Rev. David Holwick ZM Psalms
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 21, 2014
Psalm 49:1-13
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I. Christmas has won.
A. Even non-Christians celebrate it.
1) In America, 25% of Jewish homes have Christmas trees. (Pew)
2) Heard on NPR: Hindu from a small village in India where
they meet at the local church and then sing Christmas
carols from one end of the town to the other.
None of them are Christians.
3) Muslim comic - I love the commercialism of Christmas.
It is a blow against the puritan jihadists.
4) Lifeway Research, a Southern Baptist group, found that
among people with no Christian identity:
-- 74% give Christmas gifts to family or friends.
-- 72% gather for a Christmas dinner with loved ones
-- 62% put up a Christmas tree
Sometimes it is because they are married to a Christian
spouse. But not usually. #64663
B. What are we really celebrating?
1) It is more fun if you take Jesus out.
LifeWay Research director Scott McConnell has a theory
about the 8% of non-Christians who say they buy Advent
calendars to count down the days to the birth of Jesus.
When he looked at Advent calendars on Amazon, he found
"only one has a nativity on it.
(There are) lots of Santa, toys, and chocolate.
Who wouldn't like that?"
The gigantic American Christmas has trivialized the birth
of a savior into cultural superficiality for all.
It is so innocuous it is meaningless.
Rev. Michael Horton, a professor at Westminster Seminary,
says if Christmas has come to mean something even
atheists can celebrate, it doesn't mean we have won
them, but assimilated to them. #64663
2) Evidence from Christian radio.
Here is one of my pet peeves of the season.
I like Christmas music and often listen to those stations
that play it 'round the clock.
There are several to choose from in our area.
They start doing it around Labor Day.
But I also like to turn to Star 99.1 to hear Christmas
music that is done by contemporary Christians.
What I have heard is "Jingle Bell Rock" and other secular
classics, often three in a row.
Zero religious content.
Yesterday I even heard "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"
on religious 99.1 and secular 106.7 AT THE SAME TIME.
There is no longer much of a difference.
II. How do you get Christ back in Christmas?
A. This year I did it by going to BJs.
1) They had a nifty nativity scene made out of hand-painted
resin.
2) I like nativity scenes and have wanted one for the
parsonage for some time.
a) We had a set of plastic characters once but apparently
Daniel cleaned out the basement and threw them out.
b) They were half life-size and light bulbs inside lit
them up - a real tragedy they got trashed.
3) The set in BJs was only $250, so I bought it.
a) Out in the parking lot I found I couldn't fit the box
in my small car.
b) So I took all the characters out of the box and laid
them on the pavement.
1> Even baby Jesus.
4) When I got home I decided not to put it out in the yard.
a) They were so pretty I figured someone would steal them.
1> Baby Jesus gets ripped off all the time.
b) So I put it in our living room by the fireplace.
5) Christ is back in my Christmas - or is he?
B. It takes more than lawn ornaments.
1) It is common to hear that Christmas is about love and
family and world brotherhood.
a) All of these things are good. They are nice.
b) But it misses the main point - Christmas is about
God's love for us.
2) To truly experience Christmas, know why Jesus came to earth.
a) You don't have to convince the world, just yourself.
b) But if you are convinced, you will want others to
know, too.
3) One of the most interesting insights into Christmas can
be found in the Old Testament, in Psalm 49.
III. Christmas wisdom from Psalm 49.
A. Psalm 49 is not actually a Messianic psalm.
1) It is not a prophecy about Jesus.
2) However, it does give solid truth concerning what Christmas
should be about.
B. Worldly people focus on material things.
1) They boast about their assets. 49:6
a) They put their trust in it.
b) They are actually trusting in themselves. 49:13
2) They acquire great wealth.
a) Big houses are a hallmark. 49:14,16
b) Celeste and I like to tour these.
1> Biltmore, Newport mansions, Rockefeller’s Kykuit.
C. Only death stands in their way. 49:12
1) Everybody dies, whether rich or poor. 49:10
2) You can't take it with you. 49:17
3) Even with money, you can't buy your way out of it. 49:8
a) Although some are giving it their best shot.
b) Someone I know wants to be frozen so his body can be
revived someday.
After being frozen for 200 years, scientists will come
up with a cure for what killed him.
Then they will thaw him and he can start a fresh life.
Unfortunately, New Jersey has power outages a couple
times a year.
So they will thaw him and go, “Eewww! Big mistake!”
c) In reality, all money can do is buy you a nicer tomb.
