Podcast: Play in new window | Download (15.2MB)
This year, Christmas and Chanukkah start the same day – December 25th. I like that. I like that because there are very important truths these two holidays have in common.
This morning, I want to talk about the lessons we can learn from Christmas and Chanukkah. Let’s start with Chanukkah. Chanukkah celebrates the miraculous victories God gave to the faithful remnant of Israel who were fighting vastly superior Syrian-Greek forces in the time of the Maccabees – around 167-164 BC.
Jerusalem had been captured by our enemies. Evil King Antiochus had an idol of Zeus erected in the temple. A pig was sacrificed on an altar to worship Zeus. This was an abomination that caused desecration. It removed the sacredness, the holiness, the set-apart-for-Godness of the temple – which was the most important place on Earth. The temple was the place where the truths about God were most clearly seen, the place where the sacrifices were offered that made reconciliation with God possible.
After three years of fighting against vastly superior forces, the Lord enabled us to capture Jerusalem from the forces of Antiochus, cleanse the temple and chanukkah it – dedicate it – (Chanukkah means dedication) so that once again it could be used to serve the one true and living God.
The lesson for us?
We are God’s temple and must be dedicated to Him. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Rabbi Paul wrote: We are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will live in them.”
Like God’s presence was manifested in the temple, God’s Spirit lives in us – but in a much greater way – since we are made in the image of God and have a much greater capacity for God to live in than live in a building made of wood and stone.
So, like the temple was dedicated to God to serve Him, we must be dedicated to God to serve Him the way we should.
What is dedication? Dedication is a high level of commitment to a person, thing or idea. When it comes to God, dedication means that our commitment to serve the Lord is our greatest commitment. Our commitment to serve Him comes before serving anyone or anything else. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. That’s the kind of dedication God expects from us.
The Lord is a jealous God. That means He is rightly protective of His people and will not tolerate anything that competes for our dedication. Anything we are dedicated to more than Him is a false god, an idol that desecrates the temple.
The Chanukkah lesson for us? We are to cleanse the temple, get rid of sins and moral impurities and idols and false gods so we can be dedicated to the Lord our God.
How often does Chanukkah take place? For us, not eight days a year but 365 days of the year. Being dedicated to the Lord every day, being little temples, being little chanukkiahs, little Chanukkah menorahs, shining the light of God into the darkness, is the way to really celebrate Chanukkah.
Now, let’s consider Christmas.
While the focus of Christmas should be the incarnation and the birth of the Son of God – for many the focus has shifted to trees, decorations, lights, Santa Clause, elves, reindeer, movies, football and food – and of course, giving gifts. Americans are expected to spend an average of $900 per person on Christmas‑related expenses, including gifts, decorations, food and other items.
For many, Christmas is Christless. Christ has been removed from Christmas. However, even if the focus is on the incarnation and birth of the Son of God – that’s not enough to really celebrate Christmas the way it should be celebrated.
Here’s what I mean: The demons believe in the incarnation and birth of the Son of God – but that’s not enough to save them. In the same way, people can believe in the incarnation and the birth of the Son of God and celebrate Christmas and not be saved; or they can believe in the incarnation and the birth of the Son of God and celebrate Christmas but not be living a life that honors God the way it should.
To really celebrate Christmas we need to be little Christmases, little incarnations of Yeshua, little Christmas miracles every day of the year.
How do we do that? When we understand that Yeshua is the Messiah and the Son of God; and that He left Heaven and through the incarnation, became a man; and that He lived a holy life and died a very special death to atone for our sins and enable us to be reconciled to God and live forever; and that He was raised from the dead and is alive now at the right hand of God – full of grace and life and love and power – when we know these truths and make a serious commitment to obey this living Lord and Savior, the Spirit of Yeshua is given to us. Yeshua lives in us because His Spirit lives in us. Yeshua takes up residence in us and dwells in us.
That’s why we’re compared to the temple, the place where God lived in a special way on Earth. Do you not know that you are a temple of God, Paul asked the Corinthians, and that the Spirit of God lives in you? What an amazing thing – to have the Spirit of God living in us!
But even that’s not enough to really celebrate Christmas the way we should.
Why?
Because we can have the Spirit of the Father and the Son living in us and not be filled with the Spirit.
We can have the Spirit of God living in us but not be living a life that honors God the way it should.
We can have the Spirit living in us and grieve the Spirit.
Our challenge is to not only have the Spirit of Yeshua living in us, but filling us so that we are walking in the Spirit, living in the Spirit, so that the Son of God becomes fully incarnate in us.
Consider these words from Rabbi Paul to the Ephesians: God has put all things under the authority of Messiah and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church – the community of called out ones. And the community of called out ones is Yeshua’s body; it is made full and complete by Messiah, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
God wants us to be made full and complete by Messiah.
God wants us to be full and complete by Messiah filling us with Himself.
When the Son of God is living in us and filling us with Himself because His Spirit is living in us and filling us, Yeshua becomes full and complete in us. Yeshua becomes fully incarnate in us.
We become little Yeshuas in this world. Each day we are God’s Christmas gift to the world.
When Yeshua is fully incarnate in us, we become like Yeshua – kind, compassionate, loving and generous and full of truth.
When we are in Yeshua and Yeshua is full and complete in us, He enables us to understand the Word of God.
He enables us to understand what God’s will is for us, and then have the power to do God’s will.
He gives us the ability to love God and serve Him the way we should.
He gives us the power to resist temptation and overcome evil and live holy lives.
He gives us peace. He gives us joy.
He gives us the ability to endure trials, persecution, rejection, hardship.
He enables us to have fruitful lives. I am the vine and you are the branches Messiah promised. If you live in me, remain in me and I live in you, remain in you, you will bear much fruit.
When Yeshua is fully incarnate in us, we love what Yeshua loves. We value what Yeshua values. Our priorities are Yeshua’s priorities. We’re more heavenly minded and less earthly minded.
When Yeshua is full and complete in us, we want to be with our brothers and sisters in the community of Yeshua-followers that God has placed us in, and get to know them, help them, serve them.
We want to serve God by loving people, even though who are hard to love, and help them where they need help the most. We want to proclaim the Gospel, the message of salvation which alone saves people – to everyone we can.
This Christmas season, and every day after Christmas, let’s focus on Messiah being continually incarnated in us so He is full and complete in us, so that we bring the presence of God, kindness, love, generosity, wonder, truth and salvation to everyone around us. That’s the truest meaning of Christmas and the way to really celebrate Christmas.