Petaluma Valley Baptist Church

One of the elements that puts the “A-ha!” into those “A-ha!” moments of life is the fact that you never know when they’re going to happen. You’re just moving through an otherwise ordinary day when all of a sudden, “A-ha!” and you’re suddenly jolted into instant clarity.

–You’re driving down the road with your mind totally focused on that huge challenge you’re going to be facing when you get to work when the flashing red lights now glaring at you from your rearview mirror suddenly jolt you into the recognition that you probably should have been a little more focused on your speed. “A-ha!” Instant clarity.

–Or you stumble out of bed and into the shower as you do every morning and as you exit the shower you decide, for some reason, to step onto the bathroom scales…and find yourself looking at a number you’ve never seen there before. “A-ha!” Instant clarity. Perhaps all of those trips to the “all-you-can-eat” buffet were really not in the best interests of either your health or your waistline.

If you were with us last week, you may remember that I spoke about an “A-ha” moment I’d had a few days earlier when, while reading through some of the Christmas cards a local merchant was displaying, I ran across some of the most vapid, spiritual drivel imaginable, the highlight…or lowlight…of which was found in a card that described Christmas as the time of the year when you find yourself smiling…(here’s the key line)…“for no special reason.”

There’s nothing significant or substantive about Christmas, it just puts a goofy smile on your face for “no special reason.”

And that line just hit me like a ton of bricks. I smile my way all the way through the Christmas Season. I have for years and years. Christmas is absolutely one of my favorite times of the year. It never fails to fill my heart with joy that leaks out through the smile on my face. But it’s not a smile that is rooted in “no special reason.” The Christmas smile on my face is rooted in a very special reason. In the second chapter of his gospel, Luke identifies that very special reason as, “…good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

Folks, that’s why I smile at Christmas. I smile because God sent us a Savior…and I needed to be saved. Saved from what? I needed to be saved from the consequences of my sin.
Now, let me be real clear about this. I wasn’t a horrible person before I met Jesus. I wasn’t a rotten, detestable guy before I got saved. If you’d known me before Jesus became my Savior, you probably would have liked me. Most people did. Even so, I was sinful person.

I was a self-focused person rather than an obedience to God focused person. If my desires conflicted with God’s desire for me, there was a pretty good chance that I’d choose to go with my desires. And, folks, that’s the essence of sin. Choosing our way and our will rather than God’s way and God’s will. And that’s why I can confidently say that even though I was very likable, before I met Jesus, I was a sinful person. And so were you. Every single one of you. And I know you were because God’s word says so.

Romans 3:23 says it like this, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

–God created us to recognize His glory.
–God created us to celebrate His glory.
–God created us to participate in His glory.
–God created us declare, reflect and reveal His glory by living the kind of lives that show
Him to be the great and awesome God that He is.

But sin never declares, reflects or reveals God’s glory. Sin always blurs and obscures God’s glory. And all of us have sinned.

And that’s really bad news for all of us because Romans 6:23 tells us that, “the wages (or, the penalty or the consequence) of sin is death.” To be permanently and eternally cut off from the presence of God. Spending all of eternity not with God in Heaven but cut off from God in Hell. Many people wonder how a loving God could allow people to go to Hell? And the short answer is because He is also holy, which means that there is no trace of sin in Him. And He is fervently committed to protecting His holiness and He would cease to be holy if He associated Himself, His name or His heaven with sin.

Folks, the only hope for a sinful people is a Savior. Sinful people need a Savior. And because all have sinned, Luke gets it exactly write when he says that the birth of Christ the Savior is “good news of great joy…for ALL the people.” And, folks, that’s why I smile at Christmas. “No special reason?” Not a chance.

I smile because I needed a Savior…
…and God sent a Savior…
…His name is Jesus…
…He is Christ the Lord.

He was born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago…and He died on a cross about 30 years later. And because He died having never sinned, God was able to accept Jesus’ death as the payment for our sin. Romans 5:8 says it like this, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

And that means that the payment for our sins has already been paid so that we all can be saved. Our sins can be completely forgiven and we can be saved from the most terrible of all consequences for our sin, an eternity in Hell. But to claim the gift of salvation that God offers us through Jesus, we have to trust Jesus as our Savior. We have to put our faith in Him. We have to believe. Jesus said it like this in John 3:16, “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.”

And I believe. With all my heart and all my soul I believe in Jesus; Jesus is my Savior. So, I smile at Christmas because I know the Savior. But, as we said last week, the sad reality is that while most of us are going to celebrating the Savior we know, we’re going to be celebrating in the midst of an awful lot of people who don’t yet know Him…they only know about Him. And that means that no matter how nice they may be, they’re not saved.

So, last week, I shared a plan with you that will help us help our neighbors get to know Him. Not just know about Jesus but actually get to know Him.

