Pretty difficult to be heard

How many of you believe that your family, your friends, everyone you meet needs to know that Jesus loves them, He died for them and they can live with purpose in Him.

Yet, how many of you know that the least likely thing people want to talk about it the thing we just talked about?

Check this out:

VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNIJN46q8ko

It’s hilarious because it’s true. Most of us have no idea how to talk about the most important thing in our lives. Atheist and Communist Leader Vladimir Lenin taught that the best way to handle religion is to make it private, that way it disappears from public view.

Yet I know and you know that if it isn’t for Jesus there is no hope in this world. There is no u-turns in life. There is no reason to have compassion for others because it becomes a dog eat dog world but its so hard to talk about Jesus.

My friends we soon will be able to talk to everyone about Jesus and they will love it! They will be coming with smiles and lining up to hear about Jesus.

In just 13 days we will be putting up our Christmas Light Display for the 14th year.

We all remember Bobby sharing our faith with great excitement last year, walking everyone from the angel Gabriel talking to Mary to the Nativity, shepherds, wise men all the way to the cross and resurrection of Jesus. He shared the story, Phil shared, Deborah shared and even one of our friends from Gravity named squirrel took them on a tour.

It’s coming, it’s coming fast. I also remember from last year was how many of our own people said, I don’t know the Christmas story that well. Friends, this is a great time for us to learn. I can promise you that I learned the most when someone told me I had to teach something than I did when I was being taught.

I once had to teach a college physics class but when I took physics in college, I found the lectures so boring and confusing that the only thing I remember is to randomize a deck of cards it has to be shuffled 7 times.

But when I had to teach it, I studied like crazy hoping I knew more than my students.

Physics is nice but you know being able to share with people who Jesus is, that’s huge! So today, we are studying to get ready to share the Christmas story.

Today you might have come expecting a word from God in your life, and even though I’m sharing with you a story you think you might know I am telling you that Jesus wants to show you about your life, what you are going through right now matters. He shows it to us throughout all of the Bible including the Christmas Story.

2 Timothy 3:16 CSB

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,

So even though its not the normal time of year this piece of scripture about the birth of Jesus is telling us more than a nice story to warm us when it’s cold outside. This is the actual living out of faith, the way God works, the principles of hope that help us this Sunday and on Tuesday October 25 too!

Frankly we need to know this story! We need to have it memorized. Because it makes a difference to me when hard things keep hitting me in life, when a crisis happens, than another crisis, and than another. When I know that no one understands me, It’s here were God reveals he understands me.

It’s the cure for anxiety, it’s the hope in the depression, it’s the peace in the storm. God shows us that we can depend on Him through what he does with these people.

Last week we read the end of chapter one of the Gospel of Luke, it was where we learned what obedience to God looks like, when we saw Mary, even though she didn’t totally understand how God would do what He said He would do, she answered

Luke 1:38 (CSB)

38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.”

Today, we are going to move up in our guided tour of the Christmas story to the first part of Luke chapter two

Luke 2:1–7 (CSB)

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered.

If you have ever heard of the month of August, which if you didn’t know is the greatest month because it’s my birthday month and Jennifer’s and Rochelle’s and all the cool kids. Anyway we get that name from this guy Octavius Augustus Caesar. The guy who learned from his uncle Julius Caesar on how to become Emperor, he then after the murder of Julius by the Roman senate defeated Pompey and then defeated Marc Anthony and Cleopatra. All so he could be famous?

That’s a lot of basic history, and none of it matters in the sense of who is who and what is what, except that surprise, the timing is perfect for God to return. At the time of Jesus birth the Mediterranean sea was controlled by one government. Travel by foot, horse or sea was safer than it had ever been. There was even a language that most of this area spoke, understood, or could have someone that could read. It was the perfect time. Like someone arranged it for the perfect time. Hmm.

