The Christmas Story

What are your expectations and hopes going into Christmas this year?

Christmas celebrations often look different for everyone.

Some of you will be gathering with family and having big meals together.

Some of you will be having a gift-giving time.

Depending on the size of your family or gathering,

that could be something that either energizes you or excites you,

or maybe you're bracing yourself.

Maybe that's somewhat draining to you.

Good, but draining.

For many, Christmas can be difficult.

It can be a painful reminder of broken or strained family relationships.

It can be the time when conflict happens,

where arguments break out,

harbored bitterness, unforgiveness,

grudges can take their toll.

Sometimes the children are all smiles,

but there's tension amongst the adults.

And then there are those who have lost precious loved ones recently.

There are those who are far from home.

These realities remind us that despite all the anticipation and the buildup,

Christmas may not be what we expect or hope.

And all of these celebration dynamics, they change from year to year.

But there's one wonderful thing that stays the same,

Christmas after Christmas,

and year after year,

a reason to rejoice,

a place for our hearts to rest,

and to have peace,

no matter what's going on in your life.

And it's the good news

that Christ, the Lord,

our Savior,

has been born.

So I want to just briefly tell you the story again.

It's difficult to pick the moment that all of it started.

As we've been talking about in our adult Sunday school,

God has been writing a grand good news story,

and it's barely possible to appreciate this moment of the story

without considering all that's led up to it.

Without thinking about why Jesus' coming was so desperately needed.

And so do we start with the many human problems

of which Jesus is the remedy?

Or do we start with the many promises made long ago by the prophets?

Or do we go back even further than that

to before the creation of the world

and God's own eternal, unfathomable purposes?

Or do we just start with the first event,

recorded in the New Testament?

All of these are true and right places to start.

And this is why Matthew begins his gospel

with a genealogy going all the way back to Abraham.

This is why John begins his gospel

with an explanation of how Jesus,

the Word,

was in the beginning,

even before this world was created.

And this is why Luke begins his account

with the first visible sign

after 400 years of silence from God.

All of these are true and right places to start.

So this Christmas,

let's start where Luke started

in his account.

It all started in the time of Herod,

king of Judea,

with a priest named Zechariah.

There had been centuries prior to this

with no word from God,

no prophets.

There were some significant moments

and even signs

that God was still at work

to protect and to preserve his people

behind the scenes,

but no words,

no visions,

no revelations

like in centuries past.

And then one day,

God broke the silence.

It all started with a man named Zechariah

who was a priest,

one of the men who served the Lord

at the temple in Jerusalem.

And even though his wife was well past

the age of childbearing,

meaning that it was biologically impossible

for her at this age to conceive,

God sent his angel

to appear to Zechariah one day

during his service in the temple

and God's angel told him

that he would soon father a son.

And this son to be born

would have a very special role

in God's plan.

This son of Zechariah's

would be used by God

to bring many people

back to the Lord their God

and to make them ready

for his appearing.

Zechariah,

even though he was a righteous,

God-fearing man,

he doubted this message

from the angel

and he was made mute

because of it.

Six months later,

the same angel,

Gabriel,

was sent to a young woman

in the town of Nazareth.

And this young woman,

of course,

was named Mary.

Mary was a relative

of Zechariah's wife,

Elizabeth.

And Mary was engaged

to a man named Joseph,

a carpenter.

Gabriel appeared to Mary

and told her

the most jaw-dropping thing

a person could ever hear.

I'm going to read it for you

right out of the Gospel of Luke.

The angel went to her

and said,

Greetings,

you who are highly favored.

The Lord is with you.

Mary was greatly troubled

at his words

and wondered

what kind of greeting

this might be.

But the angel said to her,

Do not be afraid, Mary.

You have found favor

with God.

You will conceive

and give birth to a son

and you are to call him

Jesus.

He will be great

and will be called

the Son of the Most High.

