Sermon Illustrations for Christmas Day (2016)
Illustration
Object:
Isaiah 9:2-7
There are a lot of dark spots on the American horizon at Christmas. Consider the police shootings of African-Americans and the massacre of police officers in Dallas earlier this year. Statistics indicate how our prison population continues to swell, with 716 Americans out of every 100,000 in jail. While we only comprise 5% of the world’s population, we contribute to 25% of the world’s prison population. While this Christian nation celebrates the Prince of Peace and speaks of Christian love, we make life hard for Muslims. The list goes on.
Regarding our interaction with this sort of darkness, Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote: “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.... Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive our hate; only love can do that.”
Christians know that Christ alone is this light, the light to which Isaiah here refers. French Catholic Peirre Teilhard de Chardin profoundly speaks of how this light addresses our darkness, how it enables us to live as Dr. King would have us live: “When your presence, Lord, has flooded me with its light, I hoped that within it I might find the ultimate reality.... But now that I have in fact laid hold on you, you who are utter constancy, and feel myself born by you, I realize that my deepest hidden desire was not to possess you but to be possessed” (Hymn of the Universe, p. 78).
This is why we light Christmas trees. Their lights remind us that Christ is the One who illuminates us.
Mark E.
Isaiah 9:2-7
In 1971 William Brown wrote a book on the history and purpose of the National Park Service titled Islands of Hope. The first national park (Yellowstone) was established in 1872; the service now oversees 52 national parks and 400 monuments, and relies on 400,000 volunteers. Some park rangers like to remain at one park for their entire career, while others like to move to many different parks. But the rangers all share a common thought: “All of these parks are the same, and all are different.” One ranger considered the parks to be museums that house the outdoors. As the ranger said: “Museums are a synonym for islands of hope.”
Application: Isaiah instructs us to be able to see the light and thus to be able to discover islands of hope.
Ron L.
Titus 2:11-14
I can remember when the child was born. I held her in my arms, looked into her eyes, and let her tiny hand grip my finger. I couldn’t help but wonder just what lay ahead for this little one. I wondered what her eyes would see in the years ahead. I pondered just what it was her hands might do. Would they be used to create wonderful works of art? Would they hold the scalpel of the healer? Would they write words that people everywhere would read? Then I cupped her tiny feet in my hands. Just where would these feet go? On what path would they walk?
I suppose every parent has at some point looked at his or her infant and wondered what their future might be. On this day we celebrate the coming of our Lord and Savior. While his parents received some information about this child, I can’t help but think that at some point on a night like this long ago they too were caught up in wonder. I can see in my mind’s eye the inquisitive glances that Mary and Joseph may have given to each other after the shepherds left. Their baby’s birth announced by angels! Just what lay ahead for this newborn?
Our passage for today relates to us the specific purpose for the greatest gift ever given. He came to bring salvation. He came to redeem. He came to purify for himself a people. He came to give himself as a sacrifice. The second stanza of that Christmas hymn “Ring the Bells” reiterates this text. It says: “Born to die that man might live; came to earth new life to give.” It would be hard, I think, for a parent to know that his or her child was born to die. That, though, was the destiny of the Son of God. As we celebrate his coming tonight, let’s remember why he came.
Bill T.
Titus 2:11-14
When Paul writes that the grace of God has been “training” us, he is using an athletic term that has its roots in the word for “child” and in the word for the child’s disciplinarian/teacher/instructor -- the pedagogue. Paul is suggesting that as we grow in the faith, we may not be either fully able to understand the consequences of poor choices or to appreciate just what our trainer is doing for us. Our trainer is pushing us farther than we want to go, and helping us achieve greater things than we ever imagined we might. Paul is taking the image of an athletic trainer and applying it to God’s grace, which not only saves us but makes us better people than we imagined we could be.
Now that is a Christmas gift from God!
Frank R.
