“The Purpose” (Christmas Eve)

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

We have just come through a season that we know as Advent. This is a time when we celebrate the waiting that must be endured before the Day of Christ comes again. Waiting isn’t easy in and of itself, and the most difficult part is what we are to be doing in our waiting.

Fleming Rutledge, preacher, teacher and author, wrote:
“Advent is only secondarily about the baby Jesus. It is primarily about the rending of the heavens … and the coming of the Lord in power and glory to take the creation back for himself. Until he comes, then, we are the people who put on the armor of light “now in this present time” and by our works point to the One who is to come.”

She is telling us that we need to be focused on the tasks before us today, and not to become all consumed over what the earth’s tomorrows may bring. We’ve been waiting for 2,000 years for Christ’s return, and Israel has been waiting for many more thousands of years for Messiah (they missed him the first time!). In the meantime, a few of these“waiting days” have been good, but many more haven’t been good at all. Most of the folks living in Jesus’ first days completely missed the opportunity to know the goodness that he brought, and many since then have continued the tradition of denying the Lord’s call on their lives.

During this Advent 2016, we have been considering some of the reasons behind Christ’s first coming. We considered the divisiveness that occurred between Isaac and his half-brother Ishmael, and the problems that it created, even to today. (Nov. 27th ) We considered the sinfulness that occurred between Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar, and while the Lord detested the breakdown in their moral standards, he still allowed them to be part of his ancestral legacy for the people of earth. (Dec. 4th) We considered the story of Ruth and Boaz, which not only told of the introduction of Gentiles into Jesus’ Jewish bloodline, but also showed us the desperate need that we have for a “Kinsman Redeemer”. (Dec. 11th) And last week, we took a look at the sinful arrogance that became so pervasive in the life of King David – a man who God had described as “a man after his own heart.”, but who still committed rape and murder. (Dec. 18th)

The Jewish ancestors of Jesus Christ had been waiting for many years for Messiah’s arrival, but they didn’t have a clue as to how he wanted them to wait. When Jesus arrived in the form of a helpless Infant, he wasn’t who they wanted him to be, and he didn’t come in the way that they thought he should have. In their conceit and self-centeredness, many would miss out on the greatest Gift that Almighty God has ever granted to the people of earth.

But the ignorant and unclean shepherds would get it. The foreign Magi would get it. The unclean sinners of Israel, or at least some of them, would get it. 120 faithful would get it in the Upper Room on Pentecost, and another 3,000 would get it when Peter began to preach that day. And a few more over the years – those from every nation and every tribe – have also gotten it at times, but so many haven’t even come close. Why do they even try to continue to live without knowing or even caring?

The truth is that we don’t really know what we are living and waiting for, or even how to wait - for anything, let alone for Jesus! We have missed the lesson of salvation! And the lesson is this - that faith in Jesus Christ is only the beginning of how to wait for him. In Matthew’s gospel, we read of Jesus’ words, when he told us that when we reach out to others – by feeding the hungry, giving a cool drink to the thirsty, welcoming the strangers who come among us, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the prisoner – that we are actually doing these things for him. But the Lord doesn’t stop there – he continues with the thought that when we don’t do these things, we haven’t done anything for him, and that we will suffer the consequences for it. (Matthew 25:34-46)

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) that Jesus gave his followers as he prepared them for his ascension puts our life of waiting into perspective. Believers throughout the ages have been called to follow these words, but we have to wonder just how many have actually tried it.

The first step is to “make disciples of all nations”. This means that we are to share the story of Jesus with the world. Tell them of the glory that he left behind in favor of coming to earth in a humble and lowly way. Tell them of his 7 “I Am” sayings (Bread of life (John 6:45-50), Light of the world (John 8:12), the Gate (John 10:7-10) the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-15), the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6-7), and the True Vine (John 15:1-5).
Tell them of his atoning love – the love that led him to Calvary to overturn the penalty for the sinful lives we have led. Tell them of the eternal life that can come to all who believe and trust in him. Invite them, as Philip did for Nathanael (John 1:43-51), and as Andrew did for his brother Simon (John 1:40-42), and as the Samarian women did for her neighbors (John 4:1-42), that they might come and meet the most amazing man they will ever know.
Jesus came to earth to teach us about God and the great heart that he has for his cause and our life.

The second step is bring them to baptism – to a commitment to Jesus. It allows us the opportunity to make a public statement that we reject the power and ways of earth, and to claim Jesus Christ as our only hope for eternal life. Baptism is a sign to us that, by faith in Christ, our sins have been washed away, and that we have been made worthy of his grace and mercy.
Jesus came to earth to teach us that knowing about him is nowhere near enough – that we must truly know him, and trust him, and obey him.

The third part is the tough one – “teach them to obey my commandments”. Jesus tells us that once we commit to him, that we must learn to live and act like him. But before we can teach others, we must begin to learn and live the lesson ourselves. Why is that so important? In James 2:26, we read that “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” Faith in Jesus Christ, and commitment to him and his ways, are the first two parts of our call, but doing something about it completes our relationship with Christ.
Christ’s first time among us was to prepare us for a life eternal in and with him in his second coming.

Christmas isn’t just a time to give each other gifts of material worth - remember that they all will, one day, pass away! (Isaiah 40:6-8, Matthew 24:34-35) – and it isn’t to focus on a celebration of earthly relationships. Christmas is the day when we can give the Lord the greatest gift of all time – our life and commitment. It doesn’t matter who we are, or what we may have done, or how we have lived, or anything else in all the world. If Jesus had never come to earth, if he had never stepped away from his glory, if he had never taken on the created form and life that we live, if he had never taught us about the heart of God and the love that is waiting for us, if he had considered flesh and blood as being more important than the Spirit that lives within him, if he had never taken our sin upon him so that we might be worthy of life in him, then this life would be nothing short of a dead end.

But by our surrender of this “dead-end” existence, in favor of an eternal life in Christ, the joy of Christmas will become a reality. And that is the entire and complete purpose of our celebration tomorrow – that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16-17) This is the “why” of Christmas! But faith must be lived, and a faith that does not reflect the words that Jesus spoke, and a faith that does not honor the life that Jesus lived, is no faith at all.

Have you made a commitment to the life and ways of Jesus Christ? Have you claimed him as your personal Lord and Savior? Do you live a life that brings honor and glory to the God who has given so much for your eternity? If not, the offering of your life tonight would be the most precious gift that Almighty God could ever receive. Won’t you give the Lord this blessing today?