Unexpected News

Well, I loved Jason Donovan and his mullet at the time.

I'm not going to get any of you to admit this, but I just have a confession to make.

I was completely obsessed with Neighbours when I was a teenager.

Luckily, I lived quite close to school, so I was very popular with all my mates,

because at lunchtime we would run home, have our sandwiches whilst watching Neighbours,

and then leg it backwards, you know, to get back in time for the afternoon.

So Neighbours, just like lots of other soap operas, have cliffhangers at the end of the show.

Usually, just as the programme is finishing, some big news gets dropped on someone.

It would often be a woman telling a man, I'm pregnant, and it either was or wasn't his baby.

And then the camera goes over to the person that's just been told this news,

and their face is all contorted, as it shows dramatically how this is affecting them.

So during lockdown, I have to admit also, I got quite addicted to this.

I used House of Cards. It's an American series on Netflix.

It's based on an 80s drama, apparently.

I used to pretend that this was a really, you know, insightful political drama,

but actually, it was just another soap opera, with lots of politics, intrigue, betrayal, that kind of thing.

So it sounds kind of funny, but most of us have had moments in our lives when we receive unexpected news.

We might be going in a particular direction, and something happens to redirect our path.

And thank goodness for most of us, they're not recorded on TV for posterity.

We're in the fourth and the final week of Advent, the time in the church calendar before Christmas,

where the tension between the resurrection of Jesus and his return is happening.

Over the four weeks, we've been preparing our hearts for the coming of the Messiah,

and now we find ourselves just six days away from Christmas Eve,

when we're going to have our Christingle services.

And by the way, I'm really excited about that, and I hope you're going to invite all your friends to come to that too.

So on this fourth Sunday of our Advent journey,

we're going to have a little look behind the scenes of Jesus' impending arrival,

as we prepare our hearts for Christmas.

In the first 17 verses of Matthew, we see Jesus' ancestry, his genealogy.

And unlike the account in Luke that shows his lineage through Mary,

this account traces his descendants of Abraham and David,

to show that Jesus is going to be the new Davidic kin.

So imagine to first century hearers, when they hear about this lineage,

and then turning the page on this account of Mary becoming pregnant.

I don't think it would be what they would expect.

This account isn't a warm and fuzzy, lovely baby in a manger telling of the story.

It reads a bit like a soap opera,

with unexpected news, a decision to make, an angelic visit,

and a fulfilment of an ancient prophecy,

that sounds a bit more like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.

Yet as we heard a moment ago,

it's the account of Joseph contending with the fact

that Mary, the woman he's engaged to, is pregnant.

And just like in the soap opera, it's not his baby.

This morning, we see that there are often interruptions to our lives,

but that God's been orchestrating things all along,

rooted in his love.

And that if we look for a Messiah,

we learn to trust him,

that he will work things out for good in the end.

So look at verse 18.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about.

His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph,

but before they came together,

she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit, it says.

To grasp what's really going on here,

we have to look at the culture of the time.

When it says that Mary and Joseph were pledged to be married,

what does that mean?

It's quite a bit different to engagement in our time.

Mary was probably between 12 and 16 years of age, a teenager,

and Joseph would have been 18 to 20,

and the marriage was planned probably by the parents.

The idea of marriage and engagement was two parts,

the engagement itself and then the marriage.

The engagement was the official committal.

But unlike in these days,

if we call an engagement off,

you know, that's how it is,

actually it would be treated really seriously then as a divorce.

And in fact,

if either of the people passed away while they were engaged,

they would be treated as widows or widowers,

almost as if they were in marriage.

Engagement lasted about a year,

and they weren't really allowed to kind of spend a lot of time together on their own.

So imagine being forced to get married to someone that you hardly knew.

So Joseph himself was in a really strange situation.

The woman, or actually the girl really,

that he was betrothed to be married to,

became pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Now we don't have a record of that conversation,

but I wouldn't have minded being a fly on the wall.

When Joseph says to Mary,

Hey Mary,

you seem like you're putting on a bit of weight.

I thought you were on the Slim Fast Diet.

