Faith

(Video - Luke 1-2 Jesus’ birth)

Introduction: Faith. This candle is the Bethlehem candle. It is so named to remember the faith that it took for Joseph and Mary to get from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Prophecy said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. So, how do you get a young pregnant girl and her soon to be husband to leave everything they know in Nazareth and go south on a walk about? Well that’s easy just get the Emperor to call for a census of the known world. That will get them to go. You don’t want to go against the decrees of the Emperor. There’s enough blood shed and persecution caused by civil unrest in this little back water town.

The big question is, what does that trip look like for our young couple? Can they pack up their BMW and zip down the road, or maybe charter a small jet and be there in no time at all? No way this trip is going to be one of faith and courage. So, let’s take a look at the story. Luke 2:1-7

Luke 2:1–7 NASB95

1 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. 2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Transitional Sentence: God called on Joseph and Mary to do an extraordinary thing. So, when God calls upon us to do something, great or even small, we should have the faith to accept no matter the cost.

So, who are Joseph and Mary?

a. Who are Joseph and Mary -

Joseph - Little is known. He could have been an older widower with children or in his mid-teens and marrying for the first time. He had a trade - carpentry, although some believe that he was actually a stonemason. And he was betrothed to Mary the soon to be mother of Jesus.

What we can know for sure is that Joseph was a righteous man and he didn’t want to disgrace Mary or have her stoned. He was also obedient to God because he accepted the words of an Angel in his dreams to take her as his wife. This showed great faith and courage.

Mary - Little is known of Mary too. She was a virgin and betrothed to Joseph. She probably wasn’t much more than 14 or 15 and was still living with her parents. However, she was the favored one of God.

The Angel Gabriel delivered a message to her that she would conceive in her womb a Son and He would be the Son of God. Although this was a great honor it probably wasn’t going to be looked at in a very nice way. No matter what the social consequences of this pregnancy were she accepted. - Luke 1:38

Luke 1:38 NASB95

38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

This showed great faith and courage. She was willing to be a bondslave. She intentionally enslaved herself to God to do something that wasn’t socially acceptable at the time.

b. So, the calling of God, or in other words their assignment.

This calling is best explained by: 2 Timothy 1:9

2 Timothy 1:9 NASB95

9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

This calling Is holy and given by God. It’s not according to anything Mary or Joseph did but is in accordance with the purposes of God. Mary and Joseph were called to raise God’s Son. The callings are rather dramatic too. Angels, dreams, and the possibility of catastrophe. This has the hand of God all over it.

I’ve always wondered - did they have a choice? What if one of them had said no? What if Joseph decided to have Mary stoned instead? Who would be the parents of the Son of God?

c. What did this mean for them?

They were going to be the earthly parents of the Son of God. They were trusting God that this was all going to work out. the chance of death during childbirth for the mother was high and a lot of children died young. This was going to be a big task. But there is one thing we can remember Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 NASB95

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

The idea of being called according to His purpose means that they were summoned to do this thing. They really didn’t have a choice - when God calls you can’t really say no.

It also means that they had to go for a journey. A long walk Luke 2:4

Luke 2:4 NASB95

4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,

Take the journey now and you can get on the motorway in your BMW and go from Nazareth to Bethlehem in about two hours. But if you walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem it will take about 34 hours of continuous walking. This trip is about 90 miles along a nice road. The longest walk I remember taking at once was 24 miles carrying about 90 pounds on my back. It took 8 hours of walking without much time to sit and rest and I was wiped out afterwards.

So, consider what they went through. Mary is close to giving birth to a child, there isn’t a nice paved road and the terrain is hilly and dangerous. They probably didn’t come along an inn every time they wanted to stop so they would have slept out in the open or set up a small shelter. If they covered 24 miles in a day it would have taken four days to make this trip. They probably didn’t cover 24 miles a day so they probably took longer. Why didn’t Luke add some of these details. I’d say they were pretty tough people.

2. So, Joseph and Mary are walking in faith.

a. A baby (God’s Son) - Mary had enough faith and courage to conceive a child in her womb before she was married. What a scandal. Pregnancy during betrothal was the same as adultery. She would have been ostracized at best and stoned to death at worst. If Joseph rejected her she could have been sent away and had no hope of being able to care for herself, or stoned and then she wouldn’t of had to worry about it. If given a letter of divorce she could have returned home if her parents would have her. And what about her parents, there goes the family name. Did her father have a business that would be affected by this? Um - maybe this should be thought through a bit before jumping into it.

