Christmas At 30,000 Feet

We trace Christmas from prophecy to Bethlehem and show how God keeps promises, steps into our pain, and invites ordinary people to come near. We call for a real response: bow, repent, and live under the reign of a faithful King.

• Christmas as fulfilled promise from Genesis, Micah and Isaiah
• Caesar’s census as providence not chance
• Angels announcing to shepherds to show grace for ordinary people
• God acquainted with grief and human pain
• Jesus as our sympathetic high priest
• From hearing to hurrying to worship to witness
• Surrender, daily repentance and practical obedience
• Hope in Jesus’ return and the renewal of all things

“Would you stand this morning? There’ll be a time.”

Transcript

Holy God, Hurting People

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He's worthy of our highest praise today, church. We stand before a sovereign king, holy and august. And let me just show you the tension of this today. He's holy and he's perfect and he's righteous and he's true.

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And nobody in this room is. I want to declare to you a gospel today that is for broken people. You say, but Pastor, you didn't hear the yelling went on at my house this week. And Jesus did. He loves you.

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And yeah, some of that needs to change, but I'm telling you what, your name this morning, you should come, you should repent, you should say, I'm sorry, and the Father will receive from people. We have a real gospel today. A real gospel for hurting people. We live in a dark world.

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But our Savior came into that dark world.

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You say, but preacher, I've got pain. My savior knows your pain. Would you turn with me to the Gospel of Luke chapter 2?

Reading Luke’s Christmas Story

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Luke chapter 2. I want to read to you this great traditional Christmas text. And I pray it will be a blessing in your hearing this morning. The title this morning that I want you to begin to think upon is Christmas from 30,000 feet. You're flying an airplane? Generally, you're flying at a commercial airliner at 30,000 feet, give or take. There's an airline pilot going, it's higher. Rob, don't mess with my title. I want us to see the big picture of Christmas from way up high, from way far back. I don't want to get lost in the weeds.

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Christmas at 30,000 feet, Rob.

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It came to pass in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed, every one to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and the lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger.

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Why? Because there was no room for them in the inn.

Big Picture: Christmas At 30,000 Feet

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And they were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. And can you imagine? They were sore afraid. And easier said than done. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And then suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will toward men. It came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into the heavens, the shepherd said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told to them concerning the child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. That means they had questions. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

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This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray together. Most holy Father, we come humbly into your presence. We open your word.

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Your word is living and true, and it's strong, it's piercing.

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And we ask, Father, that your word would read us today as we've come to read your word.

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Lord God, would you illuminate our hearts and our minds and help us to see afresh, anew?

Prophecy, Caesar, And Bethlehem

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And help us to see clearly our Savior. Help us to see clearly ourselves and clearly our sin.

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But clearly your gift of salvation. We ask these things in the high and the holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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There's a lot of things that I just read there to you, and I I love this stuff. I love this stuff. I don't want to use the phrase, but I I can nerd out on some of this text. I really love to. By the way, you should too. I don't just read my Bible, I study my Bible. Do you study your Bible? I want to know why it says what it says, because I believe my premise is every word of God's word is true and it's there on purpose, and I want to know why it's there. So today, as we come for Christmas, I really struggle with what to bring to you. Because we could talk about, we could talk about Caesar Augustus. And we could talk about how he unwittingly, unknowingly ordered a tax and a census to be taken of the people. And by doing so, he was fulfilling prophecy that Joseph would have to go home to his hometown. Where's my Bible scholar that his hometown was wrong? What is Bethlehem? So you got it wrong there. What is Bathroom? And in doing so, Mary, as the days were accomplished, it just so happened that God in his sovereignty would bring the Isaiah prophecies true. That little baby would be born in Bethlehem, Micah 5, 2, born in Bethlehem. Or we could talk about the angels, and we could talk about what kind of angels they were. The Bible says there's at least six different kinds of angels. There's seraphims and the like, and they have different responses to these shepherds. And can you imagine what that was like on that night? These guys, God bless them. They had never seen an LED screen. They had never seen a drone show. They had never seen a firework. They had never, and all of a sudden, the glory of heaven, you know, and it's just right there. And then he goes, Don't be afraid. And they're going, you're right. I need new pants. Tell me not to be afraid. We could talk about how that those shepherds, man, they were they were so common and so ordinary, and yet they are given the privilege to tell people about Jesus. They believed and they

