Walking as He Walked

How many people here walk?  We all walk, sometimes we walk short distances, sometimes we walk long distance but for the most part we all walk.  It really isn’t rocket surgery.  All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other.  And in case you have problems with that I googled the word “Walking” and came up with 253,000,000 hits, knock yourself out. One of the things that I tell people about the our church is “It’s close enough to our home that I could walk, I don’t but I could”

In the scripture that Lisa read this morning was the phrase 1 John 2:6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

Now listen to how the NIV says it 1 John 2:6 Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus walked.  It’s one of those situations where the New Living Translation is a little clearer but the New International Version fits better with my message, so this morning we are looking at the topic walking as he walked.
This particular passage is found in the book of 1 John which is the 23^rd book of the New Testament and was written by John.  Which John? The same John who wrote the Gospel  of John and that is John the Apostle.  For once and evermore this book was not written by John the Baptist it was written by John the Apostle. 
It was written to the believers in the area of Ephesus, which is in what we know as Turkey, to encourage and strengthen them.  And as a part of his letter he tells the believers to walk as Jesus walked.
But what exactly does that mean?  Does it mean to literally walk as Jesus walked?  And if so what would that look like?  People used to say that  I walked like the Great A&W Root Bear, they don’t say that now but only because they don’t show the commercials any more.  When we discovered that my Great Great Grand-Mother was first Nations I decided that my traditional name would be “Walks like Bear.” So if you walked like me you’d all walk like the Great A & W Root bear.
And sometimes that is a problem.  You see it when folks decide to model themselves and their Christian walk after “someone”, whether it be a high profile Christian celebrity, a local pastor or just another Christian.  Things can go awry and you can end up with a pretty silly walk.  (Ministry of Silly Walks video)  There are some Christians out there whose walk is not only silly it’s embarrassing, because they are using the wrong example. 
And so John doesn’t tell people to walk like him, or Paul or Peter instead we are told to walk like Jesus.  And we can probably safely assume that John was not telling us to physically walk in the same manner as Jesus did, even if we knew how Jesus walked.  Instead it is a metaphor for Jesus’ life style how he lived in relation to God and how he lived in relation to other people.  And so we aren’t just supposed to listen to the words of Christ, we also need to look at how he lived.  In other words it’s not enough to hear Jesus talk the talk we need to also see how he walks the walk and make sure as well that there are no inconsistencies with him also walking the talk and talking the walk you still with me?
Sometimes it’s easy to say one thing but living it isn’t always as easy
So, the question is this; if we walk as Jesus walked where is it going to take us?  Well I guess the answer is that it’s going to take us the same place it took Jesus.  I’m sure you all heard the joke about the young fellow who wanted to borrow the car and his dad said “you can have the car when you get a haircut” to which the son replied “But Jesus had long hair”  “Yes” said his father “and he walked everywhere he went.” 
In 1896 a Youth Leader by the name of Charles Sheldon wrote a story as a lesson for his youth group which he read to his group as he wrote it, a chapter each week. Eventually it became the book “In His Steps”.  The premise of the book was that the people of The First Church of Raymond decided they would ask the question “What would Jesus do” before they made any major decisions in their lives.  The book chronicles the change and impact that was made in their lives, work, church and town as a result of their decision.  A few years ago the message of the book had a bit of comeback and we saw the letters WWJD displayed on clothes, bracelets and bumper stickers.

The reality is that we are called to simply do it not to simply say it.  Benjamin Franklin wrote “Well done, is better than well said.” And Jesus’ closest friend wrote in 1 Peter 2:21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

 So let’s see where Jesus’ steps led him and consequently where our steps should lead us.  Now it’s easy to put our own spin on what we think Jesus would do, how he would walk and where his steps would lead.  Often you will hear someone defending a view that is contrary to what scripture teaches and uses the “Well I think that’s what Jesus would do or want me to do.”  Seriously?

You have to wonder if they have ever read Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21? You know where it says:   Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

 Because we can’t simply look deep inside of ourselves for answers like that we need to go to the record, in this case that is the Gospel accounts.  And Jesus never condoned sin in fact he said “Go and sin no more.”  So let’s take a look at where Jesus’ walk led him.

His Steps Led Him to God.  I know that Jesus was God, I hope that you know that Jesus was God, however when he was on earth he had set limitations on himself physically and spiritually.  Even though he had created the body he occupied it was still a physically body and so he needed food and drink to sustain it and he needed rest to refresh it.  Jesus did not come to earth as some kind of super human demi-god, he came as a man with all of the temptations and limitations that men have and all of the needs that men experience.

