MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(Revised: 2013)
(PowerPoints used with this message are available for free. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request #196.)
Let me begin this message by reading aloud what should be a very familiar passage of scripture. It is Luke 2:1-7.
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
“And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.
“He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.
“She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
It is that time of the year again, & soon all around us will be the sights & sounds of Christmas. The decorations, the crowded stores & shopping centers, & even the traffic congestion, proclaim that Christmas is coming.
Bells will soon be ringing, choirs singing, & Christmas music filling the air. In fact, if you listen carefully, you might even hear some Christmas classics like "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," & "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth." Those were the great Christmas songs, weren't they?
Of course, it's not just music that we hear. Our airwaves are filled with the clamor of commercials for products we simply must buy for Christmas. In fact, we hear so many of these sounds that often they just become noise to us.
SUM. That is my concern this morning, that we may become so overwhelmed by the noises of Christmas, that we'll never hear the sounds of that first Christmas night we really ought to hear the sounds of a noisy inn, & of a mother's lullaby.
PROP. I would like you to think about these two sounds this morning, & of what they remind us.
I. WE ARE REMINDED THAT GOD DOES LOVE US
First of all, these two sounds remind us that God does love us, even though many people have turned their backs upon Him.
A. There wasn't much love, I suppose, in the inn. It was full of people who had traveled long distances to get there because Rome had decreed that all the people in the empire were to be taxed.
And to make sure that no one was missed, the head of every family had to go back to his ancestral hometown to be enrolled in a census, & then to pay the taxes levied against him.
You can hear their hostility. There is drinking & loud talk, sometimes angry & bitter. The very fact that they were there in Bethlehem emphasized that they were a conquered people, not free to go where they wanted to go, or do what they wanted to do. So their anger is a part of the noise of the inn.
In the midst of all this the door opens. And just for a moment all the noise stops as the people turn to look. There in the doorway stands a man & a woman. They obviously have traveled a long ways, & the woman is great with child. But there is no room for them there, no room in the inn.
APPL. I wonder what the people thought? I wonder how many of them had ever found themselves in difficulty, needing help, but with no place to go?
Yet nobody there that night was sensitive enough or caring enough to step forward & say, "Well, I have a room, but you obviously need it more than I do. Take my room. Make yourself comfortable, & may God bless you."
No, nobody stepped forward to do that. For a moment, they had stopped & looked & maybe even thought about it, but then they returned to what they were doing, & the noise level rose once again.
B. You know the rest of the story. Sometime later that night, over the noise of the inn, there is the sound of a lullaby as Mary sang to her new born son.
Now, I must admit that the Bible doesn't say anything about Mary singing to Jesus, but I'm sure she did. As a mother looks at her child nestled safe in her arms, there just has to be some way to express her love.
So I'm sure that Mary sang to Jesus. Over the hills of Bethlehem went the song of love, a song that tells us, "God still cares. God hasn't forgotten, & God has finally sent His Messiah into the world."
C. When we look at the inn & hear its noise, we see what is wrong with the world. We see anger, rebellion, indifference, & poverty.
But when we hear the lullaby we hear a message of love. There are people who are concerned about others.
There are marriages that survive 10, 20, 50 years. There are young people who have high ideals & high goals, & who want to make something of their lives. There are happy homes, & people who love & are concerned about each other.
Every year Christmas comes to drown out the noise of the inn & to remind us of God's love. That is worth hearing, & that is what God wants us to hear, the sound of His love all over again.
ILL. A little boy went with his mother into a crowded department store where people were elbowing each other, & weary clerks were ringing up their sales. It was a scene of noise & frustration.
In the midst of it all stood the little boy holding on to a balloon filled with helium. But in the press of the crowd the boy was bumped & he lost his hold on the string. His balloon floated away to the ceiling.
One of the clerks saw it happen. So she called up the janitor & asked, "Would you please bring a ladder up here to retrieve a balloon?" The janitor said, "What?" She said, "I want you to rescue a balloon."
