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. 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.
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. 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."
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)
Matthew’s account of the nativity gives us details about Mary and Joseph that Luke leaves out. Matthew’s account opens up a window on some of the personal pain…even shame...that was required to bring us the beauty of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
As beautiful as this story is to us…and we should view it as a very beautiful story…in it’s original context, as it originally happened, it was a story that was marked with shame. This morning, as we continue our series, “The Dark Side of Christmas” I want to explore the cultural shame that shrouded the nativity story and look at how God took that shame and brought from it amazing joy.
I want us to see that God is an expert at taking shame, pain, and confusion and creating indescribable joy. God’s in the business of turning our shame in to joy…our mourning into dancing.
Movement 1:
Mary & Joseph - The shame & joy of an unplanned pregnancy
Joseph and Mary were “Betrothed” (Explain the custom of betrothal)
• Never alone indoors (some sources say that the couple is never ALONE)
• The betrothal lasts a year
• The husband spends this time preparing a home for his family
• The bride spends this time preparing for the wedding
• When the home was ready, the groom came to receive his bride (usually, though not exclusively, at midnight)
In the meantime…
• A token of worth has been exchanged (usually a ring or a coin) to “seal the deal”
• Obviously, since they cannot be alone together, there is no sexual contact/union until the actual wedding takes place.
• Though not yet living together or having sexual contact, this agreement could be broken only by divorce
Mary was now pregnant and Joseph was not the father
• The penalty for adultery during betrothal was more severe than the penalty for adultery after the marriage was finalized. (I’m not certain why this was so but that is what the various sources I checked all indicated)
• The typical penalty called for a public divorce and then the woman was taken to the front of her father’s house where she was stoned to death for her failure to remain faithful to her betrothed husband.
• There was shame and disgrace in this situation because it calls Mary’s purity and righteousness into question. (not to mention the shame/embarrassment her family experiences since they have already received a dowry from Joseph and/or his family)
A difficult choice for Joseph
• divorce the woman he has chosen as his wife and to whom he is betrothed, possibly causing her death and certainly branding her as unfaithful
OR
• Marry her and accept responsibility for her condition and take on and share in the shame that she is experiencing.
“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”
Matthew 1:19 (NIV)
Joseph’s initial response was the response that would be expected of a righteous man. He would divorce her…breaking the betrothal. But Joseph was also a man of compassion and he chose to divorce her quietly…not a public divorce that would humiliate her and her family and ultimate end in her death by stoning.
However, God had another plan in mind. God steps in and intervenes, changing Joseph’s plans.
But after he (Joseph) 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. 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."
Matthew 1:20-21 (NIV)
God tells Joseph that there is a bigger plan here. God reminds Joseph that HE is working behind the scenes (and sometimes in front of the scenes) and is concerned with more than just Joseph’s honor and righteousness (or the perceived lack thereof). God is concerned with more than whether or not he and Mary will be view as shameful by their culture. God’s plan involved redeeming that culture and delivering the people from sin. And the child that Mary was carrying was the means that God would use to bring this redemption.
It’s not that God didn’t care about the righteousness of Mary or Joseph, to the contrary it was because of their righteousness that they were selected to be players in God’s plan of redemption. But more than what people might think about Mary and Joseph, God was concerned with redeeming those people from sin.
So God interjects himself into Joseph’s life and tells Joseph to go ahead with the plans to take Mary as his wife. And Joseph obeys God. Joseph chose to accept the shame/blame for their situation and he took Mary as his wife and raised Jesus as his own child. (in naming the child, Joseph accepts him as his own and takes responsibility for him.)
(share theory on how God may have protected Mary and Joseph from the shame and stigma they would have faced in Nazareth?)
God takes a shameful situation and from it brings Joy…
God takes what would have been seen as a shameful circumstance and through it he brings joy to the word. Actually, God planned this particular shameful situation. (Please understand that I’m not saying God’s plan was shameful, but that those who were unaware of the plan would have perceived the situation as shameful and would have attached guilt to Mary and Joseph because of the situation) But it’s just like God to use what the world would see as shameful and bring about his glory. Remember last we talked about the fact that God has a tendency to do this so that man can’t boast about the outcome of these situations.
Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.
I Corinthians 1:27-28 (NLT)
God, using those things that just don’t make sense…in this case a shameful situation…brings about incredible (that would be un-believable) joy.
The angels that broke the news to the shepherds put it this way.
“I bring you good news of GREAT JOY that will be for all people.”
Luke 2:10 (NIV)
The joy that was born from the shame and disgrace and pain experienced by Mary and Joseph wasn’t for them alone. It was a joy that was for ALL PEOPLE.
