As I look out among you today, I see that the vast majority of us have of us have had babies. But not all of us. For example, I’ve done a lot of things in my life and had a lot of experiences, but I’ve never given birth to a baby. Yes, I know this surprises you. So help me here. I’d like for some of you who have had the experience to tell me what it’s like. And I’m especially interested in what it was like in the last few weeks before you had your baby. What does it feel like physically? Were there activities that you were no longer able to do or things you had to cut back on? And, my research showed that women gain an average of 30 - 40 pounds during their pregnancy. How does that affect your physical activity? Your balance? The way you walk? Us clueless males have no idea what this is like and inquiring minds want to know.
[Who would like to share what all this feels like?]
If you’ve had a baby, perhaps you are remembering what it felt like again. If you haven’t had one, you may have a sense of what it’s like and perhaps a new understanding and appreciation for what it’s like to have a child.
But what’s it like to be a child bride? Think back to when you were about 14 or 15 years old. Imagine with me that you’re living right here in this part of the San Fernando Valley. You don’t come from a wealthy family. Your father works and is able to keep the family fed, but that’s about it.
You’ve been engaged to this guy, named Joe, who works for a framing contractor building houses. He doesn’t make a lot of money, but he’s just a few years older than you are and he’s just starting out. Both you and Joe come from good church-going families and always try to do the right things. You’re a good girl and you’ve never slept with any boys, and won’t sleep with Joe until you guys are married, but then the most astounding thing happens.
God sends the angel Gabriel to the San Fernando Valley to visit you. It sounds so normal when we say it like that but it actually scares you half to death. Instantly Gabriel appears before you and says: "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! " You’re confused and disturbed, and you try to think what the angel could mean. "Don't be afraid!" the angel tells you, "for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!"
Wait! This is impossible! You’ve been a good girl! There must be some mistake here! You ask the angel, "But how can this happen? I am a virgin." The angel replies, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. For nothing is impossible with God. " Wow. You’re just a kid. And you’re going to have the Son of God?
Is this really happening? What are the kids from the neighborhood going to think? What’s your dad going to say? And will this be a deal-breaker with Joe? How is he going to handle this news? But you think about this and tell the angel Gabriel, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." And then the angel leaves you...
You are suddenly alone and now instantly and miraculously pregnant. What do you do now? You go see Liz. She is a relative and older and wiser than you. She’s a pastor’s wife and she’s also pregnant with a boy who will be called John. Liz lives with her husband Zacharias in the hill country they call West Hills so you go racing over there. As soon as you get there, and you greet Liz, HER baby John jumps in her womb and Liz is instantly filled with the Holy Spirit. And Liz says to you in a loud voice, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! "But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? "For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord." Now Liz always talks a little oddly like that, but you cut her some slack because she’s a pastor’s wife and she spends a lot of time in church.
But what Liz has done is to bring you to a full realization that you are soon to be the mother of the Lord. After receiving Liz’s blessing, you just do what comes naturally in the Presence of God. You burst out into praise and worship.
You sing: "My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. And as you finish your song to the Lord, you’re realizing that you are starting to sound a little like Aunt Liz.
At first, Joe is very, very, upset about all of this. Because he had never slept with you, the only thing he could be absolutely certain about was that your baby was not his. It was obvious to him that you had been unfaithful and the law was very clear on the penalty for that. California Penal Code 22:23 clearly states: "If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, "then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones. There is no mercy and no appeal process – not even Governor Brown can pardon this crime. In California, if you cheat, you die. Joe doesn’t know what to do. He'd grown to love you and made a commitment to marry you, but there’s no way he can marry you now. In fact, as far as he’s concerned, you’ve insulted his intelligence by telling him that God had gotten you pregnant. The Holy Spirit got you pregnant? Yeah. Sure.
But fortunately for you, God always seems to have everything under control in your life and God’s got this one handled too. Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joe in a dream, saying, "Hey Joe, son of David, do not be afraid to take your betrothed for 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."
Wow! That’s a gamechanger! So you and Joe are good now. And it’s getting time for you to deliver. You can’t wait. You’re still helping your mom around the house, but it’s getting harder and harder and you’re getting tired quickly and needing to rest a lot during the day.
