Have you heard about the little boy who loved going to church? He enjoyed the music, the scriptures, the creeds, the sermon, and the fellowship. The only part about going to church that the little boy didn’t like, were those long pastoral prayers! He really liked his minister, but his minister prayed long, long pastoral prayers... and sometimes it seemed to the little boy that the prayer would never end.
Then one Sunday, the little boy’s parents invited the minister home for Sunday lunch... and would you believe it, his mom asked the minister to pray the prayer of thanksgiving before the meal. “Oh, no,” thought the little boy, “We will never get to eat. Fm starving and he will pray forever.” But to his surprise, the minister’s prayer was brief and to the point. The minister prayer, “Oh Lord, bless this home. Bless this food, and use us in your service, in Jesus name. Amen.”
The little boy was so astonished by the minister’s short prayer that he couldn’t help himself. He looked at the minister and blurted out what he was thinking: “Man, you don’t mess around when you’re hungry!”
Well, I don’t want to “mess around” on this Sunday morning before Christmas because I know that whether we realize it or not... we are hungry. We are all hungry for God. We are all hungry for our Savior. We are all hungry for Christmas... because, you see, this is precisely what Christmas is all about. We need a Savior, we are starved for a Savior, and a Savior is given!
The name “Jesus” means literally “The Lord is Salvation,” or Yahweh Saves, or Savior. Jesus came at Christmas to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He came to save us from our sins.
Some years ago a young woman named Karen became a missionary. She was a well-trained nurse, so she was sent to serve in a Methodist Mission Hospital in a remote corner of Africa. She loved her work. She knew God had called her to this special healing ministry.., and she felt incredible fulfillment in bringing much needed love and medical care to the people in this impoverished region of the world.
But as Christmas approached, her thoughts turned toward home. Christmas had always been a wonderful time for her family. They would always go to church together on Christmas Eve.., and then open presents together on Christmas morning. What could she send them? She wouldn’t be able to go home for Christmas that year, so she would send her presents by mail. But what to send? She had very little money and no place to shop and mailing a bunch of large presents was out of the question.
Then Karen smiled. She knew just what to do. Some days later, a small box arrived at the front door of her parents’ home. When her mom found it and saw the postmark from Africa, she knew it contained the Christmas presents from Karen, her missionary daughter. On the outside of the box were written in bold print these words:
“Please Open on Christmas Morning with the whole family.” So on Christmas morning, after all the other presents had been exchanged, her mother opened Karen’s box. She found a number of envelopes. One for Karen’s dad, one for her mom, one for her sister, one for her brother-in-law, one for her niece, and one for her nephew. When they opened the envelopes, at first they were surprised. Each envelope held a small piece of poster paper. The pieces had been cut in funny shapes. Suddenly, they realized it was a home-made jigsaw puzzle and each family member had a piece of the puzzle. Quickly, they went to a table and put the pieces together... and when the last piece went into place. they realized that they had put together a heart. On the home-made poster paper heart were inscribed these words from Karen:
“Silver and gold have I none,
But such as I have,
I give to you...
I give you my heart.”
This is what God did for us on that first Christmas. He sent us His HEART! He sent His only Son into the world to save us, to redeem us and to turn our lives around. He sent us His heart to show us how much He loves us and to show us how He wants us to love one another. God sent His only Son into the world to be our Savior, but what does He save us from?
Of course, He saves us from our sins, but let me mention three other things He saves us from.
I. FIRST OF ALL, CHRIST SAVES US FROM DISILLUSIONMENT.
Outside of the Bible, the most famous Christmas story ever written is “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. Let me ask you something: What can you remember about that story? Well, most everybody knows that Charles Dickens’ story is about a gruff, miserly character named Ebenezer Scrooge. We probably also recall that there is a little crippled boy in the story named Tiny Tim Cratchit who (the opposite of Scrooge) is most always happy and who is always saying, “God bless us, everyone.”
