Hope Came Down at Christmas [Video]

God Came Down at Christmas [Video]

Jesus: Our Wonderful Counselor

Preached at Community Christian Church
David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, December 15, 2013

Isaiah 9:6-7, “For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

One of the most meaningful things to me about the Christmas season is the Christmas cards we always receive from various friends and loved ones, who write to express their tender greetings and to share their joy with us.  One of the things I consider most precious about all those beautiful, and often quite creative cards, is their focus on Jesus, and in particular, the NAMES of Jesus. 

Just off the top of your head, rehearse with me some of the names of Jesus we see mentioned in the accounts of Jesus’ birth found in Matthew and Luke and John.  In John chapter one, He is the Eternal Word – “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…”  (John 1:1)  Jesus is the Eternal Word and the Incarnate Word, the Word made flesh, who came to dwell among us (John 1:14), and whose glory people like the apostle John had the privilege to behold – “glory as of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth…”  Yes, in John’s prologue, the first 18 verses of the first chapter of his gospel, the apostle John describes Jesus as the Eternal Word, the Incarnate Word, and also as the Light, the True Light of the World, who illuminates all who follow Him, so that they might no longer walk in darkness, but have the light of life (John 1:4-9; 8:12).

Now, what about in Matthew?  Matthew chapter one and two is where we read that He was to be given the name ‘Jesus, because He would save His people from their sins (1:21).  It’s also where we come across that amazing name, rooted in the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 - the one where it says, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which means, “’God is with us.’”  (Matthew 1:22-23)

Then, there’s Luke’s record, Luke chapters one and two.  What are the awesome names given for the Baby to be born in Bethlehem?  Pick up the reading with me, if you would, in Luke chapter one, verse 30.

Luke 1:30-37, “Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. ³² He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. ³³ And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” ³⁴ Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” ³⁵ And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. ³⁷ For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Jesus is the Son of the Most High.  Jesus is the Son of God.  Jesus is the Holy One…  Then, in Luke chapter two, who can forget the joyous announcement of the angel of the Lord who spoke to the shepherds out in the fields, watching over their flocks at night?  Luke 2:10-11, “Fear not!  For behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord…” 

Yes, I love the Christmas cards, and even more, I am overwhelmed by the powerful, the incredible names ascribed to this One we simply call Jesus, as His conception and birth are prophesied and announced in these three portions of Scripture. 

The name, and the names of Jesus.  What is in a name? 

Though we live in a day and time, in a place and culture where names may not always have that much significance; but from the point of view of Scripture and Biblical times and culture, names and their meanings are very significant. 

Isaiah 9:6-7, one of the most important prophecies in all the Old Testament, foretells the birth of a Child, and the gift of a Son – did you notice that interesting turn of phrase?  “For unto us a Child is born…”   Looking ahead to the birth of Jesus, what is the point, the emphasis, of that phrase, “Unto us a CHILD is born?”  I believe that one of the things God’s Spirit is communicating to us about the promised Messiah, Jesus, is that He would be FULLY human!  He would be a child, born.  Like us, He would be a child, born.  However, take a look at the next phrase.  What does Isaiah’s prophecy declare about Him?  The Messiah, the Promised One, Jesus, would be a Son given.  A Son given.  Anybody ever run across these words before:  “For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son…”?  (John 3:16)  According to this amazing Old Testament prophecy found in Isaiah chapter 9, the promised Messiah, would be fully human – a child, born - and at the same time, fully God, fully divine: a Son given!  We could close our Books right there, couldn’t we, and go home, blown away by the magnitude of the mighty God/Man, Jesus Christ and the incomprehensible nature of His fully divine and fully human nature! 

But, don’t close your Bibles just yet…  Read on a little further with me, will you?  Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace…”  What do you know about this One whom Isaiah’s prophecy describes as a “Wonderful Counselor”?

I met a young man yesterday about the age of my daughter Abby, he came to the Angel Tree party.  The young man’s name was Nashoba.  He told me he was going to school to prepare himself to be an adolescent counselor.  I asked him, “What would make you want to choose something as challenging and rewarding as counseling and mentoring young teenagers?”  As his 14-year-old nephew listened in, he said, “I almost died four years ago; crashed my motorcycle going 65 miles per hour.  I was flat on my back for four or five months with a lot of time to think about where I had been going with my life.  I decided I didn’t want young kids like my nephew to go down the paths I had been taking before my wreck…”  Sounds like Nashoba is well on his way to becoming the kind of counselor who’ll make a big difference in a lot of young teens’ lives, wouldn’t you say?

