The Ugliness of Christmas

Pastor Philip C. Andrukaitis, November 26, 2023, 1st Advent Sunday

Advent Theme for 2023:Christmas, What’s It All About?

Sermon Title:  The Ugliness of Christmas

Sermon Text:  Selected Scriptural Passages

Dominating Idea:  Jesus our Beautiful Savior takes away the ugliness of Christmas – sin.

Introduction

I love the Advent Season for all the beauty that our eyes behold; the Christmas trees, bright lights, decorations, colorful ornaments, wreaths, carefully wrapped presents under the tree, and the smiles on peoples’ faces when you greet them with… “Merry Christmas!”  [And oh, as for the fresh fallen snow – I can live without it.]

And what of delightful aromas?  Like the small stores in the shopping malls, our homes too are filled with the scent of Christmas.  Our noses take great delight as the scent of pine, a variety of scented candles, and hot apple cinnamon cider fills the air.  It’s as if I can taste Christmas.

And what of the sounds of Christmas?  Our ears hear the festive music, spiritual songs, even the crackling wood as it burns in the fireplace while the Nutcracker plays softly in the background.  As I lean back in my rocking chair feeling the warmth of the fire, I read the Christmas cards from family and friends and say to myself, “life is good; thank You Lord.”

And finally, what of the family gatherings?  Our hearts are filled with love and appreciation for family members, despite their idiosyncrasies.  In addition, I love to see the expressions on children’s faces as they open their gifts on Christmas morning.  Indeed, it’s good to be with family and share the Christmas joy with one another.

Indeed, this is one perspective of Christmas that symbolizes all that we see as being precious and beautiful in this world.  However, if we fail to consider the ugly side of Christmas, the dark side, then we would be living in a fantasy world having missed the true meaning why we celebrate Christmas.

However, A.W. Tozer believed that our Christmas celebrations need radical reformation.  He stated: “We have corrupted our taste for reverence of the simple shepherds, the chant of the angels and the beauty of the heavenly hosts!…the Star of Bethlehem could not lead a wise man to Christ today [because the star light] could not be distinguished amid the millions of artificial lights hung aloft Main Street.”[1]

Nearly 40-years ago, John MacArthur preached a sermon entitled, The Ugliness of Christmas.  Desiring not to preach a negative, depressive sermon, MacArthur believed that to appreciate the beauty of Christmas and its gospel message, the very dark and ugly side of Christmas had to be exposed.  And what is the dark and ugly side of Christmas?  The answer is sin.  The ugliness of Christmas is sin.[2]

Transitional Thoughts

I too, desire that no one would leave this worship service with a downcast spirit; rather that they leave with a deeper joy in their soul because they possess a greater and truer understanding why Jesus was born.

Therefore, let’s consider for a few minutes the ugly facets that led up to the first Christmas.  There was the…

      • …stigma of Mary’s integrity, a virgin who gave birth to the Son of God
      • …stress upon Mary as she and Joseph tried to find a place to give birth to Jesus
      • …unsanitary conditions of Jesus’ birthplace – a feeding trough
      • …indifference of the people who would not give up their “room” for a very pregnant woman who was about to give birth
      • …wickedness of king Herod who feared losing his power and authority
      • …soldiers’ slaughter of Bethlehem’s baby boys [2-years and younger]
      • …grief of Bethlehem’s mothers whose sons were slain

But of all the ugly facets that marked the first Christmas morning, sin is the ugliest facet of all.  If sin did not exist, there would be no need for Christmas.  And if there was no Christmas, the world would have never seen the fullness of God’s glorious character [i.e. mercy, grace, love, sacrifice, patience, compassion, righteousness, judgment, etc.].  God is delighted to reveal Himself and all His glory to you and me!

Identifying one of the divine purposes for the birth of Jesus, Matthew stated:

“And she [Mary] will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

When Jesus called Matthew the tax collector to Himself, the scribes and Pharisees murmured against Jesus and His disciples.  Jesus responded to their criticisms by saying:

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32).

The aged disciple John wrote:

“And you know that He [Jesus] was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin” (1st John 3:5).  “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior  of the world” (1st John 4:14).

And the Apostle Paul added:

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1st Timothy 1:15).

And so, we can see from Scripture, there is an ugly side to Christmas – sin.

Since Jesus came into this world to save sinners and to take away their sins, it stands to reason that Jesus our Beautiful Savior takes away the ugliness of Christmas and save any sinner from any sin:  Therefore, know this…

      • …there is no sin beyond Jesus’ love and forgiveness.  He truly forgives.
      • …there is no sin that will bankrupt God’s righteousness.  Jesus’ blood is more precious than any   amount of gold and silver and precious stones.  His sacrifice on the cross purchased our redemption.
      • …and there is no sin beyond Jesus’ power having been resurrected from His grave.

Adam brought sin into this world by disobeying God’s command not to eat of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17a).  God warned Adam saying, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17b).  Consequently, every descendant of Adam inherited Adam’s sin, guilt, shame, and death.

