What are your expectations and hopes going into Christmas this year?
Christmas celebrations often look different for everyone.
Some of you will be gathering with family and having big meals together.
Some of you will be having a gift-giving time.
Depending on the size of your family or gathering,
that could be something that either energizes you or excites you,
or maybe you're bracing yourself.
Maybe that's somewhat draining to you.
Good, but draining.
For many, Christmas can be difficult.
It can be a painful reminder of broken or strained family relationships.
It can be the time when conflict happens,
where arguments break out,
harbored bitterness, unforgiveness,
grudges can take their toll.
Sometimes the children are all smiles,
but there's tension amongst the adults.
And then there are those who have lost precious loved ones recently.
There are those who are far from home.
These realities remind us that despite all the anticipation and the buildup,
Christmas may not be what we expect or hope.
And all of these celebration dynamics, they change from year to year.
But there's one wonderful thing that stays the same,
Christmas after Christmas,
and year after year,
a reason to rejoice,
a place for our hearts to rest,
and to have peace,
no matter what's going on in your life.
And it's the good news
that Christ, the Lord,
our Savior,
has been born.
So I want to just briefly tell you the story again.
It's difficult to pick the moment that all of it started.
As we've been talking about in our adult Sunday school,
God has been writing a grand good news story,
and it's barely possible to appreciate this moment of the story
without considering all that's led up to it.
Without thinking about why Jesus' coming was so desperately needed.
And so do we start with the many human problems
of which Jesus is the remedy?
Or do we start with the many promises made long ago by the prophets?
Or do we go back even further than that
to before the creation of the world
and God's own eternal, unfathomable purposes?
Or do we just start with the first event,
recorded in the New Testament?
All of these are true and right places to start.
And this is why Matthew begins his gospel
with a genealogy going all the way back to Abraham.
This is why John begins his gospel
with an explanation of how Jesus,
the Word,
was in the beginning,
even before this world was created.
And this is why Luke begins his account
with the first visible sign
after 400 years of silence from God.
All of these are true and right places to start.
So this Christmas,
let's start where Luke started
in his account.
It all started in the time of Herod,
king of Judea,
with a priest named Zechariah.
There had been centuries prior to this
with no word from God,
no prophets.
There were some significant moments
and even signs
that God was still at work
to protect and to preserve his people
behind the scenes,
but no words,
no visions,
no revelations
like in centuries past.
And then one day,
God broke the silence.
It all started with a man named Zechariah
who was a priest,
one of the men who served the Lord
at the temple in Jerusalem.
And even though his wife was well past
the age of childbearing,
meaning that it was biologically impossible
for her at this age to conceive,
God sent his angel
to appear to Zechariah one day
during his service in the temple
and God's angel told him
that he would soon father a son.
And this son to be born
would have a very special role
in God's plan.
This son of Zechariah's
would be used by God
to bring many people
back to the Lord their God
and to make them ready
for his appearing.
Zechariah,
even though he was a righteous,
God-fearing man,
he doubted this message
from the angel
and he was made mute
because of it.
Six months later,
the same angel,
Gabriel,
was sent to a young woman
in the town of Nazareth.
And this young woman,
of course,
was named Mary.
Mary was a relative
of Zechariah's wife,
Elizabeth.
And Mary was engaged
to a man named Joseph,
a carpenter.
Gabriel appeared to Mary
and told her
the most jaw-dropping thing
a person could ever hear.
I'm going to read it for you
right out of the Gospel of Luke.
The angel went to her
and said,
Greetings,
you who are highly favored.
The Lord is with you.
Mary was greatly troubled
at his words
and wondered
what kind of greeting
this might be.
But the angel said to her,
Do not be afraid, Mary.
You have found favor
with God.
You will conceive
and give birth to a son
and you are to call him
Jesus.
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
and he will reign
over Jacob's descendants
forever.
His kingdom
will never end.
The angel then explains
to Mary
how it will happen.
Though she has never been
with Joseph
or with
any other man
intimately,
God's Holy Spirit
would do a miracle
inside of her
causing her to conceive
without a human father
such that the child
to be born
would rightly be called
the Son of God.
what an astounding
word
to receive
from God.
Well, three months later,
Zachariah's son
was born,
little baby John,
and another miracle
takes place.
Zachariah,
who had been unable
to speak
for nine months,
regains his ability
to speak
and God's Spirit
fills him
and he begins
to speak
like the prophets
of long ago,
a message
from God.
And the message
is that God's salvation
is very near.
A king is soon
to be born
in fulfillment
of all God promised
long ago
through his holy prophets.
A great salvation
is about to appear.
A forgiveness of sins
is about to be known
and these
will be gifts
of God's tender
mercy.
And little John,
the son of Zachariah
and Elizabeth,
shall be a prophet
of God
and he will be
the one
to prepare the way
for the Lord
by giving people
a knowledge
of all these things
that God
is about to do.
And as you can imagine,
this caused
quite a stir
in the hill country
of Judea
and everybody
was talking
about old
Zachariah
and Elizabeth
and their brand new
baby boy.
Meanwhile,
we don't know
the exact timing
of things here
but there was conflict.
There was tension
between Mary
and Joseph.
At some point here,
Joseph finds out
that Mary
is pregnant
and it causes
great struggle
in his heart.
he had chosen
Mary
and no doubt
deeply
loved her
but how could
this be
that she's
pregnant?
Joseph knew
that he was not
the father
of her child
and so there must
have been a moment
in the past little while
where she had been
with another man.
How could she?
How long
had she known
about this
before she told him?
We don't know.
Did Joseph find out
about this before
or after Mary
went to visit
Elizabeth
in Judea?
