Rick Warren - Why God Chose Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds & Wise Men

Very few people were in on the first Christmas. Two

thousand years later, the entire world knows what Christmas is.

Billions of people will go to worship service, will celebrate

the birth of Christ, but not at the first one.

So what made those people marry Joseph, the shepherds, the

wise man. What made them so special that they got

to be in on the very first one? How does

God choose who he is going to bless? And I

want to just think for a second about who God

chooses and uses the kind of person that God can bless.

The fact is, if you'll get blessable, God will bless you.

And if you'll do the things that Mary and Joseph

and the shepherds and the wise men do did, if

you'll do it now, this will be a blessed Christmas

for you too, Because when you look at it, Joseph cooperated,

and the shepherds celebrated, and Mary contemplated, and the wise

man dedicated. What does that mean? Well, let's just start

with Joseph. Joseph is the most underestimated and underreported and

often overlooked character in the Christmas story. He's kind of

supporting cast. We don't know a whole lot about him.

But Joseph was just a normal guy. He's a young guy,

he's poor, he doesn't have money, he has probably a

menial job in a very small village. And that's about

all we know about him except this. He was engaged

and one day his fiancee comes to him Mary and says, honey,

you're not gonna believe the story. I know, but it's true.

And she says, I'm pregnant. Now. I know we haven't

had any relations, but I want you to know I

have been faithful to you and I haven't ever had

any relations with anybody else. Right. Oh, and there's one

other part of the story. The father of my baby

is God. Guys, if your fiancee told you that, would

you believe it? That's the most preposterous, outrageous, illogical story

ever ever given. But it was true. But here's what

the Bible says Matthew Chapter one. Joseph was a good man,

and he didn't want to publicly disgrace Mary, so he

planned to quietly divorce her. Now, he said, well, how

can you divorce when you're just engaged? In those days,

an engagement was like a marriage. It was a binding contract.

You were. Legally, you couldn't just break off an engagement.

You actually had to do in a divorce to break

off the engagement. It was like marriage. It's just you

hadn't had relations yet with your spouse. So he planned

a quietly divorce her. But an angel appeared to him

in a dream, and when Joseph woke up, he did

exactly what the Angel of the Lord had commanded him

to do, and he took Mary home as his wife.

Now that took great faith to believe the most impossible,

improbable story and to trust that God had a bigger

and better plan for his life that he would ever imagined.

Now here's the first point I want you to get.

These are quick points. If you want to be blessed

by God. You want God's blessing on your business, on

your marriage, and your relationships, and your friendships and your finances.

Here's what you must do. You must do what Joseph did.

You write this down. Cooperate with God's plan for your life.

You stop following your plan for your life, you start

following God's bye. This is a total you turn in

Joseph's life. He had his life all planned out with Mary,

and God said I've got other plans, but my plans bigger,

and my plans better. You cooperate with God's plan for

your life. And here's the key. Even if it doesn't

make sense, it would make sense later on. But it

certainly didn't make sense to Joseph when the angel showed

up and said, go ahead and marry the girl. I've

got a bigger plan. God's got a bigger plan. The

Bible says this in Jeremiah twenty nine to eleven. God says,

I know what I'm doing. I know what I'm doing.

I have it all planned out, good plans to take

care of you, not to hurt you. God is a

good God. My plans will give you the future you

hope for. Okay, do you trust God or you trust yourself?

You trust God's plan and you trust your plan. If

you want the blessing of God in your life, you

have to cooperate with God's plan for your life. That's

what Joseph did. That's why he got to be at

the First Christmas, and others didn't. Okay, what about shepherds.

The shepherds really are the bottom of the social ladder

in the Roman Empire, and yet God went from the

highest of the lowest in who he invited to his

son's birth. And so he invites the shepherds. And they're

out there relaxing in the fields. And you know, they're

not sleeping at home, they're not sleeping in a motel.

They're sleeping out on the grass every night with their

sheep to protect them from the wolves and other predators.

And the Bible says this, look up here on the screen.

The angel shows up in the middle of the night.

All of a sudden, the skylights up, and the Angel

said that the shepherds, don't be afraid. I bring you

good news of great joy, good news of great joy

that will be for all people. Christmas is not simply

for Christians, It's for all people. Jesus did not come

and die for just certain people, certain class, certain ethnic background.

