Then? There? Them? – A Lesson in Christmas Abnormalties

Why then? The timing seemed odd, after all, since Augustus ruled most of the known world with an iron fist. Why did Mary and Joseph have to travel when she was pregnant? Couldn’t this have waited a few months?

Why there? Bethlehem…seriously? A Podunk town that no one outside of the “house and lineage” of David even knew existed. Wouldn’t a metropolitan area, a crossroads of culture like Jerusalem have been a much more appropriate and effective setting? And a manger? The King of Kings was coming to earth not in a palace but in a slobbery feed trough?

Why them? Joseph? He was a mere blue-collar, calloused carpenter. Why would God choose to use him in such a plan? And Mary? Such a young girl that no one would notice her, or even believe her story. Shepherds? The lowest of the low. Foul-mouthed. Dirty. Smelly. Ostracized. In many cases, criminal. They were the first to hear the good news?

If there is one truth demonstrated in the Christmas story, it is the sovereignty of God. He knew what He was doing, through whom He was doing, and where it was all taking place. In fact, in Galatians 4:4 Paul refers to God’s timing in bringing Jesus into the world as “the fullness of time.” When the chronology was just right, when earth’s clock hit the exactly perfect beat, with impeccable timing God acted with a perfect when, where, and whom.

Augustus thought he was in charged when he called for the tax registration, but God was using him to bring Mary and Joseph to the little town the prophet had indicated years before would bring forth the Messiah. Bethlehem was the perfect setting, a town too small to handle the large crowd who would come so that the Jesus would lay in a manger, making Him easily identifiable to short-witted shepherds who may not have found Him otherwise. Speaking of shepherds, can you think of a group who needed more to hear a message of hope than they? They were the perfect testimony to the redeeming work God was doing through His Son.

Yes, God was sovereignly at work in the when, where, and whom that first Christmas night. The Christmas story also reminds me that God is sovereignly at work in the whens, wheres, and whoms, of my life. I do not experience accidental circumstances, blind luck, or strange coincidences.

My life is part of a bigger story. God is working His plan for His creation. This is all HIS stage, I am just a small part and He will accomplish what He has begun in me. Friend, if things aren’t going the way you think they should in your life, remember that our all-wise, all-knowing, all-powerful God will never fail in His purposes. In the fullness of time for you, He will come through and make His glory known. Celebrate the Sovereign Lord this Christmas season.

The Word of God: Affirmation or Transformation?

His family thought He was “out of His mind.” (Mark 3:21) Yes, even Mary.  She was there, too, and presumably she agreed with Jesus’ siblings, her other children, that Jesus had crossed the line.

How could Mary misunderstand?  She had received an angelic announcement tell her she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit and carried the Son of God in her womb.  At Jesus’ birth, she received visits from shepherds who had received a heavenly announcement as well, telling them that this baby was the long awaited Messiah.  Magi from the East came calling, bearing precious gifts, and recognizing the significance of her firstborn.

She had watched her son grow from the twelve year old boy who confidently taught adults in the temple during a trip to Jerusalem to the man who now forged out on his own, teaching other men the ways of the Kingdom.  Really, how could she miss it?

She missed it the same way we do.  She had preconceived notions about the Messiah that obscured the truth right before her eyes.  She thought Jesus was blowing His chance, misusing the opportunity that God had given Him, and going about Messiahship the wrong way.

To her, the Messiah would be a popular, national and political leader who would rise among the ranks of the religious establishment and eventually take His place at the top.  He would lead Israel away from Roman domination and establish His throne in Jerusalem.  But all He was doing now was alienating the religious establishment and acting quite… well, foolish.

If only she had read and received God’s Word with an open mind and heart she would’ve seen the truth. The Messiah would be not only a Righteous Ruler but also a Suffering Servant.  If she had listened carefully to what He spoke and recognized that even though He was her son genetically, He was her Lord supremely.

We come to God’s Word the same way all too often.  We have a notion of the way things should be, or at least how we want them to be. We consequently either twist Scriptures to mean what we want them to mean or ignore them if the meaning cannot be manipulated.  We read the Bible looking for affirmation rather than transformation.  We claim the Scripture is unclear or difficult when actually it is quite clear, but fails to say what we want it to say.

Let me challenge you to come to God’s Word humbly and with an open heart.  Let God’s Word shape your understanding rather than your presuppositions shaping God’s Word.  Let the Word speak for itself.  Consider it in its contexts – historical, literary, grammatical, and revelatory.  Seek its true meaning and conform to it.  Let God’s Word speak authoritatively in your life.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. – Hebrews 4:11-13

Joseph Did You Know?

We can only speculate precisely what was going through Joseph’s mind when he heard the news that his fiancé Mary was pregnant.

      • How could this happen?
      • What will people say?
      • What should I do?
      • I love her so much, why did she do this?

He came to a very compassionate decision .

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. Matthew 1:19

He wanted to do both the right and compassionate thing, so he decided to absolve the engagement, but to attempt to do so in a way that would cause her the least amount of embarrassment and shame.  He had every right to divorce her publicly, thereby exonerating himself at the expense of her reputation, but he CHOSE not to exercise that right and to handle the matter quietly and discreetly.

We know the rest of the story.  Gabriel appeared to him and explained God’s plan to him.  I am sure even that message was hard to grasp, but it gave him a glimmer of hope and rewarded his willingness to exercise meekness and compassion.

His compassionate treatment of Mary leads me to a further thought, however.  What would have become of Mary in today’s church culture?  Would anyone have believed her story?  I must admit that I would probably find it incredible and would assume she had fabricated the entire tale.

Let’s admit it though, we are quick to judge others aren’t we?  We assume that we KNOW why they are in their circumstances and why they act in what SEEMS to us an unacceptable manner.  But… we DON’T KNOW.

I think one of the most profound lessons I have learned in my life is that we never know what load another person may be carrying.  We may think we know what is going on in their lives, but we don’t.  We don’t know what they are thinking, feeling, or experiencing.  We just don’t.  And we are arrogant to believe that we can stand judgment on them without knowing the facts…KNOWING not HEARING…the FACTS not the GOSSIP.

So this Christmas, let me challenge you as I challenge myself to try and be more compassionate and merciful toward others.  If we KNOW of sin in their lives, then we should address it WITH THEM.  If we truly do not KNOW then we should cut them some slack.

Imagine what Joseph would’ve missed had he given up on Mary.  WOW!  Only heaven knows what we miss when we give up on others too soon.