Title: People Celebrating Christmas / (Luke 2:22-39)
Contents In the Old Testament times, God appointed prophets in each age to give them the word, and they proclaimed God's will. However, for 400 years since the prophet Malachi came out in about 430 B.C., God was silent about Israel. There was no prophet who preached the word of God. 400 years, too long silence. Obviously, God will send the Messiah, but he did not say when he would send it. As the time of God's silence was long, the long-awaited thought of the Messiah only went up that much. On the other hand, there were those who got tired of waiting and gave up. But when the night is deep, the dawn is so near. Finally, according to the prophecy, Jesus came to Bethlehem in Judea. When Jesus came in the flesh as a baby to save mankind, the attitudes of those who met him were different.
Even in the same situation, people react differently to it. There are people who rejoice, there are people who are humble, and there are people who hate it. Christmas is approaching. Now, we celebrate Christmas with a relaxed mind and body, but the first Christmas when Jesus came as a baby was not like that. Times and circumstances have changed, but there are still the same types of people who celebrate Christmas. I pray in the name of Jesus that we can restore faith to welcome Christmas correctly through the Word.
1. There was a hostile group.
Herod was a Jew and became the tetrarch of Israel when he came to power in Rome. All the Israelites hated him. In order to return the hatred of the people, Herod took 46 years to build the magnificent temple. It was not for God, but in fact, he built a stronghold for himself. When Herod heard the news that a new king had been born, he reacted with hatred and death.
When the new baby became king, he feared that all the strongholds he had built would collapse. He told the Magi to tell me when the baby was found so that I would worship him too, but he actually wanted to kill Jesus. When the wise men listened to the angels and returned to their homeland, they asked the priests to kill all the boys in Bethlehem under the age of two.
But Jesus did not kill him, but only his own people. In Bethlehem, the mother screamed with joy as she saw the child overflowing with blood. The Bible says they refused to be comforted.
2. There was a group of people trying to profit from the unit.
While listening to a carol yesterday, Brother Jeong Hoon spoke. "The main character changed at Christmas" because they were praising Santa, who would give gifts, not celebrating the birth of Jesus. Once upon a time, there was an article in the religious newspaper that said Jesus had disappeared from the card. The word Christmas is a combination of the words 'Christ', 'Christ' and 'mas' and 'worship'. In other words, Christmas means 'the day of worship of Christ'.
Then, of course, the protagonist of that day must be Jesus Christ. However, when Santa Claus became the main character, the day turned into a day to exchange gifts. Some say that a white Christmas is perfect for Christmas. What if it snows that day and what if it doesn't? Does the meaning of Christmas change with circumstances? When I think of meeting my lover, shopping, and running around like a puppy, snow is perfect. Let's celebrate Christmas properly.
The Roman emperor Caesar Augustus issued a decree for the whole of Israel. Everyone left their homes and went to their hometowns to register. Bethlehem was overcrowded with people who came to register. The inns overflowed, and Mary and Joseph had nowhere to go. The place I went to after being pushed around was the stables.
Don't miss out on this opportunity as many people come to their hometown to register for your family. They were so focused on making money that there were merchants. There were heartless people who lost their conscience and recognition because they were engrossed in profits, saying they did not know even the woman holding her stomach while feeling colic.
If you have any other human plan for yourself other than worshiping Jesus Christ on Christmas Day, that heartless person is you.
3. There was a welcoming crowd.
The wise men followed the stars to the land of Judea. They are scholars who look at the stars and study the fate of individuals or times. They did not follow the stars by anyone's orders. I wasn't drawn to any greed. It was just an effort to find the truth.
Only because they were struggling to live upright lives according to the truth, they saw a star they had never seen before, and God was guiding them. An angel appeared to the shepherds who could not sleep at night while tending their sheep in the fields and sighing that the Messiah was about to come, and delivered good news to all the people.
And there were a few people. However, there are people who have been waiting for the Messiah more earnestly than these. It was none other than Simeon and Anna, old women. Simeon longed for the Messiah so much that he received the revelation of the Holy Spirit that 'before you die you will see the Messiah'. Simeon held the baby and said:
"Lord, now you are releasing your servant in peace, just as you said. My eyes have seen you, which you have prepared before all men, a light to enlighten the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel." He is the one who said he would not die until he met the Messiah. What kind of woman is Anna? She became a widow after 7 years of marriage and has been a widow for 84 years. 84+7 is 91. I don't know at what age he got married. If you were 20, you would be 110 years old.
