Seasoning the Season
“Grace Your Home with More Than Decorations”
Mike Steiner,
November 30, 2014
(SLIDE) Roast turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, tasty dressing, steaming hot rolls, pumpkin pie – doesn’t the thought of a holiday feast make your mouth water? But what if you sprinkled pepper in large quantities all over everything? Now the meal doesn’t sound very appetizing. The same thing can happen with this Christmas season coming up. At its core is a baby who grew up to be the One who redeemed the world, but sometimes He’s hard to detect under all the other embellishments our culture adds to this time leading up to Christmas. Many times greeting card sending, gift giving, family gatherings, and other traditions simply don’t have the “flavor” of Christ. It doesn’t have to be that way. The purpose of this series and our Advent celebrations is to help all of us make sure the “flavor” of Christ’s presence stays prominent. By “seasoning” each of our Christmas traditions according to the principles of scripture, we’ll keep Jesus as the main ingredient of our holiday.
Today I’m starting out with some good advice from a prophet named Samuel. Let me set the stage. The Israelites had gotten themselves in another serious predicament. The Philistines were having their way with them. They had defeated the Israelites and stolen the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was too much for the Philistines to handle so they eventually returned the Ark to the Israelites, but the Israelites went through 20 years of spiritual wandering – worshiping other gods and filling their homes with pagan idols – when they turned to the prophet Samuel for help:
(SLIDE) From 1 Samuel 7:1-2 - So the men of Kiriath-jearim came to get the Ark of the Lord. They took it to the hillside home of Abinadab and ordained Eleazar, his son, to be in charge of it.2The Ark remained in Kiriath-jearim for a long time—twenty years in all. During that time all Israel mourned because it seemed the Lord had abandoned them..
(SLIDE) Samuel then shares the way forward with his people - universal principles that apply equally well to our spiritual lives today – and appropriate wisdom for our celebration of Christ’s birth:
1)(SLIDE) Turn your heart to the Lord.
Samuel makes his first point loud and clear in verse 3-4 - Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you are really serious about wanting to return to the Lord, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Determine to obey only the Lord; then He will rescue you from the Philistines.”4So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord. Worship the one true God – turn your hearts toward Him and get rid of your idols. Of course, this is a common theme throughout scripture. God’s commandments are clear – “You shall have no other gods before me” – “You shall not make for yourself an idol.” Listen to Deuteronomy 7:25 – “You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God.” This instruction was directed to the Israelites, but it’s a message that is repeated to those who follow Christ – 1 John 5:21 – “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.”
Webster’s Dictionary defines idol as an image worshiped as a god (what we see in the Bible). It’s also defined as an object of passionate devotion – for God, it’s any object that interferes with our relationship with the one true God. Idol worship has been a problem for mankind since the beginning of time. The Israelites impatience and lack of faith led them to worship other gods - theyoften sought answers to life through other gods. Ashtoreth, spoken of in the 1 Samuel text was the goddess of love, fertility and war. She was worshiped by many people in the near east in many forms, frequently combined with the worship of Baal (the male counterpart). We don’t have those kinds of idols today, but we surely do have our own modern day versions – money, sports, possessions, music, and even church – anything that drives our lives, our lifestyles, our decisions, our time. Look around your home or your life sometime and consider what you’ve made an idol.
Paul in talking about eating food sacrificed to idols makes this definitive statement (SLIDE) (1 Corinthians 8:4-6) – “We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.”
2)(SLIDE) Repent.
Then Samuel told them, “Gather all of Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.”6So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord. They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the Lord. (It was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.)“The water poured out before the Lord” is the only Old Testament reference to this type of ceremony. Perhaps it symbolizes the pouring out of one’s heart in repentance and humility before the Lord. Verse 2 tells us they mourned because they thought God had abandoned them – they confessed their sin – they were getting themselves right before God – in the same spirit as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 7:10 – “For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.” Their hearts were broken – and they turn back to the Lord – that is repentance. It’s a reflection of a broken heart for a broken relationship and the need to get back in the right position before God. For us, it’s a recognition that we, our sins, put Jesus on the cross – that ought to bring sorrow to our heart and soul that drives us to come back into a right relationship with God.
