Christmas
Eve 2013 A Different Road - by another route
Christmas Eve. The crowning
moment of the Christian tradition.
I want to talk with you for a few
moments tonight about love and grace.
As
long as people are nervous about the church
As
long as people still wonder if God loves them
As
long as people hurry thru Christmas and are glad that it is over
And breath a sigh of relief
There
is still a deficit, a shortage of love
There
is still a dearth, a want of grace
There
must be another path, another way to live.
In
Matthew
2 we find the story of the wise men
Came
from the east to Jerusalem asking, “Where is the one who has been born king of
the Jews?We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was
disturbed,
He
called the wise men secretly and found out from them the exact time the star
had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me,
so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they
went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them
until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When
they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On
coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed
down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him
with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a
dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another
route.
This
month our church has been talking about Christmas
Some
of our topics were
Jesus is different than Santa. –
hes not magic – but knowing him can be miraculous
Christmas is not perfect. You don’t have to be perfect. messy is ok
Gods love is amazing. – the central message of Christmas is gods love
Jesus has a wish list. – every body gets gifts but jesus
Christmas is not perfect. You don’t have to be perfect. messy is ok
Gods love is amazing. – the central message of Christmas is gods love
Jesus has a wish list. – every body gets gifts but jesus
His list- love God
and love others, be Christ’s hands and feet
And
now we come to Christmas.
The
story that changes everything that went before.
The
story that could change everything for us.
warned in a dream not to go
back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Isaiah the prophet wrote
The
people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.
We
are all walking
We
are all on a journey
When
we encounter Christ, our direction changes
The
wisemen went home a different way
The
shepherds left glorifying and praising god
The
angels probably are still talking about making the all district choir
No
one leaves this story quite the same as when they found it
Robert Frost wrote
I
took the road less travelled and to me it has made all the difference
Christmas is not about us.
It
is something that we enjoy but it is not just something that we enjoy
It
is not just something that we consume
There
is more
The
birth of Jesus is the greatest story every told
It
is the greatest love story every told
God
so loved the world
The
story should change us
What
does change mean?
How
are we changed by the story
Do
you believe?
·
Yes
I believe
·
Yes
I know the formula
Do
you love him
·
Yes
I know the feeling
·
Yes
I feel the love
·
My
heart has been strangely warmed
Many
people have the beliefs down and the
I
am supposed to love god down,
But
their lives are still filled with fear and worry
In the old days
The
story changed you by guilt
It’s
how I was raised
Guilt
is no one’s friend
Jesus
did not exercise guilt
Some
spend their lives trying to earn a love that we can never earn
We
cant earn it because God offers his love freely
The
message of Christmas should smash once for all the question of whether or not
God loves us
He
gave his son
Will
we try to live by the rules or finding a life of grace
Each
of us must choose – this video makes the question clear
Show
video
video
Each
of us must choose
Transformation
is not about being perfect
It
is not about who is right
Its
about the holy spirit at work in your heart
Bob tuttle – commenting on the way
Christians disagree
when
the holy spirit comes in he does not take sides, he takes over
imagine
so much of God in you that we are no longer fighting, just filled with awe
In the old days the story was supposed
to change you by guilt
I
chased others w guilt
Our
youth group was sent out into golden gate park in san Francisco to tell people
that they were going to hell if they didn’t accept Jesus
Our
success rate was predictable
Today
I reject this method of reaching people
It
doesn’t work
And
jesus did not use this method
Jesus
chased no one to come back to him
They
were allowed to listen and follow of their own accord without condemnation
In Jn 4 jesus meets a woman by a well who has been married
5 times
He
doesn’t condemn the woman
picture
She
also wants to argue about the right place to worship
Jesus
does not bite
he
didn’t argue with the woman about the right way to worship
he
simply talked about the rivers of living water that pour through a persons soul
when they choose to trust in him
The
disciples were not guilted into following him
They
came of their own accord
They
were changed by love
Changed
by love
By
love compelled.
Its
an interesting thought. A compelling thought
Have you ever met someone that was so
good
that you wanted to be like them
So
kind that you wanted to become more kind
So
generous that you wanted to become more generous?
I
can talk w my kids til they are blue in the face
I
can try to force an idea on them. it just doesn’t work
Image
what happens though if my kids ever see me so loving so kind that they say,
wow. That is how I want to live my life.
The
story of God’s love
It
still changes lives
It
is the soul of god at work in the heart of man
Every year around Christmas I get
pictures like these
Pic of the virgin
mary
picture
The
stories of the virgin mary being stolen
They
have a lot of fun with me
Picture of don canfields front
yard
picture
the
movie, As If It Were Yesterday,
is
about the Belgian Christians who sheltered 4000 Jewish children during World
War II to save them from Nazi death camps, a 6-year-old Jewish boy was
plac10321ed with a Christian family. After a time, they said they could no
longer keep the boy. They said, "He's a thief."
Those making the placements were distressed and one went to visit the family.
"How can a 6-year-old boy be a thief? That's impossible ...."
"Yes, he's a thief. Our little girl got a manger for Christmas, with the little Jesus and the rest, whatever there is. And hestole the little Jesus. Our daughter is very upset. She won't eat."
So the placement worker took him aside. "Listen, you know that the Nazis want to kill us all. And here you are with good people trying to save you from death. Why did you steal?"
"Sir, I didn't steal." "I have taken Jesus to hide him."
"What do you mean?"
"I know little Jesus is a Jew. The Germans could take him. So I hid him to save him."
Those making the placements were distressed and one went to visit the family.
"How can a 6-year-old boy be a thief? That's impossible ...."
"Yes, he's a thief. Our little girl got a manger for Christmas, with the little Jesus and the rest, whatever there is. And hestole the little Jesus. Our daughter is very upset. She won't eat."
So the placement worker took him aside. "Listen, you know that the Nazis want to kill us all. And here you are with good people trying to save you from death. Why did you steal?"
"Sir, I didn't steal." "I have taken Jesus to hide him."
"What do you mean?"
"I know little Jesus is a Jew. The Germans could take him. So I hid him to save him."
Why have you taken in jesus? Have
you chosen him?
Yes?
But Why?
Those
that have chosen him for traditions sake – that always feels hollow
Those
who choose him out of duty or guilt- that ultimately feels heavy
God
wants to be loved
We
are invited to respond to his love
To
feel his love. To be motivated, infiltrated, gripped by his love
Have
you taken in Jesus?
There
is so much fear in the world. We still have not heard the message.
During
the construction of the golden gate bridge
Many
workers fell to their deaths – the pace of work ground to a crawl.
[if
I was out on the bridge I would be moving at a crawl]
After
much discussion, the construction company installed a giant net
The
pace of work picked up.
Workers
still fell, but they were caught. They were saved.
Christmas
is god’s invitation to us to learn to live without fear.
Jesus
is the net. We can be saved. We can be freed to live without fear.
We
can find a different way to live
After
hearing the story we can go home by a different route.
Christmas is the ultimate story of love
And
It is still changing lives
God
so loved the world
the
soul of god is still looking to work in the hearts of men and women, boys and
girls
the love of Christ is the light that lightens the world
He
is the light that still shines in the darkness
Beckoning
all who wish to know this love to come
To
receive him and join him in this life of love
If
you have never experienced true, guilt free love
I
invite you as the light of the candle comes to you
To
welcome into your heart, the forgiving love of God thru Jesus chirst
In
this dark world there is a message of hope
We
are the bearers of that light.
Pls
stand to receive the light of Christ.
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