And part of what he needed to sustain him was spiritual refreshment.  He needed to spend time with God, for a couple of reasons.  First of all he needed the strength that only God the father could provide.  Think about the spiritual drain that was upon Jesus every day.  He was casting out demons, healing crippled people, teaching crowds of people and trying to deal with the criticism that came his way.  And he needed to tap into the source in order to have something to give.  If you fill a bucket with water, no matter how big the bucket is, and you poke a hole in the bottom of the bucket to let the water escape, if you do not continue to fill the bucket eventually it will be empty.  And Jesus knew that, he knew that he needed to be refilling his spiritual bucket, so to speak.  And that’s why we read scriptures like  Luke 6:12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.

 And Mark 1:35 Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.

You see unlike most of us, Jesus didn’t think he could do it alone, he knew that if he was going to make it through each day then he needed the spiritual strength that he could only receive from the Father.
He also knew that if he was going to stay in the centre of God’s will that he would have to remain in communication with God.  We live in a connected world, with phones and text, twitter, facebook, linked’n Skype and facetime.  But we still have to make a conscious choice to communicate with people.   If you never communicated with your boss how would you know what they expected of you? If you never spoke to your spouse how would you know when you were supposed to take the garbage out?
In the same way if we are going to walk in the steps of Jesus they need to lead us to the Father and for the same reason as Jesus.  For our spiritual renewal, strength and guidance.  And prayer is not just a good idea, it is an expected part of the Christian experience.  If you are going to have a productive Christian life it will be anchored in prayer.  You can’t do it on your own and all you will prove by trying to is that you can’t do it on your own. 
And there is nothing magical and mystical about prayer.  Sometimes I hear well intentioned believers say “I just can’t pray.”  Why is that?  Is it because you can’t talk?  After all prayer is simply talking to God, telling Him you love Him, thanking Him for what He’s done for you.  It’s simply conversing with him about your daily life the way you would talk to a friend. 

His Steps Led Him to the Redeemed   Christ spent three years in the company of like minded people.  These were men and women who were seeking to know God better, seeking to know his will and seeking to do his will. 

While we don’t know all of what happened during those three years the majority of what we do know revolved around Jesus’ interaction with his 12 apostles and various other disciples.  They shared a common belief system and similar moral guidelines, they had common goals in life.  They were together to learn from Jesus and also to encourage one another. 

Jesus didn’t allow himself to be influenced by ungodly people, that wasn’t where he spent the majority of his social and recreational time, it wasn’t where he received his affirmation.  His closest friends, the people he shared his dreams and aspirations with, the people he laughed with and cried with, those people were people committed to following God.

As you read through the Gospels you see Jesus teaching large crowds, but then it says he left the crowd and joined his disciples in a house, on a beach, sitting on a hill.  They ate together, they walked together, they spent quality time together just talking and laughing.   Jesus knew that he couldn’t and shouldn’t remove himself from the world, after all; the world is why he came, remember John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

 But he knew that he couldn’t get the refreshment and affirmation he needed from the world, and you are thinking but point one was about the time he spent with God.  Yes but he also knew that there were times that he needed more then God. 

Do I hear the collective gasps from the congregation? Is that the sound of villagers gathering wood to burn the heretic at the stake?  Oh stop it.  There’s a story told about the little boy who woke up in the middle of the thunder and lightening storm and came into his parent’s bedroom wanting to spend the night with them.  His mother said “Let me pray that God will be with you in your room.” To which he replied, “Yes but I want God with skin on him.”  And now you are thinking cute story Denn but how could Jesus or anyone else for that matter need more then God, that’s why we used to sing the song “He is all I need, all I need”  and “All I need is Jesus.”

Let’s go back, way back, back to the beginning, which is probably a pretty good place to go back to.  God has created man, placed him in a beautiful garden in a perfect world and had fellowship with him.  God and man communed together.  That’s cool isn’t it?  Isn’t that the dream of most Christ followers, to be able to sit and have a chin wag face to face with God?

Then listen to what God says in Genesis 2:18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”

 Did you catch that?  It is not good for man to be alone.  Now I would think that man wasn’t alone, he was with God.  But obviously God knew that there were some things that he couldn’t do for Adam.  We need each other, God knew that and that is why he created each of us and that’s why Jesus steps led him to like minded people.

And if we look into the book of Acts to see what the early church and first Christ-followers looked like we discover they spent a lot of time together.  Verses like Acts 2:46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—   would indicate that they not only worshipped together but spent time together outside of worship.

