Galatians 4:4-7 “A Perfectly Messy Family Christmas”

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

Our passion is to experience and express grace.

Join us.

Kids, I'd love for you to come join me on the stairs again this morning as we talk about

Christmas.

We've got a few more chances to do that up there.

You all right?

We have been talking through December about lots of things to be excited about, about

Christmas, haven't we?

We talked about lights and songs and food, and I think we're running out of things for

kids to be excited about.

Can you all think about anything else to be excited about for Christmas?

Oh, presents.

I forgot about it.

Maybe we'll have to talk about those on Christmas Eve, okay?

So we'll talk about presents on Christmas Eve, but we're going to talk about something else

this morning, okay?

Who do you like to be with at Christmas?

Can you think of it?

Yeah?

You sometimes have a lot of family that you might not get to see at other times that you

get to see around Christmas, or special friends, right?

That are part...

Do you have somebody, Bennett?

Yeah, some more people of your family are going to come.

Some of mine are coming.

Yeah, Millie?

My friends and my family.

Yeah, you're going to have friends and family for Christmas, aren't you?

And so we get to see lots of special people a lot of times, and I want you to know something.

When you think about the people that you like to celebrate with at Christmas, did you know

that a big part of Christmas for God was having you be a part of His family?

Did you know that?

That God wanted you to be in His family?

Did you know that's what the Bible says?

That's why the Bible says God sent Jesus to be born so that we could be in His family,

that we could be His sons and His daughters.

Isn't that amazing?

Now, I want you to think about something.

If you're a son and daughter, that means God is your...

Father.

Father.

Good thinking.

It took a minute for some of you, didn't it?

If God is your father...

I want to tell you something that I used to do with my girls.

I used to have three little girls.

They're not as little as they used to be.

But I used...

One of the things I used to do with them was I used to sit them on my lap and say to them,

Daddy loves you so much.

Okay?

Maybe you've had a mom or dad say that to you.

And we'd talk about why I love them so much.

And they were just really little.

Did I love them because they always made straight A's?

No.

No.

They hadn't even gone to school yet.

Did I love them because they always obeyed every time, everything I asked them to do?

Is that why I love them?

No.

No.

Sometimes they didn't obey.

Maybe you sometimes have not obeyed.

And you know what I would say?

Why do I love them?

And I would say, because you're my girl.

You're my girl.

Daddy loves you so much.

So listen, when God adopts you into His family, when He becomes your father, that means that

He always loves you no matter what.

Because no matter what happens, you're His, aren't you?

You're His child.

Even when you mess up, even when you're sad, no matter what you do, Jesus is born at Christmas

so that you can be in God's family and have a father who loves you perfectly all the time.

Isn't that awesome?

What a gift that is that we have God as a perfect father for us.

Let me pray and then I'll let you go back.

God, we are really thankful that You're our father.

We're thankful that You love us.

We're thankful that You sent Your son to be born at Christmas, to live and to die for us

so that we could be adopted into Your family.

I pray that these kids would especially know Your love for them, that they would know that

You love them because they are Yours and that nothing can change that ever.

And we pray that that would give them a great reason to celebrate this Christmas as they

remember how much their father loves them.

In Jesus' name, amen.

All right, now some of y'all are going back here to kids' worship, okay?

You can go right back there and meet them.

And the rest of you can go sit back down and come back up here at the Christmas Eve service

because no matter what Mr. Jeremy says, you're all invited, okay?

And we'll talk again then.

When you start talking about family this time of year, you get some smiles and some uneasy

chuckles too, right?

Ah, family.

Maybe at this point my in-laws and or my parents should slip out the back while they have the chance.

So glad y'all are here.

I promise not to talk about you too much.

There are understandably a lot of emotions this time of year.

Anxiety over expectations.

Grief over those who are not with us.

Pressure of the big day and how could it all live up to what it's supposed to be?

We recognize this in our culture.

Many of our favorite holiday movies reference complex family dynamics.

Getting home for the holidays and can I make it?

Will I be there?

The difficult relationships that are being navigated.

Or even leaving a child home alone while you fly across the Atlantic for the holidays.

I hope none of you have ever done that.

