After a great weekend at the Illinois Christian Teen Convention, I have all sorts of things running through my head. Ideas about improving it for next year, thoughts from the speaker - Jim Johnson, questions about the current state about the youth checking account balance... but today it is all about some brief ruminations of scripture since it is a Sunday.
I will be preaching the Sunday before Christmas and found out that will be THE "Christmas" Sunday, so my topic is pretty much predetermined. The question for me though, is how to make this sermon more than just story-telling time. I think that the story of Christ's birth is pretty much universally known at this point, but it seems that the relevance of this birth is still a bit sketchy in the minds of many.
Much of the spiritual discussion of this season is related the commercialization of Christmas. Any conservative Christian worth their salt know that Jesus is the reason for the season and probably has that inscribed on some seasonal decoration in or around their home.
Yes, indeed, Jesus is the reason for the season, but so what?
That my seem crass, but stick with me here. Answer that question.
Most people would answer that with something like this: "Jesus went on to die for our sins and be resurrected three days later." Yup sure did. That's Good Friday and Easter. This is Christmas. Do we celebrate Christmas simply because Jesus' birth later allowed him to die for us? I think no.
The Gospel, the Good News, isn't just about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; it involves his birth and life as well.
The incarnation of Christ is a hugely important part of the story. Jesus didn't just die for us, he lived for us. He served not only as a sacrifice, but as an example. He is not merely our Savior, He is our Lord.
The life of Christ was recorded in scripture for a reason. Yes, his death and resurrection are important, but so is his life. What happens when WE die is important, but so are our lives. Scripture abounds with statements about the significance of our actions.
Let me simplify it (maybe too much) in this way: grace will take care of how we die, discipleship must steer how we live. We are saved by grace, not through acts. No amount of righteous living will get anyone to paradise, but I say it again - how we live is vital. Faith without works is dead. They will know you are my disciples if you love one another. I could go on, but that would be excessive - the point is established.
All too often we look past Christmas all the way to Easter and devalue the exemplary life Christ lived. If Easter is the source of our hope for the future, Christmas is the source of our inspiration for today.
That is the gist of my sermon for December 19th, so if you go to ACC here, you've got the main point of the morning message. You could skip church. Well, at least you could if, in reading the blog, you also missed the point of the blog.
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