Six Lessons of Christmas Luke 2:4-14
Christmas is just around the corner. So let’s ask ourselves what is Christmas? It’s a yearly celebration of the birth of a baby. But for millions of people across the world Christmas is so much more. Isaiah 9:6, “For us a child is born, to us a son is given.” Micah 5:2, “But you Bethlehem, being least among thousands of Judah, out of you he shall come forth…” Luke 1:31-32, “You will conceive and give birth to a son…He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.”
For us and millions of others Christmas is the birth of the Son of Almighty God, given to mankind that through his suffering we may be redeemed. Christmas is the beginning of the final plan of God to deal with mankind’s sin, the beginning of God’s plan that ends with Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.
Christmas is the birth of our savior and as we’ve seen the past few weeks, with his birth hope, peace and joy were born into the world. Today we see God’s love is also born into the world with Jesus. Now that is not to say that God withheld his love before the birth of his son; he did not but before Jesus God’s love was directed to the nation, to people as a group. Now you can go through the Old Testament and find accounts that seem to contradict this, accounts such as Joseph. God raised Joseph from slave to leader but through this the nation was saved from famine. With Jesus birth the demonstration of God’s love shifted from the entire nation to individuals. Through Jesus God interacts with each of us on an individual bases.
I said last week that “A Christmas Carol” is my favorite Christmas story. I’ve read the book many times and have seen the movies over one hundred times. Each year I look forward to seeing them with anticipation and happiness. I’ve found that over time, as much as I enjoy them, I find myself not glued to the movie but watching it almost as if it is in the background while I’m occupied with other things.
Many people can look at Christmas this same way. Christmas is God being born into his creation as one of his creation to be our savior. This is a wonderful and glorious event but I’ve observed it for over half a century now and I admit the wonder of Christmas can be diminished by all the other things vying for attention at this time of year. I want us to try and recapture the wonder of Christmas by looking at six lessons from the Christmas story.
One, God offers forgiveness to all.
Matthew 26:28 “This is my blood which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Acts 10:43, “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” So how does this story of a birth show us this?
We each come from a family and rich or poor they are our family and we didn’t get a choice in the matter. But Jesus, his ancestry was chosen for him; God chose David’s line. David, a man after God’s heart; David, a man who committed adultery with Bathsheba and then has her husband Uriah killed. Jesus came from a royal human bloodline, one that is also filled with human frailty. And at the same time Jesus heavenly ancestry is pure, perfect and holy. Here we can see the ministry of reconciliation. God sent Jesus to save us from our sins no matter who we are or what we’ve done. To those who are after God’s heart Jesus perfection is bestowed on us in our imperfection.
Two, Christ will be our shepherd.
Micah 5:4, “And he will arise and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord…he will be great to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 40:11, “Like a shepherd he will tend his flock…” Hebrews 13:20, “Now the God of peace who brought up from the dead the great shepherd…” Jesus came to bring peace between us and God but he also came to lead us; to lead us into a life of glory in the Father.
The other thing regarding the shepherds, in Jesus day they were looked down on in Israel’s society. By announcing Christ’s birth to the shepherds first God cements his message that Jesus was born for all people, including those on the bottom rung of society.
Three, God can perform the impossible.
Luke 1:34-35, “How will this be…since I am a virgin...The Holy Spirit will come on you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Mary and her cousin Elizabeth both had miraculous reasons to rejoice; God had honored and blessed them. Mary a virgin and Elizabeth a woman eighty years old both became pregnant. What was impossible by earthly standards was possible with God.
Jeremiah 32:17, “Lord God, it is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power…nothing is too hard for you.” Our trust in God is well placed, nothing is impossible for him. I know it can be difficult to really grasp this when things don’t seem to work out despite our prayers but hopefully the next lessons from the Christmas story can help us with this.
Four, God provides in his way.
Think of Mary. She was pregnant, almost time for her to deliver. She was in her own home, surrounded by her family. She probably felt some apprehension in becoming a new mother but she had her support group around her to help with the birth and a new baby.
Remember Micah, the Messiah will come from Bethlehem. Mary’s not in Bethlehem. So God sets in motion the events that will bring the prophecy to fruition. Luke 2:1, “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken…” This brings Mary to Bethlehem.
I imagine her labor starts and they soon realize there are no rooms available. Imagine what’s going through Mary’s head, I’m sure by now fear is setting in. All they could find is a barn, a manger. She gave birth in the hay and the only place to lay the baby down is in the trough where the animals fed. Here is God’s son born on earth, in the hay in a manger, why here?
What we see in Jesus being born in a manger is that he is born in meekness. It reveals how accessible and approachable Jesus is. It shows all mankind that there is nothing to prevent us from walking right up to Christ our Lord, that when we decide to accept Jesus as savior nothing about him keeps us at bay.
Five, God grants us peace when we trust in him.
Mary just gave birth in a manger with the animals standing around her and then strangers, the shepherds start filing in. Luke 2:16, “So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby…” Here’s a woman who just gave birth and all these people come piling in. And then in Luke 2:17, “…they spread the word…” More people coming to see. A flurry of activity, but in Luke 2:19, “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Things may seem like they’re getting out of hand, spiraling out of control but God is not absent.
We can all get exhausted fighting against the current. The Christmas story shows that all the chaos will pass and God is left standing in our lives and like Mary, we should ponder and focus on the miracle of God.
And six, God is in control.
In Matthews account we have the Magi from the east coming to honor the new king of God. When King Herod heard of it he became disturbed and started to plot to kill the child. Matthew 2:12, “And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”
In every aspect, at every turn in the story of Jesus birth we can see God’s hand. As events unfold in our lives that are perplexing or seen to be working against us it can be hard for us to trust God. The Christmas story shows us that the events of the world, the actions of others, even the work of the deceiver cannot stop God’s plan in our lives.
We’ve all heard the story of Jesus birth multiple times and often we can see it as an event, a moment in time from long ago. It is this, an actual event that happened. But the spirit that surrounds it shows us so much about God.
God loves each of us as an individual and salvation is yours despite what others may think or do. Jesus is our shepherd. We can trust his wisdom and his caring in our lives. Our Lord is assessable and available. We may be limited by the physical laws of nature but God is not. God can do the impossible for us. God has a plan. Things may not look like it’s working out but trust that God is moving the pieces into place to achieve what he has destined for you. Chaos will happen, don’t exhaust yourself fighting upstream. Focus on God and see him amidst the tribulation. No matter what happens around us God is there and working his plan for our betterment.
May you all have a happy and blessed Christmas,
Amen.