Kerry Shook - Restoring The Hope of Christmas
Kerry Shock: Merry Christmas, Woodlands Church. How are you doing? You can be seated. We are so glad that you are here. The weather outside may be frightful this Christmas Eve, but it is warm and delightful in here, isn't it?
Chris Shock: And we are so glad that you are here. And we have three enormous bells on stage because Christmas and bells just go together. Some of our favorite Christmas songs are about bells: "Jingle Bells," "Silver Bells" and "Carol of the Bells".
Kerry Shock: And bells play a big part in some of the most loved Christmas movies, like that famous line from "It's a Wonderful Life": "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its (wings)". Yeah, I'm not sure if that's accurate or not, but maybe a more accurate saying would be, every time a bell rings, a high school student is tardy, because that's that's accurate right there. Of course, the three most famous bells in America are the Liberty Bell, the Peace Bell, and Taco Bell, at least it's the most visited Bell. Hey, we have these bells up here, they're amazing, and we're gonna ring them, so let's do that right now, and I love this sound. People in the front row are holding their ears, I don't blame you. Now, these bells have an amazing history, the largest here weighs 1,100 pounds and was made in 1908 in a foundry in Ohio. And the one that Chris rang out weighs 975 pounds and was made in the late 1800s. More than likely they were church bells or school bells in small towns in the Midwest.
Chris Shock: The tradition of ringing bells goes all the way back to the year 400 A.D. And, by the Middle Ages, church bells were common everywhere, they were used as a way to communicate important messages to everyone in the village. They didn't have email or group text, but a really loud bell would send a message that everyone would hear. And it reminds me of two young boys who were spending the night at their grandparents's house just a few weeks before Christmas. At bedtime, the boys knelt by their beds to say their prayers.
And the younger one began praying at the top of his lungs, "I pray for a new PlayStation 5, I pray for a new bike". And his older brother said, "Why are you yelling? God's not deaf". And little brother replied, "Well, I know, but Grandma is". When you want to get an important message to someone, it needs to be loud and clear, and the church bells in the village would communicate loudly and clearly that there was an important event that everyone needed to know about. The bells would ring out every Sunday morning to let everyone know it was time to come to worship, it also made it impossible for people to sleep in who'd been out too late on Saturday night partying. And the bells were rung when there was danger, like a fire in the village, or to announce that the enemy army was attacking.
And bells would also ring out to announce that someone royal or important had entered the village. And on that very first Christmas, angels's voices rang out through the night, announcing that the King of heaven had entered our world. In Luke chapter 2, it says this, "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.'"
Kerry Shock: And Christmas is good news, it's the best news. Hey, these bells are in mint condition, but just a few months ago, it was a totally different story. In fact, they were lying in a junkyard, rusted out, unusable, and we got them and restored them. And in a way, these bells are a symbol of what Christmas is all about, Christmas is really a story of restoration. Unfortunately, because of all the busyness, commercialism and chaos in our season, the Christmas season's being lost in our culture, it's almost like it's being stolen away. We need to restore the meaning of Christmas in our hearts and in our homes, but to do that, we have to realize that it's Christmas that restores us.
Chris Shock: We want you to see that Christmas restores our worth. Not too long ago, these bells looked totally worthless, they were rusting away in a scrap metal yard. But there's a guy in Michigan who's an expert when it comes to bells, and he recognizes their value, and he knows that if he restores an old bell, it can be worth thousands of dollars. He spotted these bells lying in an old junkyard, we got them from him, and restored them. But just think about all the people who had walked right past these bells in the scrapyard, all they saw was rusted-out, worthless junk. But the bell expert saw past the rust, he saw past the scratches, past the dirt, past the scars, and he saw their great value, he saw not what they were, but what they could be.
And Christmas shows us that God looks past our brokenness, he looks past our failures and our selfish sin, and he sees our great worth. He created you. Maybe no one else sees your great value, today, and you can't even see it yourself, but God sees you, he looks right past your brokenness and he sees your beauty. And no matter how broken you are right now, God sees you, he sees your worth, he came at Christmas to restore your worth.
Kerry Shock: And he also came at Christmas to restore your purpose. These bells were made for a purpose, they were made to ring out loudly, these beautiful tones that lifted the spirits of everyone who heard them. But they had been rusting away in a junkyard for years, not fulfilling their purpose. They had sort of lost their bell-ness, they weren't ringing out, they had no purpose, but now their purpose has been restored, they're ringing out again, these beautiful tones, and you guys are enjoying them. Their purpose has been completely restored, they're back to doing what a bell was made to do.
Look at this next passage, Colossians 1:15, "We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything he created...everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him". God made everything for a purpose, including you, and everything finds its purpose in him, you'll never find your purpose apart from God, and your number one purpose in life is to have a relationship with the God who created you. There's a God-shaped hole in your heart that nothing else will ever fill, but there's a great barrier that broke our relationship with God: sin.
