1 The Most Wonderful Time of the Year? (Matthew 1:18-25) Presented by Rev. Dan McDowell December 10, 2017 I was reminiscing recently about a Thanksgiving I celebrated 5 or 6 years ago that was pretty special. My mom and sisters were still alive and were with us along with my brother and his wife and oldest son who were joined us from California My late sister and her boyfriend came from Virginia and so many of our more closely located family wanted to come be with them that we had to move our Thanksgiving feast from our Olean home to the church Fellowship Hall. It still really felt like a Norman Rockwell moment for our family. The next morning as I drove my brother to Buffalo to catch his plane I came back to reality however. A radio news program reported a lady used pepper spray to hold off the other shoppers at Wal Mart on Black Friday. It doesn t take long for the aura of our mountaintop experiences to fade, does it? Chances are the season ahead will not be the ideal caricature of Christmas that we often wish for. We have all heard that famous Christmas tune, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Well, I hope that we can find ways to make the most of things when our plans go awry in the weeks ahead. We are going to talk this morning about what we can do to survive the next four weeks. As we prepare to do that, let s open our Bibles to the first chapter of the first book in the New Testament (the book of Matthew) starting with verse 18: Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband, Joseph, being
2 a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet; Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, God is with us. When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-25) If you look carefully at that story I think you can find: Part One: Survival Tips and Godly Perspective These are two things that will serve you well in the weeks to come. The first one is you can expect your plans to be interrupted. In the day of Joseph and Mary, Hebrew marriages came about in two stages. First, there was the Kiddushin (or betrothal period). Legally the couple was committed to one another at this point but they were not living together and could not consummate their relationship. The Kiddushin could last as long as a year and part of the purpose of this betrothal period was to test their fidelity and integrity. To break the engagement, they would have to be divorced. It is a far cry from the way couples come together these days isn t it? Once the Kiddushin was completed the Huppah took place. This was a very
3 elaborate wedding celebration that could last a week. There would be a tremendous feast as well as a ritualistic ceremony. Many of you remember how much thought and preparation went into a wedding reception that lasts just a few hours. Imagine planning one that lasts for a week! Then imagine 15-year old Mary going to her 20- something fiancé Joseph and instead of discussing meal arrangements or seating charts she has to say, Joe honey? We need to talk. I m pregnant! I doubt many of us here will every have our holiday plans blown apart the way Jesus parents did! Mary and Joseph planned a wedding, but God had something bigger in mind. Often that is the way God works. We make all kinds of elaborate plans, set ambitious goals and start working diligently to make our dreams come true but something comes up and we have to set those plans aside. I always tell couples during the premarital counseling discussions that something is certain to go wrong on their wedding day. It might be a member of the wedding party showing up late or somebody s tux won t fit right. Even more likely, the flower girl or ring bearer will not want to walk down the aisle when the time comes Whatever it is, you can either let that detail spoil your day or you can laugh it off and go forward. The recent royal wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William was pretty extravagant. Some of you are old enough to still remember the wedding of William s parents. During the wedding vows Princess Di mispronounced her fiancé s formal name (Charles, Philip, Arthur George or something like that). Even on the most intricately rehearsed occasions, Murphy s Law still goes into effect. Well, if God felt free to interrupt the wedding plans of what we now know as the Holy Family then our plans are fair game too. Listen to what James has to say: Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and
4 such a town and sped a year there, doing business and making money. Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that (James 4:13-15) Not much has changed since Jesus was born. Plans are subject to change and interruption. Here is another survival tip that can help get your through the most wonderful time of the year; instead of focusing so much on what you are hoping for in any given situation: B. Try to get God s Take. Think about what happened in our story today. Joseph was tempted to blow it. And who could blame him? He was just a blue collar guy in a backwoods town but as he got ready for the biggest day of his life, the woman he had committed himself to had arrived with some cock and bull story about angelic visits and virgin conception. It was all a bit much. All he knew was that he was about to become a laughing stock. He could have chosen to disgrace her publicly or even have her executed but he didn t. At first he decided to quietly cut his ties to her legally. Then he got God s take on the matter. Sometimes we can t see beyond personal disappointment. That is the tactic most often used in politics when a scandal hit. Just look at what is happening at Penn State right now. It has been more than 10 years since the first accusation was made in that case, and it pretty much sat dormant for all of those years. Now all of a sudden everybody and their brother is investigating and they are looking for as many people to blame as possible. The University President, the Athletic Director and the Head Coach have all lost their jobs so far and one of the victims is even being
