Imperfectly Perfect

**It was a joint service with Pleasantville and Fairview this morning so that is why there is mention of two churches.

1 Peter 1:14-25a

14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”[a]

17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.[b] 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25     but the word of the Lord endures forever.”[c]

I heard a phrase this week that perfectly describes Christians at Christmas time: hurry up and wait.  So here we are, the Sunday before Christmas with one of the busiest weeks of the year ahead of us.  There is football, family, presents, hopefully a church service or two, football, food, Santa Claus, and did I say football?  All year we have been looking forward to this week, we have rushed to this time of year only for it to last for a couple of days and then its gone again... Hurry up and wait.  The point here is that we may miss the day-to-day blessings when we hurry up and wait.  Each day, each moment is such a precious gift and we may lose sight of those gifts if we allow ourselves to look too far forward.  

Christians are people of eternity.  It is the covenant, the promise we have with God and sometimes we look towards eternity and lose focus on what is right in front of us.  Sure, we can look to eternity with hope and promise but let us not forget to look outward, not just upward.  I heard the other day that the Salvation Army is quite a bit below their goal for the year when it comes to their red kettle fundraiser.  It was a fairly lofty goal of 1.25 million dollars but one they thought they could reach.  And so I begin to think that maybe the economy is maybe still making a comeback and people could not afford to give as generously as the Salvation Army had hoped.  Then a day or so later I hear that retailers are having one of the best years ever and the stock market closed up over 400 points last week because of that news.  Well, wait, giving is down and yet, spending is up.  This is not an economic problem... It is a theological problem.  I have no idea how much me and my family spent for Christmas, but I do know that I only gave $11 to the Salvation Army yesterday.  Our scripture this morning says that God did not redeem us through gold and silver, instead it was the precious blood of Christ.  Gold and silver will perish but the blood of Christ will reign forever, through eternity.  And instead of approaching the Christmas season with this in mind, we have a tendency to make it more about the gold and silver instead of the perfect, unblemished blood of Christ.  

As most men do, I have a deep, deep dislike for shopping, especially this time of year.  And when I do go shopping, my attitude normally reflects that deep, deep dislike.  Which leads to road rage, inappropriate words muttered under my breath, and I am easily irritated.  However, yesterday was different.  Jordan Creek mall was crazy, as you would think it would be the last Saturday before Christmas.  Every store had lines and it was a struggle to find someone to help you.  There were crying babies and grumpy dads all over the place.  And there I was, normally like the grumpy dads, but I found myself enjoying the moment.  It was Cora’s birthday so it was fun seeing her in that environment, we got her ears pierced, which was my idea, believe it or not.  I got to see my wife, who is 40 weeks pregnant, power-walking that mall like a champ and in a situation where I normally have a great disdain and even hatred towards, I found myself enjoying it.  I may have even cracked a smile or two.  I set out yesterday morning with the attitude that I was going to do my best to enjoy that moment.  For my wife, for my daughter, I wanted to make it a good experience and take advantage of our time together.  I know those moments do not last forever.  It is only a few short years away that my daughter won't want to go to the mall with me.  If I would not have gone or if I would have made it miserable for my wife, I would have missed seeing her strength in that moment.  On a side note, yesterday kind of proves that when I woman wants to go shopping, being 40 weeks pregnant doesn’t stop them.  I enjoyed my time spent with my girls yesterday and I know that in the past, I have missed that moment.  In our rush to hurry up and wait, don’t miss those moments.  It is easy to think about where we need to go next instead of enjoying where we are.  This Christmas season, I would encourage you to take in those moments because they may not be there next year.

During Christmas we often remember how the Christ child brought a part of Heaven to earth.  We all know the impact that he has had on us and we have experienced our own piece of Heaven on earth because of Christ’s sacrifice.  I read a devotion from Charles Spurgeon last night which said, “With every soul you bring to Christ, you get a new heaven upon earth.”  If we each look at our lives when we first believed and we see the changes that having Christ in our lives caused us to make, we can see the power of bringing that Heaven upon earth.  We have an opportunity to see that same power at work in the lives of others.  Our scripture for this morning says that we can purify ourselves by obeying the truth of God’s word which will help us to have a sincere love for one another, to help us love one another deeply, and to do those things from the heart.  The candle we lit this morning represented love and as we celebrate Christmas, let us always have in the back of our mind the love that God has for us.  Even as a child, Christ brought heaven upon this earth so let us do the same.  

We aren’t perfect.  The stress of the Christmas season will get to us sometime, just like my strong dislike for shopping sometimes rears its head.  God has created us in an imperfectly perfect way.  We are imperfect, broken people and the only way we experience perfection is through God.  My shopping experience yesterday would not have been possible if it weren’t for my faith.  Instead of thinking about and dwelling on our own imperfections we ought to know that we are perfect in the eyes of our Creator.  Our bodies may perish like the grass and our glory may fade like the flowers in the winter but we are made perfect through the blood, love and grace of Christ.  The same Christ who was born in the manger, the same Christ who became man, the same Christ whose sacrifice teaches us the greatness of God.  

Today, we have gathered, not as two churches, but as imperfectly perfect people.  We sing, pray, laugh, and hope together, as one.  Since Friday, God has been showing me such unbelievable blessings.  Someone, who does not attend either church, got me a gift.  On that gift there were Christmas drawings from their kids and a card.  The drawings and the card meant as much as the gift itself.  That family had no reason to do that yet they did.  Yesterday I was able to enjoy my shopping date with my girls.  And this morning I got a  great message thanking Fairview for what they have done and how they have come to realize that they cannot take on the world by themselves but with the help of God they have learned to rely on family, friends and their church family to help them through each day.  I do not deserve any of these things, I have sinned and fallen short and yet God has given me these opportunities to have my own heaven upon this earth.  The point of all this is to know that you too can experience your own heaven upon this earth.  Don’t waste time hurrying up just to wait.  Take each day, each moment as a gift.  These gifts are far better than anything in wrapping paper or under a tree.  They are better than anything that earthly possessions can buy.  True happiness is not found in gold and silver, it can only be found through the bonds that Christ’s love creates between us.  Amen.