The story we’ve shared, was first told over two thousand years ago and has almost been carried to the ends of the earth. Some of us struggle to believe whether this is a sweet story that adds meaning to our Christmas season or whether this baby actually was Jesus, the Messiah sent to redeem a fallen world.
That struggle is really understandable; he didn’t make a grand and godly entrance-instead he came to a borrowed stable. He seldom interacted with kings, priests and well to do-instead he was most often found with the poor and common. There never was a grand parade like Prince Ali’s in Disney’s Aladdin; only a donkey colt and a few palm branches. He didn’t have a secret service detail, personal chef and grand palace; instead He was surrounded by fishermen, He cooked their breakfast and fed thousands but had no roof over His head. And while He may be exactly what we need; He may not be anything like we want.
Why? Well we have to roll the clock back an additional four thousand years or so, to the beginning of time. When God created this vast universe, uniquely designed to support life that ‘was made in His very own image’…and He said, ‘it is good’. And it was good, very good; so good that daily, God walked right beside Adam and Eve and they talked intimately. At least until the day man made a willful decision to disobey the one simple restriction God had put on him; God had said eat freely of Life; stay away from evil…I don’t even want you to know what evil is. Man didn’t listen; the world God had created was changed forever and our minds have been clouded by things God never intended to even be there.
On an episode of the Cosby Show; Dr Huckstable tells Theo ‘I brought you into this world; I can take you out and make another one’. Why didn’t God do just that? Can God exist without man; yes. Does God want to exist without man; apparently not. Therein was the dilemma for God; His justice could not overlook the sin; His love could not overlook the man.
When we started today’s service, I read a passage from Isaiah 8 ‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given….’. Just two chapters before that, there’s another commonly quoted passages: Isaiah 6:3 ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty; the whole earth is full of (not his holiness, but)…the whole earth is full of His glory.’
His glory represents his unbelievable beauty, all His power and energy, His righteousness, holiness, goodness and love. It’s really not my job or any staff minister’s job to tell you how to think or even believe; our job is to create an atmosphere where you can experience God’s fullness and take your next step on that journey from your head to your heart….but if I could unzip your minds and literally pour in one piece of truth…it would be for each of us to grasp that we are ‘created in His image; that the fullness of God’s glory was meant to be experienced in and through us; it’s not holiness God is filling the world with, but his glory….Christ in you, the hope of glory; that when people look at us, HIS PLAN was for them to see His unbelievable beauty, all His power and energy, His righteousness, holiness, goodness and love…
You want to see God’s glory; I can show you God’s glory? There’s a small envelope under your seat, take it out and as the lights come up…take a look, God’s image, the possibility of His beauty, all His power and energy, His righteousness, Holiness, goodness and love filling a portion of the earth wherever you are and go….it’s why Genesis was the forward to Isaiah, Isaiah was the introduction to Matthew and Matthew is the prequel to Revelation.
It’s more than a sweet story that adds meaning to our Holiday season, it’s the essence of our very existence, what we are created to be…and the Babe in Bethlehem is a step on the journey from your head to your heart….as His Glory Appears.
AWEsome, just AWEsome!! My family and I really enjoyed the Christmas service. It was very powerful and thought provoking. My 4 yr. old daughter was so excited about the mirror the whole service and what we were going to do with it. When you used it as an example of God's glory in us, I really think she understood. Now there are two of them in her Barbie dollhouse she got for Christmas. They were a perfect size for the bathroom mirror and vanity in the bedroom, and a constant reminder to her when she's playing with her Barbie's of God's love for her and His tremendous Glory revealed to us every time we look in a mirror! Thank you Pastor Deana and all of the ODM staff for putting the birth of Christ into proper perspective.
Posted by: Kevin Hubbard | December 28, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Christmas service at ODM outdid itself again this year. God's glory was shown from the the beginning of His creation to the inner man throughout the services in December. Then capped off with this awesome Christmas service. All I can say is WOW. Great job.
I have been coming to Christmas service at ODM for about 5 years now (including 2 years before we were members). Great memories.
Thanks a bunch for every part of this year's Christmas service and build up in the month of December.
John
Posted by: John | January 10, 2010 at 06:48 AM