Hi, my name is Gary and as we draw this wonderful Christmas celebration to a close, I want to share a very short message with you.
So how’s everyone doing so far? Did you enjoy the play written by Desmond Sim and performed by our drama team? How about that moving short story reading by Christine Suchen Lim? And didn’t the choir and the worship team sound absolutely fantastic? Why don’t we give all of these people who’ve helped put this celebration together a big round of applause?
Introduction
Well, you’ve sung the songs, celebrated in the traditions with the Communion, heard the stories, and watched the play. In a few minutes, we will all be tucking in to a yummy Christmas dinner downstairs. But this Christmas, have you stopped and thought what is Christmas really all about?
For many of us like myself, it’s a time to shut down our work computers, or put aside our books for a couple of weeks of partying, eating and my personal favourite, shopping at the Club 21 Sale! And next week, we’ll all head out to raise our glasses to toast to the new year, and then a couple of days later, it’ll be back to the ol’ grind once again.
Oh wait, this year got bonus! We'll get to enjoy one more week coz’ there’s Hari Raya, and after that it’ll really be back to reality. And then, all this festive cheer we have been enjoying will return to our usual fare of... what?
Just what is your usual outlook?
Is it one of cheer, or grief? Of excitement, or weariness? One of peace or doubt?
A bit of downer isn’t it? But just what is your usual outlook? One of love and acceptance? Or loneliness and rejection?
Rejection
Rejection. That’s one many of us are familiar with isn’t it?
You know, I love to read online journals or what’s commonly known as “blogs”. I have a “Live Journal” account and I’d rather spend my time in the mornings having breakfast catching up on the lives of my friends by reading their online journals rather than reading the newspaper. It’s certainly a lot more interesting!
Anyway, it’s become a bit of a habit for me. And sometimes I get some great news and read of some good things that have happened to my friends, but much like what has been happening in the news lately, 9 times out of 10 the entries run along the line of a series of rejections, disappointments and doubt.
Just on rejections alone:
I read about one friend who feels rejected because every relationship he gets into has resulted in him getting dumped and getting hurt again and again.
One friend I know feels rejected by his family because the parents wanted a girl but got a boy instead. And for the first 4 years of his life, his parents refused to accept that he was a boy and continued treating him like a girl.
Yet another has been rejecting himself and continues to even today, more than 10 years later after being sexually abused as a teenager.
And how many times have you heard the story of the kid who was rejected by his schoolmates because he didn’t quite fit in, or wasn’t as athletic, or was made fun off because of his or her physical features or differences.
Some of us have been rejected by parents, teachers and even pastors.
This one should be familiar to many… how about the rejection and betrayal you feel when a friend stabs you in the back. Or the people you trusted didn’t take your interests at heart before doing something that hurt you deeply.
Yes it is an all too familiar story isn’t it. But you know something, it may surprise you that it is no different from the Christmas story.
The Christmas Story
You know, to most of us, when we think about Christmas, we all have this lovely nativity image of the birth of the baby Jesus in the arms of Mary surrounded by Joseph and the wise men, and the adorable cuddly sheep not unlike the nativity scene we just witnessed. A picture perfect snap shot right out of a Hallmark card.
But do you know that for Mary (and I don't mean Miak), it was probably one of the darkest and most difficult periods of her life?
You wouldn’t think it right? I’m mean, here she was told by the Angel Gabriel himself that she was about to give birth to the Son of God, the saviour of the world!
But let me share with you how Mary was probably feeling…
1. Mary was tremendously distressed.
So here she is, nine months pregnant and has to go to Bethlehem. I checked it on a map and it is 110km from Nazareth to Bethlehem on a donkey! There were no highways, and the journey took them probably about a week, going over mountains and through valleys – while being 9 months pregnant!
Can you imagine about to give birth, on the back of a donkey, traveling for a whole week through rough terrain? Was Mary distressed? Definitely!
Are you feeling distressed today? Maybe some of you are overwhelmed by work. You are spread so thin – not enough time, not enough energy and or money to go around. People all around you are demanding so much from you.
Maybe some of you are going through a difficult time with your health or can’t seem to make your relationships work.
I want you to know that Mary too was tremendously distressed.
2. Mary was terribly disappointed.
Why? The story tells us that Mary received great news that she was going to give birth to the Messiah, the Saviour of the world!
But where did she give birth? Not in a proper hospital, not in the Ritz Carlton or the Four Seasons or even the dignity of a warm home. It was in a dirty, smelly, unsantized stable. The worst place conceivable!
You think she was disappointed? Of course she was!
