Don't Let The Grinch Steal Love

December 4, 2016       NOTES NOT EDITED
Don’t Let the Grinch Steal Love
Selected Texts

SIS: I’ve said this many times throughout a life-time of preaching, “the Bible story, the Christmas story, is essentially a love story.

Recently, a famous psychologist who makes a living as a “Life Coach” was asked, “Why is there so much hate in the world?”  Well, this person has a Ph.D. so one would expect a very profound, perhaps difficult to decipher, answer.  This Dr. of Psychology answered the question, “Why is there so much hate in the world,” with this statement:  “Because there is not enough love.”

This is perhaps not the answer one would expect from a 21^st Century Life Coach with a Ph.D.  In fact, it is not even an original answer.  Fifty-one years ago a balladeer by the name of Burt Bacharach pointed this fact out in a song titled, “What the World Needs Now Is Love.”

Burt Bacharach wrote this song originally sung by Jackie DeShannon in 1965.  It rose to number 7 on the Hot 100 chart. That song has now been sung or recorded by over 100 separate artists from Judy Garland to Cold Play. It has appeared in the sound tracks of several movies including, Forrest Gump.  Kree Harrison even covered the song on the 12th season of American Idol in 2013.

Fifty years after being given birth by Bacharach, the lines, “What the world needs now is love sweet love. It’s the only thing only thing that there’s just too little of . . . “ have become iconic in our culture. Though not as enduring as “To be or not to be,” Bacharach’s lyrics have proven to have a Shakespearean quality to them sustaining over a half century presence in the music world. This is ironic considering that Bacharach has been quoted as having very little confidence in this song.

Whether the words come from a Life Coach with a  Ph.d. or a musician with a piano, the fact remains, “There is so much hate in the world because there is not enough love.” 

I know that long quotes tend to put audiences to sleep, but I’m going to risk it to offer some of the most powerful words on the power of love outside of the Bible.  A man who changed the world without an act of violence was Martin Luther King, Jr.  He said:

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,

begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.

Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.

Through violence you may murder the liar,

but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.

Through violence you may murder the hater,

but you do not murder hate.

In fact, violence merely increases hate.  So it goes.

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,

adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness:

only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Nothing could be more true than the statement, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love; it’s the only thing there’s just too little of.”  There are many “Grinches” that can steal love from our lives.  Hatred is a big one.  Bitterness follows close behind.  Pride can be a Grinch that steals our love.  Self-centeredness is a close cousin of pride and can steal our love.  One big Grinch that steals a lot of love from our lives is “circumstance.”  The circumstances of life can be so difficult, so heavy, so disheartening that love gets smothered.

Circumstance is a different kind of Grinch from hatred, pride, bitterness, self-centeredness or other such negative attitudes.  These negative attitudes are different because, we have power to change them.  Through the Indwelling Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christmas, we can kick these negative attitudes our of our lives.  This is not always the case with the Grinch of Circumstances.  We do not always have the power to change our situations.  In fact, we seldom have the power to do much about present circumstances.

However, we can still prevent the Grinch of Circumstance from stealing our love.  Life does not have to be perfect to be blessed.  We can choose to love and be loved regardless of our circumstances.  It won’t be easy, but it is possible.  It is necessary to our well-being.

Love is powerful.  In fact, it is ultimately powerful.  It is so powerful, the Bible tells us:  “Love never fails!”  (1Cor.  ).  Never.  That’s powerful.  As we read the Christmas Story this morning, let us note carefully that the Christmas Story is ultimately a “love” story. 

READ   .

1.  We need more love in our FAMILIES

We must remember, the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus were far from ideal.  This family faced struggles from the very beginning.  Let me remind you of the circumstances that brought this birth about.  Turn with me to Matthew 1:18-25:

{18) This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. {19} Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. {20} But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. {21} She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." {22} All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: {23} "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us." {24} When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. {25} But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Joseph, a godly and pious young man in the kingly line of David found himself in a very difficult circumstance.  He had already become engaged to Mary, a poor but pious Jewish teen.  According to Jewish law the engagement was as binding as the marriage itself.  To break an engagement was no less difficult than divorce.  For all practical purposes–legal and moral–Joseph and Mary were husband and wife.  They just had not had sexual relations yet.  The story unfolded something like this:

Mary said, “Joseph, I have something very important–and very strange to tell you.  Please hear me out.  Please don’t get angry.”  Every thing we see of Joseph in the Word of God (which is not much) indicates that he was a very kind and gentle man. Joseph replied, “Yes, dear.  What is on your heart?  You can tell me anything.  I love you more than life itself.”  Mary continued, “I’m pregnant.  But, it’s not what you think!  I’ve not been unfaithful.  I’m still a virgin.  This is God’s child.  It’s a miracle.”

