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2010: Living the Glory of Christmas

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2010: LIVING THE GLORY OF CHRISTMAS

“There were shepherds . . . the glory of the Lord shone around them . . . But the angel said to them . . . ‘To you– is born this day . . . a Savior’. . . So they hurried off and found . . . the baby lying in the manger.”  Luke 2:8-14

We can find within the traditional Christian calendar used in the more historic churches as well as in the worship of the ancient churches, a profound understanding that the spirit of Christmas ought to help us begin every new year with a renewed vision of God’s glory—which is the true glory of Christmas.

First off, for the believer, Christmas is not just a celebration of Jesus’ birth on earth but a celebration of His birth in our hearts.  And that having been born in us even also as a seed, He lives in us for this reason:  that we may be restored to His likeness.  It is this very work of Christ in us that partly defines the glory of Christmas.  Christ is born in our hearts for far much more than to bring us into heaven.  He is born in us to unite us to Himself, that we also manifest His likeness and hence the glory of God.

It is for this reason that right after Christmas comes the season of Epiphany: the beginning of every new year, is a season of Epiphany!  Epiphany means, “appearance;” epiphany means the manifestation of Christ.  Until Christ again, bodily returns to earth when we shall see Him in His resurrected body, he is now primarily manifest when His likeness is manifest through humans who offer their lives to him for this very purpose:  to be an “epiphany” of Christ.

When we can see in the weakness of human flesh, the glory of God, it is then we see an epiphany of Jesus.  It is then we encounter a living manifestation of the life of Jesus, changing a person from the likeness of Adam and into the likeness of Christ.

So the question we must ask ourselves is this: would we like to begin the new year with an “epiphany” of Christ in us?  Do we want to see in the new year, a new manifestation of His life in us?  Would we like to let others see this manifestation of Jesus?  Because when they do, then we are sharing the hope of the world through our very life.

So let again revisit the story of Christmas, and again reflect on the glory of Christmas.  All over the world, it is common for homes to put up brightly lit, tinsel-covered, glorious Christmas trees, and brightly coloured lights and candles and decorations.  Perhaps in some way, all this is part of what we call the “glory of Christmas.”

But let us also be mindful that the true glory of the first Christmas, is not in these things.  It’s not in the “Christmas tinsel.”  The true glory of Christmas is rather found in things very plain, simple, and humble.  Now Christmas is about how God came down, and lived among us.  But how far did He come down?  It’s an important question, because in Jesus, we see God for who He is. 

How far down did He come?

  1. I. HE CAME ALL THE WAY DOWN.

In a small village, He was born in poverty and scandal.  The son of a teenage peasant girl named Mary.  She was pregnant, but not married!  Her protruding belly branded her— an adulteress.  For her husband to be— was not His natural father!  Yet the day came, Jesus was born!  In an animal stable.  They laid Him in a manger, a feeding trough for donkeys!  So the air smelled with urine and donkey dung.

First to greet Jesus’ birth were the shepherds.  These were not white haired clean-cut looking Kiwi sheep herders.  They were rough, smelly, and dirty.  Most were not, morally upright people.  I sought to identify a “functional equivalent” for these shepherds— to help us reflect, on who they might be, in our setting.  But not wanting to offend anyone, I’ll suggest: you imagine who might fill that role.  But I would say: the kind of places they would frequent may be similar to what we have here in the Geylang area!  Living in dormitories or one-room rented flats.

Most of these shepherds were not out looking for God.  They were neither pious, nor devoutly religious people.  Yet to them the angels came, and proclaimed: “To you!  Is born this day . . . a Savior, who is the Messiah.”

Then Jesus grew up.  In a “kampong,” called Nazareth.  It was so bad, they used to say, “Could anything good, come out of Nazareth?”  Nazareth was in Galilee.  95% of Galileans were poor.  Jesus was one of them, and became a carpenter.  Then at age 30 He one day went into the Synagogue, and proclaimed: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me, to bring good news to the poor. . . to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Then for the final three years of His life, He ministered to His fellow Galileans.  He never wrote a book.  He never held a political office.  He never owned a home.  He lived on handouts.  Except for Jerusalem, He never visited the big cities.  He had no credentials but Himself.  But He attracted all kinds of people.  The poor, the rich.  Prostitutes.  Political revolutionaries.  Religious people.  Political leaders.  But above all, the oppressed and downtrodden.  Everyone invited him for dinner.  He enjoyed a good meal, with just about anyone!

But public opinion turned against Him.  Threatened by His revolution, the leaders sought to kill Him.  His followers left Him.  They nailed Him to a cross, between two thieves.  He died disgraced, in total shame.

20 centuries have come and gone.  Yet today He is the central figure of the human race.  All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected humanity on this earth, as much as that one solitary life.

He is the true King of Heaven and Earth.  In Him, the Kingdom of God has come.  One day the kingdoms of this world shall cease, but His kingdom shall never end.  When He first came, there was no room in the inn.  But when He comes again, the whole world will not be able to contain His glory.

The greatest event in human history was the birth of Jesus Christ.  This event divided history, into two parts:  before and after Christ!  The creator of all things, shrank Himself down. so small, as to become a single fertilised egg.  And we “beheld His glory!”  This– is the glory of Christmas.

“He made Himself nothing.”  He “emptied Himself” of all His glory.  Why?  To show us, what He is like!  That God– is humble!  He is approachable!  He is touched by our suffering!  He is giving!  “He is the image of the invisible God!”

