First Sunday of Advent
November 28, 2005
Luke 2:1-7
What If There Were No
Christmas?
Some time ago I read a book by Dr. James Kennedy called "What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?" It is a fascinating book with and interesting premise.
There
are two primary places in the New Testament where the Christmas story is told. One
is Matthew 1-2, the other is Luke 1-2. Matthew tells the story from Joseph's
perspective, Luke tells it from Mary's perspective.
These
words, I am sure are familiar to all of us:
“ In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus
that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth
in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David
called Bethlehem.because he was descended from the house and family of David.
He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn
son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” Luke 2:1-7
What
if that had never happened?
What
if there had never been a Christmas?
On
December 9th, Disney Studios will release a movie called, “The
Lion, the Witch, and theWardrobe.” It's based on a children's book by C.S. Lewis. . Disney believes the film will be
their best money maker of all times. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is all about Christmas. It's about a snow-blanketed land called, "Narnia," where animals walk and talk, and the land is ruled by
a wicked witch whose magic spell keeps the entire land always winter, but never Christmas.
Always
winter, never Christmas.
That
is what brought to my mind the book by Dr. Kennedy.
Suppose
we never had Christmas?
What
would your life be like without Christmas?
Without
Christmas there would be… - no winter family gathering, - no Christmas gifts, - no
holiday traditions,
- Santa Claus, - Christmas carols, - decorations,
- Christmas trees,
- Charlie Brown Christmas
specials, - Bing Crosby and White Christmas, - No Jimmy Stewart and
It's a Wonderful Life,
- no Christmas vacation for children. To put it in words taken from a
famous children's book: Without Christmas, December 25 would be a terrible,
horrible, no-good, very bad day!
On
a more serious note, Christmas represents the birth of the Christ-child. His coming changed history.
If
there had never been a Christmas, the world would be far different than it is today – in ways you may never have imagined.
For
instance, when Jesus came, He taught His followers to love their neighbors as themselves (Luke 10:27). He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. To live out this idea, His followers placed into action the idea of reaching out to "neighbor.".
The
early Christian communities stressed support for widows, orphans, the sick and disabled. They organized efforts to help those
who were dying. They built, staffed, and paid for hospitals. In recent times,
Christ's followers have founded virtually every charitable organization on earth, including the Red Cross, the Salvation Army,
World Relief, World Vision, Samaritan's Purse, Food for the Hungry, and Compassion International.
Without
the birth of Christ, education would be very different today. Oxford, Cambridge,
Harvard, Yale, and almost every one of the first 123 American colleges and universities were founded by Christians.
If
there had never been a Christmas, much of the good in this world would be missing. Much
of the good you've experienced would be missing.
Without
Christmas, that would never have happened. None of our great Christmas memories would have happened.
But
without Christmas, something far worse wouldn't have happened: Christ would not have come.
The
Bible says Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge
of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or
who has been his counselor?" Romans 11:33-34
Maybe
the most famous Christmas verse of all times would be John 3:16 which says that:
"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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17
The
story of Narnia is a compelling one. Disney studios are placing a lot of money in hopes that it will become their best-selling
movie of all times.
Why
is the story so compelling? Why have 85,000,000 read the book, and why will so
many more see the movie?
Because
it's a story that has its roots in history. It's a story that really happened. It's the Christmas story.
It's
also the author, story of C.S. Lewis' life. Lewis wrote the story because in
real life, he almost missed Christmas.
C.S.
Lewis was an amazing man. Some would call him the greatest author of the 20th
century. He published over 40 books while he was alive. 20 more were published after his death.
Lewis
was a quiet professor at Oxford University,
in England. During World War II, the British Broadcasting
Company asked him to do a series of lectures on the radio. People were so enamored
with those broadcasts that Lewis became the second more famous person in all of England. Second only to Winston Churchill, who offered Lewis a special medal of recognition
following WW II.
Those
lectures that Lewis gave for the BBC were later published in a book that is titled, "Mere Christianity." Some would say that it is the most powerful explanation of Christianity outside of the Bible itself.
Lewis
was born in Northern Ireland.
His mother died when he was 7 years old. His father sent him to boarding
school in England the next year.
During
his formative years, C.S. Lewis learned to read classic literature in 5 languages. At
age19, when he took the entrance exams for Oxford, his examiner stated that Lewis'
exams were "the best even seen" in the history of Oxford.
Before
he entered Oxford, he served in the British Army during World War I, where he
was wounded three times in battle.
Until
he was 30 years old, Lewis was an avowed atheist. In a letter written to a friend
in October, 1916 he said, "I believe in no religion. There is absolutely
no proof for any of them, and from a philosophical standpoint Christianity is not even the best. All religions, that is, all mythologies to give them their proper name, are merely man's own invention."
C.S. Lewis
Interestingly,
Lewis did not believe there was a God, but he said that he resented God for not existing. But
a change began to take place in Lewis while he was a professor at Oxford. Lewis became friends with 2 other professors, who happened to be real Christians. One was Hugh Dyson, the other was J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings.
As
Lewis got to know these two, he became persuaded that their faith was real. And
in summer of 1929, he became convinced that Jesus Christ really was an historic figure, that He really did die on the Cross
as a substitute for sins of the world. So Lewis bowed his head and invited Christ
into his life.
In
one of his books, Lewis said he came into Christianity "kicking and screaming" . He said 'You must picture me alone in that
room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting
approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly
feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted
that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant
convert in all England"
(C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy, p. 228-229)
When
Lewis decided to follow Jesus, it was like the snow melted from his heart. He
came to Christmas, and Christmas came to him.
He
began reading the Bible, attending church, and helping the poor. For the rest
of his life, he donated 2/3s of all his book royalties to widows whose husbands had died in WW II.
In
his late 50's, he became friends with an American author named Joy Davidman. Joy
had two young sons. After Joy was diagnosed with cancer, Lewis married her so
that her sons could continue on in English schools. If you've seen the movie
Shadowlands, you've seen the story.
In Hebrews 11 in the New Testament, the Bible gives a long list of heroes of the faith
who all died before the birth of Christ. It says All these people were
still living by faith when they died…. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are
looking for a country of their own. Hebrews 11:13-14
After
Lewis became a Christian he said, "I realized that all my life I was like that. I
was looking for a country of my own." All of his life, he was looking for Christmas. He just hadn't admitted it to himself.
The
rest of the passage says, If they had been thinking of the country
they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were
longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared
a city for them. Hebrews 11:15-16
Lewis
said that in Christ, he had found a "better country." – Maybe a little
town, called "Bethlehem"?
See,
C.S. Lewis wrote The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe out of personal experience of what it meant to have someone die in his
place.
His
encounter with the Christ of Christmas not only changed his life, it changed his eternity. It opened a better country for
him, the country of heaven.
The
story of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is so powerful because it is the story of humankind. It's the story of Christmas. And because it's your story. And my story.
It's
the story of a God who so loved the world, that He came, on Christmas.
Scripture
reminds us that, …those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is
gone. A new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17
And
the good news is, Christmas is available to all of us - to you.
Here's
a second verse you should know about, 1 Peter 3:18
“For
Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. “
Here's
the one more verse I want to show you, John 1:12,
“To
all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children
of God… “
God
has given us the great privilege of serving Him. In this season of surprise and
preparation may we who hear the story in old and new ways grow from information to knowledge to wisdom and deep abiding faith
in our cruciiified and risen Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen
Sources: What If
Jesus Had Never Been Born? Dr. James Kennedy
Hal Steed
