Concerning The First Coming Of Christ
Sermon
16 MESSAGES FOR AN ELECTION YEAR
The Platform Of Jesus
During political campaigns candidates are interviewed by the media. One question often asked of presidential candidates is, 'Why do you want to be president?' As one might expect, the answers are varied. Yet, each candidate seems to imply that he has certain qualifications which would enable him to meet the problems of the world.
Jesus, too, made statements in which he claimed to be qualified for the commitment that he desires people would make to him as the leader of life. He told the disciples that if they followed him, he would make them 'fishers of men.' On various occasions he said that he was one with the Father, that he had come from the Father.
Jesus' claims that he was qualified in this manner are much more profound that anything found in the statements of political candidates in our day. It is interesting that one of the deepest and most all-embracing statements of Jesus along this line was not made at the beginning of his ministry, but on his last trip to Jerusalem, two weeks before the crucifixion. It was a sweeping statement of what he could do for people. It was made in the home of Zacchaeus with whom he was having dinner. After Zacchaeus was moved by the presence and spirit of Christ to pledge restoration fourfold to those whom he had defrauded, Jesus told Zacchaeus that salvation had that day come to that house, declaring, 'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).'
This is the basis of the incarnation. Jesus came to save. Many look upon Jesus as a fine teacher or a very influential person. While these are true, we must not overlook the essentials: Jesus Christ is Savior. He came to save all who are lost.
This was not a claim made only by Jesus. Matthew records that the angel, speaking to Joseph before the birth of Jesus, declared, 'You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).' Later the angels gave the shepherds the good news for all people because there was 'born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11).'
That is the reason Christians celebrate Christmas. It marks the birth of a savior. This is the message for all people. A Savior has come!
It seems that everyone celebrates Christmas. Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, all observe the day. Doctor, lawyer, merchant man, chief, all remember.
One can visit large department stores in Tokyo in November and listen to Christmas carols over the public address systems in a country that is primarily Shinto-Buddhist. In homes of Buddhists and Muslims in the United States one might find Christmas trees. All give gifts and exchange the season's greetings. Faithful adherents of all religions keep the Christmas season. There is, however, a great difference between celebrating with tinsel and observing the birth of a Savior.
No matter what the inclinations of people, all need help with the fundamental problems of life. Paul, in his epistle to the Romans (Chapter 1:18-32), painted a terrifying word picture of the vice, perversion, cruelty and inhumanity of a world that knows no savior. But a Savior did come to a needy world. That is what the Christian church proclaims each December: there is a great joy for all people, a Savior who is Christ the Lord!
It is the hope of every pastor as he or she looks over the congregation on Christmas that the presence of the gathered community is prima facie evidence that the parishioners have found Christ as Savior. He came to save from sin, from fear, from selfishness, from the sting of death. Many seem in a vague way to want Jesus as Savior, but hardly know what his salvation means or demands.
Amid the tinsel of the Christmas season and the oft-repeated singing of 'Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,' Christians are called to believe the messengers of God who proclaim the Savior. The accounts in both the gospels of Matthew and Luke are stories of those who did believe the messages they received. One story tells of shepherds to whom the angels appeared in those fields east of Bethlehem. When the angels had made the announcement, 'the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened' (Luke 2:15).' There was no doubt in the minds of the shepherds; they believed the message which God sent.
The gospel written by Matthew tells of the wise men. God spoke to them in a different way than he spoke to the shepherds. When the wise men followed the star, they found the Christ. Neither shepherds or wise men would have found the Savior if they had not believed the messages and signs of God.
Among the legends of Marco Polo is a Christmas story. According to the tradition, each of the three wise men set out to follow the star with great hopes. Each was looking for a different thing. Gaspar, the youngest, had a strong feeling that the world needed a ruler, so he hoped to find a Lord. Balthasar, the second, was conscious of a growing spiritual dullness, an inner lack in his life, so he hoped the star would lead him to God. Melchior, the eldest, however, felt another kind of need. He had the feeling of guilt on his conscience, and he hoped to find cleansing.
