The Wonder of Christmas: Setbacks create the SetUp.

I love Christmas! The gifts, the parties, the celebrating.

Christmas trees and lights and stockings and cookies and cocoa. Watching our favorite Christmas movies.

With all the wonderful things that come with Christmas, the traditions, the overeating and overspending.

Christmas is all about Jesus. God with us, demonstrating HIS love, Jesus is still the light in our darkness so we are here celebrating the real reason for the season, Jesus.

However, the Christmas story as we know it is familiar to most people, believers or non-believers, we so often romanticize the events of the Nativity.

The nostalgic Christmas songs, the giving and receiving Christmas cards, the Christmas plays, the caroling.

Sometimes the Christmas story can appear to be something perfect, and orderly, well planned and organized, beautiful and colorful.

But as we look at the very first Christmas, we see that God’s plan was revealed at an inconvenient and messy time. We like to think of it as beautiful and well packaged but the real history says otherwise.

A teenage girl with a wonderful future, rocked by scandal.

A newlywed couple, uprooted from their home because of God’s timing and this baby. Their family… their support system was taken from them during a very difficult season their lives.

Life is full of setbacks, even during the most wonderful time of the year. Even in the season where everyone is generous, and joyful… the season of peace… where good will toward others is expected.

The lights of Christmas may still shine but some of us live in darkness and despair. Loved ones aren’t with us… having to be around difficult family members… my paycheck is stretched thinner than it used to… I couldn’t give my kids what they wanted.

The “magic of the season” doesn’t live up to what it use to be.

In your life, you may encountering some setbacks, but the very first Christmas was filled with plenty of setbacks. But, those setbacks were setups that drew them closer to the Lord.

Yet, on the other side of that setback, a great miracle happened. God was setup to be that peace in the midst of chaos, powerful influence to the humble, and ultimately the gift of salvation for all humanity.

So Just because it's Christmas it’s the most wonderful time of the year… these setbacks are great setups to worship the Lord, to demonstrate out trust in the Lord, and to bless others with encouragement.

Our Setbacks are our Setup for Worship

I remember one Christmas in the 80’s we got a Commodore 64 computer. I opened up a computer keyboard, my brother Ryan opened up a big box and it was a monitor, and my younger brother opened his gift and it was the floppy disk hard drive. Since money was tight, we got a family gift.

We were happy, I was happy until I came back to school after Christmas break and compared what I got to what my friends got. They did so much more then I did. Transformers, Ghetto Blasters, an Atari, bicycles. When I compared what I got to what my friends got, then I was disappointed. In the moment I was bummed out because I did not get what my friends got but as I got older, when those things became obsolete, sold in garage sales, because eventually, just like our commodore 64, it’s just a bunch of worthless junk.

In the very first Christmas story, we see a young girl’s expectations for her life, shattered by something God did. Mary, a young teenage girl, about 13 to 16 years old, engaged to be married and with her whole life ahead of her. Then God's plan was revealed to Mary in an amazing way, through an angel Gabriel.

Luke 1:26–38 ESV

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

When an angel comes to show favor to a nobody, bringing news that the long awaited Messiah is coming to earth and... by the way… I’m using you to make that happen.

Mary, a teenage girl, pledged to be married, saved herself for her husband Joseph. God uses a virgin to enter humanity’s domain.

Mary was inconvenienced by this news but she did not respond like one who is frustrated.

Even though her whole world was turned upside down, she responded with “I am the Lord’s servant.” She responded with complete obedience! Even though her life was forever changed. Her future, her relational status, her reputation, everything is now hanging in the balance because she said yes to God’s plan.

She might have even gone through Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and then finally acceptance, the five stages of grief as she faced this inconvenience situation which was God’s plan.

Denial: how could that even happen? How can a virgin become pregnant much less with the son of God?

Anger: Why did she have to be cursed with an abnormal pregnancy?

Bargaining with God: Can you find someone else to do this? It's a bit inconvenient since I'm engaged to be married right now… Maybe after the wedding? Maybe someone who doesn't have anything going on right now in their life?

Depression over everything that she lost.

A scandalous marriage… a honeymoon season so she can enjoy her husband without a screaming toddler running around their house.

