The 2nd Sunday after Christmas

SERMON - Make Christmas Last

INI

Text: James 4:13-17

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

In Christ Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, dear fellow redeemed:

Have you boxed up your Christmas yet and put it away? That may sound like a strange question, but on the day after Christmas I noticed one of my neighbors hauling his Christmas tree out the front door of his town-home—the day was done, the tree was down; Christmas—it would appear—was already boxed up and put away. I do not intend to criticize any individual’s or family’s Christmas traditions, although I must confess that I like to keep my Christmas tree up until January 6, the traditional day for the Epiphany celebration. But it struck me as I drove past my neighbor wrestling with his tree that our celebration of Christmas can come and go so quickly—at least its outward celebration, that we can easily lose sight of its true meaning as we enter a new year and plunge into the general busyness of life.

In our text for today, the apostle James addresses just that—the general busyness of life, which can so easily blind us when it comes to important spiritual truths, to our relationship with God, and to our God-given purpose in life. We can prevent and avoid such problems if only we MAKE CHRISTMAS LAST! I’m not talking about keeping your tree up until all the needles fall off! No, I am talking about keeping in mind and thoughtfully considering on a regular basis the true meaning of Christmas. Remember, Jesus came to help us face the truth about this life; He came to guide our lives and fill them with blessing, and He came to enable us to know and do what is good!

I.

The apostle Paul told the Corinthian Christians, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). The general busyness of our lives certainly tests that statement! This week, for many of us, we return to a full work schedule and a full school schedule. January brings all of the credit card bills from our Christmas shopping. For some finances are complicated by reduced work hours due to our current economic slowdown. It is pretty easy to set aside the wonderful truths of Christmas and God’s gift of His Son, as we are confronted by the pavement of our January reality. It is pretty easy to begin thinking about God and salvation as wonderful things to contemplate on a Sunday morning, but come Monday we have to roll up our sleeves and get to work! All too often this can be done without consideration of the many spiritual truths regarding life revealed by our God in His Bible.

The Jews of James’ day were not really that different. Many of them lived in dispersion, which means that they had moved away from Palestine and lived throughout the Roman Empire. They were often engaged in commerce which involved a good bit of planning. Because they were separated from the temple worship of Jerusalem and often found themselves without regular synagogue worship, many Jews had become rather secular—religious in their personal lives, but secular in their public lives. The Jews who converted to Christianity apparently fell into the same frame of mind—focusing on their business, planning for the future without much thought given to God. James now confronted them with the foolishness of such an approach. He wrote: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

People can so easily begin to think that they are independent of outside forces and so in control of their own destinies. They rather like making careful plans for their futures, often independent of God, plotting this strategy or that, but do not want to admit to their own uncertainties and surely not to their own mortality. While it is true that God has given man a free will, so that we can make a multitude of decisions, we are hardly independent creatures, nor are we ultimately in control of our destinies. As James points out, we do not know what will happen tomorrow. Our lives are indeed very fragile and can easily end. Why? This is the spiritual reality of the consequences of sin. If there were no sin in the world, there would be no troubles, no crime, no sickness, and no death. Life would not end tragically or otherwise. But sin exists! Man may deny it. He may not want to talk about it. He indeed tries to address its results—sickness, starvation, cruelty, and abuse, but he cannot deal with the root problem. That is a primary spiritual truth about this life!

Tied to that truth, however, is the fact that God alone can and has addressed the root problem of sin. This He has done by sending Jesus. Jesus, as God’s Son, took on our flesh. He overcame the temptations of Satan. Jesus kept God’s law perfectly. He accepted the crushing blows of His Father’s righteous anger over sin and so redeemed our souls from death and hell. This, too, is a primary spiritual truth concerning this life and our life to come! Our future rests in Jesus. It is secure, for it is guaranteed by the grace of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives. Yes, MAKE CHRISTMAS LAST! Remember, Jesus came to help us face the truth about this life! With Him at our sides we can confront all uncertainties and overcome the frailties of our lives!

II.

