Series: Christmas 2011, Advent
Message: Surprised by Joy
Topics: Joy, Christmas, Advent, Genealogy, Good News, Women, Bad Girls of Bible, Busyness, Commercialism, Family Dysfunction.
Text: Matthew 1:1-6, Luke 2:10-11
Date: Dec. 11, 2011
Pastor: David McBeath
INTRODUCTION
Christmas is just around the corner! Two weeks from today! Are you ready? Let me do a little survey to see how ready we are:
How many of you have all your shopping done? Do you have your presents wrapped? Who has at least half of their Christmas shopping done? Anyone, not started yet? How many of you have all your baking done and candy made? (I know some of you have started—I’m already starting to get all kinds of goodies. YUM! My favorite part of the season!) Who has all their Christmas cards sent? Parents, raise your hand if you’ve taken you kids to see Santa! (I hope you have, Santa needs those lists. That is the first things we did—had our kids drop off their lists to the Santa mail box in the BonTon. I don’t know about your kids, but I’ve never seen my boys work so hard as they did when they got their lists ready!) Well I could keep going but that gives us a good idea of how ready we are for Christmas.
Advent is a 4 week period of preparation for Christmas. It’s not a physical preparation. It is a spiritual preparation. To help us prepare, we are going to talk about the JOY of Christmas this week. Next week, we will talk about the faith of Joseph. Christmas Eve we will talk about the Magi or Wiseman and consider the fact that Wisemen and Woman still seek Jesus. It will be a simple candlelight service with lots of Christmas carols. It will be a perfect opportunity to invite an un-churched friend or co-worker. Then, Christmas Day, we will have another simple service with lots of carols and a brief message about Christmas Love and God’s Gift to us!
VIDEO—Christmas Connection
This morning I want to begin my message about the JOY of Christmas with a quick video called Christmas Connection. Take a look:
So what did you think? Kind of funny wasn’t it! Most of us wonder how someone could be that clueless. I mean we know what Christmas is all about right! But I wonder if at least some us, even though we know what Christmas is all about up here (in our minds), we fail to make the connection down here (in our hearts). And if we fail to make the connection in our hearts, I wonder if that takes away some of JOY we could be experiencing this time of year!
LUKE 2:10-11
To help us connect Christmas to our hearts, I want us to take a look at Luke 2 verses 10 and 11. Here Luke describes an Angel telling the Shepherds (and us) what Christmas should be like, what Christmas should be all about. Luke writes:
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. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."
According to the angel, Christmas should be Good News. But not just Good News, it should be Good News of Great Joy! I don’t know about you, but many times my Christmas season doesn’t feel like Good News and I don’t have great joy!
Have you ever experienced a Christmas season where you just were not feeling it? Where you were stressed out and busy to the max? Where Christmas was just a lot of work? Where you were with friends and family but felt alone or annoyed? Have you ever experienced a Christmas where you had little joy?
LADY SHOPPING ELEVATOR
Maybe you’ve felt like this woman: She 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 the 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!” A few others nodded their heads or grunted in agreement. Then, from somewhere in the back of the elevator came a single voice that said, “Don’t worry. They already crucified him.”
We need to remember who is responsible for the whole Christmas thing. It is all about God who loved the world so much that He gave us a savior who is Christ the Lord.
THREE PRE-OCCUPATIONS
So what keeps many of us from experiencing this Good News of Great Joy during the Christmas season? I think there are at the very least three PRE-OCCUPATIONS that keep us from experiencing the joy of Christmas and take our eyes and our hearts of the meaning of the season. These pre-occupations are commercialism, busyness, and even family. When we fix our eyes and hearts on these things instead of Jesus we can lose the joy associated with Christmas.
COMMERCIALISM
Let me begin with commercialism. For all of us who are parents, remember when your kids were young. What was Christmas for them? Let’s face it as much as we try or tried to teach our kids Christmas was about the baby Jesus, commercialism makes it about the presents. And, our kids pick up on this right away, don’t they? Maybe you have grown kids and it’s still about the presents to them.
When I was young, in elementary school, it was definitely about the presents for me! I couldn’t wait for Christmas to see what I was going to get! We celebrated Christmas and My Grandma June’s (My Dad’s Mom) on Christmas Eve. Everyone from my Dad’s side of the family would cram into her tiny Arts and Crafts 4 room Bungalow. Presents would literally be overflowing to the point you could not see the bottom half of her Christmas tree. There was hardly room for them!
UPSIDE DOWN TREE
Evidently, my family wasn’t the only family that had this experience. That is why FOX NEWS reported in 2005 that somebody had the bright idea to sell upside down Christmas trees. Here is how the story went:
A new holiday trend is literally turning a traditional Christmas celebration upside down. Hammacher Schlemmer, a retail company based in New York, is currently offering a unique yuletide decoration: the Upside-Down Christmas Tree.
