Dave Barry talks about one of his most vivid childhood memories of Christmas. It was the annual Nativity Pageant at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Armonk, NY. It involved almost all the Sunday School kids, and Mrs. Elson, who had experience in the Legitimate Theater, was the director. Barry says, “She would tell you what role you would play, based on your artistic abilities.
“Like, if your artistic abilities were that you were short, you would get a role as an angel, which involved being part of the Heavenly Host and gazing with adoration upon the Christ Child and trying not to scratch yourself.
“Above your angels, you had your three shepherds. Shepherd was my favorite role, because you got to carry a stick, plus you spent most of the pageant waiting back in the closet with the rope that led up to the church bell and about 750,000 bats. Many were the happy rehearsal hours we shepherds spent back there, in the dark, whacking each other with sticks and climbing up the ladder so as to cause bat emission products to rain down upon us.
“When it was our turn to go out and perform, we shepherds would emerge from the closet, walk up the aisle, and hold a conference to determine whether or not we should go to Bethlehem. One year when I was a shepherd, the role of First Shepherd was played by Mike Craig, who always, at every rehearsal, would whisper: "Let's ditch this joint." Of course this does not strike you as particularly funny, but believe me, if you were a 10-year-old who had spent the past hour in a bat-infested closet, it would strike you as amusing in the extreme, and it got funnier every time, so that when Mike said it on Christmas Eve during the actual pageant, it was an awesome thing, the hydrogen bomb of jokes, causing the shepherds to almost pee their garments as they staggered off, snorting, toward Bethlehem.
After a couple of years at shepherd, you usually did a stint as a Three King. This was not nearly as good a role, because (a) you didn't get to wait in the closet, and (b) you had to lug around the gold, the frankincense and of course the myrrh,
Nevertheless, being a Three King was better than being Joseph, because Joseph had to hang around with Mary, who was played by (YEECCCCCHHHHHHH) a girl. You had to wait backstage with this girl, and walk in with this girl, and gaze upon the Christ Child with this girl, and needless to say you felt like a total wonk, which was not helped by the fact that the shepherds and the Three Kings were constantly suggesting that you liked this girl. So, during the pageant, Joseph tended to maintain the maximum allowable distance from Mary, as though she were carrying some kind of fatal bacteria (Dave Barry, “Young Frankincense,” The Miami Herald, December 22, 1985).
Being Joseph in the annual Christmas pageant was difficult, but it was worse in the real world. Joseph and Mary had been planning a wedding when God told them to prepare a nursery (Mike Fogerson). Imagine Joseph’s disappointment when Mary told him, “I’m pregnant.”
According to the custom of the day, the engagement period was a time to prove the purity of the bride-to-be. They were engaged for a year, and if, during that year, the woman showed no signs of pregnancy, then everybody would know that she was a worthy bride—pure and chaste for her husband. But if her belly began to swell, everybody would look at her as a whore, an object of ridicule and shame. Her fiancé would call off the wedding, and sometimes the community would stone her. Nobody ever expected it to happen. They just waited a year to get married, because it was customary.
Well, imagine Joseph’s shock when Mary told him she was pregnant. WE know that it was by the Holy Spirit, but JOSEPH doesn’t know that, yet. The only conclusion he could come to was that his bride-to-be was messing around with another man. To say the least, Joseph was disappointed. No. He was devastated!
And perhaps, some of you find yourself in a similar situation. Perhaps, there is a broken relationship, or the death of someone you love, and the pain of loneliness is very acute at this time of year. Perhaps, you just feel empty in the midst of all the tinsel and lights. Your plans have failed. YOU have failed, or maybe you’re just not satisfied with what life has given you up until now. Christmas can be a disappointment for many. But
GOD CAN TURN YOUR DISAPPOINTMENTS INTO DREAMS COME TRUE.
Your hurts can become halleluiah’s! Your pains can become praise.
How? you say. Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Matthew 1, Matthew 1, where we see how God turned Joseph’s disappointment into a dream come true.
Matthew 1:18-19 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly (ESV).
An engagement was so binding in those days, that it literally took a divorce to break it.
