“Preparing the Way”
Sunday, December 13, 2009
1 Peter 1:17-25; Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8
Introduction: These words in Isaiah are powerful, as God says to His prophet: “Comfort, comfort my people…” We all need to be comforted. Even when we are grown-up and mature, there are still times when we need comforting. Having two children has changed my life, because when you are a parent, you understand how you can love another person so deeply. When they need comforting, I am there for them. This relationship with my children has given me a greater depth of understanding about my relationship with God.
However, there are times when Tyler and Tiffany might be sad because they aren’t happy about something. Maybe they want to watch TV, but they have to do their homework. We tell them “no” to watching TV, and they get upset. The comfort I give them in this time is different. It might just be some words of assurance that I love them even though I’m saying “no.”
Through my relationship with my kids, it helps me to understand that God’s relationship with me is similar. Sometimes I need to be comforted by experiencing the love and presence of God. Other times the comfort comes from God ending a situation or struggle, or in giving me understanding about it. And often times this comfort of God comes from another person. GOD USES US TO BRING HIS COMFORT TO PEOPLE!
This morning, we look at how Jesus Christ, our savior, brought “love” into the world. This morning we learn about how God wants to love us, and how we are to love others. So I would ask that you come to this time with a willingness to gain a fresh perspective on what God has to say to you.
I. Preparing the Way- (Isaiah 40:1-5; Mark 1:1-3)
In verse 3 of Isaiah 40, Isaiah mentions that a voice will proclaim some
comfort. What is it that the voice says will bring comfort? Let us listen to Isaiah’s words again: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”
PRPARE THE WAY!
In this season, this phrase is not hard to understand. Christmas is a season full of preparations. Preparing the house with decorations; for relatives coming, or preparing for traveling over the holiday; preparing the gifts to be opened; preparing baked goods; and on and on the preparing goes…. In fact, for many people, the time is so busy with preparations that it is difficult to even focus on what we are preparing for.
Just like we prepare for a party so that we will be ready for it to go well, so we need to prepare for the Lord so that He can work in our lives. Have you ever wondered how sometimes you call out to God, but He doesn’t give You the answer right away? Maybe it is because He needs to prepare you to receive the answer that will come. Have you ever wondered how sometimes it seems God isn’t answering at all? Maybe it is because You have not prepared your heart to connect with God.
As Israel was crying out to God for comfort, God was telling her that the comfort was to come; that the “way of the Lord” needed to be prepared. At this point their comfort was in God’s promise that He would come to His people in the form of a human being; in the Messiah; the Savior; Jesus Christ! This is how His love and comfort would be shown in the coming of the One who would save them. This is the “LOVE” of Christmas that God has come to us in Jesus. And so we are to find comfort in Jesus.
Example- “Rudolph and Olive,” Hot Illustrations, p. 176- A contestant on a game show only had to answer one question to become the champion. “To be today’s champion,” the host said, “name two of Santa’s reindeer.” The contestant was a man in his early thirties, and he sighed with relief at having gotten such an easy question. “Rudolph,” he said right away, “and..” he paused, “Olive!” The host replied: “We’ll accept Rudolph, but can you explain Olive?” “You know,” the man stammered, Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it, your would even say it glowed. Olive, the other reindeer.”
We laugh at this, but even worse than not knowing Santa’s reindeer is not know the real meaning of Christmas. I remember many years ago, when my niece was very young, my brother asked me to share with her the meaning of Christmas.
Do you know anyone who doesn’t know the meaning of Christmas? That God came to give us comfort through the birth of Jesus Christ?
God calls us to prepare the way for Him to be known by all people. This isn’t to be just happy holidays, it is Merry Christmas. We are called to let people know about this. Don’t just assume that people around you understand what Christmas is all about, but speak to them the meaning when you have the opportunity. This is what Isaiah 40:5 is about: “And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it…”
Advent is a time for us to reveal the glory of this season; the LOVE of God seen in the comfort that the Christ child brings to us!
