We Interrupt This Program…
Special Edition Sermon Notes with Bonus Material for
Email Subscribers
First Sunday of Advent
December 2, 2007
Rev. Jim O’Neal,
Senior Pastor
(480) 895-8766
Luke 2:8-20 NRSV
8In
that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their
flock by night. 9Then an
angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around
them, and they were terrified. 10But
the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good
news of great joy for all the people: 11to
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the
Lord. 12This will be a sign
for you: you will find a child wrapped
in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the
highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
15When
the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one
another, “Let us go now to
A. Introduction
1. We
Interrupt This Program…
a.
Some days are etched in our minds.
I remember November 22, 1963 quite well.
I was a freshman in High School.
I was a young man filled with idealism and hope. And while I did not hear the words on
television as my mother did: “We
interrupt this program to bring you a special news report.” Our High School Principal used similar words
to tell us that the President had been shot.
John F. Kennedy was dead. Like
most of the nation I was shocked and could not believe it. Just about everyone in my generation holds
this event in his or her minds as a collective memory. For many of you here today it was another
event. Radio stations interrupted their
regular programming for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to give his “Day of
Infamy” speech. The Japanese had bombed
b.
“We interrupt this program” is a powerful statement. It catches our attention. It prepares us for what is going to be BIG
News. It prepares us for the worst. Of course, it is not always bad news. “We interrupt this program,” also, told us
that our astronauts had landed on the moon!
But whether the news is good or bad, it tells us information of national
or world importance. And sometimes the
news we receive alters the course of our lives as an individual or a
nation. Indeed after some of these
interruptions we are never quite the same again!
2. TV
Christmas
a.
“We interrupt this program” is one of several phrases associated with TV
that have stimulated my thinking this Advent season. “The problem is not in your set” is one way
of paraphrasing the message of John the Baptist. The words “Parental guidance recommended” reminds
us to celebrate the true Christmas, and calls us to show our children and
grandchildren the real meaning of the Season.
“Live and in living color” is not a bad description of the
incarnation. “And now a word from our
sponsor” is a good phrase for the angelic announcement of the birth of Jesus on
Christmas Eve!
b. Today, on the First Sunday of Advent we turn
to the first phrase: “We interrupt this
program.” We will see what happened to
the shepherds that first Christmas Day.
And we will see how their experience relates to us. From the shepherds on that first Christmas
Day we learn that:
B. Our lives are programmed.
1.
Shepherds & Us
a.
The lives of the shepherds were pretty much programmed. That is they for the most part followed the
same routine program each day and night.
That evening they were doing what they always did. They were “in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” (Luke 2:8 NRSV) It did not vary. It was like clockwork. When night came the shepherds were going to
be out in the fields taking care of their sheep. Now to some people this would not be the most
exciting job in the world. Taking care
of “dumb” sheep probably doesn’t sound like much fun to most folks. However, it was honorable work. It provided their family with food, clothing,
and a home.
b.
We’re not so different today. It
may be a different time, different culture, even different jobs, but much of
our lives are routine too. We live the
same program over and over again.
Whether you work or not, you probably get up at the same time each
day. You go through a well-worn ritual
of showering, dressing, and eating. Then
you do one of these two things: If
you’re working, you travel by the same route to the same job to do the same
thing for five or six days in a row. And
if you’re retired your life is, also, often filled with routine. Monday is tennis, lunch at the Country Club,
and your Church Committee meeting.
Tuesday is Service Club, lunch in town and a movie. Every Wednesday you golf and go to the
grocery store, and then go to Choir rehearsal.
Our lives have become programmed.
The rut we have dug is so deep and the walls so high that we see little
beyond ourselves and the immediate needs ahead.
It is not exciting, but even worse we fail to think and grow spiritually
and emotionally.
2. Comic
& Bus Driver
a.
A comic described modern living:
“We eat to get the strength to go to work to get the money to buy the
food to eat to get the strength to go to work to get the money to buy the food
to eat to get the strength to go to work to get the money to buy the food to
eat to get the strength to go to work.”
b.
Many of our lives are so programmed that we empathize with the
C. Something dramatic happened!
1.
Shepherds & Us
a.
But then something dramatic happened!
An angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, and said in effect: “I interrupt this
program to bring you Good News! This
very day Jesus Christ your Savior was born!
This will prove it to you: You
will find a baby lying in a manger in
b.
None of this should surprise us.
Is there anything that comes close to the birth of a baby in
interrupting your program, disrupting your life, and so completely upsetting your
schedule? Most of us here know of the
disruption that occurs with the arrival of a new baby.
2. O’Neal Babies
a.
Today, I share personally about the adoption and birth of children into
our home. As a minister, I often put in
long days, and I like to get a good nights rest. Well none of the O’Neal babies allowed for
that! Not even Julie, who came to us at
eight months! Now when I was younger I
watched too much TV. The children helped
to break me of that habit. Two of our
kids had the timing down just perfectly.
Whenever there was a conclusion or a climactic moment in a show that’s
when the child needed to be fed, held, disciplined, or have their diaper
changed! To this day, I never have seen
who shot J.R.!
b.
Of course, not all the children’s interruptions were negative. I’ve put down some work to listen to a very
young Julie read something to me. I’ve
turned off the TV, because Jason wanted me to see him hit a ball. I’ve stopped paying bills to watch Sarah
engrossed in painting a picture. And
Chris and I stopped talking to watch our short old dog and chubby
eight-month-old Matthew racing around on all fours to be the first to eat up
Jason’s spilled cereal! Indeed babies
have a way of reorganizing your whole life!