The Apostle Paul stated,

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…” (Romans 5:12).

Consequently, everyone is born with a sin nature and unable to stop sinning.  The results are staggering.

    • Every relationship is disrupted.  Thomas Watson the Puritan writer stated: Sin has turned beauty into deformity and the wicked takes more care to have his sin covered than cured.[3]  And so, every person’s relationship with God and with others has been disrupted because our sinful nature leads our hearts to ignore our sin and cover our sin with the worldly beauty of Christmas.  Praise God for His grace and mercy as the Spirit of Jesus strives to bring conviction of sin and the cure for sin through Jesus Christ.
    • Everyone is affected.  No one escapes the effects of sin.  Every home, every marriage, every friendship, every argument, every disagreement, every evil thought, every evil deed, every good deed left undone, every good thought left unattended, every good word left unsaid that might cheer someone up can be traced to sin.  Consequently, sin is at the root of all wrongs, rebellion, disease, war, and the list goes on.[4]

Because sin is the ugliest and most deadly facet of Christmas, let us answer the following five questions John MacArthur and other preachers have raised so that we too may better understand Jesus’ birth.

    1.  What is sin?
    2.  What is the essence of sin?
    3.  How many people does sin affect?
    4.  What are the results of sin?
    5.  Do we better understand the beauty of Christmas? 

Jesus our Beautiful Savior takes away the ugliness of Christmas – sin.

Question #1:  What is sin? 

A theological response to this question sounds like this:  Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature.[5]

A pastoral response to this question was answered by the Puritan author John Bunyan who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress.  John Bunyan stated,  Sin is the dare of God’s justice.  Sin is the rape of God’s mercy.  It is the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.

A Scriptural response to this question is this: “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1st John 3:4).  In other words, sin is the deliberate exercise of our will over the will of God.  Sin is man’s rebellion against God and His Word.  Sin is man’s wickedness that pushes back against the God’s righteousness.  Thus, there is absolutely nothing good with sin.

Question #2:  What is the essence of sin?

Here are four characteristics that describe the essence of sin:

    • Sin is cureless.  “Sin is a soul disease” [Thomas Watson].  It is a sickness for which there is no cure in this world.  When does a person become infected with sin?  It is not at birth but at conception, as every descendant of Adam inherits Adam’s sin nature thereby making death certain for each of us.

Just as an Ethiopian cannot change the color of his skin or a leopard change the spots on its skin, there is nothing a person can do to change his sin nature (Jeremiah 13).

 Through the prophet Isaiah, God describes sinful Israel and every sinner with these words:

“The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints.  From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;   they have not been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment” (Isaiah 1:5-6).

MacArthur said, Sin is the leprosy of the soul.  It can’t be legislated out.  It cannot be philosophized out.  Sin can’t be psychologies out.  Sin can’t be wished out.  Sin can’t be pushed out by self-effort.[6]

    • Sin contaminates.  Like the contaminated water of Camp Lejeune that has impacted tens of thousands of Marines and their dependents who lived on the base, sin is likened to poison introduced into the water we drink or the food we eat.   Sin in the heart of man is likening to the ooze of open sores of a deadly plague.  It contaminates our entire body, the clothes we wear, and everything we touch.  Sin, like the ooze of a running sore leaves behind the stench of death, a stain that cannot be removed.  Sin defiles everything.
    • Sin contends.  Sin stands defiantly before the face of God.  Remember the character “Stands with a Fist” in the movie, Dances with Wolves, sin stands with its fists clenched ready to contend with God.  It was sin that ripped His flesh.  It was sin that struck blows to His face.  It was sin that crushed the crown of thorns upon His head.  It was sin that spat upon the face of Jesus.  It was sin that drove the nails into His hands and feet.  It was sin that pierced His body with a spear.  Sin contended with God in the past and sin continues to contend with God, now.  Sin says to God, “I will not have You rule over me.”
    • Sin is careless.  In other words, sin does not give thanks to God for anything our gracious God provides for us.  Sin does not care about God.  Sin does not care about others.  Sin only cares about itself.  Even though God surrounds the ungrateful sinner with blessings for which we all take for granted, like having the sun rise or the rain fall upon the good and evil, our world remains unthankful towards God’s kindness and His good favor.

Amid all His creation, the only one thing God hates is sin.  God is pure and holy while sinners are impure, unholy, unthankful, and incurable.  There is nothing in this world that can save sinners.  Sinners are so lost, they weary themselves to fulfill their sinful desires.  They are like the many citizens of Sodom who were struck blind and yet continued to pursue Lot’s guests and have their way with them.  Sin is deadly.  Sin keeps the foot on the accelerator even as the car plunges over the cliff.  There is no hope in this world for sinners.  Hope must come from outside this world.

Question #3:  How many people does sin affect?

