The Rest of the Story

December 27, 2015
The Rest of the Story   NOTES NOT EDITED
Luke 2:40-50

SIS – For most people, the story of Christmas ends when the tree comes down and decorations are put away, but there is more to the story than a baby in a manger.

One of my favorite radio programs growing up was by Paul Harvey the legendary broadcaster.  He would do a bit titled, “The Rest of the Story.”  He would give familiar facts to popular stories and then say, “You’ve heard the news.  In a moment, you are going to hear, The Rest of the Story.”  Then, after a brief promotional pause Paul Harvey would come back to finish the story with a twist that most people could not imagine—like one segment on the identity of the famed London killer, Jack the Ripper, where he pointed out the true identity of that killer that had escaped Scotland Yard for nearly a century—or, had it?

When it comes to Christmas, most people know the basic facts of the story, but few really understand, “The Rest of the Story.”  I want us to read some of that story together this morning.

READ:  Luke 2:40-50

The other day I read a story a man wrote about his grandmother.  The man was a well-known preacher a couple generations ago.  He used this story as an illustration of the folly of trying to survive and thrive without the light of God in your life.

      A preacher’s grandmother moved to the United States from the former Czechoslovakia.  New York city was much different from her small farming community.  One day she tried to cross the street against the red light–meaning the on-coming traffic had the right of way.  She stepped off the curb right into the path of an on-coming bus before her preacher grandson could stop her.  Fortunately, someone grabbed her and pulled her to safety.  After the preacher composed himself and said a silent prayer of thanks, he scolded his grandmother, “Do NOT walk against the light!”  The stubborn old grandmother snapped back, “But, I thought this was a free country!” 

This is the problem, today.  In fact, this is the basic problem of man.  People feel that freedom means they can do anything they want and get away with it.  This attitude is epidemic in the church.  Our nation, our churches, and our families are discovering, however, that it is impossible to survive and thrive in this world if we insist on “walking against the light of God’s love.”

As we will see this morning, there is more to the story of Jesus than “a Baby in a Manger.”  Since most of our lives are lived outside the cradle, we must develop the spiritual qualities that help us survive, and thrive. Too many people feel that “freedom” means being able to do whatever one wants without any negative consequences.  Too many Christians live as if freedom “in” Christ means freedom “from” responsibility.  This view of freedom is not the biblical view.  In the Bible freedom always comes with increased responsibilities.  We are not free to do as we please, but we are free to do what pleases God.  What pleases God is to live for “the mission.”  The mission is simple:  increase the kingdom of God on earth, as it has already been ordained in heaven.  No life more exemplifies living for the mission than the life of Jesus Christ on earth.  His mission is our mission.  That’s the rest of the story.

What spiritual qualities does one need to accomplish the mission God has for one’s life?  In other words, how does one go from the “manger to the mission” or from the “cradle to the cross?”

We enter this world from the warmth and safety of our mother’s womb.  We spend a few months in a cradle, we graduate to a crib, we get our own bed, and then . . . before you know it, we are out in the cruel world of preschool on our own. We need to learn the skills to thrive and survive outside the cradle to keep from being eaten alive by life.  If we do not allow God to set the mission for our life, circumstances sure will.

This reminds me of a story about a little boy. It’s an old story and many of you are familiar with it.  But, it is a good story and illustrates my point.  This little six-grader had just started elementary school.  Not only was he excited about starting school, but he was excited because his Mom told him they were expecting a baby.  Every day he would tell his teacher about the baby brother or sister that was expected at his house. He obviously did not know where the baby was coming from, but he was excited it was on the way.  One day, his mother let him feel the baby move inside her tummy.  The little boy was a bit confused, a little impressed, but he said nothing.  He also stopped talking about the baby that was expected to come to his home.  In fact, he never talked anymore about it with anyone after feeling it move inside his mommy’s tummy

The teacher became curious.  She sat him on her lap and asked, “Tommy, what has become of that baby brother or sister you were expecting?”  Tommy burst into tears and said sobbingly, “I think Mommy ate it!”  Life can be disturbing at times.

Life outside the cradle can be puzzling, or even frightful, but it does not have to be.  As in all things, Jesus shows us how to survive and thrive outside the cradle.  The Bible gives us the light of God to help us navigate across the busy and dangerous intersections of life.   Our text gives us five qualities that are necessary for surviving outside the cradle. 

1.  Fulfilling our mission requires NOURISHMENT

“the child grew.”

      This is the natural process of a healthy life.  To get out of the cradle, we must grow.  To grow we must take in food.  Jesus was not born as an adult, but as a vulnerable, developing baby.  He escaped the cradle in the same way we must escape our spiritual cradle: we must eat.  Jesus took in the nourishment of his mother’s milk, and “he grew.”  

