Christmas Eve - Who are You?

As we come together this Christmas Eve, surrounded by family and friends, we are here for several different reasons, for we are different people.

Some of you have been coming here every Christmas eve that you remember. You look forward to the candles, the music, the red and green decorations, to sharing this evening with the people you love during the rest of the year. Thank you for your passion!

Some of you have come here this evening because you are struggling. This has not been a good year for you. Yet, you know that this is the place where the struggles are put into perspective. This is the building where people remind you of what is important in life. This is the place where your tears are dried and your life is put back together. May God give you joy this evening!

Some of you are new to this building, yet know the Lord Jesus well. You may have traveled a long distance to arrive here, like Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, or you may have simply taken a walk or a short drive to get here, like the shepherds who listened to the angels and went to find the infant in the manger. You are most welcome here tonight in this branch of the great worldwide fellowship of believers, joining together as believers all over the world celebrate this night!

And some people may have come here this evening reluctantly, coming into a building in which you feel uncomfortable, sitting with a group of people you don’t know very well, listening to lessons you aren’t familiar with. To you I say, “Welcome!” We are glad you are here. Not so many years ago I was just like you, because for much of my life I did not believe in God and thought the people of God were mildly annoying, often asking me to check my mind at the door as I entered. Relax! You are among friends and people who love you.

So what do we find when we look at the infant Jesus, the Babe of Bethlehem.

Well, that largely depends upon who we are. You see, the Christ-Child affects us each in different ways, and that depends upon who are are. But who ARE we? Perhaps this is a question you’ve been asking yourself.

In ancient times, the answer to that question was easy because other people answered the question for us. We belonged to a certain nation of people, a particular tribe of people, descended from a particular man and woman, our father and mother were so-and-so, who owned a particular farm or had a certain trade. Jesus was a member of the Jewish nation, a descendant of David the King, royalty, His mother was Mary – and His father – well that was up for discussion, but the man who raised Him was Joseph the carpenter of Nazareth, and so as oldest son, Jesus was expected by society to become a carpenter, supporting His mother Mary, and His younger brothers, first with Joseph, and then after Joseph’s death, by Himself and with a wife He would meet and marry. As a good member of that traditional society, Jesus was told He had few choices. This was Who He was – His choices were already made, and His only freedom was to tinker around the edges – which girl would He marry? What type of carpentry would He focus upon?

But Jesus had a particular identity that was always floating in the background, an identity that tore loose the chains of custom and tradition that yelled at Him and tried to tell Him who He was. For Jesus knew that His Father was the Creator of the Universe and that He was therefore God’s Son, Prince and future King of this world, He knew that He was royalty, a descendant of David the great king of Israel on both His mother’s side and on Joseph’s side, and He knew that the people of Israel were under occupation by the Romans, by a foreign king, Herod, by a Temple priesthood that was corrupt, by the Pharisees, a legalistic group of teachers who condemned all people who did not follow the rules, and most importantly, people were under occupation by the despair and depression and fear that was all around, the lack of hope, the shame that happens when you don’t live up to your own standards.

And as the descendant of an earthly king and as the Son of the Heavenly King, Jesus chose His identity. He did not choose to be another ordinary man, but He remembered that God the Father, the Creator of the Universe was His Father, and Jesus chose to become the Savior of the World as He and His Father had decided long before the world was made.

For you see, when Jesus arrived that dark and cold evening in that manger, it was not His first visit to planet earth. The Old Testament has many cases of a mysterious Angel of the Lord walking on the earth, talking to Abraham, leading Joshua’s armies, speaking to the prophets and the kings of the Old Testament. And it goes back even farther, for the Creation story tells of Adam and Eve walking with God in the Garden of Eden, not speaking to a Spirit, but walking with God, and before that John tells us in his gospel that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. …14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John makes it clear that Jesus is the Word of God.

And what does it mean to be the Word of God?

