from Luke 2:1-20

I.

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.

The Midst of the Mundane

Joseph was doing his taxes when Jesus was born. He was rendering to Caesar what was Caesars.

He hoisted his very pregnant wife onto a donkey and journeyed to Bethlehem because that’s what he was supposed to do. It’s what the government required he do.

What a pain! What an inconvenient distraction from the important things! It was in the midst of the mundane, in the center of Joseph’s drudgery, that Jesus broke onto the scene.

He does that a lot. He disrupts our routines at the most inconvenient times - those times we’d prefer to be bothered by something else.

Thank God for the mundane - for those burdens he has pressed on your shoulders, for those things you think are in the way. Thank Him that He’s in these.

II.

5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born…

A Time Such as This

Before the foundation of the world, God appointed a time for Jesus to touch earth in the skin of a baby. He picked the exact moment to interrupt history with God in the flesh. Jesus entered this world according to a plan that was in motion long before Adam first sucked air into his lungs.

Long before there was a you or me, God had a plan. And that plan involves us.

The Scriptures tell us that God determined the times and places set for us. Think about this for a moment. The time you live was ordained by God! That means the people you meet, the opportunities and troubles you encounter in this world are God given Divine appointments.

Thank God for the time into which you were born, for you were born for a time such as this. Thank Him for the divine appointments God had placed in your life, for the people in your sphere and for the family He has blessed you with.

III.

7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Outsider’s In

God selected not only the time, but also the PLACE where Jesus would puncture our space. It’s interesting to me the place He chose to park His helpless, infant body. With every possibility and combination of luxury or comfort or even safety within reach, we find Jesus confined to… of all things… an animal trough. A place the donkeys feed. Where they stick their dirty mouths and crunch straw… all within view of an inn.

Yes, God positioned Himself outside of the inn. I like that. I like the fact that, when God wrapped Himself in skin, He chose to connect Himself with the outsiders, people like me. I guess He figured there are more people outside the inn than inside the inn. I guess He came into our world as an outsider so He could bring outsiders into His.

Thank God for the outside. Thank Him that He walks with us on the outside of those places we think will make us happy. Thank Him that contentment rests on the inside of Him. Thank Him that there’s plenty of room for us in Christ.

IV.

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

The Story’s Center

The shepherds knew what it was like to be outsiders. These were the dregs of society, the ones mothers didn’t want their daughters to marry. The shepherds were generational drop outs with no expectations for upward mobility. They were, as some might say, not relationally connected, far removed from the centers of power and influence.

Have you ever felt left out? Have you ever believed you were on the outside of someone else’s story?

Thank God that He has placed you in the center of His story.

V.

10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

God is Not Silent

One night, a group of shepherds went to work without any expectation that the night would be different from the hundreds before it. That’s when God broke though. With the entire universe watching in anticipation, and with Jerusalem’s nobility fast asleep, God presented His announcement of the Christ child to a group of… shepherds. I wonder sometimes why He did that. Why did He choose to entrust the remembrance of His birth to society’s forgotten? Maybe, since nobody listened to them, they were more inclined to listen to God.

Thank God that He is not silent. Thank Him that He finds us important enough to speak to. Thank Him that we can hear His voice.

VI.

13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14″Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger

First Steps

Every journey begins with a first step. And every first step begins with a choice. A choice to move forward… in a direction. The shepherds first steps toward Bethlehem moved them AWAY from the comfort of their world. Each step they took pulled them further from the place they knew and towards a baby in manger. The one the angels told them about.

God’s voice will pull us away from our comfortable place and towards Christ. The first steps, I think, are the hardest. For with these, we are still walking within the edges our worlds. But with each successive step, with each planting of the foot, we move closer and in the direction of Jesus - the One who saves us from the world we left behind.

Thank God for drawing us to Him.

VII.

17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Rumors

Rumors are whispers that ride the lips of travelers. They start inside a heart and they move into the open space when two travelers connect. The rumor of a Savior began in the heart of God. It traveled through history, though the prophets, through the nation of Israel and it landed in the hearts of the shepherds. Where the shepherds went, so went the rumor. Soon, the rumor spread to the hearts of other men, men who were listening for the whispers of God.

Thank God that He surrounds us with the fellowship of believers, that He communes us with the saints, that we can enjoy the company of those called by His name.

VIII.

20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Christmas Comes Home

The Shepherds met the Good News… and then they went home. Back to their routine. Back to their flocks. Back to their worlds. But their worlds would never be the same again. Because now, the Good News traveled with them. They had gazed upon the world’s Savior - the one Who would bring them home.

My prayer this morning is that we will bring Christmas with us into our homes. The Spirit of Christmas is the Risen Christ, whose birth we celebrate today.

Thank Jesus for making Himself small so that we can live large. Thank Him that we can have Christmas in our homes and hearts.

Daniel C. Diaddigo / © Rilian 2007

GOD IS GONE… WHO IS GOOD?
Continuing on Psalm 118

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THE RESCUE YOU EXPECT AND THE DONKEY THAT DELIVERS…
From Psalm 118

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UNC meets weekly at the Atlanta Bread Company in Cumming GA. Each Friday, the morning’s opening talk is posted to the blog. Don’t forget, you can easily subscribe to our RSS feed.

Also, you can subscribe to our Podcast in iTunes. Start iTunes, enter the iTunes Store, and search for “UNC Friday Morning”.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord

On the a hill outside Jerusalem, a crowd chanted the words to an ancient Psalm. Tradition held the Psalm was written by a Davidic king whose confidence in the Lord rescued Israel from the clutches of her enemies.

Were you a native among the crowd that day, you would have understood the words to be pointed at a man many were saying had come to rescue God’s people in the tradition of the Psalmist.
The man named Jesus.

The One who would loose the shackles of their bondage. That One. Over there. The One riding… on a donkey?
That’s not what Rescuers do… they don’t ride donkeys!

Sometimes the rescue you expect looks nothing like the rescue you need. Sometimes you need rescued in a bigger way.

The writer of Psalm 118 needed rescued:

“All the nations surrounded me…I was pushed back and about to fall,” he wrote.

Death met his gaze at every turn. Sound familiar? Do you ever feel pressed to the place of despair? Have you ever felt like the darkness meets you wherever you seek relief? What do you do when your situation seems hopeless?

You call for help.

Help shows itself in different ways. Help can pluck you from your circumstances, or help can rescue you through them. The rescue the king sought reached past the weapons of war. He sought victory for his tormented soul.

“In my anguish I cried to the Lord…”

And he anchored himself to a hope beyond men.

“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.”

Your battle is bigger than you. This is why you need a rescue larger than yourself. Relational turmoil may hem you in today, or the market may have you surrounded. Or, maybe you feel the years pushing you past your productivity. What will you do if God does not rescue you in the manner you desire? What if the market stays crashed and the wife stays gone and your face stays wrinkled?

What if your Rescuer has a different plan? What if He’s chosen to rescue you through your pain and not from it? What if His bigger idea is to bandage up your broken heart?

Will you receive such a Rescue in the name of the Lord? Will you accept deliverance from the back of a donkey?

From: Psalm 118, Matthew 1