The Lord God

will give him the throne

of his father David

and he will reign

over Jacob's descendants

forever.

His kingdom

will never end.

The angel then explains

to Mary

how it will happen.

Though she has never been

with Joseph

or with

any other man

intimately,

God's Holy Spirit

would do a miracle

inside of her

causing her to conceive

without a human father

such that the child

to be born

would rightly be called

the Son of God.

what an astounding

word

to receive

from God.

Well, three months later,

Zachariah's son

was born,

little baby John,

and another miracle

takes place.

Zachariah,

who had been unable

to speak

for nine months,

regains his ability

to speak

and God's Spirit

fills him

and he begins

to speak

like the prophets

of long ago,

a message

from God.

And the message

is that God's salvation

is very near.

A king is soon

to be born

in fulfillment

of all God promised

long ago

through his holy prophets.

A great salvation

is about to appear.

A forgiveness of sins

is about to be known

and these

will be gifts

of God's tender

mercy.

And little John,

the son of Zachariah

and Elizabeth,

shall be a prophet

of God

and he will be

the one

to prepare the way

for the Lord

by giving people

a knowledge

of all these things

that God

is about to do.

And as you can imagine,

this caused

quite a stir

in the hill country

of Judea

and everybody

was talking

about old

Zachariah

and Elizabeth

and their brand new

baby boy.

Meanwhile,

we don't know

the exact timing

of things here

but there was conflict.

There was tension

between Mary

and Joseph.

At some point here,

Joseph finds out

that Mary

is pregnant

and it causes

great struggle

in his heart.

he had chosen

Mary

and no doubt

deeply

loved her

but how could

this be

that she's

pregnant?

Joseph knew

that he was not

the father

of her child

and so there must

have been a moment

in the past little while

where she had been

with another man.

How could she?

How long

had she known

about this

before she told him?

We don't know.

Did Joseph find out

about this before

or after Mary

went to visit

Elizabeth

in Judea?

We don't know.

All we know

is that Joseph's

heart was torn.

He was thinking

very seriously

about calling off

his engagement

altogether

father.

And yet he loved

her enough

that he didn't

want to expose

her to

public disgrace

and so he was

considering a way

of breaking things

off with her

quietly.

But then that

night

God caused

his angel

to appear to

Joseph

in a dream

and God

said this

to him.

We read in

Matthew

Joseph

son of David

do not be afraid

to take Mary

home as your

wife

because what is

conceived in her

is from the

Holy Spirit.

She will give

birth to a son

and you are to

give him the name

Jesus

because he will

save his people

from their

sins.

And so

Joseph

married Mary

and took her

home as his

wife.

Can you imagine

what it was like

for them to

count down the

days together

until the

arrival of this

very special

child?

And as the

days went by

we imagine

that Joseph

and Mary

began to

make preparations

in their

home like

all first-time

parents do

and the

day was

getting

closer and

closer.

But then

something very

unexpected

happened.

The emperor

himself

decided that

it was time

to count

all the

people in

the empire

census time.

And this

was not the

mail-out

kind.

This was the

kind that

required Joseph

and Mary

to make

the long

trip all

the way

from where

they lived

in the

north

back to

their

hometown.

A little

town called

Bethlehem

just outside

of the

big city

of Jerusalem.

I've been

through this

four times

now and

I can tell

you when

it's getting

late into

the third

trimester

you want to

stay close

to home.

You don't

want to be

traveling

especially not

any great

lengths.

You don't

want to be

delivering your

wife's baby

on the

side of

the road.

And these

were not

the days

of automobiles.

These are

the days

of walking

and riding

animals

and carts.

But the

census required

it and so

they made

the journey

down to

Bethlehem.

Now I'm

not saying

that this is

worse than

what the

women go

through.

they have

it worse

by far.

But when

it comes

to what

we men

are responsible

for in

this whole

thing,

few things

are as

stressful

as figuring

out how

to help

your wife

have all

that she

needs

when the

time comes

for that

baby to

be born.