This old woman did not leave the temple of God, but served by fasting and praying day and night, waiting for the Lord to come. Then I met the Lord. Can you guess this earnestness? With this earnestness, we must wait for the Lord. With this earnestness, we must meet the Lord. Like the wise five virgins, we must wait for the Lord. How prepared are you?
Christmas is only a few days away. Although it is Christmas every year, we must realize the meaning of a right Christmas and think of Jesus who will come again. Jesus at the first advent came as a baby in a manger, but the Lord at the second coming will ride on the clouds and come with the sound of the archangel's trumpet. Although Jesus at the first coming could be driven to the stables and was rude, the Lord of the second coming will come in all the glory of the kingdom of heaven.
The Lord of the First Coming came as the Savior, but the Lord of the Second Coming comes as the Judge. During the 2000-year history of Christianity, the word of the Lord's return has been continuously proclaimed. Because 2000 is such a long time, some people may get tired of giving up. We cannot go back to the past and welcome the Lord of the first coming. However, the Lord of the Second Coming may be alive and meet.
We need to see Me through all the characters in the Bible. Of the three categories of people I've looked at above, I definitely have my own face. Before anyone points out that you are bad, take a look at how you will welcome the Lord of the Second Coming. Look at your attitude towards Christmas. As I looked at the children, I repented of myself.
I repented for the following reasons. I don't know what you may be thinking, but Christmas is a very stressful time for me personally. You may be okay with the approaching Christmas, but I'm very nervous because Christmas is the second biggest event in the church after Summer Bible School. You have to decorate and have an event.
In fact, even more difficult than that is how actively the teachers cooperate with this work and how well the children can do that day and the results of that day. It's been five years since we opened the door, so it's the fifth Christmas event. It's embarrassing to me every year, although the teachers may have taught me something wrong, but they're only cute kids at home, so I don't know how to behave in public places.
Talking and joking around and not talking. On that day, we are not the only church members. When it comes to showing off her skills to her parents, she takes her mother's hand and wears a saekdong jeogori. When they come, boasting is second to them, and they only bring shame. You don't know how noisy it is. So where do parents blame their children? ?쏧t?셲 because the teachers taught me wrong,??he says. I don't know how much trouble it is every year.
So, to be honest, I thought I should just skip this year. However, the teachers gather the children and practice again. My heart is pounding more than I thought to be grateful. The thought of suffering that humiliation again is terrifying. Will teachers work well together? Will the children do well that day? I started to worry again. However, concerns about whether the teachers would cooperate well turned out to be true.
The children are already here, but the teachers are not showing up. I practiced on the first day, and the teacher didn't come, so I went back to practicing with the kids. Yesterday I had the children come by 4pm, but no one came. Sister Mija came around 6 o'clock. There were only a few days left. Please listen without misunderstanding.
It's not that the teachers were good at telling the children to come and being late. But you have no right to criticize it on your part. As a teacher, good or bad, you are not doing that either. But children are different. You must come earlier than the time the teacher told you to come. come and wait After 8 o'clock, we practice without complaining until we get a call from our parents asking us to send it out soon.
Yesterday was Saturday, so I couldn't pick up Hyemin and Hyunsoo because I was busy. The children came by taxi. Looking at those children, I reflected, 'They are better than me.' They look forward to it like that, but it was a bit noisy and I was ashamed of myself, thinking that I would not have held the Christmas event at all because I made a mistake. Whom will the coming Lord rebuke, and whom will He please more? It was terrifying to think about.
As we celebrate Christmas, we must have the hope of waiting. Like Simeon and Anna, we must risk our lives and wait for the Lord to come again. To wait is to have hope. Just because there is no waiting does not mean that the Lord will not come again that day. But for those who do not wait, it will be a day of fear.
Can you wait for Jesus like an innocent shepherd? Like Simeon and Anna, are you desperate to meet Jesus before you die? Let's recover the long-awaited anticipation for Christmas, which was heart-fluttering as we played the roles of Joseph and Mary in the rural church as a child. So, in the coming Christmas, let's become the saints who welcome the Lord with joy and thanksgiving like the Magi, like the shepherds, like Simeon and Anna.