December 15, 2002
34Mary said to the angel, ¡§How can this be¡K
Luke 1.34a (NASB)
Rick and Judy Armstrong had a hectic holiday schedule; [they have] careers, teenagers, shopping, and all the required doings of the season. Realizing that she would be short of time, Judy had the stationer print their signature on their Christmas cards, instead of signing each one.
Soon they started getting cards from friends signed
Ħ The Modest Morrisons,
Ħ The Clever Clarks, and
Ħ The Successful Smiths.
Then she discovered the stationer¡¦s subtle mistake. She had mailed out a hundred cards neatly imprinted with Happy Holidays from the Rich Armstrongs. (1)
The Christmas season is well ¡§upon us¡¨. We are all getting Christmas cards, and Hallmark is smiling along with Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney and VISA. We carry a lot of Hallmark moments around in our heads, don¡¦t we?
There are the snapshots of snowy Christmas days.
There are the serene scenes of embraces and tender quiet moments with family.
Hallmark reprints a thousand different ways to say it for lovers.
The problem with Hallmark moments, however, is that they end! And that with which you are left is real life!
One preacher put it this way:
Do you know what the best part of Christmas is?
Being together with members of your family.
Do you know that the worst part is?
Being together with members of your family. (2)
This whole stress mania is out of hand. Norman Vincent Peale once said that people are so stressed out today they can¡¦t even fall asleep in church. (3)
Every year I struggle with that¡Kno, not falling asleep in church, but sensing that the stress of holiday survival is someday going to do me in!
And, so I sense that you also have that ¡V too much going on and too little time. Hurrying, busy, stressed!
Every year Elizabeth and I vow we are not going to get caught up again; every year I wind up eating my words along with too much turkey and Christmas junk food. This year added to the repertoire ¡V
the ice storm of the century,
Bethlehem 2002 schedule juggling,
Mom & Dad¡¦s move at the beginning of the month,
and four hundred thousand other stress-builders [including the addition of another grand-dog over at the Wynne household, a Rotweiler ¡§puppy¡¨ named Cole, weighing-in at 85 pounds. Next week we get to hound-sit for a week. If you need me, call me at the North Pole. That¡¦s where Cole takes his walks.]
I mentioned to Sandy that I was preaching on stress this Sunday. She said, Wait a minute, I¡¦ll get my video camera and follow you around for a while. We can just show it on Sunday.
[World¡¦s full of comediennes, eh?]
I replied, Shows that bad, eh? She just smiled!
With all the stress in our current day society, it¡¦s a wonder the airports can operate. While checking on some bags at the airport, a man became very indignant with the employee who was handling his luggage. For several minutes he belittled the young man and criticized his every move. Surprisingly, the curbside porter didn’t seem troubled by this man’s verbal abuse.
After the angry man entered the airport, another man approached the luggage handler and asked, How do you put up with such injustice? The young man said, Oh, it’s no big deal. That guy’s going to New York, but his bags are headed for Brazil. (4)
The question I want to say out loud, right here in the church, of all places, begs to be addressed:
IS CHRISTMAS THE PROBLEM?
I know people, even committed, Bible-believing Christians who say they hate Christmas. HATE! Now, I know they don¡¦t mean the coming of Christ; I know they are talking about the ¡§media Christmas-glitz¡¨, meaningless hurry and debt-creating overspending in which we all get trapped. However, the fact that the question has to be asked at all raises the possibility that Christmas is the problem ¡V not the real Christmas of God¡¦s incredible priceless gift of a Savior, but the way we go about celebrating Christmas.
Popular best-selling author John Grisham has even written a book entitled ¡§Skipping Christmas¡¨(5) about a husband and wife who decide that they won¡¦t participate this year. They bought $6,000 worth of gifts last year, and this year with the daughter off to college they¡¦re not going to do it again; not even a tree to decorate! So they spend $3,000 on a cruise instead. Stress is a motivator!
This morning I want to offer this as a thesis for us to chew on for the next days of Advent:
Yes, Virginia, Christmas IS
the Problem of our Stress;
and,
Yes, Virginia, Christmas is
ALSO the Solution for our Stress!