If we are to walk as Jesus walked then we need to be spending time with other believers, and not just on Sunday Morning sharing a cup of coffee and a cookie at the back.  That’s not fellowship that’s hello-ship.  Harvey McKay the Author of “Dig your well before you are Thirsty” a business book about Networking says that we all should have at least one person we can call at three o’clock in the morning.  You know someone who could drive you to the hospital, hold your hand in a tragedy or post your bail if needed. I hope the person you would call would be in this church.   By the way if someone from Cornerstone should call you at that time for help you’d better help.
And you get to know people by spending time with them, at the hello-ship time after the service, by joining a small group, by attending social events, the pool party isn’t just about swimming and the Super Bowl Party isn’t just about Football.   or just by inviting them to your place for a BBQ or an evening of games.
But just because Jesus spent most of his time walking with saints didn’t mean he ignored sinners.  As a matter of fact you might remember that one of the charges laid against Jesus was that he was a friend of sinners.  Imagine.
His Steps Led Him to the Unredeemed.  If some believers never hang around with believers others err by never hanging around unbelievers.  Remember that is what you once were and statistically speaking the only reason you became a Christian was because a Christian befriended you and invited you to church.
Before the apostles fit into the category of Christ followers they fit into this category.  Jesus met them where they were at and built relationships with them which lead to the ultimate relationship.

He was criticized because of it and his response is found in Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

 So think about it, if the one we claim to follow was concerned about those who didn’t know him shouldn’t  those of us who follow him be concerned about those who don’t know him?  One would think.
I’m not contradicting the last point, you shouldn’t be spending all your time with the un-redeemed but you shouldn’t be ignoring them.  They are people who need to hear that Jesus loves them and that Jesus cares about them.  And we are told that normally happens one on one.  That people come to know the Lord and come to church because someone invites them to.
But here is a scary statement from Thom Rainer in his book “The Unchurched Next Door”, “Are Christians inviting non-Christians to church? The heartbreaking answer is no.  Only 21 percent of active churchgoers invite anyone to church in the course of a year. But only 2 percent of church members invited an unchurched person to church.”
Jesus, God, left heaven and came to this earth and his steps led him to those who didn’t know him, so they could know him.  They were so important to him, they meaning you, that he died on a cross for them, meaning you.  So what are we willing to do for them.
Who are those folks in your life who need an invite to church, not because they don’t attend this church but because they don’t attend any church.
Who among your friends and family don’t know Jesus, and just need an invitation to meet him?  I hope that you have folks that you are praying for, who you will eventually invite to church for something.  And maybe you are afraid to invite them because you are afraid they won’t come or will be offended. 

More research Rainer’s book tells us that: 82 Percent of the unchurched are at least “somewhat likely” to attend church if they are invited.  Perhaps we need to pause here to allow that to sink in, maybe we need to restate it 82 Percent of the unchurched are at least “somewhat likely” to attend church if they are invited.

Think about it 8 out of 10 of your friends and co-workers would be at least somewhat likely to attend church if you invited them.  So what is an invitation? For many of the unchurched it would simply mean being asked.  For others it included the offer to meet them at the front door to show them around. But in either case it goes back to a simple premise of: invite them and they will come.

And finally His Steps Led Him to the Cross.  Jesus didn’t just come to earth to hang out with people, eventually he had to hang on a cross for people.  He was doing what had to be done.  He wasn’t doing what was easy or convenient he was simply doing what was right.  And if we walk in his steps there will come a time that every one of us will have to decide between doing what is easy and doing what is right.  What will you do?  Here’s a suggestion from Jesus  Luke 9:23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

And only you will know what cross is it that he will want you to carry as you follow him. 

Christmas: a Line in Time Defining Life

It was almost as if someone had dragged a stick though the sand drawing a line that said that was then and this is now.  There has never been an event in the history of man that has so defined human history as the birth of Jesus. 

And it began when God interrupted the life of a young lady named Mary.  And now all she could think about was how different the line had made her life.

As she made her way along the road she wondered about the sense of it all.  Although she had agreed she still couldn’t understand why.  She lived in a poor country that was occupied by a foreign army, violence was never far away and often during the night you would hear soldiers entering the home of neighbours looking for the patriots they had called terrorists.  Even as she made the trip with her husband she was shocked with the conditions that lay outside the small village they called home.  The poverty she saw on her travels was an eye opener for a young woman who had never wanted for food. Her family was not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination but her hard working father had always provided the food and shelter the family needed.

Occasionally she would see lepers in the distance, scorned by society and pushed far away from those they loved, and there were the beggars who lined the busier sections of road, men and women who couldn’t see or couldn’t walk, dependent on the kindness or pity of strangers just to survive.

On their journey she even saw a crucifixion, she had heard about the horrors of the executions the Romans performed, but to see those victims left hanging on the primitive crosses was horrible. So much despair and sadness could anything ever change the way her world was. She wished that there was something she could do to make a difference.

It wasn’t that many months ago that her life had been simple, engaged to be married, she dreamt of the life that lay ahead of her, and this wasn’t it.  An angel had appeared to her one night with a story that she couldn’t believe.  She was told that she would have a child, a son.  And she knew that wasn’t to be, after all she had never been with a man, had not even held the hand of her fiancé because it just wasn’t done.  And now she was being told that she would be a mother. 