Angels, Shepherds, And Wonder

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went and they saw, and the Bible says that they went out from there, telling everybody that they could find, and this little town of Bethlehem, tiny little town, living in Bethlehem, little. And they began to wonder, and they said, I just saw him and I saw an angel. And they said the two and two go together, and this one is the king of kings, and he's the savior of Israel, and he's the savior of the whole world. And they're going, You've not slept much lately, have you? We could talk about that. We could talk about Mary and how that what she knew. We could get with Mark Lowry, and we could all ponder. Mary, what did you know? Look it up, it's a great song. The Bible says that she pondered all these things in her heart. This young girl being told all these things. I mean, it was just like a waterfall of information, and she's the fulfillment of prophecy, and she is the chosen, she is the approved, and God has blessed her, and she's going to bear the literal Son of God, and here he is born, and the shepherds are coming, and the angels are there, and people confirming what she's been told and what Joseph had received in his dream. And it just simply says that, verse 19, Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. But if we could, and I love all those things, could we back out 30,000 feet? And I want to just give you four of the big picture points of what Christmas is, and what I hope it is to you. What I hope it is to you.

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Number one, I want to tell you this Christmas is the proof that God is faithful to his promises.

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Even from Genesis 3.15, when the Lord is cursing the serpent, he references this virgin birth, and he says to the serpent, to Satan, the seed of the woman will come and you will bruise his heel. But that's because he'll be stomping on your head. You'll be a bother to him, you'll be a thorn in his side, but he will be the ruin of who you are. And so from the very third chapter of Genesis, from the very fall, God had promised to bring Jesus. And it had been how many thousands of years? Four thousand years? We're guessing. Boy, God can sure take his time sometime, can't he? Four thousand years is a long time. But can I tell you that God is not slack concerning his promises? As some men count slackness,

Mary Ponders And Perspective

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because a day is of a thousand years with the Lord, and a thousand years is as a day, and he doesn't tell time like you and I tell time. But I want to tell you everything in this book where God has promised He is faithful. He will not be unfaithful. He cannot lie. He is perfectly faithful. I just want you to, I want you to believe him. I want you to trust him in this this morning, not just blind faith, but based on the historical data. Can you imagine the prophet of Micah? He says, Oh you, oh you, Bethlehem, you Bethlehem, though you are smallest among the towns and the tribes of Judea, you shall be great because the Lord himself will be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5, 2. You can check it out. That's a pretty specific prophecy. Bible says that it would come through the line of David, and sure enough, that's exactly who Mary and Joseph were, descendants of the great King David, the greatest king, and he would be the son of David. He would be the fulfillment of the Isaiah prophecies. I want you to turn in your Bibles there to Isaiah chapter

Big Point 1: God Keeps Promises

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7. I want to just show you these. Isaiah 7, 14, the Bible says, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Here's the sign, here's the proof that my promise is good. The proof that I am faithful to my promises. Therefore, the Lord will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name what? Emmanuel. It simply means that God is with us. That's the scandal of Christmas. It's not right, correct, it's not appropriate that God would leave his throne in heaven and come to our dirt and hang on our cross. But the Bible says before the foundation of the world was, God had foreordained that he would do this. He would send his son. And Isaiah 53, verse 12 says that it pleased the Father to bruise him, to give us this sacrifice that would pay for our sins. You see, every promise he's ever made, he has come good on. Flip the page in Isaiah, and you can see more of this evidence in chapter 9, in verse 6, for unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David, even unto his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform it. Now listen to me. If I make you a promise, if I look you in the eye and I say to you, I promise you, A, B, and C, X, Y, and Z, whatever it is, you relatively can count on that. I'm not a man that makes promises lightly. But I have broken my word a few times. Sometimes out of a lack of character, and sometimes just because it just didn't work out, I couldn't make good on my promise. I want to tell you, our God is not like John. He's better than me. He's perfect in every way. The Bible says this, it sums it up quite well in Numbers 23. It says, God is not a man that he should lie, neither the Son of Man that he should repent. He hath said an e and shall he not do it? For he hath spoken, and shall he not make it good? Every word in this Bible has been proven true. People will tell you the Bible has been science, has science. You know that science has proven it's just not true. It's just not true. There are Christian apologists the world over who will debate any. I mean, these theologians, the the atheists just don't have a leg to stand on. It's because it didn't evolve out of the big bang goo. They have no leg to stand on. Our God's word is true. Here's the application: God is faithful to you. He can't not be faithful to you. You say, I'm having a hard time this morning. Yes, he knows. And God is not slack concerning his promises. Let me just tell you this: I don't understand all the ways of God.

