Peace Through the Brokenness

Intro:

In a small village stood an old church bell. It had rung for generations- calling people to worship, to weddings, and funerals. One winter, the bell cracked during a hard freeze. When the bell rang again, the sound was different. The sound was no longer loud or sharp, but was now deep, slower and more of a gentle sound.

the villagers wanted to replace it, but one Sunday, as the cracked bell rang, people noticed something interesting. The sound didn’t startle they anymore, it actually settled them. The sound carried further, it sounded peaceful.

see the bell had to be struck to make a sound, but the crack changed the tone. What once was harsh had become rich. What once started them, now invited them.

the tone of that bell was shaped by the crack that had formed in it through the harsh weather of winter. The assumption can often be that Peace is found by avoiding the difficult situations of life, without realizing that true peace is often shaped and found in the midst of difficult times, as God walks us through these situations of life.

this is what we want to look at today. As we have been looking forward to the coming of Jesus in our advent series, we have looked at it from the lens of different Characters in the bible.

today we are going to look at the topic of Peace from the lens of Joseph, the man who would raise Jesus as his own. We will look at how Joseph experienced his own difficult season that produced a crack in him. Yet, we will see that God was using this to produce something beautiful.

I’ve titled my message today, “Peace Through the Brokenness”.

if you have your bible, turn with me to Matthew 1:18-25

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

here we are given the description of the announcement of the birth of Jesus to Joseph. While Luke focuses on the announcement of Christ through the lens of Mary, we see it here through the lens of Joseph. And we are given significant insight into the timing of this announcement.

- we are told that this part of the story happened “after” Mary and Joseph were betrothed, but “before” they came together in marriage, or before they had consummated the marriage.

- that is important, it is painting the picture for us of when this happened to understand the context and the atmosphere it would have created.

- see during this time in the bible, when two people were going to go to get married; they went through a 3 stage process.

the first step was the engagement process. During this time, most marriages were arranged by the parents of the couple. The engagement process was much different than it is today. The two fathers would come together and would come to an agreement and would arrange for their children to be married. This normally happened when the children were young.

now a person could get out of this engagement process at anytime if they decided they didn’t want to go through with marriage.

- the second step of the marriage arrangement was the betrothal period. This was more binding that our current “engagement process”. When two people entered this betrothal period, they were considered married legally, but did not consummate the marriage and didn’t live together. 

- the betrothal could only be broken through a legal transaction of a divorce, and the grounds for such a transaction would be adultery.

- now this period of time was normally 12 months. During this time, the groom would be preparing the home to live in, the bride would be preparing the wedding garments , and the family would be preparing for the Wedding festivities, which would be the third part of the marriage arrangement. 

- It was during this betrothal period that it was revealed to Joseph that Mary was with Child. We are not told exactly how he found out.

- But this is important because it paints the picture of what it must have been like in their culture to find out such news.

- A person who was found to be pregnant during the time of betrothal was guilty of adultery or fornication and could be punished by being stoned to death. It was a huge ordeal to say the least.

Transition

- Lets just for the moment step into our story. Jump into the shoes of Joseph for a moment. You have entered into the timeframe of being betrothed. We don’t know how far along in this period they were before he found out, but during this time Joseph has been busy building and preparing the house for Mary and him.

- In ancient Jewish culture, when a son married, he would build an additional room or small dwelling attached to his father’s house. This new space was commonly built onto or adjacent to the family home, sharing walls or a courtyard.

- As you can imagine, building a room next to your family home was a family event. Your family was aware, they were excited, they would help out.

- Joseph must have had a vision of what this room was going to look like, he had vision of what this room would be designed to do, to raise a family and kids in the future. There was a future in mind as he built this family home.

Illustration

- I remember when Natalie was pregnant with Maddie, we had just bought a small condo that had a loft area that we were converting to the nursery.