Now, we remember that much about the story. But actually, if we look closer, we see that this is a story about conversion.., and oh my, did Scrooge ever need converting! I mean he was a despicable character.., a selfish, arrogant, greedy, hard-hearted, mean-spirited, uncaring, unsympathetic, unchristian tightwad. His now famous response to Christmas, “Bah! Humbug!” has become the sad symbol of such disillusioned spirit.
As the story unfolds, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited one night by some ghosts who subject him to a haunting the likes of which few characters in fiction have experienced. Scared out of his wits by the ghosts, Scrooge is forced to see himself as he really is. The visits of the ghosts and the Christ-like unconditional love of the Cratchit family, who keep on loving him even though he has treated them horribly.., those two things combine to convert Ebenezer Scrooge. And now with a second chance, he changes completely!
A skinflint no more, he becomes instead an ever-loving grandfather type. He loves Christmas now. He gets into a loving spirit of the season, sending presents to the Cratchits and a large amount of money to charity. He dresses up and goes to his nephew’s house for Christmas dinner and announces that, of all things, he is giving his clerk, Bob Cratchit, a nice raise. Talk about a conversion! Talk about a life redeemed and saved! Here we see a life turned around!
Why are we so fascinated with this story? It’s not just that it’s a well-written classic piece of literature. There is something more here. You see, the truth is, this is our story. Deep down inside, deeper than some of us even realize, we all relate to Ebenezer Scrooge! That is to say... we all need help, we all have clay feet. We all need to face up to ourselves. We all need to be converted from selfishness to love, or to put it more dramatically, we all need a Savior!
Well, this is the good news we celebrate at Christmas. Two thousand years ago, God looked down and saw the sick disillusioned Scrooge-like spirit of the world, and He knew that would not work, so He sent His Son to save us and change us and show us a better way. Christ came to change us from greedy, selfish, disillusioned people into generous, loving, gracious servant people. That's Number one. Christ saves us from disillusionment.
II. SECOND, CHRIST SAVES US FROM DEFEAT.
In 1939 a man named Robert May worked in the publicity department for Montgomery Ward stores. He was asked for publicity and marketing purposes to come up with a new story for Christmas. He mixed two stories...the story of Santa Claus and the story of the Ugly Duckling, and created this new story called Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer.
The Rudolph story quickly caught on and over the next couple of years, Montgomery Ward distributed over six million coloring books telling the story of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Robert May’s story of Rudolph became so popular that 10 years later in 1949, Mr. May’s brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, wrote a song about it. Gene Autry recorded it and as they say, “the rest is history.”
You know why we like the Rudolph story so much, don’t you? Not just because it’s a cute child-friendly story, not just because the song has neat words and a catchy tune. No, we like this story because it’s about rising above defeat. It’s about turning a handicap into an advantage. It’s about turning a defeat into a victory.
You remember early on like the Ugly Duckling before him, Rudolph was despised and rejected and teased and taunted because of his red nose... but then in the end, with outside help, he becomes the hero. He saves the day with his “nose so bright.”
Now, let me remind you of another Rudolph... Wilma Rudolph. In the summer of 1960 I was glued to my TV set along with millions of other Americans to watch one of the greatest female athletes of all time perform in the Olympic games. She was a tall long-legged girl from Clarksville, Tennessee, representing the United States.
When the 1960 Olympic Games were over, Wilma Rudolph had become the first American woman ever to win three gold medals in track and along the way she set a number of female running world records. It was a remarkable achievement even more amazing than you might think, because, you see, for the first one-third of her life, Wilma Rudolph couldn’t even walk. Her left leg was paralyzed! The doctors were not encouraging at all. They told Wilma’s family that she would never be able to walk without the aid of heavy braces.
Wilma Rudolph’s mother refused to accept that diagnosis. She started praying daily asking God to bring strength to Wilma’s weak legs. And she began massaging and exercising Wilma’s legs when Wilma was four years old, determined to help her little girl walk. She trained the older brothers and sisters how to massage and rub and exercise Wilma’s weak little left leg. Four times every day for almost five years, the family members took turns working with little Wilma... and more times than that every day they prayed for her. Finally Wilma got better and got a brace for her leg... and then progressed to a heavy high top shoe. One day when Wilma was about 9, her mother looked out to see her daughter running and jumping and playing basketball, and Wilma was bare-footed.
