Luke 2:51-52      From Blah to Plod

Rev. David Holwick  ZQ

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

December 27, 2015

                                                         Luke 2:51-52

       FROM BLAH TO PLOD

  I. The Christmas letdown.

      A. Post-holiday depression.

          1) Even Christmas Day was depressing for me as a kid.

              a) The presents were all opened.

              b) I would focus on what I didn't get instead of what I did.

              c) And all the anticipation was gone.

              d) Nothing was left but taking down all the decorations.

          2) A lot of people give it up.

              a) There is a common feeling that Christian is a holiday

                    of depression, with more suicides.             #26333

              b) This is not true - there are less suicides.

              c) People actually choose to live for Christmas.

                  1> In hospices, many hang on until Christmas arrives.

                  2> Then they let go.

          3) What has your personal experience been?

      B. Wonderful events of Christmas are followed by mostly silence.

          1) Jesus is born, angels sing, shepherds visit, wise men bring

                gifts.

          2) And then not much happens for 30 years.

              a) The family of Jesus flees to Egypt, then returns.

              b) Jesus stays behind at the temple at age 12.

                  1> Then he went home and was obedient to his parents.

                  2> There are no other details until his adult ministry

                        begins.

      C. I believe there is a key here for the Christian life.

          1) We love the mountaintop experiences, the special occasions

                and personal victories.

          2) But most of our life is spent in the ordinary.

          3) Mountaintop experiences will be special, but rare.

II. Joy-filled celebrations are great.

      A. Everyone needs to have some special events in life.

          1) We mark these events with weddings, birthdays, and

               retirement parties.

          2) There is a lot of happiness and affirmation.

          3) It is good to have highlights like these.

          4) Even in spiritual terms, we may focus on the moment we

                accepted Christ as our savior, or was baptized.

              a) They can be exciting times that we look back on fondly.

      B. Parties cannot go on forever.

          1) I have had a few Christmases that dragged on until January.

              a) With each group of visiting relatives, a new Christmas

                    morning had to be re-enacted.

              b) I know they want to have the Christmas experience with

                    us, but it gets kind of old.

          2) There comes a point where you have to get on with normal

                life.

              a) This way, highlights can stand out.

              b) They don't if they are the norm.

      C. Jesus got into the routines of life.

          1) He didn't receive the loot from the wise men, march into

                Jerusalem, and reign forever and ever.

          2) Instead, he had to develop as a normal human being.

              a) And most of that development happened in the quiet

                    mundane parts of life, not on the mountaintops.

              b) Luke simply says he went down to Nazareth and was

                    obedient to his parents.

              c) He was nurtured in his family, just like you and me.

III. Jesus had to develop in four areas of life.                     2:52

      A. He developed intellectually.

          1) The Bible says Jesus was the instrument of God's creation

                of the universe, but he still had to go to first grade.

          2) God gave him special, supernatural, knowledge on only a

                few occasions.

              a) The rest of the time he had to learn like we do.

              b) He learned to read, and write.  He memorized Bible

                    passages.  He had to work at it.

      B. He developed physically.

          1) We are never given a physical description of Jesus.

              a) I read an article this month that said the typical

                    image of Jesus was influenced by how the ancients

                       viewed gods like Zeus.

              b) Jesus himself probably had short hair, a short beard,

                    and wore a tunic that didn't go past his knees.   [1]

          2) We know he walked most of the time, like everyone else.

          3) He did have enough strength to preach to 5,000 people

                at a time, so his lungs were in good shape.

          4) His normal life and a simple diet probably gave him good

                health.

      C. He developed spiritually.

          1) Jesus had an unusual yearning for God and knowledge of him,

                as the leaders in the temple could attest.

          2) This does not mean it came automatically to him.

          3) We know he had a regular habit of attending the annual

                Jewish pilgrimages, and he attended the synagogue every

                   week.

          4) His parents would have taught him the basics of the faith.

          5) On his own, he would have built his relationship with God

                through reading the Bible and nights alone in prayer.

