Let Us Go to Bethlehem and Find the Faith of Christmas
Luke 2:15-20
It is hard to imagine not celebrating Christmas, yet during the infancy of America Christmas was banned and for a time, and even illegal.
How did we get to where we are now?
Christmas evolved out of the old Roman festival of Saturnalia. It was a midwinter feast and celebration of the sun. Held on the last day, 25 December, when the feast of Mithras was held. Mithras ("the sun of righteousness") was a Persian god whose cult was adopted by the Romans.
At first the early church was mainly concerned with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
Then with the conversion of Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, Rome became a Christian country, and since Rome was trying to reach a largely unconverted population, it renamed this pagan festival and substituted it with Christian one.
Today our Christmas traditions have evolved from the different ways Christmas is celebrated around the world. Immigrants have brought their customs with them, and as a result we have a great diversity of customs, traditions, and fantasy’s that obscures the sacred truth of Jesus birth.
1. Today we have a great need to rediscover the truth through faith.
2. Today we need to go to Bethlehem and find the faith of Christmas; we need to discover the real truth about this special blessed event between God and mankind.
a. Faith sees the invisible, believes the improbable, and understands the incomprehensible.
b. Faith unlocks the significance of Jesus birth.
c. Faith enables Jesus birth, to enable our rebirth.
d. Faith in the Christ child gives us hope, it uplifts because of the love of God which was embodied in a manger.
Let’s look at the faith of some very important key persons of Christmas
1. God is Faithful to his promise to be with us
A common theme in the Bible, from cover to cover, is that God is faithful when his people are unfaithful.
Time and time again, despite humanity’s repeated wanderings and rebellion, God demonstrates his heart to forgive and lead his people, even when they choose to leave him.
1 Corinthians 1:9
God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
God was faithful in bringing the plan of redemption through the Christ Child.
2. The faith of Mary’s
Unlike Zacharias, Mary had faith that God would do what He promised. She asked, "How shall this be?" and not "How can this be?"
Mary’s response reveals her humility and honesty before God
She experienced the grace of God (Luke 1:30) and believed the Word of God, and therefore she could be used by the Spirit to accomplish the will of God.
Mary’s believing response was to surrender herself to God as His willing servant.
Luke 1:38 KJV
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
A "handmaid" was the lowest kind of female servant, which shows how much Mary trusted God. She belonged totally to the Lord, body (Luke 1:38), soul (Luke 1:46), and spirit (Luke 1:47). What an example for us to follow! (Rom 12:1-2)
Mary’s example teaches us to receive the word of God.
Mary’s Faith meant handing over to God the total control of her life. A resignation to the will of God, and of faith in the promise.
Mary’s experience in the stable shows us that even in the most unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations, God can be present and at work.
Mary’s Faith enabled God to be revealed, a sign of hope to all of mankind
3. The faith of Joseph
The Jewish law held espousal or engagement to be as binding as marriage. The wedding was merely a recognition of the agreement that had already been established.
Because he was a faithful man, Joseph wanted to protect Mary from public shame and disgrace. If Mary was exposed, the law of the day would have been to stone her for her perceived sin.
Because he was a faithful man, Joseph faith demonstrated qualities of mercy, compassion, and kindness when he wanted to protect her.
Because he was a faithful man, Joseph believed God’s message in the dream. His love for God and for Mary made him willing to "bear reproach" for Christ.
Because he was a faithful man, Joseph was given a great honor even through he was a man of small estate.
Because he was a faithful man, Joseph was used in a way he could not imagine the consequences.
Application:
Many times we may think our lives are of no consequence, but in reality God just might be using our lives in a way we don’t readily see. All because we have faith in the birth of Jesus
4. The faith of the Shepherds
On the hillside outside of Bethlehem. Shepherds were out in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night
It was a beautiful night—An ordinary night with an ordinary sky.
