When Christmas is Disturbed
It's Not Supposed To Be This Way • Sermon • Submitted
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Our Christmas season has been disturbed by COVID19. I had plans. I had strategically filled our advent envelopes with activities we like to do together as a family. And I was naive to believe that things would actually go to plan. Praise God, Carsten didn’t have a severe bout of COVID, but it still has put us into quarantine. For many people, this Christmas is not like every other year. Many have lost their jobs or lost loved ones. We’re not sure if we should gather with family and friends. We may not have the money for gifts. Everything about Christmas feels different.
Being disturbed is what happens when there’s an interference to our previous planned out arrangements. But somehow, God still works during these disturbances because our disturbances don’t actually affect His plans. In fact, many times He disturbs our plans in order to accomplish His plan.
Jesus’ birth should have been celebrated. He should have been born in a palace, surrounded by royalty. Mary should have had the proper midwife available at her beck and call. And Jesus should have laid down His sweet head in a golden crib filled with luxurious bedding. Instead, Jesus was born in a stable, placed in a manger, with strips of cloth to keep him warm. And instead of His birth being a celebration, it was a disturbance.
Matthew 2:1-3, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.”
King Herod had been named the king of the Jews by the Romans because He reigned over Judea, the “home” of the Jews. Even though he was given this title, he was never accepted by the Jews. He was only part Jew and did not come from the line of David. He was known as the builder of cities but he was a destroyer of people. He played every side of the aisle because he knew his power could be easily stripped from him. He rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem, which won him superficial favor from some of the Jews, but he also built many pagan temples. He showed over and over again that his loyalty was not to the Jews, nor was it to the Romans, ultimately he only remained loyal to himself.
King Herod’s agenda was clear. Remain in power, whatever it takes. So, at the time of Jesus’ birth, the news of another newborn king troubled him greatly. A new threat had arrived and his shaky throne could potentially crumble as he sat on it. He created a plan to take care of the potential threat before it overtook his illusive place of honor.
Matthew 2:4-8, “When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
He gathered as much information as possible about the Messiah and schemed to take him out.
Matthew 2:9-12, “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”
God gave the Magi divine wisdom to avoid Herod. Maybe they could tell that he was a power hungry king who was desperate to maintain his position. After the Magi left, an angel came to Joseph warning him to leave with Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt. Joseph obeyed this warning and fled in the cover of night.
Matthew 2:16-18, “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
When someone is desperate they will go to great lengths to remain in control of their situation. Herod was so disturbed by the arrival of Jesus that he used brutal force to try and kill him, a young child, because he was terrified to lose his place of power. From our perspective, we can see that in these verses, “Matthew is contrasting the one who is truly the King of the Jews by birth with the one who actually rules but turns out to be a temporary intruder”
Those words hit a nerve this week. While I have thought about the difference between a king and The King, I’ve realized that I have allowed some temporary intruders into my life. Things that have given me a false sense of power. As silly as it sounds, filling my advent envelopes with activities and penciling them into my calendar gave me a false sense that I was honestly in control of how our Christmas season would turn out.
So how do we respond when these temporary intruders take a seat in the throne room of our hearts? What happens when it looks like the power we think we have is going to be stripped away? What do we do when our agenda is disturbed by the King of Kings?
One potential response is to eliminate what is threatening our position.
Herod set out to kill Jesus, but in doing so, he actually eliminated an entire generation of Jewish boys. Boys who would have been raised into God-fearing Jewish men. And we look at this desperate attempt to maintain his throne, and we think how absurd. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. No mother should have to hand over her baby boy to be slaughtered by Roman soldiers. And all because it was suspected that the Messiah was born in Bethlehem. Herod ruthlessly grasped to cling to the power he thought he had over the land of Judea.
Another way we can respond is by grasping even harder to the things we think we are in control of.
As parents, when our children are young they really look to us as the ones who are in control. Ultimately we dictate when they eat, sleep, go on a trip....But then they grow up to be teenagers and they realize that they can start to make decisions for themselves. And the power we thought we once had over their lives seemingly slips from our grasp as we watch them head in every direction except the one we want them to go. As that power slips through our fingers, how do we respond?
If we pull the dominance card and come down even harder on them, they are more than likely to rebel even more. The more rules we put in place, the more boundaries we try and set up appear as challenges to them.
We often turn to self help books, and we speak at length with our friends about how defeated we feel as parents. We are afraid to lose power because then we will no longer be control. And if we’re not in control, how on earth is the world going to continue to rotate?
