Christmas: The Whole Story

So good to be with you tonight. If we've never met, my name is Josh and I'm glad you're here. And tonight we're just gonna get in the Word and read the Christmas story. I think the most common word that tends to kind of rise to the top during church services at Christmas time is the word peace. It's on repeat.

The Bible has two different words for this word, peace. One is the Hebrew word shalom, and the other is the Greek word irregular. And these words mean to join or tie together as a whole, to bind it all up and put it together. It's a sense of wholeness, that things are the way they're supposed to be. This is the peace that the angels proclaim.

This is the peace that Jesus came to give today. I really don't want to complicate anything. Just read the Christmas story from the Word and. And see God's glory given to us through the person of Jesus and remind us that this gift offers us an invitation of peace tied together as a whole, reunited and returned to created order, just as God designed things to be. And as we read this story, I think we're going to find that the kind of peace that is in Scripture is altogether different than the kind of peace that we expect to find.

We'll get to that more here in a bit. So we'll start reading from Luke chapter one, starting in verse 26. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, greetings, O favored one.

The Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his Father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, how will this be, since I am a virgin? And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold your relative Elizabeth in her old Age has also conceived a son. And this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren, for nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.

And the angel departed from her.

Now the birth of Jesus took place in this way. When his mother Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son. And they will call his name Immanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.

He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 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, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

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. And in the same region. There were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. 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. And the angel said to them, fear not. Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly Hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let's go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying God and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them.

Now, at first glance, this story looks like a pretty simple story. It's nice and amazing and miraculous and sweet and warm. We imagine this powerful moment that the angel shows up to Mary. And Mary is just overwhelmed. And she has this incredibly faithful and mature response, much the same for Joseph in his dream.

And fast forward. And we imagine cattle quietly lowing, just like the song, a nice camel in the background. We imagine the holy family leaning in together, smiling. Beautiful little baby boy. We imagine some really nice shepherds coming to visit.

And baby Jesus, perfect. He's perfect in every way. He's easy, no colic. He doesn't cry or fuss. He doesn't even need his diaper changed.

It is such a silent night.

This is what is sold to us. This is the image that's depicted in the Nativity scene that many of us have on our mantles at home. And if I'm honest, there's always something that's kind of bothered me about this story, something that's kind of unrealistic about it. If these are real people with a real baby. Have you ever had a real baby in your house?

I feel like my whole life we've heard this nice, warm story about miracles and angels and shepherds and the star and wise men. And then most every Christmas sermon I've ever heard says, now we can all breathe a big sigh of relief because peace has come. Jesus is here. But then we all walk out of the service and we're all forced at some point to snap back into the reality that the world is still a very lonely and broken place. And Jesus did come.

Yes, he's the Son of God. Yes, he is absolutely the solution to the problem. He is himself the Prince of peace. But what about all of us who are still in turmoil? What about all of us still in grief?

Still in debt, still in sorrow, still steeped in sin. So I want to take a few minutes to just kind of read between the lines of the story. And I think that hidden in between the details that the Bible gives us, we'll find normal human people great trial and difficulty and hope that God is still with us. I think we'll also find that the kind of peace that is promised at the coming of Jesus is an altogether different kind of peace that. Than we were expecting.

So here's my disclaimer. You heard what the Bible says. Now I'm going to make some things up and read between the lines. It's complete conjecture, but I think as we do this, you'll resonate with what I see here. So Mary and Joseph, they're likely in their mid teens at this point, engaged to be married.

And as Mary is looking forward to her wedding day, she gets this miraculous visit from. From an angel who tells her that she is not only going to get pregnant by the Holy Spirit, but also that the Messiah is going to be growing inside of her. You know this is crazy, right? This is crazy. And I'll say she responds really well in the moment.

But imagine the next few days. Imagine the next few days as she tries to think through this. What actually happened? How in the world could this be true? How on earth am I going to explain this to Joseph?

Was that a dream? Or did an angel actually come to visit me? Who am I that I would be chosen? And a few weeks go by and maybe she even convinces herself it was all a dream. But then she realizes that she's a week late in her cycle.

And then two weeks and three weeks and. And the stress and the fear begin to build. She's overwhelmed at the prospect of having to explain this to Joseph, let alone that she's carrying the Messiah. She has to explain this to her parents. And she knows she has to, but she doesn't want to.

But she has to. And so she does. And I imagine that through sobbing and tears, she tells Joseph and he believe what he's hearing. Imagine. I imagine a blowout fight.

I think that's what would happen in my house. A blowout fight. How could you do this to me? You really expect me to believe that an angel showed up and made you pregnant and this is the Messiah?