But as many of you approach these times together, these difficult emotions, in the next couple days perhaps, maybe sometime this week,

I want to encourage you, especially if that's a heavy thing on your heart,

that it is right in the midst of those messy situations that God loves to show up.

That He loves to work in amazing ways.

That is part of the wonder of Christmas that you can remember and that you can rejoice in right now.

See, when Jesus was about to be born, there was family tension with Joseph and Mary, right?

There's some awkwardness.

And that's actually been the norm through His whole family tree.

Matthew lays out Jesus' family history for us all the way back to the beginning.

And the people He highlights include Judah and his brothers.

Remember the name of any of his brothers?

One of them was named Joseph.

And Judah and his brothers were selling their brother into slavery, his sibling rivalry on steroids.

Tamar.

Tamar's story is probably one of the most painfully abusive in the entire Bible.

Rahab.

And Ruth.

Rahab.

And Ruth.

Those are Gentile outsiders without the best reputations in the world.

Jesse, whose family tree was cut down to a stump at this point.

And what could come of them?

Until his youngest son, David.

David and the wife of Uriah.

Talk about awkward family dinner discussion that would always include adultery and murder.

All the way down, person after person, to Joseph and Mary and their tension.

And so here's this family tree.

Here's the history they bring in their family.

And God looks down and says, right there.

That is where I'm going to show up in the world.

All of these people, they're going to play key roles in my cosmic story of glory and grace.

As I come to redeem, that's exactly where I'm going to start.

It's with them.

So listen, if you feel tension in your family right now, maybe that's a great place to ask God,

to expect God to show up and to work.

He'll probably do it in ways that you don't expect, right?

He doesn't usually do it the way I think he might.

But God is so gracious that his family is beautifully broken and perfectly messy.

He picks this broken bunch for his family.

And he writes a history-shaping, world-changing story right in the midst of their mess.

He'll do it in yours.

Merry Christmas.

Whether it feels merry or not.

See, in case you've forgotten while you've been working on Christmas cards and presents

and schedules and relationships, Christmas is not about your messy family being perfect.

It's not.

It's about you and your messy family being included in God's perfectly messy family.

It's what he wants for you.

This is God's heart.

If you don't believe that this is what he thinks of Christmas, look at Galatians chapter 4.

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

In fact, please look at Galatians 4 even if you already believe me that this is God's heart.

See, part of the wonder here is how God works in this family.

In Galatians, Paul's been talking about our relationship with God.

How it comes not by successfully keeping God's law, but by surrendering to God's grace by faith.

God's law has been showing us how perfect he is, how desperately we need to be rescued.

And then Christmas.

Verse 4 of chapter 4.

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying,

Abba, Father.

So you are no longer a slave, but a son.

And if a son, then an heir through God.

Why Christmas?

Because God wanted orphans like you and me trapped under the weight of the law,

stuck in our sin, left out in our loneliness.

He wanted us adopted into His family.

God, in fact, sent His Son.

Can you believe this?

What a painful decision this must have been?

And He sent Him into an uncomfortable and distant situation to go buy us wandering children back into the family.

Boy, He must really love us.

He must really love you if He was going to take the one son that He had and send Him out so that He could have you back in His family.

See, adoption means that our relationship with God is based not upon us, but upon God.

Not upon our performance, but upon God's promises.

That is the first thing that's highlighted in our passage this morning.

Christmas adoption is about our having a permanent seat at the table.

I am talking family dinner in God's family.

You are in.

You have a seat at that table because of the mission Jesus was sent on at Christmas.

Pastor Sinclair Ferguson says it this way in his book on adoption.

Adoption is not a change in nature, but a change in status.

If we fail to see this truth, we will reject the power of our adoption.

Adoption is a declaration God makes about us.

It is irreversible, dependent entirely upon His gracious choice in which He says,

You are my son.

Today I have brought you into my family.

It's beautiful.

We can't reverse the legal transaction that God has made take place by being too messy.

We are His, period.

Jesus came to earth to bring us into the family, into a relationship with God,

where the way it works is that our best days don't commend us.

And at the same time, our worst days don't condemn us.

Did you catch that?

Your best day of moral performance when you're patting yourself on the back,

it doesn't make you an appealing signing in the transfer portal for God.