Titus 2:11-14
The grace of God has appeared! That is a proclamation worth making again and again. The grace of God has appeared! More than that, the fact that the grace of God has appeared calls us to behave differently, to move toward right relationships with God and with one another. What if we all had a Christmas spirit all year long, every day of every week of every month all year long? The world would look and feel like a different place.
Now, I am not talking about disconnecting actions from consequences or holding people to an appropriate standard of behavior, but I am talking about responding to people with compassion and grace, with a willingness to move toward reconciliation. Reconciliation does not remove the responsibility of the one who acts inappropriately; rather, it allows that person and the other involved to work on a remedy that brings peace and hope to all concerned. There is grace in those actions. So, my friends, be people of grace and hope and reconciliation. Proclaim it from the rooftops: “The grace of God has appeared!”
Bonnie B.
Titus 2:11-14
At last he is here -- Merry Christmas! We know that we have received his grace and that God has sent his Son for our salvation. He has appeared to all and not just to Jews.
He gives us the power to say no to worldly passions. He gives us power to live upright and godly lives today. We no longer have to wait for another message -- Jesus is the message!
We are always looking for something else. The only thing to look for besides Jesus is the dangerous fulfillment of the evil passions in our minds. He is all we need! He is the only one who can save us from those evil passions.
When I had a picture business in California, I was offered a chance to make porno movies for a lot of money. The only reason I turned it down was because of reading God’s word. That has given me many merry Christmases since I turned it down.
Yes, we know he will come again for each one of us -- not only in a miraculous appearance as a second coming in flesh, but in our minds and souls right now. We can prepare for his coming to us by letting him into our lives. We need his Spirit to throw off our wickedness and do what is right.
Jesus is the Christmas gift that can make us new creatures in him. We don’t need any “toys” of wickedness any more.
Bob O.
Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)
Most recent polls indicate that the fastest growing group of religious preference is the “unaffiliated” (22.8% of Americans, according to Pew Research Center findings). More than one in five Americans believe that Christian faith makes no sense. The Christmas story (and its claim that God actually became human) is a wonderful assurance that we can revel in our faith’s paradoxical character, how it confounds reason. No better voice for making this point is to be found than the father of existentialist philosophy, Soren Kierkegaard. He once wrote: “Is it possible to conceive of a more foolish contradiction than that of wanting to prove... that a definite man is God? That an individual man is God, declares himself to be God, is indeed the ‘offense’?” (Training in Christianity, p. 28).
In fact, all experience is paradoxical -- and this is what the skeptics of Christianity conveniently repress, to their own detriment and failure to live fully. Poet T.S. Eliot put it this way: “Every experience is a paradox in that it means to be absolute, and yet is relative; in that it somehow always goes beyond itself and yet never escapes itself.” Life is only fully lived when you experience the absolute claim that experience has on you and live with the absurdity that it is just an ordinary event. Christians who claim to experience the true absolute in a common experience like the birth of a child are most fully living through this experience, are the ones most fully immersed in life! In a Christmas sermon on this lesson, Martin Luther nicely explained the implications of fully experiencing Christ’s nativity and what happens to you when you revel in that experience: “If Christ has now thus become your own, and you have by such faith been cleansed through him... it follows that you will do good works by doing to your neighbor as Christ has done to you” (Complete Sermons, Vol. 5, p. 145).
We are never more fully alive than at Christmas and when doing Christ’s thing to others.
Mark E.
Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)
The name of Leigh Richmond may not be familiar to you, but each Sunday you observe his work. Richmond is thought to have invented the boards with moveable numbers displayed in the sanctuary, indicating which hymns are to be sung during the worship service. Richmond was a chaplain at Lock Hospital in England. On September 22, 1808, he was visiting a patient when he was told the man in the next room was dying. Richmond went to the gentleman and found him exceedingly cheerful. When he asked why, the patient (who was dying of gangrene of his foot) replied: “For God is so good to my soul, and he provides everything needful for my body. The people in this house are very kind; and people come to see me, and talk and pray with me. Sir, I want nothing but more grace to praise the Lord for all his goodness.”
