In this blog, we'll focus on the working being done at Sligo Presbyterian Church, Sligo, Pennsylvania. We'll also look at what's happening in Sligo, Rimersburg, Clarion, and all the other communities served by our congregation.
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
The Miracle of Christmas - The Miracle of the Moment
During this Christmas season we’ll explore the miracle of Christmas from different viewpoints.
In each message, we’ll consider how the miracle of Christ’s coming into the world changed history, brought peace and offers the hope of salvation.
During the second service in his series, we considered the miracle of the moment Christ came. A recording and the text of the message are below. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel at 10:00 a.m. (EDT)
Well, I don’t think I need to remind anyone here this morning that we’re entering the very last week before Christmas, and of course, y’all know what that means: kids are now almost uncontrollably excited, parents and teachers are, for the most part, absolutely exhausted and, maybe most important of all, Amazon will no longer guarantee you’ll get your purchases before Christmas. I’ll tell you, whatever we wanted to get done before the twenty-fifth, we better start doing today, of course after the Barn Service. And you know, as it relates to the series we started a couple of weeks ago, well, we’ve only got around seven days to think about the miracle of the Christmas message, for example, how it’s about hope and peace, joy and love.
But you know, I think it’s interesting, when you get right down to it, Christmas will actually be over in a moment. I mean, all the buying and the wrapping, all the decorating and the baking, it’ll be all over in an instant, in the blink of an eye. And then we’ll be left with a whole bunch of leftovers to freeze and ornaments to pack, and a whole mess of paper to recycle and bills to pay. And even if we make the conscience decision to do what we know we should probably do, you know, like pulling a reformed Scrooge and letting the hope and the peace and the joy and the love Christmas shape our lives all year long, that’s a whole lot harder to pull off than the paper which Maggie and I are going to use to wrap Debbie’s extraordinary present. You see, whether we like it or not, Christmas 2023 will be over in a moment.
But you know, before we sort of scoot on to something else, we’re going to pause for just a minute and think about what’s going to happen in about a week. In other words, as we take in the miracle of this Christmas season, we’re going to spend a little time considering the miracle of the moment. And just so that we’re all on the same page, using the words of the Apostle Paul, this is the moment about which we’ll be talking:
Children who are under age are no better off than slaves, even though everything their parents own will someday be theirs. This is because children are placed in the care of guardians and teachers until the time their parents have set. This is how it was with us. We were like children ruled by the powers of this world.
But when the time was right, God sent his Son, and a woman gave birth to him. His Son obeyed the Law, so he could set us free from the Law, and we could become God's children. Now that we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. And his Spirit tells us that God is our Father. You are no longer slaves. You are God's children, and you will be given what he has promised. [Galatians 4:1-7, CEV]
Now that’s going to be our focus. And to do it, we’ll look at three dimensions of this miraculous moment and consider how each can be important to us right here and right now. Now that’s the plan for the rest of our time together.
And I’ll tell you, when you’re talking about the miracle of this Christmas moment, first, I think I’m safe in saying that it was expected. In other words, it didn’t just come out of left field and it certainly wasn’t something invented by Hallmark or Hershey’s. No, as I think most of y’all already know, the expectation surrounding the coming of Christ was grounded in something far more solid and lasting, and of course I’m talking about the Word of God. I mean, just listen to what the prophet Isaiah wrote about 700 years before Jesus was born:
A child has been born for us.
We have been given a son
who will be our ruler.
His names will be
Wonderful Advisor
and Mighty God,
Eternal Father
and Prince of Peace.
His power will never end;
peace will last forever.
He will rule David's kingdom
and make it grow strong.
He will always rule
with honesty and justice.
The Lord All-Powerful
will make certain
that all of this is done. [Isaiah 9:6-7, CEV]
You see, the coming of Christ was expected.
And I’ll tell you, I think that’s something important for us to remember, and I’ll tell you why. Often, the past can seem, well, it can seem pretty confusing, at least, it does for me, full of random events and lucky breaks. As a matter of fact, as we look at ourselves, our own lives may seem like a jumble, and we’re left trying to come up with some kind of meaning out of a bunch of disjointed experiences. And yet, when we remember that God stood behind all those expectations about which we’ve just been taking and that he was actively moving the world toward their fulfillment, if this was what he did in the past, then maybe we’ll also be able to see when God was present in our own lives as well, guiding us through both the joys and the disappointments and turning each experience into a lesson that helped us become the men and women we were created to be. It may not have been easy or painless, but we can believe that God was there. You see, when we’re able to do this, then we’ll be able to see that our lives really have meaning and purpose, something that we might better understand when we remember that the miracle of the moment was expected. And that’s one.
