Christmas is a time for believing.
One of my all-time favorite Christmas movies is the original “Miracle on 34th Street.”
A few years ago they made a new version of the movie and I like it, too. But I really love the original black and white movie made in 1947.
I don’t want to spoil the movie for you, and I won’t, but the climax of the movie comes when Santa is put on trial in a courtroom for being Santa. And the burden of proof has to be made that Santa is who he says he is, that he is the real Santa. That he’s Kris Kringle. Old Saint Nick. Or whatever name you call him depending on where in the world you live.
It’s a great story and a wonderful movie about believing. Of course, the big problem in the movie is that there are certain people who don’t believe Santa is really Santa. They have a hard time believing. At some point in their life, they stopped believing.
They lost faith.
What destroys faith?
Faith is a funny thing for us. Sometimes, we have a hard time believing. We have a hard time having faith.
We have a hard time having faith in God. We even lose faith in each other.
Belief gets destroyed by a lot of things, but in my experience, it seems like more often than not…
People stop believing when they are disappointed.
People stop believing in people when they are disappointed by people.
People stop believing in God when they are disappointed by God.
Has someone ever let you down?
I know I’ve been let down by people before. People I look up to and respect have let me down. And whenever that happens I tend to lose faith in that person. I begin to doubt that they are who I thought they were. I may not trust them to be there for me in the future because of the way they let me down in the past.
Have you ever felt disappointed by God?
I know I’ve felt that, too. I don’t say that lightly and I pray God would forgive me for all the times I’ve misunderstood how He was working in my life. But there have been times when things didn’t work out the way I was hoping and praying they would. I’ve cried out to God for God to do things only God could do. And for whatever reason things didn’t work out. When we’re disappointed by God we tend to stop trusting God, at least the way we once did. And it’s harder for us to look to him again in the future when we’re not sure about His presence and activity in our lives in the past.
We lose faith. At least, we lose a little faith.
So how can we overcome disappointment? How can we begin to believe again?
Faith that will Never Fail
Followers of Jesus have a long history of struggling with doubt, disappointment, and faith. So I want you to know today that if you have doubts, if you have questions, if you don’t have it all figured out, if you’ve been disappointed, that’s normal and you are in the right place.
Church isn’t a place for perfect people who have perfect faith. Church is a place where people who are striving to follow Jesus through the highs and lows of life come together to encourage each other, learn together, grow together, and seek God together. And that’s what was happening in the church in the ancient city of Rome some 2000 years ago.
They weren’t the perfect church. Far from it. But Paul wanted to write to them to encourage them in their faith, to encourage them to keep the faith, keep believing, even though sometimes it’s not easy to hold on to faith.
Here’s what Paul says in Romans 5.1 about faith:
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith…
Up to this point in the letter, Paul has used the word “faith” 23 different times!
According to Paul, faith…
This Good News (the gospel) tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” – Romans 1.17
We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. – Romans 3.22
But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. – Romans 4.5
So, according to Paul, if you want to be right with God have FAITH in His Son. Believe that Jesus is who He says He is. Faith is life-giving and life-changing. It’s through faith in Jesus that we are forgiven.
And the kind of faith Paul wants us to have, by the way, isn’t the kind of faith that can be disappointed. It’s faith that leads to salvation. Its faith in Jesus who forgives sin. It’s not faith that God is a genie in a bottle and will grant you 3 wishes. Its faith in a God who is faithful to forgive and save you from your sin because of what Jesus did on the cross. And faith in God through Jesus for that purpose will NEVER FAIL!
Peace
So Paul says,
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by FAITH…
we have PEACE with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
Who in here wants peace? Especially peace at Christmas? I know I do.
Thanksgiving night my parents were in town so Alisha decided we should go out that night and do some Black Friday shopping. Our first stop was Wal-Mart. What I witnessed in that Wal-Mart that night was not peace on Earth!
When Jesus was born, angels appeared in a nearby field. You remember the song….
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King!
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.”
That’s a pretty good version of the announcement the angels made the night Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
But before the angels appeared in the field to announce His birth, an angel appeared to Joseph who was preparing to separate himself from Mary. Mary had been away visiting her cousin Elizabeth who is too old to have a baby and has never had a child, but somehow, by the power of God, she is pregnant. Mary went to see Elizabeth because she is also pregnant. But she’s not too old, if anything, she’s too young! She hasn’t even exchanged marriage vows with Joseph yet. So you can imagine his surprise when she returns to Nazareth from her visit to Elizabeth’s house to find that somehow Mary is pregnant!?
But an angel comes to Joseph in a dream and tells Joseph…
“…do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. (WHY? Because…) He will save His people from their sins.” – Matthew 1.20-21
In other words, He will make people right with God. He will put people at peace with God.
How? By FAITH.
And who was one of the first people to believe this message? Joseph!
If you keep reading, you find out that when he woke up he married Mary and he honored her and God by not having sex with her until after Jesus was born.
He believed. He had faith. And that faith acted out in obedience made way for Jesus to enter the world!
The Rest of the Story
Ok, I know I said I wasn’t going to do this, but I’m going to do it anyway. In the classic movie, Miracle on 34th Street, Santa’s attorney finds a way to prove Santa’s true identity.
You see, a little girl by the name of Susan writes Santa a letter. And that letter is delivered to Santa. To Kris Kringle. To the man on trial in the courtroom. And that letter gives Santa’s attorney an idea. Watch this…
Watch this…
So if this letter delivered to Santa by the USPS believes that Santa really is Santa, then who are they to decide otherwise? In order to prove that Santa was in fact, Santa, the court needed evidence.
The Evidence
How do you find faith in God, how do you begin to believe again that Jesus is who He says He is?
Maybe you, too, need evidence.
Can I suggest that you take a look at Joseph?
If Joseph was compelled to believe that Mary’s pregnancy was from God, so much so that He took Mary to be his wife, raised Jesus as his own son, and did everything within his power to save Jesus and protect Mary, even when that meant fleeing Bethlehem and finding refuge in Egypt when Herod was trying to find Jesus and kill him after his birth… if Joseph believed that Jesus is the Son of God, maybe we should too.
Can I suggest you take a look at Paul?
If Paul was compelled to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, that He was the Messiah, even after Paul had dedicated his life to killing Christians and putting an end to people who believed that Jesus was the long-awaited Savior of the world, maybe we should too.
Can I suggest you take a look at the men and women of faith in your own life?
You probably know people who believe in Jesus, who have faith in God, yet their lives have not been easy. They have suffered heartache. They have been through the fire. Things have not always gone their way. Yet they still believe. They still have faith. And if they still believe, if they still have hope, even after everything they have been through, if they still haven’t given up on God, then maybe you can believe in Him too.
For Joseph, for Paul, for the men and women of faith in your own life, their faith wasn’t in their plans. Their faith wasn’t in their circumstances. Their faith wasn’t in people. Their faith was in God and in His Son, Jesus.
And that faith in God has produced tremendous peace.
Faith leads to Peace
If you’re looking for evidence, if you’re searching to find if you can believe again, if you can have faith again, even when you find yourself in the middle of your doubts, look to those who have gone before you and look at the people of faith around you. They will all give witness to this truth:
Christmas is a time for believing. What we believe changes our life. Faith in Jesus leads to life and peace.
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