Matthew 1:18-25   NT p. 1 or 1178

[18] Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

[19] Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.

[20] But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

[21] She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

[22] All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

[23] "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,"
which means, "God is with us."

[24] When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife,

[25] but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. [NRSV]

Hebrews 1    NT p. 203 or 1491

[1] Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,

[2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.

[3] He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

[4] having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

[5] For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son;
today I have begotten you" ?
Or again,
"I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son" ?

[6] And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
"Let all God's angels worship him."

[7] Of the angels he says,
"He makes his angels winds,
and his servants flames of fire."

[8] But of the Son he says,
"Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.

[9] You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions."

[10] And,
"In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;

[11] they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like clothing;

[12] like a cloak you will roll them up,
and like clothing they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will never end."

[13] But to which of the angels has he ever said,
"Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet" ?

[14] Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

[NRSV]

INTRODUCTION:

In an old Garfield comic, Odie is asleep on the floor. Garfield walks up, lifts up Odie's ear and whispers, "Christmas is coming," and then walks off. Odie is still asleep, but now their is a big smile on his face and his tail is wagging ninety to nothing. (1)

That's what this time of year does to us, doesn't it. Especially when it's only two days until Christmas. The little child in us can hardly wait. The anticipation is just too delicious. It infects every aspect of our lives. Lights go up. Tree go up and are decorated with joy. Everywhere there is music that sings of hope and joy and peace.

While it gets colder outside we start feeling a little warmer inside. We feel closer to strangers. We feel the need to help those less fortunate. And then we feel blessed for doing so. Christmas is coming and it fills us with joy and anticipation. It fill us with love. Christmas is coming and that changes everything.

In the opening words of Hebrews, the author captures some of the sense of how Christmas has changed everything. He talks about the glory and splendor of heaven coming down to earth. And how it returned to God and now sits "at the right hand of Majesty."

The author writes: [1-3a] "Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word."

God "has spoken to us by a Son." I love that verse. It puts everything about this season into perspective. God "has spoken to us by a Son." We tend to forget that. We tend to overlook the meaning of the season.

For many people, Christmas is simply another holiday. It is a time for parties and extravagant gift-giving and mushy feelings, but it has very little to do with Jesus' birth.

Two women, dressed in their finest, were having lunch together in a very exclusive restaurant. A friend saw them and came over to their table to greet them.

"What's the special occasion?" she asked.

One of the women said, "We're having a birthday party for the baby in our family. He's 2 years old today."

"But, where is the baby?" the friend asked.

The child's mother answered, "Oh, I dropped him off at my mother's house. She's taking care of him until the party's over. It wouldn't have been any fun with him along."

That's ridiculous isn't it? A birthday party for a child who wasn't welcome at his own party! How weird. But then, when you stop to think about it, that's really no more foolish than celebrating and partying all the way through the Christmas season without remembering the One whose birth we are supposed to be celebrating and honoring. (2)

Today we do come to celebrate and honor "The Newborn King" We come hoping and praying that our worship will bring "Glory To The Newborn King"

And we bring glory to Christ by remembering THE OFT TOLD STORY; that we are HEIRS TO THE GLORY and we are CALLED TO BRING GOD GLORY.

I. THE OFT TOLD STORY:

The Christmas story is so old and yet so brand new. It's so simple and at the same time deeply complicated. The Christmas story is so down to earth and yet so heavenly and divine. It's the story of life and birth and beginnings but it's also the story of eternal life, new birth and second chances or new beginnings.

How do you describe something like Christmas? For centuries we've told and retold the story. We've added our own words. We've added music. We've created characters and conditions. We've overlain the culture of each decade upon it. We've twisted it and turned it and examined it from every angle possible and yet it has endured the test of time.

The simplicity of this story still melts our hearts and still gives us hope.

A woman in County Woman magazine tells how their children's church, which she directed, was putting on a play for Christmas. As she began planning the music, she asked one of my daughters and another little boy if they would be willing to play two verses of "Silent Night" on their flutes. She says had to laugh when the boy replied, "Mrs. Anderson, I only know the first verse." (3)

Some of us only know the first verse, the simplest verse of the Christmas story but that's OK. The first verse is enough to draw us into the story. The first verse is enough to touch our heart. The first verse is enough to make a major difference in our life and in our outlook on life. The first verse is enough to change a heart and change a life.

And believe me, once you know the first verse by heart, the rest comes easy. The rest comes naturally. The rest comes rolling in like the surf to fill in all the gaps and holes. It brings a levelness to your faith.

This OFT TOLD STORY is a thing of beauty and a powerful tool of God's Word. It reminds us that God "has spoken to us by a Son." And that Son is the reason for the season. That Son is the one whose very presence makes all the difference in the world.

