Main Idea: The message of the manger is that in Jesus Christ there is courage to overcome circumstances that overwhelm us.

C. S. Lewis is without question one of the greatest Christian writers of the modern era. His books such as The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters and so many more have been significant in shaping the faith of believers for almost 70 years. There is however a very profound little book he wrote shortly after his wife died of cancer called "A Grief Observed" in which he confesses something that every follower of Christ has thought or felt at sometime in their lives. He said, "Where is God? When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be—or so it feels—welcomed with open arms. But go to him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become… What can this mean? Why is He so present a commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent a help in time of trouble?" (A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis, p.9)

Have you ever felt that way especially at Christmas? The cynical side of us looks at a baby in a manger, stares at the circumstances we face that seem to totally engulf us and we ask, "What can you do to help me?" Life comes over us in waves of loss, illness, tragedy, depression, broken relationships and discouragement. We are glad to sing, "Joy to the World," it’s just that, "What can a baby do?" The truth is, though, it’s not the baby but the man and Savior that baby became that can help.

What do you see when you look in the manger? A God who does nothing or do you see the source of the courage you need to overcome circumstances that overwhelm you? The Scripture for this morning describes the occasion after the birth of Jesus when Mary and Joseph encountered two very righteous servants of God, Simeon and Anna, in the Temple. While Simeon rejoices at the sight of the Messiah with his own eyes he warns Joseph and especially Mary that this child’s destiny was going to be difficult as well as a great blessing, "This child will be rejected by many in Israel, and it will be their undoing. But he will be the greatest joy to many others. Thus, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed." (v.34-35a) Then he adds some very hard words to Mary, "And a sword will pierce your very soul."

Can you imagine what went through Mary’s mind? Can you even fathom the questions, the fear, the doubt and worry that may have filled her heart? How would you have felt if right after the birth of your first child a minister came in and said, "The effect this child will have on others will break your heart?" What would you have done? All we know that Mary and Joseph did was go back to Nazareth and raise their son with quite courage and boldness. The scripture says, "There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom beyond his years, and God placed his special favor upon him." (Luke 2:40)

Let’s fast forward through Jesus’ childhood as well as his life, death and resurrection and encounter Paul, the apostle about fifteen years after Jesus resurrection. It may seem like a strange verse to use as a Christmas message but I want to read you Acts 23:11: "But on the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, ‘Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.’" Here is what was happening, Paul, had just escaped being beaten to death. He is in prison in Jerusalem. The Jews wanted to kill him and nearly succeeded. The Romans aren’t sure what to do with him. In the night, in the darkness and obviously filled with doubt, the Lord stands by Paul and says, "Take courage…." Was it a baby in a manger who came to him? No, it was a fully mature, resurrected Christ who overcame death who now commanded him, "Take courage."

Today I want us to hear and see the same. This child in the manger, who became a man, is the one who comes to us now and says to us, "Take courage." The message of the manger is that in Jesus Christ there is courage to overcome circumstances that overwhelm us. Where does that courage start? How do you apply it in your own circumstances? That’s what I want us to discover this morning.

Let’s begin by tracing the source of Paul’s courage. It is obvious that in this situation the presence of Christ and the words of Christ made a difference. From that point on Paul would meet and face the challenges that confronted him with a resolve and strength he didn’t display before. So here is Paul, just a human like you and me. He has the same Holy Spirit you have within you. He lived in another time; spoke a different language but is essentially the same. No doubt he knew the stories of the birth of Jesus. He may have even met Mary. It would be his companion Luke who would tell us more than anyone about the actual birth event of Jesus. Paul doesn’t need a baby, though, to pull him through; he needs a fully mature, risen Lord to help him. That’s what he gets. That one says to him, "Take courage…!"

The word that the Lord Jesus used for courage is a word that meant "courage in the face of danger." It was the very word he used when he spoke to his disciples on the night of his arrest. It was only hours from that moment and as far as we know it was the last word of instruction he said to them as a group before his death. Listen to what he said: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

Let’s take this apart for a moment. He has told them that in himself there would be the resource of peace continually available. That has never stopped being available. It continues on now. He assures them that in this life they would continually encounter pressure, difficulties, trials and sorrows or, in a word, tribulation. Yet in the face of that pressure he commands them to have courage. The reason he tells them to control their fear in the pressure they will endure is because in himself he has once and for all time overcome the circumstances that could ultimately destroy him or them. He would leave that room and go to a garden and there in prayer he would find the courage to face what confronted him. By the time Judas and the soldiers came it was over. He would walk through the arrest, trial, and crucifixion quietly courageous.

That’s the way he performed in his public ministry. He would be threatened by both religious and political leaders and never once did he flinch. He would be tempted by Satan himself to drop all the purposes that his Father had for him but he resisted. He had the courage to break with the expected role as the elder son and care for his mother after the death of Joseph. When it came time to put down the carpenter’s tools and fulfill his mission, that’s exactly what he did.

