Advent from the Backside - People on the Path
Advent From the Backside • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsDon't let being preoccupied make you miss the holy passing by
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Children’s Sermon
Children’s Sermon
Something about looking beneath the skin, under the shell? Clams and how ugly they are, how slimy they are…yet within they can house pearls. Wood and carving by Mr. Pete
Scripture
Scripture
Luke 2:1-6 - Around that time, Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Roman Empire. This census was the first when Quirinius was governor of Syria. All were required to register in their ancestral hometown. So, Joseph went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David, Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David. Mary, his betrothed, went with him as she was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver the child.
Engage
Engage
Almost a month ago, we were in Branson, Mo at Silver Dollar City, a great holiday destination. It can be cold this time of year but it’s filled with the spirit of Christmas. One of the things they’ve added since I was last there some years ago is a light parade. Two times in the darkness, at 6pm and 8pm, a short parade of lighted floats weaves a path through the park. People line up to watch the lights pass by. Well, some people do. There are different types of people, of course. Some never see the light show because they’re in an inside show of some sort. Or, perhaps some others are waiting in lines for a roller coaster or other ride. Some are focused on other things…like getting dinner, seeing the glass blowers or knive makers work, getting to the train, etc. E and I had gone to use the facilities and found ourselves cutting through the waiting crowds on either side of the soon to happen 6pm light show in our journey to get to where the others were having dinner. I found myself mildly annoyed at the inconvenience of having to weave around. I’m sure others criticized the light show as too short, too simplistic, too bright, too disruptive, too whatever. Some, I’m sure, just don’t care about light parade. So it is with life and so it was, I’m sure, with Joseph and Mary and their journey.
Encounter
Encounter
Those pre-occupied might miss holy passing by
It’s easy to gloss over the journey part of the story of the birth of Jesus. We don’t have great detail, as would be expected, because scroll space was precious and the journey isn’t the overall focus anyway. But, as we read, Luke tells us it happened. From Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem was not a light journey. The way they almost certainly traveled, the path was over 90 miles long. It was also up and down and quite treacherous in parts. Joseph and Mary likely spent around 10 days making this trip. With Mary in the state she was in, she might’ve ridden a donkey, though we can’t be sure. Regardless, it wasn’t an easy journey. And this was before cross-trainers or sketchers. Most folks in those days could travel around 20 miles per day, they likely did closer to 10. The journey likely followed this path (SHOW MAP AND ILLUSTRATE VALLEY, FOREST, ELEVATION CHANGES). This forest housed lions, bears, and wild boars - all dangerous if encountered at the wrong time. Also, if the journey was made in the winter as we believe it was, it was cold. Perhaps something around 30 degrees for the low, rainy, and bitterly cold at night.
Most travelers would’ve traveled in a caravan for safety, though we’re not sure about Mary and Joseph in this instance. Have you ever been going somewhere with someone and they were really slowing you down? Have you ever made excuses to ditch such a person? And, besides, how many people were going from Galilee to Bethlehem? It’s possible they shared some of the journey with people they knew…but we don’t know about the whole journey.
What kinds of people might they’ve have encountered on their journey?
They likely would’ve encountered others traveling, likely quite a few folks as the census would’ve had folks moving to and from.
They would’ve encountered locals all along their journey. Their journey would’ve followed sources of water and locals gathered around sources of water, naturally. Even today, most major cities of any size trace their roots back to some source of water that may or may not still be their main supply.
There would also be the danger of wild animals, as I mentioned a moment ago, but also the danger of wild people. Robbers, pirates, those seeking easy targets, that kind of thing. I would imagine that because the census would’ve had people on the move, it would’ve also been a time of high opportunity for criminals of many varieties. Since all had to register for the census, some of the travelers might be people who didn’t normally travel much and therefore weren’t as skilled at protecting themselves.
Have you ever noticed how tourists, especially less experienced ones, often stick out like sore thumbs? I was listening to a Jimmy Buffet song last night, Come Monday. In another of his songs, he mentions, “all those tourists covered with oil....” talking about seeing tourists on the beach.