You know why I say that?  Because it sounds like Nashoba knows what it means to be a wayward, or, at least, a guide-hungry adolescent.  You know something?  Nashoba - just met him yesterday, don’t really known him intimately – but, if what I heard and observed is true and accurate, then I’d have to say that Nashoba is a little like Jesus.  He’s a little like Jesus.  What is it that makes JESUS, the Child born, the Son given – what is it that makes Him the Wonderful Counselor that He is?

Are you listening?  He knows you.  He knows you personally, intimately.  Some counselors sit across the desk from their clients, with their arms folded, nodding their heads like they are all there, that they are with you, and really understand, really know what you’re talking about and how you feel.  But, as soon as they open their mouths and start talking, you - the client – know that they haven’t heard a word you said!  They haven’t understood anything you said!

But not Jesus!  He is a Wonderful Counselor – why?  Because He knows, really knows, you – personally.  One day a fellow named Nathanael was standing under a fig tree.  And Jesus saw him standing there, just saw him standing there, didn’t ask him to fill out a 5 page client disclosure sheet first; didn’t run him though a 2 hour long personality inventory first, Jesus just SAW him there, under the fig tree, and Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor that He is - knew all there was to know about him!  How could that be?  Jesus was a walking, talking, living, breathing: Beth-el…  John 1:48-51.  Jesus was a walking Bethel.  Do you remember the ladder from heaven dream that Jacob had, recorded back in Genesis 28 (28:10-22)? 

Jesus knew what He knew about Nathanael, and He knows what He knows about you, because He is a walking, talking, living, breathing Bethel: house of God.  For Him, the door of heaven’s throne room was always open.  For Him, angels were always ascending and descending upon Him.  Jesus is a wonderful counselor, a living, breathing Bethel, in your life, who knows you better than you know yourself! 

I don’t know about you, but this thick-headed, short-sighted preacher-friend of yours NEEDS a Counselor like that!  Jesus (“The Lord Saves”), He is my/our Wonderful Counselor.  He is the One who knows us personally.

Secondly, thank God with me today, will you?  Jesus, the Great Physician, the Wonderful Counselor, He is not just in ‘counseling practice,’ and I’m His ‘test-case,’ I’m His ‘guinea-pig’ – trying to figure out what the deal is with me.  No!  Jesus is the one and only Wonderful Counselor because He is able to diagnose me properly!  Our Wonderful Counselor who knows you better than even Mom and Dad know you, He is able to do what no other counselor can ever really do:  He is able to diagnose you properly. 

A long time ago, my parents and my brother and sister and I lived next door to a young man who was mentally ill.  Donnie was his name.  From what I remember about Donnie, he was in his own little world.  And his parents, especially his mother, simply didn’t know what to do with him.  And, so they took him to the counselors and the psychiatrists.  I’m not sure that those folks knew exactly what to do with him either.  For they tried electric shock treatments, and any of a number of high-powered medications, varying from month-to-month, depending on what the counselors and advisers thought might be wrong with him.  Unfortunately, for Donnie, none of it worked.  No one ever got the diagnosis right. 

One day Jesus sat down beside a well in a Samaritan village called Sychar.  There, at that important place in the daily life of that village, Jesus met a woman, who, in her own way, was a little like Donnie.  She had been married 5 times, and had failed at marriage 5 times.  And, at the time she met Jesus, she had given up on marriage, and was simply “living with” yet another man.  You gotta wonder if all the counselors in the vicinity of that village had each given their ‘best shot’ at helping her learn to get along with each of the men in her life.  But, none of it worked.  No one could help her - no one - until the day the Wonderful Counselor sat down beside her at that well. 

This One, the living, breathing Beth-el, who walked into her village, and sat down beside the well she visited each day, He knew all there was to know about her, and in knowing her, even her current marital status, He knew what her problem was, and what she needed in the way of ‘soul-medicine’.  Do you remember how Jesus stated His diagnosis and prescription?  He said, “Whoever drinks of this well’s water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  Instead, the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”  (John 4:13-14)

This woman’s problem wasn’t the men in her life – it was her!  She was the problem!  Her idea - that the water of that Samaritan well was all she needed to live - was wrong!  She needed the Wonderful Counselor’s proper diagnosis and prescription.  She needed to hear Him say, “You need Me.  You need what only I can give you!” 

Do any of you have a counselor like that?  A Wonderful Counselor who always gets the diagnosis right?  Jesus wants to be that Counselor for you! 

