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A New
"Do" for Christmas • Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
By Roger Pryor, Heartland
Community Church
Why is it we expect bad news?
Our natural default is to expect the worst, especially when it comes
from someone in authority over us. Your boss calls you into the
office. Immediately, you’re thinking, "What have I done
wrong?" You get a letter from the IRS, and it’s not a
Christmas card. You’re expecting the worst, so you don’t open
it. Remember when you were a student, and you got called down to the
office? It was never a good thing.
Somewhere along the way, we attached
the same response or reaction to God. If God called you down to His
office, you’d think the worst. "What did I do wrong? What
will the punishment be this time?" Many of us are afraid of
God. We expect the worst. That’s one reason why some of you had to
be dragged to church. You’re afraid God’s going to drop the
hammer and punish you.
Here’s the deal. The message of the
Christmas story should erase all that negative thinking. When the
story goes from your head to your heart, it derails that unhealthy—don’t
open the envelope or duck and run—perspective about God. If you
could truly understand and embrace the message of the Christmas
story, the fear and terror of God would evaporate. And you’d be
excited to open the envelope or have that meeting with God because
it would always be good news.
Fear and relationships don’t mix
well, do they? They’re mutually exclusive. One day, a bus driver
was driving his usual route when a giant of a man got on. He was 6'
8" tall and built like a wrestler. He glared at the driver and
told him, "Big John doesn't pay!" Then he sat down at the
back of the bus. The driver was 5' 3" tall, thin, and very
meek, so fearing for his health he didn't argue with Big John.
The next day, the same thing
happened. Big John got on again, made a big show of refusing to pay,
and sat down. It happened the next day, and again the day after
that. The fearful bus driver began to lose sleep over the way Big
John was taking advantage of him.
Finally, the fearful driver signed up
for body-building courses, karate, judo, and a class on finding your
self-esteem. By the end of the summer, the bus driver had become
quite strong and felt really good about himself. He was ready to
face up to his fears of Big John.
The next Monday, Big John entered the
bus and again declared, "Big John doesn't pay!"
Fearlessly, the driver stood up and yelled, "And why
not?!" With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied,
"Big John has a bus pass." Fear and relationships don’t
work together.
When God entered this world on that
first Christmas night, fear engulfed the people’s existence. The
heavy-handed Roman government had been in control for 40 years—creating
an enormous amount of social, financial, and political confusion and
fear. On top of that, God hadn’t spoken to His people for almost
400 years. And then, all of sudden, God broke his silence.
The Christmas Story.
Luke 2:1–4 says, "At that time
the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken
throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when
Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own
ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was
a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea,
David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of
Nazareth in Galilee."
The timing of the census couldn’t
have been worse. Joseph lived 70–80 miles away from his hometown
of Bethlehem. Mary was very, very pregnant, the trip was dangerous,
Joseph had to rent an Avis donkey for Mary to ride on so that she
wouldn’t have to walk, and he had no hotel reservations. So why
go? The fear of reprisal from Rome was greater than his fear of the
trip.
Luke 2:5–7 says, "He
took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.
She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in
strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no
lodging available for them."
Luke 2:8–11 adds, "That
night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding
their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among
them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They
were terrified, but the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’
he said.’ "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to
all people.’"
Le me unpack the message of
Christmas. First of all, an angel showed up and the shepherds
"were terrified." Literally, they "feared a big
fear." They figured it was God, and that couldn’t be good
news. The shepherds must have been thinking, "God’s been
asleep for 400 years and now he’s gotten up on the wrong side of
the bed. We’re in trouble because God’s going to lower the boom
on us. What have we done to deserve this? Why is he picking on
us?"
(Back to the story) The angel said to
the shepherds, "Don’t be afraid (whatever you
thought was going to happen, isn’t. Whatever you assumed God was
going to do to you, you’re wrong.) I
bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people."
Notice the news was "to all
people." Don’t miss this. The angel didn’t say
this was good news for only religious people; for Jewish
people; for plaid pastors; good parents; faithful spouses; honest
employees—but to all people—even disgusting, ungodly people like
shepherds. Who was it good news to first? Shepherds! Low-lifers! A
shepherd was not permitted to give testimony in a court of law or
enter a synagogue because shepherds were untrustworthy and ungodly.
But the angel’s good news included even them. That’s good—I
mean great news to all of us who are also a little short on
perfection.
