Classic Christmas
December 24, 2006
Home Alone
Christmas Breakfast at Big Boy
Home Alone is a movie about a boy named Kevin who wishes that his family would just disappear. And this time his wish comes true as he is accidentally left home as his family travels to France for Christmas. At first he is elated at the fact that his family isn’t around to as he views it, make his life miserable. However the euphoria doesn’t last long as he soon finds himself not only battling two of the dumbest crooks ever, but finding himself very lonely, missing the family he thought he wanted to disappear.
Have you ever felt lonely? I think we all have at some point. It’s unfortunate that in today’s world loneliness is very commonplace. It’s an everyday experience for many people. Those feelings tend to be compounded during times of celebration, such as Christmas, when friends and family gather to celebrate.
This is why we sponsor the Christmas Breakfast at the Okemos Big Boy… no one should have to be lonely at Christmas… no one!
The feelings of loneliness during the holidays are nothing new. In fact there was one person during the very first Christmas, in light of the situations that he had to face probably felt very lonely. His name: Joseph.
Let’s look at the three events in Joseph’s life that probably left him feeling very much alone – at least for a while.
The first event takes place in Joseph’s hometown of Nazareth. This event concerns Joseph’s engagement to Mary.
Joseph endured loneliness… Let’s read from Matthew and be reminded of his circumstances…
Matthew 1:18-1:21
18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was engaged to marry Joseph, but before they married, she learned she was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Mary’s husband, Joseph, was a good man, he did not want to disgrace her in public, so he planned to divorce her secretly.
Matthew 1:18-1:21
20 While Joseph thought about these things, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the baby in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
There is a Loneliness that Comes From Betrayal
Can you imagine how Joseph must have felt when he first learned that Mary was with child. She was going to have a baby and it wasn’t his – of this he was absolutely certain.
To really get a feel of Joseph’s situation it’s critical to understand that the culture of dating and marriage today is nothing like it was in Nazareth.
People didn’t go to High School or college together, meet, fall in love and decide to get married. There was no dating and the idea or romantic love was not even on the radar. Marriage was not the decision of the woman. She was simply part of a business and family decision made by her father.
The first step in this arrangement of marriages was called betrothal. The suitor would approach the father – often through a third party who specialized arrangement of marriages and a pact would be made. The dowry of the woman was set and the arrangements of the groom and the marriage arrangements were established.
With Joseph and Mary the arrangements had been made but the actual wedding had not taken place. They were betrothed – sort of like being engaged. The Betrothal would typically last between six months and a year. During this time the groom would build a home and the bride could get ready to become a wife. Unlike our engagement today, betrothal was as binding as marriage itself without the actual living arrangements.
While little is said about Joseph, one can imagine that his heart must have broken when he discovered the one he arranged to marry had betrayed him. When Mary was discovered to be pregnant it was clear proof of her infidelity and a broken trust especially to Joseph who knew that he was not the father.
Joseph would have worried about the gossip. Nazareth was a small town, where information probably got circulated fast and nothing could be hidden for very long. I grew up in a town like that in Northern Michigan. In Kalkaska there weren’t 2000 residents. There were 2000 babysitters – all keeping watch on the children and telling the parents what the kids were doing!
Some things never change regardless of the time or place!
Joseph had to come up with a course of action for this unpleasant situation. A righteous man had two choices and completing the marriage was not one of them.
Joseph’s Decision
Option –1: Accuse Mary of adultery and let her face the consequences.
It was during this time of aloneness and abandonment that Joseph had to choose to between two uncomfortable options.
The first was to accuse Mary publicly of adultery. In this case a divorce would be granted. But the cost could be substantial – very substantial. In many countries at the time adultery was considered a heinous crime, with punishments to fit. In Egypt they cut off the guilty woman’s nose. In Persia it was both the ears and nose. But the penalty was even harsher in Israel. The guilty woman would be stoned to death.
The accusation would be made before the elders of the village at the gate. Any witnesses would speak and then the elders would determine the sentence – to be immediately carried out. The offending woman would be dragged into the street and the first stone would be thrown by the offended party. Joseph would have the privilege of casting the first stone. The rest of the village would follow throwing rock after rock until the life of this young woman was crushed.
Option – 2: Put Mary away quietly.
In this a divorce would also be granted. But no reason would be given for the divorce. There would be no public accusation – only a sentence to life long disrespect and a humiliating existence.
It is at this point when it looks as if Joseph is all alone that God steps in to bring much needed resolution to the situation.
To divorce a wife all a man had to do was to say the words: “I divorce you” and it… was… done.
So this was the quandary that faced Joseph. The Law that he was striving to live by as a good and righteous man demanded swift action. But Joseph, because of his love for Mary wished to be merciful. He was going to put her away quietly when God steps in and offers the third option – the impossible to imagine option of marrying Mary and raising the child as his own – sealing Joseph’s own social stature at the bottom rung of the Jewish religious culture.
An angel appears to him in a dream and tells him not to fear taking Mary as his wife. He awakes and realizes that he has not been alone in all this. God tells Joseph to break the rules of what righteous living was about for a Jewish man and marry the woman who was pregnant.
God has been there with him all the time, and has provided much needed guidance. God didn’t abandon Joseph in this lonely and stressful time in his life, and he won’t abandon us either, He promises us that.
One of my favorite verses in scripture is 1 Corinthians 10:13 which promises that God is faithful and trustworthy. He will not ever leave us helpless and without hope. Never not once.