Well, obviously this was more than Joseph could swallow. He didn’t believe her, but he loved her.  He forgave her (even though later he would learn there was nothing to forgive).  Joseph was quietly going to walk away from the engagement . . . until that is . . . God spoke to him.  Joseph, being a godly man, heeded his Lord and did as he was told.  He took Mary to be his wife, and he raised Jesus as his beloved stepson.

But, that did not end the difficulties of this young family. This poor couple were summoned to an IRS audit.   At the height of her pregnancy they had to travel many  miles from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to pay taxes.   On the outskirts of Jerusalem Mary started labor.  Imagine this ladies: Mary went through labor on the back of a donkey (I know, it does not say she rode a donkey, but that was the typical means of travel).  They get to Jerusalem.  No rooms are available.  Joseph is forced to lay his pregnant beloved on a mattress of straw in a chilly, dark stable.  It was a hard night for Mary and Joseph.  But, they had placed their trust in God.  It would be alright.

The marriage got off to a rocky start, but the birth of Jesus brought the family together.

Christmas is about the love in our families.

2.  We Need More Love in Our COMMUNITIES

{8} And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. {9} An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. {10} But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. {11} Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. {12} This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." {13} Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, {14} "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." {15} When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." {16} So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

The shepherds were outcasts in the community.  They were never invited to anything.  They were dirty and smelly, and people thought them to be thieves and untrustworthy.  One of the great ironies of the season is that the shepherds were probably tending the sheep, many of which would be used in the spring sacrifices in the temple, but because of their duties tending the sacrificial sheep they were considered unclean.  They became outcasts by serving the in class. 

We see the same thing today.  We are not a classLESS society.  We have the in crowd and the outcasts in our community right here.  Certain classes of people receive certain treatment because of who they are . . . maybe because of their last name, where they live, or what kind of car they drive.  Others are outcasts.  They come from the other side of the tracks so to speak.

Look at churches.  Someone has said that the most segregated hour in the United States is between 11:00 and Noon while churches are meeting.   The most notable segregation in American church life has to do with race.  But this is not the only segregation we see.  Even in a church as small as 100 people you can see how divided they can be.  There is this group and that.  Young against old.  Hymn-singers versus praise singers.  Up-towners versus down-towners.  The ins versus the outs.  The Scrooges versus the Cratchets.

Jesus was born and died to shatter differences between people.  The Bible says:

(Gal 3:28)  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Just like the first Christmas, there will be those who are up and in this Christmas, and those who are down and out.  In fact, that is the very tradition of Santa Claus.  Some of the more “holier-than-thou” people in the Christian community look down on people who include Santa Claus in the Christmas celebration.  This view is not justified.  The American tradition for Santa Claus comes from the Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (now New York).  These people left their homeland to find religious freedom in America–as with the rest of the colonies.  They brought with them Sint Klaas, their version of a very old Christian tradition dating back to the year 350 A.D. 

Sint Klaas, as the Dutch called him, was the Greek bishop of Myra (now modern Turkey).  His name was Hagios Nikolaos, or Saint Nicholas.  A very old legend, or story tells us that Saint Nicholas heard of a man with three daughters.  The man was very poor and could not afford to pay his daughters “dowry,” (the cost of getting married).  The poor man agonizingly had decided to sell one daughter into prostitution to pay the dowries of the other two.  The Bishop of Myra heard of the man’s plight and secretly left three bags of gold in the man’s house.  The story grew to legendary size by saying that the kindly bishop, Saint Nicholas climbed on the roof and dropped the gold down the chimney, one bag falling into each of the girl’s stockings that were drying on the fireplace.  Other traditions have been added over the years, most just fantasy and fun, but they spirit of love and generosity associated with Saint Nicholas, the bishop of Myra, is still alive in Christmas celebration.  Communities still come together at Christmas to help one another.  The love of God born on that first Christmas day brings communities together like nothing else.

One of the most familiar traditions of Christmas in America is the sound of a ringing bell and the red kettle of the Salvation Army collecting coins and cash for the less fortunate.   For me and my family, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without these bell-ringers and kettles.

The beauty of Christmas is that the love of God seems especially strong during Christmas time.  Christmas brings the community together.  People are filled with good will, especially for those less fortunate.  How blessed it is to place money in the familiar red kettle of the Salvation Army.  People will gather at church, many of which never darken the church doors at any other time.  Outsiders will attend church services to watch children and grandchildren act out the story of Christmas.  Cities will sponsor community-wide events, like light parades that will draw many people together who normally never cross paths. 

Christmas is about the love in our communities.

Christmas puts a special mist of love in the air that draws a community together.  Oh, if we could only capture and bottle a bit of that love for the rest of the year.  The birth of Jesus touched the hearts of the lonely shepherds on the Bethlehem hill and brought them to worship together in a lowly stable.  What a wonder!  What a gift!

The love born on Christmas day brings families together. The love born on Christmas day brings communities together.

