MESSAGES

FROM THE

WORD

GETTING RID OF CHRISTMAS CLUTER

Matthew 2:1-23

SERIES:  Christmas

Dec. 17, 2006

            Against all odds, we were the first on our block with our exterior Christmas lights up.  We then got the tree out.  However, the ornaments on the tree have taken longer than we expected.  I have promised my wife that they will be up by the 24^th.  One of the things I have learned is that it is very difficult to do Christmas small.  Every year we promise each other that next year we will not spend so much.  Then the season comes and we see so many wonderful items that our family just has to have.  Just about the time you have all your shopping completed, you receive a gift from someone not on your list and now you feel the need to go out and get that person something.

            Have you ever noticed the Christmas Clutter?  We have four giant boxes filled with lights and ornaments.  We store our tree in a used refrigerator box.  The nativity scene, stockings, garland, wreath, and unwrapped presents take up more room.  When it is time to decorate, the entire house is filled with clutter and often, lingers for many days, even weeks.

            Just as there is physical clutter that comes with the holiday, so we have emotional clutter.  There is the Christmas or Christmas Eve dinner to prepare, presents to purchase for everyone, Christmas letters or cards to mail, cookies and candies to bake, parties to attend or host and a myriad of family get togethers.  This struggle was made clear on an annual cycle by the popular television show “Home Improvement”.  Tim “the tool man” Taylor became famous by having to have his Christmas decorations bigger and brighter than anyone else’s in the neighborhood.  One year his manger scene was used as a beacon light by airplanes landing in Detroit.  Once his Santa set up caused a power outage in the entire state of Michigan.  Clutter!  We hate it, but we don’t know how to get out of it.

            As we look at Christmas this year, let’s see what we can do to get rid of some of the Christmas clutter.  The best way to do this is by beginning to house clean.  Several years ago, we installed new carpet in our home.  When completed, it looked beautiful.  However, it was work, because everything had to be removed before the carpet could go down.  After the work was all done and it was time to put all the stuff back, we realized that we didn’t want to put everything back.  It was evident that some of the possessions we had were just clutter and out they went.  What is it that is absolutely necessary to have in order for it to be Christmas?  We might call this the Irreducible Minimum.  What are the Irreducible Minimums for the true Christmas story?  Let me share three with you.

            FIRST, WE SEE THE REASON.  Jesus did not come into the world so that business could have a year end sale season.  The heart of the Christmas story tells us                      MATTHEW 1:20, 21            Why did Jesus come?  He came so that He could save people from their sin.  This is the priority of God.  God loves us, He wants to bless us, and He wants us to enjoy life.  However, foremost He wanted to deal with the sin problem.  Without dealing with sin, none of the other problems can be resolved.

            Sin has been a problem for humans since the fall of Adam and Eve.  We have tried to come up with all sorts of ways to correct this problem, none of which have worked.  We looked into mysticism, religious works, good deeds, asceticism, denial, pleasure, fatalism, false religions, immorality, and many other alternatives.  None worked.  This is why God designed the Christmas story.  The only way to deal with the problem of sin was to have a perfect individual offer Himself as a sacrifice to cover the sins of all humanity.  That is why we studied the Virgin Birth last week.  Jesus was that perfect individual who offered Himself to pay the penalty for the sins of the world.

            SECOND, WE SEE THE CAST.  Talk about a motley crew.  Many of you can remember about twenty years ago when the Summer Olympics allowed players from the NBA to compete for the first time.  The American team featured such stars as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Charles Barclay.  The team was affectionately given the nickname of “Dream Team”.  It was called that, because it was made up of the best basketball players in the world.  God had a “Dream Team” made up of many different types of people.  Mary & Joseph, the Wise Men and the angels are a part of it, but I want to look at the cast members who would have not been on too many other teams.

            This is God’s dream team.  It is nothing to write home about.  It begins with a nothing city called Nazareth.  How important was Nazareth?  We read            JOHN 1:43-46                   When I was a kid my family used to attend a campground in Northern California called Westminster Woods.  It was a beautiful area.  There was only one problem; to get to the camp ground you had to drive through Graton, CA.  Graton was a very small town, that was most known for its apple cider.  The problem arose when the remains of the apples were dumped out into a field and they began to ferment.  That odor permeated the entire city.  I always wondered what I would say if I ever met someone who lived or grew up in Graton.  It probably would have been something to the effect of, “Can anything good smelling come from Graton”?  Nazareth was a nothing town which God chose to play a significant role in salvation.

            Another part of the cast was the city of Bethlehem.  This little town was important only because David had been born in this area.  Have you ever gone on a trip and come through a small town and seen a sign that said “Entering Insignificance City, birth place of Jane of John Doe, Celebrity”.  It takes you about one minute to discover why that famous person is from there and is not now living there.  However, the birth place was important in this case.  Micah 5:2 had predicted that the Messiah would be born in this city.  God turned the world upside down by having Rome institute a tax in order that His word would be fulfilled.

            The saddest part of this entire venture into Bethlehem is that the city slept through it all.  All of us have slept through some important event.  Most of those events are probably insignificant now that you look back on them.  This one was a biggie.  The Messiah was to be born; the angels were out in force, the shepherds massed around the manger.  No one thought to ask, “What’s going on in there”? 

