Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 22 December 2013 by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 7:10-16; Roman 1:1-7 and Matthew 1:18-25.

Opening prayer:

Living God, thank you for your Word. May Your Word touch our heart and by the Holy Spirit we are inspired to understand your salvation. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You O God, our savior and redeemer. Amen.  

Essence of Christmas

Christmas is coming soon next week. Many people are busy with parties and shopping. Some people may have even started their holiday and prepared for a trip somewhere.

Last week, I received a whatsapp from a friend: sharing some reminders on the meaning of Christmas

Christmas stands for:

-      C is Christ, not card

-      H is hope, not holiday

-      R is Rejoice, not resort

-      I is incarnation, not indulgence

-      S is salvation, not Santa Claus

-      T is thanksgiving, not turkey

-      M is mercy, not money (moderation, not more and more)

-      A is adoration, not activity

-      S is sharing, not shopping

(sacrifice, not self gratification; Jesus shared his life with us and for us)

Christmas – there are two S

-it represents the essence of Christmas and the heart of Christianity

1)  Salvation through the forgiveness of sins

2)  Sharing/ Sacrifice: a service of love

-          Jesus suffered, died and rose again from the cross

-          Jesus serves as a great model of servant-hood. He is a servant king

Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the savior of the world. He came to save and the serve.

Jesus in Hebrew : Jehoshua, meaning – ‘Yahweh saves’. The Jewish people have been longing for their Messiah, coming to the world to save their nation. But Jesus came not only to save the Jews but all humanity and the world.

Salvation - Sins forgiven

In the Gospel account of Matthew, Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father was given a vision in his dream. His fiancée Mary was pregnant and she was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This baby is the messiah sent by God. This is the fulfillment of God’s promise proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah. 7:14.

“Look, the young woman is with a child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.”

Joseph was told by the angel, “this baby will save his people from their sins”  (Matthew 1: 21b)

The prophecy of the birth of the Jewish Messiah is proclaimed also by the priest Zechariah :

The birth of the Messiah is “to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Zechariah 1:77-79)

The way God save the world by sending the Messiah is not to control and rule over the world. God saves the world by the forgiveness of sins.

“For God so loved the world that He gave his only son, so that everyone who believe in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the son to condemn the world, but in order that the world may be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)

The heart of the message of Christianity is God’s provision for dealing with human sin, which is not just individual acts of deceit, immorality and so on, nor is it the sum total of all such acts.  Sin also includes a natural tendency to rebel against the Will of God. This rebellion separates humans from God (Isa 59:2; Rom 3:23; 6:23; Eph2: 1-3) and lies at the heart of all social misconduct and conflict. Jesus came into the world to liberate humans from sin and from the consequent wrath of God, whose very nature is opposed to sin in every form.

People sin when they turn away from God and get lost. We are living in a world full of terror and outraged violence. Just to give a few examples:

-          Many Christians in Syria and Egypt have been persecuted. In Syria, the most recent attack against Christians had killed 50 people. Many of them were children. A Christian man who was taken captive by the rebels, had been cruelly asked “how do you want to die?” This man suffered from a complete breakdown before he was eventually released.

-          Mr Liu Xiaobo, the first Nobel Peace Price winner in China, was tried and sentenced to eleven years in prison four years ago. His wife Liu Xia, who has been under house arrest since 2010. They are punished because they advocated for a humane and democratic China governed by rule by laws. What an absurd world! In China and all over the world, there are still thousands and thousands of people suffering from human rights violations because of the abuse of power by corrupted government. 

Sins of greed, power and control, persecution and oppression against the weak have created a lot of pains and suffering in the world.

Jesus brings people closer to God and reconnects them in the love and life of God. The forgiveness of sins given by God through Christ enables human beings to live a free life. Human beings are no more living in bondage of sins (greed, hatred, fear, power and dominance). In Christ, humans are no more enslaved but live freely in the love of God. 

Christmas: the second S – meaning Sharing, Sacrifice, Service

Look at baby Jesus on the banner handed on the church wall: baby Jesus is sleeping peacefully. This is an image of peace and joy with an innocent baby born.

Please notice the banner is in red. Red is a sign of sacrifice. For we know this baby Jesus grew up to suffer, to die and to rise again from the power of death.

Followers of Christ keep celebrating the birth of Jesus. Why?

We are reminded once and again : Jesus saved the world and transform people’s life by his love and care. It is our call to share this message to the world.

Christmas: a season to share God’s love

Christmas season always lead me to remember a friend I called him Peter. He was a drug addict for over 20 years. His lung had been seriously damaged. He was admitted to hospital for treatment. He was well taken care of by the nurses. They talked to him and brought him soup. At Christmas Eve, when he was lying on the bed, a group of Christians led by the nurses visited him and sang to him Christmas carols. He was very touched and believed that it was God who loved him so much that He sent these angels to greet him in this special time – a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the savior of all humanity.

Peter was a drug addict for so many years. In many people’s eyes, he was a bad guy -- no dignity and no respect from the society, not even from his friends and family.

But the nurses’ unconditional acceptance and loving deeds revealed to him Jesus’ love and grace to him. Although he had done so many wrong things in the past, God still loves him and cares for him.

He then became a Christian and devoted himself to serve God by helping young drug addicts in drug rehabilitation programs. 

The Christian nurses shared with him love and care. They had lived out the essence of Christmas, the purpose of Jesus’ birth and his life.

A lesson to learn from Apostle Paul – he share with his disciples in Roman 1

Paul reminded the followers of Christ in his time --

Jesus Christ saved the world through his sacrifice, death and resurrection.

Through Christ, the believers received grace and apostleship to bring the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. (Roman 1: 5-6)

The life of Jesus is a life of service. Therefore, when we celebrate Christmas, Jesus’ birth, we are reminded that serving others with love is the essence of Christmas.

Challenges and promises

We celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus with joy and happiness.

God does not promise us an easy life. Even Jesus, the son of God, was given a hard life on earth. He came to the world not to be served but to serve. He came to suffer, die and rise again from the cross.

God does not promise us a life without pain and struggles, struggles and uncertainty.

What God gives to us is an unfailing promise of love. In God’s unfailing love, we will be saved.

The promise of salvation has been carried throughout human history, from the prophet of Isaiah in the old days and up to now. God’s promise of hopeful salvation has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In Christ, we have been given eternal life.

The eternal promise given by God in Christ is – God is with us. God will never leave us alone. God was living in his people in the past, God is living in us at present, God will live in us in the future. God is an eternal God.

This trust and fact has empowered us with hope. We know that no matter what happen in us and in the world, God is there with us.

Emmanuel, the new born baby is the sign of God’s presence.

Conclusion

Never reduce Christmas to

-          Christmas card, holiday, resort, indulgence, Santa Claus, turkey, money, activity and shopping.

But focus our life in Christ who has given us hope in his death and resurrection. We rejoice for God’s incarnation to the world to save us through the forgiveness of sins. We give thanks to God for his mercy and we adore again and again for his sacrifice and service of love to us and the whole world. Amen.

Christmas is a time to remind us -- God is the centre of our life and our world.

May the gift from God – Jesus who is called Emmanuel, God is with us bring you hope, joy, peace and love. Amen.