Yes, MAKE CHRISTMAS LAST! Remember, Jesus came, secondly, to guide our lives and fill them with blessing! James writes that in contrast to trying to live independently of God, we ought rather recognize and rejoice in His presence and our dependence. He says: “Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” Is advanced planning a good thing? Of course it is! It is part of being a good steward of everything God has entrusted to us, but let us remember that our present and future are dependent upon God and His guidance. Remember those precious words of Psalm 37:5, “Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass!”

Are you making business plans for the upcoming year? Do so, taking into consideration all of the financial and other material information available, but in the end recognize that all ultimately depends upon the Lord and His blessing! Bear in mind that everything we have belongs to God, and so it is only natural that He will want His stewards to prosper as the result of their efforts. Are you making plans for your families for the upcoming years? Do so, taking into consideration the various desires and situations of all family members, but do so committing those plans once again to the Lord. He has created each of you and established you within your given families. It is His will that we live and work together—that we love and care for one another, and as we do so under His guidance, we will also secure His blessing. Are we as a congregation making plans for the future? Yes, we are! We are in the midst of a five month period of due diligence with regard to the possible purchase of land, which if secured may lead to a decision to relocate our church and school. Let us carry out that period of due diligence, but let us do so committing the entire process to the guidance of the Lord. As we examine what we can do as individuals and as those committees entrusted with this process evaluate the ability of the congregation as a whole, let us do so with prayers upon our lips and confidence in our hearts that the Lord will guide us in the path He has chosen for us. Ultimately, such decisions will only be blessed as they are committed to the Lord.

To boast that we alone are in charge of our businesses, our families, or our congregation and that the burden of success lies entirely upon our shoulders is simple arrogance and sin! Arrogance removes God from His throne and enthrones ourselves. It is, quite frankly, a form of idolatry and, therefore, is something we aught to abhor! Truly, let us MAKE CHRISTMAS LAST! Remember that Jesus came to guide our lives and fill them with blessing!

III.

Finally, He came to enable us to know and do what is good! James was facing a situation among the Jewish Christians of his day that is not that uncommon also today. The people with whom James was dealing reasoned in this way: “If I am saved by grace alone and not by the deeds of the law, then I am free of any responsibility to do the deeds of the law. I do not have to do anything!” But that does not follow spiritually. While it is true that we cannot be and are not saved by the deeds of the law, but rather alone by faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, the child of God who has been led to faith in Jesus by the Holy Spirit is not freed from his responsibilities over against God. However, those responsibilities will not be met with grudging obligation, but the child of God will want to fulfill the deeds of the law! He will want to do them, not because he has to, but because out of love for Jesus he will want to! James, earlier in his epistle, calls the faith that shirks its responsibility to do good a dead faith. In our text James writes: “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

The Scriptures say: “Without faith it is impossible to please Him (God)” (Hebrews 11:6a). But when the Spirit of God works faith within our hearts and takes up residence within us, our hearts change. The apostle John says, “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). God the Holy Spirit through our instruction in the Word shapes our minds and instills within our hearts an understanding of His will—that simple will to love! Listen to your hearts as they are guided by His Word.

One of my favorite Gospel accounts is that of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a Jewish tax-collector located in Jericho. As Jesus made His way to Jerusalem for the last time, just shortly before His death and resurrection, He passed through Jericho. Zacchaeus, who had heard about Jesus and who desired to see Him, climbed up into a sycamore tree to get a better view since he was a very short man. Jesus looked up to him and said, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” Zacchaeus was overwhelmed. He was despised by his fellow Jews. They heaped scorn upon him, but Jesus was embracing him and giving him the privilege to host Him in his home. With a repentant heart he declared his faith in and love for Jesus by declaring that he willingly would give half of all that he owned to the poor, and should he have taken anything from anyone he would restore it four-fold—twice that which was required by law. It was the love and acceptance of Jesus that moved the heart of Zacchaeus. It is the love and the acceptance of Jesus that will and does move our hearts as well. To sit and to look at those in need without helping—that is sin—but to see and to help is to honor God and to become Jesus for others. MAKE CHRISTMAS LAST! Remember, that Jesus came to enable us to know and to do what is good! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting
To God alone be the glory!