"A Look At Christmas Past"

A Look At Christmas Past

Revelation 12:1-9

Corinth Reformed Church

January 2, 2010

Preached by

Rev. Bill Howell

Yesterday as I finalized the writing of my sermon into a manuscript, which I rarely do, I found myself looking from my home office window at the dreary day and remembering back just eight days prior at the beautiful white bright day that was Christmas. It was so bright on the 25^th that to look out upon the snow and the reflection of the sun, even through the clouds, would cause you to refocus when you returned your gaze inside. The lights of the Christmas tree the fresh smell of candles with Christmas scents was delightfully overpowering. Yet, yesterday was really quite depressing and dreary especially in view of its contrast to the week before. Isn’t that the way our life seems most as we go through time. The ebb and flow of beautiful to ugly is just a matter of moments apart.

On the eve of our candle lighting service Pastor Thompson and Linda invited a number of us to join them at their home for the evening with food and fellowship. During that time Bob asked us each at the table to tell the group what we remembered about Christmas when we were eight years old. If you are in the presence of Pastor Thompson for any length of time be prepared for him to ask a question that finds you ill prepared to answer. I was glad that I was not the first to have to respond for had I been it would have began with a long silence prior to my first word. I can barely remember having breakfast anymore and he is asking me to remember back to 1955. Well by the time I was required to take action to his request I had conjured up an answer that would satisfy those around me but to be quite honest I am not sure that the Christmas I chose was really that one in 1955. And moreover mine was a very superfluous answer about a gift I enjoyed receiving of a Lionel Train.

But that answer did cause me to begin to analyze my answer in light of this scripture. For you see here we see in a futuristic book of end times events a look back into the history of the Israelites. Speculation regarding the text and the view that the woman in this passage of scripture is the nation of Israel has much credence.  There is also a reminder of the promises that Israel will always have a protected remnant which will realize that Christ is her savior as well as ours. It is a look back at the promise made to God’s people and the woman Eve in Genesis chapter 3 will hold true that Christ will come into this world and overcome the foe of mankind. It is a reminder that Christ will conquer Satan. It is also a picture of the rule of the iron hand of Christ which will banish Satan with all his minions into the depths of hell and the world will realize that all the Christmas’ past are a reminder to us of the promise God will keep and has kept for centuries.

Looking back at history we see that never has there been a time when the wickedness of man under Satan’s rule has annihilated the Jewish people. A remnant has always been protected and preserved against the bloody wrath of Satan. One day in the final hours God will ensure that the woman Israel will again be swept away into the safety of protective shelter as war rages all around and the bloody dragon fights his final battle for as many souls as he can take with him into the fire.

That is why it is important for us as believers to dedicate ourselves to the witness of Christ and the Gospel of God’s grace to all around us. It is through us that preservation of future believers is made possible in the human sense. God has given us the task of telling to those both Jew and Gentile of the good new of Christmas both past and present. I tell you how I have come to realize and know the importance of Christmas past.

After Bob’s question to us that evening on the 19^th of December I began to evaluate the Christmases I could remember. Few were linked to any special feeling or emotion of excitement regarding presence or place of celebration. One however stood out very clearly in my mind. It may well have been the one Bob asked about at age eight but that is not important. This one had special meaning like no other before or since. It was an evening just prior to Christmas and on that night Mom and Dad had promised a trip for us to the town of Elmwood about 15 miles from where we lived. My brother and I had saved up a few dollars apiece for the purpose of buying presents for each other as well as Mom and Dad. There was one 5 and 10 drug store in the town and as we approached I remember the lights in the park in the center of town. Street lamps decorated and the store fronts of the little shops lit with colored lights and decorated with tinsel. There was snow on the ground and it was beginning to flurry as well. The cold wind of the Illinois prairie did not dampen the spirits of any of us as we left the warmth of the 1951 Dodge. That night was magical. My brother and I ran into the store and I can remember the bins of small toys and shelves of aftershave and perfume. In hindsight I know that store was little more than 20 feet across and maybe twice that length. I remember making my path down a set of isles in the opposite way of the rest of the family. Looking back Mom and Dad probably never took their eyes off us but Jim and I were so focused on our shopping we failed to notice. Upon finding the perfect gift for each of my family and considering the amount I would need to purchase those trinkets I cautiously made my way to the large cash resister at the checkout counter. I honestly don’t remember what I bought that night. It really does not matter. What matters is that I remember the excitement and the love that I felt that night. I remember the answered promise of my parents, especially my father who that evening gave to us all the gift of time to be with us.

But that is not the most precious memory I have recovered from thinking of that special Christmas in the decade of the 50’s. Upon our return home I remember the clearness of the prairie sky for the snow had stopped and the clouds had passed. I recall the beauty of a full moon and the reflection of the heavenly lights on the snow which silently lay on the barren field. I remember the brightness of the stars and one in particular that shone so bright I could not help but remember the teaching of a Sunday School teacher who had explained the story of the first Christmas in a town called Bethlehem, a small insignificant town in a far away country, a small town so far away that I could not even begin to imagine its location. Yet, some how I was there and at that moment in time I realized the truth of that event in time and history. The truths of a child in a barn stall with loving parents keeping him warm. A child that would do wonderful things for the world he had entered. Little did I even realize how that child would be an influence on my own life or the life of those who ate together around the table at Bob and Linda’s on that evening.

These last few weeks I have struggled with just how to preach this passage in Revelation. Being an apocalyptic writing or a depiction involving widespread destruction and devastation it seems that one would not look for Christmas in its pages. However, that is man’s wisdom not God’s.  For as I meditated on the writing and scoured through pages of commentary regarding these few verses we are directed to think in the past as well as in the future. Church fathers and theologians have long debated the meanings of the characters and figures of this book. Some are self explanatory many are explained only by conjecture. Some individuals in history have laid claim to the honor of being the answer to this prophesy even in this generation. Yet when we rationally consider their claims we find much error in their thinking. We also see that such error can lead to much pain and suffering. Simply put claiming we as individuals can know the entire plan or mind of God is absurd at best and may be even seen as psychotic in the results it can produce. Such results include mass murder, suicide, anti-Semitic hostility and perversion of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I somehow have taken a keen sense of pleasure in just thinking that breaking it down into my simple experience of a Christmas past helps me to put into perspective the reason we should reflect each day on the grace which God has elected to share with us through our faith in Christ. The reason for the season of Christmas! Christ the reason for hope and love and faith each day of the year. Christ the reason for joy even in the face of adversity and persecution. Christ our hope for a future world of peace for eternity.

Christians this year share with those you come into contact with a witness that glorifies God and tells the story of this one called Jesus born on Christmas Day 2010 years ago.  Jesus Christ the one who made it possible for the salvation of all mankind through a personal relationship with him.  If you know Jesus this morning step out in faith spreading the good news of what He has done for you and the world. 

If you are hear this morning and do not know personally Christ as your Savior will you during our time of prayer give your heart to Him.  He stands at the door and knocks.  He has paid the price to redeem us all from the chains of sin which hold us down and hinder us from fellowship with our loving God and Father of all creation.

Prayer

Father God on this the beginning of 2011 may we be sensitive to the Holy Spirits call.  May we come to understand clearly the need we have to go into the entire world and preach and teach of Christ your Incarnate Son.  Give us your Holy Spirits wisdom that we may teach disciples to glorify you each moment of each day you give us.  And for those who may admit that this relationship we speak of is foreign to them may today be the day they give their hearts to you for guidance, love and fulfillment.  AMEN