3. Mary was feeling rejected by friends and family.
Here’s an excerpt taken from female Anglican priest Joy Carroll Wallis, who wrote:
"Most scholars suggest that in Luke's account (of the birth of Jesus Christ) it's not just that the inns were full but that Mary and Joseph were forced to take the barn because their family had rejected them. Joseph has relatives or friends of relatives in Bethlehem. So rather than being received hospitably by family or friends, Joseph and Mary have been rejected. Family and neighbors declaring their moral outrage at the fact that Joseph would show up on their doorsteps with his pregnant girlfriend."
No room at the inn? How about no room with family or friends?
4. Mary was full of doubt for her future.
So right after she gives birth in that stinky squalid manger, King Herod gets all “kan-cheong” and jittery and starts slaying all the male children under the age of two in Israel. Causing Joseph and Mary with baby in arms to have to flee to Egypt in exile. Separated from the life she once knew. Away from any friends and family. And she was only probably around 14!
Was she full of doubt for her future? Living as a fugitive of the king? In exile undercover in a foreign land? Definitely.
It was certainly a very dark time for her.
Dark Days
You know, the Christmas Story was around the time of the year known as the winter solstice. December 21st. Some of you went home to your families to eat “tang yuan”. I’m sure many of you know that the winter solstice is the darkest and longest night of the entire year in the northern hemisphere.
But do you know that God chose the darkest night, and in the darkest situation to bring light into the world?
Lights up!
Today we go around Orchard Road and enjoy the Christmas Light-up. At home and in our offices, we put up a Christmas tree and fill it with fairy lights.
But the real light we are celebrating today is the birth of Jesus Christ – the light of the world.
Jn 12:46
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
1 John 1:5
... God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
John 8:12 (Jesus:)
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Are you in darkness?
Maybe today, like Mary, you are facing: dark days of distress, or dark days of disappointment, or dark days of rejection, or dark days of doubt?
You look at your past you feel disappointed. You look at your present and you are stressed. You think about your future and you’re full of doubt. And all around you, like Mary, you feel rejected by your own family and friends
Even the great King David wasn’t immune. He writes:
Ps. 88:18 (TLB)
“Lover, friend, acquaintance—all are gone. There is only darkness everywhere.”
Dark days everywhere.
God loves you!
If you don’t get anything this evening, if you have forgotten everything I’ve said, I want you to know just one thing – that you have a heavenly Abba Father who loves you very much and cares so deeply for you.
Your pain and struggles matter so much to him. He cares what you are going through in life.
Many times I personally feel like life is like going through a series of problem to solve. Even as I help out in church I feel like I go from one crisis to another crisis. As soon as you solve one, another mountain rises up. Solve that one, and another problem comes up.
Where can we find a solution?
2 Sam. 22:29
“For You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD shall enlighten my darkness.”
Jesus says I am the light of the whole world. That’s what Christmas is all about – Jesus Christ. He has come to light up our dark days.
Dispelling the Darkness
So how can Jesus Christ dispel the darkness? Let me share with you 4 ways:
1. Jesus encourages me when I'm disappointed.
Ps. 34:18 (GNB)
The Lord is near to those who are discouraged, He saves those who have lost all hope.
He says I’m with you. I’m near you. I’m closer than your very breath. His name is Emmanuel – God is with you.
2. Jesus strengthens me when I'm distressed.
He comes and gives us strength.
Paul says:
Phil. 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
When the power of God comes into your life, you can face every challenge. Not because you’re so strong, not because of who you are, but because of who He is.
I serve a God which is God Almighty – all mighty. Nothing is too hard for Him. And if He lives in me, nothing is too hard for me!
David wrote in:
Ps. 23:4
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me ...
In fact, the 150 Psalms can be summed up in 1 sentence: “Life is tough but God is always good!”
That’s why we say... God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good.
When you live your life thinking: Life is good, but God is tough and mean God. You are going to discourage yourself with a lie. The truth is: life is tough, but God is good. All the time.
God is saying I’ll encourage you when you are disappointed. I’ll also strengthen you when you are distressed.
3. Jesus guides me when I'm doubtful.
What is causing you to lose sleep over in the night? What is causing your stomach to churn every time you think about your future? Maybe you have to make some major decisions in the Year 2006 and you’re not sure if you’re going to make the right one.
Jesus says...
John 8:12
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
And finally...
4. Jesus accepts me when I’m rejected.
Many of us, as gay and lesbian people, know about rejection all too well. But I want you to know today that His love to us is unconditional.
The song that we just sang reminds us that: ”Broken hearts, broken lives, He will take them all.”
No matter what disappointments you’ve had in the past. No matter how many time you messed up. No matter who you are. Broken hearts, broken lives, he will take them all.