II. HEIRS TO THE GLORY:

A. That Son makes us HEIRS OF THE GLORY.

Did you hear about the van loaded with Roget's Thesauruses that collided with a taxi? Witnesses were "astounded, taken aback, surprised, startled, dumbfounded, thunderstruck and caught unaware."

That's sort of how I felt the first time I realized what the author of Hebrews was really saying when he says we are HEIRS OF THE GLORY. Actually here he calls us "those who are to inherit salvation," but that's us. We are the Heirs he speaks of here. Heirs of salvation and HEIRS OF THE GLORY.

We've been seeing previews for a movie that was just released. It stars Tim Allen and is titled "Joe Somebody." I haven't seen it but I think it from the ads this movie plays on the need of everyone to feel important, to feel like a somebody. And that's exactly what Christmas and the birth of the Christ Child does for us.

What better proof do we need of our importance to God than this child laying in a manger. This child who came to make us HEIRS OF SALVATION and HEIRS OF THE KINGDOM. It's almost like a fairy tale. The poor, lonely, under estimated orphan finds out he or she is really the HEIR TO THE KINGDOM. A son or daughter of the King. Well the truth of Christmas is that we are.

In our last church, one of the women shared with me that when she asked one of her kids what they wanted for Christmas, she was told, "Christmas isn't a thing, it's a feeling."

And that child was so right. Christmas is a feeling. It's a feeling that you finally belong. It's a feeling of being important. Important to God. It's a feeling of being loved by God. Christmas IS a feeling.

B. But it's also more than a feeling. It's about action, too. Christmas is about God's action in our lives.

A number of years ago, the paper carried a story with which some of us can identify. A California Highway Patrol Officer received a call, it seems a woman was about to jump off a bridge. Immediately, the officer was confronted with a dilemma. You see, the officer had an extreme fear of heights, and the jumper was perched on the railing of a bridge that is 443 feet above the floor of a deep gorge. So, you can appreciate her situation.

The officer forced herself, however, to walk calmly toward the woman and sit down beside her. There, high above that gorge, they talked for two hours while the officer struggled with her own panic. Finally, the jumper agreed to come away from the railing and get some help.

That officer put herself in the very same place and the very same danger as the woman who was ready to jump. And that's exactly what God did through Christ. God put himself in our place. In Christ, God put on our flesh and blood walked amongst us.

Christmas is about both an action and a feeling.

Those actions and those feeling lead us to be the HEIRS OF THE GLORY God intended us to be.

III. CALLED TO BRING GOD GLORY:

A. And HEIRS OF THE GLORY are CALLED TO BRING GOD GLORY. And we do that through our actions and our attitudes.

Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his back yard in the snow. He didn't wear boots; he didn't like them, and anyway he didn't own any. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them, and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold. Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already, and, try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother's Christmas gift.

He shook his head as he thought, "This is useless. Even if I do come up with an idea, I don't have any money."

Ever since his father had passed away three years ago, the family of five had struggled. It wasn't because his mother didn't care or try. There just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital, but the wages that she was earning could only be stretched so far. What the family lacked in money and material things, however, they more than made up for in love.

Bobby had two older and one younger sister, who ran the household in their mother's absence. All three of his sisters had already made beautiful gifts for their mother. Somehow it just wasn't fair. Here it was Christmas Eve already, and he had nothing. Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down to the street where the shops and stores were. It wasn't easy being six without a father, especially when he needed him to talk to.

Bobby walked from shop to shop, looking into each decorated window. Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of reach. It was starting to get dark, and Bobby reluctantly turned to walk home when suddenly his eyes caught the glimmer of the setting sun's rays reflecting off of something along the curb. He reached down and discovered a shiny dime.

Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby felt at that moment. As he held his treasure, a warmth spread throughout his entire body, and he walked into the first store he saw. His excitement quickly turned cold when the salesperson told him that he couldn't buy anything with only a dime.

He saw a flower shop and went inside to wait in line. When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could buy one flower for his mother's Christmas gift. The shop owner looked at Bobby and his ten-cent offering. Then he put his hand on Bobby's shoulder and said to him, "You just wait here, and I'll see what I can do for you."

As Bobby waited he looked at the beautiful flowers and even though he was a boy, he could see why mothers and girls liked them.

The sound of the door closing as the last customer left, jolted Bobby back to reality. All alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid. Suddenly the shop owner came out and moved to the counter. There, before Bobby's eyes, lay twelve long stem, red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow.

Bobby's heart sank as the owner picked them up and placed them gently into a long white box. "That will be ten cents young man." the shop owner said reaching out his hand for the dime. Slowly, Bobby moved his hand to give the man his dime.

