Long Awaited Hope

Luke 2:1-21

2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14  “Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Pray

I have been watching a lot of Christmas movies with Krysta this season. Maybe more than any other year. We have a few hours each night that we get to sit and enjoy each other’s company and watch usually a Hallmark style Christmas movie and it is usually titled A Country Christmas or A City Christmas or Christmas in the Country or Christmas in the City. The plot is usually a big time city person with a big time city job has to go on a business trip that is over the Christmas season to a small town to shut down a factory or buy a struggling family business. The big time city person hates being in the small town and, sometime early on in the movie meets, the hard working owner of the struggling factory or small business.

At first they hate each other but over time they start to see that they are more alike than they are different and they fall in love. You’d think everything is fine but the deadline for the shutdown or repossession or auction of the factory or small business is always on Christmas Eve. There is drama in the movie at this point because the big time city person is not always fully truthful and usually withholds a big piece of information which the small town business owner/now love interest finds out about. They break the relationship off until the big time city person swoops in at the very last second to save the factory or small business with a clever plan that causes the big time city person to move to the small town and help run the now thriving business.

People love those kinds of stories. Both parties get something that they never wanted or never expected that blesses their lives. It’s called hope. They had no clue at the start of the movie that it would end up how it did. Maybe you have some of those last minute saves that changed the trajectory of your life or maybe some of you have grown so cynical that you believe that no one is coming to help you, no one hears you and all of these prayers just hit the ceiling and fall down.

The text this morning is to help you see that God loves you so much that He was able to send His son to us in a way that no one expected. In a way that unexpectedly changed all the lives that were touched by the birth of Christ. We have Mary, the virgin who says, “How can this be?” to the Shepherds just going about their day and they are confronted by an angel, to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, in the chapter before what we read this morning, who was old and his wife was barren, being visited by an angel to tell him that he will have a son.

All of these things came at the exact right time. It was not too early or too late but the perfect timing. By the time Jesus is born and this great ministry starts to unfold before the world, Rome had been drastically expanding their empire for about 30 years, by the time of Jesus ministry, about 30 years later, they had built roads that connected all of their territories. These are famous roads that some are still used today. One source said,

By the time of Jesus’ ministry, the Roman road system consisted of great highways radiating from Rome, running through dozens of provinces, territories, and client kingdoms. This road system eventually increased to as many as 29 great highways interconnected by 372 great road links. In all, there were approximately 250,000 miles of road system, of which 50,000 miles was considered “stone-paved super-highway.”

This made the message of Christ easy to spread. When we hear of Paul going as far as Spain, that is how he did it, on these roads. This was also a time of peace, Jesus didn’t have to contend with war which makes it a lot easier to listen when you are not concerned about the arrows and armies from foreign invaders.

The Father puts Jesus into history at the exact right time. He is not a creator who takes His hands off the watch once He has wound it up and hopes for the best, He is in our lives every second of everyday playing an active role. He never moves too early or too late, but He uses us in our space in history to be His hands and feet.

A few weeks ago, a man gave me $60 to give to someone that needed a little help this Christmas season. I couldn’t think of anyone off the top of my head but I figured that God would let me know who I needed to give it to when the time was right. A few days ago, I was purchasing some goods from a local woman that had recently fell on some hard times and I had this thought, “Give her the $60.” So on top of what we owed her we gave her an additional $60. Later she was messaging Krysta thanking us for the gift and Krysta told her that it was from an anonymous person that had given us the money. She went on to tell Krysta that she had been at the grocery store a few weeks prior and she saw a man at the register that didn’t have enough money for his groceries and, though she didn’t have a lot to spare, paid for the man’s groceries and she just knew that the Lord would give her back the money she gave. The total amount she spent on the man’s groceries was $60….… so we all praised God for the experience we got to be a part of.

