Christmas The Way it Ought to Be

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. 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. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

PRAY

Introduction

I dont know about you but Christmas time (or really any family gathering) are full of experiences leaving me going....hmmm I really saw that going differently in my head.

Maybe the one year upon one of the brothers recommendation we go see the movie “Step Brothers” together. Including my 80 year old grandmother. Not a family move. We didnt make it 30 minutes.

Or even just a couple of years ago trying to play the game Balderdash. Have you ever played that game? I thought families play games with each other.

Some crazy made up word and everyone makes up a definition and writes it down. One person reads all of the definition with the correct one mixed in and people vote on what they think is the real answer.

Well one family member could not write legibly. You know like that cursive that.

Or another person never put the real definition in when it was their turn so we could not vote on it. Pretty sure my grandfather dozed off a couple of times. And then there was this arguing about what words really meant. oh it was terrible.

I really saw that going differently. Funny example, but there are many times in our life that this is the case too.

I really saw that going differently.

The way it ought to be series over view

The Way it Ought to be: The first Christmas

What about the first Christmas?

What were some of the weird expectations that Joseph and Mary might have had?

Hope:

They probably had some vision of what family would be like...Maybe it would be like their parents experience. Joseph planning to continue in the family business of carpentry or masonry. They might have had this vision of their family growing to the point of starting their own home with future generations. And yet here they are with some mystery. Yes a child, but it wasnt in the way they pictured.

Love:

What about love? It is hard to know exactly where they were at in their relationship with each other. No doubt Mary is thrown into this vulnerable place of carrying a mystery that no one would understand. The love of carrying a child. And Joseph not quite understanding what is happening. I mean this is a scandalous story...Joseph would have to battle with love in a way that I am sure he did not anticipate.

Joy:

Much time is removed from us to them but I am sure people have tried to manufacture joy even in the way we do today. Did they struggle with being positive when things spiralled out of control?

Example: Brady family reunion and staying in the roach motel.

How did they respond in the middle of it all? What was their expectation of the birth? I mean the angel of the Lord is the one who set this thing in motion...couldnt the Lord on high arrange for a suite at the Hilton or something?!

Peace:

And peace: Well this is surely not what they imagined. Nothing so far in their control.

Example: Rylie Grace birth story. We had a plan for everything.

We forget that Mary and Joseph are not just characters in a story, they would have been similar to you and me in this situation.

Example: Rylie Grace birth story

And yet in all of the chaos, of all of the people, in all of the situations, this is where God decides to come. He enters right into the mess. And I believe this is important for us to understand tonight so that we might once more grasp the weight of all of this. I think the temptation is to make this story into a Hallmark card. Like our Christmas worship is usually wrapped up in seeing kidos play some live nativity or something like that. And that is great because we are involving them in the story, but what if we have reduced this to a sentimental nursery rhyme? This story that Luke and Matthew tell us of the birth narrative is anything but a hallmark story…it is full of tension, fear, shattered expectations, and beautiful faith. If we return there again this evening....I believe you will find, once again, the hope, Love, joy, and peace that God has already brought into the world.

Because truth be told we all have a lot of “The way it ought to be’s...” and most the time they are not met with anything satisfying. Disappointment is often near by when we lean into our manufactured dreams of hope, love, joy, and peace. And yet…in the middle of it all that is where God makes a stand by becoming one of us.

In the middle of Mary and Joseph and Israel’s “The Way it Ought to be” comes the good news....

Hear the Good News!

My favorite part of the story in Luke’s telling is the Angel of the Lord appearing to the shepherds. No doubt a rowdy bunch.

Growing up my dad working in the oil field and really worked out in the field with some of the guys that really worked out in the field. There is just a different culture there. Really long days with each other, away from civilization, hard work. I mean they just had a different vocabulary and a different life outlook, you know what I mean.

The shepherds are notorious and their image carries a lot of baggage. This is who the angel goes to and what he says is so important.

DO NOT BE AFRAID

Cause, yea if an angel of the Lord shows up these are important words…remember not a hallmark card.

Luke 2:1

Luke 2:10–12 NIV

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Hear the good news! What is the good news? A savior is born to you. He is the messiah.

Check this out, I think we kind of miss the weight of this right here. We have sort of lost this in translation of culture. In ancient culture, there was this practice of royal announcements or proclamations. Ceasar Augustus has a birthday…someone goes to the center of town and says here ye here ye on this great day, 22 of December, our lord and god celebrates this great day of peace and power. hear the good news Ceasar is still lord and god. A proclamation of dominion. They have found real decrees like this from as early as 10 BC.

