Grace and peace to you in the name of Lord Jesus Christ.
Hear the Word of God, from Luke 2.1, 4-6:
"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born..."
Like many people, I have found 2020 to be a year like no other. It didn't turn out at all as I expected...and it's not over yet!
As human beings, we always tend to think that our experience of life is unique to us; we assume that no one can truly understand what we feel or how we feel as we journey through the unexpected times of our lives.
However, it occurs to me that there is a Biblical character who lived thru his own version of 2020: The New Testament man from Nazareth known as Joseph. Consider this: he was legally engaged to a young virgin named Mary and was planning for his new life as a married man. Then, he discovered that his fiancée was pregnant! Since engagements were legally binding agreements in that time and culture, he began confidential processes that would lead to divorce. No doubt he was heartbroken at this, but what else could he do?
However, an angel of the Lord visited him in a dream and revealed that Mary's baby was of the Holy Spirit rather than of another man. He was instructed to proceed with his marriage preparation and to ultimately name the child Jesus, "because he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1.21).
I imagine Joseph was both a very devout and very wise man; he was able to perceive that all of this was of God. Most individuals living today, upon having such a dream, would probably awaken and try to remember what they ate before going to bed (and resolve never to eat it so late again!). No doubt Joseph's decision to faithfully follow the Lord's instruction led to several months of uncomfortable glances and comments from knowing relatives and neighbors (if not outright ridicule over the supposed scandal in his life).
As if that wasn't enough, he then discovered that he had to travel out of town just when the baby was due to be delivered...and he would have to take Mary along with him! The only thing that could make the situation worse would be the unavailability of suitable accommodations for Mary in Bethlehem, which was his destination. He could only hope they wouldn't have to end up staying in someone's barn...!
Well, as the commentator Paul Harvey used to say, "you know the rest of the story!"
I imagine those months of one unexpected event after another left Joseph wondering, "After this past year, what in the world will the next one bring?" I can emphasize with Joseph with all my heart. After a year of unexpected personal changes within the context of an unexpected global pandemic, I find myself on the Sunday before Christmas 2020 in the cardiac care unit of a major hospital, awaiting triple-bypass surgery the following day that, if successful, will mean I will celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in a medical recovery unit. Due to the pandemic, no visitors are allowed or will be permitted for the foreseeable future. Yes, I understand Joseph...this has been my own "Year of the Unexpected," and it's not over yet!
Still, in the midst of the unexpected, God used Joseph's travails to bring about the greatest event in the history of Planet Earth. In the words of the great Missionary E. Stanley Jones, "The early Christians did not say, in dismay, 'Look what the world has come to,' but, in delight, 'Look what has come to the world!'" Instead of lamenting what his world had come to, Joseph was able to witness and participate in what came into the world that long ago night in Bethlehem: the baby Jesus, who would ultimately save His people from their sins.
I've come to believe that the great doctrine of the Incarnation isn't only about the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us in order to show us His glory (John 1.14). Yes, God has fully revealed Himself to us in the person and work of His Son Jesus, but He has also revealed that He does His greatest work in the midst of the Unexpected...even when the Unexpected is not altogether welcome at first glance. I'm trusting in that as I type these words with my one unbandaged finger on my aging but trusty cellphone, looking out on the roof of the hospital's maintenance department. I'd rather be in a pastor's office with my laptop and my collection of Biblical commentaries and books on theology, preparing to be with God's people in Sunday morning worship and then with my family in the joy of a Sunday afternoon's fellowship around a decorated Christmas tree. But, this morning, God is reminding me that He's always done His best work in the midst of the "stuff" of life...including the unexpected "stuff." So, I don't know what to expect in 2021...but God does. And, because of His love that He has once and for all proclaimed in the birth, death, and resurrection of His Son Jesus, I can trust Him with tomorrow and with 2021.
I can expect Him to be who He is: the Good and Loving God, the All-Sufficient and Never-Failing God, the God of Grace and God of Glory.
Through faith in Jesus, you can expect that, too...even in the midst of your Unexpected.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always.
Amen.
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