The messenger explained that it would be a miracle, that the Father of her child would be God himself and the child would be the Son of God, in fact God himself. What could she do?  She knew that she was a virgin and if she became pregnant then what the angel had said must be true, she believed him, but would anyone believe her?  How could she explain this to her parents, her friends? What would she say to the man she was engaged to?  “Hi Joseph, guess what? I’m pregnant, but don’t worry I’ve been faithful, God’s the Father.” Joseph might just be a carpenter but he certainly wasn’t a stupid carpenter.

Why did God choose her?  Ss a matter of fact why did God have to do this? Come as a child to this cruel and hostile world.  I’m sure that question would surface time and time again as she raised this child she would call Jesus.

The question is still valid 2000 years later, people still ask: Why did he come?  Why bother drawing a line in time?  What difference does it make?  We know that the line that was drawn redefined Mary and Joseph’s lives, but how does that same line that was drawn two thousand years ago define lives today?

Well there are those who would tell you 1) The Line Defines an Eternal Life For some folks that is what it is all about.  The burning question for them is the same as it was for the man who came to Jesus in Luke 18:18 Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”   And that answer to that is given in by Jesus himself in John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Throughout history humans have sought to reconcile themselves with God and they haven’t been able to do it.  I don’t have to go through the plan of salvation here, you already know it.  You understand that we really don’t deserve to go to heaven and that in our own power and through our own efforts there isn’t anything we can do that will make us worthy of eternal life.

And so into the picture steps Jesus Christ, God himself and he offered himself up as a sacrifice, paying a debt that he didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay. 

Jesus came to do what we couldn’t do, and that is to obtain eternal life for ourselves. 

You understand at this point in history, December 15^th 2013 that everything that has to be done for you to go to heaven has already been done.  All that is missing is for your acceptance of that fact. And so your salvation depends wholly on you because God has already done his part. And all he’s asking of you at this point is for you to respond.

And so most of us, probably not all of us, but most of us have accepted that gift, the gift of eternal life.  But it’s not the only reason he came.  But as important as eternal life is that’s not all the line of Christmas defines. 

2) The Line Defines An Abundant Life  You see, Jesus didn’t just come so we could have eternal life.  If the only reason we get saved is to gain eternity then the day we embraced that salvation we would go to heaven.  Think how much easier that would be, saved would mean safe.  Once we accepted Christ as our Saviour all of our troubles would be over.  One minute we’d be on earth with all of its problems and all of its pain and the next minute we’d be in heaven with no pain no sorrow and no loss.  But that wasn’t the plan.  Jesus didn’t just come and live and die so we could live in heaven he came so we could live on earth, part of the promise is revealed in John 10:10 when Jesus told his disciples John 10:10 Jesus said “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”   Maybe you know it better from some of the old translations where it says,  John 10:10 Jesus said I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (NKJV) And that promise is as real today as it was when Jesus made it 2000 years ago. And it wasn’t just a promise for those listening to his words that day; it was a promise for every person who has ever called upon his name.

The word that is used for abundantly here literally means full to the point of overflowing.   That’s the life that Jesus wants us to have, a life full of living.   Life is meant to be lived to the full, to be enjoyed and to make an impact.  It was Helen Keller who said “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

And the life that Jesus offers will make a difference not only to us but to those around us.  When Jesus was searching for similes to describe what our lives were to be like he said that we would be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  Both are elements that change their environment.  Once you’ve added salt to something you know there is salt in it.  And if you’ve ever been on a sodium reduced diet you know how bland food can be without salt.  Jesus left us here to flavour the world to make a difference with our lives.

And throughout history Christians have done exactly that.  I’m not saying that all the positive contributions made to society in the past 2000 years have been made by Christians but a good majority of them have.  We hear people talk about the crusades and abuses that have happened in the name of Christ but very seldom do we hear society as a whole acknowledge the contributions that the church has made.  It was the church who established hospitals, and orphanages, it was the church that reached out to the outcasts of society with shelters for lepers and the poor.  It was the church that started schools and universities. 

Every Christmas it seems that you will hear a complaint from someone about their children are asked to take part in Operation Christmas Child, in a school or daycare, because it was a Christian organization that was blatantly sponsoring the program.  Duhh.  Of course it was a Christian organization nobody else does that type of thing. When was the last time you saw Muslim or Buddhist organizations raising funds to help children around the world? 

Where would the hungry of the world be without groups like World Vision, World Hope, Compassion International and Samaritan’s Purse? Dead! Because for all of the criticism of the church we are making a difference. Or at least we should be.

