Why Bother With Jesus During Christmas?
Someone once asked me, “Why should I bother with Jesus?” I was quite surprised by the question. I wasn’t expecting it. I can’t remember what I said. But I’ve given that some thought especially at Christmas time. Why should we bother with Jesus? Let me give you three reasons why we should bother with Jesus.
Because It Is True
The first reason is; Because it’s true. Let me read to you some of the words of Jesus in John 4:13. Jesus says, “Everyone who drinks of this water…” And he was just about to drink a cup of water which a woman had given to him. “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.” You need to know that I’ve never seen Jesus, I’ve never had a vision, I’ve never heard voices from heaven. But I know it’s true because we have a record, a historical record of the person of Jesus who lived 2000 years ago in Palestine. And that record is found in the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. There we have the source documents, the original documents of the Christian faith which have to do with the person of Jesus and that he lived 2000 years ago in Palestine.
I’m normally in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Chances are that if I’d lived 2000 years ago in Palestine, I would have seen Jesus. Because he was a real person. Do you think it’s possible that he could have been anything other than the son of God? He said remarkable things like we’ve just read here. He said “I will give you water. If you drink this water, you will never thirst again.” And he was talking about himself. Now, imagine if I made that kind of statement? And I said to my family and friends, “If you take my words, and you listen to them, and you obey them, you will never be thirsty again.” Well, my family will take me to the doctor to see if I have a high temperature or there’s something wrong with me. You see ordinary human beings can’t make that statement. Jesus made extraordinary statements. He said, “If you’ve seen the father…. if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the father.” He said, “I and the father are one.” Do you think it’s really possible that Jesus could be anything other than the Son of God?
Jesus Did Extraordinary Things
He not only made extraordinary statements; he did extraordinary things. You remember on the one occasion he was with his disciples, we read it in Mark’s gospel chapter four, the source documents of the Christian faith. And Jesus was with his disciples in a storm, in the boat, in Lake Galilee. And the storm was so great, the wind and the waves were so huge that they thought they were going to drown. And Jesus stood up, he raised his hands, and said, “Peace, be still!” And immediately the wind stopped and the waves stopped. And the disciples were terrified, and they said, “Who is this man? Well, of course could he be anything other than the Son of God?” Now, whenever you think that you are God, I would challenge you to go outside when there’s an African storm; the wind is blowing, there’s lightning, there’s rain, and lift your arms and say, “Peace, be still!” And see what happens. Two hints; See that no one’s watching, and take an umbrella with you. You see, both the statements of Jesus, and the actions of Jesus tell us that he could be none other than the Son of God. Why should we bother with Jesus? Because it’s true, whether you believe it or not.
The Truth Of Who We Are
The second reason we should bother with Jesus is because of the kind of people we are. Think about that, we are all people who know that we need to be forgiven. You know that, you know that you haven’t treated your parents, your siblings in a right way, your spouse, your children. You know that you haven’t done the right things or said the right things. We all know that we are people who need to be forgiven. Now perhaps there’s someone watching here and says, “Well, Martin, I’m not so sure that that’s true of me. I’m a good person, I’m much better than other people.” Well, let me ask you this question, if we made a movie of your life and we showed it on the screen at your church, or at your school, or in your office. And everyone was there to watch. And there were different channels of your life: There was a channel dealing with your actions, a channel dealing with your words, a channel showing all your thoughts. Would you stay? You see, I don’t think we are such good people. We know that, and God knows that. We are people who know that we need to be forgiven.
You know that you haven’t treated your parents, your siblings, your spouse, your children in a right way. We all know that we are people who need to be forgiven.
We Are Sinners In Need Of Forgiveness
Do you have to teach a child how to be naughty? Those of you who are parents, or perhaps you’ve got nephews, or nieces, do you have to teach them how to be naughty? Well, of course not. They do that by nature. We are born sinners; we need Jesus because we are people who need to be forgiven. If sin was the colour of blue, think about that, if sin was a colour of blue, then every aspect of your being would be in some shade of blue. Your will, your emotions, your thoughts, your mind: every aspect of our being is in some shade of blue. Jesus got it right of course, he said, “The fruit is corrupt because the tree is corrupt.” We are not sinners because of what we do, no, we are sinners because of what we are.
The Russian author Turgenev said, “I don’t know what the heart of a bad man is like. But I do know what the heart of a good man is like. And it’s terrible.” We know that we need to be forgiven. And God knows that we need to be forgiven. Not only because God knows all things, but God made a plan to rescue us from our sin, from our brokenness. He sent his son to die in our place and that’s why we remember Christmas. It’s when God sent his son and the purpose of his son was to rescue us from our sin and from the judgment of God. You remember when the angel appeared to Joseph and said, “You shall call him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” That’s why Jesus came, that’s why we remember the birth of Christ at Christmas to rescue us from ourselves, from our sin, and from the judgment of God.
Life Is Short And Uncertain
The third reason that we need to bother with Jesus is not only because it’s true, not only because of the kind of people we are, but because life is so short and uncertain. Do you know that there will be people of your age who die in your country today? There will be people of my age who die in my country today. What if that was you? What if you had to stand before God today? What do you think he would say? What do you think you would say? Life is so short; life is so uncertain. What do you think God would say to you if you appeared before him? There you are standing before the almighty God of all creation the judge of all the earth. Perhaps he would say, “I don’t think we’ve ever met, have we?” Or will he say, “Welcome my dear, dear child. We’ve been looking forward to this day when you would come home.”
There will be people of your age who die in your country today? What if that was you? What do you think God would say to you if you appeared before him?
What Will God Say Of You?
Every one of us will stand before God. Will he say, “I don’t think we’ve ever met” or will he say, “Welcome home. We’re so, so pleased to have you home.”
What is God going to say to you this Christmas? Why should you bother with Jesus? Because it’s real, it’s true, because of the kind of people we are, and because every one of us will stand before God. Will he say, “I don’t think we’ve ever met” Or, will he say, “Welcome home. We’re so, so pleased to have you home.” If you’ve never submitted to Christ as king, wouldn’t today be a good day to bow before him and submit to him, as your king, as your saviour? Amen.