Isaiah 9:6-7 – The awesome names of Jesus.  The tiny Baby Mary laid in Bethlehem’s manger - the only begotten Son given by God the Father, He came to be our Wonderful Counselor - He came to be the One whose penetrating insight would startle Nathanael and whose laser-beam precise understanding of her past and her problems would prompt that unnamed Samaritan woman to make one simple, but life-changing request: “Sir, give me this water.  Give me this living water.” 

Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor who knows us - each one of us personally - and Who alone is able to diagnose us properly, you know what the best thing is about our Wonderful Counselor, Jesus?

The best thing about Him is that He is able to deliver us powerfully!  Our Wonderful Counselor is able to deliver us powerfully! 

1 Peter 2:24 – While you are looking up that verse, allow me to ask you one quick question: what is it, really, that all the Donnies, and Davids and Nathanaels and Divorcees need, more than anything else? 

1 Peter 2:24 – Take a look at that verse, and you’ll have your answer:  “Jesus Himself carried our sins” – our sins, that’s the root of every one of our problems, isn’t it?  But what does this verse say about Jesus, our Wonderful Counselor, that cannot be said about any other counselor?   “Jesus Himself carried our sins in His own body on the tree (on the cross).”  Why? 

Two reasons:  Number one - “So that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness.”  And then, the verse says, “By Jesus’ stripes we are healed…”

Why did Baby Jesus, our Wonderful Counselor, live and carry our sins in His own body on the cross?  Second reason - so that Donnies, and Divorcees, and yes, even Davids, might be healed!  Yes, healed!  Forgiven!  Cleansed of their deepest, darkest sickness: the sickness and awful effects of sin, guilt, shame, condemnation and eternal punishment!  By His stripes – by His stripes - our wounded, Wonderful Counselor becomes our glorious Healer!  Praise God!

Merry Christmas!!

A Season of Peace

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, December 11, 2011

Luke 2:1-20, “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.  Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
       “ Glory to God in the highest,
      And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”

There’s a commodity that is in short supply today; and yet is in great demand.  It’s a possession, a priceless treasure that people the world over are seeking and yet are hardly finding.  With all their dollars and credit lines, and the hard work that it takes to earn them, they are pursuing it to no avail.  Many would even give all that they own to claim it and to enjoy it in their lives, but – sad to say – they are looking for it in all the wrong places.  Wal-mart doesn’t carry it.  Best Buy never has it in stock.  The quaint, Mom and Pop stores around the square in Downtown McKinney don’t have it in their inventory, nor can you obtain it through Amazon, Ebay or any other web-based store.  What am I talking about?  A priceless gem?  A rare antique?  A one-of-a-kind handmade craft? 

No.  I’m talking about peace.  Peace.  The very season that, as we learned last time, is meant to be a season of joy, the very season that, as I hope to lead you in discovering next time, is intended by God to be a season of hope – real, lasting hope – the very season that is all of these things because, as we will come to find out on Christmas morning, is THE season of love, this season, Christmas season, is, for way too many people anything but a season of peace. 

A season of joy -  we looked at that wonderful truth about the Christmas season last time, didn’t we?  And do you remember what we learned?  We found out that joy, real joy, wonderful joy, is ours, it is!  How?  Why?  Because of this one bit of good, good news.  “For unto you – unto you – is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”  Christmas is a season of joy because of those good tidings of great joy. 

But, where are we to go to find peace?  What is the reason why someone like me would call the Christmas season a season of peace?  The angel of the Lord, shining with the dazzling brilliance of God’s glory, brought the joyful report to the shepherds that night outside Bethlehem: a Savior has been born, Christ the Lord.  It is a season of joy!  But take note, in verses 13 & 14 that it was the numberless host of heaven’s angelic messengers that praised God with these words: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” 

Peace…  Where are people like you and me to find it?  Peace.  This precious commodity, this priceless, tirelessly sought after possession, where are we to go to obtain it? 

I witnessed a sad and heart-breaking scene just a few weeks ago, when a friend of mine came stumbling out the door of his home, head in his hands, weeping almost uncontrollably.  I knew the reason for his tears, the turmoil and turbulence in his life due to many factors out of sync with God’s plan for his life.  But what he said, what my friend said, has stuck with me ever since.  “I just want some peace, David, I just want to have peace!” 

Interestingly, this man and his girlfriend live in a rundown, rent house with a 40 foot high, 30 foot wide bill board, one of those big ones like you see out along the highway, there is the huge billboard, planted right there, on one end of my friend’s front yard!  And how I wish I could put this simply message up there on that billboard: Peace?  Where is it to be found?  “And this shall be a sign unto you: yes shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger!” 