Nope that’s not Mary’s style, God wants her, so God gets her.

What about Joseph. He can accept her, reject her and let the priests decide what to do or he can divorce her quietly and send her home. Gee, it would be nice to have a nice young wife but not if she turns out to be an unfaithful tramp. What to do, what to do? Then comes an Angel - Gabriel. He takes away all the doubts and concerns. What is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. Good, now all he has to do is accept that there is going to be a lot of mess associated with this child. Have faith and believe.

b. And then they left home - no more comfy zone. It’s time for discomfort because there is a trip to take. The Roman Emperor has demanded a census. They must travel to the city of Joseph’s lineage. That would be David and the city would be Bethlehem. Like I said earlier it’s a long walk. Multiple days of walking, sleeping out in the open and being at risk from thieves that might want to steal whatever they have. They might even want to take Mary as a slave. The crazy thing is they don’t even know how long they will be gone. The crazier thing is that they will be going on another journey. Matthew tells us that they have to leave Bethlehem to save Jesus from King Herod. Matthew 2:13-15 says:

Matthew 2:13–15 NASB95

13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” 14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

This journey is causing them to leave the comforts of home, what comforts there are anyway, mostly they are leaving their families.

Family is a big deal. Maybe they know someone in Bethlehem, they can pick up the phone and give them a call. Hey uncle John, were coming over for a while get the upper room ready. We don’t know how long we are going to stay, oh and by the way we are expecting a baby soon. If you read the story it sounds like God is their travel agent and they are relying entirely on Him.

Have you ever gone on a trip like that? Just jumped on a plane and went somewhere? No family to meet you, no hotel reservations, no plan. I did it a couple times, the Army is great for unplanned trips. But Mary and Joseph don’t have an Army backing them up.

c. So, what kind of crazy is this.

Well, this is definitely a God thing. This is crazy faith that God will work everything out. He will provide the escort as they are traveling, He will provide a place to stay, He will provide food along the way and He will provide them whatever they need when they get there for as long as they need it. Anybody got that kind of faith?

Iv’e read stories about missionaries that do this very thing. They just go, they trust God for everything because they are going to spread the Gospel.

3. So, what about us? Do we have this much crazy faith?

a. Mary and Joseph are no different then us. They were just two people chosen by God to do an extraordinary thing. Maybe they were just a pair of goofy kids who didn’t really realize what this really meant so they said yes without thinking it over. Maybe they understood completely what it all really meant and did it anyway.

What about you? Have you ever felt like you were called to do something for the Lord? Something small or maybe something really big.

b. The crazy thing is we can all be called by God.

That’s right, God still calls on His children to do His will. Maybe a still small voice, or maybe a baseball bat to the head. Some of us might respond to the voice but some of us require the baseball bat upside the head.

So if you have been summoned or called by the Lord what did you do about it? Did you think about all the problems associated with the idea and then run and hide like Jonah. Or did you accept the call and muster up all the faith and courage you had expecting God to work it all out for good?

c. A crazier thing is that we can all accept the call from God and walk in faith.

That takes me back to my first thought. Did Mary really have an option to say no? If we are called into His service can we really say no? I didn’t feel like I could say no. When I tried to ignore the calling the bat pounding against my head just became more painful.

So, accept the call and walk in faith. Hebrews 11:1

Hebrews 11:1 NASB95

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Walk with the assurance that the things you hope for will be provided when you need them and also that everything you need along the way will be provided because, God will make all things work for good for those who love Him and are called to His purpose. Faith isn’t hard. We simply need to believe that what we need will be provided by a God who gives generously to those who ask.

Exit: God called Joseph and Mary to do an extraordinary thing. They accepted this calling because they had faith that He would provide everything they need along the way. He provided the reason to leave home and travel to Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy. He provided the travel plans and the escort, food, shelter and and a safe delivery of His Son. Then He continued to act on their behalf until Jesus breathed His last and His work was completed.

Is God calling you into something? Have faith and accept the calling. God still provides for His children. Especially the ones He has given a special purpose.

Romans 8:28 NASB95

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

If God has a special purpose for you He will make all things work out for good.

Trust and believe, and then walk in faith.