Responding To Christmas, Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. What's going to cost Mary? Put yourself in her shoes. She's in Nazareth.

Everyone will talk. She'll bring enormous shame to her family. She could be stoned to death for this. She submits to it readily. What a submissive spirit, whatever you say. Lord, I submit. I don't understand it exactly, but I believe you. Does that sound like you?

You see, does that sound like you? Lord, I don't understand this fully, but I do believe you. I submit to you. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's word meets our world. Christmas, as you know, is upon us.

And my question for you is simply this. What does that mean to you? That Christmas is upon us.

What does that mean? I mean, for some of us, we finally say some days off. If you're in school, it's a great time of year.

It was my favorite time of the school year. Christmas break. For a lot of us, we've spent the last few weeks decorating and office parties and shopping.

And for some of you, meal preparation. For some of us, watching Christmas movies. Family, friends, all that stuff. For others of us, it's not that way. For some of us, it's a time of extreme loneliness. People are lonely at Christmas. See, they believe the Currier and Ives paintings. They believe the Hallmark movies. That everybody's just having these wonderful family get together.

Everything's just great. And they're by themselves. In fact, oppression at the Christmas season is on the rise. And the largest suicide rate we have as a period of time occurs at the Christmas season.

So it's not the same for everybody. As a pastor, it has unique challenges for me. I try to figure out what could I possibly say different this year that I haven't said for the last decade after decade of talking about Christmas. So this year, when I was wondering what to say, I began to just read over and over again the birth narrative out of the gospels. And as I was reading it, I just came for me to a very profound thought. Why is it that God wanted to tell the story? Of the word becoming flesh. That God becoming a man. That heaven comes to earth. Why did he want to tell that story the way he wrote it?

What's the reason for that? I've always wondered, why was he born in such an insignificant place? I mean, Bethlehem. Now, we romanticized it, but then it was nothing. Why not in Jerusalem or Athens or Greece or in Rome?

Why not somewhere big? Then I thought about it even more and I thought, think of the characters. Who are the characters of the story of the birth of Christ? Who are the people that God wanted to tell the story and why did he use these characters? And I've come to the conclusion and believe this. I believe in the conclusion that God wanted to use these characters so that he could speak to all of us and tell all of us how you and I should respond to Christmas.

How should we respond? I want you to open your Bibles to Luke 1, verse 26, the first character. Luke 1, verse 26. Very famous verses. Dr. Luke writes this. He says, Now, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth. Now, the first thing I want you to understand for the context of all this.

Again, you have to think about their times and not ours and how we look back on things. The city is called Nazareth. At the time of Jesus, Nazareth was a town of less than 2,000 people. So when it says city, it doesn't mean city. It means village, Hamlet.

There's less than 2,000 people, which certainly the implication in that culture is just about everybody knows just about everybody. And that comes to play in this story. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel Gabriel was a very famous angel. He is the announcing angel.

That's his job. He is the one who proclaims for God. And he shows up in Galilee to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph of the descendants of David. And a virgin's name was Mary. Now, again, we try to make things bigger in life. There's been a lot of distortion about Mary.

But I want you to understand something. What would this been like for her? She's very likely somewhere between 13 and 15. That's her age. She's a teenager. She has one goal in life. Her goal would have been marry a good man. And her parents had arranged for her to marry a good man. His name was Joseph, who is probably somewhere between 16 and 19.

So they're just teenagers. And the angel shows up. Mary has only been thinking ever since the betrothal that she prepares herself every day because she doesn't know the day. Joseph will come pick her up at her house, take her back to his house. There'll be a ceremony and then there'll be the wedding party. So she's so excited about her future with her future husband. And out of nowhere, you get this. It says in coming in, he said to her, Greetings, favored one. The Lord is with you.

Now think of yourself 15 years old. And someone comes and angel appears and says, Greetings, favored one. The Lord is with you. And you've got to be thinking you've got the wrong person.

Like what? An angel appearing to me, angels hadn't appeared for 400 years in Israel and appears to Mary. And so she sees this and it says she became very perplexed at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

Why are you saying this to me? The angel said, Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God.

That whole idea. Fear not. You have found favor with God. He understands that she's afraid of this.

He says then to her. And behold, now think of this here in this for the first time and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall name him Yeshua, Jesus. And he will be great and he will be called the son of the most high. And the Lord God will give him the tribe of the throne of his father, David.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end. Why? Come back. What? What? Now, remember, she's just a teenage girl. She's hoping to get married soon. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, you get this kind of a statement. And look how amazing it is. It's the things that he says to her.