It would’ve also been a time of high opportunity for beggars. Likely they had a whole new crop of travelers who were unfamiliar with them and hadn’t grown numb to their situations. Also, they might’ve encountered snake oil salesman, so to speak, and people faking being disabled to beg.
With all these factors I’ve touched on so far, do you begin to get a sense of the challenge this journey was?
Now, do you think anyone that Joseph and Mary encountered knew who they were encountering? I kind of doubt it. I wonder if they had a little twinkle, especially Mary. I’d think she probably did…she was carrying the Lord and Savior of the universe. Do you think anyone really spoke to them?
I corresponded with one of the foremost NT scholars on the planet over this question…did people know Mary was pregnant but not yet fully married? Most scholars would say people knew she was pregnant as she was likely showing or REALLY showing. It’s not as clear if people would’ve known somehow, through attire or some other method, that she was betrothed but that the marriage ceremony had not yet been completed.
Surely in their hometown people would’ve known…and talked, and whispered, and gossiped. Almost certainly the holy family would’ve encountered criticizers…what’s she doing on this journey? If they knew about their unique situation, there would have certainly been plenty of criticism, scorning, dirty looks, etc.
There were also, certainly, a multitude of people they encountered too busy, too distracted to notice them. Too busy to help them at the times they needed help. Too absorbed in their own purposes, their own journeys, their own stresses and tasks to care.
I think it’d be so interesting to be able to know exactly how their journey went and who they encountered on the path…likely none of them realizing who they had just encountered.
If we fast forward for a moment, you will remember the stories of Simeon and Anna in the temple when Jesus is taken there as a baby…They know who he is, who his family is, only because God arranges for them to be told.
Well, guess what friends? WE ARE PEOPLE ON THE PATH! Jesus, the Spirit, and many believe even Mary are still around us, active, working, healing, saving, teaching…The presence of Jesus is no longer centered on a particular time and place, he can be everywhere and anywhere he’s invited…even with us now through the Spirit.
And friends, Those of us preoccupied might miss holy passing by!
God is all around us! He’s active in places we might expect and places we don’t expect..remember, eternal power and presence often comes in unexpected packaging. It certainly doesn’t often come in worldly packaging.
Are we too distracted? Are we criticizing? Are we gossiping? Are we selling snake oil? Are we looking down upon the very people through whom we might see the face of Christ?
Don’t let preoccupy make you miss holy passing by!
Empower
Empower
I’ve had some brushes with fame and fortune over the years. I can report that for me, I’ve usually been too awestruck, preoccupied, nervous, or whatever to react the way I wish I had. Whoever I interact with, my goal would be to ask, How might Jesus be working in the life of this person and/or how might this person help my journey to get closer to Christ? A goal I don’t achieve as often as I’d like, I’m afraid.
A colleague of mine told me a story a few weeks ago that help illustrate these principles. Not that he failed, necessarily, but that you never really know who your’e speaking to and what they might become on earth and in eternity...
He was officiating a funeral for an aged member of his congregation. One of the old patriarchal saints of this particular church in our conference. Naturally, some family made the journey to the service and gathering afterward. As part of the group, my colleague met two grandsons of this man. One of the grandsons had come from the New York area where he was an investment banker. They had some nice conversation, parted, and my colleague didn’t give it a lot of thought for a number of years…until, at a later date, he realized that investment banker from NY had been none other than Jeff Bezos, founder and President of Amazon and one of the world’s richest men (now).
I said, boy if you’d played your cards right, you could’ve been on that rocket with Shatner and the rest of them a couple of weeks ago, lol.
I have no idea what Jeff Bezos’s relationship with the Lord is, where he’ll spend eternity, the status of his heart, etc. But I know he is, and the poorest person on earth is, beloved by Christ. When we come across the people we come across, that’s a great starting point.
Don’t let being preoccupied make you miss the holy passing by
Pray