When we are born-again, we are not spiritual adults. We begin in God’s nursery.  We need the “milk of the elementary teachings of God’s Word.”  The Book of Peter explains this need:

(1 Pet 2:2)  Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

We all know that you cannot give a newborn baby solid food, because even if the child didn’t choke, she could not process the food and receive the nourishment she needs to survive.  Babies need milk.  Milk is predigested food. A baby needs someone to feed it predigested food, or milk.  Preferably this is the mother, or perhaps the father giving the baby a bottle.

 

A new Christian must immediately begin feeding on the Word of God, beginning with the most elemental doctrines.  Every new believer in a church should have a sponsor, or mentor, who provides these elemental principles for a period of a few months.  Paul identifies some of these basic teachings as, “baptisms (water and spirit); victory over bad habits; laying on of hands (spiritual giftedness); resurrection, and eternal judgment” to name a few (Heb. 6:1,2).

Too many new church members “skip the milk of the word” and never learn to digest the “meat of the word.” The first characteristic to thriving outside the cradle, is to take in as much of the “milk, and then meat, of the Word” as you can, to develop a strong spiritual foundation.

 

2.  Surviving outside the cradle requires spiritual strength.

he “became strong.”

Too often we measure a man’s strength by what he can DO.  Jesus always measured a man’s true strength by what he what he was able to AVOID doing.  Might does not make right.  We should not always do something just because we can do it and get away with it.  Surviving and thriving outside the cradle requires more than brute force.

Our text suggests that Jesus was a big, healthy, good-looking charismatic man that many people would have willingly followed in rebellion against the Romans.  Many times, they tried to make Jesus their King and try to overthrow the Roman oppressors. Jesus was the kind of man people honored and wanted to be around. He was strong physically, emotionally and spiritually.

      But, the strength of Christ was found in his ability to follow perfectly the will of God no matter what the odds.  The Bible says,

^{John 4:34} “My food is to do the will of Him  who sent Me 
and to finish His work,”

Jesus was driven by His mission.  It was more important than even food.  Where did He get such strength?  To build strong muscles requires exercise. To build strong spiritual muscles also requires exercise.  Like Jesus, we must constantly and consistently discipline our will to conform to the will of God.  Jesus feasted on God’s Word and it gave Him strength to focus on God’s mission.  It gave Him the power to say “no” to the world, and “yes” to God.

Every time we say “no” to the world, and “yes” to the Word, we become stronger.  Likewise, every time we give in to temptation, we lose spiritual muscle tone, and we grow weak.  As I said earlier, if we do not allow God’s Word to set the agenda for our lives, someone or something else will set the agenda.

This is why, for example, I am against any sex education that involves giving children condoms.  It makes them weak, not only in matters of sex, but in every important matter of life that follows after high school.  We need to teach our children that the only proper response to temptation is to “just say NO!”  Every temptation they overcome makes them stronger.  The Word gives us the strength to say no to the temptations of the world and yes to God’s mission.

Jesus became strong by exercising physically and spiritually.

3.  Survival outside the cradle requires WISDOM

he “was filled with wisdom.”

Wisdom is the spiritual skill of applying the facts of God’s Word to specific events and circumstances in the world.  

Here again we have created a major problem in the educational system.  When we allowed our public education to be scrubbed clean of any moral or spiritual base, we created three or four generations of educated idiots, or what C.S. Lewis called, “Men without chests,” in his great work, The Abolition of Man.

A good example of this phenomenon took place a few years or so ago.  A woman “set a new world record” for the most babies delivered: octuplets.  She is now world famous as “Octo Mom!”  Yet, she is more to be pitied than to be envied.  Now, even the medical establishment is questioning the wisdom of this type of “fertility manipulation.”  With all sorts of genetic engineering, cloning, and other technological Frankensteinian projects, people are beginning to question the wisdom of unbridled technology.  Julian Huxley wrote about the evils of unbridled technology in Brave New World, as did Alvin Toffler in Future Shock.

Knowledge is the ability to manipulate facts.  Wisdom is the Godly use of facts and information to bring glory to God and wholeness to man.  Knowledge leads to the creation of Frankenstein.  Wisdom leads to a righteousness that brings blessing.

Without wisdom, man acquires the technological information to build a nuclear bomb, but does not possess the self-control to keep from using it.

Survival outside the cradle requires a Godly wisdom, based upon a complete understanding of God’s Word to know how what to do in a given situation.  Wisdom is “applied knowledge” guided by God’s Word that glorifies God and brings wholeness to man. 

4.  Survival beyond the cradle requires GRACE

“The grace of God was upon Him.”

This is a summary statement about the life of Jesus Christ, and by extension, the life of anyone “upon whom God’s favor rests.”  A Godly person is covered with grace.  Grace is an essential quality of life if we are to survive and thrive outside the cradle.  Grace, more than any other quality, identifies a person as one “upon whom God’s favor rests.”

In Greek, grace and joy are related. They are formed from the same root.  A gracious person is a happy person; a kind person; a person of goodwill; a gifted person; and a grateful person.  Jesus was “smothered” with grace.