I mean

if we

just knew

the exact

time that

it would

all begin

and how

long each

stage of

the labor

would go,

we could

just plan,

we could

make

arrangements.

No doubt

Joseph

tried that

night in

Bethlehem.

But by

the plan

of God

his son,

the baby,

ended up

having nothing

better than

a feeding

trough for

his little

bed on

the night

that he

was born.

All the

guest rooms

were taken

and where

was this

manger?

Was it

out back

the inn?

Was it

at the

local

stable?

Was it

out behind

the relative's

house?

It doesn't

say.

But that's

how it

went,

the night

that God's

son was

born into

this world.

The night

when our

Savior took

his first

breath with

human lungs.

It was a

humble,

quiet,

and private

birth in a

lowly place

there in

Bethlehem.

God did

choose a

very spectacular

way to

break the

news of

his son's

birth,

just not

to the

folks that

we would

have

expected.

Out in

the fields

around the

town that

night there

were shepherds

guarding their

sheep,

and God

made the

birth announcement

to them.

He lit

up the

sky for

them.

We read

about this

in Luke's

gospel.

An angel

of the

Lord appeared

to them,

and the

glory of

the Lord

shone around

them,

and they

were terrified.

But the

angel said

to them,

do not

be afraid.

I bring

you good

news that

will cause

great joy

for all

the people.

Today,

in the

town of

David,

a Savior

has been

born to

you.

He is

the Messiah,

the Lord.

this will

be a sign

to you.

You will

find a

baby wrapped

in cloths

and lying

in a

manger.

This one

angel was

then joined

by countless

more,

and the

shepherds

heard them

all praising

God together

and speaking

of peace

for those

on whom

God's favor

rests.

What an

awesome and

glorious sight

that must

have been.

Then the

sky goes

dark

again,

the angels

leave,

and the

shepherds

run into

the town

in search

of the

Messiah.

They relay

all that

they had

seen and

heard from

the angels

to Mary

and Joseph,

and the

story goes

on from

there.

This is

the Christmas

story.

This is

the good

news that

doesn't

change,

year to

year.

This is

where we

find joy.

This is

where we

find peace,

no matter

what's going

on in

our lives.

Jesus,

our

Emmanuel,

has come.

God

has come

to be

with us.

He has

sent His

Son,

the great

King

of God's

coming

kingdom,

kingdom,

the kingdom

of heaven,

and He

is the

one who

saves us

from our

sins.

As we

heard in

the song,

He came

to live,

to walk,

to die,

to rise,

to reconcile

the lost,

to bring

the Spirit's

birth.

love.

While there

may be some

things about

Christmas this

year that

are not

exactly what

we expect

or hope,

this good

news of

how God

has sent

His Son

goes so

far beyond

what we

deserve as

sinners.

It makes

all the

difference.

God

Himself

loves

you.

And not

just a

little bit.

This thing

that He

has done

in sending

His Son

proves the

immeasurable

depths of

His love

for you

and for

me.

You are

cherished.

You are

treasured

even more

than you

know or

can imagine.

for God

so loved

the world

that He

gave

His one

and only

Son

that whoever

believes in

Him

shall not

perish

but have

eternal

life.

And so

rejoice this

Christmas.

God loves

you.

Rejoice.

Let's pray.

Father in

Heaven,

thank You

for this

incredible

gift which

we do

not deserve.

I pray

that our

hearts would

live here

in this

truth that

You love

us this

much to

send Him

to come

to save

us.

it's hard

for us to

even fathom

that You

want to

be with

us,

that You

love us

and desire

to have

us as

Your people,

as Your

sons and

daughters.

What can

we do but

sing praise

to You

and thank

You?

I pray

that this

truth would

just be

full in

our hearts

for the

rest of

today and

tomorrow as

we celebrate.

We ask

this in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.