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Yesterday we gathered in the emergency room. As Miss Carrie Cox had since gone to be with the Lord.

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She had been taken from this life into the next. She had breathed out in an exhale, and she did not breathe back in. They tried to revive her, and she was already home. I don't have all the answers for all of the cancers and all of the injustices of this world. But here's the promise that I believe.

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Jesus said, Behold, I will make all things new.

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None of us are going to get the short end of the stick. Carrie didn't get the short end of the stick. You had to go start your car this morning because it was cold outside. She is perfectly in the arms of her Savior. You're the loser, not her. I'm the loser while we are not those who are in his arms. Our God is faithful to his word. Christmas shouts. And if I came, John 14, I will go away and prepare you a place. And if I go and prepare you a place, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. By the way, there's double the scriptures promising his second advent more than his first.

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Take it to the bank when I tell you our Savior has not forgotten us here.

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He's coming for his own. Christmas tells us that God is faithful to his promises. Number two, Christmas tells us that God is familiar with our darkness and our pain. Would you just humor me? How many of you, just by the raising of the hand, say, I'm living in a great deal of darkness and pain? Yes, the whole world is dark. The whole world is on fire. The whole world is writhing. The whole world is.

Big Point 2: God Knows Our Pain

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Can I tell you this? Life is unbearable. That's why you gotta have Jesus. You're not good enough for it. You're not strong enough for it. You're not up to the task. That's why we have a savior. If you didn't need a savior, well then guess what? You'd be the savior. But if you think I'm on the verge, I'm on the edge, I'm struggling, I am crushed, I am melting, I'm withering, I'm I'm I'm bent, I'm twisted, I'm I'm yes, and God came in to that world to save folks like us. I'm telling you, and I'll say it again, we have a gospel that is for the real world. It's not just, you know, candy canes and skittles and gumdrops and lollipops and good feelings. Crippling. It's difficult. And I want to tell you the travesty of Christmas is that our Savior, who did not belong here, came into here. Into our world. Into our world. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 7. I read it to him Wednesday night. I preached this message. It says this, but he made himself of no reputation, speaking about Jesus coming into the world and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. Can you imagine the di the demotion of being made in the likeness of men? And you're like, you know, I've seen some good look in men. Jesus, the perfect crown of heaven, and he wraps himself in skin. Where arthritis is a thing and gout is a thing, and the stomach flu, that's real.

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Migraines. Oh, did I forget family issues? You got family issues? Jesus had family issues. His brothers and sisters called him an idiot. They said he was crazy. They said you're a lunatic. His brother, yeah.

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He came and he understands family issues. He understands health problems. He he buried his father at a young age. He gets it. In coming into this world, the Bible says in Psalm 34, 18, it says, God is nearest to the brokenhearted. Have you heard that scripture before? God is nearest to the brokenhearted and he comforts those that are of a crushed spirit.

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Just read that a week ago today at your father's memorial.

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Why? Because he's acquainted with it. He's acquainted with it. Let me read to you from Isaiah 53. Listen to what it says about God coming into this world. It says, Who hath believed our report? To whom of is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness, that when you shall see him, there is no beauty that you should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men. He's a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him, and he was esteemed, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. You see, that's why he had to come. That's why he had to come. He had to be wrapped in flesh to take on the sins of human flesh. Christmas tells us that God is faithful to his promise, and Christmas tells us that God is familiar with our pain and with our darkness. You see, we have a perfect high priest who understands exactly what it is to walk in your shoes. Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12 says, For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and the marrows, and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Just understand that you are filleted this morning, and nothing is hidden from him today. He sees you. Isn't that kind of a phrase that we hear in our society today? I see you. No one sees me. The Bible literally says that you are open and God sees you. He's aware. It's not that you could ever pray to him and say, You don't understand. He understands. Nobody, I don't understand where you're coming from. He understands. We have this kind of savior. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest, which cannot be touched with our feelings, the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted, like as we are, yet without sin. He concludes with the obvious because God knows us, and because God sees us, and because our Heavenly Father

A High Priest Who Understands

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sent us one who understands. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy. Raise your hand if you need mercy today. And find grace to help in our time of need. God is faithful to his promise, he's familiar with our pain and our darkness. And can I tell you, maybe this is the most glorious. We might even skip the fourth point. This is so good we could end right here. Christmas tells us that God is available to the ordinary. You see, we backed way up here, right? There's not even a wise man in sight this morning. We see our Savior coming into this world, keeping his promise, acquainted with our grief, understands our pain.

