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"Your Longing is for God" Luke 2:1-14.

by Clancy Nixon

Church of the Holy Spirit

Ashburn, Virginia

December 24, 2006

www.HolySpiritAnglican.org

Around Christmas time, we all experience some kind of longing. Now longing is

a strong desire or a yearning for something that we do not yet have. When I was a child,

I did not know Jesus as my Savior, and my parents did not know Christ, either. My

family did not know Jesus, but we did know Christmas well, we knew about

commercial Christmas. My mother used to buy so many gifts that a mountain of shiny

packages could not be contained under the tree, but spilled out like a wave and took over

a large part of the family room. As a boy, I was so excited at the possibility represented

by those packages I thought that maybe, just maybe, I'd get something in one of those

packages that would forever change my life. I longed for something under that glittering

tree to make me happy. I loved ripping open the packages, but every year when the

wrappings were all torn off, the stuff just did not satisfy my longing. It's not that all I got

was socks and underwear. I did get those for Christmas, and to this day I think that there

ought to be a law against wrapping socks! Amen? My problem was that even the stuff I

got that I was thrilled to get, even the "Rock `em Sock `em Robots" and the new bicycle,

did not satisfy what my heart longed for. I felt that disappointment every Christmas, on

that same afternoon. [RAISE HAND] How many of you know what I am taking about?

When I got a little older, I felt guilty for feeling disappointed on Christmas, figuring that

my problem was that I had not been grateful for what I had received. Now that can be a

problem; but that was not my problem. I was grateful for what I did get. It's just that the

stuff I got, even the stuff I wanted, did not satisfy my longing. My problem was that I

was ignorant of what my soul really longed for at Christmas, which was Christ himself.

The gifts pointed to the ultimate gift giver. It was relationship with God I longed for,

without knowing it at the time. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote this: "There are all

sorts of things in this world that offer to give [what you want] to you, but they never quite

keep their promise. The longings which arise in us when we first fall in love, or first think

of some foreign country, or first take up some subject that excites us, are longings in

which no marriage, no travel, no learning, can really satisfy." My longing was for God,

and I believe that all of us, whether we know it or know, whether we acknowledge it or

not, have the same longing for God, too.

Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus, experienced longing. I'm guessing about

specific longings they might have had, since the text in Luke 2 only gives us the bare

outline of the story. Given that Mary was great with child, I imagine that they longed for

Caesar's census to be taken at some other time than right when she was due! Who wants

an arduous journey while very pregnant? Once they arrived in Bethlehem, I imagine that

they longed for a private room and a warm bed at the inn for Mary to sleep and give birth

in. That's what I would have wanted for my wife. I imagine that even the inn was second

choice for them; I imagine that they longed for hospitality from Joseph's relatives in

Bethlehem, who might care for them. Since they did not stay with family there, I imagine

that they longed for closer relationships with their extended family. Can you relate?

Perhaps Mary's unwed pregnancy was too much for Joseph's family.

For some of us today, Christmas is a time of great joy and family togetherness.

For others, whose longing for close family relationships remain unfulfilled, it can be a

painful time. As I got my allergy shot this week, my shot nurse told me that Christmas is

a painful time for her family, since her father died on Christmas Day seven years ago.

Some of us are reminded at Christmas of how lonely we sometimes feel, either because

romance eludes us, or because of the pain of divorce. Some are longing to be invited to a

Christmas feast, like the hungry peasants in our Pageant, or to receive a gift, like the kids

of prisoners many of you have visited this week for Angel Tree. At bottom, their longing

is for relationship with God, and with his family.

I want to commend you, church, in the outpouring of love you have shown to

Jorge and Cristina Lugo as they have watched their 7 month old baby Benjamin suffer

heart and lung problems in hospital for over a week. Benjamin survived double bypass

heart surgery on Friday, and he is doing much better than expected in recovery. The

Lugos have had great care: many visitors; multitudes praying; offers of places to sleep.