            A third set of the cast members were the shepherds.  Talk about insignificant.  Shepherds at one time were highly praised.  David had been a shepherd.  The prophet Micah was a shepherd.  Over the years, this profession had lost its luster.  It wasn’t seen as evil, just demeaning.  If you couldn’t get a job anywhere else, become a shepherd.  They were nomads and rarely had much to do in the culture.  In fact, because they rarely had roots, they were forbidden from testifying in courts.

            Isn’t it interesting that this is the group to whom God chose to announce the birth of the Christ child.  I believe there is a reason for this.  You will remember that Herod had a conversation with the religious leaders after the Wise men paid him a visit.  They told Herod that Bethlehem was the city in which the Messiah would be born.  Knowing this, they did nothing.  They already had their plans laid out and they didn’t really want God messing with their plans.  The shepherds had no clutter to deal with.  When the angel came to them, they had no clutter to deal with.  They simply said, “Let’s go”!  Have you ever noticed that clutter can get in the way of your relationship with God?  How many have a weaker walk with God because they have a vacation home, RV, big home that needs to be cleaned, hobby or a dozen other issues.  None of those are bad, unless they are clutter that takes you away from your time with God.   This is why we read               PSALM 46:10        It is in the stillness that God speaks to us.

            THIRD, WE SEE THE RESPONSE.  We have already seen the response of two individuals.  Herod challenged the baby to a battle to the death.  He lost that one.  The Pharisees responded to the announcement that the Messiah was to be born by simply ignoring the birth.  How sad it was that when the most significant event in the world occurred, they yawned.  In his diary for July 4, 1776, King George III of England wrote, “Nothing important happened”.

            There were some who did respond properly.  Certainly Mary and Joseph responded in a faithful way.  The shepherds responded properly.  I want us to look at two individuals who responded in a magnificent way after the birth of the Messiah.  We read              LUKE 2:21-38              Their names are Simeon and Anna.  Let me give you several characteristics from the lives of these two which will help us remove the clutter and properly prepare for Christmas.

            First, they devoted themselves.  We see this word used of Simeon in verse 25.  It is used several times in the New Testament and always has to do with someone who has a singleness of purpose.  Periodically, we read of someone who has passed away and they were survived by their “Devoted mate…”  We understand that this individual was totally dedicated to the deceased.  In Acts 2 the word is translated as “DEVOTED”.  Here were some people who did not dabble in their walk with God, but took it very serious.  Can this become fanatical?  The answer is yes and no.  Someone who is devoted to God has two goals.  One is to be absorbed in God’s plan.  Their second goal is to accomplish His goal in His way.  In other words, someone devoted to God wants to see God’s will accomplished in accordance with God’s word.  A fanatic is someone who is devoted to the goal, but has also convinced himself that it doesn’t matter how the goal is reached.  If we use violent means to accomplish the goal, that’s ok.  The Bible does not accept that premise.  They were devoted, and they were waiting for God to do it His way.

            Second, they anticipated God’s move.  They waited, but they knew God was going to work.  How did they know?  We aren’t told, but they knew.  The Lord told them in some way.  Simeon had been told that he would see the Messiah before he died and he was getting up in years.  He did not get impatient.  He waited and he trusted.  Anna was not given the promise of seeing the Messiah, but she had the joy of proclaiming the Messiah to those at the Temple.  There are many unknowns in the Christian experience.  In those areas, we sometimes have to guess as to what God’s will is.  But there are times when we just know what God’s will is for our life and in those areas we need to anticipate God’s moving.  We don’t get anxious, we get hopeful.  This is why Paul wrote                   ROMANS 5:3-5         It is the struggles that produce endurance and these results in hope.  Hope always results in anticipation.

            Third, they praised God.  When both Anna and Simeon saw God’s fulfillment their first reaction was to praise God.  This is a struggle for some believers.  They feel so entitled to God’s blessings that when they come, an attitude of forgetfulness or entitlement seems to take over.  We must never forget that God is sitting on the throne and we are His slaves.  Slaves have no rights.  God in His love and mercy pours out His blessings, but they are just that and not entitlements.

            Luke demonstrated this attitude to us in his first book.  We read     LUKE 17:11-19           Few traits are more disgusting that ingratitude.  Christmas is a perfect example of this.  How many times have you opened all of the presents and then wondered where the good gifts were?  Gratefulness and thanksgiving are interrelated.  God’s desire is that we be thankful for all that He does in our life, even the little things.

            Let me close with this thought.  In most psychological tests given, most people indicate that they have a poor self image and would like to change many unchangeable qualities about themselves.  In a world in which the real is not important and the surgically repaired is what is really praised, I want you to think of something that will revolutionize your life.  We read                        JOHN 15:16            God looked throughout the universe to find the best of the best and He chose you.  Think about that for a moment.  God chose you.  You are a part of the cast God has chosen to tell the world that a Savior has been born whose name is Christ the Lord.  What will your response be to that news?

Glen Jackson is the pastor of Faith Christian Church in Simi Valley, CA.  All rights are reserved.