Today, instead of divorce, Joseph might suggest an abortion. Malcolm Muggeridge once suggested:
In modern times… it is … extremely improbable … that Jesus would have been permitted to be born at all. Mary's pregnancy, in poor circumstances, and with the father unknown, would have been an obvious case for an abortion. Her talk of having conceived as a result of the intervention of the Holy Ghost would have pointed to the need for psychiatric treatment and made the case for terminating her pregnancy even stronger. Thus, our generation, needing a Savior more, perhaps, than any that has ever existed, would be too humane to allow one to be born (Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, Zondervan, 2002, p. 29; www.PreachingToday.com).
Mary’s pregnancy then and now, would cause a lot of turmoil. It certainly did for Joseph, who thought the only solution was divorce.
Matthew 1:20-21 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (ESV).
What was bad news has now become the best news anybody could hear! Joseph’s Mary was pregnant, not with another man’s baby, but with the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Joseph’s worst fear has now become the fulfillment of his greatest hope! His Mary was bearing the Messiah. It was a dream come true!
But not only for him, it was a dream come true for the entire world!
Sherwood Wirt describes what that first Christmas was like in a Christmas card he wrote several years ago:
“The people of that time were being heavily taxed and faced every prospect of a sharp increase to cover expanding military expenses. The threat of world domination by a cruel, ungodly, power-intoxicated band of men was ever just below the threshold of consciousness.
“Moral deterioration had corrupted the upper levels of society and was moving rapidly into the broad base of the populace. Intense nationalistic feeling was clashing openly with new and sinister forms of imperialism. Conformity was the spirit of the age. Government handouts were being used with increasing lavishness to keep the population from rising up and throwing out the leaders.
“Interest rates were spiraling upward in the midst of an inflated economy. External religious observances were considered a political asset, and abnormal emphasis was being placed upon sports and athletic competition. Racial tensions were at the breaking point.
“In such a time, and amid such a people, a child was born to a migrant couple who had just signed up for a fresh round of taxation, and who were soon to become political exiles.”
But this child was none other than the Savior of the world! He came to “save His people from their sins” (verse 21).
Jesus’ coming is a dream come true for Joseph and for the world! The Hebrew prophets had been looking forward to this event for centuries!
Matthew 1:22-23 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us) (ESV).
Isaiah, the prophet, foretold this event 700 years before this! Now, the prophecy has come true—the Hope of the ages has come! When Isaiah delivered this prophecy, Jerusalem was under siege, and the virgin birth of Messiah was a sign that God would deliver Jerusalem from her enemies. But her greatest enemy was not the Syrians in Isaiah’s day, nor the Romans in Jesus’ day. No. Her greatest enemy was sin. It was the reason why she was being overrun by foreign powers.
So Jesus came to save her and US from our sins—not just from the penalty of our sins (Hell), but also from the power of sin in our lives. You see, worse than the tyranny of any dictator or any foreign power is the tyranny of sin. Sin destroys nations. Sin destroys families. Sin destroys relationships. Sin destroys all of us from within, and we need deliverance from that more than anything else. That’s why Jesus came. He came to die on a cross for our sins, then to conquer death itself and rise from the grave. All you need to do is…
TRUST HIM.
All you need to do is put your faith in Him, and He will save you from your sins all the way into glory. The Bible says, “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” Won’t you call upon Him today? Call upon Him right now, right where you sit, and let Him turn your disappointments into dreams come true.
He will save you from your sins, and He will be with you forever. For He is Immanuel—“God with us.” He is “God with us” in our need. He is “God with us” in our daily lives. He is “God with us” even in our disappointments.
In December of 2016, a ride at Knott's Berry Farm in California got stuck 148 feet in the air. There were 20 people on board, including seven children. Firefighters tried to reach the stranded passengers by using a massive ladder, but it was too short. Fire crews had no choice. They would have to lower each passenger from 148 feet in the air, harnessed to a single rope.
Fire Captain Larry Kurtz said, “It sounds scary, but … we have very, very strong ropes that have 9,000 pounds of breaking strength on them.” He was trying to reassure those who were trapped, hoping they would believe what he said and trust the firefighter to rescue them.
As it turns out, all 20 passengers were lowered safely to the ground just before 10 p.m. that night.
