Dec 24

Written by: Paster Larry Griffin
12/24/2009 3:33 PM

Tell Me Again
Christmas Eve Candlelight, 2009
1(B) Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2(C) I will open my mouth(D) in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old, 3things that we have heard and known,
that our(E) fathers have told us.
4We will not(F) hide them from their children,
but(G) tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
and(H) the wonders that he has done.
5He established(I) a testimony in(J) Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6that(K) the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children, 7so that they should set their hope in God and not forget(L) the works of God,
but(M) keep his commandments;
8and that they should not be(N) like their fathers,
(O) a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation(P) whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Dear Christian Friends,
Just this week, a beautiful little girl, perhaps 5 or 6 years old, walked up to me at a church event and looked me in the eyes and asked, “How are babies made?” I said, “excuse me – what did you ask?” She repeated, “How are babies made?” I said, “Sweetheart, that’s a question for your mom and dad to answer.” She was unrelenting. “Why can’t you answer me?” Fortunately, a wonderful grandma was nearby and I summoned her over and handed off the question to her. Again the question came, “How are babies made?” Grandma said, “That’s easy – it’s the love of a father and a mother that makes a baby!” The child was satisfied, and off she went, with not a care in the world. I love the answer that grandma gave – and if anybody asks me that question ever again, I am going to be ready!
The question before us tonight is related, “How did the baby Jesus come to be?” And why did the baby Jesus need to be?” Christmas Eve is a wonderful time for one generation to tell the next generation the story of Jesus came to be and why He needed to be. Our sermon theme tonight is ‘TELL ME AGAIN” and we have two parts to our message on this holy and so very special night. First of all, we are to tell the story, and secondly, we are to teach the story.
Tell the story! In the Old Testament, the annual Passover meal was laid out in careful detail by God for the people to observe as He commanded. In the context of that special meal, the firstborn son was to ask the question “What does this mean?” and the father was to say to him, “By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt from the house of slavery.” In our text for tonight, the Psalmist Asaph challenges the people of God in every generation to not even think about hiding the wonderful stories and teachings of God but to tell them again and again. Asaph was a musician and his musical family was one of three families given responsibility for music and song in the Temple. Asaph wrote 12 of the Psalms. This Psalm is about his vision to reach the next generation so that wouldn’t make the same mistakes of past generations.
History shows us there is often a cooling down effect in the transfer of spiritual vitality from one generation to another. Generation 1 will be really on fire for God and hungry for spiritual things. Generation 2 comes along and while they have spiritual sensitivity, they don’t seem to have the same passion as their parents. They are warm and maybe even lukewarm to spiritual truth. Then along comes Generation 3. Their parents prod them along, but their parents’ faith hasn’t really become the children’s faith. And that generation tends to be cold. There are exceptions to this, but that’s the general pattern – from hot to cold in 3 generations.
We have evidence of what happens when the church doesn’t reach the next generation. England averages about 7% of the population in church and most of Europe is worse than that with Sweden coming in at 2%. The trend is in our great land, as well.
Tonight we hear and then tell once again how the baby Jesus came to be. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He came to be by the love of our Father in heaven combined with the devotion and faith of earthly parents. The Son of God came to be in a supernatural way, in an impossible way, in a mysterious and long-prophesied way. We hear and then tell once again on this silent and holy night the very comforting truth that with God all things are possible. Through music and word, by listening and then singing tonight, we stand in the starlight and for an hour or so we leave behind the wars and the troubles, the sleet and the snow and the wind, and we are still and we are calm and we are at peace. It is the work of the Holy Spirit within us as we hear the angels singing glory be to God and as we watch the shepherds jumping around and praising God and as happy and excited as shepherd ever get and as we imagine the thoughts and the thank you prayers of Joseph and Mary as they hold a little baby in their arms and perhaps wish they could ask the angel Gabriel one more question, “Tell me again, Gabriel – how did this baby come to be and how is this all going to work out in the end?”
