What are You Expecting This Christmas?

Jason M. Dickinson

Standalone • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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Scripture and dramatic reading in four moves with brief devotional at end.

Notes

Transcript

Move 1 - Joseph

Matthew 1:18–23 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).

So… my soon-to-be wife is already pregnant. What am I going to do? How could this… happen to me? I mean, I can’t go through with the marriage… right? I feel like I should just break this off. If she did commit adultery and I knew about it and still married her, what does that say about me? That’s going to ruin my reputation, my career, I don’t even know if I can call myself a devout Jew at that point. But I can’t just put Mary to open shame like that… I’ve got to figure out how I can just take care of this quietly. Maybe I can just lie… “Hey Mary, I’ve been praying and God told me that uh, we shouldn’t get married anymore.” No… I think using God’s name for that might get me struck by lightning. You know what, I think I just need to take a deep breath… this has really been eating at me. I’ve been having some crazy dreams lately. Just last night, I had a dream that an angel came to me and said, “Joseph, take Mary as your wife because this baby came from God, and call him Jesus because he’s going to save his people from their sins.” And the part I don’t even want to tell anyone is… it kind of felt real. That’s… crazy, right? Angels don’t just come to people in their dreams, that’s not a normal occurrence. We haven’t even heard from God in 400 years! But there’s something inside of me that feels like I need to listen to that angel from my dream. I just wanted to have a normal life, get married, start a family, run my carpentry business… but now, everything is a whirlwind. The only thing I can say for sure is that whatever happens with all this baby Jesus stuff, things have NOT gone how I expected.

Joseph - Expecting a Normal Life

Joseph was a just man. He was a good guy. A blue-collar worker that worked hard and did what was right. He wasn’t looking to be anything special. He wasn’t expecting to do anything crazy. In fact, Joseph was simply expecting a normal life.

Wants to marry his sweetheart, Mary.

They will have kids, eventually, and Joseph will grow his business, and he and Mary will share a life that is, well, normal.

But God didn’t call Joseph to a normal life.

You see, that second part of Joseph’s expectation - not Mary but the having kids, well, that part came a whole lot sooner than expected.

— betrothed, husband - they were essentially married.

Arranged marriage

Parents paid bride price

Wait a year - preparation for the husband and watch the girl to make sure she is pure.

Mary can’t hide it

Joseph’s eyes, either Mary was not pregnant, but crazy; or she is pregnant and she’s lying. Joseph had to decide if he stays with Mary, what will happen to him; and if he divorces her what will happen to him — and to her.

He’s marked for the rest of his life. If he’s the guy that got her pregnant, or she got pregnant with someone else, then, from that point on, he’s going to find it hard to find a job.

If he divorces her, what other father would want his daughter to marry him. Because the question is always going to remain . . . was Joseph the father?

Joseph has a decision to make — pretend to live a normal life or live the life God has called him to - walking with this one named Jesus.

Just as Joseph decides to quietly divorce Mary, an angel appears to Joseph and tells Joseph what? Do not fear. Do not fear to be associated with Jesus.

It won’t be a normal life, but you will be walking with God!

Perhaps you’re like Joseph. You’re happy to live a good life, work hard, eventually retire. But the reality is, when Jesus enters your life, he changes what is normal.

Walking with Jesus will require you to live differently than the world around you — and others may find it strange for you to associate with Jesus.

You have a decision to make — will you pretend to live a “normal” life and go with the flow of the culture around you, or will you not fear being associated with Jesus, by taking a counter-cultural stand, walking with those the world shuts out, etc.

———

Move 2 - Mary

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.

(Angel and Mary)

A: Greetings, favored one, theLord is with you!

M: …what? Favored one? What are you talking about?

A: Well, I was definitely hoping for a little more excitement… anyway, I have big news for you: you’re going to have a baby!

M: …a baby? No no no, you definitely have the wrong person. I’m a virgin, that’s… not how that works.

A: Oh, right – I forgot to mention, the baby is going to be the Messiah. *2s pause*. Okay, clearly you’re still confused. You know that passage from Isaiah, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”? That’s about the Messiah. And God has chosen you to bear that child!

M: ……oh. Well… if this is God’s plan, then who am I to try and resist it? I just… really think He could have chosen someone a little more cut out for the job. I know God knows everything, but wouldn’t it have made sense to give the Messiah to someone with a little more parenting experience? What if I accidentally forget him somewhere? That would be so like me…

A: Don’t you remember that David was the youngest of his family and nothing more than a shepherd before God used him to be the king of Israel? Remember that God exalts the humble, and He has looked on you with favor. If God can bring a child from your barren relative, He can surely use you to bring the Messiah. Nothing is impossible with God.

M: I just… really thought my life would be different than this. I never thought I would have anything to do with the Messiah!

A: Well… what were you expecting?

Mary - Expecting a different life

Mary’s full of hope (like a bride)

Not sure how old Mary was but could marry as young as age 12

Betrothal in the 1st C meant you were essentially married.

Mary like a young bride-to-be planning her wedding, filling up one Pinterest board after another thinking about all of the possibilities she has in front of her.

