After Christmas--A New Year

December 30, 2018                   NOTES NOT EDITED

The After Christmas Santa 

Psalm 16:8-11

SIS—God has greater gifts for 2019 than what Santa brought in 2018.

           

Well, Christmas has come and gone.  Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?  Have you braved the mobs at the mall for the “after-Christmas sales” to get in on the great bargains?  What if I told you that Santa Claus decided to do it all over again?  What if I told you that you could still ask for and get what you wanted for Christmas?  Here we are on the doorstep of a “New Year.”  If you could have what you wanted for the New Year – if you could climb up on old Santa’s lap for another go ‘round, what would you ask for.  Our text this morning has some great suggestions for a New Year’s Wish list. 

Our text, Psalm 16, was one of the most popular psalms of the apostles.  Peter quoted from it at Pentecost, as an Old Testament promise of the resurrection (Ac 2:25-31).  Paul also quotes it in the Book of Acts for the same reason (13:35).  Why was this psalm so popular?  Simply stated, it addresses the deepest needs of human kind: the need for stability, confidence, and companionship.  Let’s read that Psalm together beginning in verse 8:

⁸ I keep the Lord in mind  always.  Because He is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken. ⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my spirit rejoices; my body also rests securely. ¹⁰ For You will not abandon me to Sheol; You will not allow Your Faithful One to see decay.  ¹¹ You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures.

This Psalm addresses three important human needs. They are a “wish list” of sorts for the New Year.    I want to ask you four important questions as you think about what you want for the New Year.

1.  First, would you like the STABILITY that God offers?  (V 8)

⁸ I keep the Lord in mind  always. 
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken

Over four decades ago Alvin Toffler wrote a disturbing and insightful book about the future entitled, Future Shock.  Toffler foresaw many of the technological and political events that are taking place today–most of which are foreboding and not so good.  Toffler envisioned a world in chaos from changes taking place at breakneck speed.  Toffler envisioned a global community that would be in economic and political turmoil.  Toffler predicted the pressures that such great change would bring on individuals.  In light of the tremendous turmoil and change that he saw coming, Toffler suggested that people would need “stability zones” in their lives to face the tremendous changes.

But, perhaps three millennia before Toffler, the Psalmist had already predicted man’s need for the stability God offers. The Psalmist realized the need for a level place in life that offered rest.  The words, “I keep” (I have set, NIV) means to “make level or even.”

In this bumpy rollercoaster ride we call life, we need “level spaces” where we can catch our breath and reorient our lives.  We are like a delicate Grandfather Clock that will not run unless it is even and level.  I was reading about a family that purchased just such a clock.  It was expensive and majestic, but it would not keep the correct time.  In frustration, the father did what all good father’s do when a new item won’t work—he took out the instructions and read them.  The instructions said, “You must level the clock before it will run.”  It took the father three months to level the clock so that it would keep the right time.

A level, even, balanced relationship with God provides the stability that allows our lives to run properly.  Some of your lives are not running properly because your relationship with God is “out of balance.”  Your commitment to God is not level and even, so your life does not run right.

When problems or crises come, and the waves of life crush in upon your life, an even relationship with God will provide stability, so that you will not be shaken and sunk.

            I ask you, would you like the stability God offers?

2.  Second, would you like the confidence God provides (v9)

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my spirit rejoices;

my body also rests securely.

How confident are you about the future?  Stability is who you are; confidence relates to how you operate.

We live in a world teetering on the brink of disaster.  Congress and the President seem content to hit the accelerator as we approach the “Fiscal Cliff.”  Nobody is quite sure what disasters are waiting for the U.S. at this “Cliff,” but I can’t imagine it will be good.  Our nation’s economy is shakier than Grandma on a skateboard.  The Stockmarket looks like a roller-coaster ride at Six Flags.

Globally, the situation is no better.  India, Pakistan and Iran continue rattling their sabers – their NUCLEAR SABERS.  North Korea remains a nuclear threat to the world.  We cannot afford to hide our head in the sand.  We must face the day before us.  Are you ready?  Are you confident?  Does your confidence lead to joy and gladness, as did the Psalmist’s? Even if you could hear death at your doorstep – are you confident?  The Psalmist said,

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my spirit rejoices; my body also rests securely. ¹⁰ For You will not abandon me to Sheol; You will not allow Your Faithful One to see decay.