Could this be true? No one else would give him a thing for his dime! Sensing the boy's reluctance, the shop owner added, "I just happened to have some roses on sale for ten cents a dozen. Would you like them?"

This time Bobby did not hesitate. When the man placed the long box into his hands, he knew it was true. Walking out the door, he heard the shop keeper say, "Merry Christmas, son."

As he returned inside, the shopkeeper's wife walked out. "Who were you talking to back there, and where are the roses you were fixing?"

Staring out the window and blinking the tears from his own eyes, he replied, "A strange thing happened to me this morning. While I was setting up things to open the shop, I thought I heard a voice telling me to set aside a dozen of my best roses for a special gift. I wasn't sure at the time whether I had lost my mind or what, but I set them aside anyway. Then just a few minutes ago, a little boy came into the shop and wanted to buy a flower for his mother with one small dime.

"When I looked at him, I saw myself, many years ago. I too, was a poor boy with nothing to buy a Christmas gift for my mother. A bearded man, whom I never knew, stopped me on the street and told me that he wanted to give me ten dollars.

"When I saw that little boy tonight, I knew who that voice was, and I put together a dozen of my very best roses." The shop owner and his wife hugged each other tightly. And as they stepped out into the bitter cold air, they somehow didn't feel cold at all. (4)

That couple very definitely brought GLORY TO GOD. And that's what we're called to do. As HEIRS OF THE GLORY we're CALLED TO BRING GOD GLORY through our actions and deeds.

B. I read a recommendation for the movie Return to Me, so I rented it. The story line is about one young woman who is born with a heart defect that keeps her from living a normal life. As she grows weaker she lives on bottled oxygen. Finally the doctors tell her and her family that she can't live much longer with her damaged heart.

A second young woman is happily married. She and her husband are involved in a car accident. She's fatally injured. Her heart is salvaged and placed in the body of the first young woman.

The young woman is very self conscious about the scar from her heart surgery. She always wears high neck blouses to cover the scar.

The grieving husband begins to move back into life. He goes to work. His friends support him. One buddy invites him on a blind date. On that date they're served by a waitress who happens to be the daughter of the owner of the cafe. She's also the recipient of his dead wife's heart. Their eyes meet and their is an instant connection.

As their romance blossoms she knows she has to tell him she has had a heart transplant. He invites her to dinner in his home. She finds the thank you letter she wrote to the donor of her new heart. She can't bear to tell him she is living because his wife died. But she does and he falls back into grief.

He returns to his mourning. He can't bear that thought that this vital young woman is living while his beloved wife is dead. The cost is too much, the hurt is too great.

She too is shocked by the revelation and stunned by the ache in the man she has come to love. She runs away.

After several weeks there is no reconciliation. She follows an early dream and leaves for Italy to study painting. Working through his grief he admits his love. He pursues her and they're reunited in Italy. From the mixture of pain and joy they're granted the gift of new life.

When God created the heavens and earth and populated it with us. It was perfect. But then sin crept in and corrupted very heart of humanity. And like the young lady in this story, we needed a heart transplant. Then came Christ Jesus and our hearts were completely and forever changed. They were changed and we were given the gift of new life.

God blesses us with the gift of a new heart in the form of Jesus. That gift gives us a new life. And through that new life, we're CALLED TO BRING GOD GLORY.

CONCLUSION:

Pastor Steve Brown tells about a car he saw one day while driving home that was the ugliest car he has ever seen. He says this car wasn't just ugly, it was ugly on top of ugly.

It had a large gash on its side; one of the doors was held together with baling wire; and several other body parts were almost completely rusted out. The car's muffler was so loose that with every bump, it hit the street, sending sparks in every direction.

He couldn't tell the original color of the car. The rust had eaten away much of the paint, and so much of the car had been painted over with so many different colors that any one of them (or none of them) could have been the first coat. The most interesting thing about the car was the bumper sticker. It said, "THIS IS NOT AN ABANDONED CAR."

"A long time ago," says Steve Brown, "in a manger, a baby was born. He was a sign to us. His presence read, 'THIS IS NOT AN ABANDONED WORLD.'" (5)

God sent Jesus to remind us of that. God sent Jesus to call us back. It is God, through Jesus who calls, "Return To Me."

When we remember THE OFT TOLD STORY;

when we remember that we are HEIRS TO THE GLORY;

and when we remember that we are CALLED TO BRING GOD GLORY,

Then we will be bringing "Glory To The Newborn King."

We will be blessed. And we will have Returned to God.

1. Garfield by Jim Davis, 12-17-93.

2. Source unknown.

3. --Catherine Anderson, Pleasant Grove, Alabama

4. Source: Unknown

5. I couldn't find the source