselves over the head,

telling ourselves how bad we really are.

A few years ago, everyone was shocked to hear, several years ago now,

everyone was shocked to hear of the senseless shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.

Copycat shootings began to happen all over the country.

At a high school in Paducah, Kentucky, there was a group of students praying quietly.

And just as they finished, another student began shooting, leaving three dead and five wounded.

It was a terrible tragedy. We see this written in the news all day long of the

senseless killings, even of the CEO of the UnitedHealthcare this last week in New York City.

But we didn't see the other side of the story. At the shooting in Paducah,

we were moved by the love and compassion of the parents of one of the girls who was killed,

who immediately gave permission for the doctors to remove vital organs from

their daughter and to use them

to save the lives of three other people who desperately needed healing.

We don't read about that in our news.

We don't read that people moved by their tears,

tears of both sadness and joy, as they learned that their daughter's lungs had

been successfully transplanted into a young man whose family had been told that

he only had a few more days to live.

But if we are moved by those scenes of their sorrow and joy,

how much more moved should we be to realize that God the Father gave up his

own son's life to be a transplant of healing and help for us to keep from dying?

Much more moved should we be to realize that the King of kings and Lord of lords

has visited our world to cry with us, to rejoice with us, and to help us over

the hurts and hurdles of our life.

You remember the scripture of the Exodus, the people in Israel or in Egypt,

the Israelites in Egypt, and the story says that God saw their despair and decided

he needed to come down and do something about it.

That's the way God has done for us. He has seen our despair.

He has seen our lostness. He's seen our trouble.

And he's come down to give us peace on earth and goodwill toward all men.

And then one final thing that God gave us at Christmas is he gave us hope for

the future. Do you know what kept the shepherds going?

Out on the hillsides all day long, all night long with those sheep, it was hope.

God had made a promise to the Israelites, the chosen people of Israel.

God had promised that one day he would send a Messiah, and like everybody else

who was an Israelite, they had looked for that day.

They had been looking for that day when the Messiah would come over generations

and generations and generations since the prophets had first foretold the Messiah would come, the Christ.

They were looking for this deliverer, and when the Messiah came,

everything would be all right again.

When that hope burned in the hearts and lives of the people at the Passover

Supper every year, they would celebrate the Passover Supper,

remembering what God had done to deliver them from Egypt.

But at the very end of the Passover meal, the Seder meal, they would always

remember and acknowledge that

the Messiah was yet to come, and they were looking forward to that day.

Know what kept the wise men going? It was hope. Every night they would go out

and search the heavens, looking for some star of promise, some astronomical, astrological sign.

And they knew that when they saw it, they must follow it wherever it led them,

because it was a sign from God and promised the birth of a special king.

God brings hope to us at Christmastime as well. In today's day of war and intended

conquest by Islamic terrorists, including the takeover of the dictator in Syria just yesterday.

We see war all over, and yet we hear these words, peace on earth, goodwill toward men.

It almost seems like an impossible dream, doesn't it?

Maybe. Maybe there will always be wars and rumors of wars.

Maybe the poor will always be hungry. Maybe we'll always have to deal with the

terror and crime and violence we see every day.

I remember in the Christmas Carol, when Ebenezer Scrooge was asked for money

for the homeless, and he said, they'll always be with us.

The poor will always be with us. We can't do anything to really help their consequence.

Consequence, we do understand that he had a change of heart, and we can too.

But there's one thing to keep us going. We know that one day heaven is going

to open, and God will come back, and the dream will be fulfilled of peace and

goodwill for all of eternity. And it's almost like we have this movie playing

in our head that someday this is going to happen.

I don't know if I've used this illustration before in this church or not,

but one of my favorite Christmas stories is about a seventh grade boy by the

name of William Sperling.

William was big for his age and a little slow mentally, but he was a good child,

a good boy, and all the kids liked him.

In fact, everyone wanted William for a friend because he was big enough to take

up for them if they needed him to.

When it came for the Christmas program to be presented, William Sperling wanted

to be a shepherd, but the teacher decided that he would make a better innkeeper

than a shepherd since he was so big.

So she gave him the task of being a rough, mean innkeeper.

When Mary and Joseph came to the inn and knocked on the door,

William Sperling opened it, and when they asked for a place to stay,

he said gruffly, there's no place for you to stay. There's no room in the inn.

Joseph said, but my wife is tired and weary, and she is expecting a baby.

Isn't there just a small room somewhere where we can rest?

Once again, with harshness in his voice, William said, you'll have to find a

place someplace else. There's no room in the inn.

Once more, Joseph pleaded just for some place for them to stay the night.

Mary held her stomach as she had practiced, and then there was a long pause,

one of those pauses that is as embarrassing for an audience as it is for the director in the cast.

William Sperling had forgotten his next line.

Back behind the crops, you could hear the prompter saying, no,

be gone, no, be gone, whispering that to him.

But that was what he was supposed to say.

Finally, with a sudden softness in his voice, William said, no be gone.

Mary began to cry as she and Joseph sadly turned to leave but as they did suddenly

William Sperling regained his voice and said wait a minute you can stay in my

room and I'll go sleep in the shed.

In the stunned silence that followed the teacher thought the play was ruined

until she thought again of the words of that seventh-grade boy who may have

communicated the greatest truth of Christmas.

Forgiven. No, you can stay in my room, and I'll stay in the shed.

Isn't that what Jesus did? No, you don't have to die for our sins.

You don't have to die for your sins. Let me do that for you.

I'll take your place on the cross.

No, you can enter the heavenly home. I'm preparing a place for you there.

Christmas made the difference. God wrapped up a little gift in strips of cloths and laid him in a manger.

In the same way, Jesus's body, when he was full grown, was wrapped in cloths

and laid in a tomb to die for our sin, to give us hope for a future.

God waits to see what we will do with the gift that he has given us in that first Christmas.

God offers that gift again this morning, and then this morning you can say with

them, wait a minute, Jesus, you can stay in my room, and I'll make way for you to lead me.

Let me move out of my own house, and you move in and take your dwelling among

me, inside me, and through me, as the Holy Spirit leads me.

That's simply something that is pulling at your heart, even if you're listening online.

All you have to do is call out to Jesus, call out to God and ask him to help you.

If you'd like someone to talk with you or pray with you, you can call me or

message me or whatever, or somebody else in the church that you know is a follower

of Christ and ask for help.

You see, this Christmas, I think it's time for us to make room for Jesus in

our hearts, not in all of the hoopla that goes on, but really worship the Christ,

the Son of the living God.