The Psalmist looked into his future and faced the greatest enemy a mortal can face–death.  For the Jews, death was a dark and unconscious sleep in a place called Sheol.  For a Jew the worst possible outcome in the face of death was to be “Forgotten by God.”  Yet, this Jew, the Psalmist was confident that even in Sheol, God would remember him.  When life presses in upon you through sickness, sadness, or perhaps the thought of death, would you like the confidence that God provides?

When your financial situation is not what you wished it were and you find it harder and harder to make ends meet, are you confident that God will not forget you?  When your children stray off the path you wish for them, are you confident God will not forget you?  When you and your spouse sailing rough seas, are you confident that God will not forget you?

Job, the Patriarch was confident God would remember him.

(Job 19:23-25)  ²³ I wish that my words were written down,

that they were recorded on a scroll ²⁴ or were inscribed in stone forever by an iron stylus and lead! ²⁵ But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust  at last.

Job had lost everything, family, money, and health. But, in all of his loss, he found confidence in God.  Paul, the Apostle, was confident God would not forget.

(Phil 1:6)  ⁶ I am sure of this, (“being confident,” NIV) that He who started a good work  in you  will carry it on to completion  until the day of Christ Jesus.

“Being confident” is a very important concept in the Word of God, especially as Paul viewed it.  The way Paul phrased this verse as the Holy Spirit impressed upon his heart is very significant.  Literally it means, “I was once persuaded to trust God and God continues to persuade me daily, and will always persuade me in the future that I can trust Him fully.”

One of the greatest coaches to every walk on a college football field was Lou Holtz of the Arkansas Razorbacks.  One time he made this comment: “I have a lifetime contract.  That means I can’t be fired  [part way] through the game if we’re ahead and moving the ball!”  Holtz was never fired because he always seemed to perform.  He was confident because of His performance.  It made him a great coach, but confidence based upon performance will never cut it eternally.

Our confidence is in God.  It is resolute and absolute.  Our trust in God can provide the kind of confidence that even death, itself, cannot shake.  Have you ever watched a superhero on TV.  They take every thing the enemy can fire, and they just keep on moving forward.  They cannot be shaken or stopped.  That’s the kind of confidence that faith in God provides.

Confidence is the primary ingredient to success. Confidence feeds the imagination and breeds ingenuity.  Nothing ever happens of great value until someone is confident enough to try–to step out on thin ice, or break new ground.  Without confidence, we cannot breed great leaders because the fear of failure will stymy creativity and stop ingenuity. 

All great achievers, whether in sports, medicine, or industry have one thing in common:  a I-believe-I-can attitude.

You will never succeed unless your heart has a confident connection with God.  Then, you must avoid short-circuiting that confidence you feel in your heart by allowing your lips to commit treason.

Verse 9 tells us that confidence affects the tongue,  ⁹and my tongue rejoices.  (LXX has “tongue.”  Peter quotes this in Acts 2:25ff).

           

It is treason for any professing Christian to use the words,  “I can’t.” The Bible teaches us the opposite.  It says, “I CAN do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:13)

Not only can you have stability and confidence . . .

3.  Would you like the companionship God offers?  (V10)

¹⁰you will not abandon me.

Have you ever been lonely?  Are you lonely now? When everyone else was enjoying the festivities of the Christmas season, did you feel like an old discarded shoe?  If you have ever felt loneliness, you know how painful it can be.  To feel abandoned causes great distress and fear. 

A few years ago, a doctor was asked what he thought was the most devastating disease facing people today?  His answer was startling.  He said, “Loneliness.”  Despite the fact that we are most often surrounded by crowds, even on the freeway; and, despite the fact that most people live in neighborhoods and communities, the number one disease facing people, according to that doctor, is loneliness.

God made us to be social creatures.  He, Himself, said: “It is not good for man to be alone.”  God created us to have fellowship with Him and with others.  God created us for companionship.

I remember reading a very touching story. A man had decided to visit his older brother.  His older brother lived alone.  He had few, if any friends.  He was wealthy and lonely.  While visiting the younger brother ran short of cash and borrowed 50 bucks.  He was going to pay it back 5 dollars a week after he got home.  Every week the younger brother wrote a nice letter to his lonely older brother and put in a check for 5 dollars.  The older brother wrote and said how much he enjoyed getting the letters (he never mentioned the money).  The younger brother had never written much before.  This went on for 10 weeks until the last letter and check for 5 bucks was mailed.  The week after that check was mailed the younger brother received an envelope from his older brother: in it was a check for 50 bucks! The older brother did not need the money – he needed the company!

