Joy To The World

[00:00:15] We have a holiday coming up, and Lance's announcements wouldn't have helped, you know which one it was, so I'm going to I love our community where honesty rules and we can make fun of each other and still love each other. So let me give you the hints. Here's the holiday that's coming up. These are the hints. Oil, potatoes, greeks. [00:00:48] Antiochus. Temples, candles. [00:00:54] Miracles. Victory. Salvation. Dreidel. What do you think? [00:01:01] Christmas. You got Hanukah. Somebody said donuts and that's it. By the way, the new grandpa said donuts. As of yesterday, Clove Reagan was born. [00:01:17] But yes, and actually, donuts is probably one of the highlights of the Hanukkah season for me. Not the all you can eat, the eating donut eating contest that takes place at Shalom Macon. I've never won it. This could be the year, but it's not exactly a holy part of the holiday. But it's fun. We eat things fried in grease, and donuts are at the top of that list. But for some people, there are other words that describe the season of Hanukkah, the holiday of Hanukkah, ready for them. Manmade rabbinic tradition. [00:01:54] Jewish. It's a Jewish holiday. And you know what? Every one of the words that I have just said over the past couple of minutes, those descriptors are true, including the not so nice ones that I just gave, because they don't usually mean them nice when they say something man made. Right? But the truth is, it is. [00:02:15] But it's based on an historical occurrence that took place in the life of the Jewish people. [00:02:25] Now, there are a couple of different things about Hanukah that are well, I don't know. [00:02:37] I have always well, I'm not going to say that. I'll save that for later. Okay, I'm still thinking through that one. Just give me a minute. [00:02:48] What is Hanukah? This is a question that actually is found in the Talmud where we are talking about the holiday. That's how it starts. In the Babylonian Talmud. In Shabbat 21 B, it says what is Hanukah? For the rabbis have taught, commencing with the 25th day of the month of Kislav, there are eight days upon which there shall be neither mourning nor fasting. For when the Greeks entered the temple, they defiled all the oil that there was. And when the might of the Hazmanian dynasty overcame and vanquished them, that upon search, only a single cruise of undefiled oil sealed by the high priest was found. In it was enough oil for the needs of a single day. A miracle was wrought, and it burned eight days the next year. They ordained these days a holiday with songs and praises. Who did it? [00:03:39] They did. It doesn't say God did. It says they did. The people who were a part of it, they ordained it as a celebration that has become a foundational part of the Jewish calendar. Hanukah. Right. What is it? But that question is actually an interesting one, because, yes, that's how the Talmud opens it. But that question is being asked by a lot of people today. [00:04:07] You might not know it, but it is. What is Hanukkah? I've been celebrating Hanukah for as long as I can remember in my life, and I can assure you that growing up, there were very few moments, actually none, when someone came to me and said, guess what? [00:04:25] My friends, they love the eight gift thing, but we're not going to give up Christmas to do this. Hanukkah. I've celebrated it a lot, except for, like, the ten years when I was in the Baptist church. You know why I did that? Because when I got saved, they told me, you're not Jewish anymore, so you don't need to do that. So you should instead get a Christmas tree and celebrate the birth of Jesus and that you got saved. So we did that for a while. That's what we did. And then we came back to this. Okay? But while I was at the church not celebrating Hanukah, I never got one invitation from anyone at the church to come to their Hanukkah party. [00:05:05] It never happened. [00:05:08] But that has changed a lot, because there are Christians asking the same question that the Talmud asks, what is Hanukkah? And the answer, of course, everyone knows it. It's the Jewish Christmas. [00:05:27] It's not really when you read in John Ten and this is a book that Christians are reading, jesus is where? In Solomon's colonnade. During what? The Festival of Dedication. That's what hanukkah is. And so questions are being asked, what is this? I mean, if Jesus did it, should we do it? [00:05:48] I mean, where do we go for answers? But you know what? I'm so pleasantly surprised, as I have researched and looked at the Internet and blogs and pastors, do you know that the response to that question among Christians by other Christians is usually a resoundingly positive one to say, yeah, it's actually a good thing. [00:06:12] It's a good thing. Now, there are, of course, exceptions. I want to take just a couple of minutes to cover some of these exceptions because I think you'll find them incredibly ironic and even a bit amusing. Here are some of the exceptions that I objections I'm sorry, objections that I found from pastors and other Christians as to why Christians should not celebrate Hanukah or observe it. You ready? Here they are. Number one, Hanukkah commemorates a historical event, but it took place during the intertestamental period, which falls outside the scope of the Bible. In other words, translating that it's not biblical, it's not found in the