II. Prepare our Hearts- (Mark 1:4-8)
We also shouldn’t assume that our hearts are prepared for this Advent season. It
is easy for us to get distracted and lose focus. We can get caught up in the rush and preparations, and forget the meaning of Christmas.
Henry Van Dyke, an American author, educator, and clergyman had this to say about “Keeping Christmas” (Knight’s Master Book of 4,000 Illustrations; p. 77):
“Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you; to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world; to put your right’s in the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground; to see that your fellow men are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy; to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life; to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness—are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas….Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world—stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death—and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem…is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas….And if you keep it for a day, why not always? But you cannot keep it alone.”
Because of all the philosophies that exist in our world, because of all who have gone astray from the Lord, we believe Christmas is about who we are and what we deserve, instead of who God is and what God has done for us. God has sent Jesus to save us, but it is for the purpose of how we can in turn serve God. This is what the preparing of our hearts is all about. We cannot accept the true meaning of Christmas, we cannot accept the love of Christmas, if our hearts are not in the right place.
I’d like to read for you a letter written from the perspective of someone who is not from earth, and who is not familiar with the Christmas season. What if someone observed the people during this season. What would they make of it? This letter helps to give us this perspective: It is called EXMAS IN ACREMA…
A Letter Home: My travels have taken me to a strange and wonderful country called Acrema. It is a land of many contradictions. It has high mountains yet flat plains. It has vast open spaces, yet cities crammed with people. It even has a holiday filled with contradictions—a holiday called Exmas.
Preparations for this festival last for over fifty days and yet on the one day of what is supposed to be celebration, there is more quiet, than merriment. It is difficult to determine whether the holiday itself or the preparation for it is the reason for the season. The preparations are very strange. They begin when people purchase tremendous quantities of cardboard cards with pictures and messages upon them. The pictures are of various subjects. Some portray snow scenes, some depict fireplaces; some have quite a modern tone; some are pictures of the way Acremans believe their ancestors lived. The pictures convey no central theme, and the message inside usually says “Season’s Greetings,” which could be said at any time of the year.
The Acremans go through untold suffering in getting the cards out. A card is sent to everyone on their list, and great care is taken not to miss anyone. Apparently there is some curse associated with neglecting someone. When the task is done, the Acremans sigh with relief, and give thanks to the gods that the task is over for one more year. All is peaceful then, as the Acremens receive their cards, unless he receives one from someone to whom he did not send an Exmas card. Then there is much wailing and cursing of the gods as the Acreman has to go out, through unspeakably crowded streets to get and mail the Exmas card that was forgotten.
An equally strange custom is the purchase of Exmas Gifts. This is a very difficult procedure. Another list is made after which an elaborate guessing game begins. Every citizen has to guess the value of the gift which every friend will send him so that he may send one of equal value, whether he can afford it or not. The sellers of the gifts, as well as the buyers, become exceedingly exhausted from the strain of the crowds and traffic. They are frantic in their attempts to finish everything on time and yet are in constant need of stopping and resting. This frenzied state, in their barbaric language, is known as the Exmas rush.
The motivation for this strange behavior is most confusing to even our best scholars. The motivation could not possibly be merriment, for most Acremans seem more weary than joyful. Our best explanation is that their motivation must have its source in their pagan worship.
There is another group in Acrema, almost too small to be mentioned at all, that celebrate a completely different festival at this time of the year. They call their celebration Crissmas. The celebration centers around an ancient story about a baby that was born a very special birth many, many years ago. The story has it that there were signs in the heavens proclaiming this baby’s birth. He grew to be an extraordinary man who performed many miracles, and who life was absolutely perfect. Many said he was the Son of some God, which they claimed was the only God. He was killed to pay some penalty, but came back from the dead and went into the heavens. His followers claim that only those who believe in this will be forgiven.