We NEED the companionship of God.  The companionship of others is also of great benefit, but if you put your trust in human relationships alone, you will be hurt.  Wise Old Solomon understood this.  He said,

(Prov 18:24)  ²⁴ A man with many friends may be harmed,

but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.

That friend that sticks closer than a brother is Jesus. As we sit on the portal of a New Year peering off into the distance at the unknown circumstances of life, would you like the companionship that God offers through Jesus Christ, His Son?  Would you like to have Jesus as your BFF!  for 2019 and the rest of eternity?

Life is a sweeter journey when we have a close companion to hold our hand.  It is sweetEST when that Hand is Jesus!

Would you like the companionship that faith in God offers.

As you face the New Year, full of uncertainties and full of promise, what would you like?  Would you like the stability faith in God offers?  Would you like the confidence faith in God offers?  Would you like the companionship that faith in God offers?  If your answer is “yes,” then I have a final question to ask you. 

4.  Would you embrace fully God’s purpose for your life? (v 11)

(Psa 16:11)  ¹¹ You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures

Most people would like to add more days to their lives.  What the Bible describes as prosperity is to add “more life to our days.”  That is, we must pursue the purpose for which God designed us.  So few people ever find their true purpose in life.

Purpose requires responsibility.  I read a meme (info post on FaceBook) this week that said, “A disciple is someone who has moved from being the recipient of the church’s mission to being responsible for the church’s mission.  That is every believer’s purpose in life—however varied the means might be for carrying it out.

The phrase “path of life” refers to the coming of a new existence.  It was a phrase used to designate the coming of the seasons, especially the coming of spring.  It is a phrase implying newness and freshness and effectiveness.  I cannot tell you exactly how your purpose in life works out, but I can tell you what it is NOT.  Your purpose is NOT to pursue fame; it is NOT to pursue fortunes; it is NOT to pursue pleasures.  Your purpose is to pursue God passionately.  How one does this comes in a myriad of ways, but God is always at the center.

The Path of Life refers to the way of wisdom and righteousness as opposed to the “Forbidden Woman” that represents sin and folly.  Proverbs 5:3-6 says,

³ Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are  smoother than oil, ⁴ in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps head straight for Sheol. ⁶ She doesn’t consider the path of life; she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.

I remember taking many vacations and road trips as a kid.  One of the most important items secured in preparation for the trip was a “road map.”  This was before smart phones and GPS.  Dad would first of all pinpoint the destination and circle it.  Then, he would trace the preferred route to get to our destination.  We always got to where we planned – though with five kids and the uncertainties of life, there was a few detours now and then.

God has a purpose for our lives – a path marked out for us that will get us to the Destination of Blessing, and finally, Heaven’s shores.  You will never discover blessing until you get on the path of life God has for you and beginning fulfilling God’s purpose for your life.  The ancient Saint Augustine once declared the same thing as the Psalmist,

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."

CLOSE:  Have you noticed that the Old Year is always depicted in imagery as an Old Man close to death,  while the New Year is always pictured as a baby, full of life?  A baby has the promise of a full rich life ahead.  The New Year holds the promise of stability, confidence, and companionship.  The New Year promises “fullness of joy and eternal pleasures” if you would embrace fully the plan and purpose for your life.

Why not climb back up on Santa’s lap – that is the lap of Jesus –and tell Him what you want for the New Year.  Jesus is not only the child of Christmas – Jesus is the “After Christmas Santa.”

There is no better time than today, and no better place than here, to embrace fully God’s plan and path for your life.  It is a plan and path that will “fill you with joy and eternal pleasures” – stability, confidence and companionship.

Christmas isn’t about a “day,” but it is about a relationship with God through Jesus Christ that brings new gifts every day.  Santa may go back to the North Pole, but we can let Jesus be our North Star to guide us each day of this New Year.

Advent 2018: Joy

December 23, 2018                               NOTES NOT EDITED

Advent 2018—It’s a Wonderful Joy

Matthew 2:1-12

SIS--  Each of us determines our level of joy in life.

“Joy” is not a feeling.  It’s not even an attitude.  It doesn’t depend on circumstances.  Joy is a “decision.”  It is a decision to experience God by accepting Him for Who He is:  the Messiah.  The Savior.  The Deliverer. 