This question has been answered.  Everyone is affected.  The Scriptures state, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  Everyone is unclean in the sight of God.  Therefore, can anything unclean bring forth anything clean?  The obvious answer is no.

As offspring of Adam, we have inherited his sin and have been born with a sin nature.  Just as Naaman’s leprosy clung to Gehazi (2nd Kings 5), Adam’s sin clings to our souls.  Therefore, to emphasize this truth one more time, the effect of sin has deadly consequences.  Again, the Scriptures state, “for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:23).

Jesus our Beautiful Savior takes away the ugliness of Christmas – sin.

Question #4:  What are the results of sin?

So far, we have looked at the definition of sin, the nature of sin, and how many people sin affects.  Let us now direct our attention to the results of sin.  Here is a list of several results:

    • Sin makes us vulnerable to evil influences.  Sin dominates our minds (Jeremiah 17:9) and our affections because sinners love darkness more than light.  After all, the darkness hides our sinful deeds.  Paul understood all too well the battle in his soul (Romans 7).
    • Sin brings us under Satan’s dominance.  Read Ephesians 2.  Unregenerate man is a slave to Satan.  Sinners are not free to choose which master they wish to serve.  Their sin nature is such that they want the master who will satisfy the sinful desires of their flesh.  However, if they were to surrender their lives to Jesus, they would be set free from the control of Satan.
    • Sin begets for us life’s miseries.  We entered this world with cries and for most sinners, they will leave this world with groans and cries.  Everything in-between is vanity and emptiness.  The curse of sin has touched and marred everything in our world.  Sinners seek to find hope, peace, love, and joy, apart from God.  But unfortunately, these blessings escape them.  Eventually, a sinner’s obstinacy will destroy him.
    • Sin debilitates everyone right up to the point of their earthly death.

♦  Our minds, the lamp of our understanding, are darkened (Ephesians 4:18).
♦  Our memory cannot hold the precious truths of Scripture.
♦  Our will refuses to bow to God’s will and thus we are rebellious towards God.
♦  Our affections are evil because we grieve over the plague of our flesh, but not for our souls.
♦  Our conscience is defiled, senseless, and spiritually dead (Titus 1:15).

    • Sin subjects us to soul diseases.  The Puritan preacher, Thomas Watson, said that the body is not subject to so many diseases, as the soul…[yet, here] I shall name some of the worst of these diseases.[7]

♦  Pride is the arrogance of the soul.
♦  Lust is the fever of the soul.
♦  Error is the gangrene of the soul.
♦  Unbelief is the plague of the soul.
♦  Hypocrisy is the scurvy of the soul.
♦  Hardness of heart is the stone in the soul.
♦  Anger is the madness of the soul.
♦  Malice is the wolf in the breast.
♦  Covetousness is the cancer of the soul.
♦  Spiritual sloth is the soul’s nausea.
♦  Apostasy is the epilepsy of the soul.

Jesus our Beautiful Savior takes away the ugliness of Christmas – sin.

Question #5:  Do you better understand the beauty of Christmas?

Contrasting the ugliness of Christmas – sin against the beauty of Christmas – Jesus (John 3:16), the truth is clear:  God calls sinners to come unto Him with a humble and contrite spirit so that they would be set free from sin’s power, penalty, and presence [which occurs at death].

    • You can know the beauty of Christmas [Jesus] by believing the gospel and receiving Christ by faith.
    • You can experience the healing of your sin-sick soul because Jesus is the Great Physician.
    • You can possess lasting joy because in Christ all our “hopes and fears of all the years are met” in Christ.

Acknowledge [agree with] unto God that you are a sinner.

Believe Jesus Christ was crucified for your sins.  Believe He paid your sin-debt that you [and me] could not pay and was resurrected three days after His death.  His resurrection is God’s acceptance of His Son’s sacrifice.

Call out to God from your heart, asking Him to save you from judgment and to give you eternal life.  Amen.

[1] A.W Tozer, Concentrating on Christ at Christmas, [doc online]; from https://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/tozer?id=1203; accessed 2023 Nov. 23

[2] John MacArthur, The Ugliness of Christmas, [doc online]; from http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/80-7/the-ugliness-of-christmas, accessed 2023 Nov. 23.

[3] Thomas Watson, The Soul’s Malady and Cure, [doc online]; from https://www.gracegems.org/Watson/souls_malady_and_cure.htm, accessed 2023 Nov. 23.

[4] John MacArthur, The Ugliness of Christmas, [doc online]; from http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/80-7/the-ugliness-of-christmas, accessed 2023 Nov. 23.

[5] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, (Leicester:  Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), p. 490.

[6] John MacArthur, The Ugliness of Christmas, [doc online]; from http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/80-7/the-ugliness-of-christmas, accessed 2023 Nov. 23.

[7] Thomas Watson, The Soul’s Malady and Cure, [doc online]; from https://www.gracegems.org/Watson/souls_malady_and_cure.htm, accessed 2023 Nov. 23.