LAUGH 'N LEARN

An Encouragement Ministry of Verde Valley Christian Church Of Cottonwood Arizona
http://www.vvchristianchurch.net/

Issue # 356,    December 21,  2009

LAUGH

What do you call a bunch of grandmasters of chess bragging about their games in a hotel lobby?

[sing the answer]  Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer...

LEARN

Jim's Manuscript

December 20, 2009

"The Reason For The Sneezin'"

IT BEATS SHOPPING...

It was just a few days before Christmas, when two men decided to go sailing while their wives went Christmas shopping. While the men were sailing a storm came up-a mighty storm that tossed the boat back and forth across the water.

Finally the tiny sailboat was forced upon the shore of a small island. Having just come to what they thought was some measure of safety, suddenly, they realized they were being fired upon by the island's hostile natives, they are dodging arrows.   They ran looking for somewhere to hide.  They soon realized they were leaving tracks, they saw a running stream of water, and stepped into it and ran splashing up the stream in its ICY cold snow melt from the storm.  Still running in the water, they saw a waterfall and before the natives could see where they went they went into the waterfall to hide, then crawled up behind the fall soaked in icy water.  One man turns to the other and says, "I realize that today hasn't exactly gone as planned, but this sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn't it?!"

I think in many ways we have lost the true adventure of Christmas, don't you?!

On the Sunday before Christmas, you'd expect a title like "The Reason for the Season,"  but my Christmas message to you this morning is "The Reason For the Sneezin'"!  I want to speak to you today about how Christmas is contagious!

Focus:  Christmas is a contagious adventure!

So if you want to go about Christmas as usual, you can tune out this morning.  But, if you want an adventure to begin, please tune in. 

I.   Christmas Is Contagious Good News (Luke 2:10-14; Isaiah 9:6; John 3:16)

At the first Christmas, this was the message:

Luke 2:10-14 (NIV) ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Who is born?

There are three titles here:  A Savior, the Christ (Messiah), and most surprising of all, and not yet fully grasped, The Lord.  The Messiah who was a baby is the LORD God himself.

What a birth announcement...!  The Angels are saying this. 

2:14:  On Earth peace to men.... 

Peace?  I want a piece of that peace.   Do you? 

He is the Prince of peace as prophesied in Isaiah 9:6 is here!

Isaiah 9:6 (NIV) For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."  This peace will be experienced by those upon whom God's favor rests. 

Christmas is Good News.  God's Good News of Peace, given to humanity, wrapped in flesh, living, real, accessible, and available.  This is a gift, God's gift to us. 

John 3:16 (NIV) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus is God's gift of love towards man and his pledge of forgiveness.

Christmas is Good News.  Christmas is the fountainhead of the river of our bliss.  And when I say Christmas, I am not talking about some nameless spirit of Christmas, not some feeling around a pine tree, nor something that is confused by some jolly ol' elf.  The fountainhead of the river of our bliss is the person in the manger, a feeding trough, in the smelly ol' animal stable.  The true story is filled with wonder, mystery, joy, and it comes in the midst of a darkness that includes evil antagonists that make Scrooge or the Grinch seem nice by comparison. 

I.   Christmas Is Contagious Good News...

II.  Because Christ IS Good News  (Luke 4:16-21; 6:20; Matthew 5:3 Romans 6:23)

If we are to step into the River of OUR BLISS, the river of Christmas Adventure, joy and good news, we have to understand who Jesus is.  And to understand who Jesus is, who better to go to than Jesus himself.  He tells us who he is.  He makes incredible claims for himself.  I say this to dispel the liberal skeptic approach that says it was the later church that superimposed these ideas about his identity on Jesus.  That isn't so.  Jesus made the claims.  He knew who he was, and what he was about and often forced people to decide.  Some people seemed to be so effectively inoculated they were incapable of catching the contagiously good news. 

He Himself claimed to be GOOD NEWS.

Others did not make it up.  He claimed it.  He highlights it. 

Take his very first sermon to a sermon expecting crowd at his home synagogue, as an example.  Why was it that these people seemed to be effectively inoculated against the claims of Jesus?

Because it WAS in his hometown Jesus' message was more controversial and electrifying! 