The bible has these royal proclamations:

David wins a war. They go and announce it.

Solomon is crowned king and there is a royal proclamation.

And here is the deal. Its not news to us like we think about. Like you turn on the news there is some reporting of facts but you will also get something else mixed in there. The president sneezes and you get two interpretations through biases of that news…right?

This is not that. This is not something that is up for debate. It is a proclamation that something has happened in which everything is different.

Can I be honest for a second, every year I feel this pressure to be original or to feel like I need to convince people of this good news on Christmas. I get one shot to say it to so many people. I just felt burdened by this this year to not do that. If the shepherds walk away and go on about their business Jesus is still born. However, if they will go an see Him, they will also see the undeniable answer to all of their “The Way it Ought to be’s”

That is the proclamation today. You can go home and go back about your business and Christmas and family stuff. But if you will linger a little longer at that manger then I think you will see that things really are different.

I believe there are three things for us today from this Christmas story. This proclamation calls into three areas for us:

RSVP Required

This proclamation is also an invitation for response. It requires an RSVP if you will. Everyone in the birth narritives respond in some way:

The shepherds go quickly to Bethlehem,

the Magi set out to find the family.

Mary treasures all of this in her heart…I love that.

Even the heavenly host respond in song…Glory in the highest

Matthew’s gospel has Herods reply of seeking out all the first born children.

Remember, this news is something to which everything is different…however we will acknowledge this to be true?

Frederick Buechner describes the Incarnation as “a kind of vast joke whereby the creator of the ends of the earth comes among us in diapers.” He concludes, “Until we too have taken the idea of the God-man seriously enough to be scandalized by it, we have not taken it as seriously as it demands to be taken.”

How long has it been since you have considered your response to this proclamation? What does it mean for Family Christmas and work?

Next, I want you to see the most sobering truth in this for me.

Born in the mess for the mess

This story is not sanitized. It is messy. In Matthew’s account there is the telling of Herods going after all the children in the land. Even when details are not provided, imagine what else is in between the lines. The pressure and tension in a new marriage. A young woman with child travelling to a foreign land and not being able to find a place to sleep. The national politics would make us look like a sterilized political add of bliss.

Why is this important? What is the story was....

Mary and Joseph left the cocktail party a little early unfortunately and their car was waiting. When the driver dropped them off at the hospital everyone was waiting. Mary closed her eyes and then awoke and Jesus was miraculously there. All of the celebrities heard of what is going on and started to swing by and bring the little guy all these awesome gifts.

No Jesus was born in the mess, why because he came for the mess. He came to bring redemption to the mess. His ministry was to the mess and the forgotten and to the poor. The mourning. the lost.

Why is this important? Because it means that whatever mess is in your life. Sin. struggling at home. Job stuff, etc. HE did not come to make life smooth sailing but he will be at work and present there. That is the promise of the incarnation.

Full of Surprises

Lastly, we have to get back to expecting God to show up in unconventional places. He is not a God of our human conventional wisdom. Jesus continually surprised with who he hung out with, with the miracles and the places he would be found.

Think about the story again...

Luke 2:

Luke 2:12 NIV

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Can you imagine these directions?! Hey angel…do you have an address for the GPS? Um look for a baby in a manger with some cloths.

But that is just it God shows up in the unlikely places. The places of desperation, the places where there is no other option, where people are out of their own strength. That is where God is most visible working through people and in circumstances.

Hospital room.

Most of you know about our journey with Luke and diabetes and you have heard me tell this story numerous times. But it is my miracle reminding me of God showing up in unlikely places.

I need to hear this today too. The hardest relationship in your family. The biggest mountain in front of you. The most desperate moments…look for God there. That seems to be His M.O.

The Way it Ought to Be

So what are your “Way it ought to be’s?” What are the places that are marked by emptiness in your life. The truth of Christmas is that Christ is our Hope, love, joy, and peace.

Hope:

Jesus our living hope.

Love:

This is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and gave his son for us. All love is measured in degrees of this act of love.

Joy:

Joy is not dependent on circumstances but found in those who are wrapped in him.

Peace:

The prince of peace of is the one in the manger. peace is not a absence of conflict, but it is a setting of things right. Jesus is the one walking around and healing and rescuing and tearing down walls of injustice.

These are not tied to circumstaces or anything that death, evil, job loss, brokenness at home can take away. As a matter of fact they are promises for the middle of it all.

Here the good news....

TODAY IN THE TOWN OF DAVID A SAVIOR HAS BEEN BORN TO YOU; HE IS THE MESSIAH THE LORD

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