He has come and He is with us and if you love Him, he is for you, but He doesn’t work in our time lines. Abraham, the father of the Jews, had no children when he was around 80 and God promised Him so many children that they could not be numbered. That promised was fulfilled 20 years later. Joseph had dreams from God that all of his family would bow down to him, but it wasn’t until after he was sold into slavery and sat in prison for more than a decade that the dream was fulfilled. David was anointed King of Israel while there was still a king on the throne, Saul. David had to wait 15 years to sit on the throne all the while running from the death threats of Saul. We have these bible stories to remind us that we are not forgotten. God very much cares about us and for us and He has a plan for all of our lives.

There is a hope in the birth of Christ. Israel, at that time, was in darkness. The “church” was corrupt. The religious leaders were doing everything they could to keep the laws externally but their hearts were far from God. For those of you who are here that may not know exactly what I am talking about, the bible teachers of that day liked the power and authority they had over the people but they lacked any sort of real love or reverence to God in their hearts. Basically they did all the things they were expected to do to check a box and say, “I’m right with God now.” “I did most of the do’s and tried not to do the don’ts so I can go to heaven when I die.” That is a stark difference from how God had called His people to live. You see, God used to dwell with His people, Israel. His spirit used to rest in the temple and as long as the Jews kept the commandments and the love of God in their heart, God stayed with them until they started worshipping other Gods and doing wicked things and worshipping in ways God was not pleased with and He removed His presence from them.

The ones who loved God were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Messiah, because that meant that their Lord had come back to save and redeem the people. We see two of them in Luke 2:25-38

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,

according to your word;

for my eyes have seen your salvation

that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory to your people Israel.”

And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

There was this faithful anticipation of God returning to justify His people. Are you desiring a relationship with God this morning? Are you desiring the Lord to move in a big way in your life and in your family? Was it a hard year for you? Is this a hard season because you are still trying to wrap your mind around some hurt in the past?

This time of year brings out the best and worst of people. I have seen people very angry because this time of year, while it is supposed to be so joyous, brings up so much hurt from broken relationships to painful memories of lost loved ones to financial strain to try and keep up with the appearances that society puts on young parents. This mindset breeds cynicism that God isn’t hearing me. He either knows about my hurt and doesn’t care or he doesn’t exist at all.

I would like to read you a poem that is my favorite for this time each year. I read it here last Christmas and I intend on possibly reading it every Christmas until I retire or the Lord calls me home. The poem is called The Innkeeper. Hurt is not something that is new to the human condition. Sometimes it seems like there was no one in the past that has the feelings that we have or have been through what we have been through. The bible is such a great gift from God to show us that our suffering is not disconnected from the past.

When we read the Christmas story we often just stop at the birth of Jesus and the angels and the wise men and the shepherds. We tend to skip or read quickly over the words, “Herod..killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years or under.” This poem, that I am about to read, is about the perspective of the person who took Mary and Joseph in that night in Bethlehem and the immense grief and suffering that came after, but ultimately what great hope overshadows the earthly pains that we go through.

READ THE INNKEEPER by JOHN PIPER.

Whatever hurt, suffering, sin or brokenness that you came in here with today, there is a God that knows about it and wants to take it from you. There is a God that doesn’t want to condemn you but to free you. There is a God that is calling out to you right now. You may say, “He’s not calling to me. Do you know what I have done?” The reason He can call out to you is because He condescended from His place with the Father and became a human so that he could be the sympathetic high priest that says, “I know exactly what you are going through. I know exactly your struggles because I once was just like you.” He lived the life that we live, he was poor, he was hungry, he got tired, he laughed, he got angry, but not in a sinful way. He had friends and family. Nothing surprises Him and nothing scares Him away. The birth of a child in a manger on that Christmas day that we are celebrating today changed the world. That is what He does every day. When someone responds to His call, lives are changed, sin is defeated and death has been overcome. We are made one with God and His Kingdom expands and we get one day closer to the whole heavenly choir singing “Joy to the world, the Lord has come.”