INCONVENIENT CHRISTMAS
This seems like an adequate description of Christmas this year. Synonyms for inconvenient include: tiresome, difficult, problematic, awkward, undesirable, troublesome, bothersome. Sounds kind of fitting, doesn't it? The typical parties and gatherings we would normally be looking forward to will either not be happening or be drastically altered. Masks, distancing, feeling uneasy being around people, sharing food and drinks; all of this can turn a typically joyous occasion into an unnerving one. Well, our original Christmas family had to deal with some inconveniences surrounding that first Christmas. Let's see how they handled them all.
1) Inconvenient birthing room.
Luke 2:1-7, "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."
We're not given the emotional responses of Mary and Joseph here but if it were me, when the decree was given I could see myself saying, "are you kidding me? You need to take a census now? My wife is close to having God's child and we need to pack up and go to Bethlehem. God, why would you let this happen? Is this part of your plan?"
From Nazareth to Bethlehem was about 80 miles. That's nothing to us who have cars but for the ones who were traveling by foot and donkey, this was no afternoon trip. This would've taken about a week. Think of Mary. I'm sure the last thing she wanted to do was to hop on a donkey at nearly full-term and make that trip. This was no cruise in a Cadillac. Inconvenient.
And then, to top it all off, they get to Bethlehem and Mary starts going into labor. It could very well have been from all the jostling around on the journey. Then there was even more inconvenience. Let's add insult to injury by not being able to get in the inn. Mary-long trip riding on a donkey, nine months pregnant, already in labor-being told she will have no bed in a nice room. Instead she will need to go to a cave; a stable filled with smelly animals to have God's child.
Again, we're not told of the emotions or responses from Joseph and Mary but if I was told my wife would not be getting in the inn, I probably would've been like, "This is just great! I can't believe this is happening right now. Stay in Nazareth and give birth in our nice, cozy home. Is that too much to ask? I guess it is." While I'm complaining my wife would be telling me it's either the stable or the street, take your pick because this baby is coming.
[Our story with Beth giving birth up north.] But guess what? We survived; everything worked out. Just like it did for Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Despite the census, despite the labor, despite the stable, everyone was ok. Not only that, something happened to help compensate for their frustrating inconveniences.
The shepherds were in a field watching over their sheep when the angel appeared and told them that Christ had been born. The angel gave them a sign so they would know where to find him. Then the heavenly host appeared and sang and then they all disappeared. The shepherds got up at once and went to Bethlehem.
Luke 2:16-19, "So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."
This inconvenience would've been a pleasant one. Can you imagine how surprised Mary and Joseph were when these guys showed up? And then they're telling the story that led them there. "This angel told us that today a Savior has been born; Christ the Lord they called him. Then they gave us the sign that he would be in a manger. And we knew that was a good sign cause how many babies are born in a stable?"
"Yeah," another shepherd chimes in. "Then a whole bunch of these other angels appeared and started singing. Then they all disappeared. That's when we got up and hurried over here to see him." Then they go and start telling everyone about this special baby in a manger.
"Mary treasured up all these things in her heart". If Mary was wondering if everything was going to be okay, I'm sure the account she just heard from the shepherds helped to assure her that it would be. It wasn't conventional; it wasn't convenient, but it was ok. Things didn't go as planned in all of this but there were still plenty of reasons to rejoice.
Prior to COVID we never would've thought our Christmas was going to be like it is this year. But here we are. Even though this was a trying time for Mary and Joseph, I believe they dealt with this inconvenient Christmas with a positive attitude. How? By realizing they were safe, they were together and that's all that really mattered.
At the end of the day it was Joseph, Mary and their healthy baby boy. And in the joy of looking into the precious face of that divine baby, any difficulties during their trip to Bethlehem and being in that stable failed to really matter anymore. No matter how much different our Christmas will be this year, we can rejoice in what's most important-Jesus and being with each other.
Mary and Joseph weren't the only ones that had to deal with an inconvenient situation where there was no more room and had to resort to plan B.
Mark 2:1-5, "A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
After Jesus said this some of the teachers of the law accused him of blasphemy. Jesus went on to show them he had the authority to forgive sins when he caused the paralytic to stand up and walk; which amazed everyone. But we see this guy had some good friends. We don't see them getting to where Jesus was, seeing they couldn't get in and saying, "That's too bad. Let's go home." No, they put their thinking caps on and figured out a way. Inconvenience calls for doing the unconventional.
The roof area of houses in this region were flat, allowing for people to go up to them and relax in the cool of the day. There may have already been a hatch that allowed people to go up and down between the bottom floor and the roof, but the opening was too small to fit the paralytic through so they needed to make it bigger.
The house is understood to have been Peter's house, where Jesus was known to stay when they were in Capernaum. But these guys must have figured putting a hole in Peter's roof was not going to make him too happy. But they figured this drastic measure was worth it; plus I'm sure they planned to compensate him for the loss.
We see the determination of these guys; nothing was going to stop them from getting their paralyzed friend to Jesus. Jesus knew these men had faith and he rewarded that. Being faced with an inconvenience is a test. Will we give up or will we be tenacious and find a way? This man and his friends were not going to let an inconvenient obstacle get in their way.
What about us? Will we throw in the towel because our Christmas is inconvenient or will we find a way to make the most of it? No matter how different our Christmas will be this year, Jesus is still the reason for the season.