Here was his main point, the focus of his sermon if you will.  "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:21)

Luke 4:16-21 (NIV) ¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." ²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹ and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

He declared himself the fulfillment of this passage in Isaiah 61 (written 700 years earlier) about "the anointed one", the Messiah!, the Christ!

From a human perspective as far as first sermons go, it didn't end well.  Furious, his hometown crowd drove him out of the synagogue, out of town, and to the brow of a hill in order to throw him down the cliff.  But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.  That's not the kind of response I'd be looking for from a church.  Jesus often forced the issue about his identity.  He made people decide where they stood with his claims.  Was it because there were already many rumors about his mother's pregnancy that they were predisposed from years before about the identity of Jesus?  Was it because the family that he came from was too familiar, too ordinary?  Whatever the reason, some were inoculated. 

I believe we are in peril of being inoculated against the truly contagious and adventurous good news as well.  Every year when all the trappings of Christmas take our hearts for a turn away from the truth about Christmas, we are being inoculated with a weak dose of Christmas "traditions" instead of tuning our hearts to the person of Christ, the real deal.

Let's back up to Jesus Sermon, and see what he claimed for himself.  He IS the Good News.

He Brought Good News

¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

It was more than a proclamation.  He was anointed with God's Spirit to bring Good News.  Who did he bring the good news to?

o      To the Poor

¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Luke 6:20 (NIV) Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Matthew 5:3 (NIV) "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This is Good News!

Are you struggling to make ends meet?  Has this economic downturn caused hardship for you?  Christ proclaims good news to you.  You have not lost God's favor.  The brother of humble circumstances can glory in his high position, you are in a good place when you are trusting in God.  God has not forgotten you.  Do not be frightened or anxious.  Do not be troubled.  When your need is great, God is greater still.  By the way, if you are struggling, you won't want to miss our Christmas Eve service.  The story I will be sharing will help all of us see what is more important than the stuff, or the material blessings, often associated with Christmas celebrations.

o      To the Prisoners

¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

He proclaims Freedom for the prisoners--Liberty to the captives! 

Who do you think of when you think of prisoners or captives?

The longer I'm in ministry the more I come to realize and understand that most people are or have been captives.

Most people are captive to some besetting habit they can't seem to overcome.  Jesus is here to set us free.  "There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" That was Romans 8:1.  Many people read Romans 8:1 thinking that means that before God on judgment day there will be no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, and although this is also true, Romans 8:1 is found in the great paragraphs about the GREATER power that sets us free from the power of sin in our lives while we live!  Nobody in Christ needs to continue under the condemnation of the power of sin.  Jesus has the power and authority to set the captives free!  If you are still stuck or captive, talk to me, or one of the pastors for help.  Jesus can set you free.  That's good news.

o      To the Blind

¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

To proclaim recovery of sight for the blind.

Jesus did miracles to help blind people see, but the physically blind are not the only ones that he healed.  He opened the eyes that were closed to spiritual realities.  He gave spiritual sight to you and me.  The eyes of our hearts have been opened.  We can see that God is good, and real, and this world is NOT the end.  It is NOT all about ME, and it is NOT all about NOW.  There is a purpose, and I can be a part of God's great purposes, and there is LIFE eternal that we can be major players in NOW.    That's like opening your eyes for the first time. 

In Ephesians, Paul prayed that the eyes of your hearts might be enlightened!  The blinders have to come off.  Sin blinds.  Sin makes people stupid--so blind to their own sin.  When the eyes are opened suddenly we see clearly how stupid we are and we make a turn toward the light.  The light is on, and we begin to see things as God sees them.  We are no longer stupid and blind. 

Haven't you seen how stupid husbands can be when they are so blind to their selfishness.  Haven't you seen how stupid fathers can be when they are so blind to the needs of their children crying out for a dad who cares?  Sin can make you stupid.  It almost takes a wife throwing pots and pans to wake him up?  Still he might not...he thinks, "My, SHE has a problem."  You've seen it.  I've seen it.  Jesus can pull the blinders off.  He can make blind people see. 

It usually isn't instantaneous 20 20 vision all at once but in stages.  Here are 4 stages of change.

