ACCEPT GOD’s FOREVER GIFT
PSALM 128
LUKE 2: 4-17
JULY 26, 2026 – CHRISTMAS in JULY
This is a Sunday I have thought about … I have given it a lot of thought in many ways but yet this is a day in my life’s journey that is filled with challenges but then again, I think that most of us have our own personal collection of days filled with challenges so I am not in the least bit more or less special than anyone else. I sense the pressures of life and have lots of questions including the 487 questions I have for God when this journey is over … there just might be a couple more I need to add.
A couple of friends have suggested that I lead all of you in my version of the TWELVE DAYS of CHRISTMAS this morning … I think that they were hoping to watch segments of our congregation … all of you … stand up on cue to sing about those drummers drumming, maids a milking, FIVE GOLDEN RINGS … and of course ‘and a Partridge in a Pear Tree’ … I decided to save you from actively standing and singing and being full participants in this morning’s CHRISTMAS in JULY Sunday. But let’s give it one good signing about that bird in a pear tree … “And, a “
Perhaps that is our beginning point today … an introductory note for my upcoming sermon series on FOCUS, which begins next week when the women of the church return after having a special Sunday today down in Ocean City at the Ocean City Tabernacle. A beginning point about our reluctance to make our sabbath days … our Sunday’s … our church days … special to the level that we want to be actively engaged in are willingly engaged in and with church in a way that connects us to God in worship praise and yes, joy.
Since I was a young boy Christmas has mattered to me … it’s been special to me and it’s been a holiday shared with others that combined church, gifts, mom’s Christmas cookies, the great Christmas songs ranging from “City sidewalks busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style in the air there’s a feeling of Christmas” to Rudolph with his nose so bright and if you have been in this church for any length of time or noticed our closer for July you know that I love “Joy to the World … the Lord has come … let earth receive her king.” Have you received that king, Jesus Christ … in a way that has changed you?
Every December I watch ‘A Charlie Brown’s Christmas’ because I not only enjoy the nostalgia of Linus telling Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about but perhaps … I have come to realize that as a jaded, cynical, worn down and broken man who has to face challenges that seem to increase exponentially with time … every December I realize that I need to be reminded about Christmas … God’s forever gift to each of us regardless of our appearance … not relevant to our financial status, our health realities, to the languages we speak or whether we are fully vested in the right political party or just someone who came here to find a better life for ourselves and our families …
During the Christmas season God’s gift of love is under a bright shining spotlight or as we Christians might say under a bright star even amidst the glitz of shopping sprees … Charlie Brown asks “doesn’t anyone know what Christmas is all about” and then Linus reads … “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will toward men.”
One minute and eighteen seconds on our television sets … watched by millions a reminder … church do you need the reminder like I do? God’s gift of love … a forever gift … Linus says, “that’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.”
Great joy … good tidings … delivered to hard working shepherds initially frightening them. They were sore afraid … but then that focus was revealed … a focus that I believe was meant to be an assignment or perhaps better defined as a benefit of God’s ultimate Christmas gift for those who paid attention … peace and good will toward men.
Did you listen as Lori read from the Psalms this morning … I wonder. I do wonder when I think about churches and houses of worship … I do wonder how frequently individuals like each of us truly are focused on God’s forever gift to the extent that we hear and embrace the reading of God’s Word … that we sing with exuberance because the songs are about worship … that we turn off our cell phones or bury them away knowing that we don’t need them for the hour we give to God on Sabbath … Lori read Psalm 128 in its entirety. It’s a Psalm that worshipers used to sing on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate regularly scheduled religious festivals so it does fit it as we celebrate Christmas in July … did you hear the words … did you read them with her from the screen? Did those of you worshiping online focus in on the words before you on your TV screens and tablets?
I am sure that few if any of us sing on our way to church … we might be too busy reading our social media … or debating diner options or even gossiping but this Psalm these words … are reminders that we should be accepting God’s forever gift in Jesus Christ and allowing Christ to change our lives … “Everyone who honors the Lord, who walks in God’s ways … is TRULY HAPPY. YOU will definitely enjoy what you’ve worked hard for … you’ll be HAPPY! All around your table … your children will be like olive trees, freshly planted. That’s how it goes for anyone who honors the LORD; they will be blessed.”
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
This week I have thought about Barb Hoffman … how much she loved Vacation Bible School … how much she loved and honored God … I thought of dear sweet Lil Quillin whose faith resonated until the day she died … her faith challenged me to do better.
And this week I have thought a lot about a friend none of you know … well if any friend from Buffalo is watching our service today they might know my friend Mike Billoni. He’s well known in Western New York especially amongst those active in sports. Mike is friends with the movers and shakers but more importantly Mike lives out his faith every day … his life changed when he suffered a very public and incredibly awful accident while riding his bike a number of years ago. He suffered brain damage but he has not stopped … his faith is incredibly strong; his optimism and spirit amazingly positive and this past week he’s been in New Jersey for a writer’s conference and I teased him … actually invited him to come here today but he was headed home last night.
As we consider the value of God’s gift to us in Jesus Christ … God’s life changing gift that brings us a peace that goes beyond human understanding … a gift that when we accept it changes our perspectives from just fitting in with the world to instead prioritizing God and becoming known for our joy and our love. Mike posted these words from Jesus this past week … fitting when we consider what Christmas really means … they are Jesus’ words … “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
That’s a message from Jesus … that’s a Christmas reminder if we are willing to accept God’s forever gift in Jesus Christ … the Christmas gift all too often lost amidst ripped glittering wrapping paper … all too often lost in the football games, the arguments, and the adding up of credit card bills … God’s gift … the Christmas story … we are all burdened with stuff … I know I am … it can be overwhelmingly painful at times … we need Christmas reminders and then need to come to Jesus again and again!
My friend Mike has issued a challenge to his friends in the business world, his friends in civic organizations, and yes, his friends like me who serve in capacities in churches, synagogues, and mosques. Mike knows everyone it seems. Mike is concerned about the disappearance of the Christmas spirit … he’s frustrated by the lack of peace on earth … he does all he can to encourage everyone to give back to help the poor and struggling just like this church family is doing with SEEDS of HOPE and RED BIRD.
Here’s some of what Mike wrote … it’s truly a Christmas gift and a Christmas challenge from July … CHRISTMAS in JULY and perhaps it will get you thinking about what you can do … who you can help … how you can incorporate God and Christ into your life with God’s forever loving gift. Mike wrote: I thank my dear friends for encouraging me to begin each morning by reading my devotionals and getting into The Word. I received an amazing new Bible for my birthday to inspire me more. This morning’s daily insights by Zig Ziglar is entitled “Golden Rule.”
“Treat Everyone Like You Would Like To Be Treated! Ziglar writes “Living by The Golden Rule involves a series of conscious choices to initiate kindness, respect, honor, words of affirmation, and patience to proclaim to someone ‘You matter to me!’
“If we make radical acceptance of others a central value in our lives, amazing things will happen. If you do this to others around you on a continuous basis, slowly but surely they will begin to give back the acceptance they have received from us.
“That’s how it works. It’s really not that hard.”
Mike concludes by writing, “I would like to see every church in this region begin and end each service by reciting The Golden Rule. I would encourage business owners and political leaders to begin each meeting with The Golden Rule. Let’s start a movement! It starts with you and then have Faith and Patience it will gain steam!
That’s what Christmas is all about … Do It! Honor the Lord … walk in God’s ways! For unto us a child has been born; a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And, Jesus taught the world, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It’s not that hard … even when the day isn’t called Christmas. AMEN