Standing at 7-feet tall and pre-lit with over 800 commercial grade lights, this technological marvel can be yours for the low price of $599.95. But why would anyone want an upside-down Christmas tree? According to Hammacher Schlemmer's website: "The inverted shape makes it easier to see ornaments, which hang away from the dense needles, while allowing more room for the accumulation of presents underneath." I have one word for this: “REALLY?”
When our kids expect this kind of Christmas, we don’t want to let them down. So, many of us go to great lengths to have the best parties, the best presents and the best food. We stress ourselves out and overspend to make Christmas the most joyous occasion of the year. We think this will bring JOY! But when it is all over, we are left somewhat empty, even when our kids are grateful…but especially when they come away thinking it wasn’t good enough.
Anyone been there? When Christmas becomes hijacked by consumerism it’s not Good News
of Great Joy, is it? That is why E.B. White in his book, The Second Tree from the Corner, writes: “To perceive Christmas through its wrappings becomes more difficult with every year.”
BUSYNESS
Commercialism, many times, is the cause of another Pre-Occupation that robs us of the Christmas Joy. That pre-occupation is busyness. Many times we get so busy shopping, thinking about what presents to buy, baking, throwing parties, going to parties, and family gatherings that we don’t let Christmas impact us here (in our hearts.) We are just too busy.
BOY, WINDOW, MANGER
I heard about a mother who was running furiously from store to store on Christmas Eve … trying to get those last-minute gifts. Suddenly she realized she’d lost track of her little 3-year-old son. 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.
When he heard his mother call his name, he turned and shouted in innocent glee: “Look Mommy! It’s JESUS! Baby Jesus is in the hay!” The harried mom grabbed his arm and jerked him away, snapping, “We don’t have time for all that! Can’t you see that Mommy’s trying to get ready for Christmas!?!”
That’s funny, but it’s not! Maybe we do the same thing, just in other ways! We are so busy getting ready for Christmas that we don’t take the time to connect with Jesus. Remember, the Angel said that Jesus is the Good News that brings Great Joy!
FAMILY DISFUNCTION
We’ve talked about commercialism and busyness but there is a third Pre-occupation that keeps us from experiencing Christmas Joy and it’s FAMILY. Many times we are so focused on our family and especially our extended family that we lose the Joy of Christmas. We have these high expectations of our family gatherings. We think that they are going to be wonderful. But many times they are not! And, we come face to face with our family’s dysfunction. Maybe some of us loath the Holidays, because we know this dysfunction is going to rear its ugly head.
GRISWALDS CHRISTMAS VACATION
When I think of family dysfunction, I think of classic Christmas movie. I think of the Griswald’s in National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation. Why is this movie so funny? Because, Clark Griswald’s family is just an exaggerated version of many of our own dysfunctional families.
Let’s think about of the characters for a moment. Which characters are in your family, which one are you most like you? How about Audrey Griswald, the stereo-typical bored, disillusioned, nothing is cool enough teenager? Then there is the Rusty Griswald, the fairly good but often overlooked child. Who can’t relate to the two sets of parents-in-law’s who argue over each and every minor detail of the Christmas get together. My favorite character is the strange, free loading, and uncouth cousin Eddie and his family who brings their home, an RV, and set it up on the street. (You gotta love the explosion at the end of the movie!) Then there is Ellen, Clark’s long-suffering, devoted wife who will put up with almost anything, the one that is really kind-of a doormat. Finally Clark himself, the good intentioned, bumbling, do-gooder, that annoys everyone because he goes overboard working himself to death to make a memorable Family Christmas that never measures up to his dreams and expectations. Anyone know somebody like this? Don’t we all have at least a couple of these characters in our extended family?
JESUS’S DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY TREE
So our preoccupations with commercialism, busyness, and our dysfunctional families get-togethers can often rob us of true Christmas Joy, by taking our attention off Christ. How can we get past these 3 pre-occupations that distract us from the true meaning of Christmas? We will briefly look at Jesus’ Dysfunctional Family Tree to Find Out. Now, there is a lot of dysfunction in Christ’s family tree, so I’m just going to focus on 4 people, the four women in his genealogy. Turn to Matthew 1 and look at verses 1-6 and we will see that these women are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba.
TAMAR
The first woman in Christ’s family tree is Tamar. Anyone remember who she is? She is the widow of Judah’s son, Er, who died without leaving her a son who could take care of her. Now, so she would be taken care of, biblical law mandated that she marry Er’s brother, Onan. She marries her brother-in-law, but the Bible tells us that Onan “spilled his seed” on the ground and refused to give her a son. Why? because he was greedy and he didn’t want to split his land and inheritance with her family! So what did God do? He killed Onan.
Tamar, again widowed, was supposed to be taken care of by Judah’s third son, according to biblical law. But Judah didn’t give his son to her. Why? Again greed was in play. He wasn’t willing to split the family estate with her. He disobeyed God, …so Tamar took matters into her own hands.
