Part 1–The Christmas Spirit: A Call to Righteous Action

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

God did not give His only begotten Son for giggles. The was a righteous call God saw and answered for mankind.

Introduction

It’s that time of year again, when many, understandably so, are doing their best to get into the ‘Christmas spirit’.  As I also rejoice over the Christmas lights and music, I feel it necessary to focus on the spirit behind the good tidings of great joy so that it may both dwell in us and pour out of us in any season.  So, over the next three sermons, I’m going to focus on the Christmas spirit, with today’s message focusing on a call to righteous action–God didn’t give His only begotten Son just to do it.

Sin Creates a Sad State

In today’s message, I’m going to share scripture from Isaiah 59, which will help us to understand the spirit behind those good tidings of great joy.

God condemns the sin of His people

The prophecy of Isaiah was for those in the kingdom of Judah, dwelling in Jerusalem, some 150 years after his prophecy.  In Isaiah 59:3-8, we will see where the Lord, through the prophet, spoke to those of Jerusalem, condemning them.

The Lord would condemn them because their hands would be defiled with blood, their fingers with iniquity (wickedness), and their lips would speak lies, and their tongues would mutter perversity.   

God would condemn them because no one would call for justice, nor plead for truth.  He would also condemn the fact that they would put their trust in empty words while, again, speaking lies.  The Lord would condemn them for conceiving evil and bringing forth iniquity.

You see, the Lord would condemn HIs people because of a choice they had made in choosing not to dwell in righteousness, but rather, choosing to dwell in wickedness, disobedience, and sin.  We’re told that God would condemn them because their feet would run to evil and their paths were waste and destruction.  God would condemn them because they didn’t know the way of peace or justice, as they made for themselves crooked paths.

Judah’s unsaveable condition

The southern kingdom of Judah had found itself in a terrible state, in which they wasn’t saved.  The southern kingdom wasn’t saved in that day, not because God couldn’t save them.  The Lord said that His hands weren’t too short that He could not save them, nor were His ears too heavy that He could not hear.

In that day, a day in which the prophet Jeremiah lived, God told him that Jerusalem would be destroyed by a people coming from the north (Jer. 1:14-16).  We know that Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, who laid waste to Jerusalem and carried many away into exile to Babylon.  

Judah, the southern kingdom, wasn’t saved in that day because of that choice they had made.  By choosing to dwell in sin, the Lord told them that they had separated themselves from Him, and therefore, He was hidden from them (Is. 59:2).  Something we must understand is that God will never abide with sin, nor will He ever tolerate it.  Therefore, those who commit themselves to sin will block themselves from God and from ever being saved.

Confession of Mankind’s State

As I often do when it comes to scripture and prophecy, I think about mankind’s present state and wonder.  Today, I wonder whether or not we are in a similar state as Judah was yesterday. 

An ancient cry for help

Those, like Daniel, Ruth, and Mordecai, while dwelling in Babylon, became confessors to the sin of their people.  To answer the question of mankind’s present state, let’s consider the confession of the confessors from Isaiah 59:9-10.

It was prophesied that the confessors would confess that justice was far from them and that they were not overtaken in righteousness.  Now, they should have known justice and righteousness, considering they had received God’s law and were God’s chosen people.

It was prophesied that the confessors would confess that they walked in blackness, groping for the wall like the blind.  They walked in such a manner because their dwelling was not in the light of God but in the darkness of their sin.  In the darkness of their sin, the confessors would confess to stumbling in the noonday as at twilight.  The confessors would also confess to being as dead men in desolate places.

The reason why Judah was in such a state was because they had chosen to dwell out of fellowship with the Lord.  We must understand that the heart (or soul) that dwells out of fellowship with God faces great trouble from sin.  Let me explain the trouble that the soul out of fellowship with God faces.

Sin will weigh on the soul of fellowship with God with all of its weight.  Sin weighs on the soul with the weight of guilt and burden.  When left untreated, the weight of sin will crush, shatter, and destroy the soul.  This is why scripture constantly reminds us that the way of the prideful and the arrogant will always end in destruction.

These prophesied confessors recognized their sin and the condition of their souls.  The confessors recognized their souls were in trouble and that they needed help–they needed saving.

A present cry for help

Do we think that we are in need of help today?  Are we in need of saving in our present state?

We confessors in this present day will confess that, like those of the southern kingdom, our hands are also defiled by blood.  In this land, we do little to combat murder and mass murder.  On the other side of the world, much blood is being shed in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, and those who have the power to stop the shedding of much blood refuse to do so.

Our lips also speak lies and conspiracies, very little truth, as many today seemingly rejoice in all of the lies and conspiracies.  We can also clearly see today that justice is a joke as we live in the same iniquity as those in the southern kingdom.  