- I remember working on that room with Maddie in mind. Where would we put the crib, where would the changing table go. I remember adding wood chair rails along the wall and painting. Everything I was doing in that room was with purpose or raising our daughter. You can relate.

- And it was during this time, that Joseph finds out that Mary is with Child with the Holy Spirit or the proper translation is, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

- Take out the part of the Holy Spirit because Joseph is not aware of that yet. Can you imagine what that must have been like to find out that Mary is pregnant and it’s not yours. Your entire world, your hopes and dreams have all been crushed in the matter of moments. Everything you have been working for is all wasted and gone.

- By all appearances, Mary had committed adultery and the law requires you to get a divorce and to put her away.

19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

- Now we are given insight into the type of man Joseph was. See according to the law, Mary was to be put out or he was to get a divorce from her. The assumption was that Mary was with child of another man. This assumption did not only circulate in Joseph’s mind here in our story, but eventually it would circulate among people even after Jesus was born.

- You see that years later, those that rejected Jesus’ teaches would bring us His birth.

John 8:19

Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?”

Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

John 8:41

Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”

- So with these assumptions, Joseph had legal rights to divorce Mary.

- But we see that Joseph was a “just man”, or some translation say a “righteous man”. He didn’t want to make a public example of Mary. The law would require a public stoning.

Lev. 20:10

If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

- The fact that Joseph did not want to take Mary and divorce her publicly and make her face the consequences shows us a couple of things about him.

- Joseph probably really loved Mary. He didn’t want to see harm come to her.

- Joseph was a man of character. He didn’t want to publicly humiliate Mary. This could be the very reason why God chose Joseph as the man to raise Jesus as his son.

Transition

- Now we are told that while he was thinking about these things…..an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.

- I don’t know if you have ever dealt with a stressful situation where you have to make decisions, or where the situation is out of your control. It can create stress and anxiety. And many times, these are the things that can keep us from going to sleep, they keep us up at night.

- My job can be very stressful at times and I can’t tell you how many times I have been up at night unable to sleep because of a situation that happened. A problem that came up that has to be fixed, a decision that I have to make, a scenario that I did not see coming….Things that I wish I could have done differently.

- I’m sure we can all relate to that. Here you have Joseph running through all the scenarios in his mind.

- That word used in the phrase, Joseph “thought” about these things…… in the original language means…. To ponder, to think seriously about, to reflect.

-  He must have asked himself, what could I have done differently, what should have I done, what am I going to tell my family, how am I going to handle this? What does this mean about my future plans? What am I going to do with this half built house?

- Webster’s dictionary says this about the word Peace

- Peace is…..a state of quiet tranquility, freedom from disturbance, or agitation.

- Freedom from war , Freedom from internal commotion or civil war, Freedom from private quarrels, Harmony, Public Tranquility.

- Words to describe the opposite of Peace are…..confrontation, discord, war, conflict, chaos, turmoil, disturbances….

- I can tell you what Joseph was feeling in this moment of finding out about Mary, was the opposite of peace. There was internal conflict, internal chaos, turmoil from this situation.

- Right here in this moment there is a situation that has entered Joseph’s perfect life and has caused brokenness. It has shattered his hopes and dreams, his future, and his plans…. This would keep any person up at night.

- Yet, we see that at some point, possibly late into the night, he fell asleep; because it is in a dream that an Angel of the Lord appeared to him.

- And the first thing that the Angel tells Joseph is, “do not be afraid”. This goes to the point of what we were addressing, that this situation rocked Joseph’s life. The unknown situation and all the variables involved created fear in him…. So much so, that it was the first thing the Angel of the Lord comforts him with is telling him not to be afraid.

- And then, the Angel gives him the reason why he shouldn’t be afraid. Because the child that Mary is carrying is not from another man, as most would assume, but it is from the Holy Spirit, or as I mentioned earlier, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

- Joseph is given insight into what is happening in his life at this moment. This son inside of Mary that appears to have brought brokenness to his own life, is God’s way of bringing life to the world.