Bible. And secondly, this was the other big objection. Pastors expressed theological concerns, fearing that incorporating non biblical traditions could dilute or distract from the central message of Christianity. Okay, so the two things it's not biblical, it's not found in the Bible, and if you do it, it could potentially insert some distractions or diversions from its sort of traditional thing. [00:07:30] Hmm. [00:07:35] I need to think about that. No, I don't. Guess what? [00:07:41] I can give you two words why those objections are not valid. [00:07:48] You ready for them? [00:07:50] Christmas and Easter. That's three words, actually. But every one of those objections applies to those holidays as well, including the fact that the life of Jesus was lived completely in the intertestamental period. [00:08:05] So that can't possibly hold water. Right? But the good news, as I said, is those are exceptions. There are many. [00:08:14] Even GotQuestions.org. Have you ever searched a Bible question and seen at the top of your search list, GotQuestions.org it is the number one Bible searching website in the world. And usually upon every single point that I stand up here and teach every week, got Questions and I are 180 degrees apart. [00:08:40] But even got questions. Says Hanukah is pretty good for Christians. Like, it's a good thing. [00:08:50] So that's good because I agree with that, and I think that's a wonderful thing. But we need to dig deeper into something. Why do they say Hanukah is good? Why is it okay for Christians to celebrate Hanukah? And of course, now, what would a message be if I didn't at some point get controversial, right? [00:09:14] So, guys, put John Ten up there for me. This is the scripture that it centers on. This is the Hanukkah chapter. John Ten at that time, the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Yeshua is walking in the temple in the colony of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you're the Christ, tell us plainly. Okay? That's the scripture. That's what's going on right now. Just keep that up there for me. You don't have to change that slide. You can in just a minute. But everyone agrees Hanukah is good. It is a Jewish holiday. I'm not going into the history. Thankfully, at 01:00 today, there's a lunch and learn at Shalom Macon, also hosted on Shalom at home. So if you need to know more about the history of Hanukkah, you can learn a lot of it there with Darren and Sabrina. You should know attend a lunch and learn if you don't know what it's about. But to my point, Hanukkah is good, even for the church. Know many opinions suggest, but why? What I found over and over is this. It's good for Christians to celebrate Hanukah as long as your celebration is about Jesus and what he's done. [00:10:35] Now, just listen to me. Hear me out. [00:10:41] Hear me out. This is important for you to know, for you to share from one well written blog I read. The question is not whether Christians should celebrate Hanukah, but whether there's any reason for a Christian to celebrate Hanukah. It sounds like the same exact thing, but it's not, because he means no one should, no one must celebrate Hanukah because it's not biblical. It's not in the Bible. So you're not obligated. You should. There's not a word. But is there a reason? He asks. And the reason is yes. And here's the answer that's given. As a Christian. Just listen. I want to read you something for a second. As a Christian, it's important to never get caught up in culture or tradition. [00:11:22] Rather, we should be looking for opportunities to share who Jesus is and what he has done for us with others. During festivals like Hanukah. During Hanukkah, we're reminded that Jesus is the light of the world who overcame the darkness. Through his death and resurrection, he defeated the enemy who once had reign over you. Now, if you have confessed your sins, repented, and placed all of your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you are his temple, and he lives inside of you as the temple of the Lord, you now have his light in you. And every day you can celebrate the victory he won over sin and death. Man, that's a lot of you. [00:11:59] That is a lot of you. [00:12:03] And I don't mean that you that's from a blog called Just Disciple. And I thought the author did a great job of presenting many aspects of Hanukkah. But here's what I want to distinguish you ready for this? Hold on to your seats. Hanukah is not really about you. [00:12:26] I know that hurts Hanukkah. The idea, the foundation of Hanukkah is so much bigger than what Jesus did for me or you. [00:12:42] It's just not always, guess what? It's even bigger than the victory over sin and death. It's not always about that. [00:12:55] And I know it gets kind of edgy and uncomfortable when I say things like this. But listen, Hanukah is much, much bigger you ready for this. Than even Jesus himself. [00:13:05] And he would agree with that. [00:13:08] He told me no, but you don't have to hear Him say it, because I can tell you this story. That's important that I want you to internalize. Like so many things in Judaism, especially things that occurred during the times when Yeshua was walking the dirt and the roads and the rocks of Israel, especially, like so many things, this holiday is about the world. [00:13:40] It is about a future for the world. [00:13:46] It is about a yearning. It's a messianic