Faith in the Manger
On this Christmas Eve Worship Service( of the year 2006), we are going to focus on the manner in which faith was demonstrated in the incarnation event of Jesus Christ.
Let us first of all remember that no matter what we do for God, an attitude of faith is absolutely essential. Remember the words of the Apostle in Hebrews, “For without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). We see a number of things in this verse that are fundamental and conditional to the accomplishment of God’s will in our lives.
If we want to please God, we must exercise faith, but reason, but faith
Secondly, if we want to realize His purposes and know Him personally, we must believe in Him. There needs to be a believe system that is Biblical and correct. “must believe that he exists”
Thirdly, the exercise of faith and earnest trust will be rewarded. “He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” There are four elements in this verse that we want to enquire of as we look at the Christmas story. Leave one of them out, and the whole structure collapses. Today, we live in a world in which the fabric and structure of faith is nothing more than easy-believism, self-effort, self-improvement, or positive thinking. We hear words like “believe” “faith” or “believe in yourself”
There is no question that in the Advent story there was a proper exercise of faith.
First of all, let us ask ourselves why it was important that Joseph and Mary be people of faith. Remember with God all things are possible. Is it possible that the incarnation, the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us, could have been accomplished without faith? After all, it was the Holy Spirit who was instrumental in causing the Christ to be born in the womb of Mary, so that Joseph was not involved at all in the physical and spiritual aspects of the actual birth of Jesus. Remember what the angel said to Mary: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy one to be born will be called the Son of God”(Luke 1:35). It was all of God, and it was essential it be all of God so that the identity and person of Jesus would be truly the Son of God – God manifest in the flesh! Everything that took place in the entire happening of the Advent was at the initiative of God. The wise men coming from the East – Joseph and Mary apparently had nothing to do with their arrival – they were as surprised at their arrival as Herod was surprised. The angel appearances, and the dreams that were given were all at the initiative of God. All of this and yet it was essential that the element of faith was crucial to what God was doing. Without faith it is impossible to please God. And by faith, the Bible does not simply mean believing that God exists, and that too is important, but the exercise of faith, faith that trusts and relies upon Him.
Can, you imagine Joseph and Mary doing the whole thing without the help and power of God operating through their lives. How would Mary have handled the pregnancy in the role of a virgin without faith? Had she not believed the word of the angel, and simply tried to reason it out, how would she have coped with it all? Without faith, what would she have told her parents? Without faith, what would she have told Joseph? “Joseph, I had t his weird dream, and somehow looking back upon it it was more like a mightmare, for some strange person, reminded me of an angel told me I was going to conceive without any relations with you. Terrible! What an awful thought! Wow, I would be the laughing stock of Nazareth. I would be stoned for immorality and adultery! Terrible.
What would Joseph had thought had he tried to figure it all out on the basis of the natural? This girl, while I love her, has gone nuts. A baby and me not the biological father! I don’t care what sort of dreams I have or who speaks to me, it just isn’t done. If God wants to send the Messiah, why dosen’t he choose someone else; who am I that this should happen to.
And then when Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, you remember how Elizabeth and Mary rejoiced in what God was doing in both of their lives. There were no doubts, there were no questions, but affirmations of faith.
Again, think of it this way. Salvation needed the Son of God in human flesh. He had to become a man and dwell in our midst. He had to be perfectly human, live in a home, be a part of a family, grow up and serve the Father and do His will in the flesh. God needed parents who had faith to raise His Son. God needed a family where faith and worship of Him was central to all that was taking place. God needed human parents who would protect His Son, bless Him, care for Him, and do all the things that parents do for their sons. And he wanted a household where faith, the Word and worship were central. Without faith they could not care for the Son of God. He wanted a family who would accept the role of parents, knowing all the time that they were in a sense nothing more than guardians, because Jesus, while completely human, was born of a miraculous birth. Without faith, nobody could successfully accepted such a role.
So let us look at the way faith operated in the lives of Joseph and Mary.
1. True Faith is based upon an acceptance of the Word of the Lord.
“The word is near you; it is in your moth and in your heart” that is, the Word of faith we are proclaiming…” (Romans 10:8)
The angel spoke to Mary,
”How will this b e since I am a virgin?”Luke 1:34
The angel explains, and adds “For nothing is impossible with God…”vs.37.
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said,” vs. 38.
According to your Word, the Word of the Lord, Mary believed.
Her believe system, the basis of her trust, that which she was going to act upon was the Word of the Lord. I am sure there were a lot of things she could not understand. ON the human level, the whole thing was a mystery. As we have said, it had never taken place before. At that point, she still was not pregnant, and it was all in the future.
But Mary believed. Here is what Elizabeth said to her: “Blessed is she who has believed what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished”(1:45). Mary and Elizabeth were both women of faith. Both had sons who were born to mothers of great faith. And what was this great faith? Simply trust in the Word of the Lord!
Faith was all over her. Her spirit was soaked in faith. Listen to her song, “…the mighty One has done great things for me – holy is His name…”vs. 49.
“He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty…”
And on and on.
What about Joseph? I somehow feel if anybody had reason to doubt and if anyone needed a heart of faith, it was Joseph.
Place yourself in Joseph’s position. Before the angel spoke to him, and before he understood the wonder of the virgin birth, he found out that Mary, the girl he was engaged to be married too was pregnant, expecting a child. Now think for a moment, this is something that has not happened before. On the basis of the natural, this is something that would be hard to accept. And if Joseph is a righteous man, as we know he was, it will be even more difficult for him to handle. Can you imagine the thoughts that are going through his mind, for after all, his faith in God did not take away his humanity; it did not alter the ability to understand that there are natural laws of conception and birth by which we all enter this world. Little wonder he is thinking of ending the relationship with Mary. And it was his faith in God, his common decency and respect for His Word that wants to move him to end the relationship.
But God is working: God is doing a new thing! Christ the Messiah is about to be born, and God needs a man who is willing to trust Him even when every natural, reasonable, faculty of mind and spirit says it cannot be. He needs a man who is willing to change his belief system, align his thoughts and actions with the Word of God, and trust Him fully. Joseph was such a man. For even though what was taking place was not in his body, he was prepared to believe that what was happening in the womb of Mary was of God – what a man! What faith! What a dad he was going to be for the boy Jesus!
2. True Faith is willing to yield to the will of God.
It is one thing to believe the Word, and accept the Biblical answer to God’s will. It is another thing to yield, surrender and accept what God wants to accomplish. In other words, Joseph and Mary were ready to follow and pay the price of obedience. They yielded their wills to the will of God. We could say a lot of things about this, but each of us are familiar to the important step of having a yielded will. This takes us a step beyond knowing what God can do to making it personal in our lives. Saying I yield my will to the operation of the Holy Spirit – let it be done, according to your will.
3. True faith will always have it’s reward.
Joseph and Mary had to wait for nine months before they could hold the child in their arms. Before faith gave rise to sight; before they could actually enjoy the reward of faith. And yet it is obvious that even the reward of faith came to them before the child was actually born. Mary rejoiced in the reward when she visited Elizabeth. Every line of her beautiful song is full of praise and thanksgiving.
As you look beyond the Advent to the New Year, you can already begin to rejoice in the fruits of faith and obedience. Sow the seed now. Accept the promise and grow in the Faith of the Manger.
