Every four years, in the month of January, Washington DC prepares for a great event. Sites are selected for celebrations. Performers are invited to perform. Dinners are scheduled and menus are chosen. Speeches are drafted. On the cold day in January, in the midst of celebrations and fanfare, a new president is inaugurated.
Many times, as spectators of these large events, like the Presidential Inauguration, we forget about the preparations that take place before the event.
Luke 2 gives us a behind the scenes look at what went on to prepare for Christmas; through those details, we see how much preparation was done to prepare for the birth of the son of God. As we celebrate Christmas this morning, I pray that we will all come to recognize that God is carefully preparing us to do his will as well.
This morning we are looking at Luke 2:1-7.
But before we dive into the text,
Let Us Pray
As we look at the first verses in Christmas story, we see that there was
I. A Prepared Appointment
Luke 2:1-4
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, (Luke 2:1-4 ESV)
As with all things that happens in life, everything that happens in these two passages occurs for a specific reason. There are no coincidences here.
The Roman Emperor, Augustus decreed a census. In that decree, all had to return to their own towns. Joseph had to go to his ancestral home of Bethlehem.
There is no accident that these world events occurred. From the beginning of time these events were set in motion.
Jesus had to be born during the time of the Roman Empire, because they used crucifixion as an explained in Psalm 22.
He had to be born in Bethlehem as explained in Micah 5:2.
He had to be born to a virgin as explained in Isaiah 7:14.
Hundreds of years prior to the birth, the prophecies from God foretold of his son’s birth, death, and resurrection.
God is in control of what is going on all around us.
Many people question whether God is in control?
I remember seeing a survey after 911 that said that a large portion of people beloved that God saw the tragedy and simply couldn’t do anything to help us.
The people, who truly question whether God is in control, don’t really know God. They may believe in God and his son – They may even be saved, but they don’t know his character or his sovereignty.
God is definitely in control. He may allow the hedges to be lifted, but he is definitely in control.
John Piper writes that God
“will use that very sovereignty to make life and death and angels and principalities and things present and things to come and powers and height and depth and every created thing serve our everlasting joy in God.”
(Dennis, Lane. A Reason for Hope in a Time of Tragedy. “Our Steady Hope”, by John Piper. Page 55. Wheaton, IL: Good News Publications, 2001.)
God is in control. And he was in control on the day his son was born.
God had prepared an appointment with mankind on that day in Bethlehem.
And he prepares appointments in our live as well.
He puts people in our path.
He takes us to places around the world.
He gives us challenges and protects us.
There are times when we choose to leave God’s will, and refuse to follow his will. He may drop his protection. But he remains in control – because he is God.
But he prepares each of us to do his work.
People have always asked me how to know what is God’s will. And I say that knowing God’s will is easy. Most of us already know God’s will: to worship, to pray, to study His word, to worship with other believers, to tell others about him. Knowing his will is easy – it is doing his will what make it hard.
And as we do the little things we are to be faithful.
Luke 16:10 says
10 “Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. (LK 16:9 NLT)
God is preparing each of us to do great things for him. He is preparing every detail – we simply must take these opportunities.
Mary was one who took those opportunities and she was a
II. Prepared Servant
Verse five say that Joseph was;
to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. (Luke 2:5 ESV)
Mary was the mother of Jesus. She was a virgin; she had never slept with anyone. But she was pregnant.
How can that be? Well Mary knew enough about the facts of life to ask the same questions.
If you look at the previous chapter, Luke1: 34;
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. (Luke 1:34-35 ESV)
But, why Mary?
The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to tell her that she would have a son and the angel gives us an answer to this question.
And (Gabriel) came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28 ESV)
Gabriel calls her “favored”
The Greek for favored is “Charitoo” (Khar-ee-too) and is translated two ways in the King James text:
Once as “favored” and once as “make accepted” in EPH 1:6.
Both given the concept of being accepted by God.
Mary was accepted by God. She was favored by Him to be the mother of God’s only son.
And we can see why.
She was humble. If you look in Luke 1:29 the Bible says that she was confused and disturbed.
She was a poor girl from Nazareth. She wasn’t accustomed to attention, much less the honor. The angel appears to her and she is very confused –”Why me?” She said.
Mary is humble, but she is also obedient.
Look at Luke 1:38
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. (Luke 1:38 ESV)
There are some of the bravest words in all of scripture.
“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
She is willing to do whatever the Lord has her to do. No matter what it means for her.
Listen,
We must always be in position to be disturbed and confused by God.
If God calls us to do something great for him, it should catch us off guard. We should be surprised by the blessings God give us, not expectant. God wants his servants to be humble. Working only because they love God not because of the blessing he will give us.
How many times do we say “May everything you say come true”?
I had someone in the office once ask me “does God actually mean give up everything for him?”
Yes! Jesus wants to work in every area of our life. We may be called to drop everything and become a missionary – but if he does remember that He doesn’t want you to go AWOL.
But most of the time, he wants us to serve Him right where we are – doing what we do best.
God wants us to be obedient.
And Mary was obedient; she was humble, and she was pure.
Mary was a virgin. Even in our “no rules’ society, virginity is a word that describes purity.
She had lived a pure life. She had the respect of others. Joseph considered ending the engagement gradually to protect her from public disgrace, before an angel convinced him otherwise.
And as I was studying, I noticed that Mary went to live with Elizabeth for three months in another town after she heard the news.
Did she do this to protect her reputation as well?
The Bible doesn’t say. But, it is an interesting theory.
What we know is that Mary was pure.
God was able to use Mary because she had taken steps in her life to be pure before the Lord.
Are you pure before the Lord? I don’t mean perfect. I mean pure. You may have done things in your past that may make you feel guilty right now.
But if you have accepted the payment for your sin in the body and blood of Jesus Christ – you are pure. You have been washed white as snow and God can use you to do great things for God because through his son we have been accepted by him.
Mary was used by God because she was humbled, obedient, and pure.
And he was preparing her for
III A Preponderant Event
V 6-7
?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. (Luke 2:6-7 ESV)
One of the greatest event of history took place in a stable.
The Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus was born.
He could’ve done it another way, with fanfare and the attention of the world.
Today if we think of a historical event, we think of cable news and satellite trucks, 24 hours News coverage of the same event over and over and over.
But God doesn’t look at the things the way we do.
He chose a manger.
He chose a manger for the little baby Jesus to be placed.
While preparing for this sermon, I thought alot about the humility of it all.
I once worked at the front desk at a hotel, and frequently the entire town would be completely sold out.
When that would happen, people would walk in the door expecting to get a room.
We would tell them that we were sold out, and we would send them to the next town.
But what if, by law, they had to stay in the city. What if, the wife was pregnant? What if they just went into the parking garage for the night?
No fanfare. No doctors and nurses.
This is how the Lord of All was born into this world.
Silent Night! Holy Night!
All is calm, All is bright
Round yon virgin Mother and Child!
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
(Book of Worship for United States Forces. Page 229. Fort Worth , TX: Star Bible Publications, 2004.)
God had a prepared appointment with the world. He is in control. God had a prepared servant who humbly, obediently, and purely carried out his will. They all focused on the preponderant event – an event that was great and glorious.
As you look at Christmas today, I want to ask you a question. Have you been to the manger to worship? Have come to see Christ in a real and personal way?
This little child who was born in manger, lived to die on a cross for your sin and my sin.
You can come to know Christ today, you can trust in Him today.
Don’t delay – He has a plan for you. He has a purpose for you.
—–
This sermon was preached at Warrior Chapel on Camp Red Cloud, Korea on 25 December 2016