What's going on?

And Mary says,

Oh, really?

This?

Well, it's a funny story I've got to tell you.

It's the Holy Spirit's baby.

If we're honest,

how would we feel if we were Joseph?

It would be natural to assume that since they hadn't been together,

that Mary had been unfaithful.

And this presented a real problem for Joseph.

Because Joseph was faithful to the law,

and the law was clear,

he could have insisted that they get divorced,

or actually she could have been stoned to death for infidelity.

It didn't happen an awful lot,

but it was possible.

So what do you do when you're trying to do the right thing?

When you're trying to walk the right path,

and a curveball gets thrown in your face?

In verse 19 it says,

Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law,

and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace,

he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

So Joseph was doing his best to follow the law.

He was the righteous man.

And really he only had two options here.

The first thing was to go public with it.

Tell everybody, put it on Instagram, on Facebook,

show her shame in the headlights,

and explain the consequences that were going to happen to her.

Or the second thing was to divorce her quietly and privately.

Now we all know we've got the benefit of hindsight.

We know what he did,

and that he's a good guy.

But imagine how he felt.

His plans and his dreams had come crashing down.

His plans to start a family, become a dad,

they were laid out and they got interrupted.

Maybe you felt that way.

You were maybe waiting on something special,

something you were looking forward to.

Maybe you were looking forward to a dream

that you dreamed to come true.

I think we've all experienced these moments of waiting for something good

and experiencing massive loss and disappointment along the way.

Remember, Joseph was human,

so he had no doubt a swirl of human emotions

and a desire to honour God and to follow the law.

But also I think that it's a clear picture here

of the character of God being modelled through Joseph.

Instead of publicly shaming her,

even though I'm sure he felt shame,

he honoured her and protected her,

and he extended his mercy towards her.

And it's the same with us.

God's faithfulness and his mercy are always on display.

Life might be messy and you might not see it.

Your marriage or your relationship might be strained,

your business might be struggling,

work might not be going well,

or you might be in between jobs.

But in the midst of the fog of all of those things,

God's faithfulness and his mercy are always on display.

And I think that's really good news.

Think of a time when you deserved the exact opposite of mercy,

but God gave you grace and protected you along the way.

Verse 20 goes on.

The angel explains what's going to happen.

He says, do not be afraid.

I imagine the angels probably said that quite a bit

because I can't imagine how I'd feel

if I came across a massive angelic being.

But I think what the angel was saying to Joseph was,

don't be afraid to take Mary home as your wife.

Don't be afraid to trust her and follow the plan

and be obedient to God,

even though it doesn't make sense.

Change your plans.

We sometimes get asked to do that too,

and that's tough for us.

We like to control things and order things in a certain way.

But in those seasons of waiting for God to show up,

sometimes he provides a divine interruption.

And it inevitably changes the way that we see things,

the game, and requires us to trust him.

That famous proverb, Proverbs 16,

a person plans his course, but the Lord directs his steps.

How many times have you made a really good and sensible plan

and God redirects you for some reason?

So Joseph and Mary named him Jesus.

Jesus literally means God saves.

And it's a name that reflects the hope of the time.

God saves.

But this time it was God ordained.

How powerful it must have been

for God to give this guy,

give Jesus the name.

That he was going to be the child

to save the people from their sins.

Now at this point,

Matthew kind of pauses

and looks at the camera

and speaks to the Jewish audience

to explain this story to them.

And he refers back

in verse 22

to Isaiah.

And he says,

All this took place

to fulfill what the Lord had said

through the prophet.

The virgin will conceive

and give birth to a son

and they will call him Immanuel,

which means

God with us.

So Isaiah there

was foreshadowing

the fact that a virgin

would conceive a child

and they would call him Immanuel.

So they would understand

what he was talking about.

So the literal meaning

of Immanuel

is God with us.

And John 1 shows us

that Jesus literally

was the fulfillment

of God with us,

Immanuel.

So it's like Matthew

pulling aside his audience

and saying,

Listen,

this is credible.

This story

is the literal fulfillment

of the prophecy of Isaiah.