Application: The Christmas story is a story that brings peace to our souls.
Ron L.
There are a lot of dark spots on the American horizon at Christmas. Consider the police shootings of African-Americans and the massacre of police officers in Dallas earlier this year. Statistics indicate how our prison population continues to swell, with 716 Americans out of every 100,000 in jail. While we only comprise 5% of the world’s population, we contribute to 25% of the world’s prison population. While this Christian nation celebrates the Prince of Peace and speaks of Christian love, we make life hard for Muslims. The list goes on.
Regarding our interaction with this sort of darkness, Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote: “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.... Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive our hate; only love can do that.”
Christians know that Christ alone is this light, the light to which Isaiah here refers. French Catholic Peirre Teilhard de Chardin profoundly speaks of how this light addresses our darkness, how it enables us to live as Dr. King would have us live: “When your presence, Lord, has flooded me with its light, I hoped that within it I might find the ultimate reality.... But now that I have in fact laid hold on you, you who are utter constancy, and feel myself born by you, I realize that my deepest hidden desire was not to possess you but to be possessed” (Hymn of the Universe, p. 78).
This is why we light Christmas trees. Their lights remind us that Christ is the One who illuminates us.
Mark E.
Isaiah 9:2-7
In 1971 William Brown wrote a book on the history and purpose of the National Park Service titled Islands of Hope. The first national park (Yellowstone) was established in 1872; the service now oversees 52 national parks and 400 monuments, and relies on 400,000 volunteers. Some park rangers like to remain at one park for their entire career, while others like to move to many different parks. But the rangers all share a common thought: “All of these parks are the same, and all are different.” One ranger considered the parks to be museums that house the outdoors. As the ranger said: “Museums are a synonym for islands of hope.”
Application: Isaiah instructs us to be able to see the light and thus to be able to discover islands of hope.
Ron L.
Titus 2:11-14
I can remember when the child was born. I held her in my arms, looked into her eyes, and let her tiny hand grip my finger. I couldn’t help but wonder just what lay ahead for this little one. I wondered what her eyes would see in the years ahead. I pondered just what it was her hands might do. Would they be used to create wonderful works of art? Would they hold the scalpel of the healer? Would they write words that people everywhere would read? Then I cupped her tiny feet in my hands. Just where would these feet go? On what path would they walk?
I suppose every parent has at some point looked at his or her infant and wondered what their future might be. On this day we celebrate the coming of our Lord and Savior. While his parents received some information about this child, I can’t help but think that at some point on a night like this long ago they too were caught up in wonder. I can see in my mind’s eye the inquisitive glances that Mary and Joseph may have given to each other after the shepherds left. Their baby’s birth announced by angels! Just what lay ahead for this newborn?
Our passage for today relates to us the specific purpose for the greatest gift ever given. He came to bring salvation. He came to redeem. He came to purify for himself a people. He came to give himself as a sacrifice. The second stanza of that Christmas hymn “Ring the Bells” reiterates this text. It says: “Born to die that man might live; came to earth new life to give.” It would be hard, I think, for a parent to know that his or her child was born to die. That, though, was the destiny of the Son of God. As we celebrate his coming tonight, let’s remember why he came.
Bill T.
Titus 2:11-14
When Paul writes that the grace of God has been “training” us, he is using an athletic term that has its roots in the word for “child” and in the word for the child’s disciplinarian/teacher/instructor -- the pedagogue. Paul is suggesting that as we grow in the faith, we may not be either fully able to understand the consequences of poor choices or to appreciate just what our trainer is doing for us. Our trainer is pushing us farther than we want to go, and helping us achieve greater things than we ever imagined we might. Paul is taking the image of an athletic trainer and applying it to God’s grace, which not only saves us but makes us better people than we imagined we could be.
Now that is a Christmas gift from God!
Frank R.
Titus 2:11-14
The grace of God has appeared! That is a proclamation worth making again and again. The grace of God has appeared! More than that, the fact that the grace of God has appeared calls us to behave differently, to move toward right relationships with God and with one another. What if we all had a Christmas spirit all year long, every day of every week of every month all year long? The world would look and feel like a different place.
