The Christmas Story, Life-Altering Journeys to Jesus, Part 4- The Parents

Scriptures: Matthew 1:18-21,2:11; Luke 1:26-38,2:16-18,25-28

Main Points:

1. The Challenge of Faith

2. The Response of Faith

3. The Fruit of Faith

Sermon Notes: There are times when following God is not going to be easy. When I stop to think about the things that Mary and Joseph endured, it feels like it’s too much. Imagine being a 12-year-old girl and trying to explain to your parents and your fiancé that your pregnancy is God’s doing and that you are not a fornicator. How well do you think that argument went? On a side note... I wonder how many times that excuse has been tried since then? Then, imagine you are Joseph. I don’t want us to lose sight of how marriage worked in this her but. Mary and Joseph were not marrying for love. They were marrying because Mary needed a husband and Joseph needed a wife. He was entering into a contract to care for Mary. Imagine his reaction when he finds out that this young woman has been unfaithful to him? That may not sound like a huge deal in our time, but it would have been appalling to them. Even for us, this is a stretch. A 12/13-year-old girl is pregnant? Where were her parents? How did this happen? As if all this isn’t bad enough, God sends an angel to Joseph to tell him that he should not divorce pregnant, should still take her as his wife. God has brought disgrace to Mary by impregnating her out of wedlock. Now, he is bringing disgrace to Joseph by asking him to care for a wife who is pregnant, and everyone will know it is not his child. There is shame and disgrace surrounding everything. Yet, this is the way that God chose to bring about the birth of Jesus. Here’s the “Challenge of Faith.” God just might birth something in you that doesn’t make sense to anyone else, or even worse, could harm your reputation and bring shame to you! God wouldn’t do that! He did. He does. He is less concerned with our earthly reputations than we are. That means we have to be open to what God is doing, even when we don’t fully understand it. We may have had an idea in our head about how something was going to go. That may not be God’s plan. He may do something that alarms us or confuses us. We have to see the response that these parents had and be open to God. “I am the LORD’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” There are few things in the world that can bring such awe and trepidation as to say to the creator of the universe… “Have your way with me. Do what you think is best. Do what is best for your Kingdom. Do what will accomplish your will. Not my will, but your will be done.” These are faith-filled responses. Writing a blank check with your life and handing it to God is terrifying, but it’s also satisfying. Mary and Joseph both had a decision to make. They could have said, “No.” They could have refused God’s plan. He likely would have used someone else, but they would have been removed from the story. We read in the birth narratives that “Mary treasured these things in her heart.” What did she treasure? Was she merely treasuring the moment? Or, was she treasuring her decision to say yes so that she could be there? It’s hard to say, but important to consider. There will be times in your life when you realize, ”I’m here and part of this because I said yes.” There may also be times in our lives when we stop to consider, “I wonder what would have happened if I had said yes?” Let’s not forget that along the way there may be a few times when you think, “Why oh why did I say yes?” They are all part of the process of trusting God and following his lead for your life. If you stop to consider some of the greatest events in scripture, most of them came after someone said yes to something really difficult.