The second thing that Christ told believers that they ought to be is light.  And light is provided for two reasons 1) for illumination and 2) for direction.  The life that we are living is supposed to illuminate this world and point people to Jesus. And if we are being light then we will annoy some people because the dark doesn’t look to bad until a little light disturbs it. And have you noticed just how little light it takes to chase away the darkness?  A single candle can destroy the darkness in the darkest room.

And Christ came that we could live a life that makes a difference.  But there’s still a third thing that is defined by the line of Christmas.  Now some folks have experienced the first two and they are content, they aren’t really interested in going any further.  I think that’s because they know what’s down that road, and they’d just as soon not go there.

3) The Line Defines a Holy Life Now up to this point everyone has been with me because those are nice things.  Everyone one wants to have eternal life and most of us like the concept of making a difference in the world around us but how many of us want to live a Holy Life?  As a matter of fact what images come to mind when I use the word holy, do you immediately think of Mother Theresa or John Wesley or one of the writers of the Gospels?

When I say holy do “you” come to mind? You should because we are called to live a holy life listen to 2 Timothy 1:9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.

And in Colossians  3:12 Paul writes Colossians 3:12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

But what does it mean to be holy?  The Wesleyan Church, which we are a part of, has historically and traditionally been called a holiness church, but does that mean anything?  When I tell you that you are supposed to be “holy people” do you cringe or bristle? Do you wonder how you can live an abundant life and at the same time live a holy life? Does your definition of holiness automatically eliminate any enjoyment you might get out of life, does it mean you can’t have any fun?   Some people think you can tell who is holy by the dour look on their face. To them holiness means that you look like you’ve been sucking sour lemons.  But is that what leading a holy life is about?  Does it mean that we dress in dark clothes, and never smile?

When I pastored the Wesleyan Church in Truro I was fresh out of Bible College and one of my best friends in the church was a man in his late sixties, which seemed quite old then but doesn’t seem all that old now. And Don would ask me “When are you going to preach about not going to movies or dances or playing cards?” Is that what leading a holy life is about? What we don’t do?

One day as Jesus was teaching a religious leader came to him and asked what the greatest commandment was in Jesus opinion. Jesus’ reply is given in Mark 12:30 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’

You see holiness isn’t about rules it’s about relationship, our relationship with God.  Are there things in your life that stand in the way of your relationship with God?  Chuck Colson in his book Loving God makes this statement “Holiness is the everyday business of every Christian. It evidences itself in the decisions we make and the things we do, hour by hour, day by day.”  Or simply put, holiness is wholeness, the whole of Christ in the whole of your life.  But how do we know what decisions to make, what things to do? Well we do have the book. And the short answer is to ask ourselves: would what I’m doing honour God?

When I became a Christian my Dad offered me a couple of pieces of advice, one of them was this, “All kinds of people will have all kinds of suggestions for what you can do and can’t do as a Christian.  Here’s a simple guideline, ask yourself: would I do this with Jesus?”

Have you ever been watching a television program or a video and one of your kids walked in and you felt a little bit ashamed or embarrassed by what you were watching?

Have you ever done anything that if I happened along you wouldn’t want your pastor to see what it was that you were doing? Would you mind if I happened by and joined you watching whatever it is you are watching?  What if Jesus called and said he was coming to your house for a couple of days?  Would you have to scurry about checking to see what magazines were on the coffee table, what videos were next to the television? If he asked to use your computer and internet to go on line to check his email would you worry that he’d look in your history folder?   Would he appreciate the joke that you told the other day, you know that funny slightly off colour story your friends laughed at?

There was a time not that long ago, that the church frowned on people going to movies, and then we kind of relented because after all what was wrong with being able to go to a G or PG movie. Probably nothing, but that isn’t what we limit ourselves to is it.  I know I’ve gone from preaching to meddling, oh well.

I’m not positive it was Billy Graham but I think it was Billy Graham who said “I watch programs on television now that I wouldn’t have dreamed of watching 20 years ago.”  And I would suspect that Billy is not alone.  Here’s a helpful hint, if you are wondering whether or not a movie or a video is fit to watch go online, Focus on the Family has a great website that tells you about the content of movies, music and videos.  So before you catch that movie everyone is talking about go to www.pluggedin.ca  and check out their movie reviews, there’s even an app for that.  You won’t always agree with them but you will go see the movies knowing what you are going to see. 

And if you still want to go see a movie filled with vulgarities and debauchery, well then that’s your choice. And some people say, “Well if I’m going to relate to the unchurched I have to know what they are watching.” Stop it.  There is a term in computer usage that is GIGO, Garbage in, Garbage out.