Might be dreaming of how many children she and Joseph would have and what their names would be.

Gabriel arrives

Not a cute little baby angel

Name means “God is my warrior”

one of two angels named, along with Michael, serve as archangels for God.

Mary was expecting a completely different life

Mary may be young but she’s not dumb — she understands where babies come from

30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

If I have favor with God, why is he changing everything from what I am expecting?

Being 21st C readers, we have the benefit of recognizing that God is doing a very good thing by bringing Jesus into the world; however, I imagine for Mary this would have been devastating on the face of it — or at least disorienting.

How about you? Have you ever had a moment in your life where everything turned upside down? The life you were expecting is now gone and you’re devastated or at least disoriented?

Luke 1:26–38 ESV

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.

Like Mary - we need to trust in God and His Word

Move 3 - Shepherds

Luke 2:8–20 ESV

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.

You’re not going to believe what happened to me last night… I saw an angel. I know, I know, I sound ridiculous, but you’ve got to believe me. Someone called off for the night shift for watching the sheep again, and apparently, I’m the only one who’s capable of ever filling in. Anyways, I’m out there watching the sheep, and all of a sudden, it gets super bright, like, as bright as the sun. And there’s an angel standing there! You can ask the other guys; they saw it too. Get this – the angel says, “don’t be afraid.” Yeah, right. My bad, I forgot it’s normal to see an angel when you’re out that late. Anyway, then he says, “unto you is born a Savior in the city of David, Christ the Lord.” I’ve never really been a religious person… I just think we can’t really know, y’know? But all my religious coworkers are freaking out, and they say how we have to go see. And I think, “well, I’m not going to stay here by myself.” And so I’m asking questions like who is the Christ? What is he saving people from? And we get to Bethlehem, and sure enough, there’s this baby, just like the angel said. And when I saw the baby, something… changed in me. I know what I saw, and after all the things I’ve thought about faith in my life … I think God might really be out there. And if He really did send a savior, then… maybe He does care about me. I even found myself praising God with everyone else on the way back. I couldn’t believe what was coming out of my mouth. I was just going through life one day at a time, and all of a sudden, now everything is different. I would have NEVER expected that anything like this would happen to me.

Shepherds - not expecting anything

The shepherds were not expecting anything.

It was a normal night. At their normal job. With normal sheep.

And suddenly. . . something NOT NORMAL. Something completely unexpected happened.

The shepherds expected nothing - they were seen as nothing

Within a blink of an eye, everything changed. And while a group of angels may sound cute, this was a host of angels - the word usually used for an army.

In a flash, the normal night went to terrifying.

What was unexpected for the shepherds was completely planned by God.

God broke into the normal night of the shepherds to wake them up to see what God was doing. God was at work and they had no need to fear.

Anything unexpected happen to you lately? Remember, that it is not unexpected to God, and he wants to use it to point you to Jesus.

Sometimes God breaks in when you least expect it to show you what you need most - Jesus.

Move 4 - Wise Men

Matthew 2:1–6 ESV

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

Matthew 2:10–11 ESV

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Hundreds of years ago, there was a devout Jewish man who was captured and taken to our land named Daniel. He rose to prominence as a great seer, and because of his status in the royal court, people in Persia have known of his prophecies for centuries. Some of us who study religions have looked into the customs of Daniel, and he has a prophecy about this so-called “Anointed One” who comes after a certain period of time. As I researched more about Daniel’s God and his religion, I began to notice how often this anointed one popped up in other writings from the prophets of his land. Ultimately, it led me to this prophecy: that in Bethlehem of Judea, a ruler for Israel shall come. Now, Bethlehem is so small that there are maps of Judea that you can’t even find it on. What would lead this Yahweh to send his anointed one to a town so small? But in my research, I learned that this is where the anointed one’s ancestor was from, the one who was promised to have a descendant reign forever. And so, we looked for signs in the sky, waiting to see if there were any omens that would signal the coming of the anointed one. And as we waited to see if Yahweh would act, it happened. We spotted a new star in the west. As we looked back at the writings of Daniel, the amount of time elapsed since his writing was what he had foretold. As we looked at the star, it was in the exact direction of Bethlehem. We knew that however far we would have to travel, it would be worth it to see this ruler. After years of anticipation, he has finally arrived – the ruler that has been expected.

Wise Men - expecting something

The people we call the wise men are quite interesting.

We don’t know how many there really were - know there were three gifts.

We know these men came from the East — possibly from the area of Babylon and were also known as magi, meaning they were magicians of sorts.

They came to Bethlehem expecting something - expecting to find a king.

But, how did they even know to look?

They came to Bethlehem following a star - the magi would often look to the stars to give them signs, but it seemed they knew they were looking for a king or at least someone special.

Who told them? It is likely they studied the prophecy of one of their chief magi’s from long ago. His name was. . . Daniel.

Daniel 5:11 ESV

King Nebuchadnezzar. . . —made him [Daniel] chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers,

In other words, Daniel was the chief of the magi!

God had been setting the stage for Jesus to enter their lives.

They knew there was something more. They were curious, unsure of what they would find, but they came anyway, expecting something.

What are you expecting this Christmas?