Sunday, Dec 18th
Message: The Process and the Promise
Series: Christmas at Freedom
Speaker: Pastor Jason John Cowart

Are you ready for Christmas?

Hustle, bustle, Christmas programs, parties, presents, traveling, family, family dynamics, food…It’s a lot.

Let me ask you this: if Jesus were to arrive at some random moment in all of the craziness, would you be ready?

I thought about that this week with Mary and Joseph. Were they ready for Jesus? The way the story reads, it’s almost like it was a big rush and out of nowhere a baby was born. Is that what happened? Let’s read it.

Luke 2:1-20
2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

That’s the story we’ve all heard all these years! There are a couple of things that caught my eye this time. however.

- I always thought it was a rush to get there and between that and the census, that’s why there was no room in the inn. It was 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem and in the Judean Mountains at that. It took anywhere from 4-7 days to get there.

- “And while they were there” is not the same as “the moment they arrived” I might be taking some liberty here, but they’d already been there when she went into labor

- An inn. Why an inn? If he was returning to his ancestral home, would it be safe to assume he had no family there? Well we know Elizabeth was in Ein Karem where John the Baptist was born. We know Mary had just been in the area, all outside of Jerusalem, because the Bible says she spent several months there, and then clearly returned to Nazareth. Luke implies she was alone (with a caravan). A census usually took decades to complete. If in just a couple months they would return, then it is reasonable to believe that arrangement would be made at the inn in advance, especially as she’d be really close to her due date.

Why wouldn’t he stay with family, but in an inn instead?
Words are important. κατάλυμα (katalyma) is the word Luke uses. It means “guest room.” The Gospels only use this word 3 times, and two of them mean guest room and one is translated as inn. Luke uses the word “inn” one more time in chapter 10, but it is a different word, πανδοχεῖον (pandocheion) which is only translated as an inn or hotel. They didn’t have Airbnb back then…

So the best translation based on both the word and its common usage by the same writer is not inn, but guest room. All the family was in so the guest room was full. So they go out to where the animals are staying for shelter and a baby is born.

Why am I asking all of these questions and why am I looking into the minute details of the birth, and maybe more importantly, why am I telling you about it today?

I’ve just been wondering if Mary and Joseph were ready for Jesus.

The issues:
the travel
the lack of a place to stay
the need for a safe place to have the savior of the world

Not only did I ask if Mary and Joseph ready, but was God ready?!?!?!

Micah 5:2 You, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

Why not pick a couple already in Bethlehem?
They would already be there. Had a place to stay. No issues. No need for a stable to give birth to the King of Kings.

I’d have opted for availability. What about you? What was available was the easier way, right?

But instead, he chooses Mary and Joseph, who lived in Nazareth, not Bethlehem. And he plans for Mary to get pregnant far from the prophesied town.

What about getting them to Bethlehem?
If you’re gonna pick two people who live 80 miles away, at least get them there easily.

“To solve that problem — which God himself had created — God could have arranged to get Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem by some personal means, say a relative who needed them urgently or a dream or some private legal or business matter. But he didn’t do it that way.
Instead, God moved Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem by means of an empire-wide census. In other words, God arranged that the most powerful leader in the world would order everyone in the empire to go to the town of their origin to register.”

What non spiritual thing is God using to get you to the place where the promise comes to pass?

I would have griped and complained and stressed.

It seems pretty ludicrous to think that the same God who created the universe and who moved a global empire into action to bring two humble Jews to a town for a census and a birth that would change the world, couldn’t get a room worked out.

But Micah was a minor prophet who lived around 720 BC. Do the quick math and that is 700 years before Jesus was born. God had 700 years to plan Jesus’ birth. And for Jesus to be born, here’s how he did it:

- a virgin conceives, enduring ridicule and nearly the destruction of her engagement, and that’s not even mentioning the fact she could have been stoned to death for it.

- a week long grueling hike through the thief infested mountains while 8-9 months pregnant

- a search for a place to stay after the guest room is found filled
- a compromise to use a stable to deliver a king

- and after all that, a visit form the shepherds and wise men, a flight to Egypt, all the while a massacre happened while the evil ruler searched for the kd in your arms.

At what point would you have said I quit?

I can so easily get flustered by and discouraged in the situations that are going on around me. I can so easily kick and moan and gripe and stress about the struggles I am enduring. I can so easily question why God and say, "Yeah but you said."

But I can also so easily be so blind to the big picture of what God is really doing!

What he is really birthing in me?!?!?!

I have three simple questions for you today.

1. Are you prepared for Jesus?
Prepare is “to make ready.” Were Mary and Joseph prepared? Had they “made ready?”

When I initially asked that question this week, I recognized that all of the preparation I was expecting was physical. Did they have the place set, the resources needed, travel sorted, lodging, etc. Granted they didn’t have Airbnb or hotels.com or a walmart for gear, but the Bible doesn’t say they had any of that sorted beforehand. We don’t know, but I realized this week that my focus was all tangible. My preparedness focused solely on their physical needs. Maybe that is the dad in me.

And that’s when it hit me:
Jesus’ real dad had all of that taken care of already.