There nothing you can do can make Him love you more. And there’s nothing you have done, that can make Him close the door. He will never reject you or forsake you.
One thing I love about the Christmas Story is that we have a God who has gone through the pain of rejection Himself!
The Bible says:
Jn 1:9-11
“The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his people did not accept Him.”
Jesus may have escaped death as a baby at the hands of Herod, but the Christmas story that began in a smelly barn finally ends on a cross. Christ crucified – rejected by the people He came to save.
Isa 53:3
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Closing
So today, maybe you are suffering from dark days of disappointment, dark days of distress, of doubt, or rejection. But the Good News is because of Christmas, there’s a light in the world that can dispel every darkness.
You know, that night millions of people saw the light, millions of people saw the star but they did nothing about it.
But my Bible tells me that there were 3 wise men who saw the light, followed it and came to their Saviour.
My question to you this evening is: will you join the millions of people who saw the light that and said “No thanks, I can do it by my own strength”.
Or will you be like the wise men that would come to the saviour, the light of the world and give your heart to Him.
I would like to pray for some people now. With every eye closed, every head bowed, how many of you this evening you are going through some dark days right now?
You are going through dark days of disappointment, you are disappointed with yourself? Maybe you are going through dark days of doubt – the future looks so bleak. You feel aimless. You don’t feel like you are living the abundant life. You feel like you are just living day to day. Scraping at the bottom of the barrel. Friends, that’s not God’s best for you right now.
Or maybe you feel rejected by the people around you and its weighing you down. You feel depressed, and don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. You feel like you are dying bit on the inside with every rejection.
What is Christmas all about? It’s about peace on earth and good will to all men.
But it’s not just about human peace, human good will. It’s about the peace and good will that only God can bring. Will you come to the light of the world today and let Jesus shine into your soul?
So in the closing moments of our time together, I would like to pray for some people.
Some of you are going through some dark days right now. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Christian or non-Christian in this place. But you are going through some dark days right now. I want to pray for you.
Listen friends, God loves you! And the truth is, even Christians do have dark days. Even the great apostle Paul had a thorn in his flesh that didn’t leave him until the day he died. But because of Jesus Christ, His grace is sufficient for you to carry you through the dark days of life.
Mary’s dark days weren’t removed. But God’s grace was with her. Her attitude was simply that of: “I am the Lord servant. May it be to me as you have said.”
Pray:
Dear heavenly father, I lift all my dark days to you. I pray that you will come and take away every disappointment, take away every distress, take away every doubt I have of my future. Thank you for accepting me just as I am, shine your light into my soul, and give me the grace to go through the dark days of my life. I give you my heart this evening. Amen.
Altar Call
There are 2 other groups of people I want to pray for this evening.
I purposely preached this message because Jesus is the light of the world. And do you know why He is the light of the world? Because His heart is burning with a passion for you – He loves you so much!
Christianity is not a dead religion, it is a wonderful relationship with a living God.
And when we receive the light, our heart begins to pump with a new passion for God and for people. And that’s what Christianity is all about: loving God and loving people. It’s really as simple as that.
Maybe you have never invited Jesus to come into your life. Friends let me tell you the greatest decision you’ll ever make is not which school you’ll go to study, what career you are going to pursue, who you are going to spend the rest of your life with. The greatest decision of all is a decision to invite Jesus into your heart to be your Saviour, to be your light to dispel the darkness of sin. I’m not asking if you attend a church, or what religion you belong to. I’m asking you if you have received the light of the world for yourself.
The second group of people I want to pray for are those of you once burned with this passion for God and people but the fire has fizzled out over time. But this evening you feel the tug of God on your spirit and you realize that you want to make a decision to draw close to Him again, for Him to rekindle that passion and be the guide out of the dark days.
This evening where you are, if you want Jesus Christ, the light of the world to come into your heart, to forgive you from your past, give you a brand new life and hope for the future, or to rekindle that passion once again, I want you to pray this prayer with me.
Pray:
Dear heavenly father, I come before right now. Just as I am. I don’t want to live the dark days on my own anymore. I give you my heart. Forgive me from all my sins by the blood of Jesus Christ. I invite Jesus Christ to wash my heart clean and to be my Lord and Saviour. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen!
You know guys, as much as people like to say what Christianity is about. It is first and foremost, simply receiving the light of Christ for yourself and entering into a relationship with God.
Your problems aren’t going to disappear. Your bank account isn’t suddenly going to be full overnight. But He will give you the grace and strength to get through the dark days. But like any relationship, it needs a bit of work. So if you made that decision, tell another Christian about it so that he or she can help you on your journey.
I made this same decision you did 8 years ago. And I’ve never been the same again. And it has been a tremendous adventure that I’m so thankful for!
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