Sermon Snippet – Perfection at Christmas
INTRODUCTION – One early evening I walked into our living room and admired the large and lovely lighted Christmas tree. It was perfect – except that it wasn’t. One of our cats had dragged the tree skirt into the middle of the floor, drawing my attention from the tree itself. The imperfections do jump out, don’t they? Illness, loss of power, undelivered gifts, burnt food, ugly sweaters – there are so many things that prevent the perfect Christmas.
1. THE FIRST CHRISTMAS WAS NOT PERFECT, EITHER
I said last week that no one ever had a better Christmas than Zacharias and Elisabeth had at that first Christmas, with the miraculous birth of their own son and the even greater miracle of the birth of the Messiah. However, John the Baptist was three months old, and they were “well stricken in years” (Luke 1:7). The usual struggles of raising a child – things like sleeplessness, childhood illnesses, teething – would have been harder for this older couple.
Joseph and Mary had to travel miles to Bethlehem for a tax census (don’t give the leftists in our nation any ideas). Then, the birth of their beloved son and Savior occurred in a stable (Luke 2:7). Born in a barn – what a humble beginning for Jesus! No doubt Mary and Joseph wished to be back home in Nazareth, in a clean, warm family house. God provided for them (especially through the gifts of the magi), but each day brought uncertainties – and the certainty of Herod’s hatred.
The shepherds were the first to greet the baby Jesus. It was the highlight of their lives. Then they went back to work (Luke 2:20). When I was a young boy, my father worked seven days a week. He had Christmas off; but the next day, no matter what day of the week it was, he was back to one (or both) of his jobs. It always bothered me that he could not stay home. The shepherds were working as soon as they got back to their sheep.
As we studied last week, Simeon may have died shortly after seeing the infant Jesus (Luke 2:29). The elderly Anna was unlikely to have much time left on earth; and she, like the shepherds, would have been back to work in the Temple (Luke 2:36-37).
“All Jerusalem” was “troubled” because Herod was about to go on another killing spree (Luke 2:3). The wisemen had a long journey ahead of them, a trek back to their pagan homeland.
The first Christmas was not perfect, not even close. Let us not despair, though, …
2. FOR THERE WAS PERFECTION AT THE FIRST CHRISTMAS, PERFECTION IN WHAT MATTERS MOST
The words of the angel of the Lord to Joseph (Matthew 1:20-23) include this key statement about Jesus: “He shall save His people from their sins.” He is “God with us,” the only perfect substitute available to us. The angel in Luke 2:10-12 states the truth that we all need a perfect Savior, fully human and fully God. Simeon proclaims the universal need for “salvation” (Luke 2:30), a deliverance that only this perfect Savior could and does provide.
CONCLUSION – Based upon the Bible, I wish each one of you a perfect Christmas. Through a personal faith in Jesus Christ, anyone can have this perfect Christmas and a perfect eternity. Other aspects of our lives will be imperfect, no doubt, but let us rejoice in the blessed birth of our perfect Savior.