- The angel tells Joseph this child is special, He is by the power of the Holy Spirit, sent by God, and His name shall be Jesus, which as we have mentioned in our earlier studies….. means ….

- Jesus= “Yahweh Saves”

- This is the same message the shepherds received by the angel when Jesus was born….

Luke 2:10-11

“Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people, for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

- Years later, as Jesus came to the wilderness where John the Baptist was preaching repentance, we see this same statement….

John 1:29

“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said , “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”.

- Jesus was the means by which God would bring Salvation to the entire world.

Transition

Question: Why was Salvation needed?

Answer: In order to provide Peace With God

- See in the scriptures we see that man was made in the image of God ( Gen. 1:26-27) with a moral nature, with the ability to reason, ability to think, ability to create, ability to express emotion, with the capacity to love….. with the ability to make choices through free will.

- That free will of choice is what caused Adam and Eve to sin against God. They willfully made a choice to go against God’s commands in the garden. And it was that decision that brought sin into the world and into all humanity.

- Where Adam and Eve once experienced that close and personal fellowship with God, you remember the story…. Yet because of their sin, they were removed from the Garden.

- That Peace they once experienced with God, had been broken through their sin. And from that time forward, man was at odds with God, unable to restore that fellowship due to their sins.

Is. 59:2

“But your iniquities have separated you from you God. Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear”.

- God established a means for man to have a relationship with Him through the law, and through sacrifices. Man would have to keep the law and would have to offer animal sacrifices as a means of atoning or covering their sins ….. but these sacrifices would never take away their sins.

- But we have to see God’s heart. He desired to have that personal and intimate relationship with His people, with you and I, but our sin is what was the great separation. That sin had to be dealt with and an unperfect animal would never suffice the penalty of sin.

- So, God in His great love for you and I, made a way for Salvation to enter the world. He sent His Son into the world on Christmas morning, to live and dwell among us….. ultimately to be that final perfect sacrifice , the perfect Lamb who would give up His life to not just cover our sins…. But to take our sins away…..

- Therefore, making a way for us to once again have a personal relationship with God.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

now this is does not mean that we don’t sin anymore…….

- We still sin, as long as we are on this earth we will sin,  but now we have Jesus who is our advocate, who sits at the right hand of the Father and says, yes Brian did those things, but I paid for it with my blood.

1 John 2:1

“My little Children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father”.

- Jesus represents us before the Father, not based on our works or righteousness but based on His righteousness.

- This is the very thing that John the Baptist realized as he saw Jesus, this is what the Angel was telling Joseph, this is what the name Jesus meant.

- The Angel was declaring Peace with God through the birth of the Jesus.

Col. 1:19-20

19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

- This is the why Isaiah the prophet declared the promised Messiah being the Prince of Peace…… it is what HE would do when He came. He would establish peace with God.

Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

- Now the Angel tells Joseph there was a purpose to the situation he was in. It was all done in order to fulfill what was previous spoken by the Lord through the prophets.

- The Angel is quoting what Isaiah the prophet prophesied some 600 years earlier.

Is. 7:14

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel

- God had spoken through His prophet Isaiah to give a sign to the nation of Israel, that God was not finished with them as they were about to be judged and be taken into captivity. God gave them a sign that He would restore His people and the sign was of this promised Messiah being born of a virgin.

- So Mary and Joseph had to go through this culturally hard situation in order to fulfill God’s promise, in order to fulfill God’s will.

- Can I say that Joseph’s brokenness had a purpose. God was using Joseph’s brokenness in order to fulfill His perfect will of brining Peace with God into the world, by providing salvation through Jesus.

Example

- We had a musical play at our church this Wednesday called Behold. It was the birth story of Jesus played out through song , dancing and acting. It was pretty good.

- But during the scene when Mary and Joseph were called to travel to Bethlehem due to the censes, they had live animals in the play. They had Mary riding a live donkey down the isles of the church.