Yet there’s more!  For in Him, we now see– our true humanity!  He became like us, that we might become like Him!  He is not only the image of God— He is the image of the perfect man, and woman.  If you’re a Christian, He is the image of what God re-making you and I to become.  He is changing us into His likeness.  Therefore, He says to you and I:

  1. II. GO AND DO LIKEWISE!

All through the Gospels, that’s the word Jesus keeps speaking to us: “Go, and do likewise!  He says, “This is how I’ve lived my life.  Put your feet in my footsteps, and follow me!”  People were asking Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?  Who do I show kindness to?”  And He said, “All people.  Rich or poor.  Every skin colour.  Locals.  Foreigners.  Whatever you think their sin is, it’s not the issue: be a neighbour.  And make sure you be a neighbour to people you tend to despise.  These especially, are your neighbours.”  “Come down!  Go, and do likewise!”

The other day, I was boarding the LRT in Sengkang.  I was behind the yellow line, waiting for passengers to exit.  But there were these “China” foreign workers blocking the entrance, positioning themselves to be “first” inside the coach.  Since I was doing the “right thing,” I gave a “look,” to let them know, they were doing the wrong thing!  But the Lord spoke to me.  And I realised that, these are foreigners; they don’t know all the “rules,” but God loves them.  What they need is kindness, and forbearance; not correction.  Anyone can judge!  But are you willing to die for them?  Jesus was, and He did.  “Go and do likewise!”

Last week we met a Taiwanese woman at a coffee shop.  We talked for over an hour.  She’s been here for about two years, and suffering from culture shock.  She said we were the nicest people she’s met since coming here.  But I know she’s suffering culture shock.  Are we sensitive to these “strangers” in our midst?

Now let’s reflect on the situation here in the Geylang area.  Let’s evaluate our perspectives.  Because, if we compare Geylang to Shenton Way, there’s the probability that there is a whole lot more “sin” going on in Shenton Way than in Geylang.  Why?  Because throughout those tall buildings is marital adultery, fornication, lying, stealing, cheating, backstabbing, politicking, slander and malice!  Those things are just not as visible.

Geylang is more like an open wound, caused by the sickness of our whole world.  But by sheer geography, this community comprises, “our neighbours.”  And because we’re bound to “bump” into people who are different, Jesus says, “Go, and do likewise.”

We are also surrounded by people of other religious persuasions.  But they are not spiritual “competitors,” or “enemies.”  They are also, our “neighbours.”  How we understand people, determines how we treat them.  Do we see them as so depraved they deserve our contempt, or as people whom God loves?

How are we postured to people who are “not like us?”  Who are “different from us?  Not as “prim and proper” as us?  But we’re all, “diamonds in the rough.”  For inside the heart of every person, lies a “spark” of God’s glory!  That’s why we’re “redeemable.  That’s why we matter to God.  So we’re called not to judge but to see people through Christ’s eyes.

Over these past days, I felt the Lord impress me with this thought:  Revival in this church is linked to how deeply in our heart, we’re willing to embrace this community.

Because, for however long it may be— this church, like other churches here, is for this moment, God’s hope for this area.  God sometimes keeps a person or people in a certain place until lessons are learned that He wants to teach in that place.  So therefore, “for such a time as this,” this part of the land, of the “good earth,” is part of the “pasture,” for this church.

It is part of the “pasture” where the “shepherd,” meaning this church, has to “be a neighbour,” to the lost sheep.  I’m not talking about going out and “witnessing.”  I am rather referring to our posture towards “our neighbors.”  The posture of our heart towards people who are different from us, especially people we tend to brand as depraved, “immoral,” or of a different religious persuasion, or simply find different from us.  The problem, is not what’s “out there, around us.  It’s here, in our heart.  It’s our posture to human beings— created in the image of God.

So that when opportunity arises, we are kind, and what is manifest is not “judgment,” or irritation, but the warmth of Christ.  That’s what it means to be a “Christian:” a little “christ,” a disciple of Jesus Christ.  That to all men, and all women, the warmth and love of Christ is manifest.  I would challenge us that for 2010, let’s strive not to be all the more known for Christianity.  But rather to be known as “Christ-like.”

  1. III. AND HE SHALL LIFT YOU UP.

Humble yourselves and He shall lift you up!  Become a magnetic house of healing!  Jesus said, “When you give a banquet, do not invite your friends . . . or rich neighbors,” or anyone who can repay you.  But rather, “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.  And you will be blessed!”  (Luke 14:12-14).

You set your self to become a “different kind” of church.  A magnetic house of healing.  A church without walls.  Let your fruit “hang over the walls,” for the poor in the land.  Don’t worry about not attracting the right kind of people you’d like to bring here, to these premises.  But become a “magnetic house of healing,” and God will fill the church.  He fill it, if we’re open to all kinds of people who healing.  And along the way, God will send a few rich people along the way also, because there are some who’d believe and be attracted to what your doing.

If you embrace the whole community with all you heart, be a neighbour to this whole community, “You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. . . . you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” (Isaiah 58:11-12)

  1. He came all the way down.
  2. Go and do likewise.
  3. And He shall lift you up.

Monte Lee Rice (December 2009)


Posted in Archives, Christian life / Spirituality, Evangelism, Jesus, Ministry, New postings, Preaching, Sermons, Theology Tagged: Christian life & ministry, Christian spirituality, Christmas, Epiphany, Jesus, New Year

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