The Cost of Christmas

What has Christmas cost you so far?

Many of us will say, too much.

And I'm sure some will say, way too much

when the credit card bill comes in.

When we think about the cost of Christmas,

as I just asked the question,

I'm assuming that most of us think in terms of what it costs,

in terms of the gifts we've bought.

Maybe some trips you have or will take.

Our decorations, food, and all these kind of things.

Well, I want us to take a few minutes this morning

to think about the cost of Christmas in a different way.

You know, the real story of Christmas is found in the Bible,

and it's all about the coming of Jesus into this world,

the birth of God's Son.

When we think about the first Christmas,

or what the Bible teaches us about the coming of Jesus,

we find that it was very costly.

It was first costly to Mary.

I want you to think with me.

The cost of Christmas for Mary.

It cost her her reputation in a big way.

Look at what the Scripture says in Matthew chapter 1.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

Now, the angel coming to Mary and announcing her

that God had chosen her to be the mother of Jesus

is found in Luke chapter 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

Matthew 1 tells us about the problem

that that immediately caused.

Now, the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,

before they came together,

she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man

and unwilling to put her to shame,

resolved to divorce her quietly.

Now, you think these are real people.

Young woman, 16, 17 years old maybe.

Joseph, a little bit older.

They're more than what we consider to be engaged.

It was a legally binding betrothal.

And it was serious to break it.

That's why the word divorce is used here.

Well, when Mary first told Joseph the situation,

he didn't believe her.

Would you?

It's beyond belief.

No one would.

And so, he was a good man

because he didn't just explode in rage.

Look at what the Scripture says.

He was a just man, righteous man,

and unwilling to put her to shame.

And so, he resolved to divorce her quietly.

In his mind, she had been unfaithful.

He was not going to marry her,

but he was going to honorably part ways.

Well, it took a supernatural intervention of an angel

to change Joseph's mind,

to convince him that Mary had not been unfaithful.

Look at it.

The next two verses, verses 20 and 21.

But as he considered these things,

behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,

saying, Joseph, son of David,

do not fear to take Mary as your wife,

for that which is conceived in her

is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son,

and you shall call his name Jesus,

for he will save his people from their sins.

Joseph believed the angel.

No one else would have,

because no one else received the supernatural revelation.

In the eyes of everyone except Joseph,

Mary was an immoral woman.

And so for Mary to be chosen by God

for this most special work,

bearing his son,

it ruined her reputation.

And she knew it from the get-go.

Well, how did she respond?

Well, look with me if you would.

It'll be on the screen.

Luke chapter 1, verse 38.

Luke 1:38

Luke 1, 38.

Now the story of God coming to her,

the angel telling her she'd been chosen,

is before this verse.

And after he said all this,

this is how Mary responded.

Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.

Let it be to me according to your word.

She finds out she's been chosen by God.

to miraculously conceive baby Jesus in her womb.

And her response to such a public scandal,

she trusted God.

I am the server of the Lord.

Let it be to me according to your word.

She willingly accepted God's call

to be the mother of Jesus,

even though it would cost her publicly dearly.

But what I want us to see here is

she was willing to pay that high cost

to be faithful to do God's will.

Mary was the first to discover

how costly Christmas can be.

But she was not alone.

Look next, the cost of Christmas for Joseph.

It was costly to him in several ways.

First, it cost Joseph his reputation

just as well as Mary.

Same reasons.

But also it cost Joseph social relationships,

job security, financial stability,

because shortly after Jesus was born,

he had to leave home.

He had to leave where he worked,

his carpentry business,

and go to a foreign place.

Look at how the scripture describes this

in Matthew chapter 2.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream

and said,

Rise, take the child and his mother,

and flee to Egypt,

and remain there until I tell you,

for Herod is about to search for the child

to destroy him.

And he rose and took the child and his mother by night

and departed to Egypt.

Joseph acted on what God told him.

Just like Mary,

he was willing to pay the cost of obeying God.

Look back now at how Joseph responded to the angel

when the angel told him all about Mary

and the child she had conceived.

Look at how Joseph responded.

When Joseph woke from sleep,

he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.

He took his wife,

but knew her not until she had given birth to a son.

And he called his name Jesus.

The first Christmas was costly

to both Mary and Joseph.

But I want us to understand,

it was even more costly for Jesus.

Look at the cost of Christmas for Jesus.

Before he ever came into this world,

the Son of God had always existed.

It's a mystery.

We can't really wrap our minds around the fact

that God exists,

our one God exists as three persons,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus left the glory of heaven

that he had always enjoyed

with the Father and the Spirit

to come into this world to save us.

Paul describes that in Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

Look at it.

He's actually writing to this church

about how they need to humble themselves,

serve one another,

and he gives Jesus as the example.

Have this mind among yourselves,

which is yours in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not count equality with God

a thing to be grasped

or a thing to be held on to,

but emptied himself

by taking the form of a servant,

being born in the likeness of men,

and being found in human form,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

To come into this world,

Jesus laid aside the glory

he had always experienced and enjoyed

in heaven as the Son.

He didn't cease to become God

when he came into this world.

He just became man,

the God-man,

but he had to lay aside

some of the honor and the glory

that he had known in heaven.

But I want you to note

in the scripture you see on the screen there,

he did that for a purpose.

Jesus was born to die

for sinful people like you and me

so that we could be forgiven,

made right with God,

become a child of God.

But you know,

what Jesus has done

in coming to the world to save us,

dying on the cross as he did,

we have to respond to that.

We've got to respond by

admitting that we are sinful people,

we've offended God,

we've rebelled against him,

and we need a Savior.

No one's ever going to become a Christian

until they sense that need

and are willing to change their mind

about how they're living.

Admit their sin,

turn from it,

and put their trust in Jesus

and him alone

for their salvation.

