Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · December 7, 2008

Second Sunday of Advent

Prayer of the Day

As we anticipate the coming of the Christ Child, we rejoice. We know to find Christ in ourselves and to find Christ in others is what Christmas is about. Help us to make good use of this ideal time to prepare our souls for the great incarnation. Help us to see, hear, and feel the joy of this wonderful season. Amen.

Scripture

Mark 1:1-8

In the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way;

the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

   ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Message

An Attitude of Christmas

Larry Gallamore

You probably already know the secret I’m going to share with you. I have the type of personality that envisions things, imagines things, and dreams of things. Years ago, I would have been called a dreamer. Today, they call me a visionary. Sounds weird to some of you, and to others you know exactly what I’m saying, because you are a visionary. Visionaries see the world through different lenses. We see things that no one else sees. It’s a real gift, but it comes with huge responsibilities.

The main character of our biblical text for today, John the Baptist, is a visionary. The prophet Isaiah, an Old Testament visionary, told us about John. John is out in the wilderness yelling and trying to get people’s attention, telling them Jesus is coming. He is, no doubt, imagining what it would be like if everyone paused long enough to encounter Jesus. As people listen and repent, he is baptizing them in the river Jordan. As he baptized them, he told them of the Messiah who was coming to baptize them with the Holy Spirit.

John has great expectations. He is a visionary. He is positive. He knows Jesus is the Light of the world. While others around him are cursing the darkness, John is focused on the Light. He brings the Good News. He knows his job, as a visionary, is to see the Light, to proclaim the Light, and to witness to the Light. His is not an easy job, because most of the people around him are down, depressed, anxious, and worried. 

You’re saying how do I know that? Well, just imagine a world without Jesus. What would it be like? Every year, around Christmas, we have many folk who ask, “What difference can Jesus make?” We have those who surface who say, “Christmas! Bah humbug!” There are always a number of Scrooges around; you know, the ones who gripe and complain. Those who protest that Christmas has become corrupt, those who claim there is no Santa Claus. There are folk out there who would be perfectly happy if our hopes were gone and our dreams destroyed.

I’m always amazed at people to whom Christmas is nothing but a merchant’s delight. It’s nothing but a time of greed and despair. They are missing so much! My heart goes out to them. We’ve always had those who never see anything good coming.

This is why John the Baptist was crying in the wilderness. He saw those folks, too. It’s like he was saying, “For God or heaven’s sake, for crying out loud, for Pete’s sake, wake up! Jesus is coming.”

I’m glad John didn’t give up. He didn’t give in, and he never gave out. John had seen Jesus. There is hope when you see Jesus. There is good news when you behold Jesus. There is joy when you catch sight of Jesus.

They couldn’t stop John. You can’t get discouraged if you are focused on Jesus. John refused to allow anything to get between him and his vision of Jesus. John knew that living for Jesus was the only way to find fulfillment, peace, and happiness.

That’s why I’m telling you today – Jesus is coming! Watch for Jesus. Allow Jesus to come into your life. Jesus changes lives. He makes life worth living. Like John, every year at Christmas I want to tell people that Jesus is coming. People get excited! Jesus is coming! Stop looking for the bad; look for the good. Jesus is coming! Look for the good. There is so much good around.

Do you see the good? Think about the child who sat on Santa’s lap, and when asked what he wanted for Christmas, he replied, “Please bring my Daddy a job.” Who can explain and who can account for that kind of thinking? Who can account for the loving gaze of a couple who has just gotten engaged? Who can account for the look of love a married couple has for one another? Who can account for the millions of dollars donated to food banks? Who can account for the bikers on Harley Davidsons who bike for millions of Toys for Tots? Do you see Jesus in all this? I do.

Let’s help Jesus change this world. For years, too many people have allowed the news media, the headlines, and the mass collective mind to do their thinking for them. Too often their kind of thinking is negative. If we follow their lead, it won’t be long until someone will be standing in front of our congregation asking, “Whatever happened to Jesus? Does anyone know what happened to Jesus?”

Let’s start proclaiming the “Good News,” the miracle of Christmas. Let’s look for the wonder. Let’s talk about how Jesus is going to save the world. Let’s help people feel fantastic once again. When was the last time you felt fantastic? Have you ever seen a really happy person? I’ve known a few. 

Let me tell you about a person I know named Mrs. Pearl. Mrs. Pearl was my friend Johnny’s mother. Johnny lived behind me when I was growing up. Johnny’s home became a second home for me. My home was a second home for Johnny. His mother, Mrs. Pearl, was always happy. I never saw her sad. She was especially happy around Christmas time. Kids loved Mrs. Pearl, and Mrs. Pearl loved kids. In fact, everybody loved Mrs. Pearl.

One year, around Christmas (I must have been seven or eight years old), I was over at Johnny’s house. Mrs. Pearl had made some delicious chocolate fudge. Let me tell you that woman could make candy! Johnny and I had both hands and a mouth full of chocolate. Mrs. Pearl said, “Boys, let me tell you about Christmas. I’ll tell you five things.” She said, “Larry, you are blessed with a great memory; it’s nearly photographic.” I had no idea what she meant. She said, “Memorize these five things and tell them to Johnny as you are playing, and when you are over here you can have all the candy you want.” I nodded in agreement. I had my mouth full.

She went on, “Boys, there are five miracles in the Christmas story: (1) Mary was chosen to have baby Jesus; (2) Joseph got the word through an angel; (3) The shepherds saw an angelic choir; (4) A star directed the wise men to Jesus; (5) Mary and Joseph were told by an angel to flee to Egypt. Boys, did you get all that?” I nodded in agreement, my mouth still full of candy. 

