One of my favorite films—-especially at this time of year—is Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. Perhaps it is a favorite movie for many of you as well. Remember the plot? Jimmy Stewart plays “GEORGE BAILY,” a man who has put the needs of others above his own needs all of his life. But….at the climax of the film George Bailey’s life comes crashing down around him. A discrepancy is found in the books at the Savings & Loan that he runs and George faces arrest and bankruptcy. In desperation he plans to kill himself-reasoning that his family would be better provided for by his dying and their receiving his life insurance. At this point, in answer to the prayers of George’s many friends, a guardian angel named Clarence is sent to help. And, to teach George the value of his life Clarence shows him what his family and town would be like if he had never been born. His little brother, a WWII hero, would have drowned as a child because George would not have been around to save him.
Without the Savings and Loan many families in the town would not have been able to purchase their own homes. George’s eccentric but loving uncle would spend his life in the looney bin because George was not there to believe in him. The pharmacist he worked for as a child would be in jail because George once prevented him from accidentally poisoning a sick child…..and so on and so on. The movie did a great job of illustrating the truth that THE LIFE of one individual can make an incredible difference in the world.
And it can! Had anyone of us not been born there would be a gaping “hole” left by our absence.
The LIFE of one human being can make a difference. In fact, some times, as the old song says, a SINGLE DAY can make all the difference in the world. Which brings us to this last question that we will consider in this series dealing with the questions Christmas answers. You see ONE DAY really can make a difference—especially if it is the day that Jesus Christ was born. Think of the difference THAT day—-Christmas day-has made!!! Christ’ influence on the world is immeasurable. In fact, no other individual life has had the impact on mankind that Jesus’ has had.
Napoleon once said, “I search in vain in history to find one similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel….nations pass away, thrones crumble, but the Church remains.” Consider the throne of Caesar Augustus. He was the emperor of the Roman Empire on that day Jesus was born. Augustus was the grand nephew of Julius Caesar and ruled from 34 B.C. to 14 A.D. and was a comparatively good ruler. But the only reason I know that much about him is because I looked it up. And, really, to those who aren’t students or professors of history, Caesar August is but a NAME, set like a small stone in the Chronicles of history. But what about JESUS CHRIST? Millions know of Him….and MORE millions actually KNOW Him, personally! Today there are more than 1.8 billion professing believers in Him found in most of the nations on earth. So, as Phillip Brooks said in his popular prose, “All of the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one solitary life…..the life of Jesus Christ.”
You of course are aware that Jesus’ coming has changed our calendar….we date everything B.C. (Before Christ) and A. D. for “Anno Domini” which means “the year of our Lord.” Someone has commented on this by saying that Jesus, “…has turned aside the river of ages out of its course and lifted the centuries off their hinges.” And He has! It’s ironic that the most sincere atheist must acknowledge Christ whenever he dates a check.
If Jesus were taken out of history, you would have to TEAR DOWN all the churches and cathedrals around the world…some of mankind’s greatest architecture. Tonight’s service would be meaningless and a waste of time because is Jesus is not important, then that which is done in HIS NAME is not either. As the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 15:14, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”
If Jesus had never been born, the majority of the GREAT WORKS OF ART of the ages would be lost. There would be no “LAST SUPPER” by DaVinci…no “MADONNA” You see, Jesus Christ has given art its loftiest themes. Dr. David Tailor Forsythe said, “the idea that God spared not His Son but delivered Him up for us all has inspired the highest flights that pictorial art has reached.” Without the influence of Jesus Christ, art would depict only the finite. The attempt to capture the Infinite on canvas or in stone would never have been introduced.
And the most beautiful MUSIC that has ever been put on score, sung by a voice, or played by an instrument would be obliterated. If that day had not dawned in Bethlehem there would be no Handel’s MESSIAH nor would we have the music of Johann Sebastian Bach who dedicated every note he wrote to God’s glory. Many musical scholars believe that Bach changed the direction of Western Music for all time but this would not have happened without the inspiration of Jesus Christ.
Think of the poverty of LITERATURE that would exist without the words of the New Testament. In her anthology of literature, author Cynthia Pearl Maus said, “More poems have been written, more stories told, more pictures painted, and more songs sung about Christ than any other person in human history, because through such avenues as these the deepest appreciation of the human heart can be more adequately expressed.”
Consider the impact that Jesus’ birth has had on humanitarian efforts to help the poor and the hungry. Jesus set the great example of helping the poor, of caring for the poverty-stricken and downtrodden. And, He bid His followers to go and do likewise. And they did! His life inspired “Help” programs like the RED CROSS and EASTER SEALS and THE SALVATION ARMY.
If Jesus had never been born it is hard to picture what modern medicine would be like—IF IT WOULD EXIST AT ALL. Following the example of Jesus Christ, THE GREAT PHYSICIAN, Christians have fueled some of the greatest humanitarian advances in medicine. Many historians attribute the creation of “the hospital” to Christianity for in the United States, the first hospitals were started by Christians.
And then, consider the effect that Jesus’ birth has had on education. The greatest universities world wide were founded by Christians for Christian purposes: Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and others. Most of the world’s languages were first set to writing by Christian missionaries in order for people to read the Bible for themselves. This is still true today. At this present time more than 300 million people still do not have a way to write their own language.
Many of these tribal languages are being codified by Christians out in the field….like our own Machlan family who serve in the Philippines through Wycliffe Bible translators. The possibility of mass producing the Bible is what motivated Gutenberg to invent the movable type printing press in the 15th century. William Holmes McGuffey, a Presbyterian minister, authored McGuffey’s Reader. For decades these provided the backbone of grammar school education in our country.
Consider Jesus’ impact on civil rights. Because of that Babe in Bethlehem, women are no longer property; to be bought and sold at will. And, Christians like William Wilberforce, Charles Finney and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dedicated their lives to provide equality and equal rights to all people, regardless of the color of their skin.
We could go on and on and on listing Jesus’ impact on science and government and economics and basic morality. You see, it is easy to prove the point that the day Christ was born was the most important day that has ever been or ever will be. We would not want to live in a world into which Christ had not come. That first Christmas day DID make a difference. But you know the most important difference that first Christmas day can make is the difference that day can make in your life. For as the angel sang that first Christmas night, “Unto YOU was born that day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” And friend let me remind you that as the poet said,
“Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born,
If He is not born in THEE, the soul is still forlorn.
The cross on Golgatha will never save thy soul,
The cross in THINE OWN HEART alone can make thee whole.”
All that Christmas has meant down through the ages….and all the influence that the God-Man from that manger cradle has wrought, All that has been done through history up to the sum total of ZERO as far as you are concerned unless He is born in you today. That was the purpose of His coming….not just to make this world a better place…but to make your life better….to give you access to a relationship with God and abundant life in all it’s fulness. So, unless he becomes, through faith, a part and parcel of your existence, all the turning of history, leaves us on the wrong side of the stream. Consider the difference Christ can make in your life today.
If you ask Him to, He will forgive you or yours sins…and free you from guilt. He will fill your emptiness and make you a new creation. He will give your life purpose…he will give you the JOY and the PEACE that we sing about every Christmas season. He will be your constant companion and guide every moment of your life. You see the message of Christmas is not just the retelling of an event some 2,000 years ago. It is the opportunity for that PAST event to become a present reality in your life and mine today. So tonight don’t leave without letting the Christ of Christmas be born in you. I can think of no better day to invite Him into your life than this Christmas Eve.