That's the most ridiculous lie I've ever heard in my life. Mary, do you really expect me to believe this? I imagine Joseph walks out and slams the door behind him. He knows what he has to do. He still loves her.

He doesn't want to bring any more shame or difficulty to her. He doesn't want to make this any worse. But he can't stay with her, not after she's been unfaithful and now she's making up some crazy story about an angel and the Holy Spirit and a baby. So he decides he'll quietly call the thing off. Now, we don't know how much time goes by before the angel comes to him in a dream.

But however long it was, I have to imagine that it was an eternity for both of them, mulling over what to do, trying to forgive each other for what just happened. And who can they talk to about this? Nobody's going to understand. No one's going to listen. Everyone would tell him to dump Mary on the side of the road.

You can't stay with her. And then Joseph gets a visit from an angel in a dream, and he suddenly now believes her. Now imagine this moment for Joseph coming back to Mary. I would be weeping in sorrow for how I talked to her and treated her. And imagine what a joy this would be to Mary.

Finally, somebody else understands me. He believes me. He believes me. Thank you, God. But then things just get harder and harder over the next nine months.

She'd receive all the stares, all the whispers, all the questions of what really happened. I can't believe he stayed with her. And have you ever considered that outside of a visit with Elizabeth, Outside of that visit with Elizabeth, that confirms this and Joseph having this dream, we don't get any indication from Scripture that after the angel shows up the first time during the entire length of her pregnancy that God communicates with them at all. Have you ever thought about that? Months and months and months of nothing from God.

God's not checking in with them. Think about the insecurity and the questions that would come with every passing week. If it was one of us, we would say maybe it was a dream. But I can't deny I'm pregnant. I'm definitely pregnant.

Where's God now? Maybe I messed up. Maybe my faith was too weak. Maybe my sin was too great. Maybe I messed up too many times and my faith wasn't good enough.

And God changed his mind. He can't bring his son through someone who doubts. He said he was with me, though. He said I was blessed and highly favored. And I keep praying and nothing and all of this is hard enough.

But then Caesar gets the great idea to call for a census right before the baby's born. Really God? Really God? Like you didn't know this was Coming. You couldn't have planned this out a little better.

Clearly, he's forgotten us. Or maybe he's just punishing us. And imagine that journey. Imagine Mary, nine months pregnant and traveling a long distance, probably on foot, maybe on a donkey. And then the contractions begin.

I remember what it was like when my wife was pregnant with our oldest. And the contractions began, it got a little sideways, okay? And we started timing them, and now they're on top of each other. And so we hop in the car to go to the hospital, and there's a traffic jam. There's a traffic jam.

She's not happy, okay? She's very uncomfortable. She has one hand on the dash and one hand on that handle above the door. And I remember her saying, I am so uncomfortable right now. I hate this chair.

Now, I don't know what it was like. Mary was probably way more holy than that. I'm sure all of you would never say anything like that. But in the middle of all this, no word from God. No word from God.

Joseph and Mary arrive in the city only to find that there's no place to stay except for, it seems, some sort of animal shed. There's no time, no options, no midwife, no comfort. And then it gets really dark in the room.

God has clearly abandoned us here in this hole. That's what I would be thinking. That's what I would be struggling with. Think about this. Mary has never given birth.

Joseph has no idea how to deliver a baby. And then, through this traumatic experience, a child is born. No doctor offering for Joseph to cut the cord if he would like. No family pictures, no help. I imagine them exhausted, weeping, afraid, unsure.

He said I was blessed and highly favored. And here we are in this hole. Where is he now? And then, think about this. After months of silence, after having this baby in such a traumatic way, in what might be the first confirmation that God is still with them, Shepherds show up, and somehow they know.

Somehow they know. And they're thinking to themselves, God maybe is still with us. Okay? Maybe. Maybe we're not crazy.

Maybe he really is the Messiah. And they make it through the census and something keeps them in Bethlehem. We don't know why they stay in Bethlehem. Maybe it was the rumors and stares back at home they didn't want to go back to. Maybe they didn't have enough money to travel home.

Maybe they just didn't want to travel with the baby. Maybe Joseph found a job. I don't know. The Bible doesn't say. But for about two years, there's Another gap in the Bible, a gap of silence from God.

I imagine them every day praying. But their belief and faith are waning, just like ours do. They're up all night with the little one. Joseph is back to work trying to make ends meet. Mary's home with the baby.

The insecurities, the questions, they all just bubble right back up to the surface. Maybe he isn't with us. Maybe we messed up. Maybe. Is this what it means to be blessed and highly favored?

