Unexpected Detour

Christmas week is upon us and I am so excited for the season before us! For me… Christmas is about God interrupting the craziness and the chaos of this world with the arrival of His Son, Jesus, who truly is our Lord and Savior!

With Christmas, for many, comes traveling. This year might be a bit different with Covid 19 still a thing, but traveling will take place as friends and family go to see loved ones over the course of the next few days.

I do not mind traveling.... so long as the trip goes as expected. I DO NOT LIKE SURPRISES when traveling. What kind of surprises can we face on the road?

We might face the unexpected animal appearance as we are going down the highway. Such is a good opportunity to test our brakes or asphalt maneuvering.

We might face the unexpected breakdown. The vehicle cannot continue down the road any further without attention being given to a certain system or systems.

We might face the unexpected pit stops. I love traveling with people! However… in our youth pastoring days it seemed like there was always one student… one kiddo… that had an endless supply of Gatorade on the bus and the bladder the size of a mustard seed.

These are all very real surprises we might face while on the road… but one I especially do not enjoy incorporates orange signs, cones, and often… a detour.

No disrespect to my KDOT friends out there… I get it… roads and bridges have to be fixed! But how many can relate to the frustration that builds with each passing orange warning sign that say “Road work ahead” or “Be prepared to stop” or “Detour ahead?” i do not like being taken off the desired course!

Detours are a long or roundabout route that is taken to avoid something or to visit somewhere along the way.

By definition… detours can be planned… but the detours I’m talking about today are the unplanned moments in life when something or someone throws us off our intended course. Life… IS FULL OF SURPRISES! And these surprises have the potential to cause us to take a detour… a different route than expected… to get our intended destination.

The Christmas story is full of unexpected detours. And what we are going to see in this is (Main Point) as long as God is our navigator… we can trust in the path set before us.

Will we experience unexpected detours in life? Sure we will! And many of these detours come without the orange signs to warn us they are ahead. But church… as we just stated in our main point for today… as long as God is the navigator… we can trust in the path before us.

Moving into the Christmas story, there are a couple of “detours” presented that I want to highlight today. Some we might see clearly… others… not so clearly at first, but it was a detour nonetheless.

Detour One: From the Guest Room to the Manger

Luke 2:4 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. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 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.

Mary and Joseph had completed the journey to Bethlehem. They had to go there to register for the census taking place and there are two very important details to consider.

One: Mary was pregnant… VERY pregnant meaning the birth of Jesus could happen at any moment. They find themselves in a different city, about to become parents for the first time, and they face another inconvenient situation as they try to find a place to stay.

Two: there were no guest rooms available for them to stay in. All of the traditional lodging was full. This was largely due to all of the people traveling to the city to register for the census.

So consider this for a moment… this is much different from our day. When we travel, we make reservations for lodging before we set out on the journey. We know that a bed will be there when we arrive. Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem only to find no guest room was available. They were displaced and forced to sleep… with the animals.

I can’t imagine what it would have been like to welcome our first child… in a stable. I can’t imagine this was what Mary and Joseph had in mind. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to have to travel to Bethlehem this far along in a pregnancy… talk about a major detour!

Was this all just happenstance or was something bigger going on here? For Mary and Joseph, I’m sure the detour seemed inconvenient and maybe even disruptive in the moment… but God was in control. God was navigating this season and Mary and Joseph were faithful in following His lead. What we need to realize is WHAT MARY AND JOSEPH MAY HAVE SEEN AS AN UNEXPECTED DETOUR WAS ALL A PART OF GOD’S PLAN.

Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Some 800 years before Christ was born… this prophecy was given - a prophecy making clear that Christ would be born in Bethlehem. The lining up of this prophecy with actual events is important as such validates the identity of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah.

In the moment, Mary and Joseph might have struggled with the detour - but they faithfully followed the path God had laid out before them. In doing so, an 800 year old prophecy was fulfilled. God never left the navigator’s seat… God was leading them the whole way through.

And I pray we never forget this truth… God is still leading. God is still guiding. His Holy Spirit speaks to us and leads us in the direction we should go. Sometimes… that direction might seem like an unexpected detour… it might take us from the path we had in mind. But as Long as God is the navigator, we can trust in the path He lays out before us!

Detour Two: From the Star to the Trap

From the beginning, this detour doesn’t sound like much fun… yet we see a story in Scripture that again presents the truth that we can trust in the leading and guidance of our God.

Matthew 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

A star had appeared… not just any star, but the star that would report the birth of Jesus. Scripture reports Magi from the east saw this star and when they did, they stopped everything and went to see “the one who has been born king of the Jews.” The star had detoured them to come and worship Jesus.

This detour brought them to King Herod. The Magi assumed the King and the people would be aware of what was taking place… after all, you couldn’t miss the star in the sky! Yet the news they delivered disturbed the King and the people. Herod did not want to lose his power. So Herod sets a trap. Herod decides he will use the Magi to lead him to Jesus… so he can murder Him.

We don’t often think of this plot as part of the Christmas story… but it certainly is. Jesus threatened the status quo regarding Herod’s power. Herod decided he would make sure Jesus would not have the chance to rule. He gives the prophesied location to the Magi and the trap was set.

God had other plans. After the Magi discovered the location of Jesus, God placed before them another unexpected detour. Matthew 2:12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

When Herod found out his plan failed, he decided that all boys that were two years old and younger should be killed. Jesus, no longer in the area because God led Mary and Joseph to flee to Egypt, escaped the trap Herod hoped to catch him in… but the other boys did not. And another prophecy had been fulfilled. Jeremiah 31:15 A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

Now preacher, are you suggesting it was part of God’s plan for these boys to be destroyed? Why bring up such a dark part of biblical history when talking about unexpected detours?