That's not how it works.

And at the same time, your worst day of failing and blowing it doesn't get you cut from the team.

It's not like that.

This is a family.

You've been adopted by God's grace.

You receive, Paul says, adoption as a son.

No more distance from God.

No more fear of being neglected.

No more doubt of His fatherly care.

You may know that it's often difficult for children who weren't well cared for in their early years

to feel secure in a new reality where they are well provided for to trust that that will continue.

Their parents will often find them stashing food under their bed or somewhere else

because they're not sure even though they've had a good meal,

they're used to not being able to trust that there will be food there when they're hungry again.

They don't know that they'll be seated at a table full of food like this again.

And new parents have to reiterate over and over,

you're our child.

We love you.

We won't quit providing for you and leave you on your own again.

We're here.

We're going to keep taking care of you.

Brothers and sisters,

how often does our Heavenly Father have to remind us of that incredible reality?

The good news of Jesus is not, as so many describe it today,

as a second chance.

A second chance to get it right.

So don't mess it up again.

Don't blow it.

That's not it.

It's not that,

oh, that bad sin you did,

it's forgiven,

but don't do another big one

because you don't know what will happen then.

That's not the good news of Jesus.

It is a new status.

Child of God.

Because Jesus left His seat at the table

and took our spot on the cross

where He paid for all of our sins

and He seated us in His seat,

if you will,

at the family dinner table forever.

We have a place.

Someone here this morning

needs to hear God say to you,

you are my child.

I love you.

I adopted you.

And I will keep loving you

because you are mine.

Don't worry.

Your Heavenly Father knows what you need.

Christmas shows it.

Jesus was born for this.

Jesus was born for you.

We will be born for you.

We will be born for you.

We will be born for you.

We will be born for you.

We will be born for you.

We will be born for you.

If we will receive them.

A second part of being in God's family

by His amazing grace

is in the next verse.

Because you are sons,

God has sent the Spirit of His Son

into our hearts crying,

Abba, Father.

Father.

God so wants you to know

that Christmas is about

your coming into His family

that He sends not only His Son

to rescue you,

but also His Spirit

to remind you

that He is here for you

right now.

He wants you to experience

what I call

fall-out-of-bed access

to your Father.

What in the world does that mean?

Here's what I mean.

It's been a while for me,

but I still remember

very vividly

things going bump

in the middle of the night.

You've probably,

if you're a parent,

heard before

the thud

waking you from sleep.

Usually,

in our house,

it would mean

that one of my girls

had fallen out of bed.

Very little would jolt me

out of bed so quickly.

If I was quick enough,

I could run across the hall

and get there to them

before they even realized

what was going on.

But that wasn't very often

because I was usually

pretty asleep

and pretty slow.

And so if I wasn't fast enough

to get there,

inevitably,

what would happen is

you hear thud,

pause, pause,

Daddy, Daddy!

One night I had

one of those

middle-of-the-night realizations.

I don't know if you've ever had

some of the best realizations

you'll ever have

when you wake up

in the middle of the night.

I realized that

when my girls

fall out of bed,

when they go bump,

not one of my daughters

ever stops to think

if this is a particularly

convenient time for me

for them to cry out.

Asleep as I was,

I don't think it

crossed their minds.

None of my daughters

either stopped to think

in that moment

whether she obeyed well

before going to sleep.

She didn't hit the ground

and think,

hmm,

did I eat my vegetables

at dinner?

I wonder if I obeyed Dad

the last thing

that he asked me to do.

Is that what happens

in the middle of the night

when you fall

and hit your head?

No.

Instinctively,

she cried out

for Daddy.

And she knew

I'd be there.

She knew I'd comfort her.

I just want to ask you,

have you cried out

like that lately?

Abba, Father,

in the midst of your life

when things go bump

in your life

because they still do

when you're big.

How do you respond?

What do you cry out?

To whom do you cry out?

You know,

a servant can come

during business hours

if he gets his report

all organized

and bring it

and talk to his boss,

right?

But a son can come

24-7,

disheveled,

disheveled,

half asleep

to his father

and know that

he will be loved.

You don't have to wait

until you've had

a good day

or a good night

of husbanding

or parenting

or childing

or whatever else.