Galatians 4:4–5 M:BCL

4 But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. 5 Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage.

God worked in History to bring about the perfect conditions for He to come on earth. Yes if God was one of us, wouldn’t he arrange the perfect timing for it. He did. He really, really did.

If God works for history to bring Christmas about, than God is still working out in history today.

Don’t freak out about the world because God is working History out!

If you can’t stand who has been elected to office or who might be elected to office and ruining our government, God is working out His plans.

Our roll in whatever time in History we find ourselves is to live as Mary and Joseph show us, obedient to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

2 Timothy 2:15–16 NIrV

15 Do your best to please God. Be a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed. Teach the message of truth correctly. 16 Stay away from godless chatter. Those who take part in it will become more and more ungodly.

The way we live, the way we act, what we put our hope in this is showing our faith to the world. When we are talking with others let us be very careful with our words so as not to just tell the truth without love.

Let us not talk about an election as if all hope is lost or all hope is found in leaders. Our hope is in Jesus Christ. We pray for our leaders and we desire to vote for whom the Lord calls on us to vote for, yet if they lose, all is not lost and nothing about who and how we live needs to change. Mary and Joseph show us that.

2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.

Woe! Did you guys all see the big historical problem!

No, bet you didn’t even care. Sometimes I share things with you out of the Bible that are actually way too much information because I don’t want you to be ambushed, confused by something you see on tv or talking to some friend who thinks they know the hidden truth of the Bible.

This verse right hear is a problem because Quirinus a real roman official did not govern Syria during the same time Herod the Great was ruling Palestine. For those of you that know the rest of the Christmas story Herod is very important when it comes to the Wise Men’s visit to see Jesus.

By the time Quirinus was governor Herod was dead. Da, Dun, Duh! Big reveal.

Most scholars fix it with, big reveal, are you ready for it, “an understanding of first and while”

That this might best be described as how a language describes order and that this registration was first before Quirinus became governor and then there were the other registrations which would come later.

The bigger point is what is happening in Mary and Joseph’s life. God has called on Mary to actually have to rely on a guy for protection who can only accept b y faith that she bears God’s child. They had to deal with anyone in their village of Nazareth who had doubts about that. Then late in the pregnancy when, I assume, everything is going ok, they get hit with some government headache.

Ever gotten a bill from the government that you had no idea how you were going to pay, requirement to do something you had no idea on how you would find the time to do it?

Ever have a call of God on your life and then you’ve adjusted and now it seems like one more problem.

This is exactly where Mary and Joseph were in their lives. It can seem like everything is going wrong in our lives when crisis happens yet my friends for those who follow Jesus, who believe that He is our salvation, we live in His family, His promises

2 Timothy 2:11–13 (CSB)

11 This saying is trustworthy:

For if we died with him,

we will also live with him;

12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us;

13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

God is faithful which means God always comes through. God told Mary and Joseph that Jesus would be the savior of the world. God’s call on our lives comes with His faithfulness as well.

This is what we can tell our anxiety late at night or in the day.

God is faithful. Christmas shows God is faithful. God always comes through.

You got that horrible medical diagnosis, God is faithful. You have a big paycheck coming, God is faithful. Your kids are being disobedient and disrespectful, God is faithful.

This truth allows us not to Panic. When you panic, you do dumb things. When you think it is all up to you, that only you can do the thing that needs to get done, that no one will help you, that can lead to anxiety, panic and dumb, dumb decisions.

Yet it isn’t all up to you. You don’t got this. God got this. You are only going to do your responsibilities and God will be faithful.

Joseph and Mary didn’t know how God will be born, they just knew that he was faithful. Joseph didn’t run and hide from the government so he wouldn’t pay taxes, instead God used that saying of death and taxes to further his plans. Joseph just obeyed God and then the government and went.

When you are in a crisis ask how God is going to show His faithfulness in it. God is constantly showing us His faithfulness.

