"What Does Christmas Say About You?"
John 1:19-34
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
Rev. Lou Nyiri
November 30, 2008
Life is all about perspective.
How you look at life makes all the difference in the world.
What one focuses on determines much of what one sees.
Christmas is all about perspective too.
How one looks at Christmas makes all the difference in the world.
What one focuses on determines much of what one sees.
A child removes the pieces from the box in which are stored the
figurines which when set up together portray the nativity scene. As
he goes through them he remarks: here is the shepherd. Here’s
Joseph. Here’s a sheep. Here’s Mary. Here’s
Jesus in his car seat.
– Christmas is all about perspective.
What one focuses on determines much of what one sees.
Another child frantically writes her Christmas list for Santa. The
family will soon be leaving for the mall and she can feel the panic
in her stomach as siblings and parents put on coats and boots and
head out to the family car. Frustrated and frenzied she scrawls
out, “…and I’ll have one of everything on pages
14-28 of the JC Penney Christmas Catalogue.”
– Christmas is all about perspective.
What one focuses on determines much of what one sees.
A family sits around their dining room table after dinner and
talks about Christmases past when more of the family used to be
home for the holidays. But now with gas prices and downsizing;
deployments and deaths the family gathering will not be as large
as it once was. And the pain of Christmas that once was reserved
for other family’s stories has now become part of their story. And
they are sad.
– Christmas is all about perspective.
What one focuses on determines much of what one sees.
What does Christmas say about you and me? Well it all depends on our perspective, doesn’t it?
This Christmas I want us as individuals, as families and as a
church family to very seriously and intentionally look at our Christmas
perspective.
To ask the tough question, why do we do we celebrate Christmas?
There is no bigger question we can ask ourselves BEFORE December
24th then this simple question, why do we celebrate Christmas?
The answer will help us find our reason and our perspective.
And if we don’t ask it soon enough, we run the real chance
of waking up December 26th wondering where we lost control.
Why do we celebrate Christmas?
What does Christmas say about us?
Let me try to answer these questions with a story:
In 1994, two Americans were invited by the Russian Department of
Education to teach morals and ethics in their prisons, their
businesses, their fire & police departments and even a large
orphanage.
They were even given the freedom to teach from their own faith
perspectives.
They were in an orphanage where about 100 boys and girls resided.
These children were abandoned, abused and left in the care of a
government run program.
It was around Christmas time so the two Americans decided to tell
these children the traditional Christmas story. For many
of the children this was the first time they had ever heard Jesus’ birth
narrative.
They told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. They
told them how there was no room for them in the inn. They
told them how the Christ child was born in a stable and how he
was placed in a manger – an animal’s feed trough.
As they told the story, these two Americans were amazed at how
the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened
to the story.
Some even sat on the edge of their seats, eager to grasp every
word being spoken.
Afterwards they gave the children three small pieces of cardboard
to make a crude manger as a way of reinforcing the story.
Each child was given a small paper square cut from yellow napkins. The
children were instructed to tear the paper carefully and lay the
strips in the manger for straw.
Small squares of flannel, cut from the worn-out nightgown were
used for the baby’s blanket.
A doll like baby was cut from tan felt they had brought with them
from the United States.
The orphans were busy assembling their mangers as one of the two Americans walked among them helping any as they had need. Misha – who looked about six years old – had finished his project and motioned one of them to come see his nativity scene.
The scene looked very nice. All except for the fact there was not one but two babies in the manger. Quickly the teacher asked for a translator to ask little Misha why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at his completed manger scene, little Misha began to tell the story. He was very serious and very good. In fact for such a young boy, who had heard the Christmas story only once, he related the happenings quite accurately. Until he got to the part where Mary put baby Jesus in the manger.
It was at this point that Misha began to ad lib.
He made up his own alternate ending to the story as he said,
And Mary laid the baby in the manger; Jesus looked at me and asked
me if I had a place to stay.
I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don’t
have any place to stay.
Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him
I could not because I have no gift to give him like everybody else.
But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what
I had that I might be able to use as a gift. I thought maybe
if I kept him warm that would be a good gift.
So I asked Jesus, “If I keep you warm, will that be a good
enough gift?”
And Jesus told me, “if you keep me warm, that will be the
best gift anybody every game me.”
So I got into the manger and then Jesus looked at me and he told
me I could stay with him – for always.
As the American wiped tears away from his eyes, he realized that in Jesus the Christ, this little orphan had found someone who will never abandon nor abuse him, he found someone who would stay with him – for always.
Christmas is all about perspective.
We call this season Advent.
It’s a time of preparation.
It’s a time to get ready to meet face-to-face God’s
gift to the world.
It’s a time to listen to the voice crying out in the wilderness
prepare the way of the Lord.
It’s a time to learn the meaning behind the name Immanuel – God
with us.
There is a voice crying out in the wilderness saying, “make
straight the way of the Lord.”
There is a voice crying out in the wilderness saying about Jesus
the Christ, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away [and
who thereby can redeem] the sin [the pain and the brokenness] of
the world.”
Do we hear that voice?...OR…Do we just hear the sound of holiday fatigue coming as we seek the perfect gift, plan the ideal party or prepare the family home for perfection?
Why do we celebrate Christmas?
I hope, for our sakes, Christmas is about more than presents & parties;
ribbons & Rockwell family portraits.
Because if it’s not, then we’re going to wake up December
26th wondering what happened and how did we miss it?
Christmas is about preparing for the One who makes all the difference
in life.
Christmas is about meeting face to face the One who can bring lasting
change into all corners of this world – even into the darkest
corners of our own lives:
When these are the realities of life this season then our perspective had better be right on OR we have little to hold on to…
What does Christmas say about us? – It says, now is a good time to remember that the God who came infinitely close to us in Jesus the Christ will never abandon us; God will never abuse us; God will never forsake or forget us; God will always stay with us, guiding & transforming us with the light of His love.
Christmas is about remembering, there’s room for one more in the manger. Amen.
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