Journey #4 Carroll UMC 12/22/19

Journey #4 Carroll UMC

12/22/19

  Finally! … Christmas is almost here so we finally hear what most people call “the Christmas story.” They might say that everything before this was setting the stage. In musical terms, they might say that all that came before was prelude.

If they say it was JUST setting the stage, or JUST prelude they would be mistaken… because the way the stage is prepared is important to the story. And the prelude is critical for preparing us for worship. You might not be as aware as I am of it, but our musicians spend a lot of time looking for the right prelude for every service.

The passage before us today, about Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, does look back on a long salvation history, which provides the context and helps us to understand the how the Christmas story fits into God’s big picture of salvation. All the generations before all God’s mighty acts of the past are the perfect prelude to God’s decisive act in Jesus Christ.

 I was taught that Mary and Joseph likely took an eastern route from Nazareth along the Jordan River to Bethlehem. This would have been the safer route, skirting the territory of the Samaritans and it would have been an easier route in some ways.

 Several scholars are arguing that they would have taken the more direct route because, even though it went through the heart of Samaritan territory, with Mary 9 months pregnant they would have taken the shortest route possible.

 If that is correct, it must have been like traveling in a time machine to some of God’s most important acts in history.

As they left Nazareth by the south way and descended from the hills, straight ahead was the beautiful green, almost Eden like Jezreel plain. How could they not remember God’s first words, let there be light, and God’s sovereign power in the act of creation, with this view in front of you, how could you fail to give thanks for the beauty of creation and the God who made it?

 The valley is called the Jezreel valley. Jezreel comes from the Hebrew word that means “God sows.” How much more obvious do the hints have to be? They had to be reminded that "the earth is the lord’s and the fullness thereof.” And from one end of the earth to the other God is not only creator but master and lord.

   On their left was the Jordan river in the distance and on the other side is the wilderness in which the Israelites wondered for 40 years.

On their right was Mount Carmel the sight of Elisha’s famous showdown with the priests of Baal. Straight ahead was Mount Gilboa, the sight of King Saul’s death. You see how all this prelude is beginning to form a picture? A picture of a loving God and a reluctant people.

 As they ascended the Mountains of Gilboa, on their right and left were thousands of olive trees. From which came the oils of anointing used by the high priest to anoint every king in Israel’s history.

The oil was a sign of divine Choosing, but it is also the power of forgiveness and healing. This olive oil would later be used by the disciples to heal the sick, by Mary Magdalene to lovingly anoint Jesus’ feet. And it was brought by the women to prepare Jesus body for burial on the first Easter morning.

There is no way to see all of this and NOT remember all of the kings, prophets, messengers, and healers through whom God had been working for so long.

 Passing through the mountains would have been a slow, difficult 2-3day trip. They would probably have spent two nights. Logically, they probably stayed where other travelers seem to have stopped. One was Abrahams spring, which provided water to the father of the faith, Abraham.

 Another night was probably at Jacob’s well where Jacob settled after making up with his brother Esau. This is also the well where Jesus would meet the Samaritan woman and offer her “living water.”

These wells remind us of God sustaining provision for the people. When they needed water, there was a well. When they need hope, God provided hope. When they needed guidance, God showed them a plan. When they needed food, God provided Joseph in Egypt with storehouses of grain for them, or in another story, anam which fell from the sky providing them nourishment. Part of the prelude is we have a God who comes through when we need something.

 Finally, as they head toward Jerusalem, they encounter the most difficult part of the journey. The hills get steeper. The fertile valleys are gone. The journey goes through the treacherous Samaritan mountains. These mountains contained the infamous Jericho road of the Good Samaritan fame.

And you can imagine Mary saying, “I don’t think I can go any further.” And Joseph reassuring her, “We’re almost there dear. Just a little further.”

Similarly, when Israel had been lost, God said, let me take you a little further. When Israel felt like the road was too treacherous, God said let me take care of that for you. Part of the story of the past is that God had always been faithful. From the Garden of Eden to the Ark, to Jacob’s well, to that very day when Mary and Joseph set out on this journey.

 On the 9th or 10th day, they would have crested a hill and seen Jerusalem laid out before them. This was the city of Zion, and it was dominated by the temple and the wall. The Temple, of course, was the seat of religious power, the wall is a sign of strength. Of course, this would not be the last journey to Jerusalem. There would be others and of course. There would be one very bad one when Mary would come to stand at the foot of the cross, as the child she carried on this journey was hung as for the sins of the world.

