December 12, 2021
Morning Service

With Christmas just around the corner, I wanted to put our Matthew study on hold for a couple of weeks.  Today I want to look at the two central figures in the Christmas story and learn something from them.  Mary and Joseph were chosen by God to endure a journey together that was like no other.  It took true faith, the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things unseen, to do what they did.  I believe we can learn something from each of them by identifying similarities in our journeys.  Let’s begin with Gabriel coming to this young lady of 14-16 years of age.

Luke 1:26-27  Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,  (27)  to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

            The journey does not begin in the biggest or most beautiful city, but God chose Nazareth.  Nazareth was a small rural village with a population of around 400 people. The incarnation of the Son of God began very much under the radar.  He chose a poor, simple, but faithful teenage girl from an obscure city to be the mother of our Lord and we know that theme continues as this story unfolds.  You may view yourself as not having enough experience, ability, education or simply from the wrong side of town for God to use; if so you are mistaken. He moved mightily in Nazareth, why not in Mitchell?  God plus a faithful follower equals success; He does not call the qualified, but qualifies the called.  He has called you to follow, not necessarily with an angel, but we are called as Mary was and our reaction needs to be like hers.

Luke 1:28-33  And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"  (29)  But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.  (30)  Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  (31)  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.  (32)  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.  (33)  And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

            Gabriel quickly assures Mary that she should rejoice and not be afraid for she is favored by God and was about to be blessed by Him.  Gabriel reveals to her that her life is not going to go as she has it planned out.  She has found favor with God and He has chosen her to walk a journey that is unique to her alone.  She is told she will conceive and bring forth a Son and she is to name Him Jesus (which means the Lord saves) who will be the long awaited Messiah.  In our lives God sometimes chooses to direct us in a path that we have not or would not have chosen to walk.  When we face those changes, we too can question God on the details as Mary does. 

Luke 1:34-37  Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"  (35)  And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.  (36)  Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.  (37)  For with God nothing will be impossible."

            Mary’s first response is to the fact that she will be having a baby.  It is a fair question for her to ask.  Gabriel answers in a simple, delicate, and effective way. Her offspring will be fathered by the Holy Spirit thus making Him fully God yet fully man.  Gabriel also gives her some reassurance that she will not be alone in this journey by revealing that her cousin Elizabeth is pregnant as well and then she is told “with God nothing will be impossible.”  Her reaction to this unbelievable announcement is classic.

Luke 1:38  Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

            Her humble reaction of submission indicates the reason she was chosen for this tremendous honor.  She says “God I don’t understand all that you just said to me, but I am your servant so do with me as You will.  I trust You and I will walk the road You choose for me.”  The magnitude of this moment would have come to her a little later as she realized she would be the mother of the Messiah.  Reality of the road ahead would set in as well.  A young unmarried girl who became pregnant in this time walked a road to disaster.  If the father refused to marry her, she would probably remain unmarried for life turning to begging or prostitution to support her child. He could also call for her to be stoned to death for her perceived sin. The announcement did not come with instant fame and acceptance as we often visualize.  She would first have to endure the pain and rejection that would come from her small community.  Would her family believe her and would Joseph abandon her?  God had spoken and she believed, but there were so many unanswered questions.  This was certainly a lot for a young teenage girl to deal with.  She chose well, she chose to believe and trust in God first and foremost. Today, the road we are walking is also unclear or even dark.  There are many unanswered questions we have on where we are headed as a church and as a country.  Our journey is full of faith moments like this, that include the part of not seeing where He is leading us.  Follow Mary’s example and choose to believe God, trust Him and follow Him first and foremost even when we don’t understand.

Mat 1:18-25  Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.  (19)  Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.  (20)  But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.  (21)  And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."  (22)  So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:  (23)  "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which is translated, "God with us."  (24)  Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,  (25)  and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.

            Imagine the news Joseph had to endure.  His fiancé was pregnant and he was not the father.  To take her as his wife now would be humiliating so he felt that left two choices; a quiet divorce or have her stoned for her apparent sin.  Being a “just man” he had decided on the secret divorce as the more honorable thing to do.  Through a dream God revealed to Joseph a third choice and that was to trust Him and marry her.  God’s ways are not man’s ways.  Love finds a way.  His love for us is the reason behind this season.

            Joseph’s decision on what do to with (what he thought was) his unfaithful bride who had sinned against him mirrors the same one God has with us.  We are the church and Christ’s bride.  We truly have been unfaithful and sinned against our Groom to be.  Rather than cast us away and let us die the death we deserve or just cut all ties with us by divorcing us, He chose another path.  A path that man finds very hard to understand.  He chose to become a man born in a stable, live a perfect life, and then take the penalty for His Bride’s sins upon Himself. He chose to love us with a love that none of us deserve.