Response Goal: Individuals prompted by the Holy Spirit will join me in starting each day by saying, “Behold, the servant of the Lord. Be it unto me according to your word. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. More than anything else, I want Jesus to show up in my life. I’m available to you.”
REPENTANCE POINT {paradigm shifts or changes in our thinking}: The essence of Christianity is this remarkable truth: Christ came from heaven and died for us on the cross and rose again so that, in the person of the Holy Spirit, he might dwell in our lives.
PATTERN: INDUCTIVE -- PASTORAL CARE INTERVENTION
Visual/Sensory Illustration(s)
Video clip from Muppet Christmas Carol -- Spirit of Christmas Present song
Song – “Something about Christmas Time”
Salvation Army flag with motto
THIS IS OUR PROBLEM:
I’ve been thinking about the thing that we call “the Christmas spirit.” Have you ever noticed? Once a year from Thanksgiving through New Years Day, something happens. People’s attitudes go through a transformation. We start hearing songs about peace and goodwill. We go out of our ways to give and forgive. Families get together. We call this different atmosphere “the Christmas spirit.”
Everyone enjoys the Christmas spirit but we loose it shortly after December 25th. The sad thing about the departure of the Christmas spirit is that the kindness, the generosity, the peace and goodwill, and the warm feelings are something we long for and look for deep down in our hearts. I imagine that the short-lived experience of these enjoyable things only adds to our disappointment.
[Video clip from Muppet’s Christmas Carol]
Key Question:
Could something that feels as powerful and wonderful as the Christmas spirit last all yearlong? Or, is that just a midwinter’s night dream?
SYMPTOMS OF OUR PROBLEM:
I found an almost unbelievable demonstration of how the Christmas spirit comes and goes in a story told to Pastor Stuart Briscoe years ago by an old German man.
He fought with the German forces in the First World War. In those days, battles were not high tech but hand-to-hand trench warfare. Soldiers lived, fought, and died in trenches full of mud and blood and pests. In the trenches dug in the fields of France, enemies could actually hear each other talking. They didn’t need satellites to locate the enemy. The enemy was just a few yards away.
This old soldier told about how on one cold, moonlit Christmas Eve, he huddled in the bottom of the trench. Because of the annual Christmas truce, the fighting had stopped. Suddenly, from the British trenches, a loud, sweet tenor voice began to sing “The Lord Is My Shepherd,” and the sound floated up into the clear, moonlit air.
Then he said something surprising from the German trenches, a rich baritone voice tuned in, singing the same song in his native language. For a few moments, everybody in both trenches concentrated on the sound of these two invisible singers and the beautiful music and the harmony. The British soldier and the German soldier sang praise to the Lord who was their shepherd. The singing stopped, and the sound slowly died away.
“We huddled in the bottom of our trenches and tried to keep warm until Christmas Day dawned,” he said. “Early on Christmas morning, some of the British soldiers climbed out of their trenches into the no man’s land, carrying a soccer ball.” These English soldiers started kicking around a football, in a pickup game in no man’s land, between the trenches.
Then the old man said, “Some of the German soldiers climbed out, and England played Germany at football in no man’s land on Christmas Day in the middle of the battlefield in France in the First World War.” (England won.)
Then he said, “The next morning, the carnage began again, with machine guns and bayonet fighting. Everything was back to normal.”
Citation: Stuart Briscoe, “Christmas 365 Days a Year,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 135.
Why didn’t something that seems as powerful and wonderful as the Christmas spirit does last longer than 24 hours? Why didn’t the German and English soldiers get up and play soccer again on December 26th?
Our inadequate ideas about the spirit of Christmas are part of the problem.
1. We often condense the spirit of Christmas into warm fuzzy feelings. Listen to these words from “Christmas Time” (Written by Bryan Adams & Jim Vallance).
We waited all through the year
for the day to appear
when we could be together in harmony
You know the time will come
peace on earth for everyone
and we can live forever in a world where we are free
let it shine for you and me
There’s something about Christmas time
something about Christmas time
that makes you wish it was Christmas everyday
To see the joy in the children’s eyes
the way that the old folks smile
says that Christmas will never go away
We’re all as one tonight
makes no difference if you’re black or white
’cause we can sing together in harmony
I know it’s not too late
the world would be a better place
if we can keep the spirit more than one day in the year
send a message loud and clear
Chorus:
It’s the time of year when everyone’s together
we’ll celebrate here on Christmas day
when the ones you love are there
you can feel the magic in the air - you know it’s everywhere
There’s something about Christmas time
something about Christmas time
that makes you wish it was Christmas every day
To see the joy in the children’s eyes
the way that the old folks smile
says that Christmas will never go away
[Repeat chorus]
Please tell me Christmas will never go away
It’s seems magical but the warm fuzzy feelings generated by the music of Christmas turn out to be an illusion by mid January. The wonderful emotions of the holidays can only last until another cold wind blows – and all the wishes in the world won’t change that.
2. We tend to think we can solve the world’s problems without God’s help. If we conduct enough polls, do enough research, and throw enough money at our problems, then we can solve them all. Sadly, we don’t even see a fraction of the problems that exist now – let alone the ones that we might create. No wonder we’re constantly caught off guard when our best answers only make more problems.
Why so we settle for something as temporary as the Christmas spirit? Why do we sing and dream about it lasting longer?
There’s a wide range of reasons we dream about the Christmas spirit lasting longer.
1. We hate to admit that we have any problems. We long to control or at least to keep up the appearance of being in control. That’s why the first step in recovery programs is to admit we are powerless and that our lives are unmanageable.
