Classic TV Christmas
Getting what we Want Most at Christmas
A Christmas Story
INTRODUCTION
The only thing nine-year-old Ralphie Parker wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB gun. Mom won’t even consider it. "You’ll shoot your eye out!" she proclaims, thus ending the argument before it gets started. Hope springs eternal in young Ralphie’s heart as he tries every possible angle to attain his goal.
Based on the memoirs of humorist Jean Shepherd, the film is a sweetly nostalgic look at suburban life in the 1940s, focused primarily upon the exploits and antics of young Ralphie who must deal with bullies, disappointments, and everything else that a young person faces when growing up.
Throughout it all he is convinced that if he just gets his Red Ryder BB Gun everything will be perfect.
(Watch this Video Clip with me.)
Ralphie is just like us. We all could write a list of the things we know would just make our life perfect. I can even remember praying for a specific Christmas gift when I was a child.
The Electro-Shot Shooting Gallery by MARX
I remember praying, “God if you just get me this toy for Christmas, will never want anything else.”
Guess what? I got it.
Guess what?
It wasn’t worth it.
A vintage toy site describes this item this way.
The Electro-Shot Shooting Gallery by Marx remains one of the all-time greats in the golden age of toys. This puppy was any kids dream - and it rarely failed to satisfy. Lots of fun - but subject to breakdown.
It jammed a lot. It also had the most annoying sound whenever it was.
The Greatest Christmas Present I ever wanted lacked satisfaction.
Ralphie’s greatest moment of satisfaction in “A Christmas Story” does not come from the Red Ryder BB Gun.
His greatest moment of joy comes form a glimpse of the Great Gift.
After one particularly trying day at school, Ralphie runs into the school bully while walking home. Tired of being teased, Ralphie surrenders to his rage. He pummels the bully and bursts into a string of obscenities. Ralphie’s mother hears his tirade and sends him up to his room. Waiting tearfully for his dad to come home, Ralphie anticipates the worst punishment.
Ralphie’s mother finds his younger brother, Randy, hiding under the kitchen sink. "Randy, what’s the matter? What are you crying for?" she asks.
"Daddy’s gonna kill Ralphie!" he sobs. Mom assures Randy that everything is going to work out, but she too seems to be fretting about what may come.
Still locked in his room, Ralphie fears the worst: I heard the car pull up the driveway, and a wave of terror broke over me. He’ll know what I said—the awful things I said!
Hearing his dad’s voice, Ralphie walks downstairs to meet his fate. After some small talk, Dad asks, "What happened today?" Ralphie realizes it’s all about to come out. He looks at his mother with a pained expression.
Surprisingly, his mother responds, "Nothing much. Ralphie had a fight."
Tension rises as Dad puts down the paper and looks at Ralphie with a stern gaze. "A fight? What kind of fight?"
Mom replies, "Oh, you know how boys are. I gave him a talking to. Oh, I see the Bears are playing the Packers Sunday."
A smile breaks across Ralphie’s face, and he beams at his mother. Ralphie’s greatest moment of joy comes when he realizes the power of the great gift—forgiveness.
What he wanted most was a BB Gun
He Got Bunny Pajamas
When he Got the BB Gun—Got hurt
The Great Gift he got was Mercy and Grace
THE MOVIE “A CHRISTMAS STORY” REMINDS US THAT THERE IS A GREAT GIFT TO BE DISCOVERED AT CHRSTMAS.
T.S. Turn with me this morning to Matthew Chapter Two and let’s look at the lives of a few individuals committed to discovering the greatest Christmas Gift.
Matt 2:1-12
2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6 "’But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’"
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search 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 in the east 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 and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. NIV
The Magi
The Magi (singular Magus, from Latin, via Greek μάγος ; Old English: Mage; from Old Persian maguš) was a tribe from ancient Media, who - prior to the absorption of the Medes into the Persian Empire in 550 BC - were responsible for religious and funerary practices.
They were a hereditary caste of priests. They were highly influential in Median society.
The best known Magi are the "Wise Men from the East,” whose graves Marco Polo claimed to have seen in what is today the district of Saveh, in Tehran, Iran.
The Book of Jeremiah (39:3, 39:13) gives a title rab mag "chief magus" to the head of the Magi, Nergal Sharezar
The Jewish prophet Daniel was "rab mag" and entrusted a Messianic vision (to be announced in due time by a "star") to a secret sect of the Magi for its eventual fulfillment (Daniel 4:9; 5: 11) Daniel was revered by Jews prophesied concerning the Messiah. If the magi knew of Jewish prophecy, from Daniel or elsewhere, they could have "conjectured that the man whose appearance had been foretold along with that of the star, had actually come into the world."
These Magi are our model for pursuing the Great Gift.
I. Pursuing the Greatest Gift Requires Seeking
Matt 2:2
"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
It is likely that the God choose as the timing for the coming of the Messiah and astronomical event that had not been seen before the he conjunction of two planets in the night sky most likely Jupiter and Saturn.
A. It could go unnoticed
Herod had failed to notice it.
Matt 2:7
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
B. It could go unappreciated
Matt 2:3-4
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
But because these magi were looking for the fulfillment of the Star Prophecy they recognized it and pursued the great Gift.
The "Star Prophecy" was a Messianic reading applied by radical Jews and early Christians to a text from the Book of Numbers 24:17:
—There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
Appl: Are you looking for an encounter with God this Christmas Season. Will you recognize what he wants to give you? Or will it go unnoticed and unappreciated?
II. Pursuing the Greatest Gift is Worth Sacrifice
Matt 2:1-2
2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
The Wise Men who came from the East to pay homage to the baby Jesus two millennia ago traveled more than 1,000 miles through Iraq, Syria, Jordan and the West Bank .
A. Reordering of priorities
o Convenience
o Comfort
o Costs
B. Reordering of schedules
o Reflection of our priorities
o The Wise men arrive on time.
Matt 2:9-10
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
Appl: Will you be too busy for God this Christmas, too wrapped up in your own priorities, your own schedule or will you reprioritize. Will you reflect a desire for the great Gift of Christ, and encounter with the forgiver in how you plan your schedule?
III. Pursuing the Greatest Gift Leads to Satisfaction
Matt 2:10-12
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 and of incense and of myrrh.
they were overjoyed --They rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
A. Encounter the forgiver
The Magi’s gifts reveal they have and understanding of who it is before them.
o Gold—the Gift for a King
o Frankincense—the burned by office of a priest.
o Myrrh—the anointing for body in a sacred funereal rite.
B. Renewing our relationship
However devote they were, they have a mountain top experience in the presence of the Gift.
and they bowed down and worshiped him
God wants to lead us to mountain top experiences this Christmas season as we encounter the forgiver.
SUMMARY:
In the movie “A Christmas Story,” Ralphie discovers a greater Christmas gift than a red Ryder bb gun—he discovers the gift of Grace and Forgiveness.
THE MOVIE “A CHRISTMAS STORY” REMINDS US THAT THERE IS A GREAT GIFT TO BE DISCOVERED AT CHRSTMAS.
Like the Wise men understood, the pursuit of the greatest gift is worth seeking for, sacrificing for. Ultimately we will discover it’s pursuit leads to great satisfaction.
PRAYER: Jesus, this Christmas I want the greatest gift, I want a fresh and renewing encounter with you--the great gift of Christmas. It is worth seeking and sacrifice. Jesus fill me with the satisfaction that comes from pursuing you. Amen