• This joy wasn’t limited to a few shepherds
• This joy wasn’t limited to a small family in a shameful situation
• This joy was to be “for all people.”
Because a young carpenter and his betrothed bride were willing to let God use them, even in a situation that left them vulnerable to shame, disgrace and blame by their community, we get to experience the joy of knowing Jesus and experiencing his transforming power in our lives. It’s a joy that is for ALL PEOPLE.
(Last week:) Isn’t it just like God to take despair and bring hope? And as we see this week, it’s just like God to take shame and pain and bring joy.
But He didn’t stop with the birth of his Son…God continued to take shame and bring great joy and hope from it.
Movement 2:
Christ - The Shame of the Cross
The crucifixion of Jesus is possibly the single most shameful event in human history. First of all, Jesus was an innocent man. He was put to death as a criminal when he was the only person in the world who could never qualify as a criminal.
But crucifixion itself was the epitome of shame.
Death by Crucifixion was designed to produce the greatest degree of SHAME, and to Inflict the maximum amount of PAIN for the longest possible period of TIME.
Crucifixion was an especially shameful form of execution. Our Lord’s death on the cross was humiliating in a way that we can never fully enter into. He died that way not only because it was the Romans’ preferred method of execution, but also because that kind of death was necessary in order for the Lord Jesus to bear away sin. Calvary had to be an accursed death in the terms of the Old Testament:
“Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”
Deuteronomy 21:23 (NIV)
It was a particularly public kind of death. It was a punishment designed to kill (slowly) but also to degrade and humiliate. The accused was hung naked upon the cross (all of our nice pictures of Jesus with his loin cloth are for our own modesty’s sake…Jesus was hung naked). And they were hung in such a way as to be subjected to cruel taunts and slander from the on-lookers. In the case of Jesus there was the extra reason for reproach – that he was supposed to be the Son of God, the Savior, and couldn’t even save himself. For our sakes the Lord submitted himself to this shameful death.
Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us that Jesus disregarded, ignored, the shame of the cross in order to reach the joy that was on the other side.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)
The cross was the ultimate in shame…and yet through that shame God brought joy for those who have been redeemed. (Ransomed).
But God isn’t done brining joy out of the shame in people’s lives.
Movement 3:
Me (and you) - Jesus wants to take my shame and give me joy
Here’s where the story becomes personal, once again. God, our incredible, loving father, didn’t simply take the social shame and stigma surrounding the birth of Jesus and bring about Joy to the world. God, our father didn’t just take the shame of the cross and bring us the joy of salvation. He wants to take whatever shame (and the resulting pain) you are dealing with and use it to bring his joy into your life.
• Joy of forgiveness (being clean)
• Joy of redemption (not just heaven in eternity, but a redeemed life here and now)
• Joy of purpose/meaning
• Joy of life to the fullest (John 10:10)
•
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
John 10:10 (NLT)
When we surrender our shame to God he will take that shame, and out of it he will bring joy; a joy that isn’t just for you but joy that can be “for all people.” Our shame can be used by God (if we’ll surrender it to him) to bring about joy in our lives and in the lives of others.
Ultimately, God wants to remove all of our shame…forever. John writes in Revelation,
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
Revelation 21:3-4 (NLT)
God is willing to take all of our pain and shame and replace it with his joy. And when we surrender our shame to him, not only will he work in our lives to make something beautiful and joyful, but he will use his work in our lives to bring joy into the lives of others.
So What?
I don’t know what shame you are dealing with. I don’t know what has gone on in your life (or is still going on in your life) that you feel brings you shame and disgrace. I don’t know what secrets you’re worried about being exposed for fear that those around you will shame you.
• Perhaps your shame is the result of poor choices or sinful choices you’ve made.
• Perhaps your shame is due to failure in some aspect of life, work…relationships…money…family…
• Perhaps your shame is due to the fact that, even after doing the right thing and making the right choices, others who were close to you didn’t “get it.” (i.e. A Christian in a family from another religion or no religion…)
• Perhaps you’ve stepped up and done the right thing and as a result taken on the shame of someone else…or maybe those around you even other followers of Christ, don’t understand what you are doing and so shame has become a part of your reality.
I don’t know what shame you have faced or are facing in life…
I DO KNOW this…God isn’t afraid of your secrets (he already knows them). God isn’t afraid of your shame. God isn’t surprised by anything you can lay on the table in front of him. In fact, he invites you to lay it all out before him. Your shame, your mistakes, your pain. He wants to take it from you and bring from it joy for you and allow you to take that joy to others.
Will you let him bring joy out of your shame?
