Word of Salvation – Vol. 37 No. 45 – December 1992
Preparing For Christmas
Sermon by Rev. P. Stok on Isaiah 9:1-7
Reading: Luke 1:26-38
Brothers and sisters in the Lord,
This morning I want to contrast two pieces of music. You’ll remember, or will at least have heard of them both. One is an Oratorio, that is prose set to music, and the other is a rock opera. One was first performed in 1741 in Dublin the other in 1970. One deals mainly with the birth of Christ, and the other with his death.
Have you guessed what these two pieces of music are? If you need further clues, the first was written by George Frederick Handel and the second by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
By now many of you will have guessed the answers. The first is The Messiah and the second, Jesus Christ Superstar (JCS).
It is not the music I want to contrast but the content. In fact musically I’m not overly fond of either of them, yet both have touches of brilliance. By the way, did you know that Handel never heard his mighty choruses sung by more than a few altar boys and a hand-full of choristers. But that is another topic.
It is the words I want to look at. Here is a quote from JCS. First we have the so-called words of Jesus, in a prayer to the Father.
In the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus:
I only want to say, if there is a way, “Take this cup away from me; for I don’t want to taste its poison; Feel it burn me. I have changed. I’m not as sure as when we started. Then I was inspired; Now I’m sad and tired. Listen, surely I’ve exceeded expectations. Tried for three years; Seems like thirty. Could you ask as much from any other man?
But if I die; See the saga through and do the things you ask of me; Let them hate me, hit me, hurt me, nail me to their tree, I’d wanna know, I’d wanna know, my God, I’d wanna see, I’d wanna see my God: Why I should die. Would I be more noticed than I ever was before? Would the things I’ve said and done matter any more? I’d have to know, I’d have to know, my Lord Why should I die?
Can you show me now that I would not be killed in vain? Show me just a little of your omnipresent brain. Show me there’s a reason for wanting me to die. You’re far too keen on where and how; And not so hot on why. Alright I’ll die! Just watch me die! See how I die. Then I was inspired; Now I am sad and tired. After all I’ve tried for three years Seems like ninety. Why then am I scared to finish what I started. What you started – I didn’t start it. God thy will is hard. But you hold every card. I will drink your cup of poison, nail me to your cross and break me. Bleed me, beat me, kill me. Take me now – before I change my mind.
Jesus Christ Superstar ends with Christ in the tomb. We have the picture of a weak human failure; a disillusioned man who has come to the end of his tragic life.
The Messiah of Handel, in contrast, quotes large slabs of the Prophet Isaiah, including our text, as well as other passages of Scripture such as Revelation. It highlights the promises that God has made and their fulfilment.
Handel’s Messiah reveals to us a King, a Lord, who is MAJESTIC. A king who is revealed to us in Scripture.
Which picture is correct? The human failure or the triumphant king?
We need to know. We need to know who it is we are preparing for and remembering this Christmas. When you prepare for someone, a guest for example, you need to have some idea who it is you’re preparing for. You need to know his needs and preferences and peculiarities. Here we are in Advent, but which Christ are we preparing for? The Christ portrayed by Jesus Christ Superstar or the Messiah?
At Christmas time we are so often busy preparing, but I sometimes wonder if we really know and remember for whom we are preparing? Christmas is a hectic time for many. Pressure, stretched finances, forced reunions, tension etc. What is all this fuss really about?
How would Christ look on the way we celebrate this event? What does He think about our so called celebration?
How would you feel if you had a birthday party, and lots of people came but they paid scant attention to you? Rather, they had a ball but forgot why they gathered together.
It would be an empty, meaningless celebration.
We need to remember for whom it is we are preparing. I want to contrast two views of Christ and see what conclusions we draw from them. Firstly, we look at the view that the world holds as portrayed in Jesus Christ Superstar.
If we hold this view of Christ, we might as well give up now. There are no answers. The Rock opera ends with an entombed Christ. Christmas may be the memorial of an idealist who failed, but apart from that it has no real purpose. In fact, it may not be a bad idea to drown our sorrows in a sea of booze, because after all life is hopeless and the good die young.
If you agree with the world, you are to be pitied, because the message of JCS is hopeless.
Secondly, we look at the promise of the Bible as portrayed in the Messiah.
The Messiah is largely based on the Book of Isaiah – which is our text. It starts with the promises of the Old Testament and shows how Someone special has been revealed. We read in Isaiah 9:6 ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’
Our text tells us why. Because the person who was born was someone special… someone different. He was mighty God in a manger. Jesus Christ has come to mankind. He was not a hopeless failure. His life did not end in a tomb. He was raised. He lives and reigns supreme today!
He was also called the Prince of Peace. He was the Son of God who came to restore us to the heavenly Father. He came to remove the barriers that separated us from the love of God.
Each of these beautiful titles deserves special attention in themselves, but I cannot do that now. Rather I urge you to note the true picture of him whom we remember at Christmas, in contrast to the warped, incomplete and hopeless picture the world has of Christ.
Conclusion
I entitled this sermon, Preparing for Christmas. We have two options and of those two, one is useless.
One option is to forget Christ and have a good time. A birthday party without the main guest. Empty, temporary, void – in fact the way many are preparing to celebrate Christmas now.
It is a ‘hope-less’ Christmas. Once the eating, drinking, merry-making is over – it is all gone. All over – just the bills to pay.
But there is the Christmas promised in Isaiah. The Christmas of hope. A Christmas that knows no end. A Christmas that leads to a Good Friday – Christ’s death, but doesn’t end there, for it also, three days later, leads to his resurrection and the promise of eternal life.
Which one will you choose this year? The Christmas with the pretty wrapping – but nothing inside, or the Christmas that says: my present is Jesus Christ who gives eternal life and a place in his family for ever. No death, no sickness – life in all its glory.
For some the present of God is just too great to imagine, so they reject it. Others cannot even be bothered opening it.
But when the angels sang, ‘Glory to God in the highest’, they gave us a hint of how great that present is.
Don’t let your pride say: ‘I don’t need Christ’ – because you do. Don’t let your ignorance win by never knowing or finding out who the Son of God” is. Don’t let your busy-ness dominate you. Don’t let your spiritual emptiness cause you to stumble just because nothing has ever helped before. Don’t let any of these things take your attention away from what the true celebration is. In Bethlehem a baby was born, who was God. Hard to believe, but that is what we are told.
He came to restore us to the love of the heavenly Father. He would pay for the sins of his people. He would rule them lovingly forever.
Brothers and sisters, friends, that is the message I am going to give thanks for, I hope that is true for you as well. And when I hear the Hallelujah Chorus in Handel’s Messiah I can join in because the present that God’s Word prepares me for is real!
AMEN