I know people just love Christmas, and it goes by so fast in December. But shouldn't the spirit of recognizing God's love be all year round? We are going to celebrate Christmas in July at Liberty Grove UMC this coming Sunday July 24th. at 8 and 10 am.
God has said he wanted to dwell with us and sent his Son Jesus to live among us. His birth in Bethlehem has so many great elements and dimensions of a message, it's hard to keep them all straight when they come rushing by. So why not have another opportunity to reflect on them in the middle of the hot summer. This week in the Washington DC area we are expected to hit 100 degrees a couple of times. "We could use a little Christmas, right this very minute..."
I'm thinking about the Christmas Character, a first person message for this service, and the thought occurred to me it might be King Herod. Now he didn't actually visit Bethlehem himself, he sent the Magi to do that and when they went home a different way, he became really angry and jealous of the new born king and sent his hit squad out to kill all the boys who were two and under in Bethlehem. What weeping and wailing that visit caused.
But we are somewhat like King Herod, in that we don't take rivals very well. He assumed that Jesus was going to become king right away and take away his power and authority. He knew he had to eliminate the competition. Jesus does come to be our Lord and Master and to ask us to give up our power and authority over our lives and give them over to Jesus. We might not think of killing the rival, but we do resist sometimes and ways that might make King Herod appreciate our struggle.
When Jesus as an adult teaches his disciples to leave all behind, take up their cross and follow him, he was asking for a choice for us to make, whether we really let him guide our every action, or pick and chose the parts we like. We do have trouble with that. I know I do. I live in a world that makes the choices for not following Jesus look so good. We are urged to live our lives the way we want to, over and over again. The commercials, the interviews of athletes and stars, and business tycoons all point out that success and accomplishment are very important, and that we too can have all of that by choosing to follow our path to success.
Because God so loved the world, he sent his only Son into the world, not to condemn it but to save it, to save it from our choices and invite us to accept his choices and his leadership. We are asked to let Jesus be King, Lord and Master of our lives, circumstances and situations. That means our way is out, his way is in. We can use reminders of his invitation to come and following him, have the abundant life he offers, and we really want.
Merry Christmas in July. Sing a carol, read the story in Matthew 1: 18-25 and Luke 2: 1-20 and enjoy the gift from God. Then let Jesus grow up and be King and continue to celebrate his presence in your life.
God bless you all, and stay cool
Pastor Jeff
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