Herod’s power was always precarious. At any moment, the Romans could change their minds and install a new king for no reason at all. His position wasn’t secure because his belonging wasn’t secure. This is the same for us. If our belonging in Christ isn’t secure, we will use our power to try and earn the love and favor of others. Nate Edwardson said this in a recent message, “If our belonging isn’t first settled, we will unknowingly use spiritual power not to give love, but to get love; not to champion others, but to validate ourselves. The kind of power that flows from authentic belonging, delight and soul settled-ness has the power to reveal Jesus to an orphan world.”
We need to spend some time today talking about real power and the purpose of power.
There is an earthly power that exists. This power is given to people by other people. When someone is given a promotion, they are given more power in their company. When someone is given a large sum of money, with that comes the potential of having more power in their sphere of influence. When someone is voted into a political position, they are given power and influence to make decisions on behalf of the people they “serve.” This kind of power is bestowed by people.
The purpose of this power is to control. Control people, circumstances, and things. The problem with this is that worldly power will corrupt if it is not coupled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Whenever worldly power is threatened, you will see desperate attempts by men and women to regain that power because they are afraid that if they lose it they won’t have any control or purpose in this life.
Satan, our enemy, also has power. We don’t like to talk about it or admit it, but we are told in Ephesians 2:1-2, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”
The ruler of the air has power in this world. He uses his power to kill, steal and destroy. He knows that his reign in an individual’s life will be up when they make Jesus their King, and he knows that his reign on earth will be up the second the trumpets sound and Jesus comes back again. His power is threatened every single second of every single day. And he ruthlessly grasps for power, to the point of destroying entire generations of girls and boys through abortion. Just as Herod murdered babies to maintain power, Satan has an agenda to wipe out potential Christ followers who could bring God’s redeeming love to this earth.
This is not how it’s supposed to be. We shouldn’t be power hungry people. Satan shouldn’t have the power to destroy entire generations. It is NOT supposed to be this way.
But...There is another kind of power. A power that is given by God himself. The power He gives us through the Holy Spirit. This power is life giving. It is not jealous. It is not afraid or timid. And most importantly, it is used to bring hope and life into our hopeless and dying world.
The power of God created Jesus in Mary’s womb.
The power of the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus and gave Him the ability to preach, teach, heal, cast out demons, feed thousands, and ultimately saved us from our sin.
The power of the Holy Spirit was given to Jesus’ followers so they could serve and be witnesses to His coming Kingdom.
The power of the Holy Spirit can now fill us so we can do all of these things and more for His glory alone. But, instead of asking to be filled with this life giving power of the Holy Spirit, we spend our time striving for the fleeting power of this world. This is not how it’s supposed to be.
Jesus came as a baby. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
He was the eternally reigning King of Kings who was born in a stable. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. He was empowered by the Holy Spirit to serve. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. He used that power to give life to the outcasts, the poor and the marginalized. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. In His meekness, He allowed people to crucify Him. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was raised from the dead to take His rightful place on His throne. And that is exactly the way it was supposed to be.
When we are entrusted with the power of the Holy Spirit we won’t feel the need to grasp and claw for worldly power. If we are given worldly power and authority, we know that if it is not coupled with the power of the Holy Spirit, it will remain temporary and unfruitful.
When our teenagers seem out of control, instead of running to our friends and lamenting, we cry out to God and ask that He fills us with His Spirit who can give us wisdom as we continue to love them as He does. When we’re demoted, we trust that God is divinely placing us into a position that He needs us in. When our plans are disturbed by a Jesus divinely rewriting our agenda, we don’t desperately grasp for what we want. Instead we trust that His plans are far greater than our own.
One of the greatest things about the power of the Holy Spirit is we won’t feel threatened when our power seems to be slipping out of our hands because we know that we have been divinely accepted by the King Himself.
Jesus might be disturbing our plans this Christmas. Things might not be what we think they should be. When we are stripped of the power we think we have, let’s remember that the power of the Holy Spirit is the only power we should desire. Invite the power of the Holy Spirit into your circumstances. Let Him reveal wisdom and truth to you. Be a conduit of His powerful love and grace. And remember that when Jesus changes our plans, He always has a divine purpose, and He’s always in control.
The New International Version. (2011). (Eph 2:1–2). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Then there is power that comes from God. The power of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit, give us Your power to adjust to our circumstances when our plans are changed.
Blomberg, C. L. (1998). Matthew. In D. S. Dockery (Ed.), Holman concise Bible commentary (p. 405). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 2:16–18). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 2:9–12). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 2:4–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 2:4–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 2:1–3). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.