It starts out that would be enough. You will conceive in your womb and bear a son and his name shall be Jesus. Is that Joseph of my first baby?

No. He says he'll be great and be called the son of the most high. He said, and the Lord God gave him his throne, David, and he'll have no end. Mary has to be thinking, wait, I was just thinking about marriage and now I'm thinking about motherhood. You see, why am I thinking about motherhood? So she says to him, how can this be? I'm a virgin. How can we be talking about motherhood?

I know enough to know that isn't going to happen. And the angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the most high will overshadow you.

And for this reason, the holy child shall be called the son of God. Now, how many of you would say, wait, would you explain those terms to me? Could you just explain what that means to me? It's an amazing statement. No one's ever heard a statement like this.

We've read it for 2000 years. So we said this is just the way it works, but not for a teenage girl in a little town named Nazareth. He tries to explain it says, look, I know this is supernatural. Let me explain. Behold, even your relative, Elizabeth, has also conceived in her old age.

And she, who was called Baroness, now with a six month. For nothing is impossible with God. So I'm just trying to think you're just this young girl and you're trying now to absorb all this.

What would this be like? And it's amazing how she did. And Mary said, behold. The bond slave of the Lord.

May it be done to me according to your word. The word bond slave is just a word English translators like to use because it doesn't sound as bad as what it is. It's slave.

It's due loss. It's not bond slave. It's just slave. She says to the angel, behold, the slave of the Lord may be done to me according to your word.

And the angels going. What an incredibly submissive attitude. Behold, be it done to me.

Whatever you say. See, Mary teaches us we should have a submissive. Do you have a submissive attitude to God? Especially when you don't even understand exactly what God's asking you to do. Do you submit to God? Like most of us, you say, no, I want every question answered. I want to know exactly everything that happens.

And then I'll think about submitting. Mary doesn't talk like that. It's amazing what she does. Down in verse forty six, Mary is with Elizabeth and notice what she says. She said, my soul exalts the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God, my savior, for he has had regard for the humble state of his bond slave, his slave. For behold, from this time on, all generations will call me blessed for the mighty one has done great things for me. And holy is his name and his mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him. He has done mighty deeds with his arm. He has scattered those who are proud in their thoughts and in their heart. He has brought down the rulers from their thrones and he has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty handed.

He has given hope to Israel with servant in remembrance of his mercy, and he has spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever. She's like 15. And you think when she does it, oh, she was inspired by the Holy Spirit. He just took control of her.

No. You know what she's doing there? She's reciting her favorite Psalms. She knows the Book of Psalms and she's giving back to Elizabeth the Psalms. It's an amazing thing when you think about it.

Because I think that you have to think about. What's this going to cost Mary? Put yourself in her shoes. She's in Nazareth.

Everyone will talk. She'll bring enormous shame to her family. She could be stoned to death for this. And she submits to it readily. What a submissive spirit. Whatever you say, Lord, I submit. I don't understand it exactly, but I believe you. Does that sound like you? You see, does that sound like you? Lord, I don't understand this fully, but I do believe you.

I submit to you. Let's look at the next one. Matthew Chapter one and verse 18. And we run into Joseph. I feel for Joseph. He's like the forgotten man in the greatest story ever told. I mean, it's the greatest story ever told. He's of the lineage of David.

That's very important. But you hear Joseph right here. You have Joseph. And then he shows up as they're on their way to Bethlehem. And then he shows up when he's 12 years old, when Jesus is 12.

Outside of that, nothing. Just Joseph. But there's a uniqueness about him. It says now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his mother, Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. Now, what's the character of Joseph and Joseph? Her husband, being a righteous man, was not wanting to disgrace her, and he planned to send her away secretly. That sending away means he's divorcing her.

The only way you could stop a betrothal in Israel was divorce. He said, Mary, I'll do it privately so no one knows about it. There's something else about him. It says being a righteous man. By the way, that's not an adjective. It's not really an adjective. It doesn't mean he was a good guy. Righteous man in that context means he's declared righteous by those who know him.

It's more like a title than it is an adjective. He's a man who was known as being faithful to God. He was a man who was probably faithful to a synagogue. He was a man that everybody knew. Did everything right with God. That's why they called him righteous.

He's probably 17 to 19 years of age. He's a carpenter. So we know he's practical and common, typical of a person in Nazareth.