Evangelist Ray Comfort asks us to imagine being one of the youngsters stuck 148 feet in the air. Let’s say his name is Luke. He's seven years old—old enough to feel terror as he looks at the ground 148 feet below. The fire¬fighter looks Luke in his eyes, and with a steadying voice says, “Trust me, Luke. I won't let you go. Your life is very precious to me, and I will have you down before you know it.”
Luke listens to him and thinks about the “very, very strong rope.” He believes the firefighter's reassuring words and trusts him completely (Ray Comfort, The Final Curtain, New Leaf Press, 2018, pg. 199-200; www.PreachingToday.com).
It gives him some peace as the firefighter provides his only way to reach the ground safely. In the same way, trust the Lord with your life even if you feel like you’re dangling 148 feet in the air. It will give you some peace as He brings you safely home.
Thomas Nast, the great 19th century American painter, who gave us our current image of Santa Clause, was displaying his painting skills before a large audience one day. He took a canvas that was six feet long and two feet wide and placed it horizontally on an easel. Then he began to quickly sketch a beautiful landscape. One right after another, there appeared green meadows with cattle, fields of grain, the farmhouse and surrounding buildings, and an orchard nearby. Over it all, he painted a bright sky with fleecy clouds, which seemed to pour heaven’s blessing on the scene below.
It looked like he was done, but the artist still held his brush. He stepped aside as the audience gave him a hearty applause in appreciation of his work.
Then Thomas Nast stepped back to the canvas to put on the finishing touches. He took some of the darker colors and applied them carelessly to the canvas, or so it seemed. “Did you ever see a picture like this?” he asked, as he blotted out the bright sky, the meadows, the fields, the orchards and the buildings. Up and down and all across the canvas the artist covered his painting until the beautiful landscape was totally obliterated. It looked like a two-year-old’s mess, which parents sometimes call “art.” Then, with a more satisfied look on his face, Thomas Nast laid down his brush and stepped aside to receive the applause of the audience. He was finally finished, but there was no applause.
That’s when Thomas Nast ordered the stage attendants to place a gold frame around the “ruined” piece of art and to turn it to a vertical position. When they did, the audience gasped as they saw a paneled picture of a beautiful waterfall. The water was plunging over a precipice of dark rock, skirted with trees and green vegetation. Then the audience couldn’t stop applauding the great artist.
Our lives are like that painting. There are times when the sky is bright and heaven pours its blessing on everything we do. Then God allows the dark colors to come—the pain, the hurts, the failures, the disappointments—and they seem to obliterate everything else. There is no reason for applause. There is no reason for praise, or so it seems. But God is not finished with us yet, because He uses both the bright colors AND the dark colors to create a masterpiece in us. And when he’s done, the entire universe will gasp in wonder at the skill of our Creator.
God is in the business of turning our disappointments into dreams come true. Why don’t you let Him do it for you? Just trust Him with your life today. Then…
OBEY HIM
Do whatever he tells you to do. That’s what Joseph did.
Matthew 1:24-25 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus (ESV).
Joseph did as the angel commanded, even though it violated all custom of his day. Instead of waiting a year as was customary, Joseph took Mary into his home right away.
One Commentator said, “There would be misunderstanding in the community and much gossip as well, but Joseph knew the true story of Mary’s pregnancy, and [he knew] God’s will for his life” (Louis Barbieri, Bible Knowledge Commentary, Vol.2, p.20).
Joseph obeyed God no matter what other people thought. And that’s what you need to do if you want to see God turn your disappointments into dreams come true. You must obey Him, even if the culture doesn’t understand.
Our culture says, “Look out for number 1.” But our God says, “Look out for the interests of others,” and “Let each of you regard one another as more important than himself” (Philippians 3:3-4).
Our culture says, “Take care of your own needs first, then if there is any left over, you can give that away.” Our God says, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you” (Matthew 6:33).
Our culture says, “Stand up for your rights.” Our God says, “Give up your rights” (1 Corinthians 9).
Our culture says, “Don’t get mad, get even.” Our God says, “Bless those who persecute you” (Romans 12:14).