So every Crissmas they remember again the birth of this One who is their “savior”. They continue to retell the story of his birth. They gather together on the eve of his birth date to sing and praise him. They light candles and say that He is the Truth that came into the world, and now illuminates the whole world in his truth. These people call themselves Crisstians, I assume after this beautiful holiday.
Hecataeus, in his usual way of oversimplifying the facts, has formulated a hypotheses that Crissmas and Exmas are the same. This is utterly impossible. First of all, the pictures stamped on the Exmas cards have nothing to do with the sacred story which the priests tell. Secondly, although most Acremans don’t believe the religion of the few, they still send gifts and cards and participate in the Rush. It is unlikely anyone whould suffer so greatly for a God they did not know.
No, my theory ties it all together, except those who celebrate Crissmas. They are the strange ones. I have no idea where their story could have originated—unless it actually did happen.
Do you celebrate Exmas or Crissmas? You can see how easy it is to get caught up in the tradition of Exmas, and by doing this, lose the true meaning of Christmas. You can see how this could cause you to lose the celebration of Christ our Lord. You could see how you could miss how God shared His LOVE with us by coming to us in human form and by living this LOVE on the earth as an example for us. You could see how you could forget to enjoy God’s love, and in turn share God’s love, because you are caught up in practices and traditions that lead you astray.
As Mark 1:4 says, “John the Baptist appears in the wilderness proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” And then in verse 8 he continues: “I baptize you with water, but He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus came so that we might be filled with the Holy Spirit, which cleanses our hearts and gives us full access to the presence and love of God.
Conclusion: This third Sunday of Advent emphasizes the LOVE of Christmas. We have been shown God’s love in Christ’s birth. WE have been shown God’s love because in Christ we are also filled with the Spirit of God. As we go through this last week and a half of Advent, may we have a renewed sense of God’s LOVE for us, and may we prepare our hearts so that we might not lose sight of what Christmas is all about, and so that we can help others around us see it as well. Amen.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
1 Peter 1:17-25; Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8
Introduction: These words in Isaiah are powerful, as God says to His prophet: “Comfort, comfort my people…” We all need to be comforted. Even when we are grown-up and mature, there are still times when we need comforting. Having two children has changed my life, because when you are a parent, you understand how you can love another person so deeply. When they need comforting, I am there for them. This relationship with my children has given me a greater depth of understanding about my relationship with God.
However, there are times when Tyler and Tiffany might be sad because they aren’t happy about something. Maybe they want to watch TV, but they have to do their homework. We tell them “no” to watching TV, and they get upset. The comfort I give them in this time is different. It might just be some words of assurance that I love them even though I’m saying “no.”
Through my relationship with my kids, it helps me to understand that God’s relationship with me is similar. Sometimes I need to be comforted by experiencing the love and presence of God. Other times the comfort comes from God ending a situation or struggle, or in giving me understanding about it. And often times this comfort of God comes from another person. GOD USES US TO BRING HIS COMFORT TO PEOPLE!
This morning, we look at how Jesus Christ, our savior, brought “love” into the world. This morning we learn about how God wants to love us, and how we are to love others. So I would ask that you come to this time with a willingness to gain a fresh perspective on what God has to say to you.
I. Preparing the Way- (Isaiah 40:1-5; Mark 1:1-3)
In verse 3 of Isaiah 40, Isaiah mentions that a voice will proclaim some
comfort. What is it that the voice says will bring comfort? Let us listen to Isaiah’s words again: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”
PRPARE THE WAY!
In this season, this phrase is not hard to understand. Christmas is a season full of preparations. Preparing the house with decorations; for relatives coming, or preparing for traveling over the holiday; preparing the gifts to be opened; preparing baked goods; and on and on the preparing goes…. In fact, for many people, the time is so busy with preparations that it is difficult to even focus on what we are preparing for.
