intentionally worn red or green at least a half dozen times in the last month? shopping them in a

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1 Luke 2:1-7 Christmas Characters Jesus 1 Rev. Brian North December 24 th, 2014 So I once heard someone on the radio say that we all have different Christmas personalities. We all go about the month of December, ncluding Christmas Day, a little differently. So I thought it might be fun if we could do a little polling right now on some things: How many of you have intentionally worn red or green at least a half dozen times in the last month? How many of you were done with your shopping by about the end of the first week of December? How many of you and be honest! did some shopping today? How many of you prefer to wrap your gifts by just dropping them in a bag, rather than using wrapping paper and bows and all that? If you use bows, how many of you preferr the stick on ones, rather than tying your own? How many of you would say you re pretty busy in December? (Almost every hand is up.) See, there s a lot of variety at Christmas, different things we emphasize, and in the midst of it all, we re pretty busy. And while most of that is good and fun, it can distract us from what Christmas is really all about. It s so easy for Christmas to get cluttered by all kinds of stuff, and to steal the very reason for the season. I m not trying to be a scrooge here I enjoy all the pomp and circumstance around Christmas just like most of you do. And yet Jesus is the reason we even have Christmas and all that now comes with it. Jesus is the central figure ( character ) in the Christmas event. And for the last few weeks we ve been looking at the Christmas Characters like Mary and Joseph and others and tonight, at least for this one hour, those of us here at Rose Hill and in churches all around the world, will take time to remember that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ, and to reflect on what Jesus means in our lives. Now, in spite of our different Christmas personalities that are reflected in the little poll we just took, it occurs to me that pretty much everyone at church tonight is here becausee at some level, we believe the Christmas event. To one degree or another, we believe that Christmas is about more than just gifts and trees and lights and so forth, and so we gather here to celebrate God coming to us in flesh. There may be a few exceptions to this generalization I m making, but I think by-and-large, it s true that we are here tonight

2 because we believe God has done something special in Jesus Christ, and so we go to church on Christmas Eve to honor Him. 2 But here s what I want to explore tonight about Jesus and our response to Him: We believe something about Jesus and Christmas, but do we really trust him? Maybe you think there s no difference between believing and trusting. I think there is. We can believe something is true, but not trust it. Perhaps this will help us to think about it: In the mid- to late-1800 s, there was a French man by the name of Jean-Francois Gravelet. He was most famously known as Charles Blondin, or The Great Blondin. And he was famous primarily for his tight-rope walking abilities. In 1859 he came to the United States, and one of the feats he performed during his stint here was to be the first person to walk on a tightrope across the Niagra falls. It was a nearly ¼ mile long walk, and feet above the water. He did it in front of some 10,000 people. Actually, the rope was set up across the river just below the falls but that was certainly dangerous enough. Well, actually, it wasn t enough for him. He went back and forth a number of times, each with a different daring feat: once in a sack, blindfolded, on stilts, on a bicycle, with his manager on his back, and once while pushing a wheelbarrow across (picture here). When he got to the other side with the wheelbarrow, he asked the audience, Do you believe I can carry a person in this wheelbarrow back across? The crowd responded with an enthusiastic yes! He then asked if someone would step forward and get in the wheelbarrow. No one did. 1 The people believed that Blondin could do it, but no one actually trusted him. There s a difference. We can have a similar experience right here with a fun little experiment that probably all of us have seen before. I have here a glass of water and a piece of cardstock. How many of you believe that I can turn this glass of water upside down, and not have the water come out? I can. Let me show you. 1 The Blondin story can be found at several places on the web. Some relate this incident with the crowd and asking for a volunteer to get in the wheel barrow, others do not. See