I’m preaching to Denn right now because all too often I find myself justifying what I’m watching on television or a movie I’m at, and I know that deep down in my heart that I wouldn’t watch it with Jesus and I know it’s wrong.  I read once that the last part of your body that got saved was your right foot, which of course was in reference to our driving habits.  I think the last thing that gets saved in our house is the remote control for our TVs and PVR.  When something comes on that you ought not be watching, change the channel, or if it’s on a disc hit the button that says stop eject.

You might be saying “Denn, Holiness is not externals, let’s not become legalists” I’m not talking about become legalists I’m talking about pleasing God. Because we never want to lose sight of Hebrews 12:14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

Socrates wasn’t a preacher but he hit the nail on the head when he said “It is not living that is important, but living rightly”And no, it’s not easy to lead a holy life, if it was everybody would be doing it.  But it is what God is looking for his children to do. And a holy life style isn’t cultivated by what you don’t do it’s cultivated by what you do.  It’s as you spend more time with God in prayer, and spend more time reading his word that you know what pleases him and what doesn’t, as you become more like Christ you won’t have to ask yourself “what would Jesus do?” because you’ll just know.

So where are you at?  I hope everyone here has stepped over the line that defines their eternal life.  But that isn’t enough, when Jesus is offering you an abundant life and make a difference in the world around you. And finally don’t forget to go a little further and embrace a holy life a life that glorifies and brings pleasure to God.

A Line in Time Yes and No

It was almost as if someone had dragged a stick though the sand drawing a line that said this was then and this is now.  There has never been an event in the history of man that has so defined human history as the birth of Jesus. 

That single solitary event has shaped the world like no other event.  It has shaped how the world is viewed and how people are viewed.    This month, in most countries in the world, literally billions of people will gather to celebrate, to various degrees, the symbolic birth date of a child who was born to an unknown couple in an obscure village over 2000 years ago. 

His birth shaped and molded the culture of countries that were unknown to the people of Bethlehem 2000 years ago.   Canada and the US are what they are today because a baby was born in a stable two millennium ago.   Even most of those who deny the existence of the Jesus will in some way take the time to commemorate his birth on December 25^th, even if it’s only by taking a day off work and eating turkey.  You don’t see Atheists jumping up and down demanding to not have Christmas day off.  And if they offer to work because they don’t “Believe” in Christmas they gladly accept the time and a half they will be paid for working on the Christmas they don’t believe in. 

When we use phrases like “the prodigal son” “turn the other cheek” and “The blind leading the blind” we are quoting the one who was born that day two thousand years ago.  When we espouse values like “Do unto others” and speak of the “Golden Rule” we are sharing the teaching of the Christ Child.  And as I have said before every time we write the date, even without adding the AD, Anno Domini, we are saying this happened this number of years since Jesus was born. 

And that line in time wasn’t just drawn at any time, it was drawn at just the right time, Paul writes in Galatians 4:4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.  The right time?  There are all kinds of reasons why the time that Jesus was born was the right time. 

God could have chosen any time in the scope of history for his Son to come to earth and for the church to be birth, and he chose a specific spot on the time line of history.
 

According to historians there was no better time for the church to flourish than the two hundred year juncture of history known as The Pax Romana, the Roman Peach.  New Testament Scholar and Historian E. J. Goodspeed notes: “This was the pax Romana. The provincial under Roman sway found himself in a position to conduct his business, provide for his family, send his letters, and make his journeys in security, thanks to the strong hand of Rome.”

The Roman Peace had spread across the known world, providing one of the few windows of opportunities for the land and sea to be travelled safely without the threat of warring factions. For the first time roadways connected points across the known world. 

But it went beyond simple transportation and incorporated communication as well.  Instead of having to learn a multitude of languages and dialects it was only necessary to know one.  Greek was the common language, a reminder of Alexander’s conquests, allowing the written word to be sent to encourage and correct the growing churches in diverse cultures.   

It was not a coincidence that the Creator chose this point in time to interrupt history it was no accident that Christianity came when it did. The birth of Christ didn’t happen on a whim.

Last week we looked at the line that was created for Mary and Joseph, how when they accepted the challenge that was given them regarding the birth of Jesus that their lives changed radically.  And it was a choice, God wouldn’t have forced them to say yes to what was being proposed, last Sunday after the service someone pondered if perhaps there was another “Mary” in the wings in case the first one said “no”.  But Mary didn’t say no, instead in complete trust and in spite of all the obstacles she would face we read the words of Mary in Luke 1:38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

And it was almost as if someone had dragged a stick though the sand drawing a line that said this was then and this is now. 

At the heart of this story we discover humanity divided into two groups, and those two groups exist today and each one of us belongs to one of those two groups.  Don’t you love it when something can be reduced to the very basics?  There are not a hundred choices from which we have to choose, not fifty or even twenty or ten.  Just two.