Here with Mary and Joseph God is using taxes to show that God is a person of his word. God said hunderds of years earlier,

Matthew 2:6 CSB

6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”

Yet Mary, from whom Jesus would be born is located in Nazareth. Why would Mary end up in Bethlehem. There is no reason for her to go down there. Except Joseph had to go to the equivalent of the Roman DMV. Sometimes God will even use our most annoying things to bless the world.

4 Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant.

Here is some crazy facts for you. Mary and Joseph walked about 63 Miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Which is like walking from New Day, our church, to Roseville or San Ramon if you walk along the interstates. Which you shouldn’t do because it is illegal, a point which is totally besides the point. But interesting that they walked that far.

And a lot of our drawings and paintings are from a totally different culture than Mary and Joseph actually lived in. Most paintings have Mary sitting on a donkey and Joseph leading her. There is even a cute animated movie about that donkey.

There is no donkey in the Christmas story. No mule. No horse. and if there was a donkey no self-respecting man would be walking while his wife rode.

Mary most likely walked all 63 miles.

That’s a lot. I wonder if Jesus ever heard her say, “ I walked from Nazareth to Bethlehem for you!”

I enjoy asking people their giving birth stories, not the actual process but most people have a story of what happened before, during or after. For us, I got all excitied when Charlotte was to be born, because Lori was having contractions that were not progressing all Christmas day. Then on the day after Christmas we went to the hospital and the doctor asked if we wanted to have the baby today and we said yes, so he broke her water and gave her drugs to start the contractions. I stepped in for the first coaching of the breathing. Thought I did a great job but then the nurse came in and did an ultrasound because she said, when she did her first exam she felt a little booty and not a head. Yes, Charlotte was breach so Lori would have a C-section. Lori would be given pain drugs immediately. i have never seen a more happy person to be told they would be having surgery than Lori was at that moment.

That’s just one of our birth stories. According to tradition the gospel of Luke is what Luke learned from Mary. Mary knew her story and for a fact she wanted it recorded that they traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem and then another problem occured.

6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

They didn’t just walk in to town and Mary gives birth. They would end up staying in Bethlehem for a couple of years. Yet Mary and Joseph were poor, we know that because they live in Nazareth, and when time comes for the offering to be given to God for their first born son, they give the offering of two birds because this was the offering for the poor to give, it is what they could afford.

In Bethlehem there would have usually been a place for caravan’s to stay. Yet for some reason, perhaps because there was so many people there, Bethlehem was overwhelmed. There was no suitable place for a woman to give birth to a child available to Mary. Instead of the room in her house by her mother or other women she knew, Mary was obedient to God, and gives birth in Bethlehem most likely surrounded by sheep and other animals. Because the tradition was to keep the baby’s arms and legs as straight as possible the next thing occured.

7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

My friends that is a sad, sad place to put a baby. This is like telling everyone that Jesus was born in room with moldy walls, nasty carpet, and exposed wiring, where the best the mom could do was to put the baby in a dog crate so the baby would be protected from all that is going on around him.

If you are broke. God understands your pain. When God chose to use people to show His glory to the world He chose a young couple, from a no nothing place who were completely poor.

God desires to show you a miracle, God desires to bless the world through you and He is faithful.

Do not view your circumstances as holding God back from blessing the world through you. It is in your problems, your regular crisis that God desires to show you, He is working all things out for those who love him and are called according to His purpose.

Your job is to be obedient to God above all. Do what is right and loving and know that God is faithful.

It is because of Jesus being in a manager, that something incredibly amazing would happen. For certain there would be many babies in Bethlehem that night. Perhaps even some born that very day. Yet only one baby in the whole town would be in a manger. Spoiler alert, because that was the key to the next part of the story. All the angels had to tell the shepherds was:

Luke 2:12 CSB

12 This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”

Sometimes your worst day or moment might be exactly the way God is telling someone in how to find you. Sometimes you meet someone at their worst moment because you are the blessing God is giving them.