Merry Christmas

[George]

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and
they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they
offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned
in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country
by another way. Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the
Lord to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his
mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for
Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." And he rose
and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and
remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the
Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son." Then
Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became
furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and
in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the
time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” - Matthew 2:10-16

Church was such a blessing today, Pastor Sipes delivered a wonderful
sermon about Christmas, however focusing on a slightly different
aspect of the Christmas story. Christmas is a wonderful celebration
for all sorts of people all over the world. I find it interesting that
even in our culture, people who are not necessarily believer in our
Lord will celebrate Christmas for various reasons. All who celebrate
will be a little nicer to others, people with talk about joy and peace
in this world, even if they don’t believe Jesus is the Son of God.
They will sing songs, exchange gifts and smile more towards total
strangers. They will go crazy decorating their home, and drive through
neighborhood looking at other people’s decorations. All of this while
at the same time ignoring the prince of peace himself, our Lord Jesus.

Why did Jesus come? Was He actually born on Christmas day? What was it
like for Joseph and Mary knowing the incredible blessing and also the
responsibility of raising the Son of God?

We see from the passage above that the Christmas story is a way of
pain, suffering and even murder. Herod ordered the killing of every
male child under two years of age. Joseph was warned by the angel to
take Mary and Jesus and escape to Egypt and live there until Herod
died. Imagine what that must have been like, fleeing to a strange land
in order to save the life of a child. I wonder if at some point Joseph
and Mary thought to themselves, if this is the Son of God, why is it
so hard for us to try to keep him alive, and why do we have to go
through so much. Sometime following God’s will could expose us to
severe hardships that we would not go through were we to remain
worldly. Actually in most cases the righteous life if much more
difficult than a worldly life.

Although most of us have wonderful memories of Christmas, we must
remember that Jesus did not come into this world to have this
wonderful life we think about during Christmas, with the shepherds and
the wise men adoring, and the angels singing. There was much
uncertainty, fear and hardship those entrusted with God incarnate had
to endure, while all along God’s divine providence was working in all
circumstances.

We have to remember that the Christmas story is really the beginning
of a journey, a journey to the cross. Jesus came into this world,
actually God the Son took on human flesh ultimately to suffer and die
for our sin. The Christmas story is the fulfillment of God’s promises
made all over the old testament that a redeemer will be provided who
will save God’s people from the sin, and by doing so will bring peace
and reconciliation between humans and God.

In the midst of the celebrations, the gift giving, the shopping, the
decorations, and the wonderful times we enjoy with loved ones, please
don’t forget that there is a lot more to the story. Even while Jesus
was still a child (under two years of age), there was much death and
destruction, there was escape to a strange land, and ultimately there
was a cross and a perfect sacrifice offered as a propitiation for our
sin. But why was this done? The simple answer is in the Gospel
according to John. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal
life.” John 3:16

Merry Christmas. May God bless you all.