And so the first group we become acquainted with Those who said “No” To Jesus.  I suppose there is an honour of sorts to be the first person to reject Christ.

The innkeeper is really the first villain in the story.  I mean what type of person would turn away a pregnant lady who was as the King James Version puts it was “Great with Child”? That’s the polite way of saying that Mary was a big as a house.

We often think of the Inn with a big no vacancy sign flashing in the window, but it wasn’t that there wasn’t room in the inn, that isn’t what the scripture says.  Listen again to Luke’s account, Luke 2:6-7 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

Did you catch that?  The bible doesn’t tell us that there was no lodging available, what it does tell us is that there wasn’t any lodging available in the inn for them, and there is a difference

If we take that to its logical conclusion the assumption is that while there wasn’t lodging for them there was lodging for others.

Perhaps the innkeeper was keeping the room in case he received a better offer, maybe he knew that as more and more people arrived in Bethlehem for the census that any vacant rooms would become a commodity.  You think how pricey even the most modest of rooms become when there is a special event in town, in just a couple of months the price of a room in Sochi Russia will skyrocket when the Olympics arrive.  And so perhaps the Innkeeper was just hedging his bets, it wasn’t a personal decision, just an economic one.

And it wasn’t that they were asking for the room for nothing.  Again we often mix up tradition with actual facts.  We have been conditioned from years of Christmas specials and Christmas cards to perceive the home that Christ was born into was one of poverty, and that probably wasn’t the case.

Joseph wasn’t poor, he was a carpenter, a tradesman, he wouldn’t have been wealthy but I’m sure that he wouldn’t have been considered destitute in that day and age.  I’m sure that when Joseph gathered up Mary and headed for Bethlehem he probably came prepared they weren’t looking for charity.  But perhaps greed on the innkeeper’s part meant that the room was priced well out of their reach.

And as unfortunate as they may have been at least it would have simply been a business decision in contrast to the other option.

Maybe he just didn’t want their type there, maybe he has something again people from Nazareth.  “Sorry we don’t have room for you people.”

 Were they “You peoples”?  Apparently for some folks they were. Do you remember the story found in the first chapter of John’s gospel when the apostles were first gathering around Jesus?  The story is found in John 1:45 – 46.  We actually referenced it last week as well,  John 1:45-46 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

So perhaps the innkeeper just didn’t like folks from Nazareth.  You might be wondering how he knew where they were from.  There is a hint found a life time later when Jesus has been arrested, you might recall that Peter is warming himself outside of where Jesus was being questioned and he finds himself being accused of being one of Christ’s followers.  A charge he denies, and then we read this Matthew 26:73 A little later some of the other bystanders came over to Peter and said, “You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent.”

Peter was from the same area as Joseph and Mary and ultimately Jesus.  Never actually think of Jesus having an accent do we?  From the movies we assume that if Jesus had an accent it was either British or American.  That was what we technically refer to in preaching as a tangent.

Or maybe they just didn’t want a lady who was obviously about to go into labour in one of their rooms, there was the entire “plenty of hot water and clean sheets” thing, the potential for a mess and not to mention all the screaming that might disturb other guests, transitional labour is nothing to laugh at.  And Mary couldn’t even yell at Joseph, “You will never touch me again”.

We don’t know why there was no room for them in the inn but we do know is that the innkeeper would not be the last person to reject Christ.  And today when Jesus is rejected it’s just like at the inn it’s not because there is no room in the person’s life instead there is no room for Christ in their life.

There’s room for all kinds of things, career, family, habits, ambition and maybe even religion but not for Jesus.

And sometimes it’s because a person really doesn’t want to pay the cost, and sometimes they are hoping a better offer will come along and sometimes they are just playing a long shot that they can live like hell and still make it into heaven.

And there are others who don’t simply say no and turn their back on Christ but are vehemently opposed to all he teaches and all he stands for. 

The first Christmas that person was represented by King Herod, who wasn’t really a King but was kind of a puppet Governor whom the Romans let rule over a small portion of Palestine.  But it was his portion of Palestine and he was insanely suspicious, with the emphasis on the insane part of that statement, suspicious of those he thought were a threat to his rule.  History tells us that he had his wife, mother in law and two sons murdered because he thought they were trying to oust him, and maybe they were but it was Caesar himself who commented “It is safer to be Herod’s pig than his son.”  Which was a lot more poetic in the Greek where the word for Pig was Hus and for Son was Huios.  And so when he heard of the birth of the one who would be the Messiah he asked the Magi to let him know where he could find the child. 

Instead after being warned in a dream they skipped Jerusalem on the way home, and the horror of the Christmas story is revealed in where we read Matthew 2:16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him.

