The Sovereign God Breaks Through the Darkness-Luke 2:1-20

It was right around 9 months ago that our world began to realize that we had entered into a reality none of us could envision, and none of us wanted to experience. We began to learn about COVID-19, a virus that has had an unparalleled impact during our lifetime. I would imagine that if 2020 were a computer, we would all restart the computer to see if the outcome would be different! For the next few moments I want us all to travel back in time. I will be using both what is known in history, as well as some speculation on what I believe may have taken place.

Let’s travel back roughly 2013 years, to ancient Israel where we will meet a young couple who had a 9 months that made 2020 look like a cake walk. As you might expect, their names are Joseph and Mary. I would like to look at them from an angle that, perhaps, we have not considered in the past. To do that, let’s go back about a month or so earlier in their lives. At that time they lived in a small city in northern Galilee called Nazareth. Perhaps Joseph was working on some furniture in his carpenters shop. He was thrilled to have some business, ever since the news broke of Mary being pregnant before the 2 were married, the rumors and stares had taken a significant toll on his livelihood. These days Mary rarely left the house, the things she heard when she was out and about were too painful. Joseph was putting the final touches on a chair for a family friend when there was a pounding on the front door of his shop. He knew the type of knock instantly, it was from a Roman Soldier. One knock, then the soldier barged right in, not waiting for any one to answer. Joseph politely greeted the soldier, asking him what he could do for him. The soldiers terse response made it very clear that he needed nothing from Joseph. He proceeded to speak and directed Joseph to go out and read the decree from Caesar Augustus posted in the town-square, but the jest of the decree was that all of the Roman Empire was to go immediately to the city of their heritage to register to be taxed. Joseph’s heart sunk at the news, for both he and Mary were from Bethlehem, some 90 miles south of them, and Mary was so close to her delivery that he couldn’t imagine her traveling that distance. As the soldier turned to leave, Joseph mustered the courage to speak; “Officer, my wife.....she.....she could deliver her baby any moment, how could we possible make such a journey?” With a hateful tone, the soldier shot back; “Wife? Based on what I have heard she is not fully your wife yet, she is still betrothed to you, yet she is due at any time. You got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out of it!”. With that he turned and left, slamming the door shut behind him.

Joseph waited a few moments before making his way to the town square to see the decree with his own eyes. As he read the decree it soon became clear that the only exception was death. He silently prayed as he headed home to deliver the news to Mary. “Father God, I don’t understand what is going on. We have sought to honor You throughout all of this, I know You are in control of all things, but I don’t understand why you have permitted this to happen.” He continued to pour out his heart to God until he reached the door of their home. He prayed one last silent pray as he opened the door; “God, please give me the words.”

As he opened the door, Mary’s voice rang from the kitchen, while walking in her direction, he noticed things packed, as if they were going on a journey. She met him as he walked into the kitchen, and before he could say a word, she said; “Joseph.....I know about the decree....but for some reason God has filled me with a peace I don’t understand. He is in control and while I don’t know how, I know this is all a part of His perfect plan. We can leave first thing in the morning.”

Now let’s go back close to a month earlier. Caesar Augustus, the most powerful ruler on the face of the earth, walks out on the balcony of his palace to look over his vast empire. The beauty of what he saw was amazing, but rather that have a sense of satisfaction, he wanted more. He called a few of his most trusted advisors. He let them know of his desire for more and within a short time they had made a plan to take a census in order to establish a tax base that would enable them to build the wealth of the Roman Empire. The easiest way to make this work was to have everyone in the Roman Empire travel to the home of their heritage to be registered for the taxation. Soon the decree was signed and quickly began to spread all around the Empire. Caesar Augustus beamed with pride at the power he had, knowing that when he spoke, his subjects immediately obeyed. He had a power that was almost god like.

