Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20071223.htm

GOD'S DIRECTION IN FAMILY CRISES AT CHRISTMAS
Part III: Addressing Family Livelihood Needs With God's Blessing
(Matthew 2:11-15)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

This Christmas Season, families we know face livelihood trials:

(1) Everyone seems to be talking about the spiking costs of heating oil. When the Carlson's Heating technician was working on our Church furnace, he told how he was trying to buy "cheap" oil just to keep his wife and young baby warm this winter!

(2) Most Americans have thought that until now, the financial equity they have in their homes was the cornerstone of their wealth. However, the sub prime lending crisis is challenging that idea: the December 10, 2007 issue of The Wall Street Journal ran a cover story, "U. S. Mortgage Crisis Rivals S & L Meltdown" noted that investors had come to believe "The value of the American home would never fall nationwide, and people would almost always make their mortgage payments . . . [and] Packaging mortgage loans and turning them into securities would make the global economy more resilient if anything went wrong." However, in recent months with the sub prime crisis, so many new homeowners have defaulted on their adjustable rate loans, putting so many homes into foreclosure that the situation is lowering the values of other homes around them. That in turn pressures the whole economy and financial planning of even non delinquent owners.

(3) Last Monday Evening on the ABC Evening News, anchorman Charles Gibson presented the story of the escalating costs of medical treatment in our country, and how it is stressing families.

(4) Then, on Thursday, my wife and I stopped by the Slate home on another errand only to learn that Michelle, a young mother of several children, had been told at an area hospital the previous night that she had suffered a heart attack!

The Slates traveled to a Waterbury hospital for more tests that day, Thursday, and, thankfully learned that the diagnosis had been erroneous! They also made it safely back home in the snow storm! However, the whole event illustrated the severe health and even economic crises that can and often does occur for families even during the Christmas Season.



So, in view of the livelihood challenges our FAMILIES face this Christmas Season, we ask, "WHAT can we DO to ADDRESS these needs as GOD would suggest?!"

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

Need: "With our family's livelihood at risk on several fronts this Christmas, HOW does God want us best to respond, and WHY?!"
  1. Mary and Joseph were at risk for harm in their flight into Egypt:
    1. The couple was vulnerable to financial failure in its flight into Egypt:
      1. Mary offered birds for her postpartum cleansing in Luke 2:22, 24.
      2. This heeded Leviticus 12:4-6 where she could have offered a lamb, revealing she was poor, (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to Lk. 2:22).
      3. So, for this poor couple to go 60 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census only there to learn they had to flee another 180 miles into Egypt (The Macmillan Bible Atlas, 1968, map 335) and stay there for an uncertain time until God led them to return as Matthew 2:13 reveals would have been a financial hardship!
    2. Then, the health of Mary and Joseph would also have been at risk:
      1. The couple would have suffered significant stress in their flight:
        1. Having to leave Bethlehem by night in winter (Harold Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, 1979, p. 25-27) to save the Infant Messiah's life from tyrannical king Herod (Matt. 2:13) and flee into Egypt when this move would be financially risky would have been very stressful on this family!
        2. Then, in later learning of Herod's killing of Bethlehem's infants whose parents had personally honored Jesus (Lk. 2:16-18; Matt. 2:16), Mary and Joseph would have grieved deeply at their loss!
      2. The drain of such stress on their immune systems, the cold, wet, wintry February climate of their flight (Ibid., p. 26), the postpartum recovery needs for Mary and Jesus, their sleep deprivation in making such an unexpected, rapid, uncomfortable, long trip would have left the whole family vulnerable to flu and infection!
  2. However, Mary and Joseph had yielded to God's will in their lives:
    1. When God's angel announced to Mary that she would bear the Son of God, she accepted the assignment, yielding to God's will, Lk. 1:35-38.
    2. Then, when God's angel told Joseph not to fear to take Mary as his wife since she was with child by the Lord, he obeyed, Matt. 1:18-25.
  3. So, God supplied what they needed to do His will, Matt. 2:11-15:
    1. Before fleeing to Egypt, Mary and Joseph received gold, frankincense and myrrh from the magi in honor of Jesus, Matthew 2:1-2, 11.
    2. Viewing these gifts reveals the precision with which God had worked to lead the magi to offer exactly what the family needed for their trip:
      1. The magi gave "specimens of the products of their country" to signify their homage to the newborn king, cf. Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, 1972, p. 214.
      2. Thus, God had arranged for the magis' nations to produce precisely those products at that time so they would be given to Jesus!
      3. Now, the value of these gifts of the magi in regards to assisting the family in its flight into Egypt is IMMENSE (as follows):
        1. Regarding the stress the family would face, the frankincense was useful in countering anxiety, tension and hyperventilation, cf. Anne McIntyre, The Complete Woman's Herbal , 1995, p. 42.
        2. Regarding the risk of infections and flu, the myrrh was useful in countering chest infections, colds, flu, catarrh, sinusitis, sore throats, mouth infections, digestive problems, diarrhea and lowered immunity in general, and the frankincense was useful in countering catarrh, respiratory infections, laryngitis, asthma, fevers and urinary tract infections, Ibid., p. 42-43.
        3. Regarding Mary's postpartum recovery needs, both the myrrh and frankincense were useful for healing various infections and wounds that could result from childbirth, Ibid.
        4. Regarding the family's financial needs, the gold as a universal medium of exchange could support the family in its two months of rest in Egypt until Herod had died, Zond. Pict. Ency. of the Bible , v. Four, p. 33; Ibid., Hoehner, p. 25-27; Matt. 2:19-20.
  4. Then, God told Joseph to take Mary and Jesus into Egypt, meaning God wanted Joseph to lead as the husband of Mary and head of the household in using their resources, Mtt. 2:13-14 with Gen. 2:20-25.
  5. So, in accord with God's TIMING of their receiving the gifts, Mary and Joseph used them for this trip and not for other things!
Application: If facing family livelihood needs, may we ALIGN with the WILL of GOD and (1) trust in Christ as Savior, John 3:16; Acts 17:30-31. (2) Then, may we (a) HEED God's will in our marital and family roles, and (b) see Him supply all we need to fulfill His assignments there! (c) When God supplies what we need, may we SAVE