An Unexpected visit

Video

I want to show you one of my favourite Christmas videos. I am sure we have showed it here before but I love it so here we go again.

I love that video. It does illustrate something pretty profound though. There was a lot of unexpected things about how Jesus came into the world.

And When it comes to the Christmas story there are a group of characters I seem to be drawn towards more than others for some reason.

It is not the wisemen, I guess I have a hard time relating with them, not wise enough I guess. It isn’t the innkeeper who’s contribution to the story seem to be that he didn’t have room for the King of Kings. Seems a bit symbolic of mankind if you ask me. He also didn’t know who was requesting lodging that night, because if He had known that the baby that Mary was carrying was actually the Son of God do you think he might of found some room that wasn’t with the animals?

And Although I love the heavenly hosts who filled the sky with their song, the group that I am drawn to every year are actually the shepherds.

When I consider all who were involved that night, the shepherds make the least sense, they were the most unexpected visitors, yet in context with the story as a whole they make a lot of sense.

I want you to consider who was actually there that night and not who we have added to the nativity scene. So for sure who was there?

Mary was there the night of the birth. Pretty sure she had to be there, and unless there was a miracle involved there was probably a time when she wished she wasn’t. Who else was there. Well Joseph was there. His contribution to the story is he was the reason they were there. Because of the census. Censuses, infuriating people since before Jesus was born.

Jesus was there we know that. Otherwise there is no story. But what about anyone else. We know the wisemen weren’t there even though we insist on including them in the nativity. They didn’t come till much later. Maybe if they had been wise women they would have been on time but these wise men were late to the party. Probably because they got lost and didn’t stop to ask directions. But then again wise women would have been late because it take women forever to get ready to leave the house. Bam two cultural stereotypes and everyones offended.

Anyway back to the story.

What about Mary’s family? Whenever Nikki gave birth that first night in the hospital would be filled with friends and family members who wanted to see the baby, oh and say congratulations but mostly just wanted to see the baby.

This wasn’t the case for Mary. Sometimes I think the story of who wasn’t there is equally important. Mary’s had no friends or family around, again because of the census. But even if they had been home. We don’t hear much about Mary’s family except Elizabeth, whom I am sure would have loved to have been there that night.

But we don’t hear about Mary’s parents. We know Mary went to live with her aunt for a while. Truth is in today’s culture there are still parents who want nothing to do with a child who has a child out of wedlock. How much more was this the case 2000 plus years ago.

No the only visitors that Mary had that we know of for sure, were some lowly shepherds who had been in the fields for who knows how long and who probably smelled bad enough to make the barn stink.

I want to read this account because there is something that comes out of this unexpected visit I want us to remember this Christmas.

Besides you didn’t think we were going to go through an entire Christmas season without reading from did you.

Luke 2:8–20 NLT

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

So what came out of this unexpected visit?

It was significant for Mary!

Me: I still remember what Andy said to me. “God is going to use you in ways you can not yet imagine” Now over the years I may not remember the exact words, but this was the essence of what He spoke into my life. And I will never forget it. When I am struggling, I remember those words. When I feel like giving up I remember those words. When God does something amazing through me, I remember those words.

We: We all have had times in our lives when someone has said something that we stored away in our hearts. Things we can recall when we need to. Things we ponder and hold on to as confirmation, or for strength when we need it.

These points in our lives are like anchor points. Moments we can turn to whenever we need to, to draw from it whatever we need to at that time. Baptism is one of those moments, when we give our hearts to Christ is one of those moments.

God: For Mary one of those moments was when the Shepherds told her about the angels and what the angels said. If ever Mary had moments of doubt, she could remember, well the virgin birth, but also the confirmation that came from the shepherds.

Listen Mary had already heard from an angel, so had Joseph, but it must have been nice knowing that the angels told somebody else. Anybody else, because on your worst day you might be able to convince yourself you were hallucinating, and that there must be another explanation for the virgin birth.

But when God confirms it through a someone else, like when Elizabeths unborn baby leapt in the presence of Mary’s unborn child, or when say a group of strangers, not kings, not religious leaders, not even wisemen, just simple shepherds came and said and angel told us we would find you here, just like this.

Well no wonder verses 18-19 said...

Luke 2:18–19 NLT

All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.

This became an anchor point for her.

You: So why do I want you to remember this on Christmas. You never know when a visit from you might be exactly what someone else needs. So if God tells you to go...

Go say what He puts on your heart, maybe it will become an anchor point for that person or persons.

We: We all need encouragement once and a while and if nothing else it is always nice to know someone cares. So go and visit.