He died for everybody. This is good news for all people.

And he says, today in the town of David, a

savior has been born for you. It's for your benefit,

and he is Christ, the Lord. So what did they do.

The shepherds literally run to Bethlehem. The next verse, they're

on your outline says this shepherd turied to Bethlehem and

there they found Mary and Joseph and the baby who

was lying in a manger. And when they had seen him,

it says they returned to their fields, singing praises and

thanking God. They're having a party. They're singing praises. They're

thanking God for all that they had seen and heard,

which happened just as the Angel had told them. What

are they doing. They're celebrating. They're celebrating. Joseph had to cooperate,

but the shepherds had to celebrate. They're having a party.

Christmas is a festival. It's not a funeral. That's why

we say Merry Christmas, like not Sad Christmas, because it's

not sad. It's good news of great joy, which is

for all people. For Undue is born this day in

the City of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.

That's the best news. You can have your past forgiven,

you can have a purpose for living, you can have

a home in heaven because of Christmas. It's party. Now.

Here's the second point. If you're taking notes, if you

want to be blessed, then you've got to be like

the shepherds, and that is celebrate that God is here

with us celebrate that God is here with us. It's

interesting that during Christmas season people will celebrate everything else.

It will be all kinds of Christmas parties, and Jesus

is never ever mentioned. But the whole purpose of the

celebration of Christmas is God is with us. He's come

to earth. We're not alone in the universe. He has

a plan and a purpose for our lives. He loves you,

He knows everything about you. There's a whole lot to celebrate.

He loves you, and he forgives you, and he has

a plan for your life. Now, not only did they celebrate,

they communicated. They celebrated and they communicated, said they told everybody,

who have you told? How long has it been since

you told somebody the good news? Have you ever? Have

you ever ever told anybody the best news in the world.

If I had the cure for cancer and I didn't

share it, that would be criminal. They should lock me

up and put me in prison. If I had the

cure for HIV and AIDS and I didn't share it,

that would be criminal. But will you and I have

something even better? The good news? As I said, how

your past can be forgiven, how you can have a

purpose for living and how you can have a home

in heaven? Where else are you going to get that?

Have you shared the good news? It says the shepherds

told everybody they came in contact with, so they celebrated,

just like Joseph cooperated. Now let's look at Mary. Mary

had to be scared to death. What are my parents

gonna think? What are my girlfriends gonna think? I'm pregnant,

I'm single, nobody has kids out of wedlock in those days?

Will anybody believe this fantastic story that I'm carrying the

son of God? Nobody's gonna believe that. But the thing

about Mary, she didn't panic. She was young, but she

didn't panic. And the reason she didn't panic because what

she was thinking about was God's promises to her. And

while Joseph cooperated and the Shepherd's celebrated, Mary was contemplating,

and what she was doing was thinking about God's word. Now,

I want you to know this next verse Luke, chapter two.

Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and when

the angels had said to them, and what the angel

had said to them about this child. Everyone else who

heard the shepherd's story were amazed. But Mary treasured up

all the words that she heard and continued to quietly

ponder them in her heart. Why did God choose Mary

out of all the young women he could have chosen

to be the mother of the Son of God? What

did Mary do right? She paid attention to God's word.

When God spoke, she listened. She didn't just listen, She

wrote it down, she remembered. She pondered, that means to

meditate me, so seriously think about She continued to quietly

ponder everything. Everybody else heard what the angel said, and

they wondered, But Mary pondered. Big difference.

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If you want to be blessed like Mary, you must

contemplate continually on God's word. It says she continued to

quietly ponder the things she heard that God said in

her heart. Contemplate continually on God's word. Now, this is

a promise not just for women. Let's promise for men.

Let me show you a couple verses up here on

the screen. James Chapter one, verse twenty five says this,

if you keep looking and carefully study God's perfect word,

which sets you free. The truth sets you free. And

if you do what it says and you don't forget it.

In other words, you remember it, you write it down,

you will be what blessed. You will be blessed by

God for doing it. You get blessed by reading, studying, memorizing, meditating,

thinking about pondering, applying, and doing the word. Anybody in

this place could be blessed. It has got to be blessable.