- But it painted a good picture in our minds. The reality that Mary had a hard trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

- She was pregnant with child, riding on a donkey. The trip was about 90 miles or so, on foot that would take some 4-7 days to travel through hilly, rough terrain. …. All because of the censes put in place by King Herod.

- This was a difficult situation they found themselves in again and were basically forced to take on this hard road.

- But as you see the story unfold, you begin to realize that this was not simply a plan of King Herod, but you see God was working in the background using this situation as a way to get them to the place where His will could be fulfilled.

Micah 5:2 ““But you, Bethlehem , Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.””

- This was another prophetic message concerning the birth of the Messiah, that He would be born in Bethlehem. So, this rocky and unfair road that they found themselves in was actually God’s way of fulfilling His perfect will.

- I say that to get the full picture of our story today. While Joseph was experiencing devastating news, with crushing allegations. He was facing the crushing of his plans and dreams…. Yet, God was using this brokenness to produce life in others.

- I can say that I don’t always understand what God is doing in my life or in the life of others. But, I can rest on what I do know, that God is faithful, that God is good, that God has a plan for my life, that God is able to produce good through the bad.

Illustration

- I’ve mentioned before, but I had a rough childhood. There were a lot of things that I saw that emotionally scared me. And I can tell you that for years I questioned God.

- Why did He allow these things to happen in my life, why did I have to go through that, why did I have to suffer through these things. And for years I didn’t know the answer.

- And it wasn’t until recently that God has given my clarity, where I’ve seen the brokenness in me because of my childhood, was exactly what God used to draw me near to him.

- I am reminded of this verse.

Ps. 119:67

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.”

- It was through this brokenness that my kids get to see a life that I never saw. I’ve made choices as a father to try to better the life of my kids, including teaching them about God because of what I’ve gone through. They get to experience a new life because of the brokenness in me.

- While I saw my brokenness as being unfair and an unfortunate, God saw it as a means to produce new life both in me and through me.

- What God was doing in the life of Joseph was using his brokenness to produce new life and offering Peace with God to the world. ……

Transition

- You would see this same principal with Jesus later as His body would be broken and crushed on Calvary. He was broken and put to death that you and I would have life in Him.

John 10:10

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

- That word “life” in the Greek is “Zoe”….. which means more than physical existence- it speaks of spiritual life, of a restored relationship with God and eternal life. This is the Peace with God we are speaking about.

- You and I can experience Peace with God by placing our faith in Him and accepting Him as our Lord and Savior. This is the beautiful message of Christmas.

Transition

We can Experience the Peace of God

- But I also want us to see that God not only desired and worked to produce Peace with God….. but I want us to see how God meets us in our brokenness to bring the Peace of God.

- We have discussed the cultural context of the story and how Joseph must have felt with everything taking place. He is experiencing a brokenness of dreams , of his future, a shattering of all his plans. There is turmoil in his life that has uprooted everything. It is important not only to see the reason why God was doing what He was doing as we discussed….

- But it is also important to see what God did in the midst of the turmoil. He brought Peace in the midst of the turmoil. And it is important to take note of these principals, because this is also how God works in our lives, in the midst of our turmoil.

A. God Brings Peace through His Word (v.20-21)

notice with me that God spoke to Joseph through the Angel. God spoke directly to him in the midst of his storm. And He revealed His promises.

This is super important. God used His words as a means of bringing peace to Joseph’s turned upside down life.

This is how God works in our lives. As i mentioned earlier, we can often assume that we can experience Peace by avoiding difficult situations..… but the reality is we often can’t avoid those situations. Sometimes they just come into our lives and we are faced with hardships.

But we must understand that you and I also have God’s word. And it is in God’s word we find His comfort, His encouragement, His promises to us.

Psalm 119:165 “Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.”

this is the importance of digging into God’s word daily. As you and i are bringing God’s word into our lives, we are storing up a deep well of truth in our hearts. And you would be surprised how when you are faced with a hard situation, you are able to draw out God’s word from the deep well of your heart, and find comfort and peace in His word.

it has been said.

