Maybe you can relate to this. I got this story from a friend of mine, and it tells the story of how the tradition of putting the angel of top of the tree began. When four of Santa’s elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce the toys as fast as the regular ones, Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule. Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her Mom was coming to visit. This stressed Santa even more. When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out, heaven knows
where. More stress.
Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked, and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys. So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of hot chocolate. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hidden the chocolate, and there was nothing to drink. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the hot chocolate pot, and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw end of the broom.
Just then the doorbell rang, and irritable Santa trudged to the door. He opened the door, and there was a little perky angel with a great big Christmas tree. The angel said, very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa Isn’t it a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?" And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.
You know most people get real excited when it comes to this time of year. It’s a time of joy and celebration. The family gets together and laughs about old times; gifts are exchanged, Santa comes and everybody is excited. It’s a time of joy. As the old song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” Yet at the same time, for others… Christmas is anything but joyous. In fact, Just as there are those who can’t wait for Christmas to get here, there are those who can’t wait for Christmas to be over.
We all have heard the statistics. More suicides happen in the holiday season than any other season. More alcohol is consumed in the month of December than any other month of the year. In the movie Christmas Vacation, the mother of the Griswold family spoke for a lot of people when she said, “What can I say, it’s Christmas and we are all miserable!” Christmas can be and is for many the most emotionally trying time of the year.
Perhaps its that way for you. Maybe you have all your family coming in for the holiday season and you don’t know how your going to feed and sleep them all? And you can’t wait for them to leave. Or Maybe you’re kids are away from home, and they are not able to be with you on Christmas day, so now you’ll be all alone. And it pains you when you see all the commercials with families celebrating the holidays together, it makes you tear up and wish that Jan 2 will hurry up and get here. Christmas for many is a difficult time of year.
Now to experience difficulty at Christmas is nothing new. This morning I want to look at just how difficult the events surrounding that first Christmas were for Joseph. Often we forget about Joseph as we come to the Christmas story, and if you are a father then you know what that is like. Everybody asks, “How’s the baby, how’s the momma doing?” No body ever thinks about the Dad. Well today I want us to look at Joseph the step father of Jesus, and see what Christmas was like for him.
Now it must have been difficult for Joseph first because he had to feel a sense of betrayal. Look at vs. 18, “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” Now we often tend to interpret this in our culture. That Mary and Joseph were high school sweet hearts, and that after Mary heard the news that she went to explain it Joseph saying, “The greatest thing happened to me today.”
But the Jewish culture of the 1st Century was much different than ours. In those days marriages were prearranged so its likely that even though Joseph and Mary came from a small town and knew each other, they didn’t know each other intimately. And they were in the betrothal period, which lasted about a year and could only be broken by a certificate of divorce. During this time, the two parties were rarely allowed to speak to each other unless their was some supervision. In fact, in Luke’s account we read that after the angel told Mary, she left and spent the next few months with her cousin Elizabeth. So it is more then likely that Joseph didn’t even find out that Mary was pregnant by Mary, but rather from a second hand source.
Now put yourself in Joseph’s position. It’s
one thing to have a fiancée give you a ring back, but its another thing to find out that she is pregnant and you know that you’re not the father, and you hear all of this second hand. It has been said that there is no greater sense of betrayal then that of an unfaithful spouse. Alan Coles is a minister in Huntington, WV who himself experienced the pain of an unfaithful spouse. He wrote, “The betrayal of one’s partner in a marriage is probably the most devastating event that can occur in life. Adultery leaves the innocent spouse with feelings of depression, guilt, and humiliation. Self-esteem reaches an all-time low, where as, self-pity reaches an all-time high. There is no life left in you. Your heart is broken. Your dreams are shattered, and you don’t want to go through another day.”