Cooperate with God's plan, celebrate God's son, and contemplate God's word.

Think about it. He says. If you do that, you

will be blessed by God for doing it. Let me

show you another verse Joshua, Chapter one, verse eight. Study

this book continually. That's what Mary did. She continually pondered

what God had said, remember it and meditate on it

night and day, day and night, so you'll be sure

to do everything. So it says, remember, study, meditate, do

then you will prosper and you will be successful. Now,

what about this last group, the wise men, These guys,

the wise men, the magi, they're the a list. They're

the brightest people. They're the scientists. They're far educated, more

than everybody else is not. A caravan to Bethlehem from

either Iraq, Iran, Persia or Babylon would require a lot

of money. But they were wealthy and it would require

a lot of their time. But they did this because

it was an intellectual pursuit. They'd seen the star in

the sky that God had placed there. This is a

unique star. We don't even know what it did was.

And they studied the scriptures, and they study the manuscripts,

and they study the traditions, and they go, oh, this

is a sign that the savior of the world is

to be born in Bethlehem. So, at great expense of

time and money, they traveled to Bethlehem, the exact opposite

of the shepherds. What are they doing. They're seeking the truth,

They're seeking God. That is always a wise thing to do.

Wise men still seek Jesus. Wise men always seek Jesus.

It's fools who don't seek him. It's fools who go

through life unprepared for something they know is inevitable death.

It's fools who go all through life unprepared for is

there a God? Does he exist? And does he have

a plan for my life? And don't even care enough

to figure it out? Wise men still seek Jesus. Now,

the Bible says this about the wise men Matthew chapter two,

verse eleven. When the wise men saw the child with

his mother Mary, they bowed down and worshiped him. Then

they opened their treasure chest, and they presented him with

gifts of gold and incense and mirk and being warned

by God in a dream. They that wise men headed

home by a different way. Anytime you've been with Jesus,

it changes your direction. Anytime you've been with God, it

changes the way you walk, It changes the way you work.

You can't have somebody as big as God come into

your life and it not change you. If you think

you've got God in your life and it that didn't

change you, you got something, but you didn't get God.

Because God is so big, he can't come into your

life without it changing your direction. Now, come into Jesus

cost him a lot, but when they saw him, they

worshiped him. Now here's the fourth lesson. If you want

to be blessed, you want your life to be blessed,

you want to be blessed, then you be like the

wise man. And that is this. Dedicate my time and

my gifts to Jesus to seeking him and then giving

my time and my gifts. They brought gifts to Jesus,

and he will multiply. All the things you've got in

your life are given to you by him. Anyway, you

wouldn't have anything without God. It's just giving back to

God what he gave to you. And then he takes

it and multiplies it back. Let me show you a

couple verses on the screen. The Bible says in Romans

chapter twelve, offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God. Dedicated.

There's the word dedicated to his service and pleasing to him.

So I dedicate my time, and I dedicate my life,

and I dedicate my gifts to Jesus. And then here's

another verse, Romans chapter six, verse thirteen. Give yourselves completely

to God. I mean, what's more wise than that. Give

yourself not to something that's not gonna last. Give yourself

something that is going to last. God's gonna last forever.

Give yourself completely to God, every part of you. For

you want to be tools in the hands of God,

to be used for his good purposes. Now let me

wrap this up and just ask you the question, what

are you going to give Jesus for Christmas? It's his birthday.

Can you imagine going to a birthday party where you

go to the birthday party, everybody gives gifts to each

other except to the birthday boy. What kind of party

is that? The most important gift you give this ear

at Christmas is the gift you give to Jesus. It's

his birthday. What are you going to give him? Have

you even put any thought into it? You say, well,

what do you give a gift? What kind of gift

you give the guy who's got everything? Well, he doesn't

have everything. I could give you a couple hundred things.

He doesn't have unless you give it to him. He

doesn't have your love unless you give it to him.

He doesn't have your trust unless you give it to him.

He doesn't have your life unless you give it to him.

He doesn't have your attention unless you give it to him.

What are you going to give Jesus in this new year?

What are you going to give him for his birthday?