Jesus, the Word of God, is the walking, talking, Message from God. He was both Messenger – and Message. If you received a message from a foreign country, it would make a difference whether that message was sent to you by radio, by email, or in person. It would make a huge difference if a foreign king sent a general with the message of wrath and destruction – or his son with a message of hope and friendship and love.

And God did not choose to send us a message of wrath and destruction. He did not send us a frightening angel, a destructive robot, a leader of armies delivered directly to Caesar Augustus in his palace at Rome. Instead, God sent all people His message as a weak infant, sent to a young girl engaged to a man who was a carpenter, descendants of a great king, yes!, but otherwise average, common, ordinary people.

And the message is critical. For as we saw Jesus grow up and live among us, He told us several things. He told us that God sees us as His children, and that God is a loving Father, a good Father, a proud Father. Jesus told us that God wants a close personal relationship with each of us – not a distant ruler/subject relationship, but a close personal relationship as a good Father to a child, and Jesus demonstrated this by using the word ABBA to speak with His Father – the same word an infant uses, the word we pronounce as Da-Da.

Yet Jesus struggled with people who did not believe Him when He told them time-after-time that He was God's Son, God Himself, that when people had seen Jesus they had seen the Father. And so the people picked up rocks to stone him to death, and ultimately they had the Romans execute him for the crime of claiming to be God.

Jesus was executed in a particularly vile and violent manner. He was whipped, weakened by blood loss, suffocated upon the cross, and died, Then, a Roman soldier checking his dead condition by stabbing him with a spear. Jesus was buried that Friday evening in a rock tomb and a 2000 pound boulder was placed in front of the tomb’s entrance.

And then, to prove that Jesus was exactly who He said He was, Jesus came back alive, the tomb was miraculously opened, He was seen in at least eleven different situations by different groups of men and women, they saw him speak, they heard him teach and preach, they ate with him, and in one case over five hundred people saw him, and a half-dozen men wrote down different accounts of what happened and what He taught during that fabulous month that He was once again walking upon the earth, alive. These accounts form much of the New Testament of the Bible. Feel free to borrow a Bible from our pews and take it home to read the New Testament over the next couple of days or go here to read in a recent easy-to-read translation.

And then Jesus, the infant become adult man, returned to His Father. And Christianity began to grow so fast it took over the Roman Empire, and is today the world’s largest religion.

But before He left, Jesus told us that He will return once again.

And now that I have told you who Jesus is, I ask you again – Who are you?

It’s amazing and interesting. All those thoughts that go through our minds when someone asks: Who are you? We want to answer them by telling people our name, who are parents are, who are children are, what we do for a living, where we live, what our function in life is, anything except who are are in our heart. But really, truly, there are only three possible answers that will make any difference at all a couple of hundred years from now, for the Babe of Bethlehem forces us to face the eternal consequences of that most important question: Who are you?

Are you a skeptic? Do you question everything that is told you? If so, I know you’ve heard the Hollywood view of Jesus, the skeptic’s view of Jesus. Perhaps you’ll take some time to read the Christian view of Jesus so you’ll have a balanced view, so you’ll understand us better. Perhaps you have questions for me. 

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” If what Jesus said is true, then it is very important to understand more and more about Jesus.

Perhaps you are a believer? Have you always understood who Jesus is and put your life in His hands, understanding that He is the Son of God, God Himself walking upon the earth, following Jesus and learning more and more about Him every week, every day? If so, you’ll pray for your friends who are skeptics. You’ll help them understand more about Jesus and why He is so central to the Christian story.

Are you on the border, not skeptical, yet not a believer either? Perhaps you do believe but you are afraid that people will look down at you if you admit to being a Christian believer. If so, let me suggest that if Jesus truly is the Son of God, what your friends think of you isn’t nearly as important as what Jesus and God think of you, for you know the truth but are simply afraid to admit it. Isn't it about time you admitted this to someone who believes and ask them for advice?