I don’t know the extent of their tangible preparedness, but I do know the extent of their spiritual preparedness.
Luke 1:38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Matthew 1:24
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him

Sometimes the best preparation is simple obedience.

I think an important distinction here is not that everything changed for them, but that they continued on with what they were doing.

Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

You ever wonder what happened after that moment? Did she wake up the next morning and hire servants and move to a bigger better kingly house? Did she start getting manicures and the best food, getting pampered? Or did she do the chores she normally did? Did she worry for a few days about what to tell Joseph? Did her life drastically change after that moment? Internally, yes. Externally, it doesn’t seem so.

My point is that preparing for Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean drastic changes in your life. Changes only happen when something needs correcting. I don’t change my course unless I’m headed in the wrong direction. I don’t change my kids’ actions and attitudes unless they are not doing the right thing.

If God is asking you to make big changes to prepare for him, then be glad, not mad! He is course correcting you so that you can arrive in your Bethlehem where the promise will come forth!

They were not perfect, only the thing growing in Mary was perfect. But, based on what we read in the text, it seems that they were prepared in their hearts and spirits.

Being prepared is going to involves two things:
- Course corrections
- Obedience

Welcome both! they get you to the promise!

Are you prepared for Jesus, for what he wants to do in your life?

2. Are you willing to endure the process for the promise?
I’ve already outlined the issues of travel 80 miles in the Judean Mountains alone, much less navigating the other stuff, like:
- Mary’s trip to visit Elizabeth
- The struggles of pregnancy in general
- The constant murmuring in town about Mary
- The mental stress of knowing people are judging you
- The fear of being pregnant in a world where mortality rates for both baby and mom were high

And even some of the unknown parts that Luke and Matthew leave out, like
- Where were Mary’s mom and dad? Joseph’s? Had they abandoned them? Abandoned Mary for promiscuity and lying Abandoned Joseph for dishonoring the family with a girl like Mary?
- How could Joseph make money? Carpentry the Bible says, but is that why Mary went to Elizabeth alone? Was Joseph having to work? Imagine the fear of sending your wife 80 miles away, yes through that Judean Mountainside to both let her be encouraged by family, but also to protect her from ridicule.
- And how, for goodness sake, do you tell people about this kid who is the Messiah?!? Do you overly protect him? Do you not say anything? When he is being bullied, do you rush in and defend him? When money is tight and you don’t know what to do, do you ask him for help from his real dad? lol

Think about it!
- Emotional stress.
- Physical stress.
- Spiritual stress. (you think they never doubted? Abraham did and he is the Father of Faith!)
- Financial stress.
- Family stress.
- Mental stress.

Come on! Who can relate?!?!?!

You thought God’s plan was gonna be rainbows and butterflies and it is hard work and stress!

But when I read the story of Mary and Joseph, I don’t see two people stressing and worrying.
I see two people who loved the promise enough to endure the process.

Luke 2:8-19 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

It was worth it.
Imagine sitting in that moment, listening to these random shepherds, strangers, going on and on about how the skies were filled with angels singing and shouting and proclaiming “Glory to Go in the highest!”

I imagine she remembered being scared to death by that angel in her house that night. I imagine she remembered the fear of telling Joseph. I imagine she felt the terror of the thought of what people were saying about her behind her back as she walked down the street.She remembered the travel and stress, BUT ALSO the joy, the peace, the feeling of accomplishment in that moment knowing she’d done the right thing.

She could not have known the depth of pain that would come. Fleeing to Egypt so Herod wouldn’t kill Jesus, yet while other mothers lost their sons. Returning form Egypt wondering if all really was safe.

And then the crucifixion. The pain of that moment when Jesus on the cross said, “Woman, behold thy son.”

I wonder if 33 years flashed before her eyes back to the moment when she decided the promise was worth the process.

Friend, is the promise really worth the process to you?

3. Will you recognize and receive him?
We have so many moments in the Bible where people were faced with the decision to recognize and receive him, or to reject and deny him. The shepherds couldn’t wait to see him so they rushed. (Lk 2:26) The Wise men traveled from afar to bow before him. (Matt 2) Interestingly enough, Herod was threatened by Jesus and he allowed his flesh to reject and deny Jesus. Every single human on earth since that night in Bethlehem has been faced with a decision, recognize and receive, or reject and deny.

You are no different.

And before you begin to think this is the salvation portion of the message, let me simply remind you that yes to Jesus is not a one time thing, but a daily one.

Your flesh hates the things of God and so daily you have to crucify it. Maybe you’ve been saved since you were a fetus. Maybe your heart has been stirring the entire message. Either way here’s my question:

Will you recognize who he is and receive him today?

He doesn’t make it difficult.

Jesus, I recognize who you are.
You are the savior of the world.
You are the perfect sacrifice to eliminate my sin and restore me to my father in heaven.
I believe in you.
I confess you as lord, lord of all, for of my life.
Thank you for saving me.
In your name Jesus I pray amen.

Listen, Christianity is not easy, and it is made more difficult by the sinful world we live in, but let me assure you, the promise is worth the process.

You’ve prepared for him.
You’ve recognized and received him.
Not be sure to stay obedient, stay engaged,
read the Bible, pray, connect with God’s people,
Embrace the process.

What promise is in you waiting to be birthed?

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?