3.  We need more love in our NATION           (Mt. 2:1-2)

(Mat 2:1-2)  After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem {2} and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

How far can the love of God reach?  It is long enough to stretch all around the Globe.  It is deep enough to reach the most forgotten people in the most poverty-stricken nations of the world.  The love of God is high enough to transcend language and cultural barriers.  Just think of the tradition of Santa Claus to illustrate the universal appeal of Christmas.  There is a “Santa Claus” tradition in nearly every nation of the Globe.  In Spain, children leave their shoes

under the Christmas tree on December 24^th in hopes Papa Noel will fill them with gifts.  In JAPAN he is called, “Santa no ojisan” or “Uncle Santa.”  In Italy they call him, “Belfana, or Babbo Natale.”  In SWEDEN, Jultomten comes on the eve of the blessed birth pulling a large bag of “julklappar” (gifts) in the deep snow.  He is “Pa Norsk” blesses the people of Norway.  “Joulupukki” brings gifts in Finland.  In Russia, he is “ded moroz” or Grandfather Frost.

My point is: the birth of Christ impacts the entire world.  It brings men together from a far, just like it brought the Wise Men many, many miles over treacherous desert that first Christmas. 

I remember Christmas years ago when the awful fighting of the Viet Nam war was constantly on the T.V.  Killing, bombing, strife were the order of the day.   But, I remember what happened at Christmas time several years during the war.  There were “cease-fires,” or at least talks of cease-fires, during the Christmas season.  The love of God born at Christmas has the power to stop wars and bring people together from every corner of the globe.  The strongest nation is not the one with the biggest military.  The strongest nation is the one with the biggest heart. 

It is fitting that in our church we take up a special love offering for foreign, or international missions.  We are concerned about lost people regardless of what nation they may be in.

Christmas is about the love of, and through, our nation.  But, the most important aspect of love in the Christmas story is:

4.  God’s love for SINNERS  (Jn. 3:16)

This is really what Christmas is all about . . .  (John 3:16)  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The word love is occurs over 232 times in the New Testament. By comparison, the word, “riches” occurs on 17.  “Happy, or blessed” occurs only 71 times.  There is no doubt from reading the New Testament that the most important lesson we can learn from Christmas is: God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives.  The birth of Christ brings God and sinners together in love.

(Rom 5:8)  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We give and get many gifts at Christmas time from people.  But, the greatest gift we could ever receive is eternal life through Jesus Christ God’s son.

Jesus did not stay in the manger.  The tiny bed of hay could not hold the love of God forever.  Jesus grew.  He followed the path set out for him from before the beginning of time.  Jesus left his tiny village at the age of 30 and headed for his destiny: an old rugged cross outside the city of Jerusalem.  There on that lonely hill called “The Skull” the most precious gift ever given would be unwrapped.  There, Jesus would die in the place of sinners–the just for the unjust, the righteous for the unrighteous–so that we could have eternal life.

Christmas contains Easter.  Jesus was born to die.  We all are born to die, of course, but Jesus was born to die in a specific way for a very specific reason.  Jesus was born to die so that by His death, we could be born-again.  That’s the essence of Christmas.  God loves us so much, He was willing to take on human flesh and die in our place on the cross. 

There is no greater love than the love God has for sinners like you and I. 

Christmas is a love story.  Burt Bacharach said it well, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love; it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”  We could use more love in our families, in our communities, in our nation, and especially more love demonstrated by sharing the saving message of God with sinners.

For God loved Jack so very much that He came as a babe in a manger, grew to a man in Nazareth, preached in villages and hamlets throughout the Holy Land, died on a lonely hill outside Jerusalem, and rose again after three days. 

God loved me.  God died for me.  God reconciled me to Himself.  This is what Christmas is all about, and the theme of the first Christmas carol ever sung (if in fact they sang):

Hark! The Herald angels sing, “Glory to the new born king.” Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.

Christmas is a love story.  Love among family members.  Love in communities.  Love demonstrated among nations.  And, especially the love of God demonstrated toward sinners.  But, love is a hard thing to hold onto sometimes.  The Grinch of Circumstance would love to steal it from us.  We must hold tightly to the love of God and share it abundantly in our families, our communities, or nation, and to every sinner that will stop long enough to let us share God’s “Love Story.”

Like you, I have fond memories of Christmases past.  Memories of lights glistening on the soft snow outside my window. Memories of gently unpacking treasured ornaments for the tree from boxes stuffed away in storage for a year, and decorating the tree as a family.  I remember gifts under the tree.  I remember the sleepless Christmas eve nights that seemed at least 48 hours long.  I remember Christmas dinner with my family.  I remember relatives coming and going.  I remember a 1000 different sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas–but more than anything else–I remember that Christmas was about Christ!  I’ve always known this, but I’ve come to appreciate it more as years go by.

We can get by without receiving all the gifts we receive, whether they be one or many.  But, we can never get by without love.  Christmas is a “love story,” and we all are invited to be a part of that story.