Joy is really all about “anticipation.”  Joy is a decision to live today in hopeful anticipation of a great reward tomorrow.  Just like the anticipation of a child on Christmas Eve.  The anticipation is so great it consumes all other thoughts.  That “joy.”  A decision to live today in great anticipation of a reward tomorrow. 

One ancient writer called joy, “being in self-transport” as on a journey anticipating one’s arrival at a glorious destination.

People miss the true joy of Christmas because they seek the wrong thing, look in the wrong places, and respond in the wrong way.  The Christmas story demonstrates how to experience true joy every day for all eternity.  Let’s read the story of Christmas together.  We can never read it too many times.

MATTHEW 2:1-12

Now, here’s the part of that story we want to focus on this morning, the Fourth Sunday of Advent:

¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure.

Literally, they were overjoyed with exceedingly, great joy. This is an emphatic description of an “ecstatic” response to finding the object of their quest.  This brings us to the first aspect of discovering “True Joy.”

1.  What we Seek (vv 1,2)

Everybody is searching for “joy”.  Consider the Wise Men.

Wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem,  ² saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

The Wise Men, as I said last week, are important characters in the Christmas story. Obviously, something they desired more than anything else compelled them to make a very long, very dangerous and very costly journey.  All men are on a quest for “something” that will bring them “joy.”

But, “what” is it?  What do people seek that will bring them joy.  Some men and women feel that great “riches” will bring great joy.  I meet people like this nearly every day.  These people spend hours upon hours earning more and more to buy more and more.  People who seek joy through riches have one thing in common – they seldom find it.

Solomon was wise and said, “Whoever loves money will never be satisfied with money.  Whoever loves wealth will never be satisfied with income.  This is futile” (Eccl. 5:10).

Seeking joy through riches seems to be a futile search.

Some seek joy through “pleasures.”  We now have several generations which have battled with addictions – that is, seeking joy through “pleasure,” or physical gratification.  We live in a world addicted to just about everything you can imagine from shooting up heroine, to snorting cocaine, to “huffing paint.”  Many are addicted to sexual pleasure in one form or the other.  The porn industry is a multi-billion dollar a year industry – an industry that leaves broken, unfulfilled lives in its wake. 

Solomon also had something to say about seeking fulfillment or joy through pleasure:

Eccl. 2:1  I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure;  enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile.

All people want joy, but “What” they feel will bring joy, more often brings disappointment.

What was it that the Wise Men were seeking to “bring them exceedingly great joy?” What drove them to leave their homeland and make such and arduous and dangerous journey? The reason for their long, dangerous trek was spiritual.  There journey was a “spiritual quest.”  What they were seeking was “worship experience.”

One of the most significant characteristics of humanity is that man is inherently “spiritual.”  Man may seem materialistic, especially in our days when even toddlers have cell phones and teens have designer everything. 

Kids today live in a sea of materialism.  A kid considers it being “deprived” if he or she has to actually get off the couch to change the channel on the T.V. because someone misplaced the remote!

But, even in our materialistic society in America, one thing has not changed.  Man is “inherently” (by nature) spiritual.  Everybody is seeking ultimate meaning in some way—including the anti-religious atheist who worships science and human wisdom.

The text clearly tells us that the Wise Men were on a “spiritual quest.”  They were looking for Someone to “worship” (2c).

This is the first aspect of “finding true joy.”  You need to ask, “What” will bring me the greatest fulfillment in life?  If it is not riches?  If it is not sensual pleasures?  What is it one must seek to find true joy.

The answer is will only come through a “spiritual quest.”  Look at verse 11:

¹¹ Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.

This brings us to the next aspect on how to discover “true joy.”

2.  Second, joy comes by Where we Look (1, 3-8)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem,

It is not enough to know “What,” is the source of true joy, but we must know where to look to find that true joy. 

Now, let me be clear of one thing, on our own without the faith that God Himself gives us, we would never find Him.  In fact, we would never even think to look for Him.  There is a bit of irony to Christianity that I don’t fully understand.  We don’t find Jesus—He finds us.  The Bible says, “No man can come to the father unless the Spirit of God draws Him.”  But the Word also says, “Seek and you will find.”  God must give us the very faith He requires of us in order for us to be saved.  Christmas is all about gifts, and God is the greatest of all gift-givers.