All of them were disappointed when they reached the stable and saw only a peasant woman and a baby. As they turned to leave, they heard Mary sing, 'My soul magnifies the Lord.' 'The Lord,' said Gaspar, and turned back. Mary continued the song, 'And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.' At the sound of the word 'God,' Balthasar's eyes lighted with excitement, and he turned back into the stable. Then, at the end of the phrase, Mary mentioned 'Savior.' A Savior! That was exactly for what Melchior was looking. So he, too, turned back eagerly to the stable.
This, of course, is only a legend, based on the Christmas story recorded in the third gospel, but it expresses in imaginative form the profound truth of the incarnation. The babe in the manger, when he grew up, in his life and death and resurrection, brought to the world those three great gifts for which the wise men were looking. He brought the revelation of God. He brought cleansing and forgiveness of sins and the power to overcome sin. He brought a ruler to the world. Likewise, we, too, must believe the Christ to be God, Ruler and a Savior.
When we believe this message of God, good tidings of great joy can ring in our time, and life can be different for us, even in the last decade of the 20th century. If we believe the babe of Bethlehem as the Christ, as our Savior, we can go beyond Christmas with light in our hearts, with confidence and with courage, no matter what life brings.
It should be our hope that Christmas brings us to Christ as it did the shepherds. The shepherds returned to their fields, but with a newness in their lives, for now they were glorifying and praising God for what they had heard and seen. We, too, can now go endlessly through the valleys and shadows, if we place our lives against the background of the everlasting love that holds life together.
This is what a child inadvertently suggested when he went out at the end of January to sing carols. A householder, listening to the strains of 'Hark, the Herald Angels Sing' opened the door and asked, 'Don't you know Christmas was a month ago?' 'Yes, sir,' said the singing boy, 'but I had measles then and couldn't go caroling.' It is time for caroling any time if we know what the shepherds knew.
Further, we must remember that if we are to be partakers in God's salvation, we must commit our lives to him in every act. The shepherds would never have found a Savior if they had not acted on the message that came to them. The wise men never would have found the one whom they came so many miles to see.
Not only did the shepherds act in coming to the manger. The glorious thing is that 'they made known the saying which had been told them concernning (the) child (Luke 2:17).' The shepherds returned to their fields glorifying and praising God. So convincing were they that those who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
The wise men, too, acted. When they came into the presence of Christ, they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were costly treasures.
When we examine the reactions of the shepherds and the wise men, it is apparent that Christ is only a savior if we combine the elements of praise and worship on one hand and the giving and commitment of life on the other. Because of Jesus, the Christian faith is a giving religion. It begins with God. 'God so loved the world that he gave… (John 3:16).'
How about us? How much do we love Christ? Our salvation depends not only on a vague belief in Christ, but also on our gifts to others in Chnst's name, on our commitment of life and possessions to Christ. Like the shepherds, all Christians are to proclaim the coming of Christ. Like the wise men, we are here to dedicate our possessions for Christ.
A mountain climber invited a companion to scale with him the summit of a towering peak. As they sat together on the top of the mountain, with a beautiful panorama below, the guest saw the other man weeping. He asked, 'Why are you crying?' The reply came back, 'All these years I have come here alone and filled my soul with the cup of God. Today I am happier than I have ever been, for this is the first time I have shared the glory with someone else.'
It is sometimes hard to believe that so much of the world is still so far from Christ, even after 2,000 years. Many people's ideas are still at cross-purposes with Christ and Christmas. The dedicated Christian, who really claims Christ as savior, will act on his conviction. One can share him with others, one can commit himself anew to joining the wise men of all ages who have laid before him their very best treasures. With the shepherds one will proclaim to others the message that the world has a Savior.
Dr. Frank Laubach once told of visiting a hydro-electric plant in Liberia. There was a huge pipe and four great turbine wheels. Though the pipe was open above, the wheels were not turning. When asked the reason, the manager said that the pipe was closed at the outlet and unless both the outlet and the inlet were open, the turbines could not run. Dr. Laubach commented, 'That is the way our lives are. The pipe must be open up toward God and open down toward man.'