3)(SLIDE) Release your fear in prayer and worship.
When the Philistine rulers heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpah, they mobilized their army and advanced. The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching.8“Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel.9So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them.11The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way.
The Israelites found themselves in numerous fearful situations. Fear often drove them away from right decisions – fear often paralyzed them in their weaknesses. They had plenty to fear from the Philistines – the text is clear – they were “badly frightened”. What are you afraid of? Fear can paralyze us as well – can cause us to make hasty and dangerous decisions. Sickness, financial disaster, broken and difficult relationships. Christmas might give us good feelings, but doesn’t exempt us from fear – in fact, it often adds to our fears.
The Israelites, in their fear, turn first to God in prayer, asking Samuel to cry out for them. God calls us as well to release our fears to Him. Prayer, by the way, is not the last resort – it should be the first resort. How can you build your trust in Him and deal with your fears if you’re not spending some time with Him each day – especially during this holiday season. Prayer gets us in line with God – like putting eyeglasses on each day (for people like me). A godly perspective begins with prayer.
The Israelites, in their fear, also worshiped God. Samuel makes an offering to the Lord – that’s a statement of worship. God calls all of us to worship.
1 Chronicles 16:29 – “Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his presence. Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.”
Psalm 95:6 – “Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker,”
A person reading the Bible for the first time might think this God of ours is a self-seeking despot, but He is a God looking out for us. Worship has a purpose from God’s perspective. It’s not just a practice, an obligation, a rote exercise. Like prayer, it helps us to “center down” on the One who saved us, the One who loves us, the only One who can truly help us. We need to seek renewed ways to worship Him – Advent is a time to do this. Our celebrations should be tools that help us keep our trust perspective – that we might remain confident of His help and power.
4)(SLIDE) Remember!
Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!”The final verse in the passage is important – what Samuel does is significant. Symbols (not idols that we worship) are important to us. They call attention to the things that are most important – that have meaning to us – symbols help us remember. Decorations, sacred symbols, visual aids have been central to our worship of God from the very beginning:
-The rainbow – the promise of God to Noah
-The lamb’s blood – God’s protection for those who believe
-Joshua’s stack of stones – God’s deliverance
-The tabernacle and temple – the glory of God
-The cup and the bread – Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross
-The cross itself, the fish, the lamb, the basin and bowl.
God knows that we need visible indicators to remember He is with us – memory joggers of God’s intervention in the life of His people to get us back to our trust perspective in the clutter of life. Symbolism is at the heart of our Christmas celebration – Christmas symbols were intended to be reminders of God’s work, Christ’s birth. But the symbols have been obscured by all the materialism and transferred meanings.
-The Christmas tree – eternal life
-White candles and lights – Jesus, light of the world
-Decorations – reminders of our families and faith
-The Advent Wreath – prickly leaves (crown of thorns), red berries (sin-cleansing blood).
We can present our decorations and decorating to God as a tribute to Him. Pray before you decorate, worship as you decorate, and give thanks after you decorate.
(SLIDE)The season is a unique opportunity to let your “trust perspective” shine for all to see – your family, extended family, acquaintances. Paint a portrait of Christ that others might see – by turning your heart to the Lord, repenting, releasing your fear in prayer and worship, and remember what this season is really all about in the first place. Paul stated in his letter to the Colossians:Colossians 3:17 – “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” During this Christmas season, all that you do during the season, do it all in the name of Jesus Christ – giving thanks to God. Season this season with Jesus!
COMMUNION – It’s appropriate as we begin the Christmas season and keep Jesus as the focus by closing out the service today – to remember – remember the sacrifice of Christ.