And he decides yet to do this secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord, not Gabriel, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said to him, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from his sins. He said, now all this was took place to fulfill what was spoken of through the Lord, through the prophet. Behold, a virgin shall be with child and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. OK, if you were Joseph, what happens when you wake up?

What was that? I mean, it was a dream, but what was that? See, it's interesting, though, Joseph never had a thought like that. Joseph knew when it started, God spoke to me in this dream.

And he didn't give much of an explanation to any of this. And it says, and Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the Lord commanded him, and he took Mary as his wife. He woke up and said, I'll marry her. He knows what he's going to face the rest of his life. They'll always be ridiculed. They'll always be considered immoral. They'll always be unclean because she conceived before they were married in the culture in which he lives. He knows how much it must have hurt his family to hear their talk about his son that way. Joseph knew all that. He probably took that shame to his grave.

It didn't matter. He is obedient to the Lord. An amazing thing. And then it says, and he kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son and he called his name Jesus or Yeshua. Mary, unbelievable submission. Joseph, immediate obedience.

Does that describe you? I submit to the Lord if I don't understand. If the Lord says that, I obey. God's telling us something. How should we respond to this idea of the word becoming flesh and dwelling among us? God becoming one of us.

What should our response be? Go with me now to Luke Chapter two. Luke Chapter two in verse eight.

Luke two in verse eight. You know the story, it says in the same region, there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over a flock of sheep by night. It's like a pretty picture, isn't it? I mean, we like that. I mean, what do you think the PR is if you're a shepherd? How do people think about shepherds? We like shepherds. I mean, they're kind of cool in their own way. You see, I mean, you see all the stuff.

I mean, look, you know, you've seen all the school plays. You want to land one of those parts. You want to be a shepherd. You know, you just get dressed up really nice and. That's not this world. The idea that shepherds are in this story is an enigma. I think the average Jew would say, what in the world is going on here? Why shepherds understand no one in Israel ever said, oh, I hope my little boy grows up. He becomes a shepherd. You see, no one like shepherds. They didn't like them at all. Shepherds were ceremonially unclean.

They didn't like that about them, but it's worse than that. The other thing about shepherds that you find over and over again is that shepherds. Children are not allowed to speak to shepherds. They're not allowed to talk to. Shepherds are not allowed to testify in court.

They're considered unworthy. Shepherds are not allowed to be in the temple grounds. The Talmud, the Jewish writing in the Talmud says, give no help to the heathen or shepherds. Shepherds are distasteful to Jews. You see, they're very distasteful. They don't like shepherds. These shepherds are amazing, though. They're the first human beings that see and worship Jesus.

Notice who it's not. No religious leaders. No prophets, no scribes, no priests, no dignitaries, no kings, no one shepherds. Let's do the shepherds first. Wow, what is God doing?

Why does he tell us that? And think of their job. How lonely a job is being a shepherd? Countless days, weeks, just countless. You and the sheep day and night, 24-7.

You're just out there alone. And the people back there don't even like you. But maybe being a shepherd for a young man like David is where David learned to write music, play an instrument and sing. David was amazingly talented, but he was a shepherd. Now you get an idea of what Moses must have went through when he spent 40 years in the land of Midian being a shepherd. Isn't it ironic that God takes someone like David, a shepherd, and he makes him Israel's greatest king? Then he takes the greatest king of the universe and he makes him a shepherd. Jesus Christ. That's what God does here. Notice then what happens. An angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened.

I'll bet. And the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.

Now, five minutes ago, it was jet black dark. In a lonely place. Hoping the sheep were quiet in the solitude of silence, an angel talked, and now the heavenly host proclaiming to you. Just just imagine what that would feel like.

For a shepherd. This isn't something they expected at all. And it says when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let's go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing which has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. Let's go. Immediately again. And so they came in a hurry and they find their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they had seen this, they made known the statements which was told to them, the child. They started talking to anyone and everyone, it says, and all who heard it notice and all who heard it. I got a hunch the whole way there. They talked about it.

They ran into anybody anywhere. They're talking about it. You should have seen what just happened to us. The angel said this. We're on our way to Bethlehem. You ought to see what happened to us.

Here's what he said is happening. It says, and all who heard it wondered at the things which were told to them by the shepherds. Mary treasured these things in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and see, just as had been told them. Well, the least educated, ceremonially unclean, usually covered with their own sweat and the stench of sheep.

And they become the very first people who worship Jesus Christ. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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