Christmas Eve In fact, there is no other holiday that is quite like it. 3. Nothing else dominates the calendar like tomorrow.

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1 1 I. Introduction A. Well here we are on Christmas Eve. 1. Tomorrow is a big day. 2. In fact, there is no other holiday that is quite like it. 3. Nothing else dominates the calendar like tomorrow. B. And if you were with us last Sunday you know why. 1. It s not just that Jesus was born 2000 years ago. 2. And it s not just that it was a virgin birth 3. And it s not just that his arrival was the fulfillment of so much OT prophecy. 4. And it s not just that Christ birth represented the time when God pierced the veil and became man a) Actually entered time and space with a real body C. But Christmas is special because it represents the fundamental restructuring of the relationship between God and man D. Through Jesus Christ the New Covenant that does work replaced the Old Covenant that didn t work. E. After Christ it s a brand new day F. And that makes tomorrow very special. II. But Christmas is significant in another way as well A. Because in a world that that appears to be stuck on fast forward, Christmas and the days around it provide us with one of the only built in periods of reflection we get B. Whether it s: 1. The time off 2. Or the Christmas memories 3. Or the pictures that show you sitting on Santa s lap every year from the time you were 9 months until you were 9.

2 2 4. Or the family gatherings where you see people you don t normally see and have conversations you don t normally have. 5. Whether its tied to the fact that Christmas and New Years Day are so close together 6. Or if it s simply the need to write a Christmas letter that summarizes the last twelve months C. There is something about this time of year that causes us to take inventory of our life III. Now I know that some of you really don t like to reflect A. And that others of you don t like Christmas letters because, well, they can be over the top 1. I got a letter from a friend telling about his four kids. It opened by talking about their four year old, who was just admitted to a special MENSA preschool for geniuses a) They went on to say that he had had some difficulty mastering Arabic that it hadn t come as easily as the other four languages he spoke. b) 2. Now this was all a joke, though I did reread that line twice before I realized he was just yanking my chain. B. Christmas letters can be over the top. And we all have examples. C. But I think they are fun to read and that they can important to write. D. Because it is one of the few times that many of us slow down long enough to review the year. IV. Last month I heard Gordon MacDonald, a retired pastor and author, speaking at a conference. And in the Q & A session that followed his address he said some things that I ve been thinking about ever since. A. He made some general observations about the different decades of life. And he noted, almost as an aside, that this leads people to write very different kinds of Christmas letters in their twenties than they do in their forties. Which differ yet again from those that are written in our fifties and sixties and beyond. B. And after looking at a bunch of Christmas cards, and reading a bunch of Christmas letters, I think he s right.

3 3 C. MacDonald points out that when we are young in those first few decades of adulthood, we write about our firsts and our future 1. We are and this is a generalization, obviously, but by in large we are optimistic 2. And we talk about our firsts. Our: a) First real job b) First real money 3. At some point in our twenties or thirties many of us will write about: a) Our first years of marriage b) Or our first children c) Perhaps there is a picture of a first house 4. And the letter is full of the future. 5. It talks about next year, when we ll take: a) Our first vacation to wherever b) Our first business trip to Europe. c) Or the first time Johnny will go to preschool D. Now this isn t all that is going on in this person s life. Christmas letters are summaries of the year but they are seldom journal entries. But if you could arrange to spend a few late hours in conversation in the kitchen, or go on a long car trip with one of the 20 or 30 somethings if you could peer into their heart then you probably discover that they are wrestling with some big questions. And those questions, when your in your twenties are: 1. Who am I, really? 2. How do I differ from my parents? Because I do want to be different. 3. What am I going to do with my life? 4. Am I capable of loving and being loved? 5. What are the values, ideals or principals that I am going to organize my life around?

4 4 E. If this person is in their thirties then the questions will change a bit. They are a bit older and are probably adding some responsibilities. 1. If there are children then the job starts to get real serious a) I have to make money 2. There are now struggles with time because family and work are making more and more demands. 3. Friends become an issue, because often there are few or they are changing a) The college friends are just not around anymore. b) And new friends have to fit into my hectic life 4. If you could look real deep inside a 30 year old you would probably see that they are surprised that they are not getting much better. a) They thought they would be. b) They thought that age itself would bring with it more wisdom and confidence and the ability to conquer some of the sins of youth. c) But that often doesn t happen. V. When we get cards from people in their forties they tend to be different again. A. There are now fewer firsts and more sames 1. Same job 2. Same family B. A little bit less excitement that way. C. The challenge shifts from doing new things to doing the same things better D. Quality starts to be more important than quantity E. And perhaps for the first year a bit of sadness sneaks into the letter. 1. Somebody writes to say that their parents are quite ill or perhaps they passed away. 2. Or you read that Karen was downsized or that Bob has some health problems

