What has Christmas cost you so far?
Many of us will say, too much.
And I'm sure some will say, way too much
when the credit card bill comes in.
When we think about the cost of Christmas,
as I just asked the question,
I'm assuming that most of us think in terms of what it costs,
in terms of the gifts we've bought.
Maybe some trips you have or will take.
Our decorations, food, and all these kind of things.
Well, I want us to take a few minutes this morning
to think about the cost of Christmas in a different way.
You know, the real story of Christmas is found in the Bible,
and it's all about the coming of Jesus into this world,
the birth of God's Son.
When we think about the first Christmas,
or what the Bible teaches us about the coming of Jesus,
we find that it was very costly.
It was first costly to Mary.
I want you to think with me.
The cost of Christmas for Mary.
It cost her her reputation in a big way.
Look at what the Scripture says in Matthew chapter 1.
Now, the angel coming to Mary and announcing her
that God had chosen her to be the mother of Jesus
is found in Luke chapter 1.
Matthew 1 tells us about the problem
that that immediately caused.
Now, the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.
When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,
before they came together,
she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
And her husband Joseph, being a just man
and unwilling to put her to shame,
resolved to divorce her quietly.
Now, you think these are real people.
Young woman, 16, 17 years old maybe.
Joseph, a little bit older.
They're more than what we consider to be engaged.
It was a legally binding betrothal.
And it was serious to break it.
That's why the word divorce is used here.
Well, when Mary first told Joseph the situation,
he didn't believe her.
Would you?
It's beyond belief.
No one would.
And so, he was a good man
because he didn't just explode in rage.
Look at what the Scripture says.
He was a just man, righteous man,
and unwilling to put her to shame.
And so, he resolved to divorce her quietly.
In his mind, she had been unfaithful.
He was not going to marry her,
but he was going to honorably part ways.
Well, it took a supernatural intervention of an angel
to change Joseph's mind,
to convince him that Mary had not been unfaithful.
Look at it.
The next two verses, verses 20 and 21.
But as he considered these things,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,
saying, Joseph, son of David,
do not fear to take Mary as your wife,
for that which is conceived in her
is from the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a son,
and you shall call his name Jesus,
for he will save his people from their sins.
Joseph believed the angel.
No one else would have,
because no one else received the supernatural revelation.
In the eyes of everyone except Joseph,
Mary was an immoral woman.
And so for Mary to be chosen by God
for this most special work,
bearing his son,
it ruined her reputation.
And she knew it from the get-go.
Well, how did she respond?
Well, look with me if you would.
It'll be on the screen.
Luke chapter 1, verse 38.
Luke 1, 38.
Now the story of God coming to her,
the angel telling her she'd been chosen,
is before this verse.
And after he said all this,
this is how Mary responded.
Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.
Let it be to me according to your word.
She finds out she's been chosen by God.
to miraculously conceive baby Jesus in her womb.
And her response to such a public scandal,
she trusted God.
I am the server of the Lord.
Let it be to me according to your word.
She willingly accepted God's call
to be the mother of Jesus,
even though it would cost her publicly dearly.
But what I want us to see here is
she was willing to pay that high cost
to be faithful to do God's will.
Mary was the first to discover
how costly Christmas can be.
But she was not alone.
Look next, the cost of Christmas for Joseph.
It was costly to him in several ways.
First, it cost Joseph his reputation
just as well as Mary.
Same reasons.
But also it cost Joseph social relationships,
job security, financial stability,
because shortly after Jesus was born,
he had to leave home.
He had to leave where he worked,
his carpentry business,
and go to a foreign place.
Look at how the scripture describes this
in Matthew chapter 2.
An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream
and said,
Rise, take the child and his mother,
and flee to Egypt,
and remain there until I tell you,
for Herod is about to search for the child
to destroy him.
And he rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed to Egypt.
Joseph acted on what God told him.
Just like Mary,
he was willing to pay the cost of obeying God.
Look back now at how Joseph responded to the angel
when the angel told him all about Mary
and the child she had conceived.
Look at how Joseph responded.
When Joseph woke from sleep,
he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.
He took his wife,
but knew her not until she had given birth to a son.
And he called his name Jesus.
The first Christmas was costly
to both Mary and Joseph.
But I want us to understand,
it was even more costly for Jesus.
Look at the cost of Christmas for Jesus.
Before he ever came into this world,
the Son of God had always existed.
It's a mystery.
We can't really wrap our minds around the fact
that God exists,
our one God exists as three persons,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus left the glory of heaven
that he had always enjoyed
with the Father and the Spirit
to come into this world to save us.
Paul describes that in Philippians chapter 2.
Look at it.
He's actually writing to this church
about how they need to humble themselves,
serve one another,
and he gives Jesus as the example.
Have this mind among yourselves,
which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped
or a thing to be held on to,
but emptied himself
by taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men,
and being found in human form,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
To come into this world,
Jesus laid aside the glory
he had always experienced and enjoyed
in heaven as the Son.
He didn't cease to become God
when he came into this world.
He just became man,
the God-man,
but he had to lay aside
some of the honor and the glory
that he had known in heaven.
But I want you to note
in the scripture you see on the screen there,
he did that for a purpose.
Jesus was born to die
for sinful people like you and me
so that we could be forgiven,
made right with God,
become a child of God.
But you know,
what Jesus has done
in coming to the world to save us,
dying on the cross as he did,
we have to respond to that.
We've got to respond by
admitting that we are sinful people,
we've offended God,
we've rebelled against him,
and we need a Savior.
No one's ever going to become a Christian
until they sense that need
and are willing to change their mind
about how they're living.
Admit their sin,
turn from it,
and put their trust in Jesus
and him alone
for their salvation.
