As far as I can remember, I have only
preached from the book of Revelation once. Since we have now come to the last book of the Bible in our year-long study,
and since it is also Christmas, and because the one sermon I have preached from
Revelation is entitled “The Last Telling of the Christmas Story,” I thought I
would share it here with you over these last days of 2014 as we read through
Revelation together. Here is the beginning of the sermon from Revelation 12:1-6….
A parent tells the following story about
attending a Winter Pageant at her son’s school:
Each December, I vowed to make Christmas
a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential
obligations—extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even
overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the
precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.
My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten
that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old. For weeks, he’d been
memorizing songs for his school’s “Winter Pageant.” I didn’t have the heart to
tell him I’d be working the night of the production.
Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I
spoke with his teacher. She assured me there would be a dress rehearsal the morning
of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to
come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.
So, the morning of the dress rehearsal,
I filed in 10 minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down.
Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats.
As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by
their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one,
rose to perform their song. Because the public school system had long stopped
referring to the holiday as “Christmas,” I didn’t expect anything other than
fun, commercial entertainment—songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and
good cheer. So, when my son’s class rose to sing “Christmas Love,” I was
slightly taken aback by its bold title.
Nicholas was aglow,
as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and
bright snow-caps upon their heads. Those in the front row—center stage—held up
large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song.
As the class would
sing “C is for Christmas,” a child would hold up the letter C. Then, “H is for
Happy,” and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented
the complete message, “Christmas Love”.
The performance was
going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her—a small, quiet girl in the front
row holding the letter M upside-down—totally unaware her letter M appeared as a
W.
The audience of 1st
through 6th graders snickered at this little one’s mistake. But she
had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her
W.
Although many
teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last
letter was raised, and we all saw it together.
A hush came over
the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood—the reason
we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in
the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.
For when the last
letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: CHRIST WAS LOVE.
And I believe, he still is.
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