The sheep were ordinary. Some fat. Some scrawny. Some with barrel bellies. Some with twig legs. Common animals. No fleece made of gold. No history makers. No blue-ribbon winners. They were simply sheep—lumpy, sleeping silhouettes on a hillside.
And the shepherds.
They were nameless and simple, those shepherds going about their work on a Middle Eastern night, people at the bottom of the social and economic ladder;
They were ceremonially unclean. They were not allowed to go into the temple area to worship. They were unaccepted. They were nobodies. They could not be called as witnesses in court, for somebody had written that no one could believe the testimony of a shepherd. They were despised. They were looked down upon and often hated
Peasants they were. Probably wearing all the clothes they owned. Smelling like sheep and looking just as woolly. They were conscientious, willing to spend the night with their flocks. But you won’t find their staffs in a museum nor their writings in a library. No one asked their opinion on social justice or the application of the Torah.
An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an “extra” on the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. The sheep would have been forgotten, and the shepherds would have slept the night away.
The night was ordinary no more.
The angel came in the night because that is when lights are best seen and that is when they are most needed. God comes into the common for the same reason.
His most powerful tools are the simplest.
Out of the whole of Jewish society, He chose shepherds. Out of the entire population of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, these outcasts were the only ones who came to see the Messiah and to spread the news of His coming.
a. The faith of the shepherds – Honored by God with a chorus of good tidings, a song of peace never before heard: “And you will find the babe...”
b. The faith of the shepherds – They believed what was told them. As to the content of their faith, they believed that the Savior was born.
c. The faith of the shepherds – ¬¬The Lord works faith in the hearts of those whom believe the message of Christ’s birth.
5. The Faith of the Wise men.
a) The story of the Wise Men in Matthew’s Gospel shows how wise men, even Gentile wise men, sought Jesus out, while a Jewish king who should have known the OT prophecies neither personally sought out nor properly honored the new son of David.
b) Their story shows how Jesus’ own people largely rejected him.
The Faith of the Wise men was this,
They sought after to them something more that there religious teaching.
They didn’t settle for the status quo in religion
The Faith of the Wise men was this,
o These astrologers, pursuing their observations of the stars in the heavens, encountered a sign of God (Matt. 24:29–30).
o God broke through their misguided system to make the great event known.
The Faith of the Wise men was this,
Matthew 2:11: "When they came into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him."
The joy, rejoicing, worship, and gifts that mark the response of these wise men to the birth of Jesus is quite a contrast to the troubled state and murderous intent of Herod and his advisers in Jerusalem (Matt. 2:1–12).
The Faith of the Wise men was this,
They sought Him, when others didn’t.
They found Him, when others couldn’t.
They received Him when others wouldn’t.
The Wiseman’s Faith found wisdom like we should
Through Jesus we have:
1. Peace with one another (Ephesians 2:14).
2. Peace with self (Philippians 4:7).
3. Peace with God (Romans 5:1).
We have seen the faith of several important people who were directly involved in this Holy and Sacred event.
They looked upon this miraculous experience with eyes of faith, and so should we.
Today all of our customs are masked and being replaced the profound truths of Jesus birth with S.C., Reindeer, lights, and C. Trees.
How will your faith be seen?
How great will your faith be in God our creator who sent his son into the world for us?
Will you have the faith like Mary?
Knowing even through we don’t know all the hows and why’s, that we can be apart of God’s will?
Will you have the faith of Joseph?
Knowing that God can use your life in a way beyond imagination?
Will you have the faith of the Shepherds?
Knowing not matter you economic, or social standing, Gods good news has come to you.
Will your faith be like the Wise Men?
Not settling for the Status Quo
The search for Truth and wisdom will be filled
The greatest thing the Magi did was honor Christ our Lord, and we are to do the same. We may not have Gold, Frankincense, or Myrrh. But we can give by opening our hearts, minds, and souls to the redeemer of the world.
We can spread the truth by our lives which we live, and proclaim the beauty of the Gift given to mankind.
