This is lesson 2 of 3 in the Uncluttered sermonlink series. See also the kids edition and youth lesson, or watch the full live sermon.
While Christmas should be a time of joy and celebration, it’s often a source of stress and burden. Between decorating, shopping, cooking, party-planning, party-attending, kids programs, family visits and a million other things, the Christmas season can blow through our lives like a hurricane and leave us exhausted. So how can we move beyond all this clutter and actually be able to enjoy the true beauty and meaning of Christmas? The secret to an uncluttered Christmas is to move aside the clutter and make room for what God says really matters.
As you prioritize your Christmas schedule, it makes sense to ensure that your priorities line up with Jesus’, the one whom we’re celebrating. As you look at his life, you discover very quickly that humbly serving was near the top of his list. So if you want to follow Jesus, make room for serving this Christmas.
[Related: How Has Christianity Helped the World]
Make room for a serving Savior
We’re so familiar with the Christmas scene, set with a manger and farm animals, that we can forget how unusual it was that this is the context into which Jesus chose to be born. He could have come as a mighty king in robes, descended to a palace and demanded obedient submission. Instead, he came to a lowly manger, not to demand submission, but to offer salvation. When the angel first appeared to Joseph, he made this very clear.
Matthew 1:21-23 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”
[Related: Honoring, Serving, and Respecting God]
Jesus came to be “with us,” to humbly serve us physically and save us spiritually from our sins. Later in his life, near the start of his ministry, he further described his purpose by reading from an Old Testament passage.
Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.
As we understand this humble serving Savior, it should cause us to want to follow in his example by serving ourselves. Like Jesus, our serving should start very practically.
[Related: Jesus Wasn’t Unwilling to Serve]
Make room for serving immediate needs
Throughout the life of Jesus, he wasn’t just some spiritual sage, he got his hands dirty helping people in very practical ways. We read how he regularly healed people, fed people, encouraged, and comforted people. So if you want to follow the example of Jesus during Christmas, look for practical opportunities to meet people’s immediate needs. This might involve serving locally in a community project, serving at a food bank or rescue mission, visiting hurting people in a hospital or jail, or just reaching out to the struggling person or widow in your neighborhood who could use a hand.
[Related: God Commands Us to Help the Poor]
But as you serve, remember that while meeting immediate needs is part of demonstrating Christian love, it’s not the end of the story. When Jesus served, it was always with the purpose of creating an opportunity to serve their far more important spiritual needs.
[Related: What You Can Do About Poverty]
Make room for serving ultimate needs
Jesus understood our deepest need is not merely physical, but spiritual. He healed and fed people, but knew that if he didn’t ultimately provide spiritual healing, they may live for a while longer but would ultimately face an eternity of suffering apart from God. So he regularly took the opportunity to move from addressing physical concerns to spiritual ones.
While we should absolutely be intentional about meeting the immediate physical needs around us, we’re falling short if we’re not just as intentional about looking for ways to point people to Jesus, their ultimate hope. The best way you can serve anyone is by helping them pursue God.
Finally, remember that Jesus came as Immanuel, “God with us.” He didn’t choose to meet our needs from a safe, comfortable distance, but chose to walk right alongside of us. It will be difficult to really meet people’s needs from afar, so look for opportunities this Christmas to get up close and personal with those in need, and serve them both physically and spiritually.
[Related: Am I a Lukewarm Christian]
Discussion Questions:
- Watch the video together or invite someone to summarize the topic.
- What is your initial reaction to this video? Do you disagree with any of it? What jumped out at you?
- What’s the most stressful part of the Christmas season for you? Why?
- Why do you think Jesus chose to enter this world in such a humble, seemingly undignified way?
- Read Matthew 1:21-23. What did the angel say was the primary purpose of Jesus? What does this teach us about humanity and about God?
- Why is the idea of Immanuel, God being with us, so significant?
- Read Luke 4:18-19. What does this teach us about Jesus’ mission on earth? How does this relate to Matthew 1:21-23?
- Read Matthew 4:23. What does this teach us about the priorities of Jesus?
- Think back over the life of Jesus. What are some of the practical ways Jesus served people’s immediate needs?
- What are some of the immediate needs in your community? How could you practically serve them this Christmas?
- Do you think that just meeting immediate needs without addressing the spiritual need is an adequate way to serve as a Christian? Why or why not?
- What are some of the ultimate spiritual needs of your community? How can you practically serve them?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
