It's comedy. It's over the top. The Griswold family makes plans for a "perfect" family Christmas. But predictably, their holiday turns into a giant disaster.
At the start, neither Audrey or Rusty, with their sour faces, are interested singing Christmas carols in the back of the station wagon.
Clark gets into a dangerous cat and mouse game with a truck driver who cut him off, eventually causing them to crash into the Christmas tree lot.
Then Clark makes his family tromp miles through the snow, searching for that one perfect tree, only for Rusty to remind them they forgot the saw!
Later that night, after dragging the tree home (which they had to dig up by the roots), they unfurrow the tree only for its branches to destroy the family room. Clark's hands are so covered in sap, everything sticks to his hands (i.e. pages of the magazine he tries to read)!
And who can forget Clark's plan of illuminating his house w/25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights, only to fall off his ladder, sending an ice cycle flying through their neighbor's window, destroying their home entertainment center.
A Christmas Vacation is supposed to be a time of rest and relaxation--a time to escape everything and rejuvenate. But this isn't always what happens. We don't get to escape. Things happen. There can be disappointment, a comedy of mishaps, hard news to digest. The Holiday's aren't always so "happy", nor Christmas so "merry."
You know Lara loves this Hallmark station. Any of you ever watch any of those Hallmark movies? They all have hallmark endings. There is love, joy, peace, hope. Every plot line gets resolved. Every character leaves you feeling the warm fuzzies. Their so nice and happy. But then there is that Lifetime movie channel. People die. Everyone's sad. Every man is a sadistic creep, every husband is a cheater or wife beater, every woman and child are a victim. Sometimes she turns on that "Real Housewives of Springfield" show (joke). Those women keep it real! They make men look like saints!
You know life isn't always Merry and Happy. Sometimes it's like Hallmark. Sometimes it's like Lifetime. Many times it's just "all too real." One thing life isn't, is easy. Things don't always get resolved. Life this side of eternity doesn't always have a nice, perfect ending. Pain, injustice, evil sometimes linger for uncomfortably long time.
Instead of Christmas Vacation, what if we were to talk about Christmas "Staycation." As Christians, we're apt to talk about deliverance, escape, rescue, victory, salvation. The gospel promises that ultimately, through faith in Jesus, we will receive all of these. But this isn't where we live. You know the Bible talks just as much about "remaining, abiding, and staying..." We don't always get to vacate. Sometimes we're forced to live in the tension of the now and not yet, between the promise and the fulfillment. Sometimes we have to stay in a posture of waiting, trusting, hoping, loving, persevering, and longing. What if you learned to take a "staycation" this Christmas?
This morning's topic is about learning to "stay in faith." This whole message can be summed up in one sentence: "You can trust God no matter the what..." Why not repeat that to yourself? "I can trust God no matter the what..." I'm all about trusting God. Believing in Jesus. But just because you trust in God doesn't mean you get an instantaneous hallmark ending to all your problems.
I think of the Psalmist, in Psalm 13 crying out, "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?" What must it have been like for this Psalmist to "stay in faith" and trust God no matter the what?
I think of the Martyrs, gathered around the throne of God in heaven, in Revelation 6:10 crying out, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth." You know Christmas looks quite a bit different in the Middle East, in Iraq/Syria, in Egypt. Maybe you heard the Pope describe Christmas as one big charade, given all the war and violence breaking out around the world, people suffering, Christians being persecuted, evil escalating? What's it look like for non-Americans to stay in faith, trust God no matter the what?
I think of Habakkuk the prophet crying out, Hab 1:1-3, "How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted." Maybe you heard Winston Churchill's great-grandson declare that 1938 appears to be happening all over again... with pre-WWII conditions resetting internationally. How do you stay in faith with prospect of war looming overhead, with sons and daughters, spouses... facing danger?
There was something very hardcore about the first Christmas. When you read the Christmas narratives (directly out of your Bible... not the cleaned up and sanitized child storybook version), there is zero sugar coating. God was sending his One and Only Son into a very dark, depraved, and corrupted world. A world filled with injustice, vengeance, violence, wrongdoing, strife, unmitigated sadness and sorrow.
In the first Christmas, nobody got an instantaneous Hallmark moment. I want you to think long and hard about that. Jesus was born, but didn't get revealed as Messiah to Israel until 30 years later. And even as Jesus died, was buried, and raised, and ascended... his Kingdom was just beginning to take root in Jerusalem.