Now I imagine that Joseph was experiencing all these emotions when he found out about Mary, and no doubt he felt betrayed by someone he had trusted. Now many of you will have to see someone over the holiday season who you feel has in one way or another betrayed you. Maybe it’s an ex-spouse you who you share joint custody with, maybe its an estranged parent, or a sibling who has used you to his own advantage. No how do you deal with those feelings and what do you do?
Now Joseph had every right to publicly embarrass Mary. And I think many today would have relished the opportunity to take revenge on an unfaithful spouse and have them publicly humiliated. But Joseph, even though he was hurt deeply did not seek revenge. Look at vs. 19, “Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” Joseph was going to protect Mary, even though he must have felt so betrayed and so alone.
It was in that dark moment that God answered Joseph’s need. Vs. 20, “But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.”
So God stepped in, Joseph realized that Mary was faithful and that the child within her was that of God Himself. No, the marriage went on as scheduled, and when the time came for the child to be born, Joseph was hit with an whole new set of difficulties. The second reason why Joseph had a rough Christmas was that while he was traveling to Bethlehem, he was put under enormous pressure.
First of all, there was the financial pressure. Remember, Joseph was poor and he had a new wife and a child on the way. Add to this, he was self-employed which meant that anytime he took off he wasn’t getting paid, and add to this he was going to Bethlehem to be registered which meant he was going their to be taxed. Do you think he might had some pressure on him?
You know, I would dare say that a majority of you at one time or another have felt the pressure of the holiday season. That’s why I think so many people are so anxious to get Christmas over because
they simply can’t afford it. There’s the pressure of the perfect gift, the perfect dinner, the perfect decoration and none of these things come cheap. So this time of year especially, as we tend to overspend, we tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves financially. As one department store advertised in December of 1983 "Make this Christmas one you will not soon forget – charge everything!" And we don’t disappoint the credit card companies because we are under so much pressure to make this Christmas so great.
Have you noticed that each year it seems as though the starting date for our panicked dash through the Christmas season gets pushed back earlier and earlier, pushing us to work harder, rush faster and spend more money in an effort to make this Christmas the best one yet. And the result often is that the twelve days of Christmas becomes the twelve months of debt. Now it may be to late in many ways, but let me ask you, how many of you think that aunt may really remembers what you got her last year? Why ruin the enjoyment of the holidays by putting all this undo pressure on yourself; instead take the time to focus on what’s really the Christmas season is really all about; God’s love for you and me.
Now not only was Joseph dealing with financial pressure, there was also the pressure of traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Now Nazareth to Bethlehem is approx. 70 miles, and I can speak from experience that traveling with a nine month pregnant woman is not the easiest thing to do. Imagine the pressure of having to travel 70 miles on a donkey. Now I’ve never been pregnant before (praise God!) but I have seen my wife pregnant three times, and when she was nine months pregnant, its bad enough traveling 10 miles in a van to Wal-mart , none the less 70 miles on a donkey. So Joseph had to worry about getting Mary there, and then not only did he have to deal with the pressures of money and travel, there was also the pressures of the unexpected.
Now as you know it when you’re under pressure things don’t go as planned. This past week was a week packed with things, and I was behind schedule and spent most of Saturday finishing up my study for this message. Last night, after we got through with our Christmas caroling, we had to run to Wal-Mart to get a few things, and of course it was getting late and all three girls were tired and cranky, which made me tired and cranky, and grumpy…and so I said let’s get our stuff and go. We were in such a hurry that when we got home, I went to unpack the groceries, and they weren’t there. I stomped off back to Wal-mart and they were right there where we had left them, and there was a guy parked right next to them, and he was sitting in the car, and I was waiting for him to say something to me. But I rushed home because I had to finish my sermon, and it’s close to 9:45 now, and when I get to my computer, it says that it had to restart for some reason, and because I didn’t save my work earlier, I lost half of my sermon. What a day!
Well I imagine that is how Joseph must have felt. Imagine dealing with all that pressure of getting Mary all the way to Bethlehem and looking forward to a good nights rest, and then when he gets there he finds out that there is no room in the inn. How Joseph kept from losing his mind I will never know, but you know that life is filled with unexpected pressures.