Brokenness was NEVER a part of God’s plan. Sin was NEVER a part of God’s plan. Yet, because of what happened in the Garden of Eden, sin became a part of this world.

The Magi didn’t fall for the trap because God warned them of the danger. Jesus did not perish because God warned Mary and Joseph of the situation ahead. Herod was acting in sin. The prophecy given in Jeremiah spoke of what would happen because of Herod’s sin.

The Magi, Mary, and Joseph continued to follow the detours set before them. God was guiding them. Even in this dark moment… God had a plan. The key was trusting in the voice of their navigator… trusting in the voice of God.

But I want to revisit something that leads us to point three. I want to revisit the sin issue. There is one more detour in the Christmas story that we might miss if we are not careful… that detour is… the Christmas story.

Detour Three: From the Throne to the Earth

So far we have looked at two detours involving earthly characters and the plan of God. We have talked about the detours people faced when Christ came to this earth. But what about the detour… of Christ coming to this earth?

A moment ago we spoke of the darkness surrounding the reaction of Herod regarding the coming of Christ. This sinful action is disturbing and it is hard to comprehend this level of destruction and… pure evil. Yet… it was for this reality that Christ came to the earth in the first place - our sin reality.

Do we understand today that God did not make us for sin? Do we understand today that God’s intention was for His creation to steer clear of sin and to forever remain in His presence and fellowship?

Moving back to Genesis, God created all that we know and proclaimed it was good. It was paradise. It was a world without sin, brokenness, heartache, hurt, pain, and sorrow. This was God’s design. This was the plan. We were created to be in fellowship with the Father.

When sin entered the picture through the actions of humankind… that fellowship was broken. The original path God had laid out for us… a path of forever fellowship with God had been detoured by mankind. We took the sin exit, if you will, and started down the highway of destruction.

God did not leave us unaware of the danger. He instructed Adam and Eve not to sin and warned what sin would lead to. Be that as it may… the action was taken, the detour was in motion, mankind was doomed to perish for its sin.

But praise be to God… He had in mind another detour. God didn’t leave His creation to travel this road alone. You see, the path to destruction had no exits. It had no turn around. It was set in its direction and destined to end with death.

But God so loved the world that He gave… God sent Jesus on a detour. God sent His Son to leave heaven and come to earth. God saw our sinfulness and our inevitable destruction. And because of His love for us, Christ was given to make a way where there seemed to be no way.

Christ came to this world to give His life in place of ours. He paid the price we could not pay. In the Christmas story, Christ escaped the wrath of Herod only so He could take on the full punishment of sin for all who would call on His name to be saved!

And here is something remarkable to consider regarding this detour. Genesis was how it was supposed to be. Although sin created the reality in which we live today… the redemption we can have in Christ assures us that we WILL can have that forever fellowship God fully restored!

He is in forever fellowship with us right now as His Spirit lives in the heart of all believers.

We will be in forever fellowship tomorrow following the end time events - when ALL the world is redeemed and sin is truly no more! Genesis 1 tells us what God intended, Revelation 22 tells us how it will end… but as we are living in the pages found in the middle, let’s never forget Jesus came to this earth as Immanuel which means… God with us… to help get us back on the right path… the path that leads us from death and back to eternal life!

Jesus came to crush sin and the enemy once and for all. And as we have highlighted a couple of prophesies already, there is one more I want to bring to our attention. Its found in Genesis 3. This Word is given by God Himself to serpent after sin entered the world. He says in verse 15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring a and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” In other words, what God just communicated to the devil was “You think you’ve won this day? Your days are numbered. My Boy is coming and He will destroy you ONCE AND FOR ALL!”

Follow the Path God Sets Before You

God is the PERFECT navigator. God can see both the beginning and the end at the same time. God knows what it will take for His plan to be accomplished. The question for us today is this: Will we trust in God as the navigator for our lives?

Unexpected detours are a part of life. We often refer to them as moments when life throws us a curve ball - we didn’t see it coming. The key in overcoming such situations is to trust in God to get us through.

Again, 2020 might be identified as the year of unexpecteds. This year has been crazy to say the least! Yet if we continue to trust in the Lord and follow His direction… we know that His path leads to life to the full!

Maybe you are in here or watching online and you feel like you have been detroured. You feel like life has taken you in a direction you never saw coming and… you’re struggling.

Perhaps the doors you thought were going to open were slammed closed. Maybe the bottom dropped out on some of the things you felt assured of. Maybe you see the orange signs and suspect a detour is ahead, and you don’t know how to handle it. The answer… the key… is to place your full faith and trust in God.

God loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for you. Even in our brokenness, God’s love for us never failed. Jesus left heaven and came to earth to provide a way… a detour away from sin. Jesus has come as the light that leads us out of darkness.

Are you willing to follow Him? Do you have a relationship with Him today? He is calling you, leading you, but you have to be willing to change course. You have to be willing to leave the path that leads to destruction and start traveling on the path that leads to life. PRAYER - Salvation

Secondly, maybe you feel detoured right now. Maybe you are feeling unsure and uncertain because of the unforeseen changes this year. God is the answer you are looking for.

As He led Mary and Joseph, as He led the Magi - so will God also lead you. But you must trust in Him. If you are here and you need His help, His guidance, raise your hand. If you are here and you are ready to trust His help and guidance, I want you to stand. By standing, we proclaim our trust and faith in Him. With God as our navigator, we can trust in the path set before us!