One day when Judah was going to be traveling she disguised herself as a shrine prostitute and camped out waiting for her father-in-law to come down the road. He saw her. Liked the way she looked and hired her. She got pregnant, and when self-righteous Judah found out she was pregnant out of wedlock—he was going to have her killed, until she revealed that he was the father of her child. Sounds like Jesus had an episode of Desperate Housewives in his family tree.
RAHAB
Next there is Rahab. Remember, she was a hated Canaanite, a Gentile prostitute that had more faith in God than most of the Israelites who grumbled and complained about going into the promised-land because they didn’t believe God would give them the land! As Israel’s espionage team entered the city of Jericho, they asked Rahab the prostitute to hide them. She lied to protect them from the authorities and then helped them escape. For her faith, she was the only allowed to survive. She was a prostitute, an irreligious Gentile, and a liar. The Bible lists Salmon as the father of her child in Jesus’ Family tree. We don’t know anything about him, but one can’t help but wonder Salmon might have been one of her clients. You, know maybe are families aren’t so bad after all.
RUTH
Next there is Ruth. Now Ruth was a saint. She follows God and God’s ways. But she was a hated Moabite, and the Moabites were depraved enemies of God’s people. Robert Maloney writes: “All of us remember the wonderful fidelity of this foreigner to her Jewish mother-in-law. Rather than Abandon Naomi, Ruth declares “Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Naomi and Ruth move back to Israel where her mother-in-law introduces her to her relative Boaz. They get married and the child of their mixed marriage is Obed the grandfather of King David. Who doesn’t have a family member or two that are wonderful, they are saints but from the wrong background? Those of you who have mixed marriages probably know exactly what I’m talking about!
BATHSHEBA
Finally there is Bathsheba. This is the most shocking woman in Jesus family tree. Matthew won’t even mention her name. He just calls her Uriah’s wife. Remember she is the one that seduced King David, bathing where David could see her. Think about Middle-Eastern cultures and how modest the women are. There is no way a self-respecting woman would expose herself like this in public. She seduces David and gets pregnant. Then David, murders her husband so his adultery will not be found out. Some family I tell you! That’s just a portion of the Dysfunction in Jesus family!
WHAT DO WE LEARN
What do we learn from these women? First, God has a plan. He has a plan to save the world. Remember Luke 2:10. The Angel says, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born.” God has a plan to save the world and his plan includes using deeply flawed individuals to bring his salvation to the world. Just look at his family tree and the people he used to bring Jesus to the world! (I mean really—those people?) Sounds like Good News to me, because I have some pretty deep flaws and my family has some pretty deep flaws. Jesus’ background is not very different from my own. That brings me joy, how about you?
The second thing we learn from these women in Jesus’ family tree is that the good news of Jesus is for all people! I think Matthew is sending a message to the self-righteous. God’s salvation is for the saint (Ruth) and the Sinners (Tamar, Rehab, David, Judah, and Bathsheba).
How many of us get annoyed with our family at Christmas and lose our joy because we are self-righteous? We think we are better than our family members who are angry, or bitter, or greedy or adulterers, or liars, or complainers, or annoying, or just self-absorbed and selfish. Maybe God wants us to share Jesus with them and use both us and them to bring his salvation, The Good News of Jesus to the World. God wants to use flawed individuals!
Third, these women display God’s grace. From these women, we learn that we need to give the same Grace to our family members that we’ve experienced thru Jesus Christ. If we get good at extending grace we will have a lot more joy in our lives and at our family gatherings. We will be instruments of Good News.
We, also, need to learn to extend his Grace to our mistakes as well. We shouldn’t beat ourselves up when we let commercialism take over our Christmas. We should get down on ourselves when get so busy we don’t focus on Jesus and the Good News of Salvation he brings to both saints and sinners. We shouldn’t let the mistakes we make at our Christmas family gatherings keep us from experiencing the Joy of Christmas
Fourth, because of God’s grace we need to learn to focus on Jesus. If you are here this morning and you don’t have a relationship with Christ—let me tell you—you won’t experience the joy of Christmas without one. Don’t substitute religion and religious activity for a relationship with him. Going to church during Advent or on Christmas Eve won’t bring you joy. Religious activity is just another thing to do, if you don’t have a relationship with God thru Jesus Christ.
Christians, don’t let commercialism and the busyness it causes take your focus of Jesus. Don’t fall into the trap that you have to feverishly work at making this the best Christmas ever, like Clark Griswald did. There is no joy in that! Let me close with this:
Years ago an interesting sign was seen hanging in a store window during the Christmas season. The original message stated, “Let’s make this the best Christmas ever.” Underneath, some perceptive person scribbled a legitimate question: “How will we top the first one?” …We can’t! Why wear ourselves out trying. Focus on Jesus and the Good News of Great Joy he brings, when we allow him to be the reason for the season. If we will do this, I think we will be surprised by the Joy brings us this Christmas.