cry. Now, listen, that's not initially what it was. We read the text in the Book of Maccabees. We read this in the Talmud. It's a remembrance. But by Yeshua's time, even from 150 c. BC, even by Yeshua's time, something had changed in the people. [00:14:15] There was a period of good where the Hazmanians and the Maccabees were sort of ruling. But by this time in Yeshua, when Yeshua is there, it's a cry for future redemption. It actually had absolutely nothing to do, really, with your personal salvation or being delivered from Satan's grip on you. [00:14:37] The spirit of Hanukkah had become a cry for God to once again act to deliver his people as a whole. [00:14:49] And as we read that question in John, I want to point out something to you. [00:15:00] So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you're the Christ, tell us plainly. [00:15:10] That's not how that question was asked. [00:15:14] That's not john points out that this is the season of Hanukkah in John ten, because the spirit of Hanukkah was informing. That question for them, energizing the crowd and their question. Hanukah is about deliverance. And with Messiah, it's deliverance for the world. And by this point in John, he had done all these miracles. And now he was saying, standing in the temple at Hanukah, a celebration of God's faithfulness to his people. These people were not just a little curious about whether or not he was, that they were desperate for a better life and a better world. [00:16:01] And so that question was more along the lines of how long will you keep us in suspense if you are the one who's going to restore the world, to remove evil, to bring the kingdom, if you're the one God sent to bring us into freedom, tell us please, we're desperate. [00:16:25] That's more like what that question is like. That's the spirit of Hanukkah, a yearning for something so much more than this or that, or now this. [00:16:40] To be like the Maccabees who God used to deliver Israel. If that's you, tell us. And the air, the spirit and the air in the temple, deliver us. Take us toward a brighter future. And the Festival of Lights is setting the backdrop for this. [00:17:01] That blog I mentioned, we should be looking for opportunities to share who Jesus is and what he's done for us with others during the festival. But my friends, Hanukkah actually is not asking us to look back at what Jesus has done for us. I mean, listen, there is absolutely no Christmas bashing here. But that's sort of like the big thing about Christmas I mentioned it the birth of Jesus, the baby, the manger. Thank you. That Jesus was born, he grew up, he saved me, kept me from burning in hell, and now I'm waiting to go to heaven. In the by and by, he was born to save you for your sins. And that's the God, that's the gift that God gave you. [00:17:46] That question is a lot bigger than that. [00:17:52] And it means a lot more. Are you the Messiah? It means something so much bigger than us or you or me. I mean, listen, what he's done personally for us is beautiful. And I'm talking about being redeemed from sins. [00:18:11] But the story is bigger. You see, you've been invited into the bigger worldwide story and we are so consumed in you, you're, your, you. [00:18:26] This is a world story and a celebration of the future of the world. [00:18:37] He's made it possible for you to be part of that story. That worldwide salvation story that all the Jews were asking. [00:18:49] It's less about what he's done, Hanukah, and more a celebration about what he's going to do. [00:19:01] The bigger picture. Are you going to redeem this apparently God forsaken world? [00:19:08] That's the question. [00:19:10] That's what was on their minds. Salvation, redemption, deliverance, renewal of a fallen world. Another Christian site I read said this during Hanukah. We're reminded that Jesus is the light of the world who overcame the darkness. [00:19:24] Through his death and resurrection, he defeated the enemy who once had reign over you. [00:19:31] Well, now, to be totally and possibly heretically offensively honest, sort of, not exactly, not really. [00:19:48] Defeated the enemy, overcame the darkness. I look around today, I still see both. [00:19:59] It's not done yet. [00:20:04] And we're not asking that question. We're not saying. Are you the messiah? We're disciples of yeshua. We believe that Yeshua is the messiah. We believe that he's got our vote. But the cry of our hearts at Hanukkah is the same one that they had. [00:20:26] The world is in strife. God's people could really use a hand right now to change the course of things. Will you bring the kingdom? And that, my friend, is the truest cry of a disciple's heart. I mean, fine, yes, of course I'm a part of the story. I've been saved. But please, here are the words Hoshanah. Everyone knows the words hosanna, right? Hoshanah in Hebrew. You know what it means. Please save us. [00:20:58] That's the disciples cry for the world and the kingdom. And that's what the Lord's Prayer says, and that's what the Amidah says. [00:21:08] And you're a part of it, but it's bigger than you, undoubtedly. There is no question that Hanukah looks back. It's about the miracles. It's about the underdog. It's about standing up for what's right. It's about the oil that's in there, too, all of it. But one of my favorite things for followers of Yeshua is that it looks forward, forward, remembering what God has done in the past and what he will do again. Bring redemption to your people like you did through the Maccabees, now through Messiah. That's Jesus in Hanukkah. And that's the story that's really, really important to be telling people at the season of Hanukkah, the festival of lights. That's what it was. It really technically still is. The oil, the altar, the temple, the rededication, we celebrate that. But remember now, it's the foundation of the future. We desire a festival of light, future light that will shine in this world. What will be light coming into the world, even actually, as I've said, bigger than just the story of Yeshua and salvation, the future he will bring. Here's what it reads like. