Celebrating Christmas…when the Grinch shows up!
Celebrating Christmas when the unexpected Occurs
Matthew 1:18-25
To be truly be able to celebrate Christmas when the unexpected occurs, you must…
Expect the unexpected to Occur
Trust God’s Sovereignty when the Unexpected Occurs
Follow in Obedience when the Unexpected Occurs
Intro
Have you ever had some major plans disrupted and things go nothing like you were anticipating due to no fault of your own?
Whenever you plan bigger events, that include other people, we open ourselves up to the possibility, even the probability of things not going according to plan.
Weddings are notorious for not going according to plan.
Take this wedding mishap for instance.
Chloe & Keith’s Wedding Disaster video – available on Youtube (40 sec)
Slide after video
Now this would be an awful interruption to this bride’s wedding plans.
As a pastor, I get to be involved in many weddings and see that things don’t always go as planned, but weddings are not the only time that big plans get made and things don’t go as planned.
Christmas is a time each year that many people make big plans for get togethers with family and friends and things don’t always turn out the way we anticipate.
Our society and all that we see in the movies and in Christmas Cards portray Christmas as just a perfect time of being together and celebrating in perfect circumstances.
But how do we celebrate when things don’t go according to plan?
How are we really supposed to celebrate when things happen to disrupt all that we had been hoping for and anticipating?
Series intro
Well, today we are beginning a Christmas series that deals with exactly that.
We have entitled it “Celebrating Christmas when the Grinch shows up”
Slide
Now I am sure the Grinch has shown up at everyone’s house at some point.
And what I mean by that, is that each of us have probably experienced circumstances that seek to steal away our joy and rob us of our ability to celebrate.
How do we celebrate when that happens?
Well, this morning, we are going to be going through the Christmas story as told by Matthew and looking at it from the slightly different perspective of things not going according to the plan of different individuals and what we might learn about how to truly celebrate when that is happening to us.
This morning we are going to be looking at
Matthew 1:18-25
Slide
This is a familiar passage to many of us, but let’s take a look at it afresh this year and see how God might help us to celebrate even when the unexpected disrupts our best laid plans.
Matthew 1:18-25
18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "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. 21 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."
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Pray
Ok, so I want you to imagine for a moment the excitement of your engagement and the planning of your wedding.
Thinking through all the details and the reception, what a joyous time for most people.
Even in the culture of Mary and Joseph, where many marriages were often arranged, this was what girls dreamed of. Getting married and having a husband and raising kids.
The wedding celebration was often a week long event with food and drink and a great time of celebration. Imagine all of the hopes and dreams of how things “should” go, and not just in regards to the celebration, but in regards to the rest of their lives, because the circumstances that had come were life changing events, but the plans you had for your life, were now disrupted by these very unexpected events.
From our perspective, these were great events
Now we look at this turn of events as such a great thing from our perspective and it was and is a great thing, but in the moment, while you may understand that God is doing something, the circumstances could be extremely difficult for anyone.
If we don’t have our focus right, being able to celebrate Christmas when the unexpected occurs and disrupts our plans will be very difficult for anyone.
So, from our perspective, I want to talk about several things that will help us celebrate Christmas when the unexpected occurs.
First, I think it is important for all of us to
Expect the unexpected to occur
Slide
Now we don’t learn this from this particular passage, but something we see throughout Scripture. And this is more a way of life than a one time event.
The reality is that there are many things that happen that catch us off guard that should not catch us off guard.
The unexpected should not be unexpected to us. We should expect it.
When the Grinch shows up at our house, we should be expecting him. We may not know what he will be bringing with him to try and rob us of our joy, but we should be prepared for him to show up.
Listen to what Peter writes to believers about expecting suffering.
Slide
1 Peter 4:12 - Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.
He is saying you should be expecting trials, expect to endure suffering, even if you don’t know exactly what they will be.
Another instance of how we should live in a state of expectation is in regards to the coming of our Lord.
Often we aren’t living with that expectation. Listen to how Paul talks about this.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-4 –
Slide
Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
There are things that the world is surprised by, but we as Christians, should expect things that are unexpected.
Expecting the unexpected will help us deal with things better when it occurs and we won’t be caught by surprise.
Secondly, to be able to truly be able to celebrate Christmas when the unexpected occurs, we need to
Trust God’s Sovereignty when the unexpected occurs
Slide
In the Christmas story, we see both Joseph and Mary trust God’s sovereign will in this situation even though this was going to very much upset their own plans and bring some very difficult circumstances into their life.
In Luke’s version of the Christmas story, he provides the details regarding what is going on with Mary that we don’t see in Matthew. Turn with me to
Luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 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, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God."
38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Wow!
Now imagine this girl who is probably in her mid teens, finding out she is pregnant and unmarried and knowing the truth that she is a virgin. Explain that to your family and friends not to mention her husband to be!
By her own ability and in her own power, that would be impossible to explain to anyone in a believable way.
But, she is believing in and trusting the Lord’s sovereign will in this matter.
“Lord, I trust you even though I may not understand what is going on.”
“Lord, I trust you even though what you are telling me I know is going to bring some difficulty into my life.”
We see here respond with, what I believe are, some of the most trusting words in all of Scripture.
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said" (Luke 1:38).
I have to tell you that when I stop and think about her words and how she responds to the angel, I sometimes get a little emotional.
