G'day everyone. Merry Christmas. If my voice
gives out, it has nothing to do with the puppet
show at all. Let me just get set up here. How
about we pray and ask for God's help as we dig
into his word now. Let's see if I can find where
we're up to on this slide. No, it's not working.
That's okay. Oh, here we go. Cool. All right.
There we go. Let's pray. Father, thank you so
much that you love us, that you care for us.
Help us to see today what Christmas truly is
about and how it's more wonderful than we ever
thought or imagined. And we ask this in Jesus'
name. Amen. Well, Merry Christmas. Today I've
got a quick Christmas quiz for you. What is Christmas
really about? Here is the quick Christmas quiz
on what Christmas is really about. You've got
four options. Option A, is it about presents?
Option B, is it about great food? Option C, is
it about putting things up, decorations? And
option D, is it about insects and bugs? What
do you reckon? I'll give you some thinking time.
Talk to the person next to you. Talk to yourself
if you want. As long as you don't talk back,
that's okay. All right, have we got it? Okay,
the answer. What is Christmas really about? The
answer is D. It's actually about bugs. Now, why
is the answer that Christmas is about bugs? Well,
that's what I want to show you this morning as
we look at Philippians 2, 1 to 11. Because when
we see that Christmas is about bugs and insects,
it'll give you the best Christmas ever. So I
want to show you by looking at three things.
Here's the first thing. We are like bugs to God.
We are like bugs to God. In the universe, there's
different creatures, right? And they all have
different values. Have a look at this. So here's
the high worth, here's the low worth. The high
value, the low value. Some are more valuable
than others. So think about when there's a horse
race and a horse and a jockey crash. Who do we
go out to first? The jockey. We go to the jockey
because he's a human. And even though the horse
could be worth millions and millions of dollars,
we go out to the jockey first because people
are more valuable than horses and money. People
are more precious than animals. Now, let me give
you a little exercise. If you had to rank all
these, how would you rank them? In highest value
to lowest value? I'll give you a second to talk
to your friend or yourself again. How would you
rank them? Less laughing, more muttering. It
means you're thinking. That's good. All right.
Well, if I were to put them on a scale. I think
we might rank them something like this. And if
you disagree with me, that's okay. It's really
the first one and the last one that I care about.
It's that humans and bugs are far apart, aren't
they? Humans and bugs are far apart. Now, add
to the scale. If you put God on the scale, where
would he be? Well, he'd be off the chart, wouldn't
he? He created everything. He's eternal. He's
of infinite value. So the distance between him
and us is like us and bugs. Actually, it's way
further, isn't it? Here's how Isaiah puts it.
He says, God sits enthroned above the circle
of the earth and its people are like grasshoppers.
To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal,
says the Holy One? Lift up your eyes and look
to the heavens. Who created all these? God's
saying, you and me, you're like you and bugs,
actually infinitely more. I mean, if you got
a telescope for Christmas, did anyone get a telescope
for Christmas? No? Okay, cool. Next year. When
we were in Broken Hill, we had like amazing,
like there's a whole tourist industry out there
for sort of looking at the stars through telescopes
and things. And if you go out there, there's
no light pollution. You look at the stars and
the planets and see them all clearly. Or even
if you just look up without a telescope, it'll
make you feel very small. I reckon God made the
universe big to remind us that we are small.
Because often humans have an inflated opinion
of ourselves. And that's usually what ruins Christmas,
isn't it? Think of the fights at Christmas time.
It's usually because someone thinks they're right
and everyone else is wrong and they're better
and everyone else is worse. Oh, I don't want
to do that job. You know, someone else can. That's
gross. But seeing God's greatness humbles us
in a healthy way. We are like bugs compared with
God. And yet that doesn't mean he doesn't care
about us because at Christmas here's what we
celebrate. God became one of us. God became one
of us. Imagine if I had a pill that could turn
you into a grasshopper. Would you take it? Mean
leaving behind all your friends, toys, family,
body, whatever. And it'd be dangerous. You're
so much weaker. Bug spray, feet, newspapers.
They weren't a problem before. Maybe feet, but,
you know, you'd only want to take something that
moves you up, wouldn't you? If I could have a
pill that moves me up, yeah, that I'd take. You
know, that makes me bigger and stronger. But
one that brings me down? No thanks. See, the
first humans wanted a pill that would bring them
up. Do you remember the Garden of Eden? What
the serpent said? You can be like God. Just eat
from the fruit of the tree. And they ate. Because
they were trying to get equality with God. We're
all like that, aren't we? It's what humans do.