The first step in implementing the plan is to identify our neighbors. I’m going to focus my attention on my neighbors and I’m encouraging you to focus your attention on your neighbors. You can define your “neighborhood” in whatever way you choose.

–It could be the 10 households to your left and the 10 households to your right.
–It could be all of the people in your office or all the students your class.
–I’ve decided that my neighbors will be the 38 households on my street, Dandelion Way.

Here’s a picture of my neighborhood. As I meet my neighbors, I’ll add their names to my neighborhood map. If you were with us last week, you’ll notice a new name has been added to my map because I met one of my neighbors as I was prayer-walking my neighborhood this week.

Again, you can define your “neighborhood” in whatever way you choose. The key is to have a very clear vision in your mind when you think of your “neighbors” because that’s what makes the plan exciting, personal and very doable.

Then, once we’ve identified our “neighbors” we’re going to implement our very simple 3-step plan which is built around these words: prayer, care, share. Last week we focused on the first of those steps: prayer.

Every day between now and Christmas we’re going to pray for our neighbors. I’ve decided to pray as I walk through my neighborhood everyday. I talked last week about some of the reasons for prayer walking, but you don’t have to walk. The key is to pray. And to get your prayers started, I offered a few prompts:

–We’re going to pray that God will bless our neighbors and keep them safe through the Christmas Season.

–We’re going to pray that God will restore broken family relationships and strengthen the love they have for one another.

–And because many of our neighbors know about Jesus but don’t yet know Jesus, we’re going to pray that something will happen during the Christmas Season that will help them see their need for Jesus and we’re going to pray that God will bring someone into their path who can point them to Jesus.

–And, most importantly, we’re going to ask God how He wants us to pray for our neighbors and then we’re going to pray for them as He directs us.
So, step one is simply to pray for our neighbors every day between now and Christmas.

Step two is to care for our neighbors by looking for opportunities to demonstrate the love of Christ in some simple, tangible ways and, finally, step three is simply to be alert for God-given opportunities to share the gospel.

We’re not going to do anything weird or odd or hard or forced. We’re not going to do anything that would make us or our neighbors feel in any way uncomfortable. We’re just going to pray for them…care for them…and be alert for God-given opportunities to share the gospel.

Now, I want to take just a few moments to focus our attention, this morning, on step #2. Let’s talk about how we can care for our neighbors in simple, tangible ways that demonstrate the love of Christ.

We find a good, solid biblical anchor for this idea in Matthew 9:36 which says, “When he (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” I can’t imagine a better description of making your way through this pressure packed world without a relationship with Jesus than what we read right here: “harassed” frequently; “helpless” often; “like sheep without a shepherd”…how about, “like sheep without THE Shepherd” always. And I can’t imagine a better way to respond to people in that condition than the way Jesus responded. “He had compassion on them.” In other words, he cared for them.

So, folks, step #2 simply calls us to follow Jesus’ example by looking for simple, tangible ways to demonstrate the love of Jesus to those of our neighbors who don’t yet know Him. We’re talking about small acts of kindness offered to our not yet saved neighbors as a way of demonstrating God’s love for them. And, again, I want to emphasize that I’m not talking about doing strange things that will lead to uncomfortable encounters with our neighbors. I’m talking about small acts of kindness that demonstrate God’s love and our care for them.

For instance:

–The next time you’re baking a dozen cookies, bake two dozen and give one to your neighbor. You probably won’t offend them.

–The next time you buy some flowers for your dining table, accidentally buy too many and take the extra ones to your neighbor and say, “I ended up with too many and thought you might enjoy them.”

–The next time you drag your trashcans off the street, take a few extra moments to drag your neighbor’s cans as well.

–The next time you pick up a Peppermint Mocha at Starbuck’s get another one and to give it to your coffee loving neighbor with a joyful, “Merry Christmas.”
We’re not talking about preaching a sermon or handing out gospel tracts to strangers. We’re talking about small acts of kindness that demonstrate God’s love and our care for our neighbors.

I’m convinced that God wants our neighbors to know Him. And I’m also convinced that He’s put us in their neighborhood to help them get there. So, let’s do it. And let’s start by doing 2 simple things:

First, let’s pray for our neighbors every day between now and Christmas. I’ll pray for my neighbors and you pray for yours.

And, second, let’s look every day between now and Christmas for some simple way to tangibly demonstrate God’s love and our care for them.

Then let’s just watch and see what God does.

A 3 week commitment to look for creative ways to serve and care for the people for whom we’re praying. Buy an extra cup of coffee. Bake an extra plate of cookies. Rake their leaves. Be attentive to what God may convey about His heart for them. You may even have an opportunity to pray with them.

Tell the story of Brian. I wonder if this has happened because I’ve renounced God? God keep Brian safe as he travels. Provide for his needs in such a way that He knows You still love Him even as He struggles to believe in you. Guide him to other people who can help him find his way to you.