Pastor Edgar Mayer;
For more sermons and other writings check out pastors homepage: http://www.geocities.com/mayeredgar
Gift
Ideas For Lost Men
Over the last two weeks our family was
on holidays and being at leisure all of a sudden there was so much more time
to watch TV, read the papers and go for drives. That was nice and that
was relaxing but at the same time we
also became so much more exposed to the dominant mainstream cultural experience
of our nation, that is: the whole massive industry that gets you spending
money and going shopping.
This observation is not meant to denigrate
Christmas presents I like getting
things at Christmas but when you have
not been in the habit of watching TV, it can almost be frightening to realize how
many ads you have to watch to get through a single movie. And then there is so
much junk mail and glossy pamphlets, and on holidays when we were driving from
Mooloolaba to Caloundra the whole of Nicklin Way is lined on both sides with
shop after shop after shop promising bargains galore with oversized billboards
golf world, furniture world, snooze world, etc the world of shopping.
With that kind of diet over the last two
weeks that kind of preparation am I now ready for Christmas? Are you ready
for the birth of our Saviour? What has filled our minds and hearts and what has
become important to us? One newspaper insert in the Courier Mail featured the
title Gift Ideas For Lost Men and the top item of one list was this: A
gift voucher to rent a designer handbag for a month (from $24.95). Interesting! But what is this particular gift
idea saying about us? Is an expensive image worth so much that we need to have
it if only for a month for $24.95?
This is extreme but nevertheless it is a
reflection on most of us. Who has not said at one time or another: I cannot be seen in these clothes. I cannot be
seen driving this old car. I cannot be seen hanging out with these uncool people.
But why not? What do we really need? Is it designer
handbags, the saving grace of a well-to-do appearance?
What do you and I need this Christmas?
We may never know. Jesus was born far away from our shopping centres. His mum
did not have a designer handbag but was an unmarried teenager who almost lost
her husband to the shame of the situation and in the end she gave birth in a
stable because no bed could be found for a couple that had nothing of value on
them. The newborn Jesus was placed in a manger which was the feed box of the
animals in the stable.
Therefore, something about Christmas is
not that accessible to us because under normal circumstances not many of us would
want to be seen traipsing around a smelly stable. What would we be doing there
worship the illegitimate child of a teenage mum? This is a long way from golf
world and furniture world. [Even for church-goers the reality of the
stable many a time is far from where we like to go and hang out and satisfy our
needs.]
Maybe God should publish his own
newspaper insert: Gift Ideas For Lost Men And Lost Women. There are gifts that money cannot buy and there are gifts that receive
virtually no recognition on TV or in our shopping malls, that is: peace
with God freedom from the messes that we have made the guilty conscience
the regrets the fear of having to go on dying just imagine: peace (even
at night), peace, love from heaven filling you to the brim, supernatural joy, a
fine relationship with a loving Father-God in heaven who comes close to you
every single day.
Do we have time for that and do we know
that this is what we need? Well even in mainstream culture there is some
awareness that Christmas cannot be all about shopping. Our souls need more.
Therefore, we have this preoccupation with family around Christmas time and again in typical fashion thats our culture there was a movie on TV a few weeks ago
where a super-rich young man offered a struggling family $250,000 US dollars to
be his family for Christmas.
However, we know: money cannot buy
relationships and then even the best families cannot bear the weight of having
to satisfy our deepest cravings for redemption. Our families cannot take the
place of God and the worship of him and his promises of unconditional love the hope for eternity. Human families cannot bear that weight and then reality is that
Christmas time reveals our family shortcomings more than anything where tensions resurface, certain topics
need to be avoided, and so on. A recent divorce becomes painful again at
Christmas. Reality is that we do most of our damage to each other in families. One
newspaper article advised to have the Christmas family function in a public
place in the park or in a restaurant because then people would need to be on their best behaviour less
likely to shout at each other or even brawl.
So with most families falling short of the perfect Christmas is it back to shopping and numbing our
deepest wounds and needs with the gift of another bargain a brief rush of
affirmation through things shopping therapy?
No have another look at the Christmas
story. I read from the Bible Matthew 1:18-19: This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came
about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they
came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because
Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public
disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. And I add another reading from Luke 2:1-20: In those days
Caesar August issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman
world
And everyone went to his town to register. So Joseph also went
He
went to Bethlehem to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him
and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to
be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths
and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 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 of great joy that will be for all the
people. Today
a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared
with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace to people on whom his favour rests.
