Challenge #2 - Distance

Challenge #2: Distance

Series: Christmas Challenges

Verse(s)

Joke: A lady who served on many civic committees, asked to select carols suitable for a community Christmas-tree lighting, sought the help of her pastor. When she scanned the list he had selected, she exclaimed in dismay, “But they’re all so theological.”

Yes. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. That is what’s so special about it!

Introduction

I am doing a series this Christmas about the challenges that Mary and Joseph faced as earthly parents of Jesus. Last week, I talked about the ‘dilemmas’ they faced early on in the pregnancy – biological, moral, hormonal, future, and urgent. Joseph and Mary were just normal people with dilemmas that they had to trust the Lord to help them through. They had decisions that they had to make to get them through these dilemmas. But these were not the only challenges they faced. Today, we are going to look at another challenge they faced that also start with the letter “D” Today’s challenge is Distance. Several times in the Christmas story, we see Mary and Joseph face challenges in regards to distance.

Today, we travel long distances without much thought to how far distances are. (show slide) We hop in a car and drive over 90 miles to a doctor appointment or to go shopping in Billings. We hop in a plane and fly across the country and land in a warm vacation spot the same day. We can even fly half-way around the world in less than a day. I was thinking at how distance is relative. In Montana, we don’t think of traveling hours to another town for high school or college sports, or hours away to see family members. Whereas, some people live in places where a two-hour drive is an eternity to them. (show slide 2) I read recently that Montana alone is the same size as the entire northeast New England area of the United States (That includes 9 states.) It takes about the same amount of time to drive across Montana from East to West (10 hours) as it does to drive from New York to South Carolina (along most of the East coast). We can cover longer distances today due to the advances in transportation. We can travel by planes, trains, and automobiles and so many other ways (boats, helicopters, subways, etc.).

Side note: Play Funny commercial from the Super Bowl (2005) about the Mustang Convertible.

Travel sure has changed even from my parents and grandparents. I remember my parents telling me stories of all-day trips from their home in Havre, MT to the Great Falls area. They would stop for lunch along the way near the Loma schoolhouse to let their vehicle cool down, and then continue on the rest of the way, before returning home later that evening. I also remember my Dad recounting stories of visiting the Bear Paw Mountains in their old vehicles. The roads were so steep, that they couldn’t drive up the hill forward. They had more power going backwards. So on one of the hills, they would back up the hill to get over the hill to their camp sites deeper in the mountains. I remember after moving here, people told me stories about people hopping an East-West train to the other side of Ryegate, and then jumping a north-south train to catch a ride to Billings for a day away in the big city. My grandmother even told me stories of the 1920’s and 1930’s when she grew up. She would ride a horse and buggy to school in the plains of Eastern Montana, near Vida.

My how times have changed. Transportation advancements have made travelling much easier. But in the time of Jesus birth, travel was much different than it is today. People travelled a lot by foot, and sometimes by animal such as horses, camels, and donkeys. That is why some of the nativity stories show Mary on a donkey (even though there is no mention in the Bible about this), and the wise men riding camels, and kings or military riding horses. Side note : To travel long distances, boat was one of the fastest ways. Many of Paul’s missionary journeys around the Roman empire included boat travel.

For the most part, in Jesus’ time, people mostly travelled by foot. This made long distances more difficult and longer to travel. That is why we are going to look at the challenge of distances that they faced. There are three distances that we are going to look at.

Distance #1 is the distance Mary travelled from Nazareth to visit her relative Elizabeth near Jerusalem.

Distance #2 is the distance that Mary and Joseph travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.

Distance #3 is the distance Mary & Joseph fled from Bethlehem to Egypt to protect the baby Jesus.

Body

Distance #1 – A Journey of Faith (Traveling to see Elizabeth) Luke 1:36-45

Let’s read what happened after the angel told Mary she would be pregnant and she was trying to make sense of what he was saying about this seemingly impossible miracle. He said in Luke 1:36-37, “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

He wanted to prove to Mary that God could do anything. And to prove it, the angel mentioned another miracle taking place with one of Mary’s relatives that lived near Jerusalem. The woman’s name was Elizabeth, and she was married to Zechariah, a priest that ministered in the temple of God in Jerusalem. Elizabeth was past child bearing age, but God had something special planned. And Mary would get to witness the miracle taking place even as she went on her own journey of faith. So, Mary decided to go visit her relative (likely a cousin)

So where did Zechariah and Elizabeth live. Well, according to verse 39, “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.” Let’s stop right there and figure out where Mary travelled from and to.

