“It’s going to be Okay”
Matthew 1:18-25
How is your life going so far?
Is it turning out as you had planned?
What about your career?
Is it everything you had hoped for and more?
How about your marriage?
Or your kids?
How is your family doing?
Is it like the Brady bunch or is it a little bit more messy than that?
What about your walk with God?
Is it easier than you had expected or a bit more complicated?
There can be no doubt that through t-v, fantasy novels and other media we are loaded with false expectations of harmony and good cheer.
And what about Facebook?
Do you tend to post pictures that paint your life in the best of lights or do you make selfies of yourself before you are dressed and have brushed your hair?
Do you post the pictures of your kids when they are pulling each other’s hair or are they usually all smiles?
When you go on vacation, do you post only the “staged shots” or do you pick the pictures when you and your spouse are, perhaps, having a bit of an argument.
Because we tend to try and show only the good parts of our lives, others tend to see only those “good parts” and are maybe given a false impression that their lives are the only ones that are a bit crazy.
This might even cause folks to envy one another’s false lives.
A lot of us spend a great deal of time and energy trying to achieve that picture-perfect life.
In today’s story of Mary and Joseph, things just aren’t going as planned.
But despite the shock, disappointment, struggles and setbacks—they ended up finding themselves more graced and more faithful than they could have ever imagined!!!
Think about it: Joseph, a righteous man, finds out that his soon-to-be wife is pregnant.
We are told that it is a child of the Holy Spirit but Joseph doesn’t know this yet!
So, Joseph decides to divorce Mary, and decides to do it in a very humane way.
His legal options ran the gamut from shaming her to having her put to death.
And then “an angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream” and basically said: “I know this is not what you expected, but it is going to be okay.
God is about to do something wonderful, despite how things seem at the moment.”
Again, where are you at this morning?
How are you feeling about yourself?
I think that one of the beautiful things about the way God decided to be born into this world is that it shows us that amid all our “less-than-picture-perfect” lives---perhaps we don’t have tons of money…maybe our homes aren’t as perfect as we would like them to be…perhaps our church isn’t as perfect as we want…maybe our lives are not what we dreamed of—nonetheless, God is able to do great and miraculous things despite all this!!!
Through the gift of faith, Joseph is able to trust God that what the angel told him was true.
It all certainly catches Joseph completely off-guard, though.
At this point he is totally unaware of the journey his decision to trust God will take—from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, from the Temple to the Cross to the empty tomb.
If Joseph had been told all that, it very well might have been more than any human could handle.
Many times, like He did for Joseph, God opens a door for us, or gives us a vision, calling on us to trust and follow.
And if we do trust and follow—we are amazed by the miracle God works in and through our lives.
I’ve shared this story before, but when I owned a tee-shirt shop in a mall I got convicted that the very things I was making most of my money from were not a good influence on my young customers.
That was God opening a door.
I went through that door when I made the decision not to sell that merchandise any longer.
The real adventure began when God completely took over my life.
Little would I have expected that just a few months later I would be headed to seminary—and the rest of my life and career would be dedicated to full-time ministry as a pastor in the United Methodist Church.
That was 20 years ago.
It’s been a wild ride.
But I am learning more and more each day to trust in God.
And the more we trust Him the more we find that He is more than trustworthy!!!
And trusting in God is what makes life worth living.
Our Gospel Lesson informs us that one of Jesus’ names is “Immanuel”—which means “God with us.”
And this is the best news we could ever know.
No matter how dark our circumstance may seem.
No matter how painful the aches in our joints and backs.
No matter how badly we are treated by classmates, co-workers, family members, spouses, bosses—God is with us!!!
We are not alone.
And the best thing of all?
God is LOVE!!!
John 3:16 is one of the best-known Scriptures in the Bible: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish by may have eternal life.”
And isn’t this what it’s all about?
The deepest need of every human being on this planet is the need to be loved.
We all want to be loved—whether we admit it or not.
From the rebellious teenager to the elderly woman in a nursing home—we all want to be loved.
From the greedy corporate executive to the person holding up a sign near an interstate exit—we all want to be loved.
What we learn through Jesus Christ—God with us—is that God we are loved—beyond measure.
God is not some nameless, faceless Higher Power.
He is not uninterested in what is happening on planet earth.
We are not here for no reason.
Life is not some cruel joke where we are the punch-lines.
God is with us.
God has come to us in Jesus Christ to show us what He is like through His parables, His life, His witness, His miracles and His love for broken people.
And God knows your name and my name.
God knows everything about you—and loves you no matter what!
I once met a woman who believed very much in God and Jesus.
She even came to Bible study.
I was shocked, though, by what she shared with me one day.
She said, “I believe in heaven, but I will not be there. I am not good enough.”
This wonderful woman had been so rejected by the world—by her parents, by her peers, by her husband—so abused and neglected that she could not fathom anyone truly loving her—even God!!!
We had a long talk that day—a very long talk about the grace and love of God.
I told her that Jesus loves her, and that she will be in heaven one day.
This seemed to be brand new to her.
“Do you really think that God loves—even me?,” she asked.
“Do you really think I am good enough to go to heaven some day?”
None of us are good enough—but God is more than good enough.
1 John 4:9 tells us: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Others may have rejected you—a coworker, a spouse, your parents, your child.
God will never reject you.
God’s love for you is deeper and wider than any of us can ever imagine or comprehend.
God’s love is unconditional.
God’s love never ends.
This is what every human being on earth needs to know and trust.
This is what makes drug addicts into life counselors.
This is what changes the perspective and outlook of everyone who has ever made the decision to trust Jesus.
This is what makes life more than okay—no matter how different our original plans or expectations were.
The last thing in the world that Joseph and Mary expected from their relationship was a child out of wedlock.
This was not in the plans.
I can’t imagine the anxiety and stress they must of endured.
I can’t imagine the feeling of betrayal Joseph had to feel.
And what about the broken dreams of a “happily ever after”?
Joseph must have felt like his life was over.
Nothing would ever be “Okay” again.
And then, an angel of the Lord explained what had happened and why.
And he said to Joseph, “don’t be afraid”
“Don’t be afraid to take Mary home as your wife…”
Your Son will prove “God is with us.”
“You are to give him the name of Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Joseph believed.
And “he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.”
There would be a “happily ever after.”
Only now—the “happily ever after” would not only be for Mary and Joseph—it would be for all who would dare believe.
How is your life working out so far?
Is everything living up to your expectations?
Are things going as you planned?
Probably not.
No one has it perfect.
Not one of us is in control.
But God IS with us!!!
This is all we need to believe, trust and know.
And in believing this, no matter where life takes us—it’s going to be just fine, more than fine actually.
As Mary and Joseph journeyed to the first Christmas, they didn’t know where God would take them; all they knew was that something wonderful had been promised and that they had been called to be a part of it.
The same goes for you and for me.
We have been promised great things though faith in Jesus Christ.
It may not be what we expect, but if we are willing to follow God the journey will be better than we could have ever planned on our own or imagined.
God is doing great things, and God has called us to be a part of it.
And because of that everything will be much more than just “Okay.”
Do you believe this?