That's the most important Christmas gift. By the way, you

know why we give Christmas gifts because the wise men

started the tradition. They brought gifts to Jesus, and now

we give gifts to each other. But the whole gift

giving pain came because God so loved the world that

he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in

him should not perish but have everlasting life. God gave

the first Christmas gift. He was a gift to you.

He didn't have to give it. He did it because

he loves you and he wants you to know him,

and he wants you and his family. Now, of these

four things that Mary and Joseph and the Shepherds and

the angels, i mean, the wise men did, is there

one that really particularly sticks out to you. Maybe you

need to be like Joseph. You need need to start

cooperating with God's plan instead of trying to push through

your plan for your life. And maybe this Christmas you say, God,

I'm going to stop trying to push in my plan.

I'm going to start cooperating with your plan for my life.

You tell me what to do and I'll do it.

That's a gift. Or maybe you need to be like

the shepherds and you need to start celebrating God's gift

to you. They had a party. We're forgiven, we have

a savior. We're not out here in the universe by ourselves.

We are loved as a pastor president and a future

plan for our lives. Need to celebrate that. Maybe you

need to have more gratitude and less griping this year.

Maybe you need to have more thanksgiving and more trusting,

less complaining, And you say I'm gonna start celebrating God's

gift to me. Maybe you need to be like Mary.

You start thinking about the Word of God daily, start

contemplating his word. So I'm not going to go a

single day without being in this book. God has spoken

to you, and the promises for your prosperity, your success,

your life, your health, your relationships, all these things are

in this word. But God doesn't have your attention unless

you give it to or maybe you need to be

like the wise men. You just need to seek him.

You know I have not been seeking you. I've been

seeking my own success. I've been seeking my own fame.

I've been seeking my own fortune, I've been seeking my

own future, spouse. I've been seeking all these other things

that I haven't been seeking you. It's wise to seek

God first. You say this Christmas, that's going to be

my Christmas gift to you. That's power heads. Would you've

prayed this prayer in your heart, you know, said aloud?

Just say, Dear God, I want to be closer to

you this Christmas. I want to get to know you

better and God Like Joseph, I want to learn to

cooperate with your plan even when it doesn't make sense,

even when I don't understand it, even if it seems illogical.

I'm going to trust that you are a good God

and you have a plan for my life that is

good and God. I also want to start celebrating all

the good you've done for me, the gift of freedom,

the gift of forgiveness, the gift of salvation, the gift

that I will never go through life by myself but

you are with me, the gift of your presence. Then

you might want to say God, I want to be

a woman of the word like Mary. I want to

be a man of the word like Joseph. I want

to look to your words for guidance, for direction, for hope,

for instruction that I might be the person you want

me to be and succeed in the areas you want

me to succeed. And then say God, I want to

dedicate myself to seeking you, and like the wise men,

I want to find you, and I want to know you,

and I want to give you the gifts of my

time and my life and the talents that you've given

to me. Lord, Thank you for Christmas, Thank you for

the joy that we share. Thank you that it is

a merry Christmas. Even with so many things that are

bad in the world, that you shine as a light

in the darkest part of the year. We love you

and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Hi, everybody,

this is Pastor Rick. I would like to thank you.

Thank you for being a part of our Daily Hope family.

I don't get to say that often enough, but your

generosity is helping us share the hope of Jesus with

people here at home and literally all around the world,

even in places where it's difficult and even dangerous to

get the good news. You know. I recently heard from

a woman named Eunice in Cameroon. Cameroon is a country

in Central Africa, and she wrote to me. She said,

Pastor Rick, I lost both my son and my daughter

in the war, and now I'm raising four grandchildren on

my own. I was overwhelmed with grief. But then she says,

but through the Daily Hope devotionals, I have found strength

and comfort and peace in God's word. So thank you

for helping me hold on to hope. Wow. That's powerful.

That's powerful, and that happened because your giving is helping

Eunus find the strength to carry on to raise her

grandchildren and to keep trusting God even through the deep

loss of her kids. Now, right now, I want to

tell you about this because we have a special opportunity.

There's some generous friends who have offered a matching grant

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I ask you a favor? I want to encourage you

and give your best gift you can and today, together

let's keep bringing the hope of Jesus Christ to people

like unus and to the billions of other people who

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am so grateful that we are in this mission together.

God bless you.

When you give a gift today, your gift will be

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say thanks.

D