Just like we prepare for a party so that we will be ready for it to go well, so we need to prepare for the Lord so that He can work in our lives. Have you ever wondered how sometimes you call out to God, but He doesn’t give You the answer right away? Maybe it is because He needs to prepare you to receive the answer that will come. Have you ever wondered how sometimes it seems God isn’t answering at all? Maybe it is because You have not prepared your heart to connect with God.
As Israel was crying out to God for comfort, God was telling her that the comfort was to come; that the “way of the Lord” needed to be prepared. At this point their comfort was in God’s promise that He would come to His people in the form of a human being; in the Messiah; the Savior; Jesus Christ! This is how His love and comfort would be shown in the coming of the One who would save them. This is the “LOVE” of Christmas that God has come to us in Jesus. And so we are to find comfort in Jesus.
Example- “Rudolph and Olive,” Hot Illustrations, p. 176- A contestant on a game show only had to answer one question to become the champion. “To be today’s champion,” the host said, “name two of Santa’s reindeer.” The contestant was a man in his early thirties, and he sighed with relief at having gotten such an easy question. “Rudolph,” he said right away, “and..” he paused, “Olive!” The host replied: “We’ll accept Rudolph, but can you explain Olive?” “You know,” the man stammered, Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it, your would even say it glowed. Olive, the other reindeer.”
We laugh at this, but even worse than not knowing Santa’s reindeer is not know the real meaning of Christmas. I remember many years ago, when my niece was very young, my brother asked me to share with her the meaning of Christmas.
Do you know anyone who doesn’t know the meaning of Christmas? That God came to give us comfort through the birth of Jesus Christ?
God calls us to prepare the way for Him to be known by all people. This isn’t to be just happy holidays, it is Merry Christmas. We are called to let people know about this. Don’t just assume that people around you understand what Christmas is all about, but speak to them the meaning when you have the opportunity. This is what Isaiah 40:5 is about: “And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it…”
Advent is a time for us to reveal the glory of this season; the LOVE of God seen in the comfort that the Christ child brings to us!
II. Prepare our Hearts- (Mark 1:4-8)
We also shouldn’t assume that our hearts are prepared for this Advent season. It
is easy for us to get distracted and lose focus. We can get caught up in the rush and preparations, and forget the meaning of Christmas.
Henry Van Dyke, an American author, educator, and clergyman had this to say about “Keeping Christmas” (Knight’s Master Book of 4,000 Illustrations; p. 77):
“Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you; to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world; to put your right’s in the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground; to see that your fellow men are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy; to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life; to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness—are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas….Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world—stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death—and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem…is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas….And if you keep it for a day, why not always? But you cannot keep it alone.”
Because of all the philosophies that exist in our world, because of all who have gone astray from the Lord, we believe Christmas is about who we are and what we deserve, instead of who God is and what God has done for us. God has sent Jesus to save us, but it is for the purpose of how we can in turn serve God. This is what the preparing of our hearts is all about. We cannot accept the true meaning of Christmas, we cannot accept the love of Christmas, if our hearts are not in the right place.
I’d like to read for you a letter written from the perspective of someone who is not from earth, and who is not familiar with the Christmas season. What if someone observed the people during this season. What would they make of it? This letter helps to give us this perspective: It is called EXMAS IN ACREMA…
A Letter Home: My travels have taken me to a strange and wonderful country called Acrema. It is a land of many contradictions. It has high mountains yet flat plains. It has vast open spaces, yet cities crammed with people. It even has a holiday filled with contradictions—a holiday called Exmas.
Preparations for this festival last for over fifty days and yet on the one day of what is supposed to be celebration, there is more quiet, than merriment. It is difficult to determine whether the holiday itself or the preparation for it is the reason for the season. The preparations are very strange. They begin when people purchase tremendous quantities of cardboard cards with pictures and messages upon them. The pictures are of various subjects. Some portray snow scenes, some depict fireplaces; some have quite a modern tone; some are pictures of the way Acremans believe their ancestors lived. The pictures convey no central theme, and the message inside usually says “Season’s Greetings,” which could be said at any time of the year.