The Bible says we've all sinned, we've all made mistakes, we've all failed. And the Bible tells us it's our sin that has separated us from a relationship with perfect God. And when we try to find our purpose apart from God and do what we think is best instead of following God who knows what is best for us, then the enemy comes in and steals away our purpose.
Chris Shock: During World War II, Adolf Hitler needed vast quantities of metal to supply his Nazi war machine. And so he found a very simple solution, he ordered the troops to confiscate all the bells out of their towers. And like plucking fruit from trees, the Nazis stole over 175,000 bells from towers all across Europe. The bells were shipped down rivers and dumped in enormous bell cemeteries, like this one in Hamburg, Germany. And there they were broken down and melted into large ingots before being sent to nearby refineries to be made into weapons.
The very same bells which had been the heartbeat of the communities and villages of thousands of towns across Europe were now being repurposed by the enemy to attack them. Have you ever felt like one of those bells, like your purpose has been stolen by the enemy, and now you're trapped in a crowded port and afraid of what will come next? The truth is, that is where we'd all be without Jesus, but Jesus came at Christmas to restore us and restore our purpose. What the enemy stole from you in an attempt to destroy you, Christ wants to redeem and restore for your good and his glory.
Kerry Shock: Yeah, Christmas restores your worth, it restores your purpose, and Christmas restores your hope. Life can be so beautiful and yet so broken. Since the fall, the human race has been a broken race and we've lived in a broken place, and there's just so much pain and loss and heartache that it can leave you feeling hopeless. But Christmas shows us, in the middle of the great pain, there is a greater hope. I want you to know there is a hope that is greater than all your pain, and that hope is Jesus Christ.
In Romans 15, verse 13, it says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit". Jesus Christ is the source of hope. And on that first Christmas, God sent hope into our hopeless world, and this Christmas, God wants to send hope right into your heart. And maybe your heart is breaking, God wants to give you hope, hope that's greater than all your pain. See, the bells of hope ring louder than your deepest hurt.
Chris Shock: "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," that poem, was written during the Civil War, in 1864, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. His wife had died in a tragic fire in his own home just two years earlier, his 18-year-old son had just been severely wounded fighting for the Union Army in the Civil War. Longfellow's entire world had fallen apart, he was a widow trying to take care of his children, now his son was nearly paralyzed. It seemed like not only was his life falling apart, but the whole country was being ripped apart as well. And on Christmas morning, 1864, Longfellow heard the church bells ringing, and in his grief he sat down at his desk and he wrote these words.
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old, familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the words repeat of peace on earth, goodwill toward men! And in despair I bowed my head; 'There is no peace on earth,' I said; for hate is strong, and mocks the song of peace on earth, goodwill toward men"! And there he put his pen down and paused, and the bells just kept on ringing. And as he listened, hope began to well up within him. And then he picked his pen back up and wrote these next lines. He said, "Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: God is not dead, nor doth he sleep; the wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men". I love that, I love those words, "God is not dead, nor doth he sleep," God is not sleeping. His words were exact, through these lines you can just feel his heart turning from despair to hope. God hasn't left you, he's still close.
Kerry Shock: God loves you, he's got a purpose for your life, here in the present and in the future. You see, our ultimate hope is heaven, heaven is the great restoration. Look at how the Bible talks about heaven, Revelation 21, verse 4, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!'" Jesus said at the great restoration in heaven, "I'm making all things new". Now, he didn't say, "I'm making all new things," he said, "I'm taking current things, broken things, and restoring them".
And if you're a Christ follower, just think about that for a moment, everything in your life that has been broken or will be broken will be restored, all your broken dreams, your broken heart, your broken emotions, your broken relationships, everything that's not right in your body, all those things, totally restored. And everything in your life that you have lost or will lose will be restored: your lost innocence, your lost purpose, the times you lost your way, those lost years that you wasted, loved ones that have gone to be with the Lord, everything lost will be restored. If you're a Christ follower, Jesus says, "I know it hurts now, but the great restoration is coming, and nothing is really lost".
Chris Shock: You see, heaven is a real place, it's a place of total fulfillment, and heaven is the place of no more, no more sorrow. Can you imagine? No more sickness, no more pain, no more death, no more tears, it's the place where all that is wrong is made right. In the Middle Ages, when someone died, the church bells would ring three times and then pause, ring three more times and then pause, and then ring three more times. And that was a signal to everyone in the village that someone had died, and then the bell would begin to toll once again, tolling once for every year that the person had lived.
That's where the phrase, "For whom the bell tolls," comes from. They called it the death knell. And one day that bell will ring for every single one of us, we will all experience the death knell. All of our hearts will stop beating one day, and most people are afraid of death, we don't like to talk about it in casual conversation, right? You can't really bring up anything about death, even though it's the one thing we all have in common, why? I think it's because people are afraid, and it feels fearful because it feels so final.
But you need to know this Christmas that even though one day your heart will stop beating, my heart will stop beating, we will live on because we were made for eternity. You don't have to fear death because the Christ of Christmas has made a way to heaven for you. In 2 Corinthians, it says this, "And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation".