Now let’s travel back even further in time, about 700 years before the decree of Caesar Augustus. This time we go the the city of Jerusalem, where a prophet by the name of Micah lived. God was directing the hand of Micah to write prophetic words regarding the future of the southern kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom of Israel had been overthrown many years earlier, and the current spiritual path of the southern kingdom had placed them on a slippery slope. As Micah wrote, he alternated between harsh words of warning to messages of hope. On this particular day, he sat down and began to write as the God of heaven directed. Joyfully, the message he recorded on this day, was a message of hope. When this hope would come was beyond his ability to ascertain, but he loved the days when he was directed to write of hope. Not long after he began to write on this day, the following words flowed from his fingertips; Next Slide

Micah 5:2 ESV

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

Micah struggled to understand the words that flowed from his fingertips. How could a future ruler come, who was “from old, from ancient of days”? It didn’t seem possible, but he had learned, long ago, that he was to faithfully record whatever God gave him.

We now know that Micah was writing of Israel’s coming Messiah, of Jesus Christ. You know, there are times we struggle as we watch things in our world, things in our Nation, in our state, in our county, in our homes and in our life unfold. We struggle making sense of them, of seeing God’s Hand in what is taking place. I would imagine that Joseph and Mary had many of the same struggles. It was not always easy to make sense of what was going on around them. But they did know this, they knew God’s Hand was on them. They knew that Mary was the virgin, Isaiah prophesied of in Isaiah 7:14, that would give birth to a Son, Who would be called Immanuel, God with us. What they likely didn’t know, was that Micah’s prophesy from around the same time as Isaiah, specified that while they lived in Nazareth, the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. And that brings us to Caesar Augustus. As far as Caesar Augustus knew, he was large and in charge. He was the ruler of the most powerful nation on the face of the earth, there was no one......NO ONE more powerful than he. Yet we learn from Scripture that the mighty Caesar Augustus, like Artaxerxes from our time in Ezra, and Cyrus from both Isaiah as well as our time in Nehemiah, were nothing more than pawns in the Hands of the Almighty God. And thus we read in Luke 2. Next Slide

Luke 2:1–20 ESV

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 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. 10 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. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

So, what does this all mean to us? What does that mean for us as we go through an unprecedented year? It means that we, like Joseph and Mary, can completely trust that God, the God in Whom the rulers of this world serve as pawns in His Hands. We can trust Him with the cares of this world.

In Matthews account of the birth of Jesus, we learn that sometime later, possibly as much as 2 years later, Wise men from the east came to see Jesus, bearing gifts. That brings me to a story I would like to tell you as we close out this morning.

In 1994, the Russian Department of Education invited two American missionaries to teach morals and ethics in their prisons, at their businesses, fire and police departments, and even at a large orphanage. The Russians said that the two could teach from the perspective of their faith.

So, they went--as witnesses to the light--like John the Baptist "to testify to the light, so that all might believe through Him" (1:7). They believed that Jesus, the true light that enlightens everyone, was coming into the world (v8).

The experience of these two Americans in the Russian orphanage was particularly exciting. According to one of them named Will Fish—the orphanage contained about a hundred boys and girls, children who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program. Fish tells the story of what happened when the orphans heard, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas.

“We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem," says Fish. "Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger. Throughout the story, the children and orphanage and staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word.

Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. No colored paper was available in the city. Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown an American lady was throwing away as she left Russia, were used for the baby's blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States.

The orphans were busy assembling their mangers as I walked among them to see if they needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat - he looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy's manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger.

I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at his completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously. For such a young boy, who had heard the Christmas story only once, he related the happenings accurately - until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger.

"Then Misha started to ad lib. He made up his own ending to the story as he said, 'And when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don't have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn't, because I didn't have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, "If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?" Jesus told me, "If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me." So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him - for always.'

As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears. The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him - for always."

You know you and I are like Misha, only we are spiritual orphans with no hope of a spiritual home. It was with that in mind that God moved the hand’s of Micah and Isaiah to write what was to come. That He took hold of powerful rulers to serve as pawns in His hands, that He directed the faithful lives of Joseph and Mary, that He sent His Son, Jesus, to be the Savior of the world. To come down to earth, in a way, to climb right into our world with us, to keep us warm with an everlasting love. Have you taken hold of that love yet?

Let’s close our time in prayer.