Christians should realize and experience that God has opened the channels of his love and concern downward toward us. It is tragic that often we turn off the channels of our hearts and minds so that we cannot feel his power. Yet, wise men and shepherds give us the clue of receiving this power and joy. Like them, we must believe that this is God's event in history and we must act upon it with committed lives. Only then does Christ become your Savior.
Jesus, too, made statements in which he claimed to be qualified for the commitment that he desires people would make to him as the leader of life. He told the disciples that if they followed him, he would make them 'fishers of men.' On various occasions he said that he was one with the Father, that he had come from the Father.
Jesus' claims that he was qualified in this manner are much more profound that anything found in the statements of political candidates in our day. It is interesting that one of the deepest and most all-embracing statements of Jesus along this line was not made at the beginning of his ministry, but on his last trip to Jerusalem, two weeks before the crucifixion. It was a sweeping statement of what he could do for people. It was made in the home of Zacchaeus with whom he was having dinner. After Zacchaeus was moved by the presence and spirit of Christ to pledge restoration fourfold to those whom he had defrauded, Jesus told Zacchaeus that salvation had that day come to that house, declaring, 'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).'
This is the basis of the incarnation. Jesus came to save. Many look upon Jesus as a fine teacher or a very influential person. While these are true, we must not overlook the essentials: Jesus Christ is Savior. He came to save all who are lost.
This was not a claim made only by Jesus. Matthew records that the angel, speaking to Joseph before the birth of Jesus, declared, 'You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).' Later the angels gave the shepherds the good news for all people because there was 'born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11).'
That is the reason Christians celebrate Christmas. It marks the birth of a savior. This is the message for all people. A Savior has come!
It seems that everyone celebrates Christmas. Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, all observe the day. Doctor, lawyer, merchant man, chief, all remember.
One can visit large department stores in Tokyo in November and listen to Christmas carols over the public address systems in a country that is primarily Shinto-Buddhist. In homes of Buddhists and Muslims in the United States one might find Christmas trees. All give gifts and exchange the season's greetings. Faithful adherents of all religions keep the Christmas season. There is, however, a great difference between celebrating with tinsel and observing the birth of a Savior.
No matter what the inclinations of people, all need help with the fundamental problems of life. Paul, in his epistle to the Romans (Chapter 1:18-32), painted a terrifying word picture of the vice, perversion, cruelty and inhumanity of a world that knows no savior. But a Savior did come to a needy world. That is what the Christian church proclaims each December: there is a great joy for all people, a Savior who is Christ the Lord!
It is the hope of every pastor as he or she looks over the congregation on Christmas that the presence of the gathered community is prima facie evidence that the parishioners have found Christ as Savior. He came to save from sin, from fear, from selfishness, from the sting of death. Many seem in a vague way to want Jesus as Savior, but hardly know what his salvation means or demands.
Amid the tinsel of the Christmas season and the oft-repeated singing of 'Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,' Christians are called to believe the messengers of God who proclaim the Savior. The accounts in both the gospels of Matthew and Luke are stories of those who did believe the messages they received. One story tells of shepherds to whom the angels appeared in those fields east of Bethlehem. When the angels had made the announcement, 'the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened' (Luke 2:15).' There was no doubt in the minds of the shepherds; they believed the message which God sent.
The gospel written by Matthew tells of the wise men. God spoke to them in a different way than he spoke to the shepherds. When the wise men followed the star, they found the Christ. Neither shepherds or wise men would have found the Savior if they had not believed the messages and signs of God.
Among the legends of Marco Polo is a Christmas story. According to the tradition, each of the three wise men set out to follow the star with great hopes. Each was looking for a different thing. Gaspar, the youngest, had a strong feeling that the world needed a ruler, so he hoped to find a Lord. Balthasar, the second, was conscious of a growing spiritual dullness, an inner lack in his life, so he hoped the star would lead him to God. Melchior, the eldest, however, felt another kind of need. He had the feeling of guilt on his conscience, and he hoped to find cleansing.
All of them were disappointed when they reached the stable and saw only a peasant woman and a baby. As they turned to leave, they heard Mary sing, 'My soul magnifies the Lord.' 'The Lord,' said Gaspar, and turned back. Mary continued the song, 'And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.' At the sound of the word 'God,' Balthasar's eyes lighted with excitement, and he turned back into the stable. Then, at the end of the phrase, Mary mentioned 'Savior.' A Savior! That was exactly for what Melchior was looking. So he, too, turned back eagerly to the stable.