Have you done that?
Have you called upon Jesus to save you?
Is he truly the Lord of your life
as you are celebrating his birth this year?
Christmas was truly costly to Jesus.
In fact,
the coming of Jesus has always been costly
for everyone associated with Jesus.
That leads to one question
that we need to answer.
What has Christmas cost you?
Christmas means Christ has come.
And when Christ comes into our lives
as our Lord and Savior,
it will cost us something.
And that's something that Jesus talked about,
taught, explained on many occasions
as you read through the Gospels.
Here's a good summary
of the kind of things Jesus talked about,
costly commitment.
It's from Luke chapter 9.
And he said to all,
If anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross daily
and follow me.
For whoever would save his life
will lose it.
But whoever loses his life
for my sake
will save it.
Jesus calls each one of us
who call ourselves his follower,
every one of us
who calls ourselves a Christian,
Jesus calls us to costly commitment.
And in our country today,
such commitment
is becoming even more costly
all the time.
If you believe that the Bible
is truly the Word of God,
the perfect, without error,
Word of God,
and that it is
the authority
for what you should believe
and how you should live,
you may pay a price for that
in today's world.
In some settings.
For some people,
maybe in a home.
For some where you work.
For some around the people
that you call friends.
For many years,
Chick-fil-A
has publicly stated
that their business
was built on
biblical principles.
A few years ago,
they openly supported
traditional
biblical marriage
and they did it
in a positive way.
They got some flack
for that.
And Dan Cathy,
their CEO,
son of the founder,
Truett,
he emphasized,
we do believe
in biblical values,
traditional,
biblical marriage.
But we don't discriminate
against anyone
who doesn't believe that.
We don't fire people
who don't believe
what we believe.
And we certainly don't
prohibit everybody
from coming to Chick-fil-A.
We are open
to all people.
We hold the biblical values,
but we embrace people
and we want to serve people.
And Cathy and Chick-fil-A
was commended,
have been,
for having such a stance.
But over the last few months,
several stories
from multiple sources
have reported
that the Chick-fil-A
organization
has backed off
their strong commitment
to biblical values.
They have apparently
decided to be
more politically correct
and not offend
liberal groups
who oppose
biblical values.
According to several reports,
and I know a lot of you
are familiar with this,
Chick-fil-A
will no longer support
evangelical organizations
like the Salvation Army
and the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes
because these organizations
affirm biblical values
such as
traditional marriage.
Chick-fil-A
will now support
more liberal organizations
that are
LGBT friendly.
It appears
that Chick-fil-A
has chosen
to be more concerned
about
pleasing people.
and making
profits
instead of
pleasing God
and paying the cost
of being unfaithful
or being
faithful.
Now,
I don't want you
to misinterpret
these comments.
I'm not throwing
rocks
at Chick-fil-A.
I'm not advocating
boycotting
Chick-fil-A.
Where in the world
would you eat?
Be careful
when you say
you're going
to boycott
this company
or that company.
You'll starve
to death.
You'll walk.
You won't have
electricity.
You won't have
a telephone,
smartphone.
If you're going
to start boycotting
organizations,
businesses,
because they don't
adhere to
Christian values.
The reason
I'm singling
out Chick-fil-A
is because
since their
founding,
they have
publicly stated
we adhere
to biblical
principles,
biblical values.
But under
the pressure
of today's
liberal groups,
they have
changed.
They have
compromised.
It's hard
not to
compromise
in today's
world.
And so
before we
pompously
explode
against Chick-fil-A,
let's make
sure that we
are not
compromising
in our
commitment
to Christ,
in order
to avoid
paying the
cost
of being
faithful.
Ask yourself
this question.
How have I
shown my
willingness to
pay the
price required
to be
obedient to
God?
We can see
how Mary
paid the
price.
It cost her
reputation.
It cost
Joseph social
standing,
financial security.
it cost
Jesus the
glory and
honor of
heaven.
Are you
willing to
say yes
to whatever
it is God
calls you to
do or to
take a stand
upon?
In your
relationships,
in your
work,
among the
people that
you associate
with?
faith.
You know,
the key to
making this
kind of
commitment is
found in
what Jesus
said about
us taking
our cross,
taking up
our cross
daily.
That means
we've got to
die to
self in
terms of
always having
it my way.
We've got to
die to my
comfort,
doing just
what I want
to do,
when I want
to do it.
It also means
we've got to
learn to trust
God.
God,
that His
way is not
only the
right way,
but it's
the best
way for
us as His
children.
And if we
trust God
like this,
we will
obey Him,
even if it
does cost
us our
reputation,
some social
standing,
financial
security,
or what we
consider earthly
glory.
Christmas
means that
Christ has
come.
He's come
into this
world.
But let me
ask you,
has Jesus
Christ come
into your
life as
Savior and
the reigning
Lord of
your life?
And final
thought, is
there room in
your heart
right now?
For God to
write His
story for
you and
where you are
right now,
even if it
comes at a
very high
cost.
Let's pray
together.
Father,
help us to
take seriously
the fact that
the coming of
Jesus is
costly,
always has
been,
always will
be.
Help us,
Father, to be
willing to
make the
wholehearted
commitment to
trust and
obey you,
faithfully
follow Jesus
wherever that
may lead and
whatever that
may cost.
And let's
just in an
attitude of
prayer right
now, listen
to the Lord
and respond to
Him as we
know He wants
us to.
I'd be happy to
pray with you
here at the
front if that
would be helpful
to you right
now.
And I
strongly want
to encourage
you, don't
let this
Christmas season
pass.
without
coming to
know Jesus
as your
Lord and
your Savior
and making
Him first
and foremost
in your life.
Let's pray
and respond
to the Lord.