And on I could go. God calls you to live in a way that is sometimes counter to the culture. There will be misunderstanding in the community and much gossip, but you know the truth, and you know God’s will for your life—Just do it. Don’t put it off any longer lest you miss out this Christmas.
The Italians have a legend about a woman named Befana who lived along the dusty road that led to Bethlehem. She was her village’s best housekeeper. Meticulous. Which was no small task with all that dust. Late one night there was a knock at the door and she opened it to find three kings in search of the baby born to be King of the Jews, the Prince of Peace. Frankly, what she also saw was all the dust that blew in and the dirt on their boots and clothes.
They asked to rest awhile and invited her to join them on their journey. And she said she’d love to do that, but she had to get the house back in order after they left, and there was a load of laundry to be done. “Let me finish up,” she said, “then I’ll be right behind you.” And they told her all she had to do was follow the star.
She worked all night and finally, near dawn, she put on her heavy cloak. She took a little straw doll she wanted to give to the baby and left her house—spic and span. But the sky had clouded over, and she couldn’t see the star. It began to rain, and her little doll was ruined. Finally, she gave up and went home. “I’m a foolish old woman,” she said to herself. “I missed my chance to worship the newborn Prince of Peace. Perhaps I will find him someday.”
So the legend is that each year she sets out with a bag of toys, leaving some at every house where there is a child, in hopes one of them might be the Child she missed (Italian Christmas Tradition, “Le Befana,” 13th century Italian folklore; Alice Bonvicini, “The Befana Comes by Night,” IItaly.org, 1-02-11; www.PreachingToday.com).
Please, don’t miss your opportunity to encounter the Prince of Peace, simply because you’re too busy with your own agenda. Put Christ first in your life and seek Him out more than anything else.
For if you want to see God turn your disappointments into dreams come true, then like Joseph just trust and obey Him.
Gladys Talbot tells the story of three little trees who wanted to be something in life.
The first tree wanted to be a treasure chest when it grew up. One day, some people came to the forest and cut the tree down. The tree was hewn into rough pieces and carelessly put together to form a feeding trough for a stable in Bethlehem. The little tree was disappointed, because it was shoved into a dark cave with no one to see it but some cattle. One day, however, God laid His own babe in that feeding trough – the Son of God! And that feeding trough quivered with delight. “Oh, this is wonderful! In all my dreams, I never thought to hold a Baby like this. This is better than anything I could have ever thought. I’m part of a miracle!”
Years passed by, and men came to the forest again to cut down the second tree. This tree wanted to be a great ship when it grew up, but the little tree did not do great things. It was not made into a great ship, but instead it became a tiny little fishing boat, owned by a simple Galilean fisherman, named Peter. The little boat was most unhappy. It stood by the shores of the Sea of Galilee dejected and disappointed. Then one day, a crowd gathered by the shore, and because there were so many people, a man, called Jesus, stepped into the little boat and used it as a platform from which to teach them all. “This is wonderful,” the little boat whispered. “In all my dreams, I never thought I would be used as part of a miracle.”
After some months, men came to the forest again to cut down the third tree. This tree just wanted to remain on the hillside and point people to God, but the men wouldn’t leave it alone. They tore away its branches. They cut into its bark, and deeper, into its very heart. They hewed it apart and put it together again in the form of a crude cross. The little tree quivered down to its very core. “This is terrible,” it whispered. “They are going to hang someone. Oh, I never wanted this to happen to me. I only wanted to point people to God. This is awful!
Then, one day, a great crowed gathered outside of Jerusalem. And there, in the midst of the crowd, was Jesus with the cross. Soldiers nailed him to that cross, and the little tree heard words of forgiveness and peace that were offered to the whole world. Then Christ completed His work of redemption. He cried, “It is finished,” and died.
That’s when the cross began to understand. “This is wonderful,” it whispered. “In all my dreams, I never thought I would point people to God in this way. I am part of a miracle. This is better than anything I could have ever dreamed! (Gladys M. Talbot, Stories I Love to Tell)
God can turn your disappointments into dreams come true. Why don’t you let Him do it for you today? Trust Him with your life, and let Him put His treasure in you. Let Him use you as a platform to point people to God. It will be better than anything you could have ever dreamed!