This, of course, is only a legend, based on the Christmas story recorded in the third gospel, but it expresses in imaginative form the profound truth of the incarnation. The babe in the manger, when he grew up, in his life and death and resurrection, brought to the world those three great gifts for which the wise men were looking. He brought the revelation of God. He brought cleansing and forgiveness of sins and the power to overcome sin. He brought a ruler to the world. Likewise, we, too, must believe the Christ to be God, Ruler and a Savior.
When we believe this message of God, good tidings of great joy can ring in our time, and life can be different for us, even in the last decade of the 20th century. If we believe the babe of Bethlehem as the Christ, as our Savior, we can go beyond Christmas with light in our hearts, with confidence and with courage, no matter what life brings.
It should be our hope that Christmas brings us to Christ as it did the shepherds. The shepherds returned to their fields, but with a newness in their lives, for now they were glorifying and praising God for what they had heard and seen. We, too, can now go endlessly through the valleys and shadows, if we place our lives against the background of the everlasting love that holds life together.
This is what a child inadvertently suggested when he went out at the end of January to sing carols. A householder, listening to the strains of 'Hark, the Herald Angels Sing' opened the door and asked, 'Don't you know Christmas was a month ago?' 'Yes, sir,' said the singing boy, 'but I had measles then and couldn't go caroling.' It is time for caroling any time if we know what the shepherds knew.
Further, we must remember that if we are to be partakers in God's salvation, we must commit our lives to him in every act. The shepherds would never have found a Savior if they had not acted on the message that came to them. The wise men never would have found the one whom they came so many miles to see.
Not only did the shepherds act in coming to the manger. The glorious thing is that 'they made known the saying which had been told them concernning (the) child (Luke 2:17).' The shepherds returned to their fields glorifying and praising God. So convincing were they that those who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
The wise men, too, acted. When they came into the presence of Christ, they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were costly treasures.
When we examine the reactions of the shepherds and the wise men, it is apparent that Christ is only a savior if we combine the elements of praise and worship on one hand and the giving and commitment of life on the other. Because of Jesus, the Christian faith is a giving religion. It begins with God. 'God so loved the world that he gave… (John 3:16).'
How about us? How much do we love Christ? Our salvation depends not only on a vague belief in Christ, but also on our gifts to others in Chnst's name, on our commitment of life and possessions to Christ. Like the shepherds, all Christians are to proclaim the coming of Christ. Like the wise men, we are here to dedicate our possessions for Christ.
A mountain climber invited a companion to scale with him the summit of a towering peak. As they sat together on the top of the mountain, with a beautiful panorama below, the guest saw the other man weeping. He asked, 'Why are you crying?' The reply came back, 'All these years I have come here alone and filled my soul with the cup of God. Today I am happier than I have ever been, for this is the first time I have shared the glory with someone else.'
It is sometimes hard to believe that so much of the world is still so far from Christ, even after 2,000 years. Many people's ideas are still at cross-purposes with Christ and Christmas. The dedicated Christian, who really claims Christ as savior, will act on his conviction. One can share him with others, one can commit himself anew to joining the wise men of all ages who have laid before him their very best treasures. With the shepherds one will proclaim to others the message that the world has a Savior.
Dr. Frank Laubach once told of visiting a hydro-electric plant in Liberia. There was a huge pipe and four great turbine wheels. Though the pipe was open above, the wheels were not turning. When asked the reason, the manager said that the pipe was closed at the outlet and unless both the outlet and the inlet were open, the turbines could not run. Dr. Laubach commented, 'That is the way our lives are. The pipe must be open up toward God and open down toward man.'
Christians should realize and experience that God has opened the channels of his love and concern downward toward us. It is tragic that often we turn off the channels of our hearts and minds so that we cannot feel his power. Yet, wise men and shepherds give us the clue of receiving this power and joy. Like them, we must believe that this is God's event in history and we must act upon it with committed lives. Only then does Christ become your Savior.