So, I’m going to assume that since you are here today, in a church, you are on a Spiritual Quest—whether you know it or not.  My prayer is that God would open your heart and shine His light into your soul so that you will first, seek Him, and secondly Look for Him in the right place.

In other words, had the Wise Men travelled north, or south, or east they would never have found the object of their quest.  V1 tells us they travelled, “to Jerusalem,” because that is where, logically, one would expect the “King of the Jews” to be found.

It is very significant that they looked in Jerusalem.  That was—and is—the Holy City of God. One would expect to find the King in the Holy Palace in the Royal City.

But God’s logic is not our logic.  God’s ways are not man’s ways.  Isaiah declares (55:9):

“For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

They were “close.” Jerusalem is only about 6 miles from Bethlehem to the north.  But, they were looking in the wrong place:  they were looking for a king on a throne, not a Savior in a Manger.

The Wise Men were “so close.”  This is the most heart-breaking realization in my life as a preacher:  so many people are so close to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, but whether you miss heaven by an inch or by a mile you miss it for eternity.

So many people are on a spiritual quest to find God and they get so close.  They live “good” lives by human standards.  Many are devoutly religious.  But, being good or being religious will never be paths to “being saved.” 

Hell will be populated by a great many good, religious people who LOOKED for God in all the wrong places.  Some of these people will have even looked for God “in church,” but will not find Him. 

One Sunday Evening a little boy from a very religious family knelt by his bedside to pray.  This family went to church every time the doors were open.  The little boy had literally grown up in church.  His prayer stabs me like a dagger in my heart.  The little boy prayed, “Dear God, we had a good time in church today!  I wish you had been there!”

Sadly, many times the most unlikely place to find God is in church.

There are men and women who have realized that “what” will bring them joy is “spiritual,” not emotional, physical, or material.  But, they don’t know where to LOOK to find the fulfillment to their spiritual quest.  Like the Wise Men they look in the obvious place—the religious place; Jerusalem, the Holy City.  The Wise Men, at first, were like so many people today.  They are “so close,” but also “so very far away.”  They look for fulfillment of their spiritual longings in the “wrong” place.  Knowing “where” to LOOK to find true joy is really the key to everything.

You won’t find the King of Kings in a palace, but in a stable.  You won’t find the Great High Priest in a temple, but on the streets among the people.  A key to finding true joy is knowing “Where to Look.”  It is not in the obvious places, but in the right place.

Look again at verse 6. It says,

⁶ And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah: because out of you will come a leader who will shepherd My people Israel.”

There could not have been a least likely town in all the world for the King of Glory to born – from a logical, human perspective – than the little town of Bethlehem.  Bethlehem at that time was a town located at the crossroad between “insignificance and obscurity.” This little, inconsequential speck of real estate was thrust into eternal prominence by being the humble birthplace of the savior. 

Where do you find true joy?  Where the Wise Men ultimately found it:  in the “ruler who is a shepherd.”

This term “ruler who is a shepherd” reminds us of at least two other great “shepherds” in the Bible:  Moses and David.  Moses is the great shepherd leader who delivered God’s people out bondage and slavery in Egypt.  David is the “Shepherd King” who reigned over the most prosperous time in the history of Israel.  Now, One like unto Moses and David, has come to “deliver mankind from sin.”

That brought great joy – overjoyed with exceedingly great joy – to the Wise Men.  Joy comes to us when What—more importantly Who—we seek in our spiritual quest is the True God of Israel, Jesus Christ.  There is not hope, no peace, and no joy to be found in one’s spiritual quest unless What, or Who you are seeking is the One Who can deliver you from your sins.

Prosperity won’t bring you joy.  Faith in a false god won’t bring you joy.  Most assuredly, being the most religious person on the planet will not bring you joy.  Joy comes when one’s spiritual quest brings one face to face with God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Look at verse 11:

¹¹ Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.

Too many people have “lost sight of the child in the manger” That Baby is what Christmas is all about.  Presents under the tree have replaced a baby in the manger as the most important gift.  The delightful smells of Christmas dinner have replaced the pungent odor of the lowly stable.  The lights and tinsel on the Christmas tree have blinded us to the brilliance of that first Christmas star.  People miss the true joy of Christmas because they look in the wrong place.