A Baby?  In a manger? Who would ever have thought to look there for peace?  Speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Zacharias, the joy-filled father of John the Baptist, has this to say about that Baby.  Take a look.  Right across the page, in Luke 1:78-79, he prophesies that the “Dayspring from on high”, that’s a reference to that Baby, Zacharias says that the “Dayspring from on high has visited us…”  God, by means of, because of His tender mercies poured out upon peace-seekers like my friend, in His Son, Jesus Christ, in this Baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed so lovingly in that manger bed, through His Son, our Savior, Christ the Lord, has made a way for those who ‘sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” to be enlightened, and - and – in and through that Baby He has made it possible for our feet, my friend’s feet, all people’s feet, to be guided “into the way of peace!” 

Christmas, it is a season of peace, at least, that’s what God’s intention is for it.  But, why is it that so many, who are so desperately searching for this rich blessing, not finding it, not experiencing and enjoying it? 

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find that many of life’s most complex problems, issues like “where can I go to get, how will I ever enjoy true peace?” I have come to realize, and maybe you have also, that many of life’s most complicated problems have a solution that is, in fact, quite simple.  I’d like to suggest to you that such is the case when it comes to our quest for peace.

Two things, two glorious facts that you simply must know, about Jesus, about that precious Baby, if you want to enjoy real peace.  Number one, Ephesians 2:14 – Jesus Christ IS our peace – He is – because of what He has done for sinners, for people like you and me and my friend, who, without Him, are sitting, living, enduring, a place, so filled with darkness, so terribly overshadowed by death.  Jesus Christ IS our peace, because of what He has done for sinners!  Praise God! 

And, then, fact number two that I’d like for us to explore this morning is this: Jesus Christ is our peace, He is!  Because of what He gives to saints…

The manger, we love it, don’t we?  As we come to grips with the awesome reality of God becoming man, this unusual baby bed, this rustic cradle, we love it, because of what it stands for, what it declares to us about this Baby.  The Word HAS become flesh and dwelt among us, the Only Begotten Son of the Father, full, as He is, of grace and truth, in this marvelous way we have been given the privilege to behold His glory!  Wow!  Yes, we love the manger, that crude cradle.  But listen, don’t forget.  This would be no season of peace, if, following the cradle, there had been no cross!  He is our peace, Ephesians 2:14 – Jesus Christ is our peace!  How do we know that?  Because of what He has done for sinners, for the powerless, the ungodly, for His enemies!  For people just like you and me!  The prophet Isaiah, who in the ninth chapter of his prophecy, spoke of a “Child to be born, a Son to be given”, One upon whose shoulders the government would be placed.  Do you remember how Isaiah depicted Him, what he called Him? 

Isaiah 9:6, “And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”  Jesus Christ is our peace… Our Prince of Peace…  And here’s how we know that.  Isaiah 53 – The Child to be born would be “wounded, literally pierced through for our transgressions, the Son to be given, He would be bruised – literally – crushed, for our iniquities.  And, then – catch this – Isaiah 53:5, He is our peace, how do we know that?  Because of what He has done for sinners!  Look at what Isaiah says about Him there in chapter 53, verse 5.  “He was wounded – pierced through – for our transgressions, He was bruised – crushed – for our iniquities.”  And then it tells us that the “chastisement of our peace” the ripping, tearing, cutting blows intended to supply us with peace were upon Him – why?  So that by those stripes, as a result of all that pain and suffering and agony – for us – we might be healed! He is our peace, this Baby, yes, because He came to be born in a manger.  But much more, because He bled and died, in our place, for us, on a cross! 

Christmas, it really is a season of peace, because of what Jesus has done for sinners!  We don’t have time to look at the rest of this powerful 53^rd chapter of Isaiah, but here’s your assignment: read and study the rest of it, in light of Ephesians chapter 2 and 1 Peter chapter 2.  Christmas, it is a season of peace because of what Jesus Christ has done for sinners! 

But, then, there’s fact number two, remember it?  Jesus Christ, He is our peace – He is!  If you are a Christian… How do I know that?  Because of what He gives to His saints!  Quickly move with me to John chapters 14 & 16.  Peace, peace with God, what Jesus Christ has done at Calvary, for sinners, for the powerless, for the ungodly, yes, for us who in our sinful rebellion against God are no less than God’s enemies!  That peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, has an incredible by-product, the one that my friend so yearns for – what is it?  It is the gift that Jesus Christ, our peace, gives to His saints: peace within!  Peace in our hearts!  John 14:27 and John 16:33 - The scene is the upper room, Jesus’ final hours with His closest men, before He must go to Gethsemane and Calvary.  It is a troubling scene for Him, because He knew what was ahead.  It was perhaps even more distressing for the disciples because they didn’t know fully nor understand completely, what was about to take place.  Ever been there?  A place of ominous uncertainty?  A place of impending doom and dread?  Flip on the news, look at our society and you’ll feel it, won’t you?  I mean, even with the lights and the tinsel, the music and the ornaments, the tree and the packages under it, for most of us, it’s there.  This sense of foreboding anxiety, and fear. 

