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December 25, 2008
“So Now What?”
Luke 2: 15-20
Christmas Day, 2008
Well it is finally Christmas. We have come to worship Jesus on the annual celebration of his birth. Presents have been or will be opened. Some of us have a busy day ahead with dinners and other activities. Some will be leaving soon for far away destinations or will be welcoming others from far away. But after Christmas and Christmas visits and the exchanging of presents, what will we do?
Some of us will begin planning next year’s celebrations. Some will be out first thing tomorrow morning purchasing Christmas decorations and other materials at a great post-Christmas discount for use next Christmas.
Some of us will continue to enjoy the Christmas decorations for a while yet, and then put them all away and get back to normal. But after Christmas, what is normal? Remember, Christmas involves celebrating the birth of a child, the Christ child. Our daughter is expecting a child in May. She is just now beginning to realize that after the odd time of her pregnancy, there will be no normal. Life will not return to the normal she has been experiencing for another 25 years or more. With the birth of a child, Normal does not return.
So what should life be like after celebrating the birth of Jesus? After contemplating the birth of our Savior, should we return to Normal?
Well, maybe we can find some guidance in the examples provided for us by the Shepherds and Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The Shepherds were among the first to hear about the birth of Jesus. On the evening of that day, Angels came to them singing to them and telling them about the birth of Jesus. They decided to see for themselves the Christ Child, so they went to Bethlehem that evening to see the baby whom the angels had told them about.
While they were there, they told the others present and probably those they met on the way all that they had discovered about this baby who was born in a barn.
They told them that it had been revealed to them that this baby was God’s promised Savior and the King of all Kings.
One of those they talked to was Mary, the mother of Jesus. She already knew who Jesus was. She had been talked to by another angel earlier, at the beginning of her pregnancy. But she did not discount what they were saying or file it dispassionately under the category of “stuff I already know”.
Instead, Luke wrote that Mary “Treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” She allowed the experiences of others, the knowledge that others had of her special son to add to and enrich what she already knew.
After we put our Christmas stuff away, we can still learn new things about God and his son from others who have met him. We can re-read the books of the New Testament and learn what the first century Christians learned about Jesus. Some of them had met him in person during his earthly life.
We can read the writings of the early church fathers and other Christians of the past and see how their encounters with Jesus changed their lives. We can also converse with Christians in our own day, and sometimes in our own church. We can listen to and tell each other things that we have learned about God and his Christ. And we can treasure all these things and ponder them in our hearts. We can allow the experiences of others and the lessons others have learned to add to and enrich and enlighten our own lessons and experiences.
The Shepherds also have a lesson for us. Luke tells us that after the shepherds left Bethlehem they returned to their flocks and the hills and perhaps their towns “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”
Has your celebration of Christmas this year charged up your batteries so you will be glorifying and praising God for the months and years to come? Are you so exited about the birth and life and death of Jesus that you will be praising God in worship here and at home and giving him Glory and praise as you speak to others?
Perhaps we measure the quality of our Christmases all wrong. Perhaps Christmases should not be measured by what gifts we receive or give, or how many family members and friends we visit with. Perhaps we should measure the quality of our Christmases by how long we continue to praise God afterwards for coming to us in the baby Jesus, or how willing we are to tell others what God has done for us in Jesus.
Let us pray,
Father, help us to add to our Christmas celebration the treasures of your Scriptures and the treasure of the experiences and practices of other Christians. And help us to have a Christmas that will keep us glorifying and praising you for your wonderful works until we meet Jesus in heaven or at His return to earth.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at December 25, 2008 02:45 PM