The Open Door Church

     I have been giving some thought lately about what Christmas really means.  I suppose it means different things to different people.  For example… 

     I wonder what Christmas means to a mother who has lost her husband and must now raise 3 children without his help, working every day, never quite getting everything done, never making ends meet? I wonder what Christmas means to her?
     I wonder what Christmas means to the little man in Zimbabwe, 80 years old, living in a mud hut. He has never seen, or even heard of, a shopping mall or a Christmas tree?  I wonder what Christmas means to him?
     I wonder what Christmas means to little North Korean children growing up under the control of a brutal communist dictatorship with smudges on their cheeks, and sparkling eyes, as they look up in wonder when foreign strangers walk past?  I wonder what Christmas means to them?  Like I said, “I’m sure it means different things to different people.”
     To US retail merchants, Christmas means the busiest time of the year. Their stores stay open longer, and they hire extra people to accommodate all the shoppers. To them, Christmas means more profit, hopefully enough profit to carry them through lean months ahead.
     To some American employees, Christmas means a Christmas bonus, a little more money in their pockets to do things that they want to do during the holiday season.
     For many American teen-agers and adults, Christmas means time for fun & parties. But sometimes I get the feeling that we’re like the folks who decided to throw a party to honor a very special friend. They sent out invitations, decorated the dining room, and had the food catered. Everyone came at the scheduled time; but to their surprise, the guest of honor didn’t show up.  Finally, they made the embarrassing discovery that no one had remembered to invite him.
     I wonder if that happens to us during the Christmas Holidays! Do we go through all the decorating, and gift purchasing, and elaborate meal-preparation; but somehow forget whose birthday it is we’re celebrating?  Remember what the angel said to the shepherds, “There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11, NKJV). This “Savior, who is Christ the Lord” is the One whose birth we celebrate!

     Christmas is generally a very happy and festive season of the year as we celebrate the birth of the Son of God—the Savoir of the world!  But today I want us to examine what I am convinced is the saddest verse in the Bible describing the conditions surrounding Jesus’ birth: “She brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7, NKJV).  

     Let’s put the verse in its context.  Luke graphically described the birth of the Savior when he wrote, “It came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.  So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.  Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child” (Luke 2:1-5, NKJV).  What a wonderful story!

     Caesar Augustus, no doubt, thought ordering the census to be taken was his own brilliant idea—to be sure that everyone was paying taxes to the Roman government.  Little did he know that behind the scenes God had ordered the census to get Joseph and Mary to the right place at the right time for the birth of His Son!  Luke wrote, “So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered” (Luke 2:6, NKJV).  God has orchestrated all of human history to prepare for every detail of the life, death, and resurrection of His Son.

     As a result of travelers arriving at Bethlehem to register in the census, all the local inns were filled to capacity.  Thus, Luke wrote this very sad yet enlightening verse, “She brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7, NKJV).  It’s sad because this verse reveals that nobody recognized the momentous occasion that was about to occur, therefore “there was no room for them.”  It’s enlightening because this verse reveals that Jesus would not force His way into any place where “there was no room” for Him.  An important spiritual lesson to learn is:  “Jesus will not force His way into any place—any life, any heart—where there is no room for Him!”

     The spirits of believers who die before the return of Christ are immediately transported into the presence of the Lord Jesus.  Paul wrote, “We are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (II Corinthians 5:6-8, NKJV).  The spirits of believers are either “at home in the body” or “present with the Lord.”

     When Jesus left planet Earth, He returned to His Father and took the seat of highest honor at God’s right hand where He intercedes for His people!  Paul wrote, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:33-34, NIV).

     God the Father is consistently declared in Scripture to be “in heaven.”   For example, when Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He said, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10, KJV). 

     Therefore, when believers die, their spirits are immediately transported to “heaven” where Jesus is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us!  However, “heaven” as it exists at this point is not the eternal state of believers!  The present “heaven” will eventually be destroyed by fire.  Peter wrote, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat” (II Peter 3:10-12, NIV).

     The destruction of the present heavens and earth evidently occurs at the end of the Millennial Reign of Christ when God destroys the enemies of His Son by fire.  John described this scene when he wrote, “When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them” (Revelation 20:7-9, NIV).

     From Acts 17:1-10, we learn that while on his second missionary journey, Paul and his missionary team planted a church in the city of Thessalonica.  Shortly after the launch of this new church the believers faced dangerous persecution from the Jews in that city who viewed Paul’s message of “Good News” as a threat to Judaism.  Paul referred to this Jewish hostility toward the new church when he wrote, “You became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction” (I Thessalonians 1:6a, NKJV).

     Because of the persecution aimed at him, Paul had to leave these new believers sooner than he had planned.  So as soon as he could, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to check on the church.  Paul wrote, “We thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy…to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions” (I Thessalonians 3:1b-2a…2c-3a, NKJV).

     By the time Timothy rejoined Paul he had moved on to Corinth, where Timothy brought him good news from Thessalonica--in spite of intense persecution, the new believers in Thessalonica were standing firm in the faith.  Paul wrote, “Now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love…we were comforted concerning you by your faith (I Thessalonians 3:6a…7b, NKJV).

     The statement Paul wrote to this new church, which is the text we are considering in this lesson, is quite striking when viewed against the background of the severe persecution the church was undergoing when he wrote it—“In everything [including bad things like dangerous persecution] give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (I Thessalonians 5:18, NKJV).  In short, Paul told the believers at Thessalonica, “In the daily routine of life, however that turns out, be thankful!”

     At the close of the Tribulation Period, just before the establishment of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom, Jesus will summon all nations before His throne for judgment.  This judgment of nations has long been predicted by the prophets.  For example, Joel described this judgment of nations when he wrote, “Behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land” (Joel 3:1-2, NKJV).  This judgment of nations will be conducted by the Lord Jesus in “the Valley of Jehoshaphat,” which is about 60 miles north of Jerusalem.

     Zephaniah also predicted this judgment of nations.  He wrote, “‘Therefore wait for Me,’ says the LORD, ‘Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations to My assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them My indignation, all My fierce anger” (Zephaniah 3:8, NKJV).  God has already made the “determination” to judge the nations!   

     The nations of the world will be judged on the basis of how they treated the nation of Israel!  God said through the pen of the prophet Joel “I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land” (Joel 3:2b, NKJV).  God said to Abraham, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.  I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1b-3, NKJV).  The judgment of nations, at which God will either “bless” or “curse” the nations on the basis of their treatment of Israel, will be God’s final fulfillment of the covenant He made with Abraham!

     Today I will preach a little sermonette designed to prepare all of you for the God-given opportunity to serve a category of people that are generally rejected by today’s society and considered unimportant—Jesus would have included them among “the least of these.”  The category of people to which I refer consists of men who have committed crimes, been imprisoned, served their time, and are attempting to re-enter private life.  Most of them are felons…all of them are ex-cons!

     Jesus was not doubt referring to this category of people, along with others, when He said, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,

you did for me” (Matthew 25:40b, NIV).

     I want to begin this lesson by explaining that in order to effectively serve people you must make the intentional choice to love them!  Paul made that fact abundantly clear when he wrote to the believers at Galatia, “Serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians 5:13b, NIV).  Love is the source from which all authentic service flows!  When God inspired Paul to write these words, He wasn’t making a suggestion.  He was giving a command!

     God the Father set the example of service motivated by love when He served the entire human race—including ex-cons—by providing us with a Savior, simply because He loves us.  Jesus explained it like this: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV).

     We are never more like Jesus than when we are serving others.  In fact, when Jesus paused long enough to give a self-description of His life purpose, He said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28, NIV).