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LUKE SERIES: CHAPTER 2- ORDINARY PEOPLE; EXTRAORDINARY LIVES INTRODUCTION In chapter one we found the goal of Luke’s letter was to explain the story of Jesus to a Greek magistrate by the name of Theophilus.
In chapter one, the scene is set up- something big is coming; something “God-sized.” And in the second chapter, Luke reveals how God makes God-sized things happen.
Technically, a Jewish boy becomes a man by thirteen; he is accountable for himself under the law of Moses. So, we are taken through all the landmarks of a Jewish boy’s childhood; conception, circumcision, and Bar Mitzvah. And each step legitimizes Jesus (Yeshua Ben Ioseph) as the Messiah.
In the first seven verses Luke links the young Messiah to human history and accepted prophecy. Every fourteen years, the Romans would demand a census. Everyone of that day knew this. In fact; To this day, we possess actual documents of this very census in 8 BC. It took place in the spring of that year.
And what happened in human history resolved a potential conflict in prophecy. 700 years earlier, Micah prophesied the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. But Joseph and Mary lived way up north in Galilee. But since the Roman census demanded each man return to his home town, Joseph was compelled to return to his home town of Bethlehem. And at just at the right time for Jesus to be born.
In verses 8 through 19, the entrance of the Messiah is anchored in the most common of people, the shepherds. Shepherds could not observe all the requirements of the law due to their job, so they were at the bottom of the social ladder. If God would enter the world of shepherds, He would enter anyone’s world.
In verses 21 through 40, Jesus is confirmed by those waiting for the Messiah. Expectation of the coming Messiah was at a peak. And Israel’s response covered the full spectrum of response. Under the heavy boot of Rome, God would surely do something. Young and fiery zealots decided it was time to lend God a hand, so they picked up the sword. There was one bloody rebellion after another, but not one had any positive or lasting effect. People died, and things went back to the way they were.
And then, there were those known as “The Quiet of the Land.” Patiently, they waited on God to carry out His promise, as He said. Through Luke, we meet two of them: a man named Simon and a prophetess named Anna. After waiting their entire lives, both were convinced in an instant that the little 8 day-old Jesus was the Messiah on whom they had waited.
The passing of years does profound things to spiritual hope. It can quench it through the lack of receiving our expectations; or it can continually refine it by learning God’s expectations. Simon and Anna had learned.
And in verses 41 to the end of the chapter; Jesus is passing from childhood to manhood. Scripture notes a poignant conversation between Jesus and his mother. Jesus had stayed behind to talk with the Rabbis while his parents were travelling in a large group back home. And it turned into a kind of Biblical “Home Alone.” They rush back in a panic and Mary asked, “Son didn’t you know your father and I were worried?”
To which Jesus replies, “Why is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?”
Mary meant Joseph, and Jesus, even in childhood; gently reminded her, his Father was God. Even as a child Jesus recognizes his position in God. The first chapter legitimizes Jesus as Messiah from several angles. And Luke uses facts a Greek magistrate of the day could readily affirm or discredit.
But like all Scripture there are multiple layers of significance. And each layer reaches deeper into our own lives. So, what’s the next layer here?
THE NEXT LAYER It seems to me that the great lapse of belief in our time; doesn’t come from confusion of God’s existence. The lapse in belief lies in the confusion of how God enters our world. -Because that has direct bearing on whether we experience or not. It’s very hard to discount something you experience; and very hard to be convinced of something you don’t.
Question: If God were to enter your world, personally; or the world of this church; or our community, how would He do it? There are spiritual principles in chapter two that answer that very question. And they play like a theme over and over again, throughout the chapter. Luke 2 1. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. 4. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5. to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7. And she brought forth her firstborn Son…
Principle: 1. God enters our world through the fabric of everyday life. There wasn’t anything mystical or holy about a census. It was just a part of life for an oppressed people. The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem wasn’t an inspired journey. It was great inconvenience forced on them in everyday life.
Pop survey: How many ladies here, in their final days of pregnancy; thought it would be fun to take a 90 mile donkey ride? …And it wasn’t something Joseph and Mary relished either! But the circumstances dictated they go.
