Title: Bent
Date: 12/17/17
Place: BLCC
Text: Psalm 139. 13-14
CT: In the manger God loves you, through the cross He saves you.
[Screen 1]
While working as a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, Lee Strobel was assigned to report on the struggles of an impoverished, inner-city family during the weeks leading up to Christmas. A devout atheist at the time, Strobel was mildly surprised by the family's attitude in spite of their circumstances:
The Delgados—60-year-old Perfecta and her granddaughters, Lydia and Jenny—had been burned out of their roach-infested tenement and were now living in a tiny, two-room apartment on the West Side. As I walked in, I couldn't believe how empty it was. There was no furniture, no rugs, nothing on the walls—only a small kitchen table and one handful of rice. That's it. They were virtually devoid of possessions.
In fact, 11-year-old Lydia and 13-year-old Jenny owned only one short-sleeved dress each, plus one thin, gray sweater between them. When they walked the half-mile to school through the biting cold, Lydia would wear the sweater for part of the distance and then hand it to her shivering sister, who would wear it the rest of the way.
But despite their poverty and the painful arthritis that kept Perfecta from working, she still talked confidently about her faith in Jesus. She was convinced he had not abandoned them. I never sensed despair or self-pity in her home; instead, there was a gentle feeling of hope and peace.
Strobel completed his article, then moved on to more high-profile assignments. But when Christmas Eve arrived, he found his thoughts drifting back to the Delgados and their unflinching belief in God's providence. In his words: "I continued to wrestle with the irony of the situation. Here was a family that had nothing but faith, and yet seemed happy, while I had everything I needed materially, but lacked faith—and inside I felt as empty and barren as their apartment."
In the middle of a slow news day, Strobel decided to pay a visit to the Delgados. When he arrived, he was amazed at what he saw. Readers of his article had responded to the family's need in overwhelming fashion, filling the small apartment with donations. Once inside, Strobel encountered new furniture, appliances, and rugs; a large Christmas tree and stacks of wrapped presents; bags of food; and a large selection of warm winter clothing. Readers had even donated a generous amount of cash.
But it wasn't the gifts that shocked Lee Strobel, an atheist in the middle of Christmas generosity. It was the family's response to those gifts. In his words:
As surprised as I was by this outpouring, I was even more astonished by what my visit was interrupting: Perfecta and her granddaughters were getting ready to give away much of their newfound wealth.
When I asked Perfecta why, she replied in halting English: "Our neighbors are still in need. We cannot have plenty while they have nothing. This is what Jesus would want us to do."
That blew me away! If I had been in their position at that time in my life, I would have been hoarding everything. I asked Perfecta what she thought about the generosity of the people who had sent all of these goodies, and again her response amazed me.
"This is wonderful; this is very good," she said, gesturing toward the largess. "We did nothing to deserve this—it's a gift from God. But," she added, "It is not his greatest gift. No, we celebrate that tomorrow. That is Jesus."
To her, this child in the manger was the undeserved gift that meant everything—more than material possessions, more than comfort, more than security. And at that moment, something inside of me wanted desperately to know this Jesus—because, in a sense, I saw him in Perfecta and her granddaughters.
They had peace despite poverty, while I had anxiety despite plenty;
They knew the joy of generosity, while I only knew the loneliness of ambition; they looked heavenward for hope, while I only looked out for myself;
they experienced the wonder of the spiritual, while I was shackled to the shallowness of the material—and something made me long for what they had.
Or, more accurately, for the One they knew.
Lee Strobel, The Case for Christmas (Zondervan, 2005); submitted by Eugene Maddox, Palatka, Florida [Screen 2]
Christmas is next week. Where has this year gone? How many of you have your tree up. Getting a tree is a big deal for most of us. We search and ponder the trees. It can’t be too big or too small. It needs to fit the room and of course our budget. It must be full, not dense. It must be mature not dry. A pine for some. A Douglas fir for others. The preferences are different but the desire is the same. We want the perfect Christmas tree.
And oh the moment, when we find the tree. We lash it to the car, drag it in the house and set it in the stand. We stand and marvel at the beauty. Only a few people have won the Ironman triathlon or qualified as a Rhodes Scholar. But fewer have ever positioned a Christmas tree that doesn’t lean.
I remember one year when Kathy and I were first married we went out and got our tree and took it to our house. WE didn’t have a stand so we put it in a bucket and placed pop bottles around it to stand it up.
It stood long enough for us to get it decorated. But then it happened. The tree had been a leaner out in the forest and it couldn’t be made to stand straight in our house. It had a bend in its trunk that caused it to lean.
What was I to do? I went to get the saw to trim up the tree and a thought occurred to me. I’m not the first person to deal with this issue. God faces this situation on a continual basis. We all have our unattractive bents.
I know I do:
1. Writing sermons each week. Will I make it? Why did I do this for a living? I used to hate English in school and now I write at least two papers a week. My creativity gets challenged.
2. My wife. God I love her. But I know I let her down too often. I forget things that I should do and make it tough on her. Not on purpose but I get too busy.