How can something be the problem and the solution? That¡¦s like my doctor saying, Brownworth, you¡¦re 40 pounds overweight¡Kbetter stock-up on Snickers!
Well, since that kind of theology won¡¦t work, let¡¦s look at Joseph. The first Christmas brought him all sorts of problems.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ¡§Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ¡§She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.¡¨ Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ¡§BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,¡¨ which translated means, ¡§GOD WITH US.¡¨ And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Matthew 1:18 through Matthew 1:25 (NASB)
CHRISTMAS; CAUSE OF OUR STRESS
Joseph was Heartbroken
Joseph was preparing for marriage and a life with the love of his life. Mary was beautiful and Joseph was working hard at building a career. Betrothal in those days was marriage legally ¡V only the bride and groom didn¡¦t live together. (How different from today when many couples live together without thought of marriage).
Mary became pregnant. To Joseph it shattered his dreams and hopes for a respectable life. It had to have crushed his heart. Christmas stress indeed; Joseph came to the first Christmas without tinsel, twinkling lights or fruitcake.
Joseph was Humiliated
The Bible tells us Joseph hatched a plan to divorce Mary privately. It was likely Joseph did not want her to go through the kind of public humiliation he knew was coming. Joseph anticipated snide remarks and social snubbing because of Mary¡¦s condition.
It seems strange in our day that it would affect a couple so deeply to have a baby without being married. Murphy Brown(5) is hailed as a modern-day Moses, leading women out from under the oppressive, repressive mores of the bondage of Victorian prudery. TV sitcoms, movies, and even real life depict virtually anything at all as being just fine, under the heading of tolerance. Joseph was smarter than that¡Khe understood God¡¦s way is one man, one woman for one lifetime. His humiliation for himself and Mary was in God¡¦s eyes as well as societies¡¦.
I know something of this. Elizabeth and I married in 1967. I had been inducted into the Army five months prior. We had made the decision to get married if I got orders for overseas, but we didn¡¦t share that with anyone but our parents. When the orders came I called and told Elizabeth I had nine days leave. We met with the minister, bought the stuff and had a wedding three days later. I¡¦m certain some of our friends and relatives were doing math for the next several months. (Jennifer came along in 1971; so there!).
Joseph was Hunted
Sticking with Mary brought danger into Joseph¡¦s equation. Mary had several liabilities. As a convicted adulteress she could have been stoned under Jewish law. She also claimed to be pregnant by God¡Kthe Pharisees would¡¦ve had a field day with that one. They hung Jesus on a cross for that kind of claim. Mary could have gotten the death penalty for blasphemy.
Adultery, blasphemy, and then, later Joseph had to take his little family to Egypt to escape Herod¡¦s holocaust against children(6). Sticking-by his vows was a costly experience for Joseph.
The first Christmas was stressful for Joseph. He was heartbroken, humiliated and hunted. It was a financial, emotional and spiritual drain, this turn of events. He was picturing wife-kids-dog and white picket fence kind of life. What he got was over-taxed, shamed, confused and run out of town. Is this first Christmas not the most stressful life you¡¦ve heard about?
It is easy to second-guess God at this point. Wouldn¡¦t it have been so much easier to bring along the Messiah after Mary and Joseph were married? Didn¡¦t that make more sense? I¡¦m certain Joseph had that very thought many times over the next years. On this side of history we can point to the prophecies of a virgin giving birth(7), and the flight to Egypt(8), but with Joseph this all happened so quickly. What was God up to? Where was this all going?
Recently I heard the illustration of how that would seem today. A speaker(9) posed this situation to his audience. Suppose on September 10, 2001 President Bush had closed all the airports, forbidding anyone to fly for the next week. It is a certainty that the ACLU, People for the American Way, Constitutionalists, Congressmen, Senators, et al would have been clamoring for impeachment. Why? They didn¡¦t know the future. They didn¡¦t understand that a day later more than 5,000 people would die at the hands of terrorists who had gotten control over four airplanes. If they had known what the president knew, they would have put him up for sainthood.
