| The Joy of Christmas Luke 1:26-38 12-07-08 People will very often say they love the Christmas season. I love the Advent Season. Now the difference between the Christmas Season and the Advent Season is Christ. It is always my desire that during the Advent Season to bring some messages that will help us to better prepare our hearts for the greatest of all holidays; the one day set aside to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. I think it is well for us to spend some time thinking about the real meaning of Christmas and preparing ourselves spiritually to honor the ONE that we call Lord. As we have said before, people get ready for Christmas in a lot of ways. Some will spend weeks decorating, cooking, shopping for those perfect gifts and etc. Christmas means a lot of different things to a lot of people. But as believers, Christmas ought to mean more than it means to the rest of the world. It ought to mean taking the time to truly honor the birth of a Savior, a Redeemer. To honor the ONE who was born so long ago to die for our sins, so that we might have the opportunity to live forever. First and foremost we must make time and room in our busy lives for Him. For HIM. That seems so simple and still it is one of the hardest things for us to do. You see, we, like the World, become so caught up in the commercial side of Christmas, become so busy, that if we are not careful, the spiritual meaning is lost. You know Christmas is a good time for us to take stock of ourselves, to see what is really important to us. Because of so much sickness within the church family right now I realized once again that people are really more important than things. So what, if we don’t get the Christmas decorations up this year? When our Lord was born, a wonderful miracle took place. Did you ever wonder why Mary was chosen? She was just an ordinary teenage girl. She came from a very small town of Nazareth. BUT, she was extra-ordinary in a number of ways. She was loyal and faithful to God. She was a virgin, and was able to say, “Let it be according to your will.” One of the many messages that we find in the Christmas story is, nothing is impossible with God. Notice that word, “with.” It is with God that nothing is impossible. Most people who don’t believe in God, finds it hard to believe in the virgin birth. The person who doesn’t believe in the virgin birth, in truth doesn’t believe in God’s Word. For it was prophesy that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. In Isaiah 7:14, over 730 years before our Savior was born, we read, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." For the believer, the virgin birth is just another one of God’s wonderful miracles. And friends, we don’t explain miracles. When the angel appeared to Mary, he did not say she was perfect. What he said was that she was highly favored. Did Mary understand everything? Of course not. The bible says that she was troubled. No doubt she was a little troubled from having an angel to speak to her and the message itself was troublesome. Surely we can understand that. Here’s she is a young girl, engaged to be married. She wasn’t sure how Joseph would react to such news, to say nothing of her family, friends, and neighbors. No doubt she felt insecure, afraid, undeserving of such an honor and insufficient for such an assignment. She could have said, "Lord, I’m just a girl. I’m not ready to be a mother. I’m not of a wealthy family. I’m not educated. Surely someone else would be better." So many today will say things like that to our Lord when asked to do something. But this is not what Mary said. She said, "I am the Lord’s servant. May it be as you have said." Mary had the right attitude, didn’t’ she? She knew who God was --- The Lord Almighty. And she knew who she was. She was His servant. Oh, if only we could see ourselves not only as His children but as His servants, there is no telling what great things would take place in our lives and in the lives of others. The word servant used here is the same word that Paul used when he referred to himself as a bond slave. Mary knew better than anyone else her short- comings, but she also knew something of the GREATNESS of God. As we read the message of the angel, we see that the emphasis is really placed, not on Mary, but on the Son that is to be born to her. Sometimes, we will say that it was woman that brought sin into the world when she gave the forbidden fruit to Adam, and said, “Eat this.” It is true that Eve should have known that man will eat just about anything he’s told to. What we often over-look is, it was woman, a woman named Mary who brought a Savior into the World. I tell you we owe an awful lot to women. Just think where we would be today here at Blake’s Chapel, if it was not for the women. Who would take care of the nursery and toddlers? Who would do most of the teaching in Sunday School and at the mid-week services? Who would do most of the work for Missions? And who would provide all of that good food that we enjoy eating each time we get together for fellowship? We need to thank God more often for good, godly women. Women are the ones that make Christmas and our entire lives joyful and wonderful. Mary, we know must have had a difficult time. Being in God’s will is not always easy. But at the same time we read that her heart was filled with joy and praise. Friends, there is joy and praise when one is doing the will of God. I don’t know what God’s will might be for your life? But if you truly seek His will, He will reveal His will to you, and friends I can promise this, if you, like Mary, will say YES to Him, your heart will be filled with joy. You see we were created to bring honor and glory to our Lord and thus we are the happiest when we find ourselves fulfilling that purpose. People on the whole think more about giving at Christmas than any other time of the year. And of course there is nothing wrong in giving, it’s wonderful, as long as we give for the right reason. As long as we give out of love. The wise men, most likely they presented to our Lord with the best that they had. I wonder what would take place, if we were to give to our Lord, our best? And of course, the most valuable thing that any of us can give, is ourselves. A gift of self is one of the most precious things that anyone can ever give to another. When Christ came, He came to die for us at Calvary. He GAVE HIMSELF. Mary gave herself to be used by God. I know I have told this story before, but it is one of my favorites, which is perhaps is the reason I have told it more than once. Sometime ago in Chicken Soup for the Soul, I read about a man who left his office one cold, wintry night, in a freeing rain. As he as heading for his automobile, he saw a young boy around 9 or 10 standing in the freezing rain, crying his heart out. The man stopped and asked the boy what in the world was wrong? The boy explained that his father had sent him out to buy a few things for the family and the money which father had given him had slipped out of his cold hands and was no where to be found. The man said, "Son, go on home. Surely your father will understand." “OH, no," said the boy, "My father is drinking, and if I was to go home without the things he told me to buy, I just know he would almost kill me, as he did once before." The man took the lad by the hand and said, "Come with me." He took the boy into the grocery store and purchased the needed items. On the way out, the lad stopped, placed the bag of groceries on the pavement and with great emotions, placed his arms around the man’s legs and said, "I wish; I wish you were my daddy." Now listen to what the man said, on this cold wintry, freezing night. He said, "I walked around four blocks, in the pouring down freezing rain to see if I could find another boy that needed help. I have never in my life experienced such joy." The man found out that there was joy in giving. It is amazing that so many Christians have not come to realize that. This morning as we prepare our hearts to receive the Lord‘ s Supper, I want you to consider not only what Christ gave to us, but I would like for each of us to consider what we can give to Him this Christmas season. And remember our Lord said, "When you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me." |
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