Now, I am not talking about disconnecting actions from consequences or holding people to an appropriate standard of behavior, but I am talking about responding to people with compassion and grace, with a willingness to move toward reconciliation. Reconciliation does not remove the responsibility of the one who acts inappropriately; rather, it allows that person and the other involved to work on a remedy that brings peace and hope to all concerned. There is grace in those actions. So, my friends, be people of grace and hope and reconciliation. Proclaim it from the rooftops: “The grace of God has appeared!”
Bonnie B.
Titus 2:11-14
At last he is here -- Merry Christmas! We know that we have received his grace and that God has sent his Son for our salvation. He has appeared to all and not just to Jews.
He gives us the power to say no to worldly passions. He gives us power to live upright and godly lives today. We no longer have to wait for another message -- Jesus is the message!
We are always looking for something else. The only thing to look for besides Jesus is the dangerous fulfillment of the evil passions in our minds. He is all we need! He is the only one who can save us from those evil passions.
When I had a picture business in California, I was offered a chance to make porno movies for a lot of money. The only reason I turned it down was because of reading God’s word. That has given me many merry Christmases since I turned it down.
Yes, we know he will come again for each one of us -- not only in a miraculous appearance as a second coming in flesh, but in our minds and souls right now. We can prepare for his coming to us by letting him into our lives. We need his Spirit to throw off our wickedness and do what is right.
Jesus is the Christmas gift that can make us new creatures in him. We don’t need any “toys” of wickedness any more.
Bob O.
Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)
Most recent polls indicate that the fastest growing group of religious preference is the “unaffiliated” (22.8% of Americans, according to Pew Research Center findings). More than one in five Americans believe that Christian faith makes no sense. The Christmas story (and its claim that God actually became human) is a wonderful assurance that we can revel in our faith’s paradoxical character, how it confounds reason. No better voice for making this point is to be found than the father of existentialist philosophy, Soren Kierkegaard. He once wrote: “Is it possible to conceive of a more foolish contradiction than that of wanting to prove... that a definite man is God? That an individual man is God, declares himself to be God, is indeed the ‘offense’?” (Training in Christianity, p. 28).
In fact, all experience is paradoxical -- and this is what the skeptics of Christianity conveniently repress, to their own detriment and failure to live fully. Poet T.S. Eliot put it this way: “Every experience is a paradox in that it means to be absolute, and yet is relative; in that it somehow always goes beyond itself and yet never escapes itself.” Life is only fully lived when you experience the absolute claim that experience has on you and live with the absurdity that it is just an ordinary event. Christians who claim to experience the true absolute in a common experience like the birth of a child are most fully living through this experience, are the ones most fully immersed in life! In a Christmas sermon on this lesson, Martin Luther nicely explained the implications of fully experiencing Christ’s nativity and what happens to you when you revel in that experience: “If Christ has now thus become your own, and you have by such faith been cleansed through him... it follows that you will do good works by doing to your neighbor as Christ has done to you” (Complete Sermons, Vol. 5, p. 145).
We are never more fully alive than at Christmas and when doing Christ’s thing to others.
Mark E.
Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)
The name of Leigh Richmond may not be familiar to you, but each Sunday you observe his work. Richmond is thought to have invented the boards with moveable numbers displayed in the sanctuary, indicating which hymns are to be sung during the worship service. Richmond was a chaplain at Lock Hospital in England. On September 22, 1808, he was visiting a patient when he was told the man in the next room was dying. Richmond went to the gentleman and found him exceedingly cheerful. When he asked why, the patient (who was dying of gangrene of his foot) replied: “For God is so good to my soul, and he provides everything needful for my body. The people in this house are very kind; and people come to see me, and talk and pray with me. Sir, I want nothing but more grace to praise the Lord for all his goodness.”
Application: The Christmas story is a story that brings peace to our souls.
Ron L.
