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Second Sunday in Advent -December 09, 2007 Preached at by Pastor Dennis R. King) "Forgive Us Our Christmases!" (Matthew 3:1-12) The grace and mercy of our Lord, Jesus
Christ, our forgiving Lord and Savior, be with you now and forever. Amen! I suspect that many of you have heard the
story of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." It will probably be on television again
this year. Remember he stole all the material things that he felt made
Christmas and yet in the valley below Christmas still came. Oh, how we like
the Grinch in preparing Christmas so often get hung up on the material side
of Christmas. Sometimes we get so involved in material preparation that we
fail to see and live the true significance of Christmas. We allow ourselves
to hectically run about, worrying about insignificant burdens, and pushing
ourselves to the breaking point. In at least one family where this took place
a little child became very confused about Christmas. So confused and mixed up
that in saying his evening prayers, he said, "Lord, forgive us our
Christmases, as we forgive those who Christmas against us." Maybe our
prayer for the Advent season should be Lord, forgive us our Christmas and
help us to celebrate Your Christmas. The words in our Gospel lesson, the words
of John the Baptist, call us to repent, turn around, and radically reverse
our outlook on Christmas before it is too late. His words call us to change not only our
outlook on Christmas but also our whole life. John the Baptist steadfastly
refused to let people focus attention upon himself. His goal was that his
hearers would forget him and think only of the one who is the Lamb of God to
whom he pointed. A visitor in What will they say about us? They are good
people. He or she is a wonderful person. I am glad they invited me. Or will
they say there goes a person with a wonderful Savior? Who is a person with a
wonderful Savior? He or she is a person whom you cannot explain apart from
Christ. Oh, Lord, forgive us our Christmas and help
us to celebrate your Christmas each day of our lives. Help us to celebrate
the forgiveness, the life, and the salvation that belong to us (each of us)
because of Jesus. How do we live in celebration of these gifts? We live in
celebration of these gifts when we live faithfully anticipating Jesus Christ
coming again. We live in celebration of these gifts when we prepare for God's
intervention into our lives, readying ourselves for the fulfillment of the Every day of our lives is a little Advent,
a time to "get ready" for Christ coming, to prepare for Him. We
must prepare ourselves and as did John the Baptist also prepare those around
us to receive Christ. The method that proved successful for John the Baptist
was reliance on the power of the spoken Word of God. God would have us to be
the delicate instruments of His Word also. Through us He speaks to other
people to ready them for the Christ who comes. He makes each of us little
Advent messengers of His Grace by which He comes into the lives of our
families and our neighbors. Because of our faith, we encourage others
to prepare and like John the Baptist, we call people to repentance and faith.
Like modern day prophets we are voices crying out in the world discouraging
compromise with evil. And we promote His Christmas, God's Christmas, the
Christmas whose principles of justice and tolerance and helpfulness and
mutual respect last all year and find expression in the affairs of every day
of our life. That real Christmas recognizes Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord
and in His love the world finds peace. When people say that the Christians
are taking over Christmas remind them that Christmas is for Christians, for
followers of Christ Jesus. For without Him and His followers, there is no
Christmas. God's Christmas began for us that night long ago in Bethlehem but
His Christmas comes to us not only on December 25 when we recognize Jesus'
first coming. It comes to us today and each new day it dawns for us. John the Baptist calls us to live and work
toward a style of life that corresponds to the blessings of God that dawn
upon us. That we may be found by Christ Jesus, on the Lord's Day, living in
obedience to God's will and prepared to receive Him as our Savior and Lord.
For those who live that kind of lifestyle John's message has all the hope of
the future Kingdom. For those who elected to celebrate their
own Christmas and live by their own will, John's message contains the terrors
of judgment and wrath, of barren trees cut down, of separation from God and
the fire of destruction. Lord, forgive us our Christmases and help us to
celebrate your Christmas. Lord, help us to celebrate your Christmas by
growing in faith. Lord, help us to celebrate your Christmas by growing in
your love and your grace. Lord, help us, that we might be one-step closer to
that spotless Lamb of yours. Reassure us again of all your promises. Reassure
us especially of those promises that flow to us through your Son, Jesus, the
Christ Child. Our priorities sometime get confused when
we forget the Lord in the manger, the life He lived, the teachings He taught,
and the death He endured. Forgive the greed, shortsightedness, and
stubbornness that stifle our lives and clogs our spirits. Lead us in right
paths of new commitment for His name sake. There is a story about a family who was
preparing for Christmas. Their names, or at least the names given them in the
book are the Murgdorps. The Murgdorps are frantic. The Murgdorps are
wild. Each tall Murgdorp parent, each small
Murgdorp child Adds its loud wail to the hullabaloo: "Christmas is coming! there's so much
to do!" "Buy some more presents We're short forty-three. Clean up the family room. Chop down the
tree. Polish the ornaments See? They're hazy. Christmas is coming and we're going
crazy." "Keep baking cookies. You know we need
dozens. Send off the cards to the out-of-town
cousins. Don't stop to think or to talk or have fun. Christmas is coming! We'll never get
done!" "String blinky lights up all over the
house. Shampoo the cat. Tie a bow on the mouse. More decorations! More glitter! Be quick! Christmas is coming and we're feeling
sick." Hush! Not a sound. All the Murgdorps are
sleeping. When they wake up, there'll be plenty of
weeping. Three days they've slept, which is really
too long. "Christmas is over? What did we do
wrong?" * Oh, Lord, forgive us our Christmases as we forgive those who Christmas
against us. Amen. * Greene, Carol, Waiting for Christmas: Stories and Activities for
Advent, |