Cristina told me that she sometimes worried about living so far away from family in

Puerto Rico. Now she knows that she has a family here. God has answered all our

prayers for Benjamin so far. The score so far is God 13, Satan 0. We all long for

Benjamin to be completely healed by God. Praise God, and keep praying for Benjamin,

the miracle baby!

One difference between our longings and that of Mary and Joseph is that the Holy

Family discovered that all their longings would be fulfilled in the baby Mary carried. The

angels tell them so in several visions in Luke 1 and Matthew 1 and 2, and they believe the

good news of great joy. Joseph and Mary learned that when anyone gives glory to God,

as the angels do in Luke 2 verse 14, they find peace and favor with God. Verse ten: this

good news is for all the people. Remember our pageant: everyone is invited to the High

King's feast. No matter what desires you are pursuing right now, God wants to give you

His desires, which He can satisfy. Your longing is for God.

Augustine and Pascal and Lewis all say the same thing: Before Jesus came to

rescue us, every person had an unfulfilled longing in their heart, a hole in their soul. And

it can only be filled by God, because He made that hole in us, and only His Holy Spirit

can fill it. Oh, we try to fill it with other stuff, things like toys, and friends, and parties,

and work. I've tried those substitutes myself more than I'd like to admit, and I've found

that they don't satisfy. Augustine of Hippo wrote this: "Our hearts are restless until they

find their rest in Thee, [o God]." God designed us with a longing to be in relationship

with Him. No matter how fulfilled you imagine your life may be, if God does not fill

your life, that longing in your soul will persist. Do you ever wonder about your

longings? Do you say to yourself, "There must be something more to life: Something

more than just this stuff, this job, these difficult relationships, this lousy hand I've been

dealt!" The good news is, there is more to life that undefined longing in you can be

fulfilled and the answer is relationship to God, and loving relationships with people.

Please read this scripture with me on the screen. Hebrews 2:17 says, "...He had

to be made like His brethren in all things, in order that ...He might make atonement for

the sins of the people." Even in the manger, you can see the shadow of the cross.

He had to become one of us, because you and I can't satisfy our longings on our own. We

can't make ourselves right with God through our own effort, no matter how many good

things we do. We all do wrong things and we all desire wrong things. The Bible calls

that sin, and it separates us from God. That's why we all need a Savior. The God-man

Jesus Christ died on the cross as the only perfect sacrifice who could reconcile us to God.

Your longing is for God.

Jesus understands your desire for friends, your desire to be included. He knows

about being rejected by loved ones, rejected by colleagues; Jesus was mocked and

rejected in his hometown of Nazareth. He knows about betrayal; his treasurer Judas

betrayed him, and his best friend Peter denied him. He knows about being alone; Jesus

never married, and he stayed pure. He had the closest relationship with his Father in

Heaven.

God the Father, our loving Father, longs for you to reconcile with his son Jesus

this Christmas Eve; to become part of his family; to be born again. Most of you have

already invited God into the center of your desires, and asked Him to transform you; but

some of you have not. To those ones who haven't yet answered that call, The Father asks

you, "Won't you let me fulfill your desires? Your longing is for God. I sent Jesus for

you, too; will you let him fill that hole in your heart, and be your savior?" If you'd like to

become part of God's family today by receiving Jesus, that most precious gift of the

Father, then pray with me silently as I pray aloud. Let's bow our heads:

Heavenly Father, thank you for the greatest gift of all - your son, Jesus Christ. I

don't understand all my longings, but I believe that you can fulfill them or change them.

Please fill the hole in my heart. I want right relationships with family and friends. I long

to be in your family, Lord, this Christmas. I'm sorry that I've tried to substitute other

things for you, that I did not acknowledge that my longing was really for you. I believe

that Jesus is God, and that he was born for me, died for me, and rose from the dead.

Thank you for forgiving my sins. Come be with me through your Holy Spirit. Help me to

follow you all the days of my life. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, please let me know today, and tell someone else, too. It

would be the greatest Christmas gift many of us could receive.