Some are simple: you don’t have all the ingredients for your green bean casserole, or your mother in law opened the door to that junk room you threw everything into. Others are not so simple. Your job is laying off workers just weeks before the holidays and now you don’t know if you’re future income is secure. Your loved one gets ill and is rushed to the hospital and you have to spend Christmas wondering if everything is going to be okay. But just like Joseph, no matter what kind of pressure we are under, God will see us through.
You know I’m sure Joseph must have felt like his resources didn’t meet the demands that was being placed on him, he didn’t have enough money, enough time, enough patience, but God never asks us something unless he provides the means to do it. And God provided a place to stay, not a castle but a stable. Wasn’t the greatest, but sufficient, and I’m sure Joseph was grateful. God provided Joseph with some income as the magi brought the baby gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. God provided for Joseph’s greatest needs.
And the good news of the Christmas story is that in Christ God has provided for our greatest needs. The angle told Joseph that when the baby comes, you are to call Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. And that is the need that God fulfilled in Christ. It was our need for a Savior, our need for forgiveness.
There’s a Christmas card that says: If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness, so he sent us a Savior."
did you hear that? our greatest need is forgiveness
Why did we need a Savoir born to us. Let me put it this way. Imagine that this Christmas you pay for all of your gifts and other holiday expenses with a credit card. Now imagine that you have spent to the maximum limit of that card so that you cannot charge another item. Then one day the bill comes in the mail telling you how much you owe and what your minimum payment must be. There is only one problem; you do not have the money so you cannot pay the bill. What do you suppose would happen next? Letters and phone calls would flood into your house demanding payment; but you have no money. The credit card is cancelled and your credit report reflects your non-payment status. But none of that really matters, because you do not have the money with which to pay. You made the charges and you enjoyed the purchases, but now you cannot settle your debt.
Now suppose you receive a letter from the credit card company telling you that someone else has paid your debt in full? The charges were not theirs, but they paid the price for you. The debt was not in their name, but they took it upon themselves. You do not have to pay them, and in fact, you cannot pay them back. All they wanted to do was make life better for you by taking that burden of debt away. What a wonderful gift and what a generous gesture that would be.
That is exactly what happened when Christ came into our world. We had built up a mountain of sin and debt. Every day the interest accrued making the debt even bigger. The debt consisted of promises we made to God but did not keep. The debt consisted of deeds of service we should have done but never got around to. The debt consisted of immoral actions and unjust actions. The debt consisted of our prejudices, our jealousies, our greed and our selfishness. But rather than continuing to hold that debt over our heads, God placed all of that sin on the shoulders of one man; Jesus Christ. God agreed that by the death of that one man all of our sins would be forgiven if we would only put our faith in. Now I can’t fully explain how that works, but I know that scripture says that because of what Christ did for us on the cross, I can be forgiven.
That is what God did for us at Christmas; he set in motion the plan for our salvation. It started in Bethlehem, but it ended in Jerusalem. It started in a cradle, but it ended on a cross. It started with the birth of a baby, but it ended with the death of a man.
And not only has He provided for us in Christ our need for a Savior, but in Christ we have the answer for our need for companionship. You will call Him Emmanuel, God is with us. Ann Landers wrote about a person she knew who said the greatest gift he ever received in his life was a note his dad gave him on Christmas. It read, "Son, this year I will give you 365 hours. An hour every day after dinner. We’ll talk about whatever you want to talk about. We’ll go wherever you want to go, play whatever you want to play. It will be your hour." That dad kept his promise and renewed it every year.” The greatest gift a person can give is not a car with a bow around it, but they can give you themselves. And that is just what God did. You need not be lonely any more. The good news is that God has not forsaken us, that not only is He here in Spirit today, but He was here on this earth, veiled in flesh, veiled in humility. God was one of us, and He is here with us today.
