Rethinking Christmas

Here are my sermon notes from last Sunday. I did my best to remind us of the importance of Mary as well as challenge us all to rethink our consumeristic habits at this time of the year. Love to hear your feedback.


Matthew 1:18-25 True comfort at Christmas

Intro…what the media and retail stores would like us to think true comfort at Christmas is, buying tons of stuff, the onslaught of advertisements for black Friday…
• This morning, I’d like to remind us of the basic, simple message of Christmas and help us stay focused on Jesus.
• I’m going to do that as we review the story of Mary and then take a look at what we are spending our money and time on this Christmas.

Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Thesis: The only way we will be truly fulfilled and comforted during the Christmas season is to focus on Jesus.

As we take a look at Mary and her part in the Christmas story, here’s some things to remember:
V. 18 Mary was pledged to be married, following God’s plan for a man and woman in a relationship.
• V. 18 She was a teenage girl, who lived on the dusty fringe of the Roman empire, a powerless peasant from an insignificant town…yet she was chosen by God to bring Jesus into the world.
• I believe God chose Mary as part of His whole plan to bring Jesus into this world through lowly, humble means.

Mary was a young virgin.
• This is important because as Jesus entered the world, he needed to be free from the sinful nature passed on to other humans by Adam.
• Since Jesus was born of a woman, he was a human being, but as the Son of God, Jesus was born without any trace of human sin.
• Jesus is both fully human and fully God…

Luke 2:19 tells us that Mary, “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart”.
• Mary listened to God and accepted this mission, as impossible as it was
• The original TV show “Mission Impossible”. The tape always begins with "Good Morning Mr. Phelps, "Your mission, should you decide to accept it", with a brief explanation of the goal of the mission. At the end of the tape…"this tape will self-destruct in five seconds"
• Even though to Joseph and Mary this may have seemed like an impossible mission (considering her pregnancy out of wedlock), they were willing to trust God for the outcome.
• As you may know, Jesus means, “Savior”, the Hebrew Jeshua means, “the Lord is salvation”, Christ or Christos means, “the anointed one” and is the exact equivalent of the Hebrew word for “Messiah”.


V. 22-23 Mary helped fulfill prophecy. Isaiah 7:14, 8:8-10
• What is a prophecy? It is God speaking through a servant/prophet to describe a coming event long before it happens.
• There are over 400 prophecies in the Old Testament which point to the coming Messiah and to His life and death.
Yes, Mary is an important part of the Christmas story, but let’s not get too focused on Mary.
• She was one of the many key people God used to bring salvation to man.
• Joseph played in important role, as did the shepherds, and wise men.


Just as we keep the message of Mary simple, yet meaningful, we need to keep the focus of Christmas simple and meaningful.
• Advent Conspiracy video
• (As the video says) We need to deny the religion of consumerism, worship God fully with our whole lives, spend less, give more and love all people. Let’s take a look at those ideas…
• The primary threat to Christianity is consumerism. It promises transcendence. Buy “this” and you will achieve a higher state of satisfaction…until the newest model comes out.
• Consumerism actually demands that we be dissatisfied…my cell phone and the temptation to buy a new iTouch…
• Instead of getting caught up in that endless cycle, let’s refocus on our worship of God, spending less and giving more.
• Remember, the things we desire are the things we worship. (I’ve said this before, and I’m guilty of it,) but think about the placement of of certain items in our house…our TV’s…everything in the room points towards it…or it could be your car, the computer, etc.
• Instead, we need worship God fully because Christmas begins and ends with Jesus.
• As we choose to spend less it’s important to remember that we don’t love our family and friends any less. In fact, those who receive our creative, personal gifts will sense our love even more…
• SV2’s Xmas party…hand-made gifts…
• Please prayfully consider what it means for you to “spend less”. Learn to shop and buy for necessities instead of wants.
• “Do I/we/they really need this?”
• What sort of message are we giving our children or grandchildren at Christmas?
• We’ve learned that even if you were to buy a child everything on their Xmas list, the thrill will be over to soon.
• What do we really need at Christmas? Our love, presence, (as in being there), personal, well thought-out gifts.
• Give more of your presence, your hands, your words, your time, your heart.
• “If we can resist the trap of giving easy gifts, and if we can reject the assumption that giving expensive gifts or many gifts is the best way to express love, something else might happen. We will experience moments of relational giving that our friends and family will care about and remember.”
• Spend less and free your resources for things that truly matter.
• If the Christian church can remember to love and care for all, the poor, the forgotten, the marginalized, the sick, we’ll be able to turn our focus outward to a hurting and needing world.
• Let’s exchange our consumption for compassion.
• What if Christmas was no longer about stuff? What if, this Christmas, we could spend less, give more, worship fully and love all? What if we did that all year long?
• Then, truly our cup would be filled to overflowing with Jesus, the living water. Our lives and houses would be full, not of stuff, but of substance, of diving presence, of life.
• “Mary’s worship begins with the ultimate paradox, a young girl, unwed and without power, influence or wealth. Yet she cradles in her womb the divine savior of the world. Mary soon recognizes that through this great gift God will do a wondrous thing for all people.”


Conclusion: I do want to thank everyone who packed a shoe box for OCC. That’s a great step in the right direction to spending your money wisely at Christmas.