We think we know what peace is, but we don’t know peace because we have turned our hearts away from the Lord, to walk in our pride and arrogance.  As the confessors of the southern kingdom said, we also walk in darkness, groping for a wall in the noonday, but repeatedly falling into folly, sin, and temptation like it’s twilight.  

We are led by hatred and bitterness, by covetousness and greed, producing a fruit that is not life-giving fruit.  The confessors of today will confess, like those of ancient times, that we are not overtaken is righteousness, but rather, we are overtaken by sin.  Sin has been left untreated and has put the soul of man in a grave state.  Therefore, we confess today a need for great help–we need saving!

The Righteous Purpose of God’s Giving

Yet, who among us will help us?  Who among us is going to save us from our sin?  Who among us even cares to save?

Paul said to the Romans, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die (to save) (Rom. 5:7).”  Man is too self-absorbed to be concerned about saving another.  Not only that, but man also rejoices in dwelling in sin!  If you take a look around, you will see that man rejoices in injustice, shedding blood, greed, the thought of peace.

Thankfully, you and I don’t have to look for anyone among us to save us from our sins.  

My key verses paint the picture of God’s displeasure with man choosing to live so wickedly.  Not only do we see God’s displeasure with the way of man, but we’ll also see that a fire was burning in Him to move.

God was displeased, seeing that those who chose to turn from evil to dwell in righteousness became prey to those of wickedness.  The Lord was displeased, seeing that there was no justice; it displeased the Lord that oppressors oppressed and suppressors suppressed.  It displeased the Lord that man would not treat each other fairly and equally!

Scripture tells us that the Lord saw that there was no intercessor, and it caused Him to wonder and to move.  A fire burned in the Lord to move for those who desired to dwell in righteousness, rather than wickedness.  A fire burned in the Lord to move against the wicked!

Isaiah 59:16 tells us that the Lord moved, bringing forth salvation by His own arm, being sustained by His own righteousness.  This points to Christ as Christ is the salvation of the Lord.  Christ, God’s only begotten Son, is our salvation, and He is our intercessor!  He is the reason why you and I don’t have to look for no man to save us from our sin because we already have a Savior!

The Burning Fire Behind the Christmas Spirit

This scripture shows us that behind those good tidings of great joy that the angels sang of, and that Gabriel shared in announcing to Mary that she would conceive and give birth to the Son of God, was a hot fire of passion.  

God’s fire burned, and still burns against sin–all that was/is unjust, wicked, and evil.  God’s fire burned, and still burns to deliver the just from all that is was/is unjust.  God’s fire burned, and still burns to deliver the righteous from the unrighteous.  God was not going to sit still while wickedness covered the world in darkness!

I want you to understand that the Christmas spirit is all about our sin and God’s fiery, passionate love to do what was good and right for us!  I will remind you that God’s thoughts towards us are not evil, but are of peace, to give us a future and hope (Jer. 29:11).  Yes, the Christmas spirit is all about love, but love is a fiery and purposeful love!

I want you to pay attention to what is shown to us in Isaiah 59:17.  We are told that God put on righteousness as a breastplate, a helmet of salvation, garments of vengeance, and zeal as a cloak.  God had set Himself to do battle against that which ails mankind’s soul!  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, and the same is true for a good man, but God, without hesitation, was ready to give everything for us!

Getting and Moving in the Christmas Spirit

So, I’ll ask all of you today, is this the kind of spirit you are trying to get into?  Are you getting into the Christmas spirit that moves righteously, with fire and passion to do what is right?  You see, it is the passion to do what is just that is needed today, and we who are of faith ought to have that spirit dwelling in us right now!

In Isaiah 59:21, the Lord said, “This is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants, from this time and forevermore.”

God has made His word and Spirit available to all, so that all may endure and live.  All of us may receive the true Christmas spirit through the inner dwelling of the Holy Spirit, who abides with all those who sincerely love the Lord.  Moreover, the true Christmas spirit is not temporary, but is eternal–forevermore.

Our land and world are the way they are today because we don’t know the true Christmas spirit.  We try to turn the Christmas spirit on like a switch every year around this time.  However, the truth of the matter is that the true spirit of Christmas is far from us because we, mankind as a whole, are far from the Lord.

The true Christmas spirit can’t be purchased.  The Christmas spirit can’t be turned on and off like a switch.  The true Christmas spirit must be forever adopted in one’s heart–that is the only way we can get in, and stay in, the Christmas spirit.

Will you adopt the kind of spirit that will move you to do what is just, what is right?  Will you adopt the kind of spirit that burns with a fervent fire to move with passion, not just for yourself and your loved ones, but also for strangers?

This season, and the seasons to come, regardless of how old or young you may be, will be times and seasons where we must move with zeal and passion for each other.  Yes, we must move with zeal and passion for all of those around us, and we must not ever let it die.  So, let us adopt this kind of spirit today, and never let it die.