The answer, as you well know, is that this little baby was and is and ever shall be true God and true man. He would grow in wisdom and stature and while in His state of humiliation He would learn obedience by way of suffering and He would suffer even unto death by crucifixion. Most of us have from our mothers’ knees heard the stories of Jesus and His parents fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod’s slaughter of the babies, the stories of Jesus in the temple at age 12 and in the Jordan River at age 30 getting baptized, the stories of Jesus listening and teaching, stories of Jesus healing and helping, the stories of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and Easter Sunday and Pentecost and Ascension. In our homes and in our Sunday School and in our Christian Day School and in our Confirmation Classes and in our youth ministry and at the beds of the sick and the dying, we do well to ask one another over and over again – tell me that story again!
Not only is each generation called on by God to tell the story, she is also to teach the story. All year long, we are to make disciples for Jesus Christ by baptizing and by teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Deuteronomy 6 says that these words that I command you today shall be o your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise. All too often the home has outsourced teaching to the church by hiring pastors and teachers to do the teaching of the commandments. Since Christmas is a time not only for plenty of church services but also for family gatherings, it is a wonderful opportunity for church and home to remember and renew our commitment to working in partnership with one another to tell the next generation of how this baby Jesus came to be and why He needed to be – unto us a Savior is born and unto us a child is given!
Just this morning, my wife Debi and I were comparing schedules and talking about what each of us needed to do on this stormy and busy Christmas Eve Day. My mind was racing with my own agenda, and I could hear Debi mentioning 2 or 3 or was it 4 or 5 things that needed to be done (delivering some presents, washing the floors, picking up some groceries, etc). Thank goodness I was sharp enough to realize that what she was saying was not registering in a way that was going to be satisfactory and so I said what I find myself saying more and more often these days. I said, “Debi, please say that again.” And she did, and all is well. The teaching process is one of sending and receiving, talking and listening and asking and repeating. Every day, everyone of us is an important part of God’s plan for hurting and broken people to encourage other hurting and broken people. One church father described the Christian Church as one beggar telling another beggar to find food. One sinner telling another sinner where to find forgiveness.
It started that first Christmas night when the angels told the good news to the shepherds who were minding their own business and worrying about their own troubles, and it spread from there. From that night forward to this very evening, redeemed sinners in every generation have every reason to repeat the sounding joy and to repeat the sounding joy until true and lasting joy is ruling in every heart and mind.
All around you in the days ahead are children of all ages who need you to tell them again how the baby Jesus and Santa Claus and St. Nick and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and the scrooges and grinches came to be and how they all fit together. There are teenagers who need you to tell them again that Jesus loves them and there is forgiveness for every one of their bad decisions and they will do well to stay close to their Savior rather than keeping Him at a distance. There are young couples and singles who need you to tell them again how wonderful life can be as often as they are still and know that God is God and as often as they trust Him to work things out in life for their eternal good. There are single moms needing you to tell them again how precious they are in the sight of God and how valuable is their work of loving and caring for children, and there are troubled marriages and broken marriages where folks need you to tell them again that God cares and that you care and that you will walk alongside of them in the days of trouble and dismay. There are folks not too far away who have drifted from the Church for a variety of reason who need you to tell them that you’d love to have them come back and you would be pleased to sit with them and be patient with them as they work through their heartaches. Not too far away from them are retired folks who need you to tell them again that they have purpose in life and there are elderly and shut in people who need you to tell them again that God is with them and that their names are written in the book of life and that a mansion in heaven is prepared for them and that unto them a child is born and unto them a Son is given.
All around you there are folks feeling guilty or lonely or depressed or discouraged or disappointed or bitter or bored or betrayed or confused or frustrated or irritated or angry or a combination of all of the above and what one thing do they all have in common? They would be blessed if you and I could tell them again in a thousand different ways how the baby Jesus came to be and why He came to be. To tell them again that the Christmas story is absolutely true and that it’s full of mystery and it’s full of miracles and it is a story that changes everything and everyone forever and ever, world without end. Amen.

A blessed Christmas to you!

Pastor Larry J. Griffin
 

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