Title: There Goes My Life
12/21/03
Text: Mt. 1:18-25, Jn. 19:25-27 and Mt. 3:16-17, Jn. 3:16
A.M. Service
Purpose: A Christmas sermon dealing with the aspect that there may come moments in life where we think we’ve thrown it all away. How does the Christmas story restore hope to those in that situation.
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Introduction
“There Goes My Life…” Written by Kenny Chesney
Kenny Chesney has a new CD/Video out entitled, “There Goes My Life…” It’s a ballad focusing on the life of two young kids in high school that find themselves in a crisis moment of a pregnancy out of wedlock. (I want to say here that I’m not advocating the immoral situation of this young couple, but rather the interesting wording of the song.)
The video pictures a scene of this young couple standing in the entry way of a football stadium, where the young lady explains that she has found out that she is pregnant. He, in disbelief begins to reflect, rubbing his hand through his hair, walking off, sitting alone in the locker room over a decision that was made in an unguarded moment of passion.
Song Verse: “All he could see is his dream going up in smoke. What will I do in this time when all my plans are gone. There goes my life, there goes my future. My everything, might as well kiss it all good by, there goes my life.”
The song continues on by reflecting on the life of this little one now in the world. A couple of years have passed, and the mistake he’d made now covers the refrigerator door. He loves that little girl, as she walks up those stairs, she says, “I love you daddy, goodnight,” and he responds, “there goes my life, there goes my future.”
The song concludes when this same little girl stands in the doorway of their home, saying goodbye as she’s off to the coast for college, and he stands in the window waving goodbye, singing, “there goes my life, there goes my future.”
The reason I mention that song, again is not to glorify an immoral situation by no means, and Scripture is very clear on that. But the wording of it.
How does the Christmas story intersect a life that seems like it is being thrown away, and says, there goes my life…
In a season that is suppose to be filled with joyfulness, and glee, there are many who feel like their lives have changed because of an impulsive decision, a lack of judgement, or and improper behavior. Does God have anything today, to bring us hope? Yes he does.
How does Jesus respond to those who feel like, “There goes my life…?”
I. What Have I Done?
It’s the story of Mary and Joseph in Matthew 1:18-25
It deals with the aspect of apparent mistakes in life…
Sometimes we have the benefit of reading the Christmas story from this side of history rather than the other. Sometimes we sanitize and sterilize the human response and feelings in such a manner that seems almost unrealistic, if we were placed in the same situation.
I remember a few years ago when we watched the drama presentation my brother Tom performs in at Sight and Sound in Lancaster PA. It was the Christmas story, and Mary founds out that she is pregnant, and runs to tell Joseph. I’ve read this story countless times, and yet, it really wasn’t until I watched it dramatically played out, did I realize that initial responses to this encounter we not favorable.
We are not told of the specifics of this encounter, just that Mary has been visited by an angel and told that she was going to be with child. The Holy Spirit comes upon here and she conceives as part of God’s plan. She runs to tell Joseph, and while the Scripture is not specific in detail, it does make this comment. Verse 1:19 says, “Joseph, her fiancé, being a just man, decide to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly.”
What has happened?
Modern readers need to understand the traditions involved in ancient Jewish marriages.
1. First, the two families would agree to the union and negotiate the betrothal.
2. Next, a public announcement would be made and the couple was "pledged." Though the couple was not officially married, their relationship could be broken only through death or divorce. Sexual relations were not yet permitted.
a. This second step lasted for a year. During that time, the couple would live separately, with their parents. This waiting period would demonstrate the bride’s purity. If she were found to be pregnant during that time, the marriage could be annulled.
b. Because Mary and Joseph were pledged to be married, they had not yet had sexual relations, but while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Mary was pledged and pregnant, and Joseph knew that the child was not his own. Mary’s apparent unfaithfulness carried a severe social stigma.
According to Jewish civil law, Joseph had the right to divorce her. The law also explained that the penalty for unchastity was death by stoning (Deuteronomy 22:23-24), although this was rarely carried out at this time. Removing any doubt of Mary’s purity, Matthew explained that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. During Old Testament times, the Spirit acted on God’s initiative (for example, Genesis 1:2). Thus, the divine initiative in Jesus’ conception was made clear.(1)
What was the response? Matthew 1:24 “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded. He brought Mary home to be his wife, but she remained a virgin until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.”