You've disobeyed.

I know you have.

You've failed.

God's aware of that.

But you are still

his child

and you don't have

to count that

before you cry out to him.

If you've never

experienced a relationship

with God,

that's what it's like.

That's what I'm trying

to describe for you.

That's fall out of bed access

to personal,

intimate relationship

with God

who desires

for you to be

with him.

In fact,

it's why he says

he sent his son.

It's why he sends

his spirit

into our hearts

so that we can know

that we're free

to come anytime

and be received

with open arms.

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones

described this

as instinctive

crying out

to Abba Father.

Anytime,

for anything,

he says,

it can become natural

for us.

Many of us feel like,

I don't know,

that's awkward.

I don't know

if I can come to God

like that.

It can become natural

for you

as you listen to him

and his word

and you talk to him

and you tell him

what's on your heart

and you spend time

like that.

It becomes normal.

I can talk to my Father.

He wants to hear from me.

Just think about this.

Jesus,

who taught us

to call his Father

our Father,

cried out,

Abba Father,

in his darkest hour

in the Garden of Gethsemane

when he was facing

the cross

and he knew

that he needed

the one

who would care

for him perfectly.

He said,

Abba Father.

And the same Father

who heard Jesus

that night

still hears you

today

when you cry to him.

Most fathers

are willing

to listen

to their children.

In fact,

they love to hear

what's on their hearts,

don't we dads?

This is the perfect

Father.

Not you or me.

Not the one

who sometimes

gets weary,

who loses his temper,

who gets impatient.

No.

The perfect Father.

He longs to hear.

He loves to love.

He lives to listen

to your cries.

Child of God,

by faith in Jesus,

you have come

into this family

where he is your Father.

You have a permanent seat

at the table.

You have fall-out-of-bed

access to the perfect Father

forever.

And,

one more thing

that you get

from your adoption here

in this passage.

Verse 7.

So you are no longer

a slave,

but a son.

And if a son,

then an heir

through God.

An heir.

An inheritance.

Now,

what will that mean?

What is an inheritance?

Well,

it's certainly not less

than eternal security.

Wow.

The Bible speaks

of an inheritance

that is kept in heaven

for us

so that we are children

provided for

even beyond this life.

No matter what you get

for Christmas,

you've got an inheritance

kept in heaven

for you.

It's not less than that.

It's certainly not less

than present provision.

The Bible speaks

of our Father

as a God

who owns the cattle

on a thousand hills

and provides generously

for His children

as He feeds

all of His creation.

He won't forget you.

It's not less than that.

But it's actually,

it's even better.

See,

when the Bible speaks

of us as God's heirs,

it highlights the reality

that we are co-heirs

with Jesus Himself.

Now,

that's something

to stop and think about

for a minute.

It's significant

for a number of reasons

we could ponder later.

But in this context,

it's especially significant

because in the Roman world

in which this passage

was written,

the most common purpose

of adoption,

of adopting someone

as a son,

was to have an heir

when you didn't have one.

You didn't have anybody

to carry on

the family name,

your legacy,

to give your property to.

But that's not something

our Heavenly Father needs,

is it?

Jesus is already there

as heir.

And by the way,

God's not going anywhere.

He doesn't need somebody

to carry on after Him.

Hmm.

What do we get?

Instead of that,

if that's not the primary thing,

we get what would come along

with all of those things.

The Roman father,

without an heir,

would adopt a son

that he could fully bring

into the family,

right?

That he could share

his heart and life with.

He wanted to pass on

his very person,

if you will,

in relationship

so that the things

that mattered to him

and who he was

would live on.

And then he would leave

a material inheritance

on top of that.

So what do we get?

We get the relationship.

The best part

of our inheritance

is God giving us Himself.

As we've just been learning

from Jesus in John 17 recently,

that God loves us

even as He loves Jesus Himself,

His perfect Son.

That's amazing, isn't it?

See, it's not merely

that He wants to give us stuff.

That's great.

He loves us so much

that He wants us to be

with Him

to see His glory.

With Him,

in His glory,

in relationship.

Unbelievable.

He wants that relationship

with you.

The more we ponder

that reality,

the more we realize

having God Himself,

that relationship

with access

and intimacy

is what we most need.