Stage 1:           Unconsciously Incompetent.  (I don't know, and I don't know I don't know.  I don't get it, and I don't know that I don't get it.  Blind and I don't know it.  Graduation to stage 2

Stage 2:           Consciously Incompetent.  Suddenly we get that we don't get it.  It hurts to find out how much we hurt others.  It hurts to find out we are not God's gift to humanity like we thought.  It hurts to suddenly begin listening to the way others see our incompetence, whether counselor, friend, or spouse.  In our culture today, it is politically incorrect to be telling people their blind spots.  Because this is so, we need close friends who go beyond politically correctness.  We need people we give permission to speak into our lives.  Stage two is no fun.  Stage 1 is worse, but we have no clue so it doesn't hurt as much as stage 2.  Stage 2 hurts deep.  You don't want to get stuck there.  There's hope.

Stage 3:  Consciously Competent:  Here is the working stage.  We get up and start addressing our needs before God.  We set regular practices to make things better.  We eliminate the practices that are undermining everything.  We repent.  This is a difficult process.  We need God in it.  We also need to make every effort to do things God's way.

Stage 4: Unconsciously Competent.  All our prayers and efforts begin to pay off in ways we don't even see!  This is a gift of God.

I stand up here today hoping that I can help your vision become a little clearer.  Maybe someone today needs to be reminded that this is not heaven yet.  God has told us about heaven.  Life is not just life as we know it for a few short years.  Life is not eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.  We are on the threshold of eternity.  We must open our eyes to that.  HOPE opens our eyes to HELP.  Open your eyes.  Hope is available.  Help is available.  Heaven is real.  And heavenly help is real and available now.

o      To the Oppressed

¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

There are so many who are beaten down and oppressed.  There are those who are beaten down by emotions.  There are those who are beaten down by depression.  There are those beaten down by sin.  There are those beaten down by sickness.  There are those beaten down by demons (and they don't even know it).  There are those who are beaten down simply by their circumstances, or by other people.  Jesus came to set these oppressed and beaten down people free from these oppressions, and crushing burdens.

He Brought Good News of the Lord's Favor

¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

The Lord's favor.  We say, "Please do me a favor....".  By that, we mean, do me this kindness.  You don't have to.  It's a favor.  It is not an obligation.  This favor from the Lord is a gift.  It is undeserved.  It is a favor.  It is God's Amazing Grace. 

Grace is "unmerited favor".  It is an undeserved gift.  We don't earn it.  We receive it.  When people start opening gifts on Christmas as if they deserve gifts, where is the joy in that!?  That's messed up!  A gift is a gift.  Gifts are appreciated.

What does a child deserve who thinks YOU OWE them?  If they have a YOU OWE me something better attitude, what you really owe that child is a spanking, or time out, or whatever discipline you use. 

Do you want to talk about what we deserve and earn?  The only thing we DESERVE according to scripture is something we don't want!!!!  Here it is.

Romans 6:23 (NIV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Death is what we DESERVE.   A GIFT is what was given.  That is IF we receive the Lord's gift. 

Receiving God's grace, is receiving the gift of the Lord's favor...receiving something given that we don't deserve.  We did not deserve this Christ.  We did not deserve the gifts he came to bring.  But he brought them.  He brought Heaven's favor down to earth!

That's good news. 

Next, I want to tell you that truly Good News is contagious. 

III.  Those Who Caught It, Give It  (Matthew 6:1-4; 25:40)

The best news travels fast by word of mouth.  It's no advertisement.  You just can't keep satisfied customers quiet!  They speak volumes.  The true Christmas spirit is the Spirit of Christ, and the truly contagious life he brings, the truly contagious good news!  Christ calls us to imitate him.  Christ asks us to BE the Good News for someone, and also to proclaim the Good News. 

o      Fulfill it

"Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

o      Proclaim it

o      Bring It

o      Deliver It

THE ENVELOPE

Here's one of those Christmas stories that can be found in many collections, because it's such a good story. As far as I know, the author is unknown.

It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.

It all began because my husband, Mike, hated Christmas--oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it: overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute, the gifts given in desperation.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties.... I reached for something special just for Mike.

Our son Kevin was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear.

It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. We ended up walloping them. As each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.

Mike shook his head sadly. "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them." That's when the idea for his present came.

That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed an envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas. Each Christmas, I followed the tradition--one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year giving a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning, and our children would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the envelope never lost its allure.