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And he is available to the ordinary you and me.

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In fact, everything about him is ordinary. What I read to you from Isaiah 53 just there, Isaiah prophesied 700 years before Christ, that he would come and he would not be more, he wouldn't be anything to look at. He'll be like a root out of dry ground. He'll he'll be he'll have no comeliness that you should desire him. He'll not be an athlete, he'll not be anything that you'd say, wow, what a movie star! He's Jesus, and he's under the radar. His name is Joshua, this, this, this regular old Hebrew name that we pronounce Yeshua. Jesus in English. He'll come from a nobody family. He'll never travel more than 200 miles his entire life. He'll never own a home. He'll never be married. He'll never amass a fortune. He'll never start a business. He'll never have a radio program or make a movie. He'll never write a book. He's just ordinary. That's our Jesus. And who does he come to? He just comes to little old Mary. Who's she? She'd just chosen of God. That's all she was. Little old Joseph, he was a good man. He's just chosen by God to be the earthly father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He's born in a lowly place in the middle of nowhere in the Middle East, according to all the promises. And he'll grow up and live in rather obscurity until he's 30 years old, and then he will call disciples unto himself, and they will be categorized by the fact that they are ordinary. That's right, Leah. Unremarkable men. Don't tell him I said that. But they just weren't. In fact, some of them were crooks and thieves. Matthew was for sure. Peter, James, John, just blue-collar fellas that were willing to answer the call when God laid it on their hearts. Aren't you thankful our Savior does not come to the creme de la creme and the upper echelon and the aristocrats that can sip tea with their pinkies high with Jesus? He comes to folks like us that have backyard barbecues, that have problems with their kids and problems with their spouse and problems with their hips. He comes to the ordinary. That's why it's so miraculous and it's beautiful that the angel comes and in the middle of nowhere, out on

Big Point 3: Grace For The Ordinary

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the hills of Bethlehem, Judea, there it was. And here he he proclaims to who? To Herod? To Pilate? Caesar Augustus? Shepherds. Shepherds. Do you know what kind of training it takes to be a shepherd? None. None. It's like a Walmart greeter. You can go get a job today. You just walk in there. If you're a warm body, you can be a shepherd. Can you sleep next to the sheep? Nope. Yep. Can you show them where the where the water is? I can do it. You know, then you're a shepherd. And all of heaven said, go tell them. Go talk to them first. What about in the big city where all the people are? Nope. Nope. Out there, on the hill. There's three guys. Go tell them. Why? Why? Because I want the world to know I have come for the common man. He's available to the ordinary.

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And we are responsible for the information that we've been given. Responsible.

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What do they do? Those ordinary fellows? Brooks read it so well this morning. And my dad used to say that, let us even now go and see this thing that has happened.

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And they come and they see. And they revere. And they bow. And then they go and they tell.

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So I don't know exactly what Christmas is for you. And what the big picture looks like. Maybe you've not thought about any of this because it's it's been presents and in-laws and charcuterie boards.

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Black Friday sales that you missed. The big picture is this from 30,000 feet. God sent his son. By the way, there's one God and it ain't you.

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I talk to people all the time. Here's the thing that breaks my heart the most. I talk to people all the time. They know about God, they know about his son, they know about his name, they sing his songs, they write a check to his church.

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But they don't have any intention of surrendering themselves to him.

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They like him. They like me. Oh, they like John. Tell them that when you get to heaven. Tell them. I'm with John. It might send you to hell faster. I don't know. I went to church. I sang! I sang. I sang poorly, but I sang.

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Will we acknowledge the king who came for us? Will we bow? I'm talking about in every area of our lives. He sees it all, by the way. Will we obey? Will we repent? Pastor John has to repent daily. You have to as well. God receives the ordinary. But he doesn't leave you that way. He'll change you. He'll break your heart for sin. Christmas is about us receiving the gift, bowing, and obeying from thirty thousand feet. Let me pray for you. Father, it wasn't right for you to send your son, but you did it for us.

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I thank you, Father, for the message of the gospel this morning. That you're faithful to your promises, acquainted with our grief, available to us. But God, we are responsible to respond to Christmas. Lord, it can't just be about Santa Claus. It cannot be about reindeer. It can't be about parties and it can't be about gifts. It's about God. Emmanuel. Oh Father, that we would surrender ourselves to you today.

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In Jesus' name. Amen.

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Would you stand this morning? There'll be a time.