What you are seeking to bring you joy, and where you look to discover joy are two key aspects to finding true and lasting joy. Also of great importance is:

3.  How you Give (9-11)

Notice I did not say, “What you give, or how much you give.”  When you give with the right attitude, what and how much are not a problem.

⁹ After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen in the east!  It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure. ¹¹ Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

I’m sure you have heard many sermons on those wonderful gifts of the Wise Men:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Many of us probably have gotten a gift of gold, or even the gift of perfume, like frankincense.  Not many have probably gotten a gift of the sticky, tar-like substance called myrrh. 

Gold made sense for the baby who was King of the Jews.  Frankincense was a perfume burned in the service of priests, and Jesus was the Great High Priest.  That seems appropriate.  But myrrh?  This was an ingredient used in the preparation of a dead body for burial.  How is something related to death appropriate for a baby or young child with his entire life ahead of him.

Well, we know the significance of the myrrh.  We know the story of Jesus.  He was born to die.  He was born under the shadow of the cross to one day be sacrificed by God in payment for all the sins of man.  By His death, we can have eternal life.  Jesus born to die for the sins of mankind.

So, myrrh was as appropriate as the gold and frankincense.

But, I’m more concerned this day not on the gifts themselves, but on the “attitude” of those giving the gifts – exquisite and expensive gifts.  Notice again verse 11, the middle part:

Then they opened their treasures.

This Christmas as I read that text, my mind stuck to that word, “opened.”  The common meaning of the Greek word is just as with the English, “they opened their bag of gifts.”  But, I got much more out of that word this year.

As exquisite and expensive as the gifts were, “How” they gave them seems much more important in light of the fact that God had “opened” heaven and stepped into a manger.  The Word, “opened” is a compound word and it can mean “open up” or to “make opened up.”  The prefix of the word causes one to Look upward.

The attitude of the Wise Men was one of “worship” or “openness” to God.  Get this, it is perhaps the most important key to getting true joy.

The Wise Men “opened themselves up completely to God and gave everything they had in honor and devotion to Jesus.”

What would our families, our church, and our world look like if we as God’s people “opened ourselves up and poured ourselves completely and sacrificially out in service to God?”  That is a heart-breaking question for me to ask because I know many of you in this room have not “opened yourselves up” to God in such a way. 

How we give ourselves to God and to others in Christian service will have more to do with the joy we experience in life than perhaps anything else we do.  It’s not so much “what” we give that matters, but “HOW” we give—with absolute openness to God.

Years ago I read the story of a man’s miraculous transformation at Christmas time.  It was 1964.  The man had taken his first, full time joby.  He would be away from home for Christmas for the first time.  This night was Christmas Eve.  He was a stranger in town.  He was on his way back to his motel after working late to spend Christmas Eve alone with a T.V. dinner.  On the way home he remembered a co-worker had mentioned his church was having a “drive-by nativity.”  He decided to stop by.  He found the church and got out of the car.  There was the live nativity:  Joseph, Mary, the Shepherds all in costume; and a fidgety donkey tied up nearby.  The man had been there just a few minutes when his co-worker came by.  “Hey!We’ve got a problem.  One of our wise men got sick and couldn’t make it.”

Could you stand in for him?”  The man was not a church-going man, but he agreed and found himself in a flowing robe standing near the manger holding a gold box.  About an hour went by and the man was freezing, thinking he wished he’d said “no.”  But, as he stood there shivering, the scene engulfed him.  He forgot about Christmas presents.  He forgot about Santa Claus.  He even forgot about the cold.  He was captivated by the scene of Mary, Joseph, and the baby in the cold under a starry sky.  Christmas became more real to him at that moment than at any time in his life.  He had found the true meaning of Christmas.  Later, he would thank his friend for asking him to stand in as a Wise Man and would say, “For a brief hour that Christmas I was really a Wise Man.”

Being a wise man, or wise woman, is the key to guaranteeing your life will be one of true joy regardless of the circumstances.  When WHAT you seek is spiritual, not worldly.  This Christmas, when WHAT you seek to bring joy, and WHERE you look to discover joy, and HOW you give yourself completely to God converge in the persons of Jesus Christ, you will experience true joy.

What you are looking for; where you look for it; and most importantly how you give of yourself when you find it,
will determine the level of joy you experience in life.

What you should seek is “spiritual.”  Where you should
look is in the manger where the Savior lay.  How you
should give is by “opening your life” fully to God.

You do this, and singing “Joy to the World”
will have a whole new meaning.