We go to great lengths to make sure the church looks good.  While no one else is looking we make sure that when others see the church, they see something that’s nice, well maintained, clean, and orderly.  It’s no different from our own homes, if you have family coming over soon for a Christmas celebration, you’re likely already working hard on that to-do-list.  Knocking out projects, decorating the house, cleaning, and making sure the areas that others will see look just right.  We know no one will be in our bedroom, closets or that basement storage room so all the unsightly things get piled there.  We’d be so embarrassed if others saw our mess. 

Back to the church….I’m not making an argument that we shouldn’t clean and maintain the building….this actually has nothing to do with the building.  It has nothing to do with the great job the men and women who work behind the scenes to prep our building for events and Worship.  It doesn’t even have anything to do with reverence in worship.  It has everything to do with what the church actually is….the people.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not encouraging you to come in your Sunday “Worst”; this has little to do with how you dress, how you groom yourselves or anything else like that.   

In Sunday School, we’ve just started back on our study of Acts.  When I study Scripture, my mind tends to wander towards imagining what things were really like, the perspective of those at that time.  For me in Acts, the question I think through is what it would have been like to be a part of the early church.  Based on the way things happened…and happened quickly…I have to imagine that the early church was a complete and total mess.  Can you imagine what the early church was like in the weeks and months following the addition of 3000 in Acts 2:47….the continued addition of people daily as mentioned in Acts 2:47…the 5000 added in Acts 4:4…the multitudes added in Acts 5:12.  Can you imagine the mess that the early church was?  I’m not talking organizationally….although that was lacking as well considering as we see in Acts 14:23, Paul and Barnabas were appointing elders in every church.   

Think about this for a minute…while we are new creations in Christ when we start our relationship with Christ….that doesn’t mean all of the sudden we’re sin free does it?  We continue to work through our salvation day by day…sometimes taking big steps forward….sometimes small steps.  So what I’m getting at is the early church had to be full of people who were recent converts or new creations as well as those they knew that through the spread of the gospel were there to see what was going on.  You’re talking about people who by in large probably didn’t know the right way to act in church….probably didn’t know the right way to respond to teaching…..probably didn’t know how to respect the elders of the church….probably didn’t say all the right things or avoid using all the “bad words”.  It just had to be a mess.  When you think about it, even those that the Spirit was putting in positions of leadership within the body were relatively new believers.  If we have no better example, consider Peter.  He spent roughly 3 years with Christ…then when Jesus was to be crucified….Peter in all of his spiritual maturity was denying Christ…..and post resurrection, it’s only a short time before Christ set Peter on the path to be one of the most important leaders in the early church.   

Here’s what I’m getting at…I think we may have a picture of the church as properly functioning when the people come, they dress the right way, they behave the right way, they respect everyone, and are all growing in their relationship with Christ just like we are.  While that’s a nice idea, I think that might be more our spiritual immaturity coming out than our maturity.  The church should be a mess.  It should be in a constant state of transition as new believers come in, lost people are present seeking answers from God and people are working out their salvation.   

If our Sunday School groups, our Worship services, our Bible Studies, and Events look like your clean house right before the relatives comes over….I think we’re missing something.  Where’s the clutter?  Where’s the mess?  Where is the genuineness of our lives being a mess?  Where are the new believers?  Where are the lost?   

As we approach 2018, how about we mess up the place?  Please don’t spill your coffee on the carpet…but how about you and I grow in spiritual maturity by making the church a mess, instead of trying to cultivate a clean environment that appeals to our own selfishness, let’s mess up the place and engage new believers, share the gospel with the lost and bring the seekers into the church.  Let’s channel our inner early church, the Holy Spirit, and make a mess as big as Christmas morning! 

THE UNOPENED GIFT

    Christmas had come and gone once again. The family had all gathered together, eaten grandma's cinnamon rolls, laughed, talked, opened presents, eaten a large holiday dinner, watched football, napped, said their goodbyes and left.  Such a buildup for such a short time of pleasure.  Shopping had been going on for a couple months, plans made for who would bring which dish for the “Christmas feast,” decorating the house (inside and out), and wrapping presents.  But now, it was all over for another year.  The children were overwhelmed with all the toys which will most likely be broken, lost, or forgotten in four months.  Adults expressed their gratitude for gifts they honestly didn't need or like.  What is the meaning of all this???

