Unexpected, Unwelcome, Unwanted, Wonderful

December 24, 2011

(Christmas Eve late service) by John Partridge Scripture: Luke 1:26-34 Luke 2:1-7 Matthew 2:13-16

Pastor: The priest Zachariah and his wife, Elizabeth, hoped to have children: People: But long after they were past the age of having children, God had not given any to them. Pastor: Mary prayed for the joy that would come with marriage and many children. People: But gave Mary heartbreak instead of joy. Pastor: Joseph wanted to bring honor to his family People: But Gods plan brought suspicion and dishonor instead. Pastor: This Christmas we remember that Gods plan is not always what we wanted or expected. People: But we know that Gods plan is more amazing than anything we could have imagined. In just the last few weeks I have visited members of our church as they have been put into the care of skilled nursing facilities, as they have been in the hospital for cardiac catheterizations, surgeries and other serious medical problems, offered words of comfort to youth who were going through difficulties, prayed with friends who were out of work, held the hand of a frightened mentally handicapped man as he too lay in the hospital, and held funerals for members who had finished their walk on this earth. As a church we have come alongside families in our community who have found themselves barely able to get by and were facing the prospect of there being nothing under the tree on Christmas morning. All of these folks had arrived in places that they didnt want to be. Each of us has sometime found ourselves in a similar situation and if we wait long enough, we know that we will likely find ourselves there again. In the course of our lives, we sometimes discover that we are in a place that he had no desire to go and it will take everything within us, as well as prayer and the support of our friends and family, to make it out the other side. The good news in these situations is that we are not alone and that even in the hard time of our lives, God is present. Whats more, the story of Christmas reminds us that we are not the first people to find themselves in a place that was unexpected, unwelcome and unwanted. First we remember Mary (Luke 1:26-34) In the sixth month of Elizabeths pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgins name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.
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Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacobs descendants forever; his kingdom will never end. 1

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How will this be, Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin?

Mary asks, How can this be? Mary knows full-well that being found to be pregnant before she is married will not be a good thing. She knows that Joseph, her future husband can divorce her or have her stoned to death for being unfaithful to him. This is not what Mary had hoped for. This was not how it had been in her dreams. Being in her early teens and pregnant was not a good thing, at the very least she and her family would be embarrassed and humiliated. And then we think about Joseph (Matthew 1:18-19)
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This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. Even though Mary and Joseph lived in different towns and even though they were not yet married, Joseph was responsible for her. If she did anything dishonorable, she would bring disgrace upon him and upon his family. In the world he lived in, honor was everything. Your ability to do business depended on your familys honor. Your ability to borrow money and the interest rate that you paid depended on your familys honor. Your ability to get work, and keep it and your social status all depended on your familys honor. Families did everything that they could to maintain their honor but this, this was unspeakable. Joseph was likely not more than seventeen or eighteen, possibly as young as fourteen. Joseph was learning a trade at his fathers side, and now, before his career had hardly begun, his future bride turns up pregnant. This was a disaster. This could ruin Josephs careerand his fathers as well. This could make their lives even more difficult than they already were, they could lose their customers as well as their friends and it would all be Josephs fault. Joseph didnt want to be in this place. Getting married was supposed to be wonderful. He was supposed to be starting a new life, not ending it. But God had other plans. Mary and Joseph accept that God is at work and that this situation has come about because it is a part of Gods plan. Joseph decided not to divorce Mary. They agree to get married. And then it happens again (Luke 2:1-7)
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In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. Just when Mary was getting close to her due date, just when they had gotten everything arranged with the familys favorite midwife, just when they were starting to get used to the people staring at them and whispering about them, then this happens. With Mary almost ready to give birth, the Romans order them to return to Josephs hometown. This is not a simple thing. They would have to travel with a caravan for 2
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safety, but that would cost money. They would have no arrangements with a midwife in Bethlehem. And they would have to travel. As we have seen in our evening worship during this season of Advent, the shortest possible journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem is nearly eighty miles, much of the terrain is mountainous and difficult and the last few days would take them through the desert wilderness. The hearts of Mary and Joseph must have been crushed. This was not what they had expected. This was not what they wanted. But they had no choice. And then, once they managed to survive all of that, just when things seemed to be settling down, it happened again (Matthew 2)
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When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: Out of Egypt I called my son. When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Just when Mary and Joseph began to think that they could get on with their lives, they discover that they are on the run again. This time, the King wants their baby dead and God calls them to run for their lives and flee to Egypt. They were poor, working class peasants. They didnt know anyone in Egypt. Shoot, they didnt even know anyone who had even been to Egypt. Not only were they leaving behind everything and every person that they knew, they had no idea when or even if they would ever return. Although Joseph would not live to see it, years later, Mary would watch as her beloved son, the same son for whom they had endured embarrassment, humiliation, dishonor and dislocation, was arrested, tried and convicted in a kangaroo court, and hung on a cross until he was dead. This was not what Mary wanted. And yet In the end, the thing that we remember is not the dishonor, or the discomfort, or the terror. In the end what we remember about the story is the wonder. In the end we remember that through it all, God was a part of Mary and Josephs story. We remember that despite the unexpected, the unwelcome, and the unwanted; God was working to do something that was the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to humanity in all of history. Despite how Mary and Joseph must have felt, God was at work in their lives bringing redemption and rescue to Mary and Joseph and to everyone, everywhere. In the end we remember Marys words when she sang My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.
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As we celebrate Christmas, we remember our friends and neighbors who have found themselves in difficult times and in difficult places. We remember the times when we have been in places that were unexpected, unwelcome, and unwanted and we know that sooner or later we will find ourselves there again, but we also remember the message of Christmas and the story that reminds us that God is a part of our story just as much as he was a part of Mary and Josephs story. God is at work in our lives despite the difficulties that we must endure and we remember that through it all, God has a plan. Through it all, God is able to use the unexpected, the unwelcome, and the unwanted to bring about something more amazing and wonderful than anything we could have imagined. Thats the part of the story that we remember. Merry Christmas.

You have been reading a message presented at Barnesville First United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor of Barnesville First. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Barnesville First UMC at 123 W. Church St., Barnesville, OH 43713. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@barnesvillefirst.com. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.