3 (Demonstrate a couple times.) So, now do you believe I can do it? I see you all do. 3 Now I see that you are all dressed in your nice Christmas clothes and your hair done just right you all are one of the sharpest looking group of people I ve ever stood in front of you can see that I worked for hours getting my hair done just right So who of you, believing I can do this trick, would trust me to do this trick directly over you? Raise your hand and I ll pick someone. See, you believe that I can do it you just saw me do it. But very few of us here tonight actually trust me to do it. And it s almost all children who are raising their hands. You see, the difference between believing and trusting is that trusting is acting on what we believe. (Invite someone up, do trick over their head.) Now, I totally get it that most of you don t trust me with this cup of water. Quite frankly, I m not sure I d trust me either. But: So often, that s how we approach Christmas and Jesus. We believe that Jesus was born some 2,000 years ago But we don t trust that this actually means something significant for us. We believe God is out there somewhere But we don t trust that He s right here with us. We believe Jesus healed people of their brokenness when he walked the face of the earth But we don t trust him to heal us and put us back together. We believe Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of sins But we don t trust that that means forgiveness for us and the sins we ve committed. We believe the four gospel accounts of the resurrection But we don t trust that Jesus resurrection to eternal life can mean the same for us through trusting Him. In short: We believe Jesus, but we don t trust Him. Fortunately for us, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men from the east, and others, trusted God. They acted on what they believed. For instance, in the face of certain disgrace and embarrassment, Mary and Joseph trusted that the baby in her womb was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and that Jesus would save people from their sins. And so they trusted what the angel Gabriel told them and they stuck together as a couple, when Joseph initially thought to divorce her quietly.

4 4 The shepherds trusted that what the angel told them was true as well, and they got up and went into town where they found the baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph. The wise men believed that the star signified something important, and as a step of trust, they went out on a long journey to Bethlehem to bring their gifts to Jesus and his parents. All because of their trust we re sitting here tonight, continuing that celebration that began in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. And so the Christmas invitation to trust Jesus continues again this Christmas, even in the face of all the distractions. But here s the thing: Christmas is far from being the only time God extends the invitation to us to trust him. The invitation is always there. The problem is that just as there are distractions at Christmas, there are also distractions that keep us from trusting Jesus the rest of the year, too. The world makes it just as difficult to find Jesus and trust Him in June as it does in December. For some of us it s a fear of what others will think about us if we really trust God and start living differently. Mary and Joseph faced that same fear, so maybe their story will help you. For some of us we know that fully trusting Jesus isn t an easy path to follow Jesus himself said his followers will carry their own crosses and so we stay back in safe and comfortable places. But the wise guys also show us their level of trust as they stepped out into a difficult journey to find Jesus, and maybe that will inspire you. Some of us struggle to trust because we are too hesitant to leave certain things behind, just as the shepherds had to leave the sheep as they went into town. Maybe they will help us to consider what s really important in life. There are always reasons we don t trust. So: What s keeping us from trusting Jesus more? One of my favorite books on leadership is called, Leading With a Limp. It s about leading in spite of, and even through, our short-comings and mistakes. The author, Dan Allender, is the former President the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. At one point in the book, he shares how a number of years ago, the school went through a difficult season of life that had new students questioning whether they really should attend there or maybe enroll at a different school. Here s what he writes about that time:

5 When the new semester began Paul Steinke [Student Council President] addressed the situation as he led our new-student orientation. It was a delicate situation in that some students didn t know or care [about the challenges facing the school], while other students had heard rumors and were questioning their decision to attend the school. Paul talked about both heartache and hope. He told about his concerns and how he had seen the faculty move into tough conversations yet treat one another with tender care. He acknowledged our need for grace, forgiveness, and courage, and then he boldly said, If you want to learn how to live well in the midst of struggle and chaos rather than just reading about it, then you ve come to the right place (Leading With a Limp, p. 60). That was a bold invitation to those students to take a step of trust. Not just to read about living rightly in this difficult world, but to actually do it. Because challenge and struggle is going to happen. It s a part of life. And we can read about how Jesus shows us to live well in the midst of struggle and chaos, or we can step out and trust Jesus to actually lead us into living well in the midst of struggle and chaos. That s the invitation that God makes to us, similar to the invitation those new students had. If we want to learn how to live well in the midst of struggle and chaos rather than just reading about it, then we ve come to the right place. No we ve come to the right person: Jesus Christ. Because Jesus has shown himself to be worthy of being trusted: He s turned the glass of water upside-down without it spilling out; He s walked across the tightrope countless times, even while pushing the wheelbarrow. And now He asks us do you believe that I can carry you in this wheelbarrow safely to the other side? And many of us respond, Yes, I believe you can. Now: This Christmas, He s asking you and me to get in the wheelbarrow and trust Him more than we have before. He doesn t want us to just read about Him or sing to him or come to an occasional worship service. Rather, he wants us to trust him, so that we would live well with him in the center of our lives. God wants you and me to look past the things that distract us from Christ, get in the wheelbarrow and trust Jesus more this Christmas, in 2015, and always. Let s pray Amen. 5