I'm writing about it now.

It happened.

So as we prepare

our hearts for Christmas,

we see something powerful.

This soon-to-be-born baby

has two names given to him.

Jesus, God saves.

This is about what God does.

And the second,

God is with us.

This is about who God is.

He is present with us.

He saves us

and he is present with us.

For hurting and oppressed people,

that must have been brilliant news.

And for us too,

we all need a reminder

that when we are waiting

or moving forward

with our plans

and God interrupts,

we need to remember

that it's God's very nature

to save.

He gave us his son,

the name Jesus,

which means God saves.

So God is the one

that's responsible

to guide you,

to guard you,

to protect you

as you move forward

on your journey.

And the second thing

I want you to really hear

loud and clear

is that God's nature

is to be with you.

His presence is with you.

Jesus is Emmanuel.

God is with us

through good and bad times.

Both of those things,

God saves and God is with us,

is really, really good news.

And that is at the heart

of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christ.

So finally,

Joseph has been deliberating

about what to do

and the angel came to him

in a dream.

The Bible has many stories

of God using dreams

to speak to people.

Sometimes God speaks to us

in the most unexpected ways.

Sometimes as we are waiting,

we miss what God is doing

right in front of us

because we're expecting

something different.

But it doesn't mean

that God didn't show up.

Sometimes it's a dream.

Sometimes it's through

the scriptures.

And sometimes it's through

the wise words

of a godly friend.

If we go on to verse 24,

it says,

Joseph woke up.

When Joseph woke up,

he did what the angel

of the Lord had commanded him

and took Mary home

as his wife.

But he did not consummate

their marriage

until she gave birth

to a son.

And he gave him

the name Jesus.

So Joseph had a plan.

It was interrupted

an angel met him

and redirected him.

And then we see

that Joseph did exactly

what the angel of the Lord

had commanded him to do.

Out of love,

he took home Mary

as his wife.

So I want us to leave us

with these three observations

from the text.

The first thing,

God saves us

and God is with us.

Even if life is going

really well right now,

think on those words.

That's why we follow Jesus.

That is the good news

and the heart of the gospel.

God saves

and God is with us.

The second thing

is God's deep redirection

is always for the best.

It might not feel like it

right now

and it might feel scary.

I don't know why Jesus

hasn't returned yet.

I wish I could tell you.

But I can tell you

that his plan is perfect.

And the third thing,

Joseph shows us

how to be faithful

to the scriptures

but filled with grace

and mercy.

Yes, Joseph was a man

of the book

but he also had

a heart of Jesus,

the heart of God

and he treated her

with dignity

and respect

and mercy

and that's the way

that God treats all of us

and that's what we are called

to do as we treat others.

So as we get ready

to turn the page

into Christmas,

we get to see

some behind the scenes

of Joseph

trying to do

the right thing

and then hearing God

along the way.

We also get to see

that the birth of Jesus

was messy

and I want to encourage

all of us

to look expectantly

towards this Jesus

that we proclaim,

to wait for him,

to allow him

to redirect us

as we go

on our journey

and to trust

that he has

and he will

do great things

for us,

in us

and through us.

Maybe for you,

you need to embrace

that God saves

and God is with you.

Maybe you need

to accept

that God's redirection

and stop resisting

or maybe you need

to show grace

and mercy

to someone

you've been

only expressing

truth to.

So let's pray.

Lord,

I pray today

for those of us

who just need

to hear from you.

Would you speak

to them clearly?

Lord,

would you help us

to embrace

that you save

and that you're with us,

to experience you

fully in this season?

Lord,

for those of us

who are struggling

to be redirected,

would you help us

to just stop resisting

and trying to control

everything?

And Lord,

for those of us

who are really keen

on sharing truth

but not mercy

and grace,

would you redirect us

to let the fruit

of the Spirit

flow in

and through us?

Lord,

we pray for your mercy,

your grace

and your truth.

We're excited

to worship you,

great, great King.

And we ask this

in the strong,

powerful name

of Jesus.

And together

as a church

we say,

Amen.

Thank you.

Amen.