Has there ever been a time when you had to make room in your life, for someone or something? When Judy and I first got married we lived in a 12’ x 60’ mobile home. When we first moved into that home we felt like we were living in a castle. We had an abundance of room. We did not have a lot of possessions. Shortly after we married we moved from Louisiana to Mississippi. We put everything we owned into a 12’ u-haul trailer. You can understand why, when we moved into the mobile home, we had plenty of room. There were three bed-rooms. We had so much room that I used one of the bed-rooms as my office. After fourteen months of marriage our first child arrived. It is amazing how one little baby can cause so much change. We went from an abundance of room to wondering how we were going to get everything into that home. My office was the first thing to go. I had to use a small storage room, in the corner of the church, for my office. We gladly made the necessary adjustments in order to make room for David, our first born.
That same principle applies to faith. When Jesus comes to live with you, you gladly make the necessary adjustments in order to welcome His arrival. The past two Sundays we have been discussing “Keeping Christ In Christmas.” The text is found in Mt. 2:1-12. In this passage there are three character groups. There is Herod, the villain. He wants to remove Jesus from the Christmas story. We studied him, week before last. Then there are two character groups who want to honor and serve Jesus. There were the wise men. We studied them last week. The final set of characters is Joseph and Mary, Jesus earthly parents. They kept Christ Jesus at the forefront of their lives. You might say they kept Christ in Christmas. They did this by making room for him.
If we are going to make room for Jesus in our Christmas and in our lives what does that require? Joseph and Mary had to make room for Jesus. Look at the text. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.” (Mt. 1:18-25)
Why would a person choose to distance himself/herself from Jesus? That could have been true for Joseph.
1. Doubts can cause you to distance yourself from Jesus.
2. You can see Jesus as a threat. That will cause you to distance yourself from Him.
3. If you do not understand Him you will distance yourself from Him.
4. If you are living in unbelief you will distance yourself from Him.
It is encouraging to realize that Jesus parents, Joseph and Mary, who were chosen by God had to adjust to the idea of sharing their lives with Jesus. I think sometimes we get deceived into thinking there are some people for whom faith comes easy. They never doubt! They never struggle! They never have dark days! That was not true for Joseph and Mary. They had to adjust to the idea.
Joke: I heard a story about a train traveling through the night in a very violent rainstorm. The lightning flashes were almost blinding, the rain hitting the windows was deafening and the strong gusty winds rocked the train from side to side. When the lightening flashed and lighted up the darkness, the passengers could see the rising water along the tracks. This created terror in the minds of the passengers. Several passengers noted that through all the noise, lightning and wind, one of the passengers, a little girl, seemed to be at perfect peace. The adult passengers couldn’t figure out why the little girl was so calm during all this excitement. Finally, one passenger asked her, “How is that you can be so calm when all the rest of us are so worried about what might happen?” The little passenger smiled and said, “My father is the engineer.”
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Bill Butsko)
1. If we are going to make room for Jesus we must accept Him by faith. Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. In Mt. 1 we learn that Joseph was betrothed to be married to Mary. Betrothal was similar to our engagement but, in their society, it was as binding as marriage. That explains the solemn nature of Joseph’s decision to put her away. Up until this event he must have been day dreaming about the honeymoon and about building a life with Mary. He was following the usual Jewish procedure in preparing for marriage. Then, his plans were changed. God sent an angel to tell Joseph that his betrothed wife was pregnant. What a shocking revelation! Talk about having your faith stretched. God’s ways may not always seem rational. God’s ways may not always be easy. It does require that we accept God’s way in faith.
This subject of faith opens the door to several other subjects. One is revelation. God reveals himself to people. He reveals himself through people, the Bible, circumstances, nature, a sermon, and other methods. When God begins to reveal himself to you, the human side of you will struggle over faith issues. Even Joseph struggled! He was human.
Illustration: You have heard the story of the man whose faith was stretched. A man was being chased by a tiger. He ran as hard as he could until he was at the edge of a cliff with the tiger in hot pursuit. The man looked over the edge of the cliff and saw a branch growing out of the side of the cliff a few feet down. He jumped down and grabbed the branch just as the tiger reached the cliff. The tiger growled viciously as the man sighed a great sigh of relief. As the man hung there, he looked down to what was a drop of a thousand feet. He looked up and there stood the tiger. In desperation he prayed "Dear God, if you are there, please help. I will do anything you ask but please help." Suddenly a voice came booming down from heaven, "You will do anything I ask?" it questioned. The man shocked to hear a reply to his plea yelled back, "I will gladly do anything you ask, but please save me." The voice from heaven then replied, "There is one way to save you but it will take courage and faith." The branch began to weaken and the tiger was still growling a few feet above the man, "Please, Lord, tell me what I must do and I will do it. Your will is my will." The voice from heaven then said, "All right then, let go of the branch." The man looked down to a fall of a thousand feet and certain death. He looked up at the hungry tiger a few feet away. Then he looked up at the heavens and yelled, "Is there anyone else up there?"
In accepting God’s plans there is revelation. God’s revelation of himself is His effort to help strengthen our faith. Then there is hearing. In verse 20 Joseph heard an angel speak to him. I want you to notice something really important. Joseph was having trouble understanding the situation. He knew Mary was pregnant. He had determined to put her away. However, God helped him cope with his insecurities. God sent an angel to comfort and encourage him. The other day I saw a father helping his preschool son learn to ride a bicycle. The father ran beside the bicycle and held the seat while the boy pedaled. After a while the boy began to pedal on his own. Faith is not always easy but God reassures us in ways that encourages us to take the next step. That is our gracious God. God reveals himself to you and then you have a responsibility to respond to His revelation.