He protested, but then gave in. Soon here he came, bringing a stepladder out into the middle of the crowded floor. For a moment everything seemed to stop.
Cash registers stopped ringing. People stopped elbowing each other, & everybody watched as the janitor climbed up the stepladder, grabbed the string of the balloon, brought it down & handed it to the little boy. And everybody applauded.
Then they started elbowing each other again. Cash registers started ringing again, & everything went back to the way it was before. But for a brief moment there was once again evidence of love & care & concern in our world.
SUM. Christmas comes every year to remind us of God's love, & how desperately we need to be reminded.
II. WE ARE REMINDED THAT JOY IS AVAILABLE TO US
The sounds of Christmas also remind us that joy can be ours through knowing Jesus Christ, the Lord.
A. Those people in that noisy inn were trying in a superficial way to bring some joy into their lives. They didn't have much reason to be joyful. They were a conquered people, oppressed & probably poor. They had many reasons to be unhappy.
And undoubtedly during that night some of them were trying to dull their senses with alcohol, seeking to forget their troubles for a while, at least.
APPL. That kind of thing still happens today. In this season of joy, more people will be depressed than at any other time of the year. More alcohol will be consumed during December than during any other month of the year.
And yes, more people will attempt to take their own lives during this season than at any other time of the year.
B. Why? Because they are searching for joy in the wrong places.
ILL. Consider the children's story by Dr. Seuss of "The Grinch That Stole Christmas." It's about an evil Grinch who goes to Whoville to steal all the trappings of Christmas because he doesn't want people to have a happy Christmas.
So on Christmas eve, while everyone is asleep, he goes & steals all their presents. He steals all their Christmas trees & all their tinsel & lights & turkey dinners. He takes everything about Christmas from their homes & hides them in a cave high on the hill.
But to his amazement & frustration, on Christmas morning the people of Whoville, young & old alike, come out of their houses, join hands & begin to sing & rejoice in celebration of Christmas.
The message of the story is that their joy at Christmastime doesn't depend upon presents or trees or tinsel or lights.
SUM. Now, Dr. Seuss doesn't tell you where Christmas joy comes from, but I will. It comes from a God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to come & live among us, & die for us.
III. WE ARE REMINDED THAT REAL PEACE COMES THROUGH THE PRINCE OF PEACE
The last thing that the sounds of Christmas tell us is that the opportunity for real peace in our lives comes through Jesus, the "Prince of Peace."
A. There wasn’t much peace in the hearts of the people in the inn. They were serving the hated Romans, & there was nothing that they could do about it.
So that night they were drinking & arguing, filled with despair & selfishness & indifference, very much like people in our world today.
B. Now how about us? What is happening in our lives? How are we reacting to a world that seems to be so hard, so cold, & so indifferent? Is it with anger, or fear, or helplessness?
Or is it with "a peace that passes understanding?" The kind of peace that the world can't give. A peace that calms our nerves. A peace that gives us confidence in the midst of adversity. A peace that tells us that God is still on His throne & in control of our world.
ILL. There is a story about a man who lost his wife, leaving him to be both mother & father to a six year old son. After her funeral father & son came home, both feeling so alone & grieving their loss.
That night as they prepared for bed, the boy asked, "Daddy, may I sleep in your room tonight?" But neither one could seem to go to sleep. They both tossed & turned until late in the night.
Finally, the little boy asked, "Daddy, are you looking at me? Because if you are, I think I can go to sleep." And the father answered, "Yes son, I'm looking at you."
The little boy started at last to rest & finally fell asleep. After he was asleep the father got out of bed, walked over to the window & pulled back the curtain.
He looked up into the starry sky & said, "Father, are you looking at me? Because if you are, I think I can rest & be at peace."
CONCL. Oh, friends, Christmas comes to remind us that God loves us, & that joy & the "peace that passes all understanding" can be ours.
If you have a decision to make for Jesus we pray that you will make it. If you have never experienced His love or His joy or His peace we pray that today might be that day for you.
If you have a decision on your heart that needs to be made publicly, will you make it now as we stand & sing this hymn of invitation?