Herod sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.  Some people wonder why genocide like this wouldn’t be mentioned in history.  Well, remember that at the time Bethlehem probably had a population of no more than 2000, less than half the population of Kingswood.  So we are probably talking the death of 25 or 30 children tops.  In a time when murder and unrighteousness was so wide spread the only people who would have been outraged at this tragedy would have been the families. 

And so there are those who aren’t content to say “no” to Jesus but they are evangelistic in their desire that nobody else will say “yes” either.

But along with those who said no to Jesus there were also Those who said “Yes” To Jesus

When we read the Christmas story we often focus on the fact that there was no room in the inn, however there was room in the stable.  And the stable did belong to somebody, and that somebody allowed Mary and Joseph to move in, perhaps just for the night, maybe longer.  We don’t know how long they stayed in the stable.  Long enough for Jesus to be born, long enough for the shepherds to visit, but apparently they moved out before the Magi got there because Matthew tells us in his account that the Magi visited the child in a house.   

You gotta figure that at some point a woman became involved.  “You put her where?”  “Well you march yourself right out there and invite them in while I get the spare room ready.”

A couple of things, the offer of the stable would have been commendable if that was all they had. Seriously, if whoever owned it said “I don’t have room anywhere else but there is the stable.” And they went out and prepared it and cleaned it up and made Mary and Joseph comfortable. 

But it would have been a different kettle of fish if they had something better and all they offered was the stable.  That would have been a completely different story and it would have had to do with motives. 

Christ explains the same principle in a very familiar story found in the gospel of Mark, perhaps you are familiar with the story, Jesus is standing at the back of the temple next to the offering box and a widow drops in two small coins and we pick up the story in Mark 12:43-44 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”

It’s the same in our lives the same gift can be given and for one person it is a sacrifice and for another it is just a bauble.  When we were preparing to build this building the theme of our capital campaign was “Not equal giving but equal sacrifice” and that is still what we are called to do today.

Regardless of why Jesus and his family ended up in the stable it did serve a couple of purposes.  And again it is wise to remember Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

If you remember the story, the first people invited to come to Jesus were the shepherds and we have to assume that they would have felt a lot more comfortable and felt a lot more welcome coming to a stable than coming into an inn or a private home.

“Mort, there are a bunch of shepherds at the door; they say they’re here to see the baby.”  And I’m sure that whoever said that would have sounded like Howard’s Mother.  And not only that but how inconsiderate would it have been for God to have brought a bunch of shepherds into someone’s house with all of the mess and inconvenience that would have involved.

The shepherds were apparently an important part of the Christmas story, and God made it easy for them to take part.

I think the story of the first Christmas is all about the fact that Jesus is accessible to all people.  There is something about his humble birth that says, He is there for all of us. 

Often, not always but often, those born to a privileged life never understand those who are less fortunate than they are, even if their fortune was an accident of birth.  We all remember Marie Antoinette’s comment when she was told that the peasants were upset because they had no bread, “If they have no bread than let them eat cake.” 

Actually if you go a little deeper you discover that when that comment was first reported Marie Antoinette was 10 years old and living in Austria, and while we don’t know for sure who said it historians feel that is was probably Maria Therese of Spain the wife of King Louise XIV of France.  That was free, just another one of those educational services that Cornerstone provides.

And so Christ began his life not at the top of the economic and social ladder but at the bottom.

But it wasn’t only the shepherds who came to worship Jesus that first Christmas, The Magi Showed up as well.  Matthew 2:1-11 Records the story of the wise men, and we really don’t know much about them at all, but we do know that their belief cost them something.  We don’t know where they came from, how long they had been travelling, how many there were or where they went afterwards.  They glide into the story, present their gifts and then just as quietly they disappear.

If we listen to tradition we can learn all about them, their numbers were three, they were kings, and tradition even knows their names, their ages and what they looked like.  And if we were to choose to pay the fee we could even see their bones in the shrine behind the high altar in the Cathedral in Cologne Germany.  But of course those are just traditions.

However little that we know of the wise men we do know that they came from a great distance bearing their gifts of love.  They brought Gold, frankincense and myrrh, but greater than any of those gifts was the fact that they brought themselves.

It is interesting to note and perhaps to ponder on that Christ began his life born in a stable that belonged to someone else and ended his life buried in a tomb that belonged to someone else. 

Let’s end this morning with a quote from William Barclay who wrote “That there was no room in the inn was symbolic of what was to happen to Jesus. The only place where there was room for him was on a cross. He sought an entry to the over-crowded hearts of men; he could not find it; and still his search--and his rejection--go on.” 

And so this Christmas the question is the same as it was on that first Christmas morning over 2000 years ago:  Will you make room for Jesus?  Will your answer be “Yes” or “No”?  Where will you stand in relation to that line that was drawn 2000 year ago?