The Acremans go through untold suffering in getting the cards out. A card is sent to everyone on their list, and great care is taken not to miss anyone. Apparently there is some curse associated with neglecting someone. When the task is done, the Acremans sigh with relief, and give thanks to the gods that the task is over for one more year. All is peaceful then, as the Acremens receive their cards, unless he receives one from someone to whom he did not send an Exmas card. Then there is much wailing and cursing of the gods as the Acreman has to go out, through unspeakably crowded streets to get and mail the Exmas card that was forgotten.
An equally strange custom is the purchase of Exmas Gifts. This is a very difficult procedure. Another list is made after which an elaborate guessing game begins. Every citizen has to guess the value of the gift which every friend will send him so that he may send one of equal value, whether he can afford it or not. The sellers of the gifts, as well as the buyers, become exceedingly exhausted from the strain of the crowds and traffic. They are frantic in their attempts to finish everything on time and yet are in constant need of stopping and resting. This frenzied state, in their barbaric language, is known as the Exmas rush.
The motivation for this strange behavior is most confusing to even our best scholars. The motivation could not possibly be merriment, for most Acremans seem more weary than joyful. Our best explanation is that their motivation must have its source in their pagan worship.
There is another group in Acrema, almost too small to be mentioned at all, that celebrate a completely different festival at this time of the year. They call their celebration Crissmas. The celebration centers around an ancient story about a baby that was born a very special birth many, many years ago. The story has it that there were signs in the heavens proclaiming this baby’s birth. He grew to be an extraordinary man who performed many miracles, and who life was absolutely perfect. Many said he was the Son of some God, which they claimed was the only God. He was killed to pay some penalty, but came back from the dead and went into the heavens. His followers claim that only those who believe in this will be forgiven.
So every Crissmas they remember again the birth of this One who is their “savior”. They continue to retell the story of his birth. They gather together on the eve of his birth date to sing and praise him. They light candles and say that He is the Truth that came into the world, and now illuminates the whole world in his truth. These people call themselves Crisstians, I assume after this beautiful holiday.
Hecataeus, in his usual way of oversimplifying the facts, has formulated a hypotheses that Crissmas and Exmas are the same. This is utterly impossible. First of all, the pictures stamped on the Exmas cards have nothing to do with the sacred story which the priests tell. Secondly, although most Acremans don’t believe the religion of the few, they still send gifts and cards and participate in the Rush. It is unlikely anyone whould suffer so greatly for a God they did not know.
No, my theory ties it all together, except those who celebrate Crissmas. They are the strange ones. I have no idea where their story could have originated—unless it actually did happen.
Do you celebrate Exmas or Crissmas? You can see how easy it is to get caught up in the tradition of Exmas, and by doing this, lose the true meaning of Christmas. You can see how this could cause you to lose the celebration of Christ our Lord. You could see how you could miss how God shared His LOVE with us by coming to us in human form and by living this LOVE on the earth as an example for us. You could see how you could forget to enjoy God’s love, and in turn share God’s love, because you are caught up in practices and traditions that lead you astray.
As Mark 1:4 says, “John the Baptist appears in the wilderness proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” And then in verse 8 he continues: “I baptize you with water, but He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus came so that we might be filled with the Holy Spirit, which cleanses our hearts and gives us full access to the presence and love of God.
Conclusion: This third Sunday of Advent emphasizes the LOVE of Christmas. We have been shown God’s love in Christ’s birth. WE have been shown God’s love because in Christ we are also filled with the Spirit of God. As we go through this last week and a half of Advent, may we have a renewed sense of God’s LOVE for us, and may we prepare our hearts so that we might not lose sight of what Christmas is all about, and so that we can help others around us see it as well. Amen.
posted by Logan's Blog at 4:10 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home