5 5 3. And this is all pretty surprising 4. I remember when my college roommate a guy I used to run 40 miles a week with 5. A guy with whom I made a deal that on any Saturday morning that one of us wanted to get up at 6:00 AM and run ten miles the other one had to. 6. Which meant that any Friday night that I had a date and Tom didn t a) Or visa versa but I m telling the story, so I had a date and Tom didn t. b) I d be getting ready to go out and Tom would be acting like he was getting ready to go to bed. c) Mike I think I ll turn in around 8:00 so that I am good and ready for that 5:45 wake up before the big run. Don t worry. If you don t set an alarm I ll be sure to drag you out. 7. Tom was in great shape. And then there was the year he had open heart surgery F. The Christmas letters we write in our forties can start to look different. And if you get that person alone in the kitchen late at night you hear different questions 1. Why are other people starting to leave me behind? I thought we were peers but now they have a bigger home, a nicer car and a better title? How did that happen? 2. Why am I so disappointed in myself? 3. Why are there so many more limitations than options now? G. In our forties we start to realize that about 80% of the stuff we thought we would do at some point in life we are not going to do. H. And it s often around this time that our kids are older and less controllable. I. The cards we write in our forties differ from those we write in our thirties. And they differ from those we write in our fifties. VI. In our fifties and now I am out running both my experience and my headlights but one of the small groups I was in back in Washington was full of guys in their fifties and as we sat around talking I remember thinking that their life was not sounding nearly as easy as they made it look. A. That a lot of the things I thought they had worked out they really didn t have worked out at all.

6 6 B. There were lots of complaints about time 1. Tomorrow s Christmas? How can tomorrow be Christmas? Yesterday was Christmas? C. And they would occasionally talk about the limited number of summers they had left to do the things they wanted to do. 1. That thought had never crossed my mind. D. When my dad was in his late fifties I remember him comment that he used to be the youngest person in management and now he was the oldest. 1. And there was some frustration with all of the young bucks that had new ideas that he didn t think were very new nor did he think were very good. 2. There was some frustration at the thought of being pushed out. E. MacDonald says that in our fifties we start to deal with an empty house 1. Christmas letters joke about college tuition but also start to reflect on life without children. 2. Which means that if you get a married fifty year old up late in the kitchen you ll hear about the changing politics of their marriage. About how different things are now that the kids are not the glue. a) And sometimes that is very positive and sometimes its not. 3. MacDonald also says that in our 50s we have to deal more directly with our failures and our fears. 4. That much to our surprise they haven t gone away like we thought they would. And instead they are starting to pile up. VII. In our sixties and seventies life doesn t hold many firsts and it is starting to hold fewer sames. Now what are starting to stack up are lasts. A. This is the last time I will visit this place. B. This might be the last car I buy. C. The cards now often have more bad news because our health and the health of our friends the health of those we love is starting to fail. D. At some point in our sixties people start to ask when will I stop doing the things that have defined me?

7 7 1. I m a doctor. I m a business owner. I am teacher. When do I retire? E. There is a growing sense of being overlooked. That this is a younger person s world. 1. I remember being asked to speak at a chapel for a minor league baseball team. Ken Griffey had just left the team and moved up to the majors. I don t know what I was expecting when I went there. What I was not expecting is to be speaking to people I thought I should be babysitting. a) I couldn t believe how young these guys were. 2. I remember a friend of mine who was in that small group I was telling you about. I remember him telling me I still notice good looking young women. But now I am forced to face the fact that I not only old enough to be their dad but their grandfather. F. In our sixties we start to think about death. 1. How will I die? 2. Who will I die with? 3. And if I die who will be there to care of my spouse? G. And we also start to wonder if we ve made a mark. Have I made a difference on this planet? Is the world a better place because I was born? VIII. And then in our 70s and 80s MacDonald says we ask a couple different questions A. Does anyone know who I once was? 1. I used to be somebody. 2. I used to be the CEO or the manager or the star. 3. I used to be in shape and strong. 4. I used to make things happen 5. But nobody here seems to realize that anymore. Nobody realizes the value I had. B. Will I be missed? C. Cards from those in their 70s and 80s are either about the past or maybe about the future of grandchildren. D.

8 8 IX. I share all of this and I know it s not what you expected to hear but I share all of this because: A. These are the kinds of questions we ought to be asking. 1. These are the kinds of observations we ought to be making weekly during a time of Sabbath reflection 2. But it doesn t happen very often anymore we are not nearly as reflective as we ought to be and so I want to be sure we don t miss the one chance we get. B. And I share all of this because Jesus Christ wants to speak directly to each of these questions. 1. Christ isn t focused on Sundays and Christmas 2. He is drilling down on our spiritual life. 3. Jesus isn t concerned with our spiritual life. 4. He is concerned with our entire life. 5. He wants to walk through every stage of life with you, bringing insight and perspective and grace and strength. 6. He wants a relationship with you and if you want a relationship with Him then you need to nurture it. C. And I share all of this because, in the end, Jesus Christ is the only one who can give you the answers to the final questions you are going to ask. X. I don t know whether you are 25 or 72 A. I don t know whether you are asking age appropriate questions or not. B. I don t even know if these are age appropriate questions or, for that matter, if it s fair to ask a twenty year old to think through the questions facing a fifty year old, let alone those facing a seventy old. XI. But I do know this. A. You need a relationship with Jesus Christ that is alive and growing. 1. One that becomes more vital and vibrant every week. B. Because you don t want to move into your 40s with a 20 year old s spirituality.

9 9 C. And you don t want to move into your 60s or 70s with a forty year old s spirituality. D. Right now is a great time for you to give yourself an early Christmas present or to make an early New Year s Resolution. 1. For you to decide that from this E. Jesus Christ was not born so that we d celebrate His birthday. F. And that is why He came. G. Perhaps the best Christmas present you are going to get this year is the chance to take a long and reflective look at who you are and where you are headed. H.