The book of ACTS is about the way God's Kingdom began to expand to the ends of the earth. But those early Christians, the Apostles, paid dearly for their newfound faith. The church scattered because of persecution. Stephen became the first Christian martyr. The apostles were thrown into prison, beaten, and died defending their resurr. hope. The latter epistles were written to encourage Christians facing persecution, loss.
That's what I mean when I say the first Christmas, even the first Christian century, was hardcore. Let's take Matthews gospel as an example. In Matthew 1:1-17 we have the genealogy of Jesus, tracing all the way back to Abraham. Matthew tells us in verse 17, ". . . there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile in Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah."
What if the answer to "how Long O Lord" is fourteen + fourteen + fourteen generations? Would you still trust God? And what if those centuries were filled with ups and downs, dark turns and detours? What if during that time your homeland was overrun by the Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, Alexander the Great, the Romans?
I think you would agree that "staying in faith" meant something deeper to the people of the Bible, and around our world, than what it probably means to us.
Joseph was pledged to be married, but then finds out his wife is pregnant. What did it look like for him to stay in faith in the face of such shame and disgrace? Mary found herself with child. Her defense? Her child was conceived not of Joseph, not of some other man, but of the Holy Spirit. And her child was the Son of God.
Talk about a scandal! Who would have believed her? Promiscuity was a capital offense in her day. What might it have looked like for her to stay in faith for some 30+ years, before people truly believed her story? What does it look like to stay in faith wondering if you might be stoned to death? If told folks your son is God, liable be stoned for blasphemy.
In those days King Herod reigned throughout all Judea. He was a violent, immoral, insecure man. The moment he heard a King was to be born among the Jews, he launched a baby hunt. He went so far as to slaughter every boy under two years of age living in Bethlehem. We're told how great weeping and mourning broke out among those mothers who lost their sons, and how they refused to be comforted, because their sons "were no more." What does it look like to stay in faith amidst such lost? There's no hallmark ending happening here. Joseph and Mary fled Herod, then they fled Herod's successor. They faced unimaginable hardships--refugee status.
I'm just saying maybe if you don't relate to the sanitized cultural Christmas, you can relate to the real Christmas. In the real Christmas you learn how to "trust God no matter the what." No vacation, but stay-cation. No hallmark but real life. Stay in faith. Stay in hope. Waiting, watching, praying, trusting, suffering, enduring, hoping...
I have some practical advice to those of you facing a possible Christmas staycation this December. You will be tempted to focus on the "WHAT." The more you focus on the WHAT, the more angry, bitter, and hopeless you will feel. Look at what is going on around you. Do you think our obsession with terrorism, wars and rumors or war, race riots, race protests, injustice, deranged murderers is going to yield something fruitful or life-giving? This season God is inviting us to shift our focal point from THE WHAT to THE WHO. God is good. God is great. God is love. God is faithful. Make list!
The reason Matthew shares the lengthy genealogy of Jesus (14 + 14 + 14) is to remind us that no matter what the timeline, God is faithful, God is sovereign, and his plan of salvation can never be thwarted.
The reason Matthew shares the story of Joseph and Mary is to illustrate that no matter what curveballs come our way, God will provide, he will lead us through the darkness every step of the way, he will contend with our enemies and the Adversary.
The reason Matthew tells us about king Herod is to remind us that a new King has taken his thrown, and has begun ruling from our hearts, and all of us are invited to participate in his reign by faith. God answered the Psalmist. He answered the prophet Habakkuk. He is answering the cries of the Martyrs in Revelation. God's Kingdom is advancing over the face of this earth, no matter how dark, no matter how twisted things may seem. And God is inviting us to remain, wait, persevere, and "stay in faith" while he brings about his purpose/plan. That's the true nature of Christmas.
I have two simple actions I'd like you to take. Sometime this week, read Matthew 1-2 in your Bible. Romans 15:4 says, "Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouraged they provide we might have hope." Why not read Matthew 1-2 and reflect on how Mary and Joseph, those moms, or how those 14+14+14 generations of people might have learned to stay in faith/ trusting God. What did they learn about God's faithfulness? His love? His purpose/plan? Read Psalm 13. Read Habakkuk the prophet. Read Romans 8. Read Revelation.
Second, I want to challenge you to make worship a priority this month. Don't let our culture, and family demands, squeeze Christ out of your Christmas. I'm telling you, the economic hype, the Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the 24 hour news cycle, family pressures and demands... it will squeeze the hope out of you. Will you stay rooted this December by making worship a priority? You will encounter God in this series in a new and fresh way--there is so much to talk about!
This is going to be a great series. Over next few week we're tackling the topics "Staying in Love." "Staying in Peace." "Staying in Hope." and "Staying in Mission."