My Loved Ones, what season is this?  “For unto you a Child is born, unto you a Son is given, and the government, the final ruling authority over all these things, will be upon His shoulders, upon the shoulders of the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.  What season is it?  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth – in McKinney and Sherman and Wylie and Princeton, and The Colony – on earth peace, good will toward men…”

My Loved Ones, this is the season of peace…  And how do we know that?  Because Jesus Christ, who is every Christian’s peace, has given a marvelous gift to His saints, and what is that gift?  John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Christmas, what season is it?  God has written it not on a billboard, but in manger, and on a cross!  Jesus Christ, our peace-MAKER, our Intercessor, our Mediator, our Sacrificial Peace Offering, God’s Marvelous Gift to us, Jesus Christ, our Peace-Giver, our Comforter, in these times of turmoil and uncertainty, our Ever-Present Help in trouble.  Christmas IS the season of peace.  Why?  You know why, because Jesus Christ has come. 

A Season of Joy

Image copyright 2011, David Kautt.

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, December 4, 2011

Luke 2:1-20, “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.  Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
       “ Glory to God in the highest,
      And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”

1 Peter 1:8-9, “whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”

One of the very first songs to be sung and played on the radio and in department stores this time of year, is the song entitled: Deck the Halls.  Many of you know the words by heart, and could even sing it now, having learned it and known it, from your childhood.  You remember, it goes something like this: “Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la…” and so on.  It’s a cheery song, with a catchy tune, although, I’ve yet to find a dictionary with a definition for the words, fa la la la la, la la la la…  It also uses a phrase that caught my attention, that I want you to consider at the outset of our time in the Word of God this morning.  It’s the phrase, “Tis the season to be jolly.”  I looked it up, to make certain I understood what it means and found it interesting that this concept of a season to be jolly carries with it the ideas of cheerful festivity, and to be in good spirits.  It can imply that someone is having fun, enjoying some form of pleasurable excitement and may even indicate that he or she is slightly drunk - or, as we might say, ‘Tipsy’. 

Now, perhaps I’m making too much of this, seeing that this a secular song, although, I would remind you that it didn’t take too much prompting on my part for you to sing it in your minds, right?  In other words, our thinking about this time of the year has been shaped, at least partly, by a song that tells us that this is the time to enjoy in some form of pleasurable excitement, to be in good spirits, perhaps we have imbibed some form of alcohol.  But allow me to ask you, “for the Christ, is this time of year the time to be cheerful with a kind of transient or temporary festivity, a ‘jolly season’; or is it to be some other kind of season?

May I suggest to you that this season, this time of year we call the ‘Christmas season’, is not merely a ‘season to be jolly’, anybody can be tipsy anytime they want to be, anybody can pursue pleasure and excitement, anytime they want to do so.  No.  I’d like to suggest to you, that this season, the Christmas season is more, much, much more than a ‘season to be jolly’.  Rather, it is – for the Christian, the person who, through the ‘grid’ of this Book understands what this season is, for the Bible-guided Christian, this season is not a jolly season, but a joyful season, a season of joy. 

Peter, the apostolic writer of the words we find in the letter we call, “First Peter’, Peter filled with the Spirit, not with alcoholic ‘spirits’, describes the marvels and mysteries of what it means to be born again, what it truly means to be a Christian.  In 1 Peter 1:8, he refers to Christians, those who have received the gift of salvation and the new birth, the Christmas gift Jesus Christ came to bring, as rejoicing “with joy unspeakable and full of glory”.  Interestingly, he speaks of this joy, take a look at the text there in First Peter chapter one.  Peter speaks of this inexpressible and glorious joy, not in the context of some form of jolly excitement and passing pleasure.  But look.  He speaks of it in the context of pain, in a setting that has to do with hardship, difficulty and testing.

           

1 Peter 1:6-9, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

A season of joy, not a season to be jolly…  What does it mean?  What are we talking about when we say that “Christmas is a season of joy”? 