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it. For the glory of God gives it light and its lamp is the Lamb. And by its light will the nations walk and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. And its gates will never be shut by day and there will be no night there that is joy to the world. [00:22:58] Someone could say, well, I mean, Christmas is all about that too. [00:23:04] I don't know, nativities and Mangers and stuff. I mean, that seems different than what I'm talking about here. But let me be clear. This isn't about Christmas or Hanukkah or tearing down anything about Christianity. We don't do that here. That's not what we do. And you know what? I like Christmas. I like the smell of Christmas trees. And I like the way that people for one month, a year are actually sort of nice to each other. [00:23:35] And I like the general festive feeling and that people are looking forward to it. [00:23:46] I like all that. And it's part of the Christian tradition which honors something that goes way back. I understand that too. [00:23:55] But it's not about the question is the questions that I asked, what is Hanukah? Well, I'm telling you that at least the forward looking part of it. And the second one is, should Christians celebrate Hanukah? What do you think? My answer to that is? [00:24:13] I mean, I like gifts too. I like that part of Christmas. I don't actually celebrate Christmas, but what I'm saying is I like many, many parts of it, and I don't have anything terrible to say about it. But I'm telling you a bigger story than that, and it centers on this holiday that we called Hanukkah. I like gifts, but when it comes to seeing the reality of the gift of God through Jesus, guess what? He's got a lot more to give. [00:24:40] He does. [00:24:41] There is another whole part of the story. [00:24:47] He's got an incredible gift to give. [00:24:50] Hanukkah's not about a baby in a manger. It's about a brave warrior king who is going to come and restore this world. [00:25:04] We're not there yet. [00:25:07] We have this down payment. We have this spirit, this seal that marks us for entrance into that big party. And that's what we're waiting for. But we're not there yet. So the past of Hanukkah, the past is clear. God's deliverance, working through his anointed ones. Even when the ODS seemed insurmountable, God delivers. And now the present of Hanukah. You look around at the world and you can understand how they felt with Greek and Roman oppression. And everything that you hold to be right and moral is being turned on its head. You can understand when the world goes wrong. They teach us you got to stand up for what's right in the present. That's a lesson that we derive. The Yeshua and the apostles did it. And I'm not saying we pick up swords and go start having a war. [00:25:56] We might have to, but we don't yet. What we are called to do in the present is to stand for good and justice and compassion and kindness and charity and righteous deeds, goodwill to all men. [00:26:15] That's a light. The kingdom is filled with those things. So we're in this present state of chaos and darkness, but we're still obligated to stand and shine. The light and the future that we long for as we light the lights, is the one they longed for in Solomon's Colonnade. [00:26:36] Would you bring good to the world? Are you the one who can do them? For them, it was about salvation for Israel, for us, in Messiah, it's about salvation for the world. [00:26:55] That's a Hanukkah story if I ever heard one. [00:26:59] What is Hanukah? It's all of that. Should a Christian celebrate Hanukah? If you understand what you're celebrating, if you have the depth of this knowledge and what it all means to and what it points to, should a Christian celebrate Hanukkah? How could you not? [00:27:14] How could you not align with this? I'm not giving you again the Christmas bashing. Feel free to do that. But understand, when Hanukkah comes around, it's not the Jewish Christmas. [00:27:30] It's something so much bigger than all of us and a hope and a future, and it's symbolized with these beautiful bright lights and yeah, donuts that's good too. [00:27:46] Don't miss the rest of the story. It speaks of a gift that we've actually yet to receive. [00:27:53] So read the story of Hanukkah in Maccabees or wherever. [00:27:58] Read it. Understand it. Read the prophetic vision of what peace on earth and goodwill to men actually will look like in the kingdom and share the hope that we have in this season that a better world, a brighter world, a world of light is still ahead. [00:28:16] And look forward to that. [00:28:19] So with that jingle bells, no happy Hanukkah and Shabbat. Shalom. [00:28:39] Close.