Application:
Let us remember that this was not a mistake, or mishap. But part of the divine plan of God. Joseph, responded in obedience to the will of God and the instructions of the angel, and took Mary to be his wife.
But let’s apply it today.
What if we read this passage in light of those who do feel like they’ve made a mistake in life. Who are sitting here today, or any Sunday, and say, because of the choices I’ve made, I feel like “There goes my life…my dreams, my plans, my future….”
What does this part of the story say to me? It says, that there is hope for the past.
Question: What have I done?
Answer: There are more options than we think. There can be hope for the past.
While we can not change what has happened in the past, we can change how we respond to the past. Those mistakes in the past will continue to be mistakes, if we don’t respond properly.
Joseph was faced with a difficult choice after discovering that Mary was pregnant. Although he knew that taking Mary as his wife could be humiliating, Joseph chose to obey the angel’s command to marry her. His actions revealed four admirable qualities.
a. Righteousness
b. Discretion and sensitivity
c. Responsiveness
d. Self-discipline.
And perhaps Joseph thought he had only two options: divorce Mary quietly, or have her stoned. But God had a third option- marry her. In view of the circumstances, that had not occurred to Joseph. But God often shows us that there are more options available than we think. Although Joseph seemed to be doing the right thing by breaking the engagement, only God’s guidance helped him make the best decision. When our decisions affect the lives of others, we must always seek God’s wisdom.(2)
You know that Jesus identifies with everything you go through in life.
One father illustrates this point this way: (Brian Mavis ~ Sermon Central )
“Last night I told my girls that I was going to read the Christmas story to them. They were busy with some project and said, “We already know that story.” Later on my seven year old daughter was telling me something she was worried about. I told her she needed to tell Jesus about it because He knew what it was like to be seven years old.
“Really?” she said.
“Yes- Jesus used to be a seven-year old.’
I grabbed a C.D. and we listened to a song called “Boy Like Me/Man Like You” by Rich Mullins. Here are a few of the lyrics.
You was a boy like I was once, but was You a boy like me?
Well I grew up around Indiana, You grew up around Galilee.
And if I ever really do grow up,
Lord I want to grow up and be just like You.
Well did you wrestle with a dog and lick his nose?
Did you play beneath the spray of a water hose?
Did you ever make angels in the winter snow?
And I really may just grow up and be like You someday.
She was amazed by the idea that Jesus knew what it was like to be like her. Just an hour earlier she thought she had heard it all.
Have you heard it all before, and think, there goes my life…
Well the good news is, you don’t have to be a victim of your past any longer, if you’re willing to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life.
II. What Will I Do Without Him?
We jump 33 years into the future, and we’re standing with Mary again, but this time, we are standing at the foot of the cross.
John 19:25-27 Jesus is hanging there on the cross
“Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said, to her, “Woman, he is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “She is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.”
Analysis: Here is Mary. She’s pondered all the events of this child in her heart, the Scripture says. She’s watched his growing up, his early childhood years of running and playing ball with the other boys. She’s watched his teenage years, and remembers leaving him at the temple, and going back to find him about his father’s business. She remembers his first miracles at the wedding at Cana of Galilee, and listening to him preach. How proud she must have felt.
But now…Now what was going to happen? Women did not have the same rights and status then, as they might find today. What was she going to do for a living? Who would take care of her in her old age? How would she meet her needs? The question was not so much about the future, but what about the present. What about today, and tomorrow and next week, let alone a few years from now?
We very likely could hear her say, “There goes my life, my future…”
Question: What will I do?
Answer: There is more to life than we know…
Look at this situation again. Here is Jesus in the last moments of life. And what does he do? He takes care of his mother.
He pays attention to the smallest details of life.
When the crisis moments come, and we ask the question of “what will I do…” because we’ve lost our spouse after 50 years, or our job situation has changed, or there is a major crisis in your life… remember, nothing escapes the notice of our heavenly father.
Just as we answer the question first of “What have I done?” with the answer, that there is more options than we think; we answer this question of “What will I do without him?” with the answer, that there is more to life than we know.
What I’ve discovered through the years of being with people when there is a loss of life, or a major life transition, is that the immediate moment can be overwhelming. We try to answer all the possible scenarios, and questions, with immediate answers. And sometimes when others try to give advise, their words ring hollow because either they don’t know what to say, or they’ve not walked in your shoes.