Well, first thing to note and to know, is what the angle of the Lord, the heavenly messenger said to the shepherds back there in Luke chapter two.  A heaven-sent messengers, shining with the radiant glory of God, when he appears in the middle of the night to shepherds quietly keeping watch over their flocks, or if he was to appear to church members at 11:45 on a Sunday morning, a heaven-sent messenger is and would have been a startling and awesome sight, an appearance that would have caused great fear for those men.  And we can understand that, can’t we?  But look at what the angel of the Lord says to these men: “Fear not… don’t be afraid.”  Why?  “Because I bring you good tidings - good news of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you – this day – in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” 

The simple reason, the obvious reason – oh, my Loved Ones, the life-changing reason – this season is NOT simply a season to be jolly, but a season to be truly joyful, is because of the good news, because of the good tidings of GREAT joy.  Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord!

Do you see it, my friends?  Our joy, our rejoicing, as Christians it is not rooted in another drink.  It is not hinging on whether or not we get to take part in another pleasurable experience, and another and another and another!  No!  It is rooted in the Good News, in the gospel message of salvation and in the fact that Jesus Christ, Jesus the Messiah is Lord! 

A season of joy, one of the indicators that makes me think that this is what we should call this season is the presence, yes, of music, of singing!  Not the empty, ‘Fa la la la la, la la la la’ of ‘Deck the Halls’, but the substance of Mary’s Song, the magnificat, and of Zacharias’s song, and of Simeon’s song, the benedictus.  Look at each of these three songs with me for a moment or two, would you, please?

Luke 1:46-55, Mary’s song.  Do you remember the context, the circumstance behind this song?  Mary has just received the astonishing news that God had chosen her to be the mother of His Son.  She would be, this young Jewish virgin, would be His holy vessel, His instrument through which the Son of God, the Son of the Highest, would enter into this world as a man.  And, traveling to the home of her cousin Elizabeth, she hears Elizabeth’s Holy Spirit-inspired greeting: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  You, the mother of my Lord, has come to me!...”  All of these things in the background cause Mary to well up with these joy-filled words: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”  The reason for Mary’s joy, is the Good News…  “The Lord has regarded the lowly estate of His maidservant.  The Lord has done mighty things for her.  The Lord has shown strength with His arm.  The Lord has put down the mighty from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly.  The Lord has filled the hungry with good things, but sent the rich away empty.  The Lord has helped His servant Israel, and remembered His mercy, His covenant faithfulness to His people!”  The Lord…  The Lord…  The Lord…  He is the reason for Mary’s joy! 

Then, there’s Zacharias’s song, Luke 1:67-79.  Who is Zacharias?  Do you remember?  He is the husband of Elizabeth, He is the surprised father, who though he never would be a father, of the forerunner of the Messiah, Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist.  Look at the joyful way in which he begins his song: “Blessed be [praises be] to the Lord God of Israel,” sounds like the Psalms, doesn’t it?  “For He has visited and redeemed His people!”  Good news.  “He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David!”  Good news…  Just like He spoke through His holy prophets, the message is clear, and the news is very, very good indeed!  “We shall be saved, He’s going to save us from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us!”  Good news, He is, the Lord is, through this horn of salvation He is raising up for us, granting us deliverance from our enemies, and making a way for us to serve Him without fear, in the holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

It’s there, isn’t it?  For Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, it was there.  Not giddy gladness at good pleasures and excitements, but, deep, humble, grateful joy in the Lord, before the Giver of this Good News gift!

Or, take Simeon’s song, for an example.  Luke 2:22-35 provides us not only with the words of Simeon’s song, but with the context.  After a period of purification, required by the law of God following her pregnancy, and the delivery of the Christ Child, Mary and her husband, take little Jesus with them to Jerusalem, to the temple, to present Him to the Lord - what an awesome scene that must have been, for the Son of God, Mary’s children, Joseph’s keepsake, but God’s Only Begotten and Beloved Son, to be presented back to His Father in heaven!  And, then, for Simeon, this otherwise unknown Biblical character, this man Luke describes as “just and devout” was “waiting for the consolation of Israel”, led by the Holy Spirit, he steps up to this couple, holding their precious bundle, and then, he gets to take Jesus into his arms!  A season of joy, a season of life-changing, long-lasting joy, that’s what this was, and always would be for Simeon!  There with the Holy Son of God in his arms, this man who had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had the opportunity to see the Lord’s Messiah, there he was, Simeon, holding the Christ of God in his own hands!  And, what does he do?  What would you have done if you had been Simeon? 

Luke 2:28 – He blesses God, He praises God and says, “Lord, now You can let me depart in peace, for my eyes – my eyes – have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” 

Do you see why I call this season a season of joy, not a season merely to be jolly?  The Son of God has come.  The consolation of Israel has come.  The light of revelation to the Gentiles has come.  And, that, my friends, is Good News, very, very, good news! 