IV. Redemption is the only alternative.
A. Redemption has always been a Christmas theme.
1) $46 billion in Christmas gifts will be returned this year. [1]
a) Often, they are converted back to cash.
b) A word that is sometimes used for this is "redeemed."
2) Biblical redemption means a price is paid to buy a life.
a) Slaves can be set free if money is paid.
b) Nowadays, and in the ancient world as well, even rich
people can be set free if enough money is paid.
1> In Latin America, kidnapping for ransom is a major
economic activity.
2> ISIS has been using it as well.
A> The recent botched rescue of hostages in Yemen
revealed that one of the captives had just
been ransomed and would be freed the
next day.
B> It was also revealed that the American gov't
never pays ransoms, at least up front.
B. Souls cannot be ransomed with money. 49:8
1) You cannot buy your way into heaven.
You know this, but rich people think a little differently.
Back in 2006 Warren Buffett announced that he was giving
his fortune to charity.
At the time Buffett was worth $44 billion just in stocks.
He said he was giving away $37 billion.
Most of it went to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
By anyone's thinking ... that's a lot of money.
When he presented his gift to the Gateses, he made the
remark,
"There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this
is a great way."
It is certainly a generous gift, but not a sufficient
ransom for heaven.
$37 billion is not enough.
#64662
2) Psalm 49 doesn't really offer alternative - it doesn’t see
a possible ransom - but that is where Christmas comes in.
a) Jesus came to earth to be our ransom.
b) During his ministry he announced in Matthew 20:28:
"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
c) Paul is even more clear in 1 Timothy 2:3-6:
"God ... wants all men to be saved and to come to a
knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself as a ransom for all men..."
V. The best Christmas gift is salvation.
A. All other gifts pale in comparison.
1) My gift for Celeste (she requested it): 4 wooden spoons
for 88 cents. Not each - for all four, from Walmart.
2) That certainly won't get her to heaven.
[A church member chimed in - “And you neither!”]
B. The baby was born to die, so we might live.
It was the day after Thanksgiving, and Tim Cash and 3-year-old
daughter Rachel were hanging Christmas lights on their home
in Auburn, Georgia.
Tim's wife, Barb, suggested they do something different, so
Tim and his daughter erected a cross using the post and
guardrail on the front porch.
It was no deep evangelical statement, just a symbol of the
family's commitment to Jesus Christ.
Two days later, as Cash stood in the driveway washing his van,
a man using a crutch limped down the street.
Cash said hello, then said, "You look like you're in pain."
The man walked his way and they began to talk.
He spoke of his medication, but Cash sensed a deeper hurt and
risked asking about it.
"You look like you're disturbed -- what's going on?" Cash asked.
As Cash pushed his son Benji in a stroller, the three went for
a walk and the man began to open up.
He shared about his wife's drinking problems, a recent auto
accident she had while drunk, her attempt at suicide, his
own abuse as a child from a broken home and suicidal
tendencies, and their rocky marriage.
Cash was blown away by how open the man was.
Feeling led by the Spirit, he led the man back to his house
and they sat in lawn chairs in the driveway.
Within a few minutes, the man accepted Jesus as his Savior.
After Cash had given the man a Bible and some discipleship
material, he said,
"Just one question before you go - Why did you stop at our
house today?
Why were you so comfortable stopping and opening up?"
The man answered, "As I was on my way home the other night,
I passed by your house and saw the cross, and so I
thought maybe I could talk to you."
Tim Cash thought to himself, "I had been hanging lights --
Jesus was revealing the light."
To everyone he asks, "When people pass your way, do they see
the cross?"
#4138
C. Do YOU see the cross?
Christmas doesn't represent a cozy warm love, but a hard
real love.
It is a love that cost the Son of God his life.
Do you believe in him?
Have you committed your life to him?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] “Christmas Gift Returns Total $46 Billion,” Ravelle Mohammed,
Christian Post Reporter, December 27, 2011.
<http://www.christianpost.com/news/christmas-gift-returns-total-46-billion-clot
hes-games-most-returned-65776/>
# 4138 “Instead of Big-League Career, He Found Big-League Ministry,”
Victor Lee, Online Christianity Today (America Online),
April 22, 1996.
#64662 “$37 Can't Get You In,” Rev. Jeff Strite, Kerux Sermon #64650,
February 2013.
#64663 “Non-Christians Don’t Scrooge On Christmas Fun,” Cathy Lynn
Grossman, USA Today, December 26, 2012.
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/22/many-atheists-jews-muslims-and-hindus-go-for-christmas-trees-lights-gifts-and-more/1769669/>
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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