Advent 2009
A Christmas Carol
Part 4: Christmas Future
Today we are going to light our fourth advent candle.
We are going to expand our understanding of peace,
And see that it is our choices that determine our destiny.
We are again going to accompany Ebenezer Scrooge as he gets
a chance to see where his choices are leading him.
I am going to introduce you to the idea that our future is reflected in the
what’s going on in our life right now.
And finally I want you to realize that you still have opportunity
to change your life, so that you can live it to the full.
The fourth candle in our advent wreath reminds us that Jesus comes to bring Peace
to both the world and to people's hearts.
As we contemplate this candle we need to realize that the Peace that Jesus brings is
not an absence of conflict but rather a more Jewish understanding of Peace,
Shalom.
Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)
"' "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you [Shalom]."'
Shalom is a word full of meaning,
The root of the word means complete, perfect and full.
(http://www.therefinersfire.org/meaning_of_shalom.htm)
It is a blessing spoken by one to another that I take to mean
“may you have everything in life that you need to be
right with God and others.”
Shalom—Peace, health, welfare, safety, soundness, prosperity, wholeness,
Harmony, and I would add righteousness are all wrapped up in the word.
Without Christ there is no Shalom in this world, there is no peace.
But with Christ you can experience Shalom here and now.
Luke 2:4-16 (NIV)
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there
were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks
at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone
around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be
afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the
people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ
the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and
lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,
praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to
one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which
the Lord has told us about."
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying
in the manger.
We bring our Advent wreath to full blaze of light,
in the hope that we may see clearly the path of peace that is found in the
coming of Jesus and encourage others to join us on the path.
I was sitting, having a cup of coffee with an old man,
listening to him tell me about his life.
It was a sad story.
Full of regrets and missed opportunity, a whole lot of disappointments.
There was a lot of “if only’s” in the tale.
And in my thinking even the glory days weren’t so glorious.
There were things he should not have done that he was ashamed of.
There were things he didn’t do that he felt guilt over.
It’s like he had searched his whole life for some crazy missing part,
But never found it.
And now, near the end of his life,
All he had was an emptiness,
and old dreams that would never come to reality.
Then he said the most despairing thing: There’s no hope for somebody like me.
Maybe that’s how you feel?
The Shalom of Christmas has passed you bye and you are stuck living out
the rest of your days like you lived out the days before.
Continue to do the same things,
you continue to get the same results.
If that’s you, I’ve got good news, because you can walk the path of
peace, there is still time to get it right.
That’s the gift of Christmas God has sent to you.
It doesn’t matter the choices you made yesterday,
Right now you can begin to make choices that will change your tomorrow.
There is another old man who lays it out for us.
Jesus has been born and Joseph and Mary travel from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to
present Him at the temple.
By the way this is around a 10 mile trip mostly uphill.
Luke 2:21; 25-27; 34-35 (MSG)
When the eighth day arrived, the day of circumcision, the child was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived…
In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law…
Simeon went on
to bless them, and said to Mary his mother,
This child marks both the failure and the recovery of many in Israel, A figure
misunderstood and contradicted— the pain of a sword-thrust through you— But the
rejection will force honesty, as God reveals who they really are.
Simeon a man of expecting a better tomorrow.
He tells Joseph and Mary that
Jesus forces honesty.
What you do with Jesus will either mark your failure or your
recovery.
Your choice decides the matter.
I fear that some people think that God is going to condemn them to hell
Because of the cumulative effect of the sin and evil they have
committed over their life time.
They don’t realize that a person condemns themselves with their
choice concerning Jesus Christ.
John 3:17-18 (NIV)
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
I have stressed that believing is not just intellectual ascent,
Belief is demonstrated by living a life of love.
A lifestyle empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Made possible by faith in Jesus.
If we define faith as belief that motivates action,
That action of faith in Jesus is discipleship.
A disciple learns and teaches others to live a devout and
holy life following in the footsteps of Jesus.
Its walking that path that Jesus has blazed,
Obeying God the Fathers commands,
Meeting the needs of others,
Managing your material blessings well
Becoming the person you were created to be,
Its by walking this path that you live a life of love.
Its on this path that you can find forgiveness,
And Shalom.
Kneeling to Jesus is a choice
With Jesus we have either surrendered to Him or
we are at war with Him
Our choices right now determine what is to come.
Each one is responsible for the choices he or she has made.
Our choices today select a destination.
It might help people to choose more wisely if they had a glimpse of their chosen destination.
Ebenezer Scrooge is going to get such a chance.
He is going to see the destination of the life style he has chosen as he has an
encounter with the Ghost of Christmas Future.