Do you know what is interesting about this story? God asks Joseph to accept a seemingly impossible story. God does not leave Joseph dangling in mid air. He helps Joseph work through his doubts. God works that way! He helps us work through our doubts and questions and helps us believe.
Joke: You have probably heard of the fellow whose home was flooded during Hurricane Katrina. When the levees broke this fellow started praying. He asked God to save him. Not long after he started praying an army truck came by and offered him a ride. He declined. Later a boat came by and offered him a ride. He declined. Finally, as he perched on the roof, just before his house went under water, a helicopter came by. They offered him a ride. The man died in the ensuing flood. When he arrived in Heaven he complained that God did not save him. God said “I sent you a truck, a boat, and a helicopter.”
2. In making room for Jesus we must accept Him by faith. After accepting Him we must adjust our lifestyles to accommodate Him. Think about Joseph. He had to altar his lifestyle for Jesus. He married a woman who had conceived a child through the power of the Holy Spirit. He gives up the normal routines and activities of young married life in order to accommodate this child of God. After the baby was born he was asked to carry his wife and child and move to Egypt, until Herod died. This required major adjustments on Joseph’s part.
Illustration: When I was in seminary one of the young couples I knew, had a baby. One night in chapel they shared the many adjustments they had made since the baby’s arrival. They gave one example. They said that when they first got married they would go out at night and get ice cream. This was usually a spontaneous activity. They did not plan the time or place. They just jumped up and went out for ice cream. After the baby was born they indicated there was an occasion when they spontaneously jumped up and headed out for ice cream. After closing the door and starting out they were reminded that they had a baby in the apartment. They indicated that the joy of the baby out-weighed the adjustments.
Illustration: Judy and I are going to be out of town a few days this week, for Christmas. Every time we leave town we have to secure someone to take care of our puppies. That is one of the adjustments you must make if you own pets. Some people view such demands as an intrusion. Not so with us. The joy of our puppies far out-weighs the adjustments we make. When you come home in the afternoon and that little bundle of fur is sitting there wagging its tail it makes it all worth while. You know that no matter how bad your day, that puppy is going to be happy to see you.
When you make a faith commitment to accept Jesus Christ there are adjustments to be made but the joy out-weighs the adjustments. You may be thinking, what kind of adjustments will I have to make? One adjustment is that you become Christ centered rather than self centered. A self centered person is a miserable person. They are lonely. They lack purpose.
Someone has developed a test to check your level of selfishness.
1. If the last time you said “I love you” and really meant it, you were looking in a mirror you might have a problem with self.
2. If your most memorable vacation only required one airline ticket you might have a problem with self.
3. If you always know more than the people you hire to do a job you might have a problem with self.
4. If you have come to the conclusion that no body really knows how to do anything without your advice you might have a problem with self.
5. If you have already come to the conclusion that this sermon applies to everyone in the room except you; you might have a problem with self.
6. And for all of you who have somehow been able to handle each of these questions without seeing fault in yourself there is one more qualifier: If you were born after man’s fall in the garden but before the second coming of Christ then chances are you might have a problem with self.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by David Wilson)
A second adjustment you will make is the adjustment to work with God. In his book, “Experiencing God”, Henry Blackaby discusses the truth that God is at work in our world. Blackaby says the way to experience God is to join Him in what He is doing. When you choose to accept Jesus and follow Him you will learn to adjust your life to cooperate with God. In the Lord’s prayer Jesus said we should pray for God’s will to be done. One of the great joys of life is to find and follow God’s will. That gives fulfillment.
Several years ago Marguerite Provost, from Georgia, wrote a story in “Today’s Christian
Woman.” The story was called “Small Talk.” Marguerite said her three year old granddaughter, Beverly, was playing with her toys. Her mother, who was folding laundry across the room, noticed Beverly’s shirt was dirty and needed to be changed. After calling two times with no response, her mother called her by her full name: “Beverly Elizabeth Provost, did you hear me?” When a parent uses your full it usually means you are in trouble. Beverly answered, “yes, mama, my ears did, but my legs did not.” When you adjust your life to God’s will you overcome the tendency to hear without responding.
3. Joseph accepted God’s plan by faith. He adjusted his life to cooperate with God’s plans. The end result was God gave him assurance that he had made the right decision. There is a marked difference between those who have been given assurance from God and those who have not. Bill Hybels said “Sometime when you’re in an airport, observe the difference between passengers who hold confirmed tickets and those who are on standby. The ones with confirmed tickets read newspapers, chat with their friends or sleep. The ones on standby hang around the ticket counter, pace and smoke. The difference is caused by the confidence factor. If you knew that in fifteen minutes you would have to stand in judgment before the Holy God and learn your eternal destiny, what would your reaction be? Would you say to yourself, “I don’t know what God’s going to say---will it be “Welcome home, child”, or will it be “Depart from me; I never knew you.” (Bill Hybels, “Too Busy Not To Pray, IVP, p. 113)
A mother was putting her little four-year-old daughter to bed for the night. The child was afraid of the dark, and the mother, on this particular occasion, with her husband away, was fearful also. When the light was out, the child caught a glimpse of the moon outside the window. “Mommy,” she asked, “is the moon God’s light?” “Yes,” the mother said. Then the child asked, “Will God put out his light and go to sleep?” The mother replied, “No, dear, God never goes to sleep.” Then, out of the simplicity of a child’s faith, the little girl said something which gave reassurance even to her mother: “Well, as long as God is awake, there is no sense both of us staying awake.” And off to sleep she went.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Lynn Malone)
Have you found assurance in your relationship with God? Are you walking with Him? Are you walking in obedience? I pray that you will find that today!