But then we see her acceptance of the circumstances. She not only accepted it, she added faith to her acceptance. She said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Mary had no fear, no doubt, God was walking with her through it all. Mary’s response was worship.

In Luke 1:46-55, we see her song of worship to God. That's the set up as we let God speak into the painful areas of our heart. We worship by giving to others… Praising God… Loving the unlovable. By focusing on God instead of ourselves.

Our Setbacks offer a chance to get closer to God. The greatest work God wants to do in our world often happens through people’s proper response to setbacks.

When we choose to worship instead of complain, we get to be part of God’s great plan God. Instead of wallowing in our setback we can choose to Worship.

Instead of focusing on our loss we can choose to give to others. Instead of being the victim of terrible circumstances, we can accept God’s plan and choose to worship.

God wants to used our Setbacks to setup our worship.

Our Setbacks are setups for genuine Faith.

Tried true tested faith… As God was speaking to Mary, God was preparing Joseph at the same time. It didn’t look good to Joseph, Mary being pregnant. People will start talking and for Mary, she would be killed for cheating on her future husband so God had to clear the air but Joseph had to trust in the Lord.

Matthew 1:18–25 ESV

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Joseph loved Mary but after discovering his fiancé was pregnant, the only rational explanation was that she had been with another man.

He had lived a pure and Godly life up to that point. Things were looking good. But this news seemed to derail the wedding plans. The easy thing for him to do was to break off the engagement. Even God spoke to Joseph and explained the situation, it didn’t change the outside situation.

People will see is his pregnant fiancé… the questions… the rumors… the impossible explanation. According to the outside situation, everything that he waited for was no longer possible. All progress in his life seemed lost. Yet he chose to trust... To trust God and the trust his future wife.

Joseph might have felt like all his progress toward a godly marriage was gone. From an outsider’s perspective, maybe it looked this way. But it wasn’t.

It takes genuine faith to be able to trust God’s plan for our life. Don’t buy into the outside pressure of what our lives are supposed to look like. We can choose to model our life after God’s plan. Then, even if it feels like we’re losing progress, God is still moving us forward regardless of appearances.

Setbacks are Set-ups for Encouragement.

Mary just had a bomb go off that had the potential to ruin her life. Even through she trusted the Lord, she felt drawn to go to Judea and spend time with her relative Elizabeth. In vs. 39-45 we see 2 or more people gathered who are chosen by God to fulfill HIS amazing promise. After Gabriel gave Mary the news about being pregnant as a virgin and about Elizebeth being pregnant in her old age, she left Nazareth and headed to the hill country of Judea. When she entered the house and greeted Elizabeth, John leaped in her womb and John’s mom was filled with he Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:42–45 ESV

42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

As we read the story of Mary visiting her cousin, Elizabeth, it’s easy to believe she left home to hide out until her pregnancy was over. But based on geography... Nazareth to Judea was a 30 hour walk, and travel back in this period of time, it’s unlikely Mary was very far along in her pregnancy when this happened. I believe that Mary went to visit her cousin because she was experiencing something similar. Elizabeth’s pregnancy was also a miraculous event. Mary visiting with Elizabeth became a source of encouragement to both of them.

Elizabeth felt her baby leaping in her womb. This was a significant moment. This also helped to confirm what Mary heard from the angel. Have you ever seen two former presidents on stage together or meeting in the same room? Even though many former presidents ran on completely opposing platforms, and might have even spoken negative things about each other, there’s a certain ease with which they interact. The shared experience creates a point of commonality that few people will ever understand. Setbacks can set-up opportunities to relate with someone in a way uncommon to most people. Similar experiences can often unite even those who are very different from each other. Sometimes, setbacks aren’t as much about us as we sometimes feel they are. Maybe, they’re actually something God wants us to use to accomplish HIS purposes on the earth. When we can relate with someone in love, as we experience something similar, we can encourage them. We can become a point of healing for other people, which can ultimately lead them to Christ.

Take Away:

We all experience setbacks—even those God is using to fulfill HIS perfect plans on the earth.

Disappointments and setbacks are tools that God can use to bless us as we completely submit ourselves to God’s greater plan.

When we live to give God ALL the glory

Our setbacks can be our setup to worship the Lord,

Our setbacks can be our setup to grow in our faith,

Our setbacks can be our setup to bless others as we encourage others.