Photo by Clint Patterson on Unsplash
Introduction
Someone was talking the other week about a knock at the door on Christmas Eve when they were a child. Who could it possibly be? Well, I’ll tell you; it was Father Christmas, the actual Santa in person, standing right there on the doorstep.
(This never happened to me by the way. Perhaps starting all my letters to Santa with the three words, “let me explain…” was never the best strategy).
But it happened somewhere else, and the kids couldn't quite believe it; of all the houses in the entire world, he picks theirs to personally drop by and pay a visit. What are the chances? Anyway, they invite him in, and he sits down. But let’s just say the experience is a touch disappointing.
Santa, it turns out, is notably skinnier than in all the pictures. And a bit scruffy around the edges. And then, he is considerably less jolly than advertised, and his white beard is suspiciously connected to a string of elastic. And the kids don’t say anything, but they are all thinking, wait a minute, this isn’t the real Santa, it’s just Uncle Malcolm in a costume.
And I say this because I think for many people, maybe for you, church at Christmas can feel a little bit like that experience. The nativity play, the moving star, the three kings, the shepherds, the wee donkey, no room at the inn and all that…
It can almost seem like a warm up act for the pantomime in a few week’s time… It’s all very well, but it doesn’t seem quite real. Like a fairy story you don’t take seriously, but you have to kind of play along with, because it’s tradition.
Pretending
Speaking of Father Christmas, did you ever go to Santa's Grotto when you were small? What could be more exciting for a child, than going there with your parents to see the man, the myth, the legend in person? Even if, let’s be honest, most kids aren’t all that interested in the encounter itself; what they really queue up for is the present at the end.
But you have to go through all the small talk. What’s your name? How old are you? Like he cares… And then Santa cuts to the chase and asks you the question you know has been coming. He says, “have you been good this year?” Now, that's a bit problematic, because you know in vivid detail the honest answer to that question, but you also desperately want a present.
And so, crossing your fingers, you say, “Oh yes, I've been extra good this year.” Then you come away feeling a bit guilty because you’ve trashed your good name with a string of lies, just to get a cheap plastic toy, made in China.
I so wish I could travel back in time. Have you ever wanted to do that? I’d love to. And if I could, I could choose that Saturday in December 1960-whenever it was, in that shopping centre on Southend High Street when I met Santa. And I would choose that day so that this time I could give him my honest answer.
Which would go something like this: When he asked me, “and have you been good this year?” I would say, “no - no, I haven’t. Not at all. In fact, the truth is it’s been a record year for mischief and mayhem. But get real, Santa; even for a single day, no one can be 100% good all the time. So 365 days in a row, that’s mission impossible isn’t it? So I feel you’re holding me to an unrealistic standard. But while we’re on the subject of being good, Santa, neither have you. Haven’t you been just a little bit loose with the sherry and mince pies? Those red cheeks and that waistline are a bit of a giveaway! And anyway, Santa, if Christmas is about anything, it's not about earning, it’s about grace. And grace is all about a completely unearned gift, a totally undeserved present. Christmas has never meant you can only have presents if you're good enough. So actually, Santa, it doesn't really matter if I've been good or if I've behaved badly all year. All that matters is that I admit my many lapses and that I'm willing to receive the gift that's offered me. And basically Santa, I do admit and I am willing. So stop asking these annoying, moralizing questions and hand over my present now. Merry Christmas to you too. Thank you, Santa, that is all.”
That is where I would go with my Time Machine.
Grace
But here’s the serious point: God doesn't love you because you are good. He loves you because he is good. And consequently, at Christmas, we don't give people gifts because they earn them. We give people gifts because we love them.
And the whole point of Christmas is that God has given his Son Jesus to save us, not because we're good, which we’re not, but because we’re loved, which we are.
The Bible says that it is while we were still sinners, when we were all messed up, and at our rock-bottom worst, that Christ came and died for us (Romans 5.8).
And it says, “thanks be to God for his indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9.6) – Jesus is God’s gift of everlasting love and everlasting life.
What we find throughout the Bible is that we can never climb our way up to God, so we’re not expected to. It’s always God who comes down to us.
In the film Trains, Planes and Automobiles, Steve Martin and John Candy play two guys trying by any means possible to get home in time for Thanksgiving, but every means of transport they try goes wrong.
In one scene, one of them accidentally sets a car on fire with a cigarette while driving along the freeway. The car is a rattling, smouldering lump of scrap, with bits falling off it, but miraculously it’s still just about moving. Anyway, the highway patrol pulls them over, and a cop leans over and says, “Do you feel this vehicle is safe for highway travel?” And the driver says, “Yes sir, yes I do. It’s not pretty, but it’ll get you to where you want to go.”
It’s hilarious and off the wall but that is how some people feel about their minor religious achievements or moral successes.
When God says, “Do you think your good works will get you to heaven?” people think, “It’s not always pretty, but yes sir, I really do.” It’s like telling Santa you’ve been good all year to get a present…
I once asked a guy why he thought God should let him into heaven. He said, “Look, I may not be perfect, but I’m not Hitler!” We all look great when we compare ourselves with the worst.
We may feel like criminals and crooks sit at the bottom of a mine, while we stand at the top of a mountain by comparison. But, as Handley Moule once said, “we are as little able to touch the stars as they.”
Who among us, for example, would volunteer to have every thought that passed through their minds, even from just the last 24 hours, displayed on that screen for everyone else to read?
The truth is that most of us have more flaws in ourselves than we would ever admit, but Christmas means we are more loved by God than we could ever dream.
We’ve heard this morning personal testimonies showing how life changes dramatically, and for the better, when you let God in. I think some people here know that God has been knocking on their door for a long time. Are you going to finally open that door to him today like Mel and Jack did this year?
Ending
I’m going to end with a prayer now and, if you’re not accustomed to praying, it’s when you shut out the world so it’s just you and God. Try to forget about the people next to you; this is just about you and your response to what you’ve seen and heard this morning. This is a one-to-one with the God of Christmas, who is as real as the chair you’re sitting on.
If you’ve already put your life into God’s hands, now is a time when you can say a “thank you” prayer. Thank you, Jesus for coming to earth in human flesh for me. Thank you for revealing yourself to me, for guiding me in life, for securing my eternity. This is the perfect time to say thank you.
Maybe you’ve moved away from God over the years. You may have been close to God before, but stuff happened, things went off track. Maybe somebody hurt you. Someone disappointed you. You had a bad experience, perhaps in a church somewhere, maybe here. And so you drifted away. But that was then. This is now. Today would be the time to leave your spiritual desert and come home. God is waiting. Is this a beautiful moment for you say, “No more drifting. I want to do my future with you, Lord. I’m back.”
Some of you have never done anything like this before. But all through this morning, you’ve had the strangest feeling; Is this a prompting from God? Maybe you’re starting to think, it’s time. Today is a turning point. I’m going to get off the road I’m on. I’m going to start all over again – but with God this time. You can give your life a complete reset with a step of faith this morning.
So heavenly Father, in this moment, hundreds of people are thinking about you. Many are thanking you once again for your indescribable gift. Some are reconnecting with you again and coming home. And others are reaching out to you for the first time in their lives.
I pray that right now you will give them a wonderful sense of relief. That this is not make-believe. This is all true! And next year is going to look totally different for me because of the decision I made today.
This is what you are doing this in this room right now, and we thank you for your amazing gift and your awesome power. Amen.
Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 22 December 2024.
Thanks to Steven Foster of Saint Aldate's Oxford for the Santa's Grotto conversation, and to Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Chicago for the ending.
No comments:
Post a Comment