FROM THANKSGIVING TO CHRISTMAS
PSALM 100
Psalm 100:1-5
1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
(KJV)
The rule of thumb in my household is that we don’t start getting ready for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. I like to take my holidays one at a time. I am not holding anything against those who have been ready for months, but you may have a problem. You may be addicted to Christmas which can result in Christmasitis. Well, if you are in doubt about this, I have come up with a test which can help you determine if you have contracted this disease. Give yourself a point for every question you answer yes to.
1. Do you have more than five giant inflatable lawn decorations?
2. Did you buy any of this year’s Christmas presents at the after Christmas sales last year?
3. Do you leave your Christmas lights up all year and try to pass them off as lights to celebrate other holidays?
4. Have you ever bought an artificial tree because real ones don’t last for three months?
5. Do you rent or own a shed or storage unit because you have more decorations than your house can hold?
How do we as Christians transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas?
FIVE COMMANDMENTS FOR TRANSITIONING:
1) Shout for Joy!
Psalm 100:1
1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
(KJV)
Let your thankful heart intensify as Christmas approaches.
Let your joy become Holy Wonder. How can you engage in holy wonder? You stop! Pausing for praise in the midst of the craziness of Advent is the best thing you can do. You cannot engage your mind and heart in holy wonder without slowing down.
Typical of last minute Christmas shoppers, a mother was running furiously from store to store. Suddenly she became aware that the pudgy little hand of her three year old son was no longer clutched in hers. In a panic she retraced her steps and found him standing with his little nose pressed flatly against a frosty window. He was gazing at a manger scene. Hearing his mother’s near hysterical call, he turned and shouted with innocent glee: "look mommy! it’s Jesus - baby Jesus in the hay". With obvious indifference to his joy and wonder, she impatiently jerked him away saying, "we don’t have time for that!"
In the middle of your shopping, sit down, and read the Christmas story. Maybe that means you gather your children around a Nativity scene each night and unwrap a different piece and talk about the role it plays in the Christmas story. Maybe that means you wake up early one morning and find a place you can watch the sun rise as you meditate on Luke 1:78-79.
Luke 1:78-79
78 Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
79 To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
(NKJ)
The work of holy wonder is treasuring and pondering the fact that God invaded planet Earth on a perilous rescue mission. Amidst all the activity, stop and treasure all these things. Ponder them in your heart. Engage in some holy wonder.
2) Serve the Lord with gladness!
Psalm 100:2
2 Serve the LORD with gladness.
(KJV)
Jesus started in heaven and came down to earth, in flesh, as a servant, submitting to death. We sometimes think of Christmas as a tame holiday. We think of sweet little baby Jesus asleep on a bed of hay. Everyone loves that because it’s so innocuous and safe. But
Christmas isn’t safe! That baby is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He has come to usher in a kingdom that rivals the kingdom of self. That’s threatening. He bids those who would follow him to take up their cross daily—to lay aside our own right to rule ourselves, to surrender to his rule.
The world loves to celebrate the birth of Christ, but they hate to obey him as the Lord of their lives. Everyone wants to keep Christ in the manger. But the manger is meaningless apart from the Cross. As one writer put it many years ago:
“This little babe, so few days old, is come to rifle Satan’s fold;
all hell doth at his presence quake, though he himself for cold does shake.”
An African boy listened carefully as his teacher explained why Christians give presents to each other on Christmas day. "The gift is an expression of our joy over the birth of Jesus and our friendship for each other," she said.
When Christmas day came, the boy brought the teacher a seashell of lustrous beauty. "Where did you ever find such a beautiful shell?" the teacher asked.
The youth told her that there was only one spot where such extraordinary shells could be found. When he named the place, a certain bay several miles away, the teacher was left speechless. "Why ... why, it’s gorgeous ... wonderful, but you shouldn’t have gone all that way to get the gift for me."
His eyes brightening, the boy answered, "Long walk part of gift."
God came from heaven to a manger, from a manger to a cross, from a cross to the grave and from a grave back to heaven. And we ask, "Why all this trouble, God?"
And God would say to us, "Long walk part of gift."
Christmas is a time for serving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Service takes on new meaning when done without acknowledgement, when done so that no one knows! Take a step of intentional demotion by serving someone who can’t pay you back.
Become a secret servant!
3) Sing for Joy!
Joy is the natural result of a heart burning with love.
Psalm 100:2
2 Come before his presence with singing.
(KJV)
Luke 2:10
10 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.
(NIV)
Christmas trees, eggnog, and exchanging of gifts are fine, but if we do all that stuff but don’t talk about Jesus—if we fail to speak of the real meaning of it all; if we neglect to tell someone that this child was born as Savior and Lord, that he was sent by God to die on the Cross to purchase with royal blood our own deliverance from sin, death, and the devil; if we neglect to publish that abroad, we’ve failed to do Christmas right. The angel said that this is good news of great joy which shall be for all the people. Share the joy.
Proverbs 17:22
22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
(NIV)
The way some folk celebrate Christmas you would think that Jesus came to overburden the world rather than bring joy!
4) Know who is the Shepherd and who are the sheep!
Psalm 100:3
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
(KJV)
The essence of Christmas is the recognition that He is God and I am not!
After unwrapping all her presents, a little girl was asked: “Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?” She replied: “No, but it isn’t my birthday!”
5) Surrender with Thanksgiving and Praise!
Psalm 100:4
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
(KJV)
Christmas is all about surrender. Jesus surrendered Heaven to come to earth. Joseph and Mary surrendered their life plans to care for the Son of God. The shepherds surrendered their work one winter’s night to see if what the angels had announced was more than a dream. The wise men surrendered their time at home to make a pilgrimage to discover the newborn king. Christmas is all about surrender.
In 1842, thirteen-year old William was forced into surrender. His father, Samuel, lost his business and it placed William in a precarious place. William, who had grown up in a household with enough money to have a great education, was sent out to learn a trade. He was apprenticed to a pawnbroker in the seedy part of Nottingham, England.
The last words William ever heard his father speak as Samuel surrendered to death was, “Make Money!” Samuel died penniless, leaving William to care for the family. As William surrendered himself to learn the pawnbroker trade, he also got another type of education. He learned what poverty does to people. He also realized that faith was the ONLY solution for those struggling to survive.
William moved to London in 1849, working in a pawnshop and helping the poor. He surrendered to the ministry three years later, embarking on a lifelong mission that had two objectives: saving the lost and righting social injustices.
His first converts were some of the most desperate types of thieves, prostitutes, gamblers, and drunkards one could imagine. William was trying to make a difference in the lives of people, but his efforts were not met with appreciation, even form the very people he was trying to help. Even street children threw stones and fireworks through the windows of the hall where William preached. His wife, Catherine, said that he would stumble home night after night, haggard with fatigue. Often his clothes were torn and bloody, bandages swathed his head were a stone had struck. But William would not fight back or give up. He was surrendered.
Despite the horrible treatment William and his growing army of volunteers received, they remained surrendered to taking a high road of holiness and helpfulness. And when you hear those bell-ringers and see those kettles at store entrances, know that that army, the Salvation Army, began with a man, William Booth, who surrendered to living a life of thanksgiving and praise, holiness and helpfulness. That kind of surrender will always make a difference!
As we head headlong into Christmas, will you take the high road of surrender to the One Who surrendered it all?