Mary was from Nazareth. Elizabeth lived in a town in the hill country of Judea. Here’s what we know about that place.

Location: The Judean hills were a hilly/mountainous area region that are situated between the coast of the Mediterranean Sea on the west and the Jordan River/Dead Sea area on the east. This small town needed to be close to Jerusalem because Zechariah worked in the temple. Jerusalem and Bethlehem are both part of this area. Church tradition says the place they lived was a place called Ein Karem, a small town about 5 miles southwest of Jerusalem.

But how far was it from Nazareth to Ein Karem? If Mary took the shortest route by miles, it was about a 75-80 mile journey across the hills. But that would be the toughest and ‘hilliest’ route (left route on the map). If she took the easier route, it would be a journey of about 100 miles through the Jordan River Valley and around. This would have been the most likely route, as it was much les rugged. (see map on the right). In biblical times, this journey would have likely taken about 5 days on foot. (that’s about 20 miles per day).

It would have been quite a challenge for Mary to travel so far to see one of her relatives. Why would Mary face this tough challenge? Because she was on a journey of faith. An angel had just told her something miraculous was happening to her. And the angel gave her an opportunity to prove how God does the miraculous, by seeing it take place in one of her relatives. So, she hurried up and packed and set off on her own journey of faith over a long distance.

How hard is your journey of faith? Is it a long journey? Have you taken the shortest router? Or do you take detours and go the long way? I know a lot of people don’t take the easiest route in their faith. They sin. They make mistakes. They question God. They go on alternate routes. They take the road less travelled. Maybe we can learn from Mary on how to approach our own journey of faith.

“At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.”

Get ready for it. Mary packed her bags. She prepared for the trip of a lifetime. She prepared for journey of faith.

Don’t wait to embark on it. Do it quickly. Mary didn’t wait. Why should she? Why not check up on what the angel said Why not see another “impossible” miracle taking place? She hurried out of town. How many times do we wait and ask questions and trty to figure things out. In our journey of faith, we may do better if we do like Mary and step into our journey of faith quickly.

Don’t let distance be an obstacle. It was a long trip! We know that. But distance shouldn’t stop any of us. If God tells you to go overseas and be a missionary, then you don’t let distance stop you. If you have to go visit a family member to see them face to face and pray over them, you go do it. You never let distance be an obstacle.

Face it with courage. The way I read the story, Mary marched right over to Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house immediately and without hesitation. That may have taken a lot of courage. After all, Mary was much younger (Maybe 30-40 years or more). But she was ready to see what God was going to do. So she went straight into the house and God took over from there.

Let’s read what happened after she arrived. Luke 1:41–45 – “41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

By overcoming the challenge of distance, Mary experienced a breakthrough in faith. You need to do the same. Don’t let distance (or any other obstacle) stop you in your journey of faith! You might experience something wonderful! You might see God do the impossible!

Distance #2 – A Unknown Journey of Fulfillment (Traveling to Bethlehem)

There’s an old Hymn that goes like this: “Where he leads I’ll follow, follow all the way. Where he leads I’ll follow, follow Jesus every day.” It is a testimony and encouragement that wherever God leads us, we will follow Him. Even when we don’t know why or sometimes even where we will go. I think that is what Mary and Joseph might have been experiencing here in their journey to Bethlehem from Nazareth as Mary was getting ready to give birth. They knew they needed to go to Bethlehem. And so they did. It was a journey of fulfillment of Bible prophecy where God wanted them to be. But at the time they may or may not have known why it was important to face this distance challenge just as Mary was ready to give birth.

Let’s dive into the distance that they travelled. Here’s what the story tells us in Luke 2:1,3–5 – “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world… 3 And everyone went to his own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.”

They were currently living in Nazareth. And they were about to travel to Bethlehem. Like Ein Karem, Bethlehem was close to Jerusalem. It was located about 5-6 miles south of Jerusalem. It was about the same distance to travel there as Mary travelled to visit her relative Elizabeth, just a little different direction from Jerusalem. The journey was likely 90-100 miles and they definitely would have taken the more level path. This again would normally be a 4-5 day journey by foot, but could have been longer as Mary was pregnant and may have needed more stops. She could have walked it. Or perhaps, as some Christmas pictures indicate, could have ridden part of the way on a donkey to rest her feet. At any rate, it was a long distance for a woman nine-months pregnant to have to travel. It would have been a challenge.