That's the thing

that meets our needs.

He is.

Most of you will have seen

some version of the story

of a red-headed orphan

named Annie

who is eventually adopted

by Daddy Warbucks,

a rich, older man

who comes to adore Annie

in the midst of looking

for other parents for her.

Annie has lived her life

in a squalid,

dirty orphanage.

She's gotten used

to dreaming

of rich parents

who will notice

her charm

and her wit

and they'll pick her

to adopt.

And so when she

goes into the Warbucks home,

she is blown away

by the lavish digs

of this awesome mansion.

But what Annie

really feels

is exhausted.

She has been exhausting

herself her whole life

trying to convince someone,

pick me,

pick me,

right?

She sneaks in the door

and shows her red hair.

She tries to charm people.

She is worn out

from not being picked.

And as the story develops,

she realizes

that she longs

for more than just wealth

and abundant provision

and lots of cool stuff.

she longs

to be loved,

to be able

to rest finally

because she's been picked

for keeps.

She's loved.

And when she gets that love

from Daddy Warbucks,

they start to sing,

don't they?

They famously sing

about tomorrow

and it's something

they look forward to

because she's got

this amazing inheritance

that has got

her future covered.

But they also sing

another slightly less

famous song

called

I Don't Need

Anything

But You

which gives us

a beautiful peek

into their relationship

together.

Annie sings,

I'm poor as a mouse.

And Warbucks responds,

I'm richer than Midas.

And together

they then sing,

But nothing on earth

could ever divide us.

And if tomorrow

I'm an apple seller too,

I don't need anything

but you.

Can you sing that with me?

I don't need anything

but you.

I sing that not because

any of you enjoy my singing,

but because I want you

to hear that tune

in your head

and I have been singing

it all week

and so help me,

you will be singing it

on Christmas

because you'll never

be able to get it

out of your head.

It's really catchy.

You may have been

overwhelmed

by God's incredible riches,

but have you realized

or remembered lately

that you don't need

anything but Him?

That your heavenly Father

Himself

is the one

that your soul

longs for?

Have you remembered that?

There's so many

other things to want.

that even if tomorrow

you're an apple seller,

I don't know what that is,

but it doesn't make

a lot of money,

you won't need

anything

but Him

and you'll have Him.

His is the love

that you need,

the purpose you desire,

the family

that you long for

and so Jesus

comes at Christmas

so that you can be

adopted

into that family

to have brothers

and sisters

and a perfect

Father

forever.

And I want you

to know something.

You don't have to

quit grieving

the pain

of the family

that you long

for here

or that you lack

here.

You don't have to

quit grieving

that to have

Him

because He comes

to comfort you

with the grace

of His adopting you

right in the midst

of where you are,

of His living with you

every moment

of every day

even in your grief

that you are

in His family

at His table

and that He's rushing

to your side

that He's the one

who will be

your sufficiency

forever.

So that's the part

of the wonder

of God's family.

It is perfect

perfect

because the

Father is perfect

but remember

His family

is perfectly

messy too.

You remember

where we started?

Don't think

to celebrate Christmas

with His family

you have to get

yours all sorted out

and cleaned up

first.

Get your Christmas

card picture

looking just the way

you dreamed it would be

and then I'll take

that with me

and I'll show up

at a manger

where these

newlywed couple

with assorted

family history

and lots of tension.

What?

No way!

That's not how you

have relationship

with Him.

Christmas with God's

family means

you show up

with the donkeys

and the black sheep

and the crazy uncles

and you marvel

you bow

at the manger

in wonder

that God

is showing up

right there

in the midst of you

and your messy

family

delighting in you

and singing over you

as His

very own family

the one He

picked

to be a part

of

your family.

Just think of

what all that means.