They were devout people; they even had visions from God. But it was in the real everyday world where God was moving them. An omnipresent God cannot be limited to the inside of a temple or church. He is moving out there in the face of the oppression, the poverty, the inconvenience, and the pleasant qualities that make up our world. That’s where He is real; in the everyday fabric of life.
Principle: 2. Huge moves of God come on the groundwork of small steps Here is a map of Israel at the time. Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, and they had to travel to Bethlehem; one on a donkey, one walking.
In a straight line, it would be a 70 mile journey. But if you notice the bumps on the map, they represent mountains. Because of the mountains, the trip would be nearly 100 miles on a winding road. And not only that, it would be entirely uphill. Bethlehem sits 400 meters (1,312 feet) higher than Nazareth.
When the couple did reach Bethlehem, a momentous event would take place. A seven hundred year-old prophecy would come to pass. Somehow, an infinite heavenly God would take on a limited physical form. The baby they would bring into the world would change the course of nations. Could that really be true?
The song we listened to earlier was the product of medieval western culture. It is an indicator of how the very soul of civilization was shaped by this baby yet to come. Spiritually and physically, something huge would take place. But it all started with one little step taken toward a particular town.
-Now, assuming that Joseph’s stride was basically a foot; that means there were 475,200 steps to this momentous event. And there’s the principle: When God does great things in a life, the great thing starts in small steps. They start in everyday steps; and often involve a whole lot of small steps.
And the fact that steps are involved raises some important implications: · If Joseph would’ve walked a mile, then moved off in another direction, and then another- he’d never have arrived.
· Or if he had stopped to rest every mile (which would’ve been very tempting since it was all uphill); Mary would’ve had her baby in the back mountains somewhere.
-Imagine how boring it must have been for Mary and Joseph, how arduous the trip; a winding rocky path for 90 + miles; all uphill. -475,200 everyday, mundane steps. But the fulfilling of prophecy hinged on every one of those little steps. And the completion of all those steps required they keep going.
Even when we start on a course towards that place God will move; we will not experience what is waiting- without focused patience and endurance.
As we step through the daily routines of life; caring for our families, or practicing integrity in the big and little things; they add up to something far greater than the mere sum of our little steps. But often, it’s a challenge to keep stepping.
To keep stepping, especially when the steps don’t seem particularly inspired or significant, requires patience and endurance. And here is a secret to remember: Patience and endurance are cultivated skills of power. They are the power, to see the power of God. (Ordinary life; ordinary steps and…)
Principle: 3. God enters the world through ordinary people In verse 24, Luke gives us a subtle hint about the status of Mary and Joseph. 24. and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.''
By the Law, a woman who had delivered a child was ceremonially unclean. After forty or eighty days she had to bring an offering of cleansing. The Law specified a two-part offing: a lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon for a sin offering. However, if she couldn’t afford a lamb, she could bring, what was called, “The Offering of the Poor” which was two pigeons. That was the offering Mary brought to the temple.
Mary and Joseph weren’t rich, they weren’t influential; they were just ordinary people. But, God does amazing things with the right “ordinary people.”
CONCLUSION Our question today is: Are you and I, the right “ordinary people?” Every one of us is absorbed in the challenges and distractions of our ordinary worlds. Life has a way of sucking you back into the visible and immediate urgencies of the everyday.
Even as I was writing this conclusion- the cat threw up all over the couch which is a problem to wash because we have backed up laundry due to the extensive water damage in the basement, as we’re dealing with an unreliable well. And I know your life has just as many concerns. I’m sure Mary and Joseph’s lives had just as many concerns. That is ordinary life. · The right ordinary people are those who step back and open to a huge picture beyond our little lives. There is a loving God with an eternal plan, who really does enter this world. · The right ordinary people are those who will take the first step toward that place He enters. · The right ordinary people are those who keep stepping, even when it feels like they have every reason to stop. · The right ordinary people are those who come to realize, God is walking along side them all along. · The right ordinary people are willing to step with God through the everyday fabric of life, but in an extraordinary direction. Look inside yourself and ask the question: Am I the right ordinary person? To become that person; all you have to do is step.
(Step forward to the altar, visibly show Jesus Christ you accept Him as The God who enters [ Scripturally, that’s what we’re told to do]; step through your week honing the skill of listening in prayer, searching in Scripture, and living in response.
To see God enter, we all must STEP.)
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