    The tree and decorations were left in place for a few weeks, and then taken down and put in storage boxes in the attic for another year.  But then, a gift was noticed, sitting alone in the corner, unwrapped, untouched, actually with layers of dust collected on its surface.  Now you wouldn't think a group of excited, happy, anticipating people would leave a gift untouched…but there it was.  This gift wasn't only abandoned this year—it has been abandoned for people's lifetimes, for generations, for centuries!  

    Have you noticed how people judge the value of a gift?  For example, an item from an expensive jewelry store versus a T-shirt from Walmart?  It's assumed that if the giver paid more for the item, it must mean they cared more.  Also, people notice how a gift is wrapped—with beautiful wrapping paper, a ribbon and bow, or a brown paper bag.  Why wasn't the unopened gift sitting in the corner appealing to someone?  Did they assume it had no value?  Was the wrapping unattractive?

    Before Christmas, how many times are you asked, “What would you like for Christmas?”  When you're a child, the first thing you think of is a toy.  Teenagers would probably prefer an electronic device, while those older would prefer gift cards so they could spend them on any whim, or impulse, they might have.  As you get older, it becomes more difficult because you've had many things in your life, and you realize they're all very temporary.  There truly isn't much you need or want.  You also begin to realize it is the “intangible” things that count—the smile on a child's face; the love between two people, the firm handshake of an old friend, the beauty of nature, and music.  That is why it's common to hear older people respond to this question by saying: “world peace,” “unity,” “quiet,” “harmony,” etc.  These gifts are hard to find, especially in our day and age!   May I ask you that same question: “What would you like for Christmas?”

    Perhaps no one thought this unopened package was meant for them; but, if they had only taken the time to examine the tag, they would see it says: “TO – WHOSOEVER BELIEVES.”  Now, if it had just said “Whosoever,” it might have been opened, but that second word may have caused pause.  By “believing,” is there a requirement or commitment?  Many people prefer to make up their own “belief system” to be compatible with their current life style.

    Yes, there is a condition for receiving this gift.  And, yes, this is a gift of immeasurable value. 

    How much did this gift cost?  Well, the Giver suffered mocking, indignity, terrible torture and a terrible death to pay for this gift.  Have you ever seen a “gift” that cost that much?  He knew what the cost would be, and had the choice of withholding it, but He didn't.  Why?  Because He loved “Whosoever Would Receive It” much more than the suffering it would cost Him.

    So, I hope you're asking, what does this gift contain?  Well for starters: love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.  Could you use these characteristics in your life?  Also, “eternal life” or immortality—living with the Giver of this gift ~ Forever! 

    Oh, and He promised you would have “abundant life,” beginning with the opening of this gift!  He also promised He would return to personally take you with Him to a place He has been preparing for you—a place where there is no death, no sickness, no sorrow, no crime, no violence, no disappointment, no tears, no fear, no immorality, no sin, no lying, stealing, or hatred.  He promised to put His spirit within you, so that He would always be with you.  You can call on Him anytime, anywhere, and He is there!

    This gift is why there is a CHRISTmas.  The gift is Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, who came to this earth two thousand plus years ago to deliver this gift.  He gave up His throne in Heaven to become a man, remained sinless Himself, but took the penalty for the sins of everyone who would believe in Him and accept His gift of salvation.  I'm sure you've heard these verses from the Bible, but perhaps now they might have more meaning for you.

 John 3:16:  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Romans 6:23:  “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

2 Corinthians 9:15:  “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”

Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

    I recently saw a news report that said people would spend some 40+ billion (billion with a b), dollars on Christmas gifts this year.  Unfortunately none of the gifts will satisfy.  In less than a year from now, we'll be doing the same thing over again.  I am telling you about one gift that DOES satisfy, not for just a lifetime, but forever!

1 Corinthians 15:1-4: “Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.  Or unless you never believed it in the first place.  I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.”

Romans 10:9-11: “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

    If you haven't opened God's gift, please don't delay another minute!  Open your heart and receive His free gift of forgiveness and salvation.  It will give you a joy and peace that the world can't understand.  You will become a member of a large family of people who also believe and understand.  It will give you a desire to pass it on to others who have been too busy, or clinging to a life that is full of worldly things that will never satisfy the heart.

    I pray this will be the most blessed of any Christmas you've ever had.  The True meaning of Christmas changes a person's life and outlook.  It gives hope that nothing else offers, and it's there just waiting to be opened and received.

May God Bless you and keep you, and always walk with you.