How Jesus Celebrates Christmas

Message Transcription

SUMMARY

In this sermon, Dr. Brandon Fredenburg delves into the meaning of Advent and its significance in the Christian calendar. He explains that Advent is a time of progression from darkness to light, symbolizing God's promise to the world through Jesus. Dr. Fredenburg emphasizes that as disciples, we are the continuation of Jesus' incarnation and the means by which God's promise is fulfilled.

Drawing from Matthew 5, Dr. Fredenburg highlights Jesus' teaching that disciples are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. He encourages us to recognize the darkness around us and actively bring light to our neighbors, especially during the challenging holiday season. Dr. Fredenburg also addresses the importance of sharing our good works with others, not for self-praise, but as a means of glorifying God and inspiring fellow believers.

TRANSCRIPTION:

Well. Good morning. My name is Karl Ihfe.

Okay, not really. Karl and his family have gone on a Christmas vacation, and I think that's a good thing. And Karl asked me if I would speak this morning, and I'm happy to do so.

What happens when Jesus moves into our neighborhood? The series that Karl has been doing has been about Advent. And like most of you growing up in churches of Christ, Advent was either an unknown word or it was not something that we did, because it's clearly not in the Bible. Right? Except that the concept certainly is.

Advent celebrated over the four Sundays before Christmas sort of has a progression. It begins in darkness and then it moves toward light. So that today we're in the fourth Sunday of Advent. Advent means appearing. And Advent is a part of a cycle that we call the Christian calendar.

The Christian calendar is a way that believers for millennia have thought about their lives before God as the church. And particularly it follows the life of Jesus. And then to the early church during most of the summer, it's what we call ordinary time. But ordinary times simply means this is when the church is simply being the church, doing the things that it does. And then we get toward the end of November and we sort of begin again with Advent.

It's the beginning of the Christian year at the end of November, where we begin to turn our eyes again every year to the fact that our world lies in darkness. And God has made a promise to our world. And one of the things that's really important that I want us to understand today is that you and I, as the people of God, are the means by which God has kept his promise to the world.

We're that important.

He kept his promise, of course, through Jesus. But then Jesus was raised and ascended, and he sends his spirit among us who dwells within us as church. And we are the continuing incarnation of Jesus. We are the continuing means of bringing the promise that God made to the whole world all the way back in Genesis 12, that in Abraham and his seed, all the peoples of the earth will be blessed. We are as the people of God.

We are the means of that promise. Not only do we believe that promise, we are the ones who bring that promise to the world.

And so the Advent series that Karl has been getting us to think about is what does it look like when Jesus, when God in human flesh comes into our neighborhood? What does it look like in the incarnation after Jesus has been raised? What does it look like when we are the incarnation of Jesus in our neighborhoods? The passage this morning that we began with the passage from Matthew chapter five is actually part of a larger section. And I want us to think about it for just a few minutes this morning.

It actually begins earlier in Matthew chapter four. And I just want to read a couple things here for you, and then we'll think about how it looks like in our own time. Matthew chapter 4, verse 12 begins this way. Now, when he heard that John had been arrested, he would drew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, the territory of Zebulun and Naphthali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled.

This comes from the end of Isaiah 8, the beginning of Isaiah 9. The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned. And from that time Jesus began to preach, saying, repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is upon us.

Change your mind, get a clue. Take a look around you. God's reign is among us.

And then Jesus begins to teach in the synagogues and around the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea.

And he says this, this comes. We know these words, but they're really important for us this morning, and I'll explain why. Jesus opens his mouth and he teaches his disciples, saying, blessed are the poor in spirit, for to them belongs the kingdom of the heavens. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the unimportant, for they shall inherit the land.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. Blessed are those pure in heart, pure of motives, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so people persecuted the prophets who were before you.

You're the salt of the earth. But if the salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It's no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill can't be hidden.

People don't light a lamp to put it under A bushel basket, but on a stand. And it gives light to everyone in the house. Let your light so shine before people that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Jesus begins his Sermon on the Mount by telling the people around him, particularly his disciples, how very important they are in what God is doing for the world.

And I don't know if you notice this line, but I want to draw your attention to the line that we get in verse 12. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For in this way people persecuted the prophets who went before you. I've read this passage. I can't tell you how many times.

Dozens and dozens and dozens. But only whenever I sat down this last time to read this passage did I notice that one of the things that Jesus does is he compares his disciples to the prophets. We are, it seems Jesus is saying we are the continuation of the line of the prophets, just like we are a continuation of the life of Jesus.

He calls us his disciples, blessed, knowing that if we shine our light, if we bring the light that Jesus is into our dark world, we will be persecuted. Because, as John tells us, the light shines in the darkness. And although the darkness doesn't overcome it, the darkness is blinded by the light. And it does not like the light because the light exposes the works that are not of God. What does it look like when Jesus moves into our neighborhood?

What does it look like in your neighborhood right now? Who are your neighbors? Do you know them? Do you know their trials? Do you know their difficulties?

Most of us realize, I think, that the Christmas season, that we're in the time between, say, Thanksgiving and New Years's, it's hard on a lot of people.