So, what are we to do about it?  “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy…”  With your lips bless God, praise the Lord God of Israel, who has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for you.  With your arms, your arms, like Simeon, take up that precious Child and exclaim, “Now!  Now!  My eyes have seen it!  The salvation, the Savior You have prepared before the face of all peoples, the light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of God’s people Israel”.  Take Him up in your arms, as your Savior, and allow Him to take you up, too – as His! 

Last of all, this season of joy, here’s what you are to do.  Luke 2:17 – like the shepherds, with your lives make widely known the saying which was told you concerning this precious Child! 

The Day After Christmas: What if Jesus Had Not Been Born?

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Preached at Northwest Christian Church
David P. Kautt
Sunday Morning, December 26, 2010

Galatians 4:4-7, ”But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

2 Timothy 1:8-12, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”

This morning, on this beautiful Day-After-Christmas morning, I’d like to invite you to do three things with me as we give God a chance to speak to us today. First of all, and most important of all, I want to urge you to hear and to heed what this Book – God’s Word – has to teach you today. Secondly, I invite to think about this world, the world that we live in, as we know it and understand it. And, then, thirdly, I want to ask you to do something just a little bit different with me today, than what you might be accustomed to doing on the day after Christmas. Yes, I know that for many of you, today, the Day after all the hoopla and excitement of yesterday, there may be dishes to wash, and decorations to put away, piles of Christmas wrapping paper trash to take out, and leftovers to reheat. But, listen – in the midst of all of those ‘Day After Chores’ – will you do something for me? Will you pause for just a few moments, and consider this disturbing question: “What if Jesus had not been born?”

Think with me about these Scriptures that we’ve just read, and others to which we’ve gone for instruction this Christmas season, passages from God’s Word that we believe and accept as true and reliable – consider the world we know it, as we’ve experienced it, and then, imagine this awful thought: IT’S ALL A BIG HOAX! Jesus never really was born!

What difference would it make in this world, as you and I know it, if Jesus had never been born – and – how would we be different if He had not been born?

You saw, as I saw, their red kettles, and their smiling, friendly bell-ringers in front of many of the grocery stores and department stores this season – who are they? You know, they are the Salvation Army. And, what are they doing? Collecting donations. Why? To do… say it with me, “to do what Jesus said to do!” To clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to help the weak… What would this world be like, if there were no red-kettles? No bell-ringers?

Just up the road a few miles is a place we’ve visited before. In fact, several years ago, a number of times, we had the opportunity to prepare and serve a supper meal to the folks staying at this place. It’s a place designated by the name, “The Samaritan Inn”. Where did this place come up with such a strange name? The Samaritan Inn? I mean, this is McKinney, right? This is Collin County, right? This is North Texas, right? Not Samaria! Why the name the ‘Samaritan Inn’? You know why, don’t you? It’s because Jesus told a parable about a compassionate, generous, willing-to-help man from Samaria – who gave aid to an otherwise beaten, bloody, and abandoned soul on the side of the road. What if Jesus had never been born? Would that parable have been told? Would those people, those precious souls, whose lives God used us to touch through pans of baked beans, and trays of fried chicken, through smiles and hugs and handshakes, would they have been helped at a place called the ‘Samaritan Inn’ if Jesus had never been born?

‘Season’s Greetings’, ‘Happy Holidays’, ‘Winter Break’ – These and other odd expressions, conceived in the minds of people who pay for signs on the side of city buses - signs that say things like, “Four million Happy Atheists”, “God – we are just fin without you”. “Season’s Greetings”, “Happy Holidays”, “Winter Break”, “Yuletide Carols” – What if those phrases were all we could say, because Jesus had not been born?

Recently, we’ve had the names Matt W-----, and Justin A---- on our prayer list. Some of you know these young men and have ached for them as you’ve watched them struggle, and make wrong choices and then, end up facing the consequences of those choices, including time spent in the prison system. Listen, my Loved Ones - for every Matt and Justin you and I know, there a million or more just like them, behind bars today! TODAY! And, here’s the really sad part, in a sense, their families are behind bars, too! Their parents and grandparents, their siblings, their spouses, and to me, worst of all, their children – the children of inmates are behind bars! Now, let me ask you a question: Who is ministering to those inmates and their families? Who is at work to bring them help and hope through Bibles and Christian literature, and also, through practical things like teaching those young (and not-so-young) men and women how to do things that we take for granted, things like how to read, and how to do math, and how to prepare themselves to complete an education and to enter the workforce with real, marketable skills? And, who is seeing to it that as many of these inmates’ children receive at least one gift, at least one expression of love, sent in the name of their incarcerated parents, this season of the year? Is it the American Atheists Association? Is it the American Humanists Society? Is it the ‘God, we’re doing just fin without you’ crowd?