2) Inconvenient travel plans.
So, fast forward about a year or so and you have Joseph, Mary and Jesus living in a house and then some unexpected visitors show up. The Magi had come from far away, having followed the Christ star all the way to Jerusalem where they met with King Herod to find out where the one born king of the Jews was because they wanted to go and worship him.
Herod found out through the chief priests that the Christ had been born in Bethlehem so he told the Magi and gave them instructions to come back and tell him where he was so he too could go and worship him.
Matt. 2:9-12, "After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.
Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route."
We have a special encounter with some surprise guests. I can imagine Joseph and Mary's excitement and wonder as they watched these foreigners bow down and worship Jesus and present him their treasures. I don't know how much extra conversation there was but I'm sure Joseph and Mary would've been hospitable and had them stay and rest from their journey.
And we see the Magi were sleeping when they were warned to take a different route back home so it's possible they stayed in their house. If that was the case, Mary and Joseph would've had the privilege of hearing the wonderful story of how these men were led to take this long journey and follow the star that led them to Jesus. How awestruck and joyful Mary and Joseph must've been. However, on the heels of this most uplifting visit came an unsettling situation.
Matt. 2:13-15, "When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
That's nice; you just had this wonderful visit with the Magi and soon after you're sleeping soundly then all of a sudden you're woken up by an angel who tells you to get up, pack up and head out. One minute you're comfortable and secure and the next your whole world is turned upside down.
"We have to go to Egypt? Now? Why?" "Herod is looking for Jesus to kill him." "What?! How long do we need to stay there?" "Until I tell you the coast is clear." "How long will that be? A week? A year? Ten years?!" It's that unknown factor that can haunt you.
Think of Mary as she's being woken up and told what happened. You're half asleep, confused and terrified. As you hurry around scrambling to get your things packed up, amid all the clanging and clanking Jesus wakes up and starts crying. That doesn't help the chaotic atmosphere any. Inconvenient to say the least.
With all your valuables packed you start heading for Egypt in the middle of the night. Joseph's like, "Just a short while ago I was dreaming about going fishing and catching the big one, and now I'm moving my whole world to a foreign land". This was a longer trip than when they went from Nazareth to Bethlehem. That was 80 miles and took a week. The trip to Egypt was at least twice as far and took twice as long.
We see the faith of Joseph. All he was told was to get up, pack your stuff and your family and go to Egypt. But where in Egypt? How would he know when he was supposed to stop? Joseph didn't know beforehand where to go in Egypt or how long he would be there, but he obeyed and went.
Being obedient to God will be inconvenient at times. We want to know the details, we want everything laid out for us; we want to know what to expect...but God doesn't operate like that. With God things are on a need to know basis. Abraham faced this situation when God told him to pack everything up and just go; he didn't even tell him where to. But Abraham obeyed.
Hebrews 11:8, "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."
By the time Abraham had received this "call" he was well established in the land of Haran with his wife, servants, his livestock and other possessions. This wasn't Abraham packing a travel bag and heading out on his own. This move involved a lot of planning and prep work. I wonder if anyone in his entourage thought he had lost it. "So, where we going, Abe?" "I don't know; I was just told to go." "Oookay, then."
It's about having faith and trust in the one giving the orders despite how inconvenient those orders are. What a night it was for Joseph, Mary and Jesus. But there were actually some positives to focus on. Think about how inconvenient it would've been had Joseph not been warned. Unfortunately, far too many families were tragically traumatized.
Matt. 2:16-18, "When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
While it's true that the angel's interruption was inconvenient, it saved them from having to endure a life shattering event. Has there ever been a time when you were inconvenienced but it turned out to be a thankful moment because of what it saved you from or kept you from having to experience?
Minister Sherm Nichols shares this story. "I had a student ministry during college. One day my wife and a lady of the church were traveling around with me, visiting kids to form a youth group. Out of the blue, we had a flat tire. It was a hot summer day, but we had everything we needed to go ahead and get it changed on the spot.
Back on the road, we came upon a van, coming around a curve, in the wrong lane. It had just left a treacherous, curvy part of the county road – where we were headed! We honked and they jerked their van over. We began talking about it. What would have happened if we had been just a few minutes earlier? Who knows?! But I look back at the experience and see that God can even use an inconvenience like a flat tire for good."
There's another positive in Joseph and Mary's inconvenient situation. Not knowing how long they would be in Egypt, Joseph would be concerned about how they would provide for themselves. But God had already taken care of that. I read something in Matthew Henry's commentary that I hadn't realized before.
The wise men had just presented Jesus some treasures, gold being one of them. How amazing that the means for their support for their time in Egypt had already been provided in such a timely way by the Magi. In this inconvenient situation, God had already made a way for them to be financially taken care of.
Isn't that just like God? When something unexpected comes up and we don't know how we'll make it God makes a way.
And in this case the way was made before the inconvenience took place. Maybe you were blessed with something and you didn't have an immediate use for it so you put it away. Then, shortly after, something happened that set you back. But you already had what you needed because of that unexpected blessing.
God allows inconveniences to invade our lives but he provides unexpected blessings to compensate for those inconveniences. He did it for Joseph and Mary and he'll do it for us too when we exhibit faith and trust like they did. Our Christmas may be inconvenient this year but that doesn't mean it's a lost cause. There are still blessings and positives to focus on. Let's make the most of it.