“Peace grows where God’s truth is planted”.

B. God Brings Peace Through His Presences (v.22-23)

going back to our story, we see the Angel tells Joseph that this child’s name shall be “Immanuel” which is translated, “God with us”.

the Angel is not saying this would literally be His name, but it is a description of who He is. He is God, who stepped into flesh to dwell among us. That is who Jesus is.

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

this is what separates Christianity from all other religions. All other religions are working and trying to make a way to reach up to where God is. Christianity is God reaching down us.

This is not a only theological truth, but an important principal and eternal truth.

that God is with us. He not only dwells in us through the Holy Spirit, but He is with us.

Matthew 28:20 “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

this is a truth we can hold on to. That even in the midst of our brokenness and hardships, we are not alone, God is with us. He is walking us through the hardships, He is sustaining in the storms of life.

Illustration

i read this story.

A little boy was put to bed by his dad one night, the lights were turned off and the dad walked out of the room. Immediately the child called out to his dad. The child was afraid not because the room had changed, but because of the sense of being alone had changed.

The dad entered back into the room and sat beside the bed and the little boy stopped crying. Nothing had changed. The darkness was still there, the room was still quiet, the night was still long, but all fear had disappeared.

Why? Because presence produced confidence.

the little boy didn’t need explanations, he didn’t need the lights to be turned on, he didn’t even need his circumstances changed........he just needed to know that he was not alone.

you and I are those little boys and girls. Fear comes over us often when we sense that we are alone. But we gain confidence and peace to go through difficulties when we realize that our Father is with us.

Transition

in Acts 27, we see Paul is in custody of the Romans and is being shipped to Rome. On their way there, they were hit with a huge storm that caused them to ship wreck. The storm was so bad, they had lost their hope of being rescued. They all thought this it.

Acts 27:20 “Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.”

it is awesome, because Paul begins to encourage those on the boat in the midst of this storm. Paul goes from having lost all hope...… to now encouraging those on the boat. How was that possible?

Paul tells the men that an Angel of the Lord appeared to him at night and told him not to be afraid, because Paul must testify before Caesar in Rome.

you find the same principal as in our story . Paul in the midst of this storm that has him losing all hope, yet he is able to find peace in the midst of that turmoil because of....

God’s Presence

the Angel was sent on God’s behalf. It proved that he was not alone.

2. God’s Promise

the angel told Paul God wasn’t finished with him yet

this is what we can see happen in the life of Joseph as he gains the confidence to move forward with what God was doing in his life.

24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

- Joseph now wakes up from his sleep and it tells us that he did what the Lord had commanded, he married Mary and it says that he did not know her, or did not consummate the marriage until after Jesus was born.

- The doctrine some religions hold to of Mary’s Perpetual Virginity is false. Mary had other children after Jesus. Matt. 13:55-56, Mark 6:3, Mark 3:31-35, John 7:3-5

Conclusion

the important take aways from our story tonight is how much God loves you and I. So much so that He made a way for us to have an intimate personal relationship with Him. He paid the ultimate price to have a relationship with you. He has made a way for us to have Peace with God.

it is also important to know that God is working in our lives in the midst of our brokenness and hardships. He is longing to give us His Peace in the midst of our storms.

listen, looking back to the story i opened up with of the cracked bell...… we often want to avoid the harsh weather and difficult roads that create brokenness. But it is important to understand that God is able to work in those seasons of our lives and produces something good.

those seasons of hardships, those seasons of brokenness have a way of changing our tone. There is a much deeper, much richer tone in our lives. There is a much gentler way of speaking and dealing with people. Compassion is gained. There is a different way of seeing things, priorities are changed...… what is really important is revealed in those seasons.....

Be encouraged..… God is with us in all our seasons, and He has a way of using those seasons to produce something beautiful.