And then second, I think we can also say that this miraculous moment is also radical. Man, it’s revolutionary, because it’s constantly changing everything. And it’s transforming, because it continues to demand that we make a decision. In other words, the moment Jesus was born, everything changed and that change still affects us right here and right now. And I’ll tell you, I think this was something the Evangelist John understood when he wrote this right at the beginning of his gospel:
In the beginning was the one
who is called the Word.
The Word was with God
and was truly God.
From the very beginning
the Word was with God.
The Word became
a human being
and lived here with us.
We saw his true glory,
the glory of the only Son
of the Father.
From him the complete gifts
of undeserved grace and truth
have come down to us. [John 1:1-2, 14, CEV]
You see, what God did when he entered our time and space as a baby, man, that’s radical.
And I’ll tell you, I think that’s something else we need to remember. You see, whether we recognize it or not, the coming of Jesus Christ is the pivotal point in human history. It’s the place where heaven and earth touch, and it’s the time when God showed divinity to us and took humanity into himself. Now that’s radical. In fact, it was so radical, that it forces us to decide over and over and over again, if we really accept that all this has actually happened and if we really trust that God entered our time and space, because he loves us and if we really believe that when we go to God with our successes and disappointments, with our courage and fear, with our confidence and doubt, in other words, when we come to God with our humanity showing, I’m telling you, God knows what we feel, because through Jesus Christ, he felt it himself. You see, right here and right now, we have this decision to make, because the miracle of the moment is radical. And that’s two.
And third, whenever we think about the real miracle of Christmas, I think it’s important that we remember that it’s a moment that’ll last. It wasn’t something that was just expected somewhere in the past but has no relevance now. And it’s not something that may be radical today but sort of fades tomorrow. Instead, the moment when the prophecy was fulfilled and the moment the Lord of the universe entered his creation as an infant lying in a manger, the ultimate destiny of the universe was set. In other words, what that baby came to do will last. And I’ll tell you, this was something the Apostle Paul believed when he wrote this to the Corinthians:
But Christ has been raised to life! And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life. Just as we will die because of Adam, we will be raised to life because of Christ. Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us.
These bodies will die, but the bodies that are raised will live forever. These ugly and weak bodies will become beautiful and strong. As surely as there are physical bodies, there are spiritual bodies. And our physical bodies will be changed into spiritual bodies.
Our dead and decaying bodies will be changed into bodies that won't die or decay. The bodies we now have are weak and can die. But they will be changed into bodies that are eternal. Then the Scriptures will come true,
“Death has lost the battle!
Where is its victory?
Where is its sting?” [1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 42b-44, 53-55, CEV]
Now because of the miracle of Christmas, this is our future.
And let me tell you why that’s important to remember. You see, I think it’s really easy to get distracted and discouraged by a lot of the stuff we see going on all around us. And regardless of who or what we choose to blame, it sure looks like the world is out of control, and we’re all heading for Hell in a handbasket. I mean, that’s what we’re constantly being told, isn’t it by the media, by politicians, even by preachers. Man, they tell us that we should feel powerless and afraid. And they tell us that we should feel angry and frustrated. And they tell us that we should feel bitter and jealous. But let me ask you, is that the message the Apostle Paul wrote or the vision he wanted the Corinthians to have? No, he didn’t. Instead, for Paul, we can have hope. And even though I don’t believe God wants us to sit back and expect him to clean up the messes that we make (I mean, he’s called our father, not our maid.), we can trust that God is in control of the past, present and future, but also that, as the old song says so well, when the roll is called up yonder, we’ll be there. You see, as we look forward, we can hope, because the miracle of the Christmas moment will last. And that’s number three.
Of course, as it relates to Christmas 2023, the moment is almost here. And when that moment comes, all the stuff that we’re hustling to do right now will be over. But, of course, the true miracle of Christmas is far bigger than anything that’s going to happen in about seven days. You see, when you get right down to it, it’s about something that was expected, therefore, we can be confident that our past really does have meaning. And it’s about something that’s truly radical; therefore, we’re forced to make a decision in the present. And it’s about something that, as sure as I’m standing here, will last; therefore, we can actually have hope as we look into the future. You see, as it relates to the birth of Jesus Christ, this really is the miracle of the moment.
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