Advent, part 2

Intro: Last week we kicked off our Advent series talking about the “Giver,” and the importance of intentionally focusing our lives around the things of God. Our hope with this series is to help you experience...

Spirit-led...

Reflection

Correction

Redirection

Remember, the term “advent” means “coming” or “arrival,” which implies waiting and anticipating. Again, the hope is that in whatever situation you’re in, your waiting keeps in mind who God is. Today, let’s consider God’s greatest gift to us, His son. Open your Bibles to...

Luke 2:8–14 ESV

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 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. 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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Let us pray!

Why do some gifts disappoint?

Some gifts disappoint because...

Poor quality

unnecessary

worthless/impractical

didn’t meet expectations

we are ungrateful

Why are some gifts so good that they overwhelm us?

Exceptional quality

Met our needs

Effects a change in us

Makes us thankful

God is a great, gift-giver. However, He often interrupts our lives in ways we don’t always enjoy in order to give us what we need most.

Let me say that again to make sure that you heard in your spirit!

“God interruptions” in life don’t always make sense to us at first.

In the passage we read this morning, God has interrupted and inconvenienced the lives of several people, in order to give them what they need most.

God interrupts the lives of Joseph and Mary.

· Mary’s life is interrupted with an unplanned pregnancy (not planned by her)…the Virgin is with child

· Joseph’s own ideas about having the perfect marriage & family have been interrupted

· and as soon as J & M begin to see this interruption as a gift from God, interrupt’s their lives again with a cross country move... during her 3rd trimester of pregnancy BTW!!

· In the midst of their move, she goes into labor, but they have no hotel, air bnb, or hospital to deliver the baby in

God continues to interrupt their lives and plans in ways that they don’t understand at a first. God favors them as the family of whom HE entrusts with the task of caring for His son, a lot of pressure I might add, and you would expect that God would have sent them to the finest hospital and the most skilled midwives to deliver this baby. Instead, we get a virgin experiencing her first pregnancy and a young man being quickly baptized not just into fatherhood but as an OBGYN doctor.

I heard a story once about an ex-military vet who had served a few tours in Middle East. He had seen people blown into millions of pieces from explosives, right before his own eyes. This same fellow, the military vet, was forced to watch with his pregnant wife, an actual home-birth video. He said the home-birthing video was the scariest thing he had ever seen in life. I would concur with his sentiment. During the birth of our 5 children, I felt like a mouse in the room and I did not and would not look at any of that process. I held my wife’s hand and stared into the cosmos like a victim of trauma.

Anyway, Joseph and Mary have their lives interrupted by God in ways that didn’t always make sense.

Sometimes the “God interruptions” in our lives aren’t as dramatic for us. Sometimes, they’re just unexpected and unplanned experiences. Sometimes these interruptions come in the middle of our workday or nightshift, like in the case of the shepherds.

These shepherds are working hard, in the middle of the night, trying to lookout for all the night predators that are eyeing their sheep. And boom, out of nowhere, appear angels. And the shepherds are happy to see these angels right? Wrong!!!

The shepherds are terrified! They realized these angels looking nothing like the little flying babies depicted in European artwork. These angels probably look like they could eat the shepherds and the sheep! And the shepherds are terrified!

But God is bringing this interruption for the purpose of giving them an amazing gift.

Can you imagine the shepherds replying back to the angels...?

“We’re just too busy to go and worship this baby messiah. Can we just wait until the morning? Besides, Mary would probably want some privacy now.”

· Or, What can a baby do for me right now? Let me know when he’s all grown up! Have Joseph and Mary send me an invite to his “bar mitvah”!

Thankfully, that’s not how the shepherds responded. In fact, they embraced this interruption as a being a part of the process of receiving the greater gift from God. Like Mary & Joseph, the shepherds were able to do this because they...

Embracing God-interruptions by...

Humbling themselves before God

Receiving the preached Word of God

Obeying the commandments of God

Giving glory to God

Have you ever experienced fear in a worship service or bible study or a prayer meeting? Or even during a conversation about God?

· In either of those settings, have you ever experienced the fearful thoughts of, “How do I know if I am right with God?”

· And, after having these thoughts, have you ever found comfort from God in the Scriptures, in the promises of God?

· If you did, I’m assuming those Scriptures were primarily about exalting Christ and His work of salvation on your behalf?

· Lastly, did the entire experience eventually result in you giving thanks to God and worshiping Him?

· Brothers and sisters, if you can recall yourself worshiping and thanking God for His interruption of your comfort to make you aware of His gift of salvation and love, then your response is much like that of the shepherds in Luke’s account.

· But, if you have noticed in yourself, a desire to to run away from this experience rather than run to Christ, then you are not embracing the God interruption and gift of peace and salvation in Christ. Running away from the God interruption is refusing to humble ourselves before Him.

If that is you, your prayer right this moment needs to be, “God, I surrender. I repent of my sinful running and trying to avoid You. Forgive me, fill me with Your Spirit and enable me to do Your will.”

The shepherds quickly realized that on the other side of this God interruption was the greatest gift that could ever be given. Joseph and Mary had learned, that on the other side of all the God-interruptions in their lives was the joy of experiencing the greatest gift that could ever be given, the Son of God.

God interruptions may not always make sense, but they are gifts. And, God’s gifts are designed to give us eternal perspective.

The shepherds, after leaving the manger-throne, will once again experience cold nights, stubborn sheep and countless discomforts and disappointments in life. But they will never forget the night their eyes beheld, eternal salvation. Oh shepherds, why your jubilee? I tell you why, because God interrupted their lives to show them His glory.

Mary, after worshiping the greatness of the child she carried for nine months in her own womb, will soon suffer the terrible sorrow of watching this Son die a brutal death on a Roman cross. But her weeping will be turned into joy, and she is now praising God forever for His interruption into her life.

God interruptions may not always make sense, but they are gifts. And, God’s gifts are designed to give us eternal perspective.

This Christmas, you might be tempted to think that your happiness rests upon the perfect circumstances for you and your family; and the perfect behavior of others. And if you buy into this kind of thinking, then your heart won’t be prepared to receive the gift of God interruptions. Furthermore, your circumstances will eventually disappoint you. If the circumstances go wrong, you will be miserable. And even if the circumstances go well for you, they wont give you eternal perspective.

In closing, questions i want you to reflect on...

Are you fearful about your relationship with God? And why?

How is God interrupting your life right now? And how have you been responding?

What eternal perspective does Jesus Christ provide you in this God-interruption?