Oh if I could just stand as straight as a sequoia, but I don’t. I am human. I feel a bit of a kindred spirit to the Christmas tree and its problem with leaning. I believe if you search yourself you will find the same. What you do for the tree by straightening it up, God does for you.
God picked you.
Do you purchase the first tree you see? Of course not. You search for the right one. You lift several up and set them down. You look at it from all angles until you decide, this one is perfect. You have a place for this tree to sit. Not just any tree will do.
God does the same. He knows just the place where you will be placed. There is a barren room in desperate need of warmth and joy. A corner of the world in need of color. He created you with that place in mind.
King David said it this way.
Psalm 139.13-14, 13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be. [Screen 3]
God made you on purpose with a purpose. He interwove calendar and character, circumstance and personality to create the person for your corner of the world.
And then He paid the price to take you home.
He purchased you. He sent his Son to pay the price. To straighten out our worst bents we have.
Jesus died on a cross to pay for our bents. [Screen 4]
1 Corinthians 6.20, For God bought you with a high price!
I remember when I was a kid and had to sit in the car and wait for mom while she went into the store. I guess that is illegal today. But that was a different time.
I survived. I remember sitting there thinking man I am stuck here and can’t get out. I leaned out of the window and hollered, “Please God. Get me out of this”.
Don’t we all feel like I did in the back of mom’s car at one time or another. We are stuck. Not in the back of a car, but stuck in a dying body, with bad habits, suffering the consequences of poor choices in an evil world. We need help.
So we shop till we drop, drink till we can’t think, work till we can’t stop. We do most anything to get our minds off the mess we are in only to wake up, sober up or sit up and realize we are still stuck.
So we take pills, take vacations, and take advice from therapists, bartenders and big brothers. We buy a new truck or a new dress. We change our hair color, lovers and the shape of our tummies. But we end up facing the same mess.
We need someone to save us from this meaninglessness and meanness. We are a lost bunch of people and need to be found and taken home.
We need a savior. [Screen 5]
The Christmas promise is this: we have a Savior. His name is Jesus.
His trip to earth was a rescue mission. He came in search of those stuck in places they couldn’t get out of.
He rescued a woman in Samaria. John 4.1-19. She had been dumped by five husbands. The sixth wouldn’t marry her. She was the town tramp. She filled her water bucket in the heat of the day. She ran into Jesus and He gave her the living water that gave her the way out. She became the first evangelist that town had ever had. Jesus helped her out of the place she was stuck in.
He rescued a person with demons in the caves. Mark 5.1-15. Evil spirits had driven the man to mutilate himself with stones. One word from Jesus and the man was freed. The pigs ended up with the demons.
He rescued pint-sized Zacchaeus in Jericho. Luke 19.1-10. Zacchaeus was a tax collector who had swindled enough people to build up his retirement. He was stuck in a terrible place. He wanted his conscience cleared and a friend.
One lunch with Jesus and he got both.
Jesus did this for three years He changed many people. He rescued them from where they were stuck. No one knew how to respond to this carpenter who commanded the dead. His callused hands could heal. His divine voice brought comfort and strength. He tended to doze off on boats and grow hungry on trips. Yet he scared the hell out of demons and gave hope to those stuck in the devils plan.
Just when he seemed poised for a crown…[Screen 6] he died on a cross.
WE don’t know why the cross of Christ is often called a tree. Perhaps the earliest crosses were trees. But whatever the reason the first century writers often called the cross a tree. Peter did when he stated, Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. KJV
The greatest Christmas tree ever was found on Calvary’s knob. [Screen 7]
1 John 4.10, This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus took our sin. He was covered with the sins that kept us from God. He endured what we should have endured. He paid the price to save us, to get us from the place we are stuck in. [Screen 8]
Romans 5.6, You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. [Screen 9]
1 Peter 3.18, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. [Screen 10]
IN THE MANGER GOD LOVES YOU, THROUGH THE CROSS GOD SAVES YOU!
But has he taken you to his home. Not yet. He has work for you to do.
So He prunes you.
He takes his axe to your prejudices and clippers to your self-pity. And when there is a bent that needs to be removed he is liable to pull out his Stihl chain saw to get it out.
John 15.1-2, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. [Screen 11]
Then comes the good part. God himself decorates us. He covers us with the Spirit.
Galatians 5.22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
That what God covers us with. He crowns us. He sends his angels to protect us and his Word as a star to guide us. The Bible is what guides us.
Then God surrounds us with grace. We are to share this grace with everyone we meet. No one is to leave our presence empty handed. Some people find the gift of salvation from us as we witness to Jesus.
For others we give a much simpler gift. A kind word. A good deed. A hug. But all gifts are from God.
Are you a vessel in which God’s mission is performed? I pray you are. God has blessed us in so many ways. Why don’t you tell your friends and family what Jesus has done for you. Give them a kind word or do a good deed for them. They will see Jesus in your action.
Enjoy this season God has given us. Share this wonderful news of salvation with all you meet. Let them see your joy and want some of it. That is how we bring people in. Let them see how good you got it. That can be tough but do your best to be a joyful follower of Christ this season and keep Jesus at the center of all your celebrating. Won’t you come forward today and be baptized? Follow Jesus.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Lucado, Max; Because of Bethlehem, Nashville Tn