I get emotional because I see that this young teen girl has got a better grasp on God’s sovereign will and His goodness, than I have. I see how far short I fall in regards to trusting God’s Sovereign will instead of my own.
And when we are faced with circumstances that disrupt our own plans, faced with the Grinch showing up at our door, to truly be able to celebrate requires us to keep our focus on the fact (did you hear that?) FACT that God is fully in control of things and that He is ultimately good.
Now this does not mean that everything that happens is good. Not every disruption to my plans or your plans will be good. When we focus on that, it can be upsetting.
However, even though they are not all good, God is all good and He is fully capable and able to take even what people mean for bad, and use it for our good.
Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Now in the case of Mary and Joseph, God is the direct cause of the interruption to their plans. He is the one who planned and executed these circumstances into their lives.
But even when God is not the direct cause, He is not impotent to turn it to good.
Joseph
In the midst of these interruptions, we can celebrate God’s sovereign control and His sovereign will, just like Joseph did when he was sold into slavery and imprisoned in Egypt. God used these interruptions and even blessed Joseph with His presence in the midst of these interruptions, until ultimately He brought Him to second in command so that Israel might be saved.
So we can celebrate God’s Sovereignty even when the unexpected occurs.
But we can’t stop there.
We can’t just know that He is sovereign and in control.
To truly celebrate when the unexpected occurs, requires that we
Follow the Lord in Obedience when the unexpected occurs
Slide
This is where the rubber meets the road.
We can say we understand that it is the Lord’s sovereign will, but to actually follow that when it might be easier to not, is what is going to truly help lead us to a place of celebration and not regret.
Joseph could have said ok, it is the Lord’s will for me to take her home. I had this dream and an angel visited me, but taking her to be my wife is too much for me to do.
I will lose friends, people will ridicule me. Even though I know it is the Lord’s will, I can’t do it.
But Joseph doesn’t do that. The Scripture tells us that
Matthew 1:24-25
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Now you may be sitting here thinking
Well, if we know what God wants, why wouldn’t we follow?
People do this all the time.
Divorce
We know that God hates divorce, but there are many Christians that will pursue divorce for unbiblical reasons because they just aren’t happy.
The problem is that people, when they are not focused on the Lord, they are focused on themselves. When we are focused on ourselves, having only and earthly perspective, we are leaving ourselves wide open for the Grinch to steal our Christmas, our ability to celebrate, even when the unexpected occurs.
Sex – Man and woman in marriage
Another example is that Scripture is clear that God has designed sex to be experienced within the bounds of marriage between a man and a woman. (Hebrews 13:4)
But when Christians are not focused on the Lord, they will pursue premarital sex in disobedience to the Lord, even when they know that is not what God wants.
And then people wonder where God is when your girlfriend becomes pregnant or you catch a disease. He has been right here telling us to pursue him and not these things that will provide only temporary pleasure, but often leave us open to events and circumstances that will steal away our joy.
Those are just 2 examples, but the fact of the matter is that when we are not walking with the Lord, keeping our eyes on Him, we can justify just about any type of sin we can think of.
Now following the Lord in obedience is anything but easy.
I will guarantee that it was not easy for Joseph, it was not easy for Mary.
And while we know that Jesus was divine and think it would be easy for Him to follow the Father’s will, we often forget that He was fully human as well.
In His humanity, he experienced incredible suffering.
We see His suffering and turmoil in His humanity when he prayed in Gethsemane for the cup to be taken from Him. But He did not want His will, but the Father’s will to be done.
Hebrews 5:8 tells us this about Jesus.
Slide
Hebrews 5:8 - Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered
But following the Lord in obedience is the only way to truly celebrate Christmas in a way that will last.
Otherwise, we won’t be celebrating, but living in regret.
Regret of what could have been.
Jesus is the reason for this season.
It is great to celebrate and have family events and friends and family over, but if that is what you are basing your celebration on, then even when the unexpected does not interrupt your plans, the celebration will come to an end, when the evening ends or as the season ends.
However, when you have a relationship with Christ and are focused on Him and celebrating Him and what He has done and what He is doing, then you can truly celebrate continually, regardless of any unexpected events that occur when the Grinch shows up at your house.
And in fact, the Lord can take the unexpected, and turn it into a blessing.
I know in my life, we faced some unexpected circumstances during the birth of one of our children. But while that was hard to go through, God used that unexpected circumstance, that circumstance that Laura and I did not understand at the time, to draw us into a deeper relationship with Christ than we ever knew existed and that circumstance ultimately led to me pursuing the Lord’s call into full time ministry.
You don’t have to allow unexpected events, one of the Grinches that show up at your house, to steal away your ability to celebrate Christmas or life for that matter.
God has provided that in a relationship with Christ, we can celebrate Him no matter how many unexpected events seek to rob us of joy.
In relationship with Him, we should expect the unexpected, trust in His Sovereignty and follow Him in obedience, and then be able to celebrate not only at Christmas time, but every day we are alive.
Conclusion
Are you letting the Grinch steal your Christmas?
Don’t allow him to steal it. Instead let Christ give you something to truly celebrate, a relationship that doesn’t last an evening or a season, but an eternity. That is something that we can truly celebrate.
If you have never entered into a relationship with Christ by receiving Him as Savior, won’t you do that this morning and celebrate Christmas in a whole new way.
And if you are a Christian, and the Grinch has been stealing away your joy and ability to celebrate, Keep your eyes on Him and trust in His sovereignty and goodness and follow Him in obedience.
Pray.