What this means is that this Christmas
we can confront where we are hurting the most. There is no need to dull the
pain with second-rate things and there is no need to put too much weight on
families and then despair because God the Son Jesus Christ he
chose to be born precisely where people
were hurting the most: Joseph and
Mary and everyone ordered around by a foreign government with Roman soldiers
enforcing the law, absolute poverty, the shame of an untimely
pregnancy, a birth away from home in a stable, a manger for a bed,
in Bethlehem far away from anywhere,
Jesus came to the poor and hurting and
he is still doing that today. Heaven
we dream about heaven heaven is a
place of glory and delight so much nicer than earth in its present
condition but Jesus the Son of
God even though heaven was his home he
gave up heaven, he came from heaven to become a human baby on earth and then chose
to embrace the worst that earth can offer out of love for us. He didnt insist on penthouses and valet
treatment thus removing himself from everyday human struggles no, God himself became part of our poverty and
injustice and any other sin of humanity. Because: Jesus loves you. Jesus loves me.
The Bible says Philippians 2:5-11:
Christ Jesus . being in very nature God
made himself nothing, taking the
very nature of a slave, being made in human likeness. And being found in
appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even
death on a cross
Even death on a cross. This is how
far it went. Not only was there humility in Jesus birth making himself
nothing for us in a stable there was the
same if not a greater humility
in his death God, Jesus Christ, suffering murder on a cross. He loves you. He loves me.
Even death on a cross. Again this may
not be a suitable subject matter for glossy pamphlets but the Bible explains what
happened on that cross for us 2 Corinthians 5:21 I read: God [the Father] made Jesus Christ who had no sin to be
sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. This verse may sound a little complicated but
what it means is that Jesus came and shared our poverty preaching and
healing people living among sinners but not sinning himself and then finishing his work of love by
offering his very life as a sacrifice for what we need the most: peace with
God.
As sin separates us from God, as our
disobedience the breaking of holy
commandments separates us from God, he
Jesus Christ became sin for us,
meaning: he took upon himself our sin suffering the punishment for our
sins in his body on the cross so that
we would be forgiven and receive from him his righteousness his perfect relationship
with God the Father perfect harmony and peace with God as a Christmas gift
that is free and cannot be bought.
As the
angels sang on the night of Jesus birth: This is for everybody. You only
need to receive this gift by faith
trusting the person of Jesus Christ. The
Bible reading from before continues in this way Philippians 2:5-11:
[Jesus] became obedient to death even death on a
cross
Therefore God the Father exalted him to the highest place and gave him
the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
Can we receive Jesus this Christmas as our
Lord and Saviour? Can we recognize how much love it took for him to come from
heaven to earth for us?
Chances are and we said that earlier chances are that we may never know about him and what we need because
Jesus was born far away from the busy places where the world is offering her
wares. And that when you think about it is the surprising twist of the Christmas story. If you were God who
loved the human race so much that you sent your only begotten son from heaven
to earth, wouldnt you make it a little more obvious blow a few fanfares
and make the evening news instead of coming to earth almost by stealth?
An angel did appear and then a host of
angels and they explained the good news of great joy but all of these angels
only appeared to nondescript shepherds. Not many people listen to their
night-time visions. Why didnt God make the birth of our Saviour a little more
obvious and to continue in this
vein why didnt he make his whole life
a little more obvious and why didnt he make his saving death a little more
obvious and then his resurrection? Its hard enough to comprehend that God can
be squeezed into human skin and become a human. It is even harder to comprehend
that this could happen without compelling publicity. What was God thinking?
The Bible records what Jesus preached
Luke 6:20-26: Looking at his
disciples, Jesus said: Blessed are you the poor, for yours is the
It seems that God is unwilling to
compete with other priorities. If we think that we receive enough comfort from
going shopping and a rich western life-style, then God is not going to compete
with this attitude. God wants us to be hungry for more than the world can offer
humble in our need and thus, Jesus targets those among us that
have nothing for they are willing to give the baby in the manger a go.
Therefore, the good news: If you find
yourself in this worship service today and find yourself feeling a little
uncomfortable because your life is not picture-perfect at Christmas, then take
heart, you are in the best position to receive what Christmas is all about.
Worship Jesus, place your faith in him, praise the baby
in the manger, and then experience the joy and peace of Christmas. Wherever you
are hurting the most, Jesus will meet you and love you. Amen.