Worship Programs

Theme:

"Kingdom Power"

Third Sunday in Advent -

Sermon Outline

THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON!

John 1:9-14

It has been a century and a half since Charles Dickens wrote The Man Named Scrooge, being a Christmas Carol in Prose.  If a present-day Dickens were to fictionalize old Ebenezer in our time we might expect to hear him say something like "Christmas is for the birds!" rather than "Bah! Humbug!"  There probably are contemporary Scrooges to whom Christmas is just a time to test the strength of their resistance to a silly, sentimental story of a baby who came to save the world.

But most folk allow themselves to be caught up in the spirit of the season.

It's a time when the penny-pincher becomes a philanthropist and the cold shoulder becomes a warm greeting.

It's a time when heartaches and troubles are forgotten for a magic moment as grownups relive the childhood memory of seeing what Santa brought.

Christmas is many things to many people.  Christmas is crimson berries nestled in a prickly holly wreath; spicy, hot plum pudding drenched with vanilla sauce; a blushing kiss under the mistletoe; traveling long distances for a family reunion; a Salvation Army band playing around a red kettle stand. 

Christmas is a fragrant spruce or balsam fir tree with shimmering tinsel and glittering ornaments and children singing, "Silent Night;" a stocking hung from the mantle; the enchantment in a child's eyes as he unwraps Santa's treasures; a rocking horse and a crying doll and chocolate drops and peppermint sticks and popcorn balls and oranges and hard candy and jingle bells and a little boy who muffs his lines in the Christmas pageant.

Christmas is all of this - and more - but if we are merely caught up in the spirit of the season and are not captivated by the Spirit of Christ, then Christmas is a fraud, a hoax of humbug proportion.  Then, truly, Christmas is for the birds!

A psychologist, reading Dickens' Christmas Carol, might suggest that old Scrooge had developed a traumatic neurosis on Christmas Eve and that, in compensating for his guilt feelings, he allowed himself to be caught up in the spirit of the season.

Had Charles Dickens been of the contemporary "true-to-life" school of literature, which is happy with an unhappy ending, he might have added another chapter to his book.  And on the day after Christmas we'd find Bob Cratchit joining the line at the unemployment office!

Scrooge had a change of attitude but not a change of heart.  He had been caught up in the spirit of the season, but he had not received the Spirit of Christ into his life.  Nowhere does Dickens indicate that Scrooge had encountered Christ or surrendered to God or repented of his sins.  Although - to his credit - he gave to the poor and sent a prize turkey to the Crotchet family.

The true meaning of Christmas involves more than a temporary feeling of good will.  If we would possess the Spirit of Christ, we must look not to Dickens but to David who earnestly prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me."

A complete reversal of attitude is called for: whereas I loathed, now I love; whereas I coveted, now I contribute; whereas I blamed, now I bless.

Here is an aspect of character which cannot be prompted or promoted by man's efforts; here is a quality of personality which cannot be dreamed-up or drummed-up.

1.  RECOGNIZE CHRIST

If we would possess the Spirit of Christ and thereby experience the true meaning of Christmas, there first must be a recognition of Christ.

Do you recognize Christ as the Son of God?  Do you recognize Christ as your personal Savior?  It is not enough to pay annual homage to the Babe of Bethlehem.  Our recognition of Christ must embrace the full scope and purpose of His life.

When our children are born we send out clever little announcements with all of the vital statistics.  When Christ was born, no measurements were given, but a mission was announced:  "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).  "...You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

We cannot disassociate Christmas from Calvary.  One is meaningless without the other.  Even as the Christ-child lay cooing in His cradle, somewhere there was growing a tree, which later would be fashioned into a cross.

He came not just to gladden the hearts of Joseph and Mary, the shepherds and wise men.  He came to seek and to save!

He was a carpenter, teacher, leader of men, but He was, and is, the Savior of mankind.  We need to recognize Him as such.

The shepherds who followed the star to Bethlehem first experienced the true meaning of Christmas.  And there, in a hay-strewn stable, they recognized the Baby Jesus as the Savior of mankind.

2.  RECEIVE CHRIST

Then, if we would possess the Spirit of Christ, we must receive Him.

Perhaps the saddest, most poignant words in holy writ are these: "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him" (John 1:11).  They had their reasons, and many folk today have theirs.

But beyond the reasons and excuses is the basic sin of unbelief.  This is the reason for indifference and neglect.  Yet even to these is given the promise:  "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12).

What a tremendous experience it must have been for the shepherds out on the plains of Bethlehem on that first Christmas Eve.  All was quiet, and then, suddenly, the heavens crackled with blinding brilliance!  The atmosphere was filled with music never before heard by mortal ear.

Talk about opening night at the Met or a Hollywood premier!  Such couldn't hold a candle to that spectacular moment when the angels announced the birth of Christ.

But the gospel narrative tells us "The angels went away."  The seraphic strains faded from the skies; the heavens were hushed; night on the plains of Bethlehem was calm once more.  "The angels went away."

All too soon the symbols of Christmas will have been displaced by the demands of the new year.  Loved ones brought together for holiday festivities will be separated again.  The feasting and merry-making will be over.  The carol books and jingle bells will be packed off to storage.  The tree will be abandoned at the curbside, stripped of its tinsel and lights.  The picked-clean turkey bones will be properly dispatched.  The toys will be broken and the neckties exchanged.

What will remain other than a few pine-scented memories and a stack of bills awaiting payment?

Those who observe Christmas in a superficial manner soon find that the music is hushed and the glow is gone.  When it's all over, they have received no spiritual uplift.  The angels go away, and there is nothing left to take their place.

But those who seek and find the deeper meaning of Christmas and fellowship with Christ Jesus enjoy a rich and abiding spiritual experience.

When the shepherds had seen the Christ-child, their hearts were filled with the message and music of Christmas.  They responded to that message, believed it and acted upon it.  When they had seen for themselves what the angels had announced, they told others of the wonder of God's revelation.  Even so, to each person who receives the Savior is given a commission to reveal Him to others.

3. REVEAL CHRIST

Recognize Christ, receive Christ, and then, reveal Him to others.

The angels proclaimed His birth, but to us is given the privilege of spreading the good news of His saving power.  We cannot keep Christmas unless we share it with others.

We give our children lavish presents; we give them Christmas.  But do we give them Christ?  At home, at the office, the factory - is Christ revealed in our lives?

It is not enough to recognize Christ, nor is it enough just to receive Christ.  His power and presence ought to be revealed in our lives.

The Lord doesn’t save us just to sit back and be blessed.  He saves us to help build the kingdom. no problems, only plans.

“O come, let us adore Him.”  Let us recognize Him.  Let us receive Him.  Let us reveal Him.