But they had to. The law required them to. And God had a plan to fulfill a prophecy. The prophecy is found in Micah 5:2. It says, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” There was more than one town in ancient Israel named Bethlehem. So the prophecy specifies which one – the one in Ephrathah – which is the one in the southern part of the land of Israel, the area called Judah. It was located by the city of Jerusalem (whereas the other one there in Zebulun or Galilee, in the northern area around Galilee, a few miles from Nazareth.) The Messiah was to be born in the southern Bethlehem. (Side note: this confused some of those challenging Jesus, because they knew the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea, but they knew Jesus lived and grew up in Galilee).

So, how does a man and woman from Nazareth end up having their baby in the place the prophecy foretells. God has them travel a great distance to fulfill his purposes, plans, and prophecies. God will do whatever it takes to accomplish his will! It will not be thwarted or stopped. God is faithful and true!

Romans 8:28 – “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Proverbs 19:21 – “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

Psalm 33:11 – “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”

You may be going through a challenge that tests your faith in God. It may seem like God has abandoned you, or is taking you down an unknown road. In times like these, we need to put our faith and trust in the Lord even more, because that is when it is the hardest. When we can’t see the finish line, or we have a long journey ahead, we HAVE to trust him.

Let Him lead and guide you through every challenge, every road, and every mile that you walk. Even when that road is long and hard and unfamiliar. If you do, you may arrive at a place of fulfillment that you never knew possible, just like Mary and Joseph. Are you ready to trust the Lord down the long, unfamiliar path ahead?

Take the necessary steps to take care of your family.

Distance #3 – A Journey of Family (Temporarily Moving to Egypt)

The last distances that the new parents travelled was to take care of the family – especially the new baby. This challenging distance comes at the end of the Christmas story. It can be found in Matthew 2:13–15 and later in verses 19-23. It is the longest of all of the distances travelled. Let’s read it together. And break it into two parts.

Part #1: A journey of protection.

(Bethlehem to Egypt)

Matthew 2:13-15 – “13 When (the magi) had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

How far would this trip from Bethlehem to Egypt have been? Well, the border of Egypt was only about as close as 40 miles away. But, he would have likely went far beyond the border into the mainland of Egypt. This trip could have been anywhere from a day or two walk away at the closest, to more likely a few hundred miles. Tradition has Mary and Joseph staying on the Nile River at a place called Babylon. This may just be something made up or it could be accurate. But any trip to the interior of Egypt near the Nile River was around 400 miles. That would have been quite a challenge to go that far.

Of course, they could have also travelled faster if they had travelled by boat. But that would have cost more. And they would have to find a boat at the port that would haul them. But it was possible. And it would have been easier, but more expensive. What was the purpose of their trip? It was to protect the family – especially the baby Jesus.

It kind of reminds me of the commercials from Southwest airlines. They show somebody in a situation that is uncomfortable or unsafe and they ask, do you wanna get away? Then they encourage you to fly away on their airline? Here’s a couple of examples:

Commercials: Southwest – Wanna get away?

Sometimes your journey takes you a long way away to protect your family. That is okay. That is good. That is right. Here are some lessons in those challenging times when God takes you on a journey of protection for your family.

God always provides.

Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” God provides for all of your needs. It’s his promise. In this story, we see that a bunch of rich magi from the east came and deposited gifts at the doorstep of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. This would prove extremely beneficial to a family that had to immediately move to Egypt. By bartering and selling some of the gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the family would have all of the resources they needed to travel and keep the baby safe. This must have been part of God’s plan to take care of them. God always provides for his children. It’s his promises in his Word.

God will lead.

An angel spoke to Joseph in a dream and told him what to do and where to go. I have found in my life that when God wants me to do something, or move somewhere, or to change directions, he finds ways to communicate that to me. He leads me. It’s like the old hymn…

He Leads Us Along: “In shady green pastures so rich and so green, God leads his dear children along. Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet. God leads his dear children along. (Chorus) Some through the waters, some through the flood. Some through the fire. Bit all through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song. In the night season and all the day long.”

Listen to what God’s word says about leading us. Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

God will lead you and your family (if you have one) where it needs to go.

God gives the next step at the right time.

After Mary and Joseph had been in Egypt for a while, Joseph heard again from God in a dream to take the next step. We don’t know if it was only a few days, weeks, months, or years. But here’s what the Bible says happened in Matthew 2:19–23 – “19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

When everything was safe, God knew it was okay to move back to Joseph’s homeland. [Best estimates on history (based on when Herod died) is that they stayed at most 2 years in Egypt.] God will always lead us if we are listening for his voice. He does not abandon us. He gives us the next step at exactly the right time. Not early when things are in danger. And not late, when we stayed too long and things got worse. God is always on time! You can count on it every time. Sometimes we don’t like this, because we hate waiting. But God knows the right time for everything! You can trust God to protect you and lead you when the timing is right.

