Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20051211.htm

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS INTERLUDE Gaining God's Christmas "Peace On Earth" Part II: Gaining God's "Peace On Earth" Over Hostile Secularism (Luke 2:1-7, 9-14, 16-18)
Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

This Christmas, we live in a secular world that is hostile to us:

(1) Talk show host Brad Davis on his Torrington 610 am radio talk show last Thursday interviewed African American pastor, Jesse Lee Peterson who is opposed to the celebration of "Kwanza" that the national media promotes for African Americans. Peterson claims Kwanza was created as a symbol of hatred against white Americans! Yet, the nation media promotes "Kwanza" while often replacing the term, "Christmas" with "Happy Holidays" to be "politically correct," a shift African American pastor Jesse Lee Peterson strongly opposes!

(2) Brad Davis also expressed dismay on his talk show when one caller phoned last week to report that the Town Christmas Tree of Manchester, Connecticut, that was put on a CHURCH lawn was advertised in the town's paper as the " Holiday Tree"! Though the tree was located on Church property, the paper still felt obligated to use the "politically correct" term, "Holiday Tree" to avoid any criticism of allegedly errantly mingling "church with state" in the matter!

Many people are reportedly "fighting back" about this "War on Christmas" as Brad Davis calls it; they are refusing to shop in stores that omit any reference to the term, "Christmas", and some businesses are getting back to the term to keep their customers in their shops!

(3) Then, as an ultimate symbol of the hostile world we face this Christmas Season, the storage shed behind our Church early last Sunday morning was burned to the ground allegedly by an arsonist. The New Hartford Town Fire Marshall's examination of the remains left him calling it a "suspicious fire".

Think of it -- a beautiful shed crafted by Dave Slate, a Deacon in our Church who built it after the pattern of our Church building complete with white vinyl siding, a black shingled roof and two red doors as a ministry unto the Lord was maliciously reduced to rubbish by an arsonist this Christmas Season! We live in a hostile world!

Well, we may be wondering HOW to HANDLE life this Christmas in the face of a hostile secular world?!

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "How may we DEAL in PEACE this Christmas with a hostile world that COUNTERS even references to Christ or His birthday?!"

Mary had to face a hostile secular world that gave her no special favor though she was close to her delivery of the infant Jesus:

The decree from Caesar Augustus that she was to be taxed caused harsh physical stress for Mary in her late term pregnancy, Lk. 2:1-7:

A decree from Rome's Emperor Caesar Augustus called all the Hebrews in Israel to travel back to their ancestral properties to be registered, have their valuables assessed and be taxed, Luke 2:1, 3; cf. Hoehner, Chron. Aspects of the Life of Christ, 1977, p. 15-16.
They lived 70 miles north of their ancestral properties, so Joseph and his espoused wife, Mary had to journey from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem of Judaea to heed this taxation, Luke 2:4 with Matt. 1:1-16; Ibid.; Macmillan Bible Atlas, 1968, p. 142, map 225.
Yet, Mary was close to her time to deliver Jesus; whether she rode on a donkey or in a cart without modern suspension, that 70 mile journey would have been very arduous for her, cf. Luke 2:5-7.
However, the decree came from Augustus, a ruler who had turned Rome from a republic into a dictatorship! To avoid punishment, she had to make the trip regardless of her physical condition, Compton's Ency., 1973 ed., s. v. "Augustus, Emperor of Rome."

That this census came by a decree from Caesar and not from Israel's local king, Herod reveals Mary faced a harsh political world:

No single tax event came at the same time for the entire empire, but various lands were slated as the Emperor willed, Ibid., p. 15.
In normal conditions, Herod the Great, Rome's local ruler, rather than Caesar Augustus would have run the event in Israel, Ibid.
However, Herod had fallen out of favor with Augustus; Herod was also in poor health and was having trouble handling his sons who were each vying to assume his throne when he died. Augustus thus chose to run the taxation himself so he could more accurately discern the movements of people in Israel and so better plan to handle trouble there were it to arise at Herod's death, Ibid., p. 17.
This all shows Mary faced potential political and military conflict!