Kerry Shock: The word "reconciliation" is just restoration, Christ came at Christmas to restore our relationship with him, he came to die on a cross to forgive us of all our sins and make a way to heaven for us. For, you see, heaven is a perfect place, but we're all broken and imperfect, but God loved us so much that he came to heal our brokenness, forgive our sins and make a way to perfect heaven for us. That last verse says all of this is a gift from God. Heaven is a free gift, you can't earn it or deserve it, all you have to do is receive it. It's the gift of salvation and purpose and hope and worth, and heaven one day, and you receive that free gift by receiving the Christ of Christmas.
And when you receive Christ, you don't have to be afraid of death, it's not the end, it's just the beginning, you don't have to fear the future because the future is as bright as the promises of God. But there is a disturbing sound of hopelessness that seems to permeate our culture today, it's an echo of emptiness that rings in our ears and tells us, "There is no purpose in life, your life has no meaning, you're all alone, God doesn't care about your pain, your future is hopeless".
For, you see, everyone is searching for hope, we are all reaching for the bell of hope, but we are reaching in the wrong direction, we place our hope in material things. It's okay to have nice things, but they'll never bring fulfillment, they'll never fill the emptiness in your life. Or we place our hope and pleasure or success or in another human being and we discover they can't meet our deepest needs. Our need for meaning and fulfillment, for purpose, only God can meet those needs. We reach out to ring the bell of possessions or to ring the bell of pleasure or to ring the bell of success and there's just silence, emptiness. But when you reach out and place all the hope you've got left on our only hope, Jesus Christ, the Christ of Christmas, the sound of hope will begin to rise in your heart and drown out the noise of hopelessness.
Because the bells of hope ring louder than the echo of emptiness, the bells of hope ring louder than the voices of hate, the bells of hope ring louder than the lies of the enemy, the bells of hope ring louder than your deepest hurt. And one day, the bells of hope will silence the sound of all injustice and evil, the bells of hope will silence all sickness, sorrow, heartache and pain, and the death knell will never ring again as the sound of hope will thunder through heaven and earth, and echo through all eternity, because hope in Christ will overcome everything. Let's stand and sing together, because fear is not your future. Jesus says, if you're a Christ follower, "Fear is not your future". You don't have to fear death, it's just the beginning.
When you invite the Christ of Christmas into your life, you're forgiven of your past, you have a purpose in the present, and you have heaven in your future. Let's go back to the Christmas story in Luke chapter 2, verse 10. "Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.'" God told the shepherds that first Christmas what God tells us this Christmas: "You don't have to be afraid. I've got good news, a Savior has been born to you". We needed a Savior, so God sent us a Savior, and all you have to do is stop trying to save yourself and let him save you.
Chris Shock: When I was growing up, there was a big family with the last name of Anderson that lived in the house at the corner of my street, and they had five kids. I would cut through their yard every day on my way to and from school. And as I walked through their yard, I'd usually hear some of the family inside, laughing, talking, and if anyone happened to see me out the window, they'd smile and wave, or they'd throw the door open and yell, "Hello". And if the door did open, you could just bet that the smell of something really good was going to be coming through that door, like bacon in the morning or chocolate chip cookies in the afternoon. Every kid in the neighborhood knew the Andersons.
Not only did we play with their kids, but we were always made to feel welcome and like one of the family when we were at their house. But there's something that I saw in their family and it has stuck through me all these years. They had a decent-sized bell attached to a post on their back porch, and every evening one of the Anderson parents would ring the bell when it was time for their kids to come home for dinner. We all played outside nearly every day, and you could hear that bell clear on the other side of the park a few blocks away. Everybody knew the sound of that bell.
A bunch of us kids would be playing on the playground equipment at the park and we'd hear ding-ding-ding-ding-ding, and just like that, the Anderson kids would stop whatever they were doing, flip down from the monkey bars or drop the football, and yell over their shoulder, "See ya," and they would take off toward home. You see, for the Anderson kids, the ringing of that bell held a call and a promise.
There was the unmistakable call of authority, their parents fully expected their kids to obey right away, so the kids had to go home. But the promise of what would be waiting for them when they got there, good food, laughing, conversation, just a jumble of happy voices, people who loved them, security, understanding, well, that made them want to go home. They had to go because they were called, they wanted to go because they were loved. And the Anderson's bell was heard by everyone in the neighborhood, but it only meant something to their kids, they were the only ones to respond.
Well, this Christmas, God is ringing the bell, can you hear it? God is calling his kids home, he's calling you. Wherever you find yourself this Christmas, whatever ache you're secretly trying to manage, he's calling to you. Maybe you've wandered so far away that you can barely hear him anymore. Listen, he's calling you back. Maybe this Christmas your heart feels so crushed that you have given up on your chance of ever being restored, you think your worth has been destroyed for your lifetime. Know this, this is something I have learned, broken hearts hear him best. The Bible says that he is close to the brokenhearted, he's calling you, he's calling you back to him, back to hope.