Don’t Abandon Christmas
From A Christmas Worth Having
by Pastor Nave on December 07, 2014
The focus of the message is found in Luke 1:13-17, with the key scriptures starting at verse 15:
For [John] shall be great in the sight of the LORD, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the LORD their God. And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the LORD (KJV).
A shocking statistic shows in a recent survey that 45% of people in North America dread Christmas. The pressure to please during the season drowns out the true joy. Some have resolved to not even celebrate Christmas, or have convinced themselves that it is only a celebration for children. Christmas is for all people—for the goodwill of all men (Luke 2:14).
Luke ties the story of John’s birth into the global Christmas story (the birth of Jesus). These stories are tied to give the entire world hope and to change it forever.
Zacharias was a worker in the temple (Levite) and his wife, Elizabeth, was a daughter of Aaron. Both could trace their bloodlines back to one of the priests in the Old Testament temple. Zacharias and Elizabeth devoted their lives to work in the temple. Scripture notes they were both righteous and walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord (Luke 1:6). They were faithful (blameless), and God-loving people. However, they didn’t have a child.
At this time it had been 400 years since a preacher/prophet had delivered a message (active prophetic word) from the Lord. There were two groups of people during this time: 1) people conforming to the culture around them by worshiping false gods/religions and 2) people who were manipulating truth and making it serve themselves (adding man-made ordinances); they turned truth into a lie. Zacharias and Elizabeth were not a part of either group. They were still doing what God had told them to do. They were waiting on a promise.
This story shows us that we still need to keep Christmas around. Our current culture tells us that truth equals something else. But, we need to hold onto Christmas! There are real reasons to celebrate Jesus!
The angel in Luke 1:13 told Zacharias, “your prayer is heard.” It’s possible that this couple prayed their entire lives to have a child. Now that they were both “well stricken in age” (Luke 1:7), God was going to answer their prayer.
It’s not that God doesn’t hear our prayers, but He has a special time and place to fulfill them. The angel told Zacharias that his prayer would be “fulfilled in their season” (Luke 1:20). When God answers a prayer, He will do more than we’ve ever asked. We have to ask ourselves if we want an immediate blessing or if we want to wait for our miracle!
In Biblical times, it was a stigma against a woman if she was unable to bear children. Elizabeth had given up the “perspective of possibility” to have a child and gave into impossibility. However, God blessed her with a child (Luke 1:24). Anything becomes possible when we put it in God’s hands, for with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).
It was then in the sixth month, the same angel that delivered a message to Zacharias, was sent to a city in Nazareth. Before the Savior could show up, the voice crying in the wilderness had to come—that was John. There are circumstances in life that prepare the way for future blessings. And, when we celebrate Christmas, it too will usher other blessings into our lives—joy unspeakable, and full of glory.