But Jesus did the opposite. Look at verse 6 and
7 in your Bibles with me. Jesus, who being in
very nature God, did not consider equality with
God something to be used to his own advantage.
Even though he is God, even though he's equal
with God, he didn't think, yeah, I'm going to
get the. perks and squeeze out the benefits of
this. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking
the very nature of a servant being made in human
likeness. Even though Jesus is God, he didn't
exploit his position as God. He became a human
to serve us. The king of the universe doesn't
just wear a crown. He wears an apron as well.
It reminds me a bit of Undercover Boss. Have
you ever seen that show, Undercover Boss? What
they do is they take like a CEO of some corporation,
Maccas, Coca -Cola, whatever, and they become
a frontline employee. They put a beard on them
and some glasses. They make them look like someone
completely different. And they do it to see what's
actually going on on the front lines. They get
down there. They help the workers. They do everything
just like the workers do. Well, that's what the
God of the universe did. He put on humanity.
He went down on the front line. He served with
the workers. Jesus is the undercover boss of
the universe. He's fully God and he becomes fully
human as well to love us, to help us. and to
save us. But you might be wondering, hang on,
how does this help us? Well, look at verse 8.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled
himself by becoming obedient to death, even death
on a cross. So before being in Bethlehem, Jesus
couldn't die. He's God. He can't die. But by
becoming a human, now he can die. And he didn't
just die peacefully. He died in the most agonising
way. And he did it to serve us. It's assumed
here. It's unpacked elsewhere in the Bible. Jesus
dies as our substitute. Hands up if you like
the Hunger Games. It's a bit old school now.
Yes, okay, we've got one person. Fantastic. I
like the Hunger Games. Check it out. In the Hunger
Games, there's this little girl named Prim, and
she gets selected to be reaped, to basically,
she goes off to the Hunger Games for certain
death. And what her sister does, Katniss, when
they're reaping Prim, she goes, I volunteer as
tribute. It's probably the best line in the whole
movie. She takes her place. She stands in so
that Prim won't face certain death. And that's
what happens for us. That's what we celebrate
at Christmas. That's what we look to at the cross
every day. We were facing God's judgment for
our selfishness, our pride, our evil. And Jesus
takes our place. Now, I get a family member doing
that. But would you become a bug? And die for
a bug to save them? For a grasshopper? For a
mosquito? I know I wouldn't. They're annoying.
Do you know what we've got at home? We've got
a bug zapper. It's been cranking pretty hard
lately. There was one night I was there and I
heard it going... I was like, yeah, that was
a big one or a lot of them, I don't know. But
here's what happens at the cross. The cross is
like a giant bug zapper. Jesus gets blasted with
God's judgment so that we won't be. He goes into
it so that we can be spared. He's so loving that
he becomes one of us, like a bug, to die for
us. And do you know what happens when we take
this to heart, when we believe this? When our
whole life is centred around it? It fills you
with amazing joy. It helps you start each day
differently. You wake up and you know, I'm loved.
I'm secure. I've got hope. of a life that lasts
forever because Jesus gave that to me. If you're
a Christian here today, don't rob yourself of
that joy. And I need to hear that as much as
anyone else. Don't rob yourself of that joy.
Recite it. Remember it. Refresh yourself in it.
It is the most wonderful thing. And if you're
not a Christian here today, I hope you'll seriously
be thinking, why don't I have that? What's stopping
me? That sounds pretty awesome. Is that worth
having? If you want to talk more, come have a
chat with me. But that's not all. Because not
only has God become one of us, But Jesus transforms
our relationships because of it. We can now think
differently. We can now think differently because
of what Jesus did at Christmas, because of what
Jesus did at the cross. Look at verses 3 to 5
with me. not looking to your own interests, but
each of you to the interests of the others. In
your relationship with one another, have the
same mindset as Christ Jesus. See, selfishness,
arrogance, pride, grumbling, complaining, those
are relationship killers, aren't they? That's
the cause of the arguments at Christmas lunch.