In Charles Dickens’ book, it is the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come.
I prefer this title, because when we think about looking into the future
we think that its already written in stone and we will just play
the part written out for us,
but “Yet To Come” seems more flexible.
“Yet To Come” speaks of possibilities.
Last time we left Scrooge running from reality,
But I think we all know you can run, but you can’t hide.
Numbers 32:23 (MSG)
“… you can be sure that your sin will track you down.”
As you are watching the video, you’re going to notice that The Spirit of Christmas
Yet To Come doesn’t speak—be thinking about why this is so.
The Ghost of Christmas Future (stop video just after he falls into his grave)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RziST_u_mg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwY_ke1GlNQ
Why is The Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come silent?
The Future is silent because we determine our own fate,
Our individual futures cannot be known with absolute certainty
The future can not be written,
-it is in constant flux, influenced by the decisions,
Not only you make, but the decisions of others that
shape your world.
Yet the hand of the Spirit of Yet To Come is always pointing to the destination
One’s current choices are leading them.
“The future does have a trajectory, a path, a direction that depends on
the concrete events of the past and the occurring events of the
present.”
(http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/945323/the_role_of_the_hand_of_the_ghost_of_pg2.html?cat=38)
That trajectory can be altered.
Another destination can be selected.
Scrooge has seen the destination of a life lived for self.
At the stock exchange he tells the Spirit
“I feel at home here. Here profit is worshiped.”
But as he listens to the conversations of his peers,
he discovers that all they are interested in is where his
money is going to go.
The scene with the undertaker and the women who have stolen his things
drives home the point that the only thing people are interested in is
what he left behind materially.
There is no respect for the man, no honor given.
And when Scrooge asks to see someone who has some emotion over what he
suspects is his death, the Spirit shows him the happiness his debtors
feel over having a little more time to pay off what they owed
him.
Back to the seen with the “Rags and Bone man”
the undertaker tells the group
that at the last there was no one to take care of Scrooge,
he died alone.
Scrooge pleads with the Spirit:
“Men’s actions determine certain ends if they persist in them,
but if their actions change the ends change too,
say it is so with what you’ve shown me.”
If we could just see our future maybe it would help us make better choices today.
When it comes to destinations the scripture says that there are only two groups of
people.
The one group are those who are determined to live for self.
In the parable of the Sheep and the Goats,
These are the Goats
Matthew 25:41-45 (MSG)
"Then he will
turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats!
You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because— I was hungry
and you gave me no meal, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was homeless
and you gave me no bed, I was shivering and you gave me no clothes, Sick and in
prison, and you never visited.'
"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When
did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in
prison and didn't help?' "He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth:
Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being
overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'
Do you recall when Scrooge told Marley that he was a good business man and
Marley says “Mankind was my business?”
Destinations are all bad when we make our lives about ourselves.
When we allow egoism to guide us,
We become convinced that the only things that matter are
the things that matter to us.
What profit is there in this for me?
This group, the Goats, have made a reservation by their choices to live
for self interest alone.
Revelation 20:12-15 (MSG)
And books were opened. Then another book was opened: the Book of Life. The dead were judged by what was written in the books, by the way they had lived… Anyone whose name was not found inscribed in the Book of Life was hurled into Lake Fire.
Destiny reveals itself along the way.
It manifests in our lives.
Recall the journey that Scrooge has been on.
The older he becomes, the more his life mirrors his eternity.
For those who do not kneel to Jesus,
Their relational world is a mess and a sign of what is to come.
The Second group, are those whose names are written in the Book of Life.
These are those whose sins, as many or more as committed by the other
group, have been forgiven.
Those whose death sentence has been commuted.
Because they have chosen not to live for self,
But have pledged loyalty to Jesus.
These are the ones who have avoided the religious trap of believing with no
Doing, exercising a faith with no works.
These are true disciples stumbling alone the path of Shalom
The path of Shalom leads to this destination:
Matthew 25:34 (MSG)
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation.
When we choose to walk the path of Shalom,
Our lives become full, joy is our companion.
We become relationally rich.
We become a blessing to others.
We love and are loved.
We are accepted and belong,
We have meaning and purpose to our lives.
We are significant.
The rock group Led Zeppelin mixed a little lie into the truth when they sang,
“There’s always time to change the road your on.”
Yes you can change the road you are on,
But no, there isn’t always time.
Now is the time to choose if you will walk in the light of the Candle of
Shalom as a disciple of Jesus or if you will walk by the light of our
own wisdom.
What destiny is manifesting in your life right now?
Hear the Word of God again:
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;
he is Christ the Lord.
What you do with that revelation is your choice.