The story doesn't end there. We lost Mike due to cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was so wrapped up in grief that I barely got the tree up. But on Christmas Eve I placed an envelope on the tree, and in the morning it was joined by three more.

Each of our children had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelopes.

Secretly Contagious

Here's the thing about stuff that is truly contagious.  We usually don't even see it coming.  We get it because we were with someone that has it.  There is a way of spreading it around that can be somewhat hidden and secret, covert, if you will.   

Matthew 6:1-4 (NIV) ¹ "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

What's the value of doing a good deed in secret?  God gets the glory, and not us.  Something done in secret checks the heart motive.  Now, mind you, everything does not have to be covert and secret.  There comes a time when the light just can't be hidden, and shouldn't be hidden.  We need to know how to share the reason for our hope clearly. 

However there sure is something beautiful and adventurous about broadcasting good deeds to the glory of God, and being good news to someone to bless them, for no other reason than to glorify God and bless them.  I want to ask you to do 2 things. 

1)      Bless someone in secret before Christmas. Make it an adventure.  Ding dong ditch.  Or send an anonymous something by mail.  Do something.   Use some stealth.  Here is a chance to be sneaky and sly and do good at the same time.  It is an adventure. 

Matthew 25:40 (NIV) "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Stealth giving is just one tangible way of giving a gift to Christ this Christmas.  After all, isn't Christmas really a celebration of HIS birthday?  Shouldn't we give HIM a gift?  Try a stealth gift this year!

The Story of Secret Santa

In 1971, Larry Stewart was unemployed and broke. He had been a door-to-door salesman until the company he worked for went out of business. Now he was stuck in a small Missouri town with no money and no gas in his car. He hadn't eaten in two days when he entered a small diner one morning and ordered a breakfast he couldn't pay for. When it came time to pay the bill, he pretended he had lost his wallet.

Ted Horner, the owner of the diner, realized what was going on. He walked by the stool where Lee had been sitting and pretended to pick something up off the floor. "Here son," he said, "you must have dropped this." It was a $20 bill. Larry took it and said "Thanks." He paid his bill, left a tip, pushed his car to the gas station so he could buy gas and leave town.

He knew that no one had dropped the $20 bill. He knew that the owner had helped him out in a way that wouldn't embarrass him.  He said, "Right then I made a promise. I said, 'Lord, if you ever put me in a position to help people, I will do it.'"

A few years later, when he made some money in the cable television industry, he began helping others. It started when he ordered a hamburger at a drive-in. He gave the car-hop $20 and said, "Keep the change."

She said, "You're kidding."

He said, "No ma'am. Merry Christmas."

Tears filled her eyes and she said, "Sir, you have no idea what this means to me."

This began a custom that Stewart developed over the years of giving away cash to strangers who need it. Sometimes it's $100 to someone he sees on the street. Sometimes it's $1000 to someone who has experienced some kind of tragedy. He gave away more than one million dollars this way, none of it tax-deductible, and always given anonymously.

But I said I have 2 things I want you to do.  Here is the second. 

2)      Give a stealth gift again when it has nothing to do with the season of Christmas, but everything to do with the reason of Christmas.   Wait till after the New Year, do February, or July, or make it a habit of looking for opportunities.   Let the secret blessings bless another and another and another to the glory of God.  We are blessed, bless someone else.  We have received God's Favor.  Do someone else a favor.  Bless them to the glory of God, and don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.  Try not to get caught.  If you have children, involve your children in this adventure.  Christmas is a contagious adventure, and it is an adventure that lasts a life time, not a season.

QUOTES:

Dale Evans said,   "Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas".

Bob Hope said,    "My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?"

Henri Nouwen said, "I realized that songs, good feelings, beautiful liturgies, nice presents, big dinners, and many sweet words do not make Christmas. Christmas is saying "yes" to something beyond all emotions and feelings. Christmas is saying "yes" to a hope based on God's initiative, which has nothing to do with what I think or feel."

Jesus Christ said, "Freely, you have received, freely give."    

Catch It...Give It

Have you caught the love of Christ?  Have you caught the gift of amazing grace?  A gift is not yours till you accept it.

God wants to give you a gift. Have you caught it?  Now give it to someone else.

(C) Jim Hammond

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