But may I say here again, that there is more to life than we know. Why, because Jesus Christ identifies with who you are and where you are right now. Where we learned with Mary and Joseph about hope for the past, here we learn that there is hope for the present.
1 Peter 5:7 (NLT) says, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.”
Notice that first word…”give.” There come those moments that we must give our worries to God. We choose no longer to hold on to them. But it also says, to “give ALL…”
How much is all? It’s everything.
Illustration:
Professor Wendy Wright of Creighton University tells in her book “The Vigil” about a memorable caroling experience in a homeless shelter:
There is one gentlemen from several Christmases ago whom I will never forget. Our little choir had been singing long enough in the smoke-filled, noisy shelter to be ready to wind up our sing-a-long. Then a disheveled man of about fifty in a soiled jacket, who’s perceptions of things, due either to ill health or some chemical substance, seemed doubtful, asked me to sing his favorite Christmas song.
It was “O Holy Night,” he said. Would I do it with him? I agreed and began. The crowded room gradually grew silent as he and I raised up our two voices together. He leaned on the edge of a tattered sofa about three feet from me, his eyes closed, the tired creases of his street-weary face softening as he intoned. We moved deeper into the melody, exploring the accelerated tempo and rising pitch that evoked the Christmas miracle.
“Long lay the world in sin and error pining ‘Til he appeared and the world felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, As yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!
As he strained his gravelly voice to give wings to the song’s words, his face shone and tears fell gently from his lowered eyes. I knew, at that moment, that his longing and mine were one, and that the burning for the fulfillment of the promise that I felt was not only mine, it was etched on the human heart.”(3)
There really is more to life than we know.
Finally, when we ask…
1. What Have I done, there is hope for the past in that there are more options than we think,
2. What will I do without him, there is hope for the present, in that there is more to life than we know…
III. What Do I Have?
Luke 2:8-15
Jesus came to give life…John 10:10 (KJV)
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Question is What do I have?
Answer: There is more hope to life than we realize.
Application: Here is your life, and here is your future.
God became one of us…
THE CHRISTMAS STORM: A Modern Parable by Paul Harvey
"This is about a modern man, one of us, he was not a scrooge, he was a kind, decent, mostly good man, generous to his family, upright in his dealings with others. But he did not believe in all that incarnation stuff that the Churches proclaim at Christmas time. It just didn’t make sense to him and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just could not swallow the Jesus story about God coming to earth as man. I’m truly sorry to distress you, he told his wife, but I’m not going with you to church this Christmas Eve. He said he’d feel like a hypocrite. That he would much rather stay home, but that he would wait up for them.
He stayed, they went. Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier, then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another and another. At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. Well, when he went to the front door, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the storm and in a desperate search for shelter they had tried to fly through his large landscape window.
Well, he couldn’t let the poor creatures lie there and freeze. He remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter -- if he could direct the birds to it. He quickly put on his coat and galoshes, trampled through the deepening snow to the barn, opened the door wide, and turned on a light. But the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in and he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow making a trail to the yellow lighted wide open doorway of the stable, but to his dismay the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them, he tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms -- instead they scattered in every direction except into the warm lighted barn.
Then he realized they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature, if only I could think of some way to let them know they can trust me. That I’m not trying to hurt them, but to help them. How? Any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him. If only be a bird myself he thought. If only I could be a bird and mingle with them and speak their language, and tell them not to be afraid, and show them the way to the safe, warm barn. But I’d have to be one of them, so they could see and hear and understand.
At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sound of the wind. He stood there listening to the bells. Adeste Fideles. Listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.(4)
What do you have?
1. Reassurance that you don’t have to be afraid. V. 2:10
2. We have the good news for everyone. V. 11
3. That good news is the Messiah. The Savior of the world.
4. A chance to experience personally, Christ the Lord.
Because he became one of us…
If you are asking,,, “There goes my life,…” Jesus came and said, “Here is my life for you.”
He is our hope for the future.
Footnotes
1. Word Search Desk Notes. WordSearch Corp. 9201 Metric Blvd. Suite B. Austin, TX 78758. Version 5.W.1.
2. IBID
3. Excerpt from “The Vigil: Keeping Watch in the Season of Christ’s Coming” by Wendy M. Wright, Upper Room Books, 1996.
4. SOURCE: Paul Harvey Contributed by Jeff Strite, Church of Christ at Logansport, IN.