5 ostracized and harassed. When the smoke clears you wonder how many lives will be ruined and what good will come of all the finger pointing? Joseph must have been tempted to try to find the most likely culprit for sleeping with Mary but instead of playing the blame game, he listened to the still, small voice of God. Because he did, he got to marry his sweetheart and he was given the privilege of raising God s only begotten son. When we find ourselves in the midst of disappointment and confusion it can be hard to consider God s hand in the midst of it but there are some things that can help us to get a better point of view (and they all happen to begin with the letter, P : Part Two: 3 P s to help refocus: The first P is for Pray. Pray for courage and wisdom and guidance but pray! Paul tells us to Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17) James says, Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. (James 5:13) Hymns and choruses are just prayers put to music and singing our prayers can make them more worshipful. The main thing is to take time when things get stressful to seek God s heart. The second P word I want to mention is Perspective. It is important to put things into a broader evaluation. How bad is it really. Sometimes people spend $100 of anxiety on a $5.00 problem. When I was in high school I had a friend who was an outstanding wrestler. In fact, he was the number 1 ranked wrestler in the state and the favorite to become the state champion. Halfway through the season, however he was injured. No matter what he did, he could not get through his rehab in time for the playoffs and he became more and more depressed. The more depressed he became, the more miserable he was to be around. So his girlfriend finally had enough and broke up
6 with him. He solved his problem with a 12 gauge shotgun. A pretty permanent solution to a very temporary problem. Just yesterday I rode to the cemetery with Bob Guenther and he was expressing his concern with how often that kind of thing happens right here in our own community. The suicide rate here is very troubling. Jesus said to his disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? (Luke 12:22, 25) So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today s trouble is enough for today. (Matthew 6:34) The reason that Jesus was able to master that kind of perspective was because he was aware of our third P : Providence. We talked about this a few weeks ago. Divine providence is not fatalism (or the belief that we can t do anything to change the outcome of events in our lives). Divine providence is belief in the wisdom, care and guidance that God provides and exercises in the course of human events. For example when a boy in Decatur, Illinois was deeply interested in photography he answered an ad in a magazine and ordering a book on the subject. The publisher made a mistake and sent him instead a book about magic and ventriloquism, so he began practicing the art of throwing his voice. He created a wooden dummy to whom, at one time, millions of people listened on Sunday evenings - Charlie McCarthy. Edgar Bergen turned a mistake into a fabulous career. James Whistler, the renowned artist, wanted more than anything to be a soldier. He even entered West Point as a cadet. But he failed a chemistry examination. Later he joked that one wrong answer that had meant the difference between passing and failing. He said, "If silicon
7 had been a gas, I would have been a major general instead of an artist." Those kinds of experiences are examples of divine providence in action. If you drive around the area today you will see all kinds of crèche scenes decorating lawns of homes and churches. Those scenes are powerful examples of how God takes times of exasperation and turns them into joyful celebration. In our own frustrating experiences we should take a good look at a bad break from God s perspective. There may well be in your frustration the means of making it fruitful. The Bible tells us that The Rock, his work is perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God, without deceit, just and upright is he (Deuteronomy 32:4) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the hearth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah. 55:8-9) The LORD is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. (Psalm 145:17) Knee-jerk reactions to interruptions and broken plans won t happen if we turn to God for better information. Better Information = Better Decisions. It s kind of like what happened to Mrs. Monroe. Mrs. Monroe had nine children and one day she came home from the grocery store and found the house unusually quiet. She looked into the living room and found five of her children sitting in a circle. So she put her groceries down and went in for a closer look. Her five adorable children were playing with 5 of the cutest little skunks you ever saw! Mrs. Monroe yelled, RUN CHILDREN, RUN! Each child grabbed a skunk and ran in a different direction. The mother yelled again, scaring the kids so much that they squeezed their skunks. Skunks don t like to be squeezed.
8 We need to be careful when we deal with the unexpected this season. We can expect our plans to be interrupted. When it happens, try to get God s take. He may have a bigger purpose in mind than you did! You can let those things get you down and make you miserable or you can look for what God is doing and join Him in it! Gary Richmond wrote a book of illustrations called A View from the Zoo and he tells about the birth of a giraffe: The first things to emerge are the baby giraffe s front hooves and head. A few minutes later the plucky newborn is hurled forth, falls ten feet and lands on its back. Within seconds, he rolls to an upright position with his legs tucked under his body. From this position, he considers the world for the first time and shakes himself. The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over the calf. She waits for about a minute, then she does the most unreasonable thing. She swings her long, pendulous leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it is sent sprawling head over heels. When it doesn t get up, the violent process is repeated over and over again. The struggle to rise is momentous,. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks it again to stimulate its efforts. Finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs. Then the mother giraffe does something remarkable. She kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up! In the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with the herd where there is safety. Lions, hyenas, leopards and wild hunting dogs all enjoy young giraffes, and they would get it too if the mother didn t teach her calf to get up quickly and get on with it! Paul proclaimed that We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) Some things in life don t work out the way we hoped they would.
9 But that doesn t mean that God isn t working things out His way. It helps to know that as we try to survive the next four weeks of Christmas preparations. Let s pray. Lord, help us to put our plans aside and see Your bigger picture when the need arises during this hectic season of the year. We often forget the true meaning of Christmas in the midst of all the excitement and confusion. Thank you for sending your Son to live among us and show us who You really are. And thank you for making the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. In Jesus name. Amen