Weaver
Christmas Devotion
December
24, 2017
INTRODUCTION
(To
Kids) Who can tell me of a job they have at home? If you had one
job, that is, if you had to pick just one job that was the most
important, what would it be? I know Eli watches ESPN Game Day on
Saturday mornings. Tell us about a segment they call “You Had One
Job.” I thought it would be fun to look at the Christmas story
this morning with that in mind. Let's identify the one job, the most
important job, each of the Christmas story characters had.
MARY
AND JOSEPH
Let's
begin with Mary and Joseph. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was but a
young lady with one job in that day; to marry and have children; to
be a good wife and a good mother. Her parents arranged for her to
wed a man named Joseph. He found Mary favorable and consented to
marry her. It was agreed upon by their parents that Mary and Joseph
were to be married. They were betrothed, meaning they were
essentially married but not yet living together. You see, Joseph had
to prepare a place for the two of them to live, after which, he would
come with a parade of his friends and take her to their new home to
live as husband and wife. So, Mary had one job, to be the wife of
Joseph and Joseph had one job, to prepare a home for them to live.
But
something very unexpected occurred. Mary was going to have a baby
and this was before she went to live with Joseph. When her parents
heard the news they were very upset with Mary for they feared this
would ruin everything, for she and Joseph were not yet officially
married. What do you suppose they might have said to Mary? “Mary,
you had one job.!” Little did they know an angel of the Lord had
visited Mary and explained to her that she was to be with child from
the Lord and that this child would be great and be called the son of
the Most High and His name was to be Jesus, which means “Jehovah
God Saves”.
Now
when Joseph got word of Mary's condition, his close friends and
family were outraged and told Joseph he should save his own
reputation and publicly shame her and send her away from him. But
the Bible tells us that Joseph being a kind and good man desired not
to disgrace Mary, but to send her away secretly. Now what do you
suppose his friends and family had to say to Joseph? “You had one
job!” But guess what? An angel appeared to Him as well. In a
dream, the angel told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife.
He told Joseph, as he had told Mary, that the child was of the Holy
Spirit just as it was foretold hundreds of years ago and written in
the Scriptures. His name was to be Jesus because he will save people
from their sins.
And
so Mary and Joseph were married but soon after they had to make a
long trip from their town of Nazareth to Bethlehem. This was the
town that Joseph family had originally come from and they were
required by law to go to their home town to be counted. So Mary and
Joseph set off for the long journey. When they finally reached their
destination, Joseph knew that he now had a new job; to love and care
for Mary and her baby. First, he must find a place for them to stay
for Mary was very close to giving birth to Jesus. He tried the inn,
but was told there was no room for them there, but the inn keeper
told them they could stay in his stable, where the animals were kept.
So when Joseph went to Mary to tell her where they would be staying,
what do you suppose Mary could have said to Joseph? “Joseph, you
had one job!” I think, however, she probably was more respectful
and much kinder to Joseph.
THE
SHEPHERDS
Just
outside of Bethlehem on a hillside were shepherds keeping watch over
their flocks of sheep at night. They had to keep a careful eye out
for lions or wolves that would want to kill and eat their sheep or
thieves who might sneak up in the cover of darkness to try and steal
them. You see, these were not just any ordinary sheep, they were
special sheep being raised for a special purpose. They would be
taken to Jerusalem a short distance away where the Temple was
located. There at the Temple, the sheep would be killed and the
blood of the lambs was a sign of the very blood that Jesus would shed
for all people, that their sins would be forgiven. So it was not
just by chance Jesus was born in Bethlehem and for this reason Jesus
is known as the Lamb of God. Then, all of a sudden, the sky lit up
and suddenly an angel stood before them. The shepherds were terribly
frightened but the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid for I
bring you good news of great joy which will be for all people, for
today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who
is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you; you will find a
baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger.” And suddenly a multitude
of angels appeared in the sky praising God and shouting, “Glory to
God in the Highest and on earth peace and goodwill toward men whom He
is well pleased.” When the angels left them, they said to each
other, “Lets us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing
that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they
left their sheep and immediately departed toward Bethlehem. Now let
me ask you, what was their one job? They were to keep watch over
their sheep. But they left them. So what might you say to them?
“You had one job.” However, they now had a new job, more
important job; to bear witness to the Lamb of God.
THE
MAGI
Now
about this same time, there were men far from the east, traveling
toward Bethlehem, following a star in the sky. You see, these men
might be what you call scientist today who study the motions of stars
and planets in the sky. They are called astronomers. But they were
more than that. They were considered very wise men that worked for
their King. The studied history as well as science and math. They
were taught by the wise men that came before them, one of which may
have been Daniel, a young Israelite, a prophet of God, that was
carried off captive from the land of Judea, where Bethlehem is
located, to a country far to the east called Babylon and later
Persia. He would have known the prophesy foretold of the coming
Messiah and probably passed down what he knew to the younger men
studying for the King, who continued to pass down this knowledge for
many generations. So three such men, hundreds of years later were
sent by the King to investigate what was foretold, for the time had
come and a mysterious star appeared in the sky as a sign. Now when
you were sent somewhere by a King, you represented the King and many
saw them, such as the wisemen, as magistrates from which we get the
shortened word magi. So they had one job; find this one called the
Messiah. When they got to Judea, the country where Jesus was born,
they first visited the King of that region and his name was King
Herod. Herod asked them the reason for their visit and when the magi
told them they were looking for the Messiah, the King of Kings, Herod
became very upset. He did not want anyone taking away his kingdom so
he gave permission to the wisemen to find the child said to be a
king, so that he might worship him too. But the real reason was so
that he could have him killed. The magi did find the child in
Bethlehem and by this time the Bible says they found Him in a house.
They presented the young child with three gifts; gold, frankincense
and myrrh, but being warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod,
the magi slipped out of town secretly. When Herod had heard the magi
tricked him, what do you suppose he said about them? “They had one
job!” Herod, in his wrath, sent his soldiers to Bethlehem and
ordered them to kill every boy child 2 years of age and younger.
They had one job, but an angel of God warned Joseph in a dream of
what Herod was about to do and he, Mary and the child fled to Egypt
and stayed there until it was safe for them to return to their
hometown of Nazareth.
JESUS
AND US
Jesus,
God's one and only son, was sent to earth. He had one job. What do
you say was His one job? He was sent to rescue us; to save us from
our sins so that we can be a child of God and live with him forever.
Did He succeed in His job! Most certainly, even when it meant that
He would have to suffer and die on a cross. That is how much God
loves us! God gave us the most precious gift of all, His son, so
that we could be forgiven of our sin. This is why we celebrate His
birth by giving of gifts.
Before
Jesus left this earth, Jesus left us with one job. Do any of you
know what that one job, the most important job, is? Jesus told His
disciple right before He went up into heaven to go and teach others
the things He had told them; the good news, that God loves them and
their sins can be forgiven if they just put their faith and trust in
Him who died for them. So you have one job. When we come face to
face with Jesus someday, will he be disappointed in you if you have
never told anyone else about what He did for you and what He could do
for them? I am sure, to some he will say, “You had one job!”
AMEN