Wilma Rudolph went on to become the fastest woman in the world because she and her family refused to quit when life dealt them a hard blow. They were people of faith and they refused to accept defeat.
Remember that powerful verse in Paul’s letter to the Philippians: ~I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13) I like the way my seminary professor paraphrased this. He said it means: “Bring it on~ I’m ready for anything, for Christ is my strength.”
When Christ came into the world as a baby born in a stable, He came to a world where may people felt down and out and defeated. He came to show them and us that He will be with us always and that He can lift us above anything that threatens to defeat us. He showed us in a manger and He showed us on the cross that His love is the most powerful thing in the world... and that if we believe in Him and trust Him, nothing can defeat us. Christmas comes around once each year to remind us of that. Christ can save us from disillusionment. He can save us from defeat.
III. AND THIRD, CHRIST CAN SAVE US EVEN FROM DEATH.
The scriptures remind us that nothing. . . nothing (not even death) can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jim Harnish is a friend of mine. He is the pastor of Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa, Florida, and he wrote the book we are using this year for our Advent study, “All I Want For Christmas.” In the book, Jim tells about a member of his staff, Vee Choate, the church’s wedding coordinator. Jim Harnish called Vee a first-class joy-bringer. She could light up a room.
Vee loved Christmas... and she knew how to keep Christmas well. She did it with the same military precision she used in her job as the wedding coordinator.., to get bridesmaids to stand up straight. and groomsmen to spit out their chewing gum, and wedding photographers to obey the church’s rules. Every box of her Christmas decorations was numbered and labeled.
She even kept photographs of the decorations so she could remember precisely how things had been done the year before. It took a full week but by Thanksgiving each year, her home, her office, her wardrobe... and perhaps even her dogs... were decorated for Christmas. Vee kept Christmas with beauty and grace and love. She kept Christmas by giving gifts and by throwing a big party. She did it all... and made it look so easy. When people thought of Vee, the word that came immediately to mind was “celebration.” She celebrated life and love and friendship and faith and graciously drew others into the celebration.
Most of all, Vee celebrated Christmas with music. She loved all kinds of Christmas music. Jim Harnish said, “Beneath it all, Vee knew how to keep Christmas because she knew the Christ who was born in Bethlehem had been born within her life. The result was that the love and grace of God that became flesh in Bethlehem became flesh among us in our relationship with Vee.”
But then on December 10, 2001, a sudden car accident took the life of Vee Choate. So full of life, so full of
Christmas... and then so suddenly gone. At her memorial service, Jim Harnish said this: “Some of us might be tempted to say that Christmas will be almost unbearable because of Vee's death. But the deeper truth is that Vee’s death would be unbearable were it not for Christmas.
A year later, Vee’s husband wrote a devotional for the church’s Advent booklet and in it he said, “On December 10, 2001, the greatest joy in my life was snuffed out.” He described how he struggled to find a way to face Christmas without her. He began asking what God and Vee would want him to do. The answer came: “Do what we’ve always done. Go to church. Sing in the Messiah. Attend your Bible study class. Stay close to friends and family. And don’t forget to decorate the house with at least two trees.’ By doing what I believe Vee and God wanted me to do. I found I could still sing Joy to the World and be thrilled by the Hallelujah Chorus.” He concluded his devotional by saying “The nights are still lonely and some days are longer than others, but God is with me and I have been able to find joy!”
Do you know that kind of joy? Do you? It’s the joy that comes from knowing Christ as our Lord and Savior... and knowing that come what may, Christ will be with us and He will deliver us because He has the power to save us from disillusionment, from defeat, and even from death.
Some years ago, Harry Belafonte recorded a Christmas carol that says it all. It has these words:
“Long time ago in Bethlehem
Does the Holy Bible say,
Mary’s boy-child Jesus Christ
Was born on Christmas Day.
Hark now, hear the angels sing.
A new king born today
And we shall live forevermore
Because of Christmas Day.”