What was the source of that courage of conviction? I believe there were two sources. One was his Heavenly Father; the other was his earthly parents. Mary and Joseph both showed courage when they were presented with the opportunities to be involved in the events of Jesus’ birth. The very first words to Joseph, when he found Mary to be pregnant and having devised a plan to avoid marrying her, were these: "Joseph…do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife…" (Matthew 1:20). Some of the first words to Mary when the Angel Gabriel came to her informing her as to God’s plan were, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God" (Luke 1:30). Both of them would play their part in the birth of Jesus and obviously in parenting of Jesus with courage. I’m sure that Jesus heard the innuendo and gossip that accompanied his birth. Very likely he did but always there would be Mary and Joseph quietly knowing, calming and going on. Their courage marked his soul.

There was another side of Jesus that gained courage. It was from his Father in heaven. God the Father showed courage by virtue of the risks he took in becoming one of us. He risked the limitations of a human body, the identification with what he created, the humiliation that would bring, the rejection of those he came to save, the pain and suffering of the death on the cross. Phillip Yancey writes, "It took courage to risk descent to a planet known for its clumsy violence, among a race known for rejecting its own prophets…How did God the Father feel that night, helpless as any human father, watching His Son emerge smeared with blood (and I might add to be placed in a feeding trough) to face a harsh, cold world?"

So there is Paul, lonely, deserted and discouraged in a jail cell and clearly overwhelmed by his circumstances. There is Jesus who comes to him in the night and says two words, "Take courage." Infused into those two words is the experience of his own demonstration of courage, the courage to face and endure everything that hell and earth could throw at him; the courage of his two earthly parents, who, no doubt, faced ridicule all their life; and, ultimately, the courage of God the Father, who laid aside power and glory to become one of us. G. K. Chesterton said, "Alone of all creeds, Christianity has added courage to the virtues of the Creator." The need for such courage began with Jesus’ first night on earth and did not end until his last. It was that courage he offered Paul. The message of the manger is that in Jesus Christ there is the courage to overcome circumstances that overwhelm us.

So where do we fit in? You are not in a literal jail like Paul but in some situations you might as well be. You face circumstances that have you locked up and barred to any hope of resolution. You may be overwhelmed by the fear associated with disappointment, divorce, depression, difficulty, discouragement, disease or death. Today you do not need the sentimentality of pity for a lonely couple with a baby in a barn. You need the strength to overcome the circumstances that have engulfed you.

Where do you turn? You turn to Jesus, no longer a baby, helpless, but a risen Savior. Are you afraid? Is that wrong? No. You see courage is not the absence of fear; it is the ability to act in spite of it. Courage is feeling the right kind of levels of fear and confidence in challenging situations. You are courageous when your confidence is greater than your fear.

Was Paul afraid? Obviously, but his confidence overcame his fear. Was Jesus ever afraid? He sure sounded that way in the Garden of Gethsemane. Yet his confidence overcame his fear. Were Mary and Joseph afraid for what they would face? Evidently, but their confidence overcame their fear. Was God the Father afraid? No, yet the confidence he showed in sending His Son overcame any risk associated with it.

Where do you get the courage to overcome your fear? For Paul, "The Lord stood at his side…" (Acts 23:11). One place is the very presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Jesus called Him the "Comforter." He is there to say to you, "Come on!" Another place is your own personal faith in God (Acts 27:22). You have trusted him for so many things in the past and now you are asked to do it again. "Come on, you can do it!" Still an area for courage is found in the Word of God itself. (Acts 27:25) His words are there to say to you, "Come on, you can trust my Word!" One last way that we find the courage to overcome our fear is by the faces and presence of other believers. (Acts 28:15) Another hand, another heart, another face looking into ours and because they are there we hear them say, "Come on! You’re not alone."

Methodist pastor, William Willimon, tells of an encounter he once had with a woman who was very ill: "She was in the last stages of her disease, gasping day after day for breath. It was obvious she was in great pain and exhausted from fighting. She clutched a crucifix daily, a symbol of her Catholic faith, given to her by her grandmother when she was a girl, carved by a monk in Europe. When I entered the room that afternoon, I could see she was very near the end. ‘Would you like me to pray for you?’ I asked. ‘Would you like me to summon a priest?’ With her last ounce of energy, she held out the crucifix toward me, which depicted the body of Christ nailed to the cross. She said, ‘Thank you—but I have a Priest.’" And so do we, not a baby but a Risen Lord!

Look long at the manger. Hear those cries from the tiny mouth. It will not be his cries as a baby, but his power as your Savior that will give you the ability to overcome your fear with courage. The same Jesus, who stood by Paul and said, "Take courage," stands by you and says, "Come on. In godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world." (John 16:33)

The message of the manger is that in Jesus Christ there is courage to overcome circumstances that overwhelm us! Come on!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org