And with the arrival of a baby, your life certainly cannot be boring
anymore!
3.
Jimmy Gupton [Bonus story for online subscribers]
a.
Jimmy Gupton was ninety-three, his wife was dead, and he just wanted to
die and go to be with her and the Lord in Heaven. He had lived long enough. He was partially blind, and had arthritis in
his hands. He wasn’t much good to
himself or anybody else. Then Christmas
came and Jimmy thought, “Why bother, I can’t even see the holes to put together
my artificial tree.” Then Mr. Gupton saw
on the TV news a story about the Salvation Army shelter in downtown
b.
A few days after Christmas, the Salvation Army sent over a couple, Pam
and Tony Davis, and it turned out the wife was expecting a child! It was not always smooth and easy. And that was especially true when baby
Sabrina came. Mr. Gupton’s life was
turned upside down, but through it all he found a reason to keep going. He wanted to help this young couple and their
baby. Then Christmas came again and
Sabrina was five months old.
Neither
Jimmy nor the young couple could afford a tree.
So Jimmy had them put up his old aluminum tree with the rotating stand
and illuminating color wheel. That day
for the first time Sabrina went to Mr. Gupton and sat on his lap. He thought she might cry, but suddenly she
started giggling, and reached a chubby hand toward his wrinkled cheek. Jimmy said, “I laughed too when I realized
she was trying to catch the fleeting reflections from the tree. The touch of her hand made me think of
another Child, born on Christmas so many years ago.” Jimmy thought about the One who is the light
of the world. Then he prayed: “Thank You, for letting me see another
Christmas. For leaving me here though I
fussed and fretted. Sometimes it takes a
baby to remind an old man what Your world is all about. Amen.”
A baby certainly turns your life upside down. The arrival of a child is an interruption to
your schedule. And as Jimmy Gupton
discovered, that can be a wonderful, positive, life-changing thing!
D. Jesus is the greatest and best interruption!
1. Halford Luccock [Bonus story for online subscribers]
a.
Christ interrupts the program of our lives, and we thank Him for
that! Even better, the Lord gives us a
whole new program. Halford Luccock the
pastor and author wrote a delightful article entitled “WHOOPS, IT’S CHRISTMAS!” Pastor Luccock tells of accidentally bumping
into a woman at the mall during the holiday rush, and causing her to drop all
of her packages.
b.
As he tried to help her pick things up she angrily said, “Oh, I hate
Christmas, anyhow! It turns everything
upside down!” Luccock replied, “Lady,
that is just what it was made for!”
Christmas is after all the story of a baby! And the chief business of a baby is turning
things upside down!
2.
Shepherds & Us
a.
The shepherds were never the same after that blessed interruption. Their encounter with the infant Christ, and
the new birth of His Spirit in their lives completely re-programmed them! They had doubted that God was going to send
the Savior to redeem humankind. They had
been weary and worn down by life. They
had questioned the possibility of meaning and new hope in life. But after seeing the Christ child they were
changed, and they had confidence! As the
Scriptures say: “The
shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had
heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” (Luke 2:20 NIV)
b.
As a holiday, Christmas, also, interrupts us. We spend hours shopping. Sometimes out of love and sometimes just
because it’s expected. We spend hours
preparing and sending Christmas cards.
Then we get behind and rush around mailing cards and packages. We, also, spend hours decorating our home and
the tree. And of course, there are
unexpected interruptions unrelated and related to the way we celebrate Christmas. But there is a more important interruption
than our holiday plans, which often get rather programmed. There is a disruption that is sweetly
positive! The birth of Jesus Christ as
our Lord and Savior is a greater interruption than any of our mundane
plans. His birth was and is the greatest
and most positive disruption of all! Jesus’ interruption of human life is the most
necessary, because He gives us what we really need!
3. What B.C. and A.D. really stand for!
a.
Someone once said that B.C. and A.D. should not stand for “Before
Christ” and “Anno Domini” (In the year of the Lord), but for “Before Child” and
“After Disruption!”
b.
When Jesus is
born into your heart, he re-programs, and rearranges
your life! With Jesus in your
heart, you are filled with love, and you begin to live differently. You know the gifts of forgiveness and eternal
life, and are transformed from a selfish earthly creature into a radiant child
of the Heavenly light! He gives you a wonderful new song, changing your ballads of
boredom, your music of melancholy, and your dirges of doubt into glorious hymns
of praise and joy! Jesus leads you from
a bent toward war and ill will to a spirit of peace and good will. He gives you a new confidence and hope in
God! Now that is Good News! And it all started with an interruption by an
angel announcing the birth of our Savior!
May this Christmas be such an interruption for each of us: The interruption of Jesus into your heart!
E. Conclusion: Recap: From the shepherds on that
first Christmas Day we learn that:
1. Our lives are programmed.
2. Something dramatic happened!
3. Jesus is the greatest and best interruption!
We Interrupt This Program…
From the shepherds,
on that first Christmas Day,
we learn that:
1. Our lives are
programmed.
2. Something dramatic
happened!
3. Jesus is the
greatest and best interruption!
Luke 2:8-20 NRSV
8In that region there were shepherds
living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood
before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
terrified. 10But the angel
said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great
joy for all the people: 11to
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the
Lord. 12This will be a sign
for you: you will find a child wrapped
in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the
highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
15When the angels had left them and
gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to