Have you done that?

Have you called upon Jesus to save you?

Is he truly the Lord of your life

as you are celebrating his birth this year?

Christmas was truly costly to Jesus.

In fact,

the coming of Jesus has always been costly

for everyone associated with Jesus.

That leads to one question

that we need to answer.

What has Christmas cost you?

Christmas means Christ has come.

And when Christ comes into our lives

as our Lord and Savior,

it will cost us something.

And that's something that Jesus talked about,

taught, explained on many occasions

as you read through the Gospels.

Here's a good summary

of the kind of things Jesus talked about,

costly commitment.

It's from Luke chapter 9.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

And he said to all,

If anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross daily

and follow me.

For whoever would save his life

will lose it.

But whoever loses his life

for my sake

will save it.

Jesus calls each one of us

who call ourselves his follower,

every one of us

who calls ourselves a Christian,

Jesus calls us to costly commitment.

And in our country today,

such commitment

is becoming even more costly

all the time.

If you believe that the Bible

is truly the Word of God,

the perfect, without error,

Word of God,

and that it is

the authority

for what you should believe

and how you should live,

you may pay a price for that

in today's world.

In some settings.

For some people,

maybe in a home.

For some where you work.

For some around the people

that you call friends.

For many years,

Chick-fil-A

has publicly stated

that their business

was built on

biblical principles.

A few years ago,

they openly supported

traditional

biblical marriage

and they did it

in a positive way.

They got some flack

for that.

And Dan Cathy,

their CEO,

son of the founder,

Truett,

he emphasized,

we do believe

in biblical values,

traditional,

biblical marriage.

But we don't discriminate

against anyone

who doesn't believe that.

We don't fire people

who don't believe

what we believe.

And we certainly don't

prohibit everybody

from coming to Chick-fil-A.

We are open

to all people.

We hold the biblical values,

but we embrace people

and we want to serve people.

And Cathy and Chick-fil-A

was commended,

have been,

for having such a stance.

But over the last few months,

several stories

from multiple sources

have reported

that the Chick-fil-A

organization

has backed off

their strong commitment

to biblical values.

They have apparently

decided to be

more politically correct

and not offend

liberal groups

who oppose

biblical values.

According to several reports,

and I know a lot of you

are familiar with this,

Chick-fil-A

will no longer support

evangelical organizations

like the Salvation Army

and the Fellowship

of Christian Athletes

because these organizations

affirm biblical values

such as

traditional marriage.

Chick-fil-A

will now support

more liberal organizations

that are

LGBT friendly.

It appears

that Chick-fil-A

has chosen

to be more concerned

about

pleasing people.

and making

profits

instead of

pleasing God

and paying the cost

of being unfaithful

or being

faithful.

Now,

I don't want you

to misinterpret

these comments.

I'm not throwing

rocks

at Chick-fil-A.

I'm not advocating

boycotting

Chick-fil-A.

Where in the world

would you eat?

Be careful

when you say

you're going

to boycott

this company

or that company.

You'll starve

to death.

You'll walk.

You won't have

electricity.

You won't have

a telephone,

smartphone.

If you're going

to start boycotting

organizations,

businesses,

because they don't

adhere to

Christian values.

The reason

I'm singling

out Chick-fil-A

is because

since their

founding,

they have

publicly stated

we adhere

to biblical

principles,

biblical values.

But under

the pressure

of today's

liberal groups,

they have

changed.

They have

compromised.

compromised.

It's hard

not to

compromise

in today's

world.

And so

before we

pompously

explode

against Chick-fil-A,

let's make

sure that we

are not

compromising

in our

commitment

to Christ,

in order

to avoid

paying the

cost

of being

faithful.

Ask yourself

this question.

How have I

shown my

willingness to

pay the

price required

to be

obedient to

God?

We can see

how Mary

paid the

price.

It cost her

reputation.

It cost

Joseph social

standing,

financial security.

it cost

Jesus the

glory and

honor of

heaven.

Are you

willing to

say yes

to whatever

it is God

calls you to

do or to

take a stand

upon?

In your

relationships,

in your

work,

among the

people that

you associate

with?

faith.

You know,

the key to

making this

kind of

commitment is

found in

what Jesus

said about

us taking

our cross,

taking up

our cross

daily.

That means

we've got to

die to

self in

terms of

always having

it my way.

We've got to

die to my

comfort,

doing just

what I want

to do,

when I want

to do it.

It also means

we've got to

learn to trust

God.

God,

that His

way is not

only the

right way,

but it's

the best

way for

us as His

children.

And if we

trust God

like this,

we will

obey Him,

even if it

does cost

us our

reputation,

some social

standing,

financial

security,

or what we

consider earthly

glory.

Christmas

means that

Christ has

come.

He's come

into this

world.

But let me

ask you,

has Jesus

Christ come

into your

life as

Savior and

the reigning

Lord of

your life?

And final

thought, is

there room in

your heart

right now?

For God to

write His

story for

you and

where you are

right now,

even if it

comes at a

very high

cost.

Let's pray

together.

Father,

help us to

take seriously

the fact that

the coming of

Jesus is

costly,

always has

been,

always will

be.

Help us,

Father, to be

willing to

make the

wholehearted

commitment to

trust and

obey you,

faithfully

follow Jesus

wherever that

may lead and

whatever that

may cost.

And let's

just in an

attitude of

prayer right

now, listen

to the Lord

and respond to

Him as we

know He wants

us to.

I'd be happy to

pray with you

here at the

front if that

would be helpful

to you right

now.

And I

strongly want

to encourage

you, don't

let this

Christmas season

pass.

without

coming to

know Jesus

as your

Lord and

your Savior

and making

Him first

and foremost

in your life.

Let's pray

and respond

to the Lord.