Sometimes we hear people talking about having a Christian worldview. What they are referring to when they speak of a Christian worldview is having the Word of God as the grid through which we run our daily thought processes and a worldview that tries to make Jesus a reality in how we live our everyday life. During this Christmas season, I think it would also be appropriate for us to have a Christmas worldview. When I speak of a Christmas worldview, I am talking about exploring the Christmas season as a time to find the Lord Jesus Christ in our day-to-day opportunities and in the people that He brings into our lives. One of the hot sellers this year in toy departments across our nation is Baby Yodis, I don’t think that at all reflects a Christmas worldview. When I talk about the Christmas worldview, I am talking about the expectation that God is going to show up in significant ways. I have always enjoyed, at Christmas time, hosting people in our home. Last year we weren’t able to do this, because of the concerns over Covid. This year I am very much looking forward to having people come and share time with us, to enjoy fellowship and the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe having a Christmas worldview anticipates that God is going to do something very significant in our world this Christmas season. We live in a world that desperately needs the truth that we hold near and dear to our hearts. So, it’s important that the truth moves from our hearts to our mouths to declare the splendor of our great God and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.
Having a Christmas worldview very much features an expectation of miraculous events. We have an example of the amazing touch of God in His dealing with Joseph, the betrothed of Mary. When Joseph heard the news that Mary was pregnant outside of their relationship it must have been devastating for him. He must have experienced a deep sense of betrayal as he thought about his next step. He was considering quietly divorcing her, which was necessary to end a formal betrothal period. We read what God does next in the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel, “But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son; and you shall call his name Jesus, for it is He who will save his people from their sins”. Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel”, which translated means, “God with us”,”(Matthew 1:20 – 23 NASB). I’m sure Joseph’s heart was breaking with the news of Mary’s pregnancy, and I’m certain that he wasn’t expecting the next miraculous thing that was to occur. But miraculous events are really part of the whole Christmas story.
I am sure that God has a desire to work in miraculous ways in and through our lives in the coming days. What miraculous event might God bring into your life this Christmas season? Is this the moment that you have the opportunity to heal a broken relationship or maybe see Jesus coming into the heart of a loved one or family member who desperately needs Him? What are your expectations of what Jesus can do in your heart this Christmas season? If we have a Christmas worldview, we should be expecting Jesus to show up in some miraculous way. I believe God wants to invade our lives through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, just as He did in the case of Joseph. I wonder if Jesus shows up in some miraculous way at a family event during the Christmas holidays, will we respond with the same obedience that Joseph did? I wonder if I’ll respond by immediately obeying God and doing that which was right and pleasing in His eyes? I’ve already had the touch of miraculous on my ministry this week. Yesterday, I received an email from one of our former Chinese young people that I had the privilege of baptizing and mentoring some 15 years ago. She told me that she greatly appreciates my ministry, and still sometimes watches the services online. She then told me that she and her husband were donating a significant gift to the ministry of NDC. Shortly thereafter she sent me a second email to let me know that the company that she works for will be matching her rather generous gift. God is able to double and multiply anything we entrust to Him, but we must be obedient and have our hearts and eyes open to Jesus’ miraculous timing and showing up in amazing ways. Will we develop a Christmas worldview and look for the miraculous this Christmas season and obey the Lord when he lays something on our hearts, as my Chinese friends did?
Preparing for Jesus’s visitation,
Pastor Rich Sivo
Comments