A REPRINT FROM AN ARTICLE BY Chris Surber
Scripture:
Luke 11:24-12:23
Matthew
1:21
Mark
11:1-11:10
If
we want Christmas preaching to matter, we've got to preach like Christmas
matters.
I
am tired of preaching about the birth of Jesus. I’m tired of little silly
manger statues. Most of all, I’m sick of
blessing trees and cleaning candle wax off the carpet after the Christmas Eve
candlelight service. In fact, this year I’d rather skip Advent, forego
Christmas altogether, forget about the ascension, and head right for Easter.
How many times can one man really breathe life into sermons whose titles are
based on the themes from leftover bulletin covers from the back of the church
secretary's office?
Why
bother? Aren’t those in the pews numb to the birth story anyway? Even most
unbelievers know the basics of the story. Year in and year out we sing the same
songs and spend countless hours preparing children’s plays and practicing
cantatas. Preaching the birth of Jesus can easily become just another part of
the routine of doing church. Preachers and church members alike become so
familiar with the birth narrative of Jesus that we fail to recall its
importance in the life of Christ and the life that Christ gives. We abdicate
Advent because we are too familiar with the terms. We muddle the message with a
halfhearted attitude.
We’ve
got to resurrect Christmas. If we want Christmas preaching to matter, we’ve got
to preach like Christmas matters. We’ve got to move beyond sentimentalism,
holiday tradition and stockings into proclaiming the glory of God in Christ.
Before we can do that, we’ve got to recognize the core of the problem.
Preaching at Christmas becomes dull and lifeless because:
1.
We are too familiar with the terms.
2.
We are too familiar with the story.
3.
We have forgotten the importance of the incarnation.
4.
We have forgotten the importance of His coming.
It
has, of course, been said that familiarity breeds contempt. In this case, it
breeds callousness to the message. We must preach the birth of Jesus with
insight, passion and vigor, because the very opposite of our calloused
assumptions about Christmas is true. We need to preach the Christmas message
with passion and vigor because:
1. The terms are preposterous!
We
are so familiar with the terms that we forget the claims of the incarnation are
outrageous. At Christmas we use terms like "incarnation" and "virgin
birth." God becoming man is a ridiculous notion. It can only be understood
by the spiritual mind. As such, we have an obligation—no, we are privileged—to
stand in front of our people, visitors, friends, family and infrequent
attenders and proclaim the biblical truth that God has walked among men ... and
His salvation presently beckons them to come.
If
a young woman from the Galilee region of northern Israel was found to be
pregnant as a virgin, the news media and modern science would explode with interest.
Yet we stand in front of people every Christmas season and speak of Mary as
though her pregnancy with Jesus is just an appendage to the story, like some
kind of footnote to the real story of twelve tiny reindeer. God dwelt in Mary’s
womb. How can the ludicrousness of that statement—coupled with the fact that it
is true—not rouse passion for preaching Christmas? God, as though He were the
ocean, poured Himself into the thimble of a young virgin’s womb.
2. The story is astonishing!
There
is really nothing mundane about the biblical account of the incarnation, the
virgin birth or the Christ child. Even on a literary level, this is just plain
good stuff. From the claim of pregnancy with no father on the part of a
betrothed girl, to an angel visiting the skeptical hurting betrothed husband to
assure him, to the wise men following the signaling of an astrological
phenomenon to come worship the baby, the story is filled with emotion,
intrigue, plotting and scandal. Let’s not forget that Herod lied to the wise
men and wanted the baby killed. The story has all of the makings for the next
great television mini-series drama. If presented on its own terms, there’s
nothing here to put people to sleep.
3. The incarnation is the basis for our entire faith!
We
have the audacity to preach the quiet crashing of God into human flesh as
though we were talking about a man putting his hand into a glove. Saint
Augustine of Hippo wrote, “Filling the world he lies in a manger.” To say that
God became Jesus of Nazareth is a bit like saying that Genghis Khan was a
fairly influential politician. God crashed into human history through the birth
pains of a virgin girl in an obscure village near the Sea of Galilee. But,
don’t be mistaken, in that manger the glory of the Creator of the very universe
upon which the Sea of Galilee sits like an infinitesimal speck of dust on a
space ship was wrapped up in a baby boy.
4. The importance of Christ coming cannot possibly be
overstated!
The
story of the incarnation isn’t a story. It is the central theme of God’s
salvation to humanity and His outworking of making Himself known to His
creation. We need Christmas the way flood victims need rescue workers.
Christmas is a time for celebration in an infinitely greater manner than the
celebration of a dozen trapped mine workers upon being rescued after ten days
in the dark.
The
coming of Christ is chief among all doctrines of the Church because it is the
foundation of the Church. Speaking to the disciples, Jesus said, “I will build
my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”(Matthew 16:18b
ESV). The incarnation of God the Son means everything to the church. Christ’s
coming means that we who are called according to His purpose through faith in
the Song of God have a means of present grace, a worthwhile purpose in this
life, an eternal hope and a glorious future.
Thank
God that He has given us so wondrous a salvation as this, that apart from the
gift of faith we could never—would never—be able to believe it. The Gospel is
the message that Jesus, a man from the little town of Nazareth who had a mother
but no earthly father, is the Savior of the world? That claim is as outrageous
as it is true. It’s crazy. Apart from the gift of faith, it takes a fool to
believe it. Yet that is how the Architect of the universe has chosen to
construct the salvation of mankind.
We
who are called to proclaim the truth of that message can’t allow it to become
so commonplace that we lose passion for familiarity with the terms and the
story. We can’t forget the importance of the incarnation or of His coming or
allow the people to whom we preach to do the same.
We’ve
got to resurrect Christmas, because the power of the resurrection is only
available to those who understand the incarnation.