In the same way, Joseph didn¡¦t know what was in God¡¦s heart at that first Christmas. In the same way, you don¡¦t know what¡¦s in God¡¦s heart concerning YOU in this Christmas. It caused stress for Joseph, and we are no different than he.
Following Christ causes stress. The world did not understand then, and they little understand now.
CHRISTMAS; SOLUTION FOR OUR STRESS;
So, how can Christmas be the solution when Christmas is the problem? Consider Joseph again:
Joseph¡¦s Mercy Brought Insight
The angel who explained God¡¦s plan to Joseph had not yet arrived when Joseph devised his plan to privately divorce Mary. I believe it was this act of mercy ¡V Joseph attempting to spare Mary the adultery charge ¡V which included Joseph in God¡¦s plan. I believe that is why the angel appeared to him and explained God¡¦s heart in the matter.
I also believe we would see a lot more insight, a lot more of the move of God¡¦s Spirit in our lives if we were as inclined to mercy as Joseph. I know we would experience more peace, the justifying of stress against our purposes. Many of us here in this building have little clue of the purpose of God in our lives. And so we fight the stress of the situation, we kick against the pricks(10) as Paul did.
Insight, understanding what is really going on, or the purpose for our trials and joys, is the key to having peace over what is happening. Bad stuff annoys or worries us; good stuff, if it is not connected to some real higher purpose simply crowds our lives.
Understanding God¡¦s purposes is the light that dispels the darkness, and mercy ¡V personal mercy towards those around us is the key that unlocks that door.
Joseph¡¦s Obedience Brought Blessing
God¡¦s Word says that Joseph did stick with Mary. He took all the humiliation and being hunted ¡V all the risks, and hung-in with her all the way. He raised Jesus as his own and taught him the carpenter trade. He named him Jesus, Joshua (God saves), and protected him.
Joseph braved the first Christmas, with all its stress ¡V and in his life it meant raising the savior right in his own home. It meant seeing the salvation of the world standing there in the temple a dozen years later, teaching the teachers. It meant being right up close to the sinless perfection of Emmanuel. It meant a Godly household in the deepest, truest sense of the word.
Ħ Can we call that a blessing?
Ħ Can we count that all joy?
Ħ Can we call that the solution for stress?
EPILOGUE TO THE STORY:
In this life Joseph never saw Jesus¡¦ earthly ministry. Evidently he died early in life. We do not hear of Joseph past when Jesus was about twelve. Some folks would evaluate that as being short-changed. Joseph went through all the stress of the first Christmas, put up with public humiliation, heartbreak and being hunted, and all he got out of it was an early grave.
That might play out if you¡¦re into judging on what you can see. But that is the opposite of faith. By faith Joseph trusted God, was merciful to Mary and obeyed God¡¦s leading. He never saw the blessing worked out in his life. Some would say that is not fair. It depends¡KWould it have been blessing for Joseph to see Jesus hanging on the cross?
Either way, we cannot second-guess God over why Joseph died young. But we can see parallels even this week. Did you see the ¡§Area News¡¨ section of the High Point Enterprise on Thursday? Victorious Life Church has taken ¡§Bethlehem¡¨ to new heights. Amanda Remole came through our presentation last year. She was moved by the Holy Spirit to propose the event to her pastor. They went all out. It is more elaborate than our beginnings last year.
Why did our event get cut short? I honestly don¡¦t know. Perhaps we gave birth to the idea so others can pick it up and honor our Lord.
We gave our best, and that removes the stress from Christmas, and answers the question, How Can It BE? When I answer the question with, It can BE what He desires it to be!
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FOOTNOTES
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1. Touch the Family by Paul Decker, on SermonCentral.com
2. Ibid.
3. Bell Peals for Thee, Weekly Livestock Reporter, 9 February 1989, 5a
4. INJOY LIFE CLUB, John Maxwell, March 1993
5. The character portrayed by Candace Bergen on television
6. Matthew 2.1-16 records Herod¡¦s search for the Messiah, killing all children under two years of age.
7. Isaiah 7.14
8. Hosea 11.1
9. Dr. Kenneth Hemphill, UPClose, Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Dec 2002 tape.
10. Acts 9.5