Is this baby really the Messiah? Are we crazy, Joseph? Maybe God changed his mind. And then another glimpse of hope as we pick back up in Matthew 2. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar.

I'm sorry, I'm in Luke, that's not going to help. Matthew 2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the King, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet.

And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, go and search diligently for the child, and when you found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him. After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose, went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts. Gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

So imagine you got a two year old and these guys show up with a bunch of really expensive gifts and they show up and they start worshiping your kid. Like how amazing would this moment be? How refreshing must this have been after so much waiting and quiet? And man, they brought expensive Gifts. And imagine Mary and Joseph in this moment, just like, looking at each other with tears in their eyes, just saying, man, God is so good.

Look what he did. And then in the middle of their celebrating, it gets worse. It all falls apart again. Matthew 2:13. Now, when they had departed.

So just as the rich guys with the fun gifts leave, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. And remained there until, I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him. And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt. And they remained there until the death of Herod. Awesome.

After a wild two years, we finally get some confirmation and some fun gifts. This reminder that God is still with us. And now some narcissistic king wants to kill our son. Are you kidding me? We have to leave now.

Like, now, now. Like, we can't wait till tomorrow. We have to leave tonight. But what other choice do we have? And so they flee the country and they become refugees in Egypt.

They had to take what they could carry. And the warm Christmas story ends with Herod killing hundreds of babies trying to kill Jesus. This does not feel like peace. This doesn't feel like wholeness or things being restored to the way that they were intended to be. This doesn't seem like God is winning.

This feels like a roller coaster of emotions and doubts and fears.

But honestly, oddly, in some upside down way, all this brings me some hope for my own life. Because even in the midst of all of this trial and difficulty and waiting, we know, we know the rest of the story. They didn't know the rest of the story. We know this is the Messiah. We know that he's going to live a perfect life.

He's going to die and be resurrected. He's gonna do amazing things. He is the solution to the world's greatest problem. He is the king. But they don't know that they're waiting in Egypt as refugees.

And if God in his perfect plan, could allow Mary and Joseph to wait so much and struggle so much and wonder so much, then maybe even in my own waiting and struggling and wondering, maybe I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be because I just don't know the rest of the story. I think our greatest problem is that we're looking for the wrong kind of peace. We're looking for peace in the form of constant affirmation. We're looking for peace in the form of physical comfort. We're Looking for peace in the form of all the answers and answers in a way that satiate us.

But the Bible never promises that. The Bible never promises that.

Just because things are not easy or predictable or comfortable doesn't mean that God is missing. It doesn't mean that he's not with us. Peace that comes at Christmas is not temporary. It isn't cheap. It isn't unrelational.

It is not unconditional or. I'm sorry, it is not conditional peace. It is the promise of real peace, not of ease and comfort. Christmas peace is the peace that passes understanding. It's peace despite our circumstances or feelings.

God's glory, given through Jesus, is the gift that restores and redeems and is truly actually with us, even when we don't feel it or see it. The truth is that not every night is a silent night, but some of them are. And when they show up, we better hang on to them and enjoy them for what they are. Sweet moments of gratitude and thankfulness. But for all of the other nights, we don't have to wrap up hard things with fancy happy paper to believe in the Christmas story of the Bible.

We don't. Just like Joseph and Mary, we can look for the small breadcrumbs that were left by God, some of them way further apart than we would like them to be. But these breadcrumbs in our path that remind us that he is still with us. The promise of Christmas is the promise that the gift of offered to all of us here today is real peace. Peace with God and peace because of God.

And maybe you've never experienced this kind of peace that I've described here tonight. Maybe you grew up in the church and you've been looking for the wrong kind of peace all along because somebody sold you a really false version of peace in the church. And I'm sorry if that's true. The peace that the Bible offers is peace in the middle of the mess. Peace despite our circumstances.

Or maybe you've just never even considered for a moment that this story could be true. Maybe it's been wrapped in cellophane and plastic for so long that you couldn't see real people in a real place at a real time. Either way, my prayer, my hope for you tonight is that you open yourself up to the peace that is actually offered in the Bible. Ephesians 2, Paul tells us that Jesus, he himself is our peace. Jesus is our peace.

And he's offering himself to us again right now as we remember his birth. Tonight. Will you pray with me, Father? Thank you for all the things that we can't understand. Thank you for being with us.

Even when it doesn't seem like it, it doesn't feel like it, it might not look like it. And I pray that tonight we can find hope in Mary and Joseph and Jesus story that you never promised them that all would be simple and easy. And you don't promise us either. But you have promised in your coming that you are with us in the middle of it. Help us to trust that, to believe it, to be open to that tonight.

In Jesus name, amen.