The Unexpected Christmas - (Episode 2)

[Upbeat Music] - The day finally arrived, the waiting is over! The unwrapping begins but the question is, what kind of unwrapper are you? Are you "The Shredder"? The type of person where the anticipation and waiting becomes too much that you ferociously tear into your presents coming close to damaging your gifts? Others in the room watch on with extra-wide eyes because, quite frankly, they’re a little bit scared! - Or maybe you’re like me, the “Paper Saver” I would have put a perfect little stack of wrapping paper next to me on the floor while I carefully separated every bit of paper with expert precision. I’d like to say it was because I cared about the environment, but the truth of the matter is I still hadn’t wrapped my sibling’s presence and I needed to recycle the paper, sorry sis. - Or maybe you’re “The Snail”? You’re the type that slowly opens every present as if you're performing open heart surgery. People offer to help you, but you’ll never accept, this is your present to open, it’s not necessarily that you’re saving the paper, it’s more for the joy of the experience, to really saviour the moment! When it comes to your turn, your parents or the adults in the room go and get more of their survival coffee because you’re actually that slow! - On Christmas morning though there are some that often get a RAW deal... they‘re made to wake up at least 2 hours earlier than normal and then they get smothered in wrapping paper! Mom... Dad... Dad... - I’m not sure what comes into your head when you think about the very first Christmas, maybe you’re thinking of stars, meteors, the aurora borealis, fireworks, a stable, some kind of animals, a baby on hay, in a crib, on a sun lounger?! Maybe you’re thinking of shepherds or some very wise men. While some of this is true, there are two people who had a really tough ride and their incredible stories can often get overlooked. These two people are the original Christmas Morning parents, Mary and Joseph. - Let’s start with Mary, her life leading up to that very first Christmas morning often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. You see, Mary was just a mere teenager when the Angel Gabriel appeared to her to tell her that she would give birth to the Son of God!! The angel said to her, ‘… don’t be afraid! God is pleased with you, and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of God...’ (Luke 1). So, put yourselves in her shoes. You’re very young, you’re not married yet, and an angel has just told you something outrageous. Having a baby outside of marriage was really frowned upon. This was very risky for Mary, knowing she could be rejected by her own community, think of the question she would have yet her response is, ‘I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true’ (Luke 1:38). - What makes her response so inspiring is not just the fact she was so young, but that she had a deep faith in such an uncertain time. She was a Jew and during this time, they were being badly treated by the Romans. She would have been one of those people waiting for the first Christmas but hope for many was wearing thin. Yet despite all this, Mary had developed a relationship and a trust in a God who does what he promises no matter how crazy it seemed, no matter how unexpected it turned out to be. - Now, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Joseph. Fear had got the better of him. He was worried about what people might think about Mary and he was close to calling off their engagement! But God was kind to Joseph, He didn’t punish him for his lack of faith but instead sent an angel to calm his fears and tell him two very important bits of information. The Angel reminded him of who he was; like this was Joseph and he was-, - Great, great, great, great-grandson of the stone-slinging, harp-playing, giant-slayer David, who was the great, great, great, great-grandson of Abraham-, - Just Abraham! This is what God said all along that he would send a saviour through this family line. The Angel also reminded Joseph of just how important this task was as he was to name his son Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21). - God has always been in the habit of using ordinary people to bring about his change in the world, this couldn’t be truer than from Mary and Joseph, they were not important in their community, but God could see their courageous faith, Joseph did indeed go on to marry Mary, say that one 10 times faster, Marry, marry. Marry, marry. Marry, marry. Marry, marry. Marry, marry. - But here’s the interesting thing, when it came time for Mary to give birth, they were both forced into an epic journey. You see, a census have been called which we know from records is a historical event. A census is a record of the number of people living in a certain place. Since Joseph was from Bethlehem, he had to take Mary there with him. This is where we find the heroic image of a heavily pregnant Mary traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem on a donkey but was it a donkey? Funnily enough, a donkey isn’t mentioned in the Bible, we know they didn’t travel on anything with an engine, but it could have been a horse or a camel, or maybe they just walked, all 90 miles of it! - When they did get there, the town was so full other people who had also come to register for the census, that there was nowhere for Mary and Joseph to stay. Now, if you go to Bethlehem today, you will find a big church built over the place where it is thought that Jesus was born, and underneath is a tiny cave. So, he could have been born in a cave. We’re not completely sure, but it was definitely somewhere that animals were fed, and it certainly wasn’t pretty! - If you take a step back and really think about what is going on here, it's totally bonkers, completely unexpected. Like an angel has come and told you that you're going to give birth to the Son of God, the same God who created the universe is coming to earth in the form of a helpless baby who is under threat from the nasty king Herod who wants to kill him. The Jewish people thought that God would come in power to rescue them from the Romans, but they missed the bigger picture, God came to rescue and restore the relationship that was lost at the beginning. - You may have noticed from various nativity sets that it seems as though there’s all sorts of people were there at the birth of Jesus, but that wasn’t actually true. Jesus did have a few visitors, but this would have been a long time after his birth. It was Wise men from the East that went to visit Jesus and they brought him 3 gifts, Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. And this is where gift-giving came from. They brought gifts to honor Jesus, and we share gifts today as a celebration of God giving us the greatest gift in sending Jesus. - So, apart from Mary and Joseph, it was only these shepherds who were present. They were the lowest of the low in society, yet this was so cool because they were the first to hear this incredible news. In Luke’s Gospel, it says that Angel told these shepherds: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you, he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you, You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” - This showed us what God is like, noticing the unnoticed, using those that get overlooked to do wonderful things, bringing hope when all seemed lost and light in the darkness. Everything about the first Christmas was unexpected, but it happened just as God had promised it. But this wasn’t the end of the story, there was way more to come...