Optional verse: Isaiah 58:11 – “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

Now we read the second part of the journey to Egypt – the return home. We can read about what I call…

Part #2: A journey of permanence.

(Egypt to Nazareth)

The final part of the story is found in Matthew 2:21–23 and Luke 2:39-40 – “21 So (Joseph) got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

Luke 2:39–40 – “9 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.”

This final journey was from Egypt all the way to the northern part of Israel back to their hometown of Nazareth. This was the longest journey yet (and likely the longest journey of their lives). This could have taken weeks to travel by foot. Or less if they travelled by boat. At any rate, it was a long, long trip. Possibly up to 400 miles back to Bethlehem. And then the next 100 miles or more back to Nazareth. (500 miles total) The reason for this distance travel: to find a place of permanence – a place to live the rest of their lives and raise their family.

The last part of the family journey taught them some important lessons.

God cares about where you live.

God wanted them in a place that was safe and a good place to raise a child. Sometimes people want to live or move to the place they can make the most money, or have the best view, or be close to the best recreation sites. But God is more important about what is best for your family, than what is best for your self.

God may have greater purposes in mind (when He places you somewhere).

You may think that Nazareth is the best place because you have family there, or it is small, or it is safe. And those may all be true and beneficial. But God may have even greater purposes in mind. For Jesus, it was a fulfillment of a prophecy (again). That was huge, but hardly at the top of most people’s list.

God may have you move or land in a particular place for a reason greater than yourself. You may meet somebody there that you marry and raise a godly family together. You may develop character better there than anywhere else because of the trials and difficulties you go through. You might be live somewhere to be a best friend for the next great evangelist or missionary. Who knows? I am amazed at the things I learned where I grew up. And how thankful I am for many of the lessons learned, both easy and hard.

God wants you where you can grow in faith.

Some people have been blessed with great families that encourage their faith. And other people have rotten families that discourage faith, but they learn lessons of faith the hard way. Whatever family you came from, God can (and does) use them to mold us into the people that he wants us to be. It says that in Nazareth, Jesus “grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.” (Luke 2:39-40) In short, he grew up in his faith there. The synagogue did its job. His parents helped shape him in his faith. He had opportunities in nature and in trips to Jerusalem to the temple. In short, living and being raised in Nazareth provided everything Jesus needed to grow in his faith.

God puts is in places that we can grow in our faith. We have the choice to bloom where God plants us, or to try and run away from his discipline and molding of our character. Joseph and Mary landed in a place of permanence to mold their child in the ways of the Lord and help him in his faith. Are you happy with God has planted you? Or is God perhaps moving you to a new place so that you can grow in faith? I know many people that put faith at the bottom of the list for reasons to live somewhere. I think it should be at the top. Let God lead you to a place that you and your family can thrive in your faith. It will be worth it.

Closing

We all face many challenges in our lives. Distance can be a huge challenge to overcome, just like it was here in the Christmas story. Mary had to go on a journey of faith over long distance from Nazareth to the Judean Hills of Ein Karem. Joseph and Mary had to go on an unknown journey of fulfillment from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the birth of their baby boy, Jesus. And then later, they had to take a journey of family from Bethlehem to Egypt, and then back from Egypt to Nazareth. These were all challenges of distance.

What challenges of distance are you facing?

Are you far away from those you love and lonely? Let god help you. Are you distant because of broken relationships? Let God heal your broken heart. Let him help you mend fences. Learn to forgive and it can help, too. Whatever distance you face, God can help you through your journey. He can help you through your journey of faith, fulfillment, or family if you will trust Him!

Do you need wisdom for the journey ahead?

Ask the Lord to help you? Trust his provision. Listen for His voice like Joseph did. The Lord loves to lead us in the paths of righteousness. Psalms 23:3 says, “He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.” Do you need wisdom and guidance. Loo

Psalm 105:4 says, “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” Psalm 121:2 says, “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Where does your help and wisdom come from? Proverbs 2:6 says, “For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

If you need wisdom today, then ask. The Lord gives it freely (according to James 1:5).

I am going to end by praying for anybody in either of those situations. You need help with 1) a challenge of distance, or 2) wisdom for the journey ahead.

The Lord is faithful. He can help!