Friends, the birth of Jesus is good
news to all people. No matter what you’ve done—good or bad,
whether you’ve been naughty or nice--God has decided to give you
what you haven’t earned and don’t deserve. God has chosen to act
on your behalf in spite of your "shepherd-like" behavior.
And you don’t need to be afraid of Him showing up because He’s
not coming to hammer you and make you pay, but to rescue you by
sending what you need most—a Savior.
The angel continues in Luke 2:11,
"The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today
in Bethlehem, the city of David!" A warden? A coach?
A helper? A disciplinarian? An encourager? A mentor? A president?
No, a savior has been born. God knows what you need. You don’t
need a warden or a coach or helper. You need a savior who can save
you from your sins.
So why do we need a Savior?
We have a sin problem that has disconnected us from God. Remember
the story of Adam and Eve back in Genesis? There was only one rule
from God they had to obey—not to eat the fruit from one certain
tree. Simple enough, yet they ate from it, and immediately their sin
cratered their relationship with God.
Ephesians 2:12 says, "You
were separate from Christ…without hope and without God in the
world." Intimacy between Adam and Eve and God was replaced
with fear. When God came to hang out with Adam and Eve, they hid
from Him because they were afraid, expecting the worst. Their sinful
actions caused a major spiritual dilemma for God. "How do I fix
the broken relationship with humankind?"
The good news of Christmas
is that God recognized the relational disconnect and He knew there
would never be any relationship or intimacy as long as sin was in
the equation. So what’s God to do? He sent a savior to take on the
penalty of your sins so you wouldn’t have to.
[Back to our story] Now if the
shepherds freaked out in fear over one angel, imagine what they must
have felt next? Luke 2:13-14:
"Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the
armies of heaven—praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in
highest heaven…’"
Notice the last phrase. God’s going
to get all the credit (glory) for what’s about to happen because
this was all His idea from start to finish. He’s the one who
provided the Savior for all people. And it’s not a plan contingent
on our behavior. Therefore, He gets all the glory/credit.
The angels continue: "and
peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased." When you
accept and embrace the fact that God sent His Son as a Savior into
the world to pay for your moral screw-ups, God gets the glory and
you get the peace as a gift from God.
But as long as you try to earn your
way back into a relationship with God by trying harder and being a
better spouse, employee, and bigger giver to the church—God gets
little glory or credit and you don’t get any peace. Instead, you
end up full of fear because you’re not sure you’ve done enough
to earn God’s acceptance. Friends, if God is going to judge me on
my own efforts, I’m not sure I want to open the envelope or take a
walk down to His office.
What kind of peace does God offer?
First, there is peace with God. The alienation and
hostility that separates you from God is removed and replaced with
intimacy. Romans 5:1says, "Therefore, since we have been
made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because
of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." Secondly
you experience the peace of God—that sense of inner
tranquility and rest. Jesus told His followers in John 14:27, "I
am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace
I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or
afraid."
Who gets the peace? The
angels said, To those with whom God is pleased. Literally,
God’s pleasure is on you. His undeserved favor or grace falls
on those of you who have embraced the simple truth that Jesus died
to pay the penalty for your sins. At that moment, God gets all the
glory, and your fear gets replaced with God’s peace.
This is the good news of Christmas.
God decided not to pay you back for your sin, but to send His Son
who then paid the penalty for your sins. And when you accept the
gift of His payment, God gets maximum glory, and you get peace. The
Apostle Paul put it this way:
Romans 5:10–11 says, "For
since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son
while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through
the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new
relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us
friends of God." Accept
the gift of forgiveness—trust Jesus as your Savior and experience
a new friendship with God, the Father. Don’t miss the message of
Christmas!
For those of you who are Christ
followers, stop bah humbugging the Christmas message, rejoice
that you are made friends of God by your Savior—yes, the
Messiah, the Lord—who has been born in Bethlehem, the city of
David!
A woman was doing her last-minute
Christmas shopping at a crowded mall. She was tired of fighting the
crowds. She was tired of standing in lines. She was tired of
fighting her way down long aisles looking for a gift that had sold
out days before.
Her arms were full of bulky packages
when an elevator door opened. It was full. The occupants of the
elevator grudgingly tightened ranks to allow a small space for her
and her load.
As the doors closed, she blurted out,
"Whoever is responsible for this whole Christmas thing ought to
be arrested, strung up, and shot!" Then, from somewhere in the
back of the elevator, came a single voice that said: "Don't
worry. They already crucified him." Sadly she had missed
the message of Christmas.
Rejoice! Jesus’ birth and death
have made a wonderful new relationship with God possible.
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