What if Jesus had not been born? Every year, several times a year, we read, we hear, and yes, with satellite TV beaming reports from all over the world, every year we see the terrible devastation and loss of life and a way of life caused by what we call ‘Natural Disasters’ – earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, mud-slides, wildfires, floods, etc., etc. Who is almost always first on the scene to help? The Red Crescent moon? The Red Star of David? The Red Hammer and Sickle? The Red Swastika? You know better don’t you? The always-first-on-the-scene relief workers are from the Red Cross – the Red Cross! And why a CROSS, instead of any of those other symbols? Because Jesus whose saving, helping, healing work is designated BY the cross, is the One who taught us and showed us what it means to love and assist those in need!

What if Jesus had never been born? I dare say that virtually all compassionate ministry to the needy in hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, orphanages, and disaster scenes would be absent! I dare say that the unwed mothers would only have one option: Planned Parenthood, and what it sells – rather than two options! I dare say that there would be a lot more people living under bridges and in card board boxes, if Jesus had not been born.

But, just for a minute, think about this also. Who are the folks who have painted and sculpted and carved the beautiful works of art that people the world over recognize and appreciate? The Michelangleo’s, the Leonardo Divinci’s – who are those people? And, who are the scientists who have studied, and researched, guided by a wisdom and power greater than their own, to discover cures for diseases, and inventions to make our lives more enjoyable? And, who are the men who founded great institutions of learning like Harvard and Yale and Princeton – for the advancement of a cause that yielded such things as the Red Cross and the Samaritan Inn and the Salvation Army? And, who are the men and women and families - some of whom we know, like the Relyea family – who have sacrificed literally years of their lives to travel to remote tribes of people, to learn their language and culture, to prepare an alphabet – a written ALPHABET for their tribes – that they might have books in their own language and be taught how to read them? Who are all these people? And, whom do they represent?

These men and women and families are and were followers of Jesus. They represent the One who taught them to love their neighbors as themselves, the One whose Great Physician’s hands set the example for their hands. The One whose words regarding the least of these - the poor, the blind, the naked, the hungry, the lonely, the imprisoned, the lost and dying – propel them to go and do what representatives of the crescent moon and Hammer and Sickle don’t do!

What if Jesus had not been born? To be honest with you, I don’t like to think about it! I don’t want to have to imagine a world without Christmas, do you? I don’t want to have to live, as a slave, under the bondage to the law! I don’t want to do without the glorious privileges of Son-ship, being able to cry out, “Abba, Father!” to my Maker, and my Redeemer, how about you? No! I am so glad to know – for certain, 2 Timothy 1:9 and following – I am so glad to know that before time began God had a plan for my life, a plan to extend His grace to me through His Son, Jesus Christ. And, then, look – look at what the text says. 2 Timothy 1:10 – a verse that means more to me now, than it did even three months ago; that before-time-began-plan, what did God do with it? Did He leave it on heaven’s drawing board? Did He scrap it and decide not to carry it out because of how much it was going to cost Him?! No! Listen, my friends, it’s the day AFTER the anniversary of the birth of our Savior! Why? Because God, who before time began purposed to extend His grace to us in Christ Jesus – what did He do? Listen to this, He “revealed [that grace] now, by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ.” And, that’s not all! Look at it! The appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, the reality of the Eternal Word of God becoming human flesh and dwelling among us, the wonder of Immanuel, ‘God With Us’, the Virgin Birth, sinless life, atoning, sacrificial death, victorious resurrection, glorious exaltation of Jesus, and all that goes with these things, they did something for us that the ACLU, the American Atheists Association, the American Society of Humanists, the Crescent Moon, the Hammer and Sickle, and Swastika would never do for us! That Baby born in Bethlehem, our Savior and King, His appearing – look what He brought us! Talk about Christmas gifts! Look what He did for us! “He has abolished death!” Praise God! “And has brought life, and immortality to light through the gospel!” Hallelujah! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!

Let’s pray.

“God in heaven, our Father, I praise you today – December 26th – that I don’t have to think too long about a world without Christmas! No, Father, rather, I glorify you today for bringing that eternally-gracious plan to pass, when You sent your Son to do for us what no one could do, what no on else would do! Yes, thank You, thank You, thank You, for victory over death, for the adoption of sons, for life and immortality, for the Spirit of Your Son by Whom we cry ‘Abba! Father!’ Merry Christmas, Father.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.”