  From Jerusalem, it was only 6 miles, another hour and a half, to Bethlehem. The last leg of the trip went through the arid and rocky hills of the Judean countryside. Until on the 10th or 11th day, they arrived in Bethlehem.

The road of faithfulness is not always a comfortable road. It is not always a safe road, it is not always the road we want to take, but we go anyway. The road of faithfulness for a young woman charged with giving birth to God’s son is not easy, but Mary did it. The road of marrying one who may have been unfaithful is not easy, but Joseph did it anyway.

  For Mary and Joseph, the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem was a hardship and a nuisance caused by living in an occupied land. They were probably too exhausted to appreciate the sweep of salvation history they had seen along the way.

AND… they didn’t know of the events that were just about to unfold.

They couldn’t yet see the angel choir singing “Glory to God.”

They couldn’t imagine the shepherds rushing to the stable to see the baby.

They did not know that the Magi were already beginning their journey to pay homage to the little king.

They couldn’t imagine the crowds thronging around him, the sick pressing him for healing, the people calling out, and “Jesus save us?“

If they had known of the journey Jesus would take on the other end of his life; the journey to Jerusalem and the journey to the cross, then the journey of the first Christmas might have been too much to bear.

They certainly could not imagine that 2000 years later we would still be talking about them.

They couldn’t see any of that. Yet they made the journey. Step by dusty step they faithfully made their way to Bethlehem. Why, because Caesar said they had to? Maybe. But did you ever think that maybe Caesar was part of a bigger plan too? Just like Abraham, and Moses, and Joshua and David and Jeremiah and Elisha and Mary and Joseph and you and I.

 The Christmas story is not just about what happened 2100 years ago on a silent night in the little town of Bethlehem. The story of God’s incarnation does not begin with the angel’s annunciation to Mary. The story of Emmanuel does not begin with Joseph’s faithfulness.

The incarnation of Jesus Christ is the climax of the saga of God’s continuing efforts to be in relationship with people. Coming to be with us as a baby is the absolute clearest way God could say “I am with you” which is what God has been telling his people through all of history. Abraham, “have faith, for I am with you.” Isaac, “have faith, for I am with you.” Jacob, “have faith, for I am with you.” Moses, “have faith, for I am with you.” Wonderers through the wilderness, “have faith, for I am with you.” Joshua and Samuel, “have faith, for I am with you.” Saul and David, “have faith, for I am with you.” Isaiah, Jeremiah, Haggai and Zechariah, “have faith, for I am with you.”

Mary and Joseph- have faith in what seems almost impossible. Even though it will cost you everytyhig, “have faith, for I am with you.”

Peter, Paul, and all the Christians through the ages, “have faith, for I am with you.”

People of Carroll, even when the world is filled with school shootings, and suicide bombers, and lunatic dictators, even as we know Christian brothers and sisters gather in Palestinian held Bethlehem under the watchful eye of Arab guards with machine guns, the Christmas message is, “have faith, for I am with you.”

Even as Christians around the world are forbidden to worship on Christmas Eve, Christians in Nigeria are killed, and the faithful in China are imprisoned for their faith, the Christmas message is, “have faith, for I am with you.”

Even as the nation faces the impeachment drama and our trusted leaders on both sides of the aisle demonstrate abject selfishness and failure of vision and leadership, the Christmas message is, “have faith, for I am with you.”

Even as the doctors say, “it is cancer,” or MS, macular degeneration, or diabetes, or heart failure, or depression… the Christmas message is, “have faith, for I am with you.”

Even as your aging parents say hurtful things to you, your spouse betrays you, your children's lives swirl around the proverbial drain, the Christmas message is, “have faith, for I am with you.”

Even as your finances are a mess, your job is less secure, and your future is far from certain, the Christmas message is, “have faith, for I am with you.”

Even as we watch our beloved denomination list from side to side looking like it could capsize at any time, the Christmas message is “have faith I am with you.”

Jesus did not come to this earth in a vacuum. He came to an underage girl from a poor family, in an occupied corner of the world, under the weight of brutal taxation in a stable among those who would fear him and try to kill him. And in the midst of that, the Christmas message was still, “have faith, for I am with you.”

It is not a new message. It is not the kind of message that gets put up in lights or is tweeted and retweeted, it is not on the front of many Christmas cards, but is the most fundamental message of God’s work in history. It is the most fundamental message of the Christmas story. It is the most important message we could hear and share this Christmas.

 “Have faith, for God is with you.” Immanuel.