The opposite of grace is awkwardness, vulgarity, and harshness.  An ungracious person is someone who must always be right.  Thus, they are not fun to be around and they usually end up with ulcers, and giving ulcers to those that cannot avoid them.  Ungracious people are people who light up a room . . . when they leave it!

God wants to smother us with grace. The Old Testament roots for the concept of grace came from a word meaning, “to bend or stoop,” like one person bending down to help lift someone who has fallen.  Grace is gentle justice—or a “hand-up” to someone in need.

Sir Edward C. Burne-Jones was prominent artist in England over a century ago.  He was a gracious, kind gentleman.  I’ve always liked the story I’m about to tell, but now that I am a grandfather, I think I understand it at a whole new level.  One day he was at the home of his daughter having a formal, English dinner.  As a special treat his young granddaughter was allowed to join them at the table–something uncommon in well-established English homes.  At the table she misbehaved.  Her mother required that she stand in the corner, facing the wall as punishment.  Sir Edward, being a wise grandfather, did not interfere with his granddaughter’s training.  But, he was obviously distressed by the event.

The next morning he arrived at his daughter’s home with paints and a palette.  He went to the wall where his granddaughter had stood in punishment and began to paint wonderful pictures—a kitten chasing its tail; lambs in a field; goldfish swimming.  His paintings were marvelous and brought an aire of delight to the room by painting that corner.  Sir Edward figured that should his granddaughter need correction in the future (and she no doubt would) her punishment would be both effective, and at the same time, pleasant.  That is grace.

God will not let us go without correction—but his correction is tempered with the beautiful artistry of His grace.

God’s grace allows us to leave a beautiful mark even on the most dismal of circumstances.

To thrive and survive outside the cradle, we must be smothered with the grace–the unmerited favor of God. You cannot do anything without God’s favor upon you and flowing through you.

5. For your mission beyond the manger you will need to
    SACRIFICE (Lk. 2:41)

⁴¹ Every year His parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival.  ⁴² When He was 12 years old, they went up according to the custom of the festival.

You will notice your Bible starts a new section with verse 41.  But, a very important aspect of the life of Jesus is revealed by reading verse 41 as continuing verse 40.  Remember, there were no chapters or verses in the Greek manuscripts.  As we continue the discussion of the development of the character of the Lord Jesus Christ we find him at a Jewish festival.  Passover is one of the three mandated festivals Jews were obligated to attend each year.  Notice how the text ties Christmas, the birth of Christ, with Easter time, or the death of Christ represented by Passover. 

The Feast of Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles were all mandated activities for Jewish families.  If a family was too poor to attend all three, Passover was the most important for it commemorated the most important event in the lives of the Jews—being freed from slavery in Egypt.  Passover was also a prophetic foreshadowing of Jesus dying to free us from slavery to sin.

The key component in the character of Jesus can be summed up in one word, “sacrifice.” His family dutifully sacrificed to get Jesus to the Jewish festivals.  Jesus lived a disciplined life of extreme sacrifice, and died as the ultimate sacrifice.  Christmas loses its foundational meaning if the birth of Christ is separated from His mission to die as a once-for-all sacrifice for all mankind.  You cannot separate the manger of Christ from the mission of Christ without gutting Christmas of its true meaning.  Christmas is about sacrifice.  Jesus’ sacrificed all the glory of heaven to come to earth.  His birth in a lowly manger, His life as an itinerant preacher, and His death on the cross all show the great sacrifice God made so we could have eternal life.

Sacrifice and death are not ideas usually associated with Christmas, but Luke associates them here by continuing the nativity story into the Passover season.  Sacrifice is far too disturbing a concept for people to think much about, especially during Christmas.  But, as the Star of Bethlehem shone over the manger it cast the shadow of the cross.

As believers, we cannot fulfill our mission without a great deal of sacrifice:  of our time, our talents, and our treasures.  A missionary in Brazil visited a market on a religious holiday.  In one shop’s window was a sign advertising, “Cheap crosses for sale.”  There are not cheap crosses for the Christian.  Many would like a Christianity without the emphasis on Christ’s death and sacrifice, but a Christianity with a “cheap cross” is not true Christianity.  It is a lie—the worst kind of lie.

Our salvation cost the Lord Jesus Christ absolutely everything He had and everything He was to complete His mission.  For that mission to continue through us, it will cost us all we have as well.

It is so sad . . . that so many Christians stop at Christmas.  They leave Jesus in the cradle and crawl in with him.  They never develop the skills and character qualities to survive and thrive outside the cradle.  This coming year, follow Jesus’ example ---- GROW UP!  

This will require spiritual nourishment; exercising spiritual muscles; developing wisdom; being smothered with grace; and making great sacrifices of our time, talents, and treasures.

You can—and you must—fulfill God’s mission for your life.  But just like Jesus, you have to GROW UP!  There is more to the story of Christmas than great songs, glittering lights and gifts under a tree--much more!  There is an example of what a life fully devoted to God looks like--the life Jesus lived and the life He gave so we might live eternally.  Don't pack up God and put Him away until next year.  Live like Jesus!