The place Mary had to use to deliver her child "because there was no room for them in the inn" reveals she faced a harsh social world:

The "inns" of that day were built outside the towns in the form of squares with roofs that had cubicles opening toward an inner court where the travelers' animals were kept; no payment was expected from those travelers who used such "inns," Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the Days of Christ, 1974, p. 49!
For Mary to need to stay in a stable since there was no room for her in the "inn" in Luke 2:7 reveals the other cubicles were not only filled, but no traveler was willing to give up his cubicle so she could deliver her child even if he was not out any money to do so!
Hence, Mary faced a heartless, harsh society in the secular realm!

Yet, God caused her to find His peace at the birth of Jesus by way of His angels and the Bethlehem shepherds, cf. Luke 2:9-14, 16-18:

Heaven's angels with God's glory appeared in the fields to the Bethlehem shepherds; they announced glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace "among men with whom He is pleased," Luke 2:9-14; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to Luke 2:14.
Deeply moved, these shepherds excitedly rushed to Bethlehem to find the infant Messiah and Lord just as the angel had said: He was indeed wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, Lk. 2:12, 15-16.
Their discovery of the child in accord with the angel's WORD from God caused them great joy (Luke 2:20), so they would have told Mary and Joseph about the angels and their message regarding her child!
Mary was greatly edified through what the shepherds told her and how they blazed abroad the importance of her infant: Luke 2:19 ESV (cf. also the NIV) reveals she " treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart."
Thus, what pain Mary had known from the hostile secular world she faced was OVERCOME by the edifying application of God's WORD in her LIFE'S EXPERIENCES at Jesus' birth!

Application: If bothered by what a hostile secular world presents to us this Christmas Season, (1) may we trust in Christ as Savior from sin to become a child of God like Mary was, John 3:16. (2) Then, may we HEED God's Word as did Mary and anticipate His reward of blessing in our lives! (3) Like Mary, His rewards will leave us with great memories in our lives to last a lifetime!

Lesson: By the APPLICATION of God's WORD to her LIFE'S EVENTS through means of the angels and in turn the shepherds, what could have been a DEPRESSING delivery due to the PHYSICAL, POLITICAL and SOCIAL HARDSHIPS Mary faced from a HOSTILE SECULAR WORLD turned into an event of GREAT, LASTING JOY for her!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

When the shed behind our Church burned down early last Sunday morning, I felt really bad for Dave Slate! He had put his time, energy and money into building it to God's glory only to have it quickly reduced to a heap of rubble by an alleged heartless arsonist!

However, the more I've thought about it, the better I feel for Dave! When I consider the great contrast between the party that allegedly lit the fire and what occurred the night BEFORE that fire, Dave comes out a real winner! You see, the night before the shed fire, each of his young children had taken turns under the watchful eye of their mother, Michelle to climb a tall metal ladder beside our sanctuary tree and gingerly, eagerly reach out to hang an ornament high up in the tree! They delighted in their constructive contributions to decorate a tree that would function in honor of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ!

In huge contrast, the party the authorities think burned down Dave's shed had probably never been led to decorate a tree in a Church under his watchful mother's eye! His spiritual life was empty! His way to "decorate" was to pour fuel over a beautiful shed, light it and flee in the dark before his evil act became known!

So, THOUGH Dave Slate had lost a shed, he with his wife, Michelle had WON with their CHILDREN in CONTRAST to the parents of the party and the party that had allegedly destroyed the shed!

Now, the report of the Slate children's decorating our tree is being sent out in these sermon notes and by way of sermon video on our website to the ends of the earth! So, as they realize we are getting this good deed of their children out to the world in their honor as a family, like Mary, the mother of Jesus that first Christmas who saw the shepherds broadcast honorable truths about her infant, Jesus, Dave, Michelle and their children can also "keep all these things and ponder them in their heart" in joyous victory in Christ!

May we heed God's Word and see Him apply His blessings in our lives to overcome the pain we face this Christmas Season even in a hostile world!