The Unexpected Visit

Read at beginning of service:

Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

INTRODUCTION:

Well here we are into another Holiday Season with Christmas and New Years on the horizon. Have you ever noticed that there are certain things you can expect to happen on Christmas?

You can expect?

• that as soon as Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations and displays are taken down, Christmas decorations are put up.
• That your neighbor will annoy you yet again this year by putting up his Christmas lights and decorations before you do.
  

  • That your wife will kindly remind you that your neighbors have got their lights up and its time for you to get out and stick those things on your house and trees.
  • That when you go to put up those lights and decorations you?ll find that half of the bulbs are missing and need replaced?

• That there are going to be gifts exchanged.
  

  • That it will be harder to find a parking spot at the stores (part of the reason being that you can expect that will be last minute shopping to do)
  • That the gifts you want to get will be sold out.
  • That the money you spend on those gifts will be significantly more than you planned on spending.
  • That you will receive a lot of gifts that you like but will have to wear a couple of ummm..?pretty neat? gifts that you?ll donate to the Thrift store two months down the road.
  • That you?re toddlers will gleefully tear off the wrapper, demolish the card, tear open the cover, nag Daddy to put the toy together and then spend the rest of the week playing with the box!!
  • That you?re older children will ask for the receipt to exchange what you gave them for something ?cooler?.

• That there will be food at Christmas!
  

  • Ah, yes the pleasant assurance of turkey and mashed potatoes, and stuffing, and all the trimmings brings a smile to many stout hearts.
  • But of course all the woman are thinking, I can expect that our men are going to be busy relaxing and digesting their food while we slave away in the kitchens cleaning up after that ?heavenly? meal.
  • Of course the men are expecting that too!?

• You can expect that Christmas will be full of fun-filled joyous times with family and friends or on the other end of the scale maybe there are some who expect?.

• You can expect that Christmas Carols will be sung over and over again during the season on radios, on television, in the community, in our homes,?.and you can expect that by January 1^st some people will be glad that there is a whole other year before they hear another ?Jingle Bells? whereas others will be pining the fact that they won?t hear another ??dreamin of a white Christmas? for 12 months

• Speaking of white Christmas you can expect that there will be snow on Christmas (or at least wishful thinking by people who say Christmas just isn?t Christmas without the snow)

• You can expect that there will be those remembering the true meaning of Christmas?the story of a babe in a manger, Emmanuel, God with us, God?s masterful plan of salvation being worked out on Earth?shepherds, angels, wisemen?
  

  • And on that note that there will be many Christmas pageants performed all over the world, many nativity scenes displayed in homes and storefronts, and elsewhere ? seeking us to remind us of the true joy of the season.
  • Of course you could also expect that pastors will be preaching about Christmas too!!

Yes you can expect all these things and more ? I?m sure you could think of your own?

However, what I find interesting is that even though there is so much we can expect to happen this Christmas ? Christmas actually finds its beginnings in events that happened unexpectantly!!

This week I?m beginning a series of messages for this season entitled, ?Christmas: When the Unexpected Happens? I really believe that for many of us Christmas has become too predictable. Christian and non-Christian alike have learned to expect certain emotions, expect certain events, expect certain highs and lows for the course of the holidays. There is a pattern to our expectancy every year ? there are traditions we follow and things we look forward to ? now, I?m not against expecting those things ? but I am against expecting those things at the expense of losing the mystery and novelty of what makes Christmas unique each and every year. You see Christmas is about the unexpected!! How many people missed out on the awesome events of that special evening over 2000 years ago because it wasn?t what they expected? How many people miss out on the good news of Christ today because it doesn?t fit in with what they expect? How many of you are stuck in the habit of your expectations this Christmas? I would challenge you to be prepared for the unexpected to happen in your life this Christmas. I challenge you to surrender and let God do some unexpected things through you this Christmas! Please, don?t expect Christmas to be the same this year? To help us in understanding this challenge this morning I?d like to take a journey back and look at an unexpected visit?