Have you ever been abandoned? Have you felt the sting of divorce? The slap of rejection? The yawning pit of despair that comes from realizing that you are not loved by someone you have given your heart to?
God will never turn away from you. You are never alone… He sent his son to prove that to you.
There is a Loneliness that Comes From Responsibility
The second event that we are going to look at deals with Joseph becoming a father, in this event Joseph probably felt alone and lonely because of the great sense of responsibility that a man feels when he discovers that he is going to be a father.
We make much of how a man doesn’t understand what it is to be a mother… and it’s true. No man can understand motherhood. The feel of life inside of your womb. The pain of childbirth and the ecstasy of having that minutes old baby laid in your arms to be held for the very first time. The joy of nurturing a child. No man will ever understand it.
But no woman will ever understand that huge sense of responsibility when a man suddenly realizes that he must now take care of this child and this family. There is a weight here that cannot be adequately described. Some of the weight is financial. Some is social. Some is protective. Some is simply being responsible.
As he and Mary traveled towards Bethlehem one can only imagine the intense pressure Joseph must have been under
There were the financial pressures of making such a trip – travel has never been cheap. There were pressures in the act of travel itself; there were no interstate highways or motel 6’s. Thieves often attacked people who were alone so traveling by caravan was a necessity. It was slower because of coordination and logistics – food, cookin, sanitation, and fresh water for the animals and people all created challenges. All the ground that could be covered in a day was anywhere from 1 to 3 miles.
Then Joseph had to provide for Mary and the new baby once they arrived. Becoming a father is daunting for a man – that sense of responsibility that overwhelms you… this baby is depending upon me!
Being thrust into a position of great responsibility can be a lonely experience
To top off the stress that he was surly under, came the added responsibility of being a surrogate father to the Son of God Could you imagine being a parent to God in the flesh? It’s almost impossible to believe or comprehend.
But for Joseph it was reality. Joseph was given the task of not only providing for Jesus’ well being but for raising Him and being His teacher. What do you say to your son about life when he is the son of God?
I am quite certain that there was an incredible sense of being alone when Joseph looked at Mary holding baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger filled with straw.
But Joseph was not alone. He was never alone. Never. Even with all this stress and no doubt feelings of loneliness the events that had transpired reinforced the fact that God was watching over him and that this little boy that he had become the father of was a very special child.
God sent Shepherds, Wise Men, and Angels to Help
When he was born shepherds had come from their fields to worship him
Kings from the east did the same, with the star in the heavens to guide their way
The heavenly host had filled the night sky
Joseph even in the face of great responsibility came to understand that God was with him.
Joseph was never alone. God was with him to shoulder the responsibility.
Do you carry the burden of being a parent or of watching over others? Does it ever get so hard that you wonder if you can carry the weight? God is with us as well.
For one thing your children are really God’s children – they are just on loan to you for a little while. Your responsibility – while important – is not to carry the burden of shaping a child but to bring them to God. God is the one who loves unconditionally and shapes the soul of every child. It is a privilege and a joy to help children learn about their spiritual father.
Trust God and watch him bring the shepherds, wise men and angels to help you.
There is a Loneliness that Comes From Fear
The third and final event that we are going to look at deals with the family’s escape to Egypt. In this event Joseph probably felt alone and lonely because of his fear for his life and the lives of those in his little family.
Joseph was under attack by a malicious and determined foe named Herod the Great, the King of the Jews. Herod would have no room in his world for a baby born in Bethlehem who would be called the “King of kings.”
He was after Jesus, not to worship him as he had told the Magi but to kill him
There were many who feared this man. We think “Not me! I wouldn’t be afaid!” Are you sure?
During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience. "You were one of Stalin’s colleagues. Why didn’t you stop him?" ?" "Who said that?" roared Khrushchev. An agonizing silence followed as nobody in the room dared move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, “Now you know why”
Herod was a man who was willing to go to any lengths to maintain his power. He was a deranged tyrant, sick in both mind and body, and he wasn’t about to be usurped by a baby. He went after Jesus with all force, and left nothing but destruction in his wake.
Fear of this type, or any type for that matter can be paralyzing. Fear is a strong force. Fear can turn us from the path that we are on of freeze us in our tracks.
I have no doubt that Joseph was in a state of fear from Herod’s threats and actions. Joseph’s fear was not only for his own life but for that of his wife and son
But even under a daunting attack such as this Joseph wasn’t alone. When Joseph was in need, God, as He had done in the past stepped in to provide the needed guidance
He wasn’t about to let his instrument for bringing reconciliation between Himself and his creation meet His demise
Joseph Learned to Depend on God
So again God speaks to Joseph in a dream and tells him what he is to do. God tells them to make their way to Egypt, so under the cover of darkness Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus make their way towards Egypt.
The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh would have been more than enough to have supported the little family in Egypt until Herod died and the threat was ended.
So Joseph, like father Abraham before him, went out not knowing what lie ahead, totally dependent on God. God had not only told Joseph where He wanted them to God but he also provided for their escape.
Joseph may have felt fear, loneliness, and very alone at times, but as He always is God was there with him
This time in Joseph’s life was a time of great joy matched by times of sorrow
So it is with us on our Christian walk, we have good times and not so good times
But through it all God is there for us (Joshua 1:5)
He will never leave or abandon us…
5 No one will be able to defeat you all your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forget you.
Joshua 1:5
NEVER!!!
