Sunday, September 16, 2012

BECAUSE CHRIST WAS BORN

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Matthew 2                                                                          

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews?  For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

   He was born in 6 B.C. of a young woman named Mary, in an out-of-the-way place called Bethlehem.  He grew up in a dusty little village named Nazareth.  He belonged to a despised people under the rule of Rome, was denied the best education of his day and in his boyhood was taught the trade of a carpenter.  For the first thirty years of his life he did nothing to distinguish himself.  And then, one day, he put away his tools and began to preach.  His whole ministry took place in an area half the size of the state of New Jersey. 

   Then!  He began to make extravagant statements: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6)  “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9)  “Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall save it.”

   He forgave sins:  “Be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven.” (Matthew 9:2)  “The Son of Man hath power upon earth to forgive sins.”  (Luke 5:24)

   He had no sins.  One day he said to his accusers, “Which of you convicts me of sin?” (John 8:46)

   Men worshipped him and he accepted this worship.  “They that were in the boat worshipped him.” (Matthew 28:9)

   And that is why we are CALLED- to worship Him…. to follow Him…. to become better than we would be if we did not gather together in His name….. to aspire to higher things and perspire for better things.

   It’s a jungle out there sometimes.  It is a world where too many strive to get all they can, and keep all they can and let the other fellow get by as best he can.  Because Christ was born and you have given your life to this Christ, you are called to be different.

   In Ibsen’s book, “Emperor and Galilean”, there is a scene where Julian Caesar is standing on a hill overlooking the fields and farms that are part of his empire.  He gives a great sigh and speaking to himself says, “I look down on the earth, my earth, the Emperor’s earth which I have made without the Galilean.  But what have I won?  Men talk of my renown with cold admiration; but in their warm, believing hearts there sits enthroned the Carpenter’s Son.  Where is he now?  Has he been at work elsewhere since what happened at Golgotha?  What if that at Golgotha, near Jerusalem, was but a wayside matter, a thing done, as it were, in passing, in a leisure hour.  What if he still goes on and on and on, suffers, and dies and conquers again and again, from world to world?  I wonder?  Where is he now, the Galilean I conquered?”

   And soon, thereafter, Julian, but one more of the Caesars, dies.  And even before he is buried there is clamoring in the courtyard to divide the power he held so briefly.  And Ibsen paints this scene:  Julian is lying in state, his faithful servant, his one true friend, looks down on him and says, “Forgotten ere your hand is cold; And for this pitiful splendor you sold your immortal soul.” 

   Because Christ was born there is good news of great joy:

about death and life after death -  “In my Father’s house are many mansions.”  Because Christ was born we know that death is a gateway and not a dead end street. 

about our sins -  “I do not condemn you.  Go and sin no more.”

about our anxieties – “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you peace.”

Paul said it, and we say it, “It is not I that live but Christ in me.”

   Because Christ was born a brutal heathen people called the Druids received the Master’s touch and became Welshmen.  Because Christ was born there are those in the ghettoes of this world who do not murder and commit mayhem.  Because Christ was born there are in the marketplaces those whose king is not greed.  There are always wise man walking past the worst in life, laying the gift of their lives before the Christ child, different than they would have been because Christ was born.

   Because Christ was born a man named John Wesley and his brother, Charles, saved England from a bloody revolution.  Any secular historian will tell you that but for the evangelistic crusades of the Wesley’s, England would have gone the bloody way of France.

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       Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow (April 2012)

       Wayward and Windy (April 2012)

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