2. We fight to keep from appearing weak. We despise asking anyone for help. That’s why recovery programs call us to believe that God can restore us as well as to turn our wills and lives over to His care.
3. We enjoy the approval of others so we do what looks good as long as we can. Then we quietly slip away hoping no one will miss us.
Could something that feels as powerful and wonderful as the Christmas spirit last all yearlong?
Because of our inadequate ideas and reasons for just dreaming and singing about the Christmas spirit, nothing really changes year after year.
The Christmas spirit can produce a truce but not peace. The Christmas spirit makes people think of peace and good will for a little while. The Christmas spirit thinks in terms of giving and forgiving primarily in the holiday season. The Christmas spirit actually has celebrities going to the homeless and feeding them a meal. Although the strain of keeping it up is too much, the Christmas spirit says something about the deepest longings of the human heart. We are wired for generosity and loving care. God’s love and generosity are stamped deep inside our spirits.
The Christmas spirit also says something about the incapacities of the human heart. We need something more than the Christmas spirit. Left to our own devices, we cannot carry the generosity and loving care of the holiday season on for very long.
BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THERE ARE RESOURCES TO DEAL WITH THIS PROBLEM:
Thesis:
We can exchange the Christmas spirit for the Spirit of Christmas. We can turn in our weak generosity and care for the powerful love of God. We can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit living in and through us every day all year long. Listen to this story about the Spirit of Christmas from Luke 1:26-38 (p. ___________).
Text:
“In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’
“Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’
“‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’
“The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.’ “
“‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said.’ Then the angel left her.”
Thesis:
The angel told Mary she was actually going to experience the birth of Christ through the Holy Spirit in her life. The angel said that the power of the Almighty through the Holy Spirit was going to rest upon her. The angel spoke to her and said that the one who would be born in her and of her would be the one whose kingdom would never end.
The angel’s statements should resonate with you. The Bible teaches us that, in a way similar to what happened to Mary, it is possible for Christ to be born in people’s lives by the Holy Spirit. Paul puts it this way: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you” (Romans 8:11).
REPENTANCE POINT: How should we change?
Think about that for a minute: Is it possible that the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead can actually come into people’s lives? If it is true, then the Spirit of Christmas comes into our lives to make Christ to be born within us.
The essence of Christianity is this remarkable truth: Christ came from heaven and died for us on the cross and rose again so that, in the person of the Holy Spirit, he might dwell in our lives.
The possibilities are boundless. We’re not talking about an annual event. We’re talking about a perpetual residence. We’re not talking about something that is basically sentimental. What we’re talking about now is something utterly supernatural: God in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, born in your life – and yours – and yours – and mine.
The difference ought to be obvious. We’re not thinking about good and generous and trying hard only to give up eventually. Now we’re talking about Jesus, God’s Son, empowering us to be what we’re not and to do what we can’t. That which is born of you is born of the Holy Spirit: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.”
I’m convinced that none of us has started to grasp what it means for an ordinary human being to have the Holy Spirit dwell in him or her. The possibilities are mind-boggling.
Jesus was that kind of person and he said, “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name…. I will ask the Father, and he will give you … the Spirit of truth. If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:12-23).
NEXT STEPS: What are the first steps in this REPENTANCE POINT {paradigm shift or change in our thinking}?
The angel told Mary that her child would establish an eternal kingdom. He was talking about the kingdom of God being established in this world – not just in heaven some day. We need to grasp this. If we want to take the Christmas spirit, put it on a shelf, and experience the Spirit of Christmas all through the rest of our lives, we need to realize that the rule of God invaded this world in Jesus. It’s been growing ever since.
There was an illiterate man who became a follower of Jesus through the work of the Salvation Army. He consistently went to the Salvation Army worship services. Then one day he came home dejected.
His wife said, “What’s the matter?”
He said, “I just noticed that all the people in the Salvation Army wear red sweaters, and I don’t have a red sweater.”
She said, “I’ll knit one.” So, she knitted him a red sweater.
The next Sunday after he went to the service, he still wasn’t happy. His wife said, “What’s wrong this time?”
He said, “I just noticed all their red sweaters have yellow writing.”
Neither one of them could read, but she said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll embroider some writing on the sweater for you.”
She had no idea what the yellow writing on the red sweater of a Salvation Army man said. Do you know what it is? They have a yellow circle, and in it, the words blood and fire. That’s their motto.
Salvation Army flag with motto
The man’s wife had no idea what the letters said, and she couldn’t read anyway. So copying a sign from a store window opposite their home, she embroidered the words of that store sign onto his red sweater.
When he came back the next Sunday, she said, “Did they like your sweater?”
“They loved my sweater. Some of them said they liked my sweater better than their sweaters.”
What neither of them knew was that the sign on the store window she had copied read, This Business Under New Management.
Citation: Stuart Briscoe, “Christmas 365 Days a Year,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 135.
That’s what it means to be in God’s kingdom. That’s what it means for the Holy Spirit to live in you: this business under new management.
RESPONDING TO GOD: What can we do right now?
Notice what Mary said after she had asked her questions and the angel had said that nothing is impossible with God.
Mary simply said, “Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord.” The word handmaiden is the word for a female servant or slave. Mary said, “I’ll gladly come under the authority of God’s kingdom. I will gladly make myself available. I will gladly take advantage of all that you’re doing. I will be what you want me to be.”
Will you join me in starting each day by saying, “Behold, the servant of the Lord. Be it unto me according to your word. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. More than anything else, I want Jesus to show up in my life. I’m available to you”?
Do you know what will start to happen? You begin to see something like the Christmas spirit on a regular basis. Only it isn’t the Christmas spirit. It’s the Spirit of Christmas living in and working through you.