That's what causes friction at work or at home
all year round. Our default way of thinking is
to look out for number one, isn't it? Years ago
I had a golf coach who was trying to be like
my golf coach and my life guru, I think, at the
time. And he said to me, Brendan, you know what
you've got to do? You've got to look out for
number one. You've got to start looking out for
number one. That sounds like really good advice,
doesn't it? But you know what it does when everyone
follows that? We become increasingly polarised
and divided. It just causes fighting. We just
have to draw more borders, don't we? Because
I'm looking out for number one. We know that
it doesn't work. But what can move us and motivate
us to be different, to be humble, to serve, to
put others ahead of myself? It's feeling the
love from Jesus. It's learning to copy his approach.
Because when you do, you don't think, oh, cleaning
the loo, that's beneath me. Jesus suffered the
most horrible things and he's the king of the
universe. He's the boss. How could it ever be
beneath me? I don't look at other people and
think, well, my welfare matters more than theirs.
I've got to look out for number one. No, because
Jesus looked out for me. He put my interests
ahead of his own. Do you know what? We imitate
what we love. If you love Jesus, you will copy
his way of thinking, won't you? Let me show you
how this plays out. So there's high worth, there's
low worth, high value, low value. Where do you
put yourself? Now, we said we're higher than
the animals. Good, that's right. But we're under
God. And Jesus put us ahead of himself. We were
like bugs and he put us way ahead of, put himself,
put us ahead of himself. We're so loved that
our worth has skyrocketed. Think about how valuable
you are that Jesus has treated you with such
value. You are now off the charts, aren't you?
Because Jesus valued you so much. And when we
see how valued we are, that changes how we turn
up. It changes those who see and appreciate what
Jesus did. Because when you see that you've got
high worth, that when you see that Jesus has
loved you so much, you no longer have to prove
yourself to everyone, do you? You can feel secure
because, hey, I'm securing God's love. Selfishness
often stems from insecurity, doesn't it? You
don't have to think, no one's looking out for
me, so I have to. You can think, no, the God
of the universe looked out for me and loved me
and still is. I don't have to look out for myself.
See, the Christian knows they're precious. And
so they don't have to prove themselves. Their
interests aren't centred on themselves. They
serve. They're not selfish. And when we have
this mindset, it changes how we turn up at Christmas
and the whole year round. At Christmas lunch,
you know, that debate gets heated. Oh, you thought.
Not this year, please. Can we just eat the food
in peace? But it happened again. Everyone's arguing
again, especially if you invited everyone to
Christmas lunch. That's always fun. But then
you suddenly go, you know what? I've got an opinion.
It's not that important that I shove it on everyone
else. It's not necessarily right. I'm going to
take an attitude of listening and loving the
people who are here. That's my goal. Can I leave
them not only full but feeling listened and loved?
If that mindset of Jesus grips kids, they'll
help clean up without complaining. Do we really
have to take the food? They'll just do it, even
without being asked. I mean, that takes a while.
Maybe wait until they're 17. Throughout the year,
we'll be more helpful around the house. We'll
even give up the remote. You watch what you want
tonight. Well, I mean, everyone just watches
their screens now, don't they? But, you know,
everyone's got their own. Maybe you might even
watch something together. Just putting it out
there. Joyfully cleaning the loo. I don't know
what it might be. Doing the dishes. Jesus gives
us the motivation and the mindset to be different,
to be joyful, to serve others. So there you go.
That's what Christmas is about. Christmas is
about bugs. It's about how we're like bugs compared
with God. It's about how God became one of us
to save us. And when you grasp this, actually
when it grasps you, it transforms your whole
life and how you turn up. When I look around
at Christmas, as I'm sure you do too, I don't
see much Christmas spirit anymore. I see some
fancy marketing. I see everyone getting ready
for Boxing Day sales. I see people getting a
bit argy -bargy and stressed trying to get presents
or, you know, getting enough food at the register
and I got to the ham first. You know, maybe at
Marsha's TJ probably saw that more than most.
I don't see much of the Christmas spirit anymore.
The joy, the willingness to help others, it's
often lacking these days. And, hey, maybe it's
the rise in house prices or the cost of living
or the culture war. I don't know. I'm sure those
things probably haven't helped. But only one
thing can give us that Christmas spirit. It's
being gripped by what Jesus did for us and having
that same mindset that he had as his love captured.
your heart. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we want
to thank you so much for Jesus, for all he's
done for us. Thank you that at Christmas we get
to celebrate the amazing gift of him coming into
the world to save us. But Father, let it not
stop there. Please help us to enjoy that wonderful
gift of having a new of thinking differently,
of thinking like Jesus. Please change how we
see ourselves, others, and most importantly,
how we see you. And we ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.