When we got outside, Johnny said, “Larry, what did she say?” I repeated all five miracles. Johnny said, “How on earth did you remember all that? She’s going to ask me to repeat all that as soon as I go back inside.” I said, “Man, you have five fingers. See one miracle on each finger.” Johnny didn’t have a clue as to what I meant. I patiently went over it several times. I didn’t realize at the age of 6 or 7 that I was a visionary. More than 50 years later, I still see those five miracles. In fact, I’ve never stopped looking for miracles. I can never eat a piece of fudge without thinking of Mrs. Pearl’s Christmas miracles. To this day, I am still fascinated by the miracles.

I want you to remember something this Christmas. We do not go to God. God comes to us. Have you ever wondered why God comes to us? I know, and so do you. It’s because we need God. There’s a day when life gets dull and drab. The world is a sad mess. We’re in an economic depression. The future looks ominous. In dark times like these, our forefathers and foremothers looked to Jesus for hope. They believed in miracles. They thought the incredible might happen any day. In desperate circumstances, personal or public, the door of hope stood open, because they believed in the miraculous.

Some say it will take a miracle to get us out of this economic disaster. Of course, it will! When I look ahead, I see Jesus. The miraculous can and will happen. God is coming to save us. We need to believe that God can save us and our world. If you are living without hope, there is no reason to stay that way. Jesus can transform your life. Look how he transformed Simon Peter the Vacillating into Peter the Rock. Read about what he did to Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus Road (Acts 9). He transformed Augustine the Sinner into Saint Augustine. That can happen, you know, by the power of God’s Spirit. However, nothing happens unless we believe. One of the most revealing verses in the Bible reads, “Jesus could do no mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

Do you know what happens when you lose faith in Jesus? Life will iron you flat. It will reduce you to an unexpected dead level with no joy, no peace, and no happiness. You’ll get down on yourself, down on others, and down on life in general. I’ll tell you why. You are not thinking straight. There is only one way out.

The Bible says we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. When you’re down, what are you thinking? Everything is negative. You are cynical. You are filled with anxiety, and nothing is going right in your life. You have no hope, no joy, no peace. That’s why the Bible says you must be born again, get rid of the old negative person, and become a new person. What does that mean? It means removing all the little faults of character, petty vanities, minor deficits, and all the lesser forms of selfishness that crystallize your spiritual joints and are dear to you. You must pay the price and be born anew. I guarantee you; you’ll never regret it. As you follow Jesus, you’ll start living the best life ever.

Let me relate a story to you that I believe will thrill you. One morning a few years ago, a man around 40-years-old came into my office and slumped down into a chair. He buried his head in his hands and wept uncontrollably. “I’m at the end of the road,” he said sobbing. “Last night my wife and I discussed the only thing that seems left for us – divorce. She said she couldn’t take any more of the turmoil, of my fear-inspired, negative, failure-ridden ways. She said I had brought criticism into our home, and she didn’t want to live like this any more.” He said, “You know, I have three little children. She doesn’t know if she can make it on here own, but anything is better than what we’ve had lately. She just can’t take it any more, and neither can I.”

He told me he had been in the hospital twice for periods of five to six weeks respectively. The doctors did their best, but he came out each time with no discernable improvement. He said, “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep for years, except with the help of sleeping pills. My nerves are shot. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I can’t even work. This is the end of the road for me unless you can help.”

I instinctively prayed for divine guidance and went to work. I showed him how his negative thinking had completely filled his heart and unconscious mind, creating the horrible conditions in his family.

We discussed God’s love, light, and forgiveness. I told him if he became a child of God that God would give him the power to change from a negative way of life to a positive way. I also put him on a seven-day mental-health diet. By the way, this is the only mental-health diet I have ever seen that works. Let me explain.

The Bible says we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. I asked him to think only positive thoughts for seven days – seven whole days. When he had a negative thought, he was to immediately remove the thought from his mind. He was to choose any positive thought upon which he allowed his mind to dwell. When negative thoughts came into his mind, he needed to immediately remove them.

Here is why. You cannot be happy with a bad disposition. If you are sulky, surly, cynical, depressed, or frightened half out of your wits, you can’t be happy.

In short, if you know Jesus, your life will be happy and worthwhile. This is what God wants for you. You must train yourself in the habit of thought solution and thought control. Remember what the Bible says. We are to set our minds on things that are above, not on earthly things. We are to get rid of abusive language, anger, wrath, or malice; in short, all negative things (Colossians 3).

I told him to devote one week to the sole task of building new habits of thought, and other things would change in his life automatically. I spent the next three hours teaching him this mental diet. He left promising he would try it for seven days.

The next week he came leaping up the front steps to my office. “It worked,” he cried. “I’ve been reborn.” He was radiant. “My wife says it’s a miracle. There hasn’t been a word about divorce for a whole week. I finally know how to live.”

His wife came to see me the next day. Over and over again she said, “He’s a changed man. It’s a miracle.” I breathed a prayer of gratitude to the Eternal Presence who has given people power to become children of God.

Do you like this story? Do you think that perhaps you might give this mental-health diet a try? I warn you; it’s not easy. You’ll need some instructions on how to accomplish this task. It will pay huge dividends. If you follow this plan for seven days, it is safe to say your whole life will be changed for the better. You’ll have the best Christmas ever.

So be it. Amen.

Benediction

Gracious and loving God, give us the peace to pause and reflect on your presence in our lives. We give thanks for your steadfast love and faithfulness. Remind us that you are the Alpha and Omega – the beginning and the end. All that we are and all that we have yet to be may only be done through you. Amen.