Sermon Tone Analysis

By Pastor Glenn Pease

Lucy is expounding on the meaning of Christmas and she says, "this is the time of the year that we show kindness and good will, when we accept others and welcome them into our home."

Charlie Brown says, "why can't we be kind and accepting all through the year and not just at Christmas?" Lucy looks at him and says, " what are you, some kind of religious fanatic?"

That is the way many people feel about those who would want to be a Christian even after Christmas.

There is something unreal about the Christmas spirit that only lasts till the lights and tinsel are put back into the attic.

A seasonal Christian who reveals some kind of religious interest at Christmas only is not a real Christian.

It is not fanaticism but normal Christian living to have the Christmas spirit all year long.

One of the problems with the Christmas season is that people feel they have to try and cram too much Christian living into too small a segment of time.

David Grayson said, "I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas day.

We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year.

As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year."

There is no magic in December 25 that cannot be experienced any other day on which you decide to honor the gift of God, and praise Him for the Lord Jesus.

The real fanatic is the one who thinks you can get your religious devotion done at Christmas-who thinks thanking and praising God is a minor part-time commitment that can be gotten out of the way through a special event or two.

The gift of God is unreal to one with such a mind.

It is not just the tree, but the whole of Christmas is artificial to those who do not treasure the gift of God everyday of the year.

In the comic strip "Tiger", two little boys are talking and the one says, "We got an artificial tree this year."

The other boy asked, "Doesn't it bother you?"

He replied, "No, not as long as the presents are real!"

That is to be the Christians attitude.

Everything can be artificial and superficial, but he or she will still have the Christmas spirit because God's Present is real.

Ray Phillips said, "Christmas is real.

It's the rest of the year that is a myth."

If the gift of God is real then all of life is made real by this ultimate reality in Christ.

The poet put it beautifully-

Yet more and more we know Thee real,

And marvel more and more to see

Thine infinite Reality.

Reality, reality,

Lord Jesus Christ Thou art to me!

My glorious king, my Lord, my God,

Life is too short for half the laud,

For half the debt of praise I owe,

For this blest knowledge that "I know

The reality of Jesus Christ,"-

Unmeasured blessing, gift unpriced!

Will I not praise Thee when I see

In the long noon of Eternity

Unveiled, Thy "Bright reality"?

Author Unknown

In the popular children's story, The Valveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams, the rabbit asks the toy horse that was so bald in patches because of hundreds of hours of being held and rubbed, "what is real"?

The horse replies-"Real isn't how you are made.

Its a thing that happens to you.

When a child loves you for a long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become real".

For some, the baby Jesus is just another toy they play with.

Its fun, but they never really come to love the gift of God.

But for those who do, Jesus is a gift that is loved and treasured not just at Christmas, but every day.

He is real and not just a seasonal plaything.

The poet says it so well-

Lets have Christmas every day

The gladness and the heartfelt mirth,

Good will towards men and peace on earth;

The simple joy of giving things

To gain the joy that giving brings.

The practicing of what we preach

In word and deed, in thought and speech.

Lets have Christmas every day-

Its wrong to wait the weary year

to bring some fellow creature cheer.

We should adopt the better plan

Of doing good whenever we can.

But do it now, next Christmas may

Not come at all-Let's live today!

Author Unknown

If the Christmas gift if real to you, then the Christmas spirit will be real to you every day.

This was the spirit of the shepherds.

As soon as the angels were gone they said lets go see this thing that has happened.

These men did not know it was Christmas for the holiday did not yet exist.

It was just another day, but one of great excitement now.

They did not say to themselves, we have seen the supernatural-angels have spoken to us- we will be famous.

They did not run to reporters to try and get on the front page or discuss what memorial they should erect in memory of this encounter.

Their field never became anything but a field for they had a proper focus on what was real.

Many a place where people have seen visions become places where people build temples, and others make pilgrimages to worship there.

But this is all a dealing with the unreal.

The angels did not come to them to make themselves objects of worship, or to make the place a sacred spot of worship.

They came to point the shepherds to Jesus.

This was also the job of the Star of Bethlehem.

It was to lead the wise men, not to worship the stars or anything in heaven, but to worship the Christ-child.

The star and the angels were only means to point men to the Real, which was Christ.

If the angels would have moved the shepherds to go to the library to study up on angels, and if the star would have moved the wise men to study astronomy deeper, they would have failed to achieve their purpose.

Their one and only purpose was to move men to meet their Savior.

They were great successes because that is precisely what they accomplished.

John Erskine wrote,

Out of the midnight sky a great dawn broke,

And a voice singing flooded us with song.

In David's city was he born, it sang,

A Savior, Christ the Lord.

Then while I sat

Shivering with the thrill of that great cry,

A mighty choir a thousandfold more sweet

Suddenly sang, Glory to God, and Peace-

Peace on earth; my heart, almost unnerved.

By that swift loveliness, would hardly beat.

Speechless we waited till the accustomed night

Gave us no promise of sweet surprise;

Then scrambling to our feet, without a word

We started through the fields to find the Child.

To find the Child-that was the goal.

Anything that takes us off the path that leads to Christ is not part of God's plan.

The job of the angels and the star was finished when the shepherds and the wise men bowed before the Christ-child.

The shepherds were the most unique people in all of history in that they were the only people to receive a direct message from God about the birth of His Son.