We don't know.
All we know
is that Joseph's
heart was torn.
He was thinking
very seriously
about calling off
his engagement
altogether
father.
And yet he loved
her enough
that he didn't
want to expose
her to
public disgrace
and so he was
considering a way
of breaking things
off with her
quietly.
But then that
night
God caused
his angel
to appear to
Joseph
in a dream
and God
said this
to him.
We read in
Matthew
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.
And so
Joseph
married Mary
and took her
home as his
wife.
Can you imagine
what it was like
for them to
count down the
days together
until the
arrival of this
very special
child?
And as the
days went by
we imagine
that Joseph
and Mary
began to
make preparations
in their
home like
all first-time
parents do
and the
day was
getting
closer and
closer.
But then
something very
unexpected
happened.
The emperor
himself
decided that
it was time
to count
all the
people in
the empire
census time.
And this
was not the
mail-out
kind.
This was the
kind that
required Joseph
and Mary
to make
the long
trip all
the way
from where
they lived
in the
north
back to
their
hometown.
A little
town called
Bethlehem
just outside
of the
big city
of Jerusalem.
I've been
through this
four times
now and
I can tell
you when
it's getting
late into
the third
trimester
you want to
stay close
to home.
You don't
want to be
traveling
especially not
any great
lengths.
You don't
want to be
delivering your
wife's baby
on the
side of
the road.
And these
were not
the days
of automobiles.
These are
the days
of walking
and riding
animals
and carts.
But the
census required
it and so
they made
the journey
down to
Bethlehem.
Now I'm
not saying
that this is
worse than
what the
women go
through.
they have
it worse
by far.
But when
it comes
to what
we men
are responsible
for in
this whole
thing,
few things
are as
stressful
as figuring
out how
to help
your wife
have all
that she
needs
when the
time comes
for that
baby to
be born.
I mean
if we
just knew
the exact
time that
it would
all begin
and how
long each
stage of
the labor
would go,
we could
just plan,
we could
make
arrangements.
No doubt
Joseph
tried that
night in
Bethlehem.
But by
the plan
of God
his son,
the baby,
ended up
having nothing
better than
a feeding
trough for
his little
bed on
the night
that he
was born.
All the
guest rooms
were taken
and where
was this
manger?
Was it
out back
the inn?
Was it
at the
local
stable?
Was it
out behind
the relative's
house?
It doesn't
say.
But that's
how it
went,
the night
that God's
son was
born into
this world.
The night
when our
Savior took
his first
breath with
human lungs.
It was a
humble,
quiet,
and private
birth in a
lowly place
there in
Bethlehem.
God did
choose a
very spectacular
way to
break the
news of
his son's
birth,
just not
to the
folks that
we would
have
expected.
Out in
the fields
around the
town that
night there
were shepherds
guarding their
sheep,
and God
made the
birth announcement
to them.
He lit
up the
sky for
them.
We read
about this
in Luke's
gospel.
An angel
of the
Lord appeared
to them,
and the
glory of
the Lord
shone around
them,
and they
were terrified.
But the
angel said
to them,
do not
be afraid.
I bring
you good
news that
will cause
great joy
for all
the people.
Today,
in the
town of
David,
a Savior
has been
born to
you.
He is
the Messiah,
the Lord.
this will
be a sign
to you.
You will
find a
baby wrapped
in cloths
and lying
in a
manger.
This one
angel was
then joined
by countless
more,
and the
shepherds
heard them
all praising
God together
and speaking
of peace
for those
on whom
God's favor
rests.
What an
awesome and
glorious sight
that must
have been.
Then the
sky goes
dark
again,
the angels
leave,
and the
shepherds
run into
the town
in search
of the
Messiah.
They relay
all that
they had
seen and
heard from
the angels
to Mary
and Joseph,
and the
story goes
on from
there.
This is
the Christmas
story.
This is
the good
news that
doesn't
change,
year to
year.
This is
where we
find joy.
This is
where we
find peace,
no matter
what's going
on in
our lives.
Jesus,
our
Emmanuel,
has come.
God
has come
to be
with us.
He has
sent His
Son,
the great
King
of God's
coming
kingdom,
the kingdom
of heaven,
and He
is the
one who
saves us
from our
sins.
As we
heard in
the song,
He came
to live,
to walk,
to die,
to rise,
to reconcile
the lost,
to bring
the Spirit's
birth.
love.
While there
may be some
things about
Christmas this
year that
are not
exactly what
we expect
or hope,
this good
news of
how God
has sent
His Son
goes so
far beyond
what we
deserve as
sinners.
It makes
all the
difference.
God
Himself
loves
you.
And not
just a
little bit.
This thing
that He
has done
in sending
His Son
proves the
immeasurable
depths of
His love
for you
and for
me.
You are
cherished.
You are
treasured
even more
than you
know or
can imagine.
for God
so loved
the world
that He
gave
His one
and only
Son
that whoever
believes in
Him
shall not
perish
but have
eternal
life.
And so
rejoice this
Christmas.
God loves
you.
Rejoice.
Let's pray.
Father in
Heaven,
thank You
for this
incredible
gift which
we do
not deserve.
I pray
that our
hearts would
live here
in this
truth that
You love
us this
much to
send Him
to come
to save
us.
it's hard
for us to
even fathom
that You
want to
be with
us,
that You
love us
and desire
to have
us as
Your people,
as Your
sons and
daughters.
What can
we do but
sing praise
to You
and thank
You?
I pray
that this
truth would
just be
full in
our hearts
for the
rest of
today and
tomorrow as
we celebrate.
We ask
this in
Jesus'
name.
Amen.