UNEXPECTED VISIT TO MARY (Luke 1:26-38)

Luke 1:26-38 (NIV)

26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

• unexpected visit of an angel
• unexpected announcement
• unexpected responsibility
• unexpected journey
• unexpected lodging/delivery of the baby?
• What if Mary wasn?t the first young lady the angel visited that evening? (I know that isn?t true but explore this for a moment)

UNEXPECTED VISIT TO THE SHEPHERDS (Luke 2:8-14)

Luke 2:8-14 (NIV)

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

• Relate the story
• Now that is what really happened but could this event have happened like this? DO PARABLE OF ?CARL, SVEN, AND THE ANGELS” (Click on link to see the parable I used)
• Now I don?t believe things really happened that way, in fact? (share about the real shepherds) but this parable I related does illustrate one thing. Sometimes when the unexpected happens people get afraid!!

Now there is one more event I?d like to look at this morning that is inspired by Luke 2:7

UNEXPECTED VISIT TO THE INN KEEPER

Luke 2:7 (NIV)

7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

• DO PARABLE OF ?HOLY DAY INN KEEPER? (Click on link to see the parable I used)

Don?t let the unexpected pass you by this Christmas?what could the unexpected be?

Maybe the unexpected will be in the form of a message from God?

• this message will always be confirmed in His word.
• Maybe it is something that God has been telling you do for a while.
• Maybe it is a promise that God has given you for your future (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

• Maybe it is the message of salvation that is unexpected in your life ? maybe you don?t expect to hear you?re a sinner, maybe you don?t expect salvation to be so simple, maybe you don?t expect that God loves you and wants you to be with Him for eternity?

Maybe the unexpected will be the opportunities God places before you to find Him, to know Him, or to serve Him.

• Don?t miss out like the fictional innkeeper in the parable this morning.

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

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Ephesians 5:15-16 (NIV)

15 Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Who knows what unexpected opportunities will come your way? Chances for you to do the unexpected this Christmas? Maybe you?ll forgo that Christmas gift for yourself in favor of giving to a needy cause.

Talk about Matthew 25:31-46 (The Sheep and the Goats) The sheep were commended for seizing the unexpected opportunities that presented themselves to help those more unfortunate than them. Little did they know they were serving the Lord!! But the goats missed out on the reward because their expectation of Jesus was wrong!

Story of a woman named Judith: Her friends and family were wondering how her and her family were doing after her husband Mike?s death just before the last Christmas. It is always a hard time for a family with three teenage boys when a dad suddenly dies, and the mother has to step into his shoes with three very demanding teenagers. But Judith seemed to be doing well. She wrote of a custom her family has:

It is just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so. It all began because my husband Mike hated the commercialism of Christmas: the overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry, and the dusting powder for Grandma ? the gifts given in desperation because you cannot think of anything else. He just said, ?All I want is for my boys and us to be together, and to be Christian.?

Knowing he felt this way I decided one year not to buy him the usual shirt, sweater, tie and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, took up the sport of wrestling at the school he attended. Shortly before Christmas, there was a match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. The boys were mostly black and came from under-privileged, poor families.

These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, designed to protect a wrestler?s ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn?t acknowledge defeat. Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, ?I wish just one of them could have won,? he said. ?They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.?

Mike loved kids ? all kids ? and he knew them. He had coached little league football. When Christmas came that year the idea for his present came. I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church for their team. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year. In succeeding years I followed the tradition ? one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a football game, another year a cheque to two elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on, always helping the poor.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. As you know, we lost Mike last year due to cancer.

When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree. It was my gift for Mike. I was sending in his name a group of underprivileged kids to church camp. In the morning, as we all gathered round the tree in our pajamas, I was amazed to find three more envelopes stuck in the tree. Each of our sons, unknown to the others had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad telling what they had done for others. This year we know it will happen again. A tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike?s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.

CONCLUSION

What unexpected messages does God have for you this Christmas?

Do you fear the unexpected? What is it you fear?