Just this morning, as I was getting ready, had the television on. And some of you may know the television show the Chosen. And there was an Advent commercial on with the guy who plays Jesus. I almost didn't recognize him because he didn't have his beard and mustache.

But this commercial was about Advent, and it was. He and his family were in their house looking out their window through a little bit of snow across the street to an open window. And there, sitting in the living room of the house across the street, was what I can only take to be probably a widowed woman sitting there, no Christmas decorations, looking sort of sad. And the next thing you know, he and his family are at her door with a big package of things to give her. Her face lights up, and it says something about what Advent means to express.

You See, even though it was Jesus from the Chosen, it didn't have to be. It could have been any one of us noticing our neighbors, noticing that some of them are grieving, some of them feel helpless, some of them feel hopeless. Some of them really don't look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas because they've had good ones in years past, but now they're not so good. The good memories of the past are just that. And that's the only fuel they have to go on.

And yet Advent is about God coming into our world when we were lost and helpless and hopeless and in the dark.

And he comes to us in the person of Jesus and shines a light in the darkness. We who sit in the shadow of death have seen a great light. But Jesus doesn't leave it there. Not only is he the light, he says something to us.

He says to us as his disciples, you're the salt of the earth, but you're also the light of the world.

You're the light of the world. You, me, you are the light of the world.

You are the bearer of the light of Jesus to the people around you.

So I'm going to ask myself, while I ask you the same question. Where is there darkness around you that needs light? Which of your neighbors needs light?

Who needs to know that Jesus is good, that Jesus welcomes us, that God welcomes us?

It should be a joyous time, an engaging time. Whenever we think about Advent, it should be. It should be really special, kind of like, forgive me, I'm a grandpa. But it should be kind of like the delight that you see on your 2 year old grandson's face whenever he hears the words miska moka, Mickey Mouse. And if you don't know what that is, you need to know it, right?

The welcome, the delight of the light of Jesus coming through us should brighten people's faces.

So Jesus says, you're the light of the world. Don't hide your light. Why? Why? Because this is what the church does.

It wasn't part of the reading, but the next verse is really important. Let your light shine before people so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. So I want to say just a word or two about this.

We live in a society and particularly it comes also into church where we think that if we talk about ourselves and the things that we do that might benefit and bless others, we sort of already have this idea that if we ever do this, then it's kind of patting ourselves on the back. It's drawing unnecessary attention to us, and it's unbecoming.

Can I just say that's not true? Can I just say that the church is far poorer because we don't share with one another the things that happen in our lives where we are a blessing to others, whereby not sharing them with others, we deprive our brothers and sisters of a whole fund of ideas and experiences where they could say, you know, I know that my brother or my sister was in a similar situation, and this is what they did, and it brought glory to God. And so I think I'll try that myself. When we don't share those things with one another because we're afraid somebody might think that we're patting ourselves on the back, we deny the very business of what the church is about, of having intergenerational believers teaching one another, I need to learn from you, and you need to learn, I hope, from me. We need to learn from one another, but we can't do that if we don't say, you know, the other day this thing happened and I remembered the words of Jesus, and this is what I did.

Even though it seemed a little odd, it seemed a little out of place. I was a little uncomfortable. I did this, and their face lit up and I walked away giving glory to God. And they did too.

Do you understand that whenever we don't share those things with one another, we are keeping the glory of God hidden?

We're turning down the dimmer switch when we don't share the goodness of what God has done in our lives with others among ourselves. It’s not arrogant. It's discipleship. It's not arrogant.

It is the older teaching, the younger it is Jesus saying in John, I'm the light of the world, and in Matthew saying, to us, you're the light of the world.

Both are true.

So what can this look like? I want to leave you with a passage that I'm certain you've heard before, and I think Jesus probably took a cue from this. I want you to listen for how this passage uses the phrase light.

I'll tell you where it's from after.

Is this not the fast that I choose to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yole, to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house, especially for Christmas lunch? Okay, I added that part. When you see the naked, to cover him and not to hide yourself from your own kin, then shall your light break forth like the dawn and your healing shall spring up speedily. Your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall follow you.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer. You shall cry out, and he will say, here I am. If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness, and your gloom shall be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and make your bones strong. And you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not failil.

Your light will shine.

Isaiah 58 so as we celebrate the last Sunday of Advent, as we think about how Jesus himself might celebrate Christmas, he celebrates it through us, to our neighbor, bringing light and goodness and kindness to them. Maybe your neighbor is someone across the street or next door, but maybe your neighbor is the person in your own house.

Just maybe.

But we don't do it because it gives us good feelings. We do it because this is how we bring glory to our God. This is how we are agents of the promise that God gave to Abraham 3,000 years ago.

This. This is what it means when Jesus moves into your neighborhood. Jesus moved into your neighborhood when you did so. The message to me, to us, is very simple. The words of Jesus, let your light shine.

Find someone who needs your care and presence this week and next week and the week after that and beyond that, but especially this next week. Because it is hard. It hard on some people. And if you know somebody for whom it's hard, invite them to Christmas dinner. Bring them into the presence of Jesus with skin on you.

Let our light so shine before people so that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.

Disciples, we have our task.

God moved into our neighborhood in the Incarnation, and it continues in us.

May the Lord bless these words.

Amen.