Christmas is About Jesus Christ - Canon James Juhari

 

Christmas Day (25/12/2023)

Readings:

OT: Isaiah 52:7-10

Epistle: Hebrews 1:1-4

Gospel: John 1:1-14

Sermon

I was not scheduled to preach this morning but when Fr. Walter asked if I could share a message with you a few days ago, I said OK.

Yesterday morning I spoke about God’s blessing and last night I spoke about the effect of God’s blessing on the lives of some lowly shepherds; and how His blessing can effect our lives as well.  2I spoke about the Holy Spirit is showing to us Jesus, who is residing in our hearts, and whom we have forgotten and ignored for so long.  And that discovery is going to change us, just as the shepherds were changed from being untrustworthy persons to become the first evangelists.  That change helps us understand what blessed life is all about: that it is not all about taking and hoarding everything for ourselves, or getting others to serve us; but about sharing and giving, and serving others.  And change will help us see other people differently and they perspective of us also change in a positive sense.

My sermon this morning can be considered a continuation of yesterday’s message, but I shall be using the Old Testament reading as my main reference.  And I want to begin by saying that you can interpret Christmas any way you like, but no matter how you want to see it, you cannot leave Jesus Christ out – because Christmas is the commemoration and celebration of His birth.

Yes, people may want to see Christmas as time of sharing and caring, but 3is it just sharing some warm emotions, and memories, and goodies?  Don’t we also give gifts at birthdays, weddings and anniversaries?  But let me tell you this: what makes Christmas so special is the fact that God supplies and shares His gift just when we need it.  Christmas is about how God touches through history, the lives of people who have nothing and people who need everything.

The Old Testament text that we have just read is more than 2,500 years old. You may call it a 2,500 year-old Christmas Greeting from God; sent to the Jewish people who were exiled in Babylon as well as those left behind in Jerusalem.

For both groups, whether they were taken to Babylon or left behind in the 4ruins of Jerusalem – they were in a very bad situation.  Their ancient homeland of Israel was destroyed. Their worship life was in shambles. They had no temple where they could offer their sacrifices. The temple, built by King Solomon, had been destroyed by the armies of Babylon. The burden must be great as these people prayed to God. They had nothing.

What caused them these sufferings in the first place? It was their trust in the human kings and their personal accomplishments.  Earlier in its history Israel did not have a king: God was their king.  5But they wanted to be like other nations (1 Samuel 8: 6-9); and God warned them that if they wanted human kings then they would also suffer the consequences faced by nations governed by kings. And true enough, after many years the Israelite kings started to abuse their positions and worshipped other gods, and put burden upon their own people in their pursuit of material riches.  That eventually led the nation to split into Israel and Judah - north and south, and they even fought one another. When a nation is divided they become easy targets of their enemies. That led Israel and Judah to be destroyed and people taken into exile.   

Was this an end to God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?  “No!” said Isaiah, “It is not the end. God is faithful and he is sending a greeting of hope to these hopeless people: 6“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tiding, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” It was great news for the people of Israel, tired of exiled life in Babylon.  It was a promise that God would take those exiled in Babylon back to their homeland: they would experience peace once more and families would be united.  And so, messengers ran from Babylon to Jerusalem proclaiming this wonderful news: “Babylon is conquered and the exile is over!”  That was why the feet of the messengers were described as beautiful. They were literally running to bring good news of freedom.

We can relate to this Christmas greeting because in reality 7we are a people who have nothing.  We have nothing when we lost the most important thing – our relationship with God.  The result is that we don’t have perfect peace. In fact, in our sinful state we don’t deserve anything, even the little blessings from God that I mentioned last night. We don’t deserve God’s message of hope. The truth is we deserve to be exiled to sin and death forever.

8Do you know why many people feel sad and lonely at Christmas, when it is supposed to be time of joy?  It is because God’s peace is missing in their lives.  When you put your trust in material things and human relationships, thinking that they will give you joy and sense of purpose, you are bound to be disappointed.  Indeed things are important, and human relationships are important but they are not permanent; and they cannot replace the peace and joy that God gives.  Thus, without God’s Greeting, our Christmas will be empty and devoid of meaning.  

In most places you will find churches packed with people at Christmas. Why do people still make sure that they attend Christmas services? It is because something inside of them tells them that they need this greeting from God.  You may have presents to share and receive, a lot of things to eat and drink; you may have company of many friends, but I tell you they only make you happy for a while. It will not be the lasting joy and peace that you are hoping for, because that lasting peace and joy come, not from material things.  What you really need is related to your spirit, and healing of the spirit comes from your relationship with God.

9When Israel decided to go her own way and do her own things, God did not stop them.  He did not stop them from having kings and building up their nation without Him, or even going after other gods.  But when the people encountered problems and hardships, and called out to Him; He came to their rescue.  God treats us in the same manner: if we want to turn our backs on Him, it saddens Him but He won’t stop us. But when we find ourselves to be lost and cry to Him, He will come to help us and gives us peace.  But He will come at His own time, and will do it His own way.  And when He comes He will announce His peace, as the angels did to the shepherds in the field.  This morning, we are the messengers with the beautiful feet proclaiming God’s Christmas greeting to you.  And that is just what you need at Christmas: a message of hope, love, and peace brought about by Jesus, when everything around us is so uncertain unpredictable.  

10Christmas then, is also about needy people and people who realize their needs. And for them, God has supplied their needs. He has provided the best gift of all, our deliverance from sin and eternal death. In fact, He has even unwrapped this gift for us. 11That is what verse 10 says: “The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.”  It is a picture of God rolling up the sleeves of his shirt to bare his holy arm, and went to work for us.

But God bares His arm not to show His great strength. God rolls up His sleeves and revealed His arms to work - to deliver you and I.  He did not come as a glorious and mighty king: instead allowed Himself to be wrapped up as a small child in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger, to grow up into a man and then die on the cross.

Christmas is more than just time to have special thoughts about our loved ones and good time for ourselves.  Christmas offers inner peace, hope, joy, and love. But they do not come from merry-making and parties because these are external things.  That is why we observe the season of Advent: to prepare us in the inside, to help us recognize our sinfulness and our need for a Saviour.  

And because at Christmas we learn about God who has shown us His love; we are to do likewise. Remember what I said earlier about blessings?   As we have been blessed abundantly by God, we in turn, allow ourselves to be use as God’s instruments to bless others. And when we show love to people, doing little things for them, and sharing whatever much or little that we have, we honour and glorify God.

 

~Can. James Juhari~