Here With Us In Our Weakness

Notes
Transcript
Have you ever read the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? This is a children’s classic. The story is about a kid who wakes up and everything in his day goes wrong. From real troubles to superficial problems, it is a case of Murphy’s Law in action. You do know what Murphy’s Law is, right? Murphy’s Law states, “What can go wrong will go wrong.” The story is so comical because it is so relatable. In 2014 Disney produced a movie based on the book and it was excellent. If you need a good laugh this week, go check it out.
Everybody has bad days. Sometimes we have bad weeks, bad months, or even bad years. Life is messy and it’s hard. What do we do when we wake up in the middle of a nightmare, but the nightmare isn’t a dream we were having. The nightmare is our life! What happens when we get devastating news? Our reaction might be to ask God, “Where did you go?”
There are times in our life where we might have weak faith. There are times in our lives when we doubt the promises God has for us. There might be times when we feel defeated and we start to question everything.
Just like last week, we are going to revisit a familiar Christmas story and try to see it through the lens of the one who experienced it. Last week we talked about the shepherds and how God is with us in our wonder. We are not always aware of what God is doing in our lives, but he is present in the moments where we are beside ourselves.
But the story of Christmas is not all sunshine and rainbows. This story happens in the context of real people’s lives. And this story is a shock to those who live it. Nobody planned for life to be this way. We are going to revisit the story of the birth of Christ in Matthew chapter one.
The birth of Jesus is first announced in Luke 1:26-38. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she would become pregnant, and that this conception would come about by the power of the Holy Spirit. The child that she would deliver would be the Christ. He would be the heir to the throne of David, the hero of Genesis 3. The angel left her and now she had to share this news with her betrothed, Joseph.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
We want to stop and understand the culture of the day here. When we read betrothal, our mind thinks of engagement in our culture. When two people come together in a romantic relationship, the order is dating, then engagement, then marriage (usually). It didn’t happen quite like that back in ancient Israel. Yes, marriages were usually arranged by the parents of the bride and groom, but that doesn’t always mean that it was done in the absence of a genuine love for one another. There is no indication that either Mary or Joseph was not in love with the other. When the parents agree to this marriage, a betrothal begins and a ceremony is held (imagine having an engagement party). At that point, the couple is legally married but the wife is not living with her husband. The husband is off preparing a place for his wife to live, which is usually a room added to the house of the groom’s father (Ladies, imagine having to live with your in-laws!) This is the context in which this story is being told.
Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes for a minute. Your families agreed you and Mary are going to marry. She’s a good looking girl. You share the same values. Your families have been friends for a long time. Nazareth is a small town so everybody knows everybody. The betrothal is done, the ceremony has taken place, the carpentry business is doing well, and you’re busy adding that room onto your father’s house, and when it’s done, you get to bring your bride home! This is an exciting time for Joseph! That is until his world shatters...
Mary comes around and begins to share what she has experienced. The morning sickness has begun, so there’s no hiding it. She tells Joseph and the family that she’s not an adulterer, but rather something amazing has happened! The Holy Spirit of God has miraculously produced this pregnancy and the child to be born will be the Son of God! You and I as readers into a story in which we already know the outcome think, “This is wonderful!” But not unsuspecting Joseph...
Joseph didn’t know his life was going to shatter that day. The life he planned out wasn’t going to work out that way. Virgin births don’t happen. Even every other recorded miraculous birth in history involved both a mom and a dad! You can imagine the skepticism and outright denial when this news broke. Joseph likely moved from shock to deep anger as he felt betrayed by the woman he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with.
But…Joseph is a righteous man. This is where we get to see the heart of a man who loved his wife.
And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
Joseph was well within his right, culturally speaking, to publicly shame Mary for her infidelity, but he chose to resolve it quietly. He was going to divorce her, but this is a small town. Everybody is going to know. But it didn’t matter to Joseph. He was going to try…until he fell asleep.
But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
The angel, who we assume is Gabriel, the same angel that appeared to Mary, appears to Joseph to basically tell him not to worry because Mary is telling the truth. She is going to bear a son. He is going to save people from their sins. The author, Matthew, interjects to connect this story to the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 to show that was a prophecy being fulfilled. It is important to know that Joseph may not have made this connection. This is something the Holy Spirit showed Matthew.
Joseph had to have though his world was ending. He had to have thought that it was all over. But then God injected a spark of hope and showed Joseph a glimmer of his life to be. Joseph was going to be the earthly father of the Son of God. It’s not what Joseph envisioned, but it is what God had envisioned since before time began.
What do you do when you are facing a crisis? What do you do when you feel like life is crumbling all around you, when you face the potential reality that the life you planned for yourself is not going to work out? What do you do when you face trouble you don’t know how to handle?
Dr. John Delony is a mental health expert and has focused particularly on the problem of anxiety. He is a best selling author with books titled Building a Non-Anxious Life, Own Your Past, Change Your Future, and Redefining Anxiety. He often asks those going through hard times, “What is the next right thing to do?” What was the next right thing for Joseph to do?
And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,
but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Here’s what I want you to hear this morning. When Joseph felt like his life was falling apart, when he felt like his future had been stolen from him, when he felt like there was nothing left, God. Was. With. Joseph.
In a moment of weakness, God was with Joseph. He is with you too.
In a moment of weakness, God was with Joseph. He is with you too.
I don’t know of all the things that you might be going through. None of our lives are struggle free. You might be going through something major. You might be going through something you’ve told yourself is minor. No matter the intensity of the struggles, they are still your struggles. When we feel like the world around us is falling apart, it is easy to think God has abandoned us, but I’m here to tell you that he has not. God still has a plan and purpose for your life. God hadn’t left Joseph. God was showing Joseph what his true purpose was. I don’t know why you are going through the things you are going through, but I do know God has a purpose for it. There is still a hope for you. God is still with you.
I want you to stop and think about something for a moment. Whatever is not just right in your life right now…it might be a job, a relationship, your finances, an issue with a family member, a health problem, you name it. What is that one thing, and what is the next right thing to do about it? What if you are not meant to solve the problem right now? Most of the time we look to solve the problem so we can get rid of the pain it is causing us. But you may be in this for a season. We are not asking how to solve the problem. We are simply asking,
What is the next right thing to do?
What is the next right thing to do?
Maybe the next right thing to do is change jobs. Maybe the next right thing to do is change your attitude in your current job. Maybe the next right thing to do is call that one person. Maybe the next right thing to do is choose to interact with that difficult person differently. Maybe the next right thing to do is go see the doctor. Maybe the right next thing to do is stop wasting money on the thing that’s not bringing you joy. What is the next right thing to do? If you ask God that question, what is he saying? Whatever he says, go do it.
When you know what the next right thing to do is, just know it isn’t going to be easy. Just because it is right, doesn’t mean it is easy. There are moments in life where we have to take action and that action requires courage. Is God asking you to be courageous in some aspect of your life? Is God asking you to take a stand? Is he asking you to take a risk? Life can stay the same if you want to, but you also know that you are just going to get the same results. I have learned that God is just beyond my comfort zone. If I want to experience more of him, you have to step out in faith and let him guide you. What is the next right thing to do?