If the good news

of adoption

by God's grace

is true

at Christmas

in fact

if it's the reason

for Christmas

then you can become

a part of His family

right now

even if you don't

feel like you were

born into it

even if you don't

feel like you've

lived up to it

the good news

is this

you don't need

a resume

to come to Him

you need a Redeemer

and Jesus

is that Redeemer

it's why He came

to buy you

back

to welcome

you in

as you trust

in Him

welcome

to the family

gracious

adoption means

you can invite

other people

who are very

imperfect themselves

into this

perfectly messy

family

because we are

full of imperfect

people around here

in case you didn't

notice

some of them

stand up here

and talk

for a long time

we started this year

with me declaring

2024

two for one

orphan year

at Southwood

if God has adopted you

who else is coming

with you

into His family

you can invite

anyone

right

someone invited you

and you certainly

didn't look the part

when you were invited

you didn't have to

clean up first

nobody sent you

to get your act

together

who do you know

that is longing

for a father

like this

if God brought us

into this

perfectly messy

family

with these other

crazy people

we read about

who found

their way

into the divine

story

of glory

and grace

then we can know

that nothing

can separate us

from His love

none of that stuff

separated them

we know for sure

that the reason

He loves us

must be because

we're His

that He sings

over us

because we are

His children

not for any

other reason

and finally

celebrating

Christmas

with God's

perfectly messy

family

with a

father

this good

take a deep

breath

it means you

don't have to

make Christmas

perfect

and I for one

need to hear that

you don't have to

make Christmas

perfect

your heavenly

father

already has

He's got it

He takes

messy people

like you

like me

He takes

messy families

like your family

and my family

and He gives us

Himself

He welcomes

us home

He sets a place

at the table

for us

He listens

whenever we cry

He washes

us clean

and He never

stops loving

us

ever

this table

is here this

morning

because He

wants us

never to

forget

it's here as a

reminder of that

gracious and

glorious reality

because friends

there is no question

that Southwood is a

messy part

of his family

anybody want to

say amen to that

there is equally

no question

that our

Father is

delighted

to have us

in His

family

He sets

this table

so you'll

taste

and know

that that's

true

and that

everyone who

hopes in

Jesus

is welcome

here

on the

very night

He was

betrayed

by someone

very close

to Him

Jesus

took bread

and He

broke it

and He

gave it

to His

disciples

as I

ministering

in His

name

give this

bread

to you

He

said

take

and eat

this

is

my

body

given

for you

do

this

in

remembrance

of

me

the

same

way

after

supper

He

took

the

cup

and

said

this

cup

is

the

new

covenant

in

my

blood

shed

for

many

for

the

forgiveness

of sins

drink

from

it

all

of

you

for

as

often

as

you

eat

this

bread

and

drink

this

cup

you

proclaim

the

Lord's

death

until

He

comes

if

you're

a

member

of

another

church

that

preaches

the

good

news

of

Jesus

a

savior

for

messy

sinners

like

us

then

come

and

eat

and

celebrate

with

our

Southwood

family

around

the

family

dinner

table

we're

going

to

remember

and

rejoice

and

rest

in

our

savior

together

if

that's

not

you

if

you're

aware

you're

you're

not a

part

of

God's

family

and

you're

not

sure

you

even

want

to

be

we want

to

introduce

you

not

to

this

table

but

to

our

father

to

our

elder

brother

they're

they're

the

ones

we'd

love

for

you

to

meet

we'd

love

to

talk

with

you

about

one

who

will

love

you

one

you

can

trust

we'd

love

to

share

more

about

that

with

you

grab

any

of

us

we'd

love

to

talk

with

you

about

how

you

can

be

part

of

a

perfectly

messy

family

with

a

perfect

father

let's

pray

and

we'll

celebrate

together

our

father

that we

could

eat

with

you

today

is

far

beyond

what

any

of

us

deserves

that

to

make

it

happen

you

would

send

your

own

son

out

away

from

you

to

be

born

on

this

earth

to

suffer

and

to

die

in

our

place

it's

a

grace

bigger

than

we

can

comprehend

your

love

indeed

is

beyond

our

wildest

imagination

we

can't

fully

explain

it

but

we

come

to

taste

and

see

that

you're

good

to

have

your

spirit

help

our

hearts

believe

that

love

afresh

and

so

use

very

common

elements

for a

really

significant

and

sacred

purpose

in our

hearts

that

we

will

know

your

love

know

the

welcome

of

a

family

sit

at

your

table

and

talk

with

you

work

that

in

our

hearts

even

now

we

ask

in

Jesus

name

amen

for

more

information

visit

us

online

at

southwood.org