And now, you and Joe get just about the worst news possible. The entire country is reeling from some governmental decrees. The Emperor, Caesar Augustus had rolled out a new plan called CaesarCare that was not being at all well received. And as CaesarCare was tanking, the Emperor decided that it needed to be bailed out by the Federal Government and the only way he could do that would be to raise taxes. So the Emperor decreed that every man needed to go back to the city of their family of origin to be registered so that he could make sure that everyone was paying their full share of taxes.
This is bad news. Joe came from David’s family and they had come from Santa Barbara. That meant Joe’s got to go to Santa Barbara and you’ve got to go with him. And Joe doesn’t make enough to afford an SUV or even a donkey so you don’t know how you’re going to get there. You wonder if maybe you can go down to Rent-A-Camel but the bouncing up and down on a donkey or camel when you’re nine months pregnant isn’t good. So you guys are just going to have to do what everyone else does and walk. You don’t know how far it is from the San Fernando Valley to Santa Barbara but you google it and find that it’s about 70 miles. That happens to be about the same distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
A strong, healthy man or woman can walk 20 miles in one day but you wonder how far and how fast you can walk when you’re nine months pregnant? You can only take a few things to carry. Water and a little food. No extra clothing. You leave the laptop at home too. You’ve got to travel light.
After 2 ½ long hard days you reach Ventura but here’s your dilemma. You can’t go any further because you’ll soon be in Summerland which is also called Samaria. Now everyone knows that the people who live in SummerlandSamaria are bitter enemies of your people. You can take your chances on passing through their little beach town, but no one will give you food or shelter and they may even try to harm you.
So you need to do what everyone else does that travels north and south. Once you and Joe get to Ventura, you cross the Ventura river and go inland to Ojai. From there you go around SummerlandSameria by taking the back roads to Santa Barbara. Normally, this is an enjoyable diversion in beautiful hills and mountain passes but your feet are so sore that there are times when you just don’t think you can take another step.
You wake up in the mornings feeling sick to your stomach and dread another full day of walking. But Joe is very loving and gives you plenty of time to rest. He’s even patient when you need to stop at every fourth bush to go to the bathroom. It’s taking forever to get to Santa Barbara. Having to avoid the dangerous SummerlandSameria added another two days to your already long trip.
The one thing that has helped you since you started out from the San Fernando valley a week ago is the thought of staying in that cute bed and breakfast right there that overlooks the beach. It’s a quaint little inn and has Victorian furnishings in all the rooms.
And now you’ve finally arrived in Santa Barbara but you wonder if maybe you should see a doctor. This pregnancy thing is all new for you but from what your mom and Aunt Liz told you, you’re thinking this could be time. But you’ve been on the road walking for a week now and all you can think about is a hot bath at the inn.
And of course we all know what happens next. Because we’ve read your story and we know that you forgot to make reservations. The innkeeper and his wife are very kind and very apologetic that they are filled up. And because of so many people in Santa Barbara to register for the Emperor’s new tax assessment, all the inns, hotels and motels were filled. But the innkeeper tells you that there’s a garage in the back and you and Joe are welcome to spend the night there...
As you walk with Joe, hand in hand to the back of the property to a cold, unheated garage, you remember the words to a song that Joe was singing during your journey...
[SING: Breath of Heaven – Mary’s Song – Vince Gill version]
Have you ever thought about why Mary DID go to Bethlehem with Joseph? A physically exhausting trip just right before she is about to have her first child? And, we don’t know how she got there. You might remember pictures of her riding a donkey from Sunday School. But that’s a church tradition and not biblical. She most likely did what everyone else did, she walked. Why DID she go? The census was only to count men. Women literally didn’t count in those days. She could have stayed home and family members would have cared for her and helped through the birthing process. Jesus could have been born in Nazareth.
But we have the book that tells us God’s plan was for the Son of God to be born in Bethlehem. Micah had prophesied that 700 years before. And yet, it would be nearly impossible for Mary to know that. Mary may have sensed that she was simply following the will of God to go to Bethlehem with Joseph. Mary didn’t know how things would turn out. But we know her faith and trust in God was strong.
We don’t know how things will turn out in our own lives either. But like Mary, when we discern the will of God for our own lives and follow Him out of trust, faith and obedience, we are living our lives according to His own plans and purposes for us. And that’s all we need to do. Amen?