      D. He developed socially.

          1) Jesus was not a hermit like John the Baptist.

          2) He grew up in a family and in a community.

          3) At the very beginning of his ministry he gathered twelve

                men around him.

              a) He poured himself into them, as frustrating as they

                    could be at times.

              b) John 13:1 gives insight into how he felt about them:

                 "Having loved his own who were in the world, he now

                     showed them the full extent of his love."

IV. Where do YOU need to develop?

      A. The end of the year is a good time to reflect on needed changes.

          1) You may hope for a dramatic transformation - New Years

                resolutions thrive on that - but true change will

                   probably come slowly and methodically.  You'll plod.

          2) With all the good food, it is natural to focus on the

                physical aspect and start planning a diet program.

          3) But all the other areas need attention as well.

      B. Consider the areas that molded Jesus.

          1) Intellectually - plan on reading some good books.

              a) Perhaps you could even take a college course.

              b) You can do them for free online these days.

          2) Physically - exercise is often neglected by us.

              a) If you don't move, you rust.

              b) Making a pact with someone else can be helpful.

                  1> (I recently saw an older couple walking briskly

                         down Emmans Road at 7:00 a.m.)

                  2> Your body is a temple and needs to be maintained.

              c) My best (self-bought) Christmas present - a $200 FitBit

                    watch.

                  1> It reads my heart rate and tracks my activity.

                      A> It even plays a little song when I reach a goal.

                  2> More likely, it will show me how out of shape I am.

          3) Spiritually - get serious in your growth as a Christian.

              a) January is a good time to join a Bible study.

              b) You can also study, and pray, on your own.

                  1> A regular routine can be helpful.

              c) Spirituality is more than reading and studying.

                  1> It involves quiet meditation.

                  2> It also involves service and acts of kindness.

          4) Socially - are you forming closer bonds with other people?

              a) Everyone needs other people in their life.

              b) Teenagers may despise their family, but I'll bet they

                    hunger for affirmation from their friends.

              c) We need to build up the relationships we have.

                  1> And consider forming new ones, too.  The right kind.

  V. Plodders can go the distance.

      A. The example of a famous racehorse.

           Man o' War is considered one of the best race horses of all

              time.

           The only one that comes close is Secretariat, and most

              experts still say Man 'o War was better.

           He only raced in 1919 and 1920, about the time this church

              was constructed, but he won 20 out of 21 races.

           He won one race by an incredible 100 lengths.

           He triumphed in another even though they made him carry an

              extra 138 pounds to make it more fair.

           How much time did Man o' War actually spend racing?

              Over his entire career, it is less than 33 minutes.

           He trained day after day, month after month, and only raced

              for half an hour.

           Man o' War only succeeded because he plodded well.

                                                                   #65024

      B. How are you plodding?

          1) If you are feeling low, feeling like the excitement is gone,

                don't worry - you will often feel like this in life.

          2) Just keep going, doing what needs to be done.

          3) Solomon's advice in Ecclesiastes 9:10 still holds:

             "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your

                 might..."

=========================================================================

SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:

[1] "What did Jesus really look like?" by Joan Taylor, King's College

       London, for BBC: Magazine, December 24, 2015; <link>.

#26333  “Is There More Suicide At Christmas?” Suicide Information &

           Education Centre (November 2002). SIEC ALERT #16: “Are suicide

           rates higher at Christmas?”

#65024  “He Raced Well Because He Plodded Well,” Rev. David Holwick,

           December 26, 2015.  This illustration was inspired by an

           observation by Rev. Dr. W. A. Criswell in his sermon “Twas

           The Day After Christmas: Religion In The Letdown,” December 26,

           1954; Kerux Sermon #23352.  Other facts were taken from the

           article “Man o’ War came close to perfection,” by Larry

           Schwartz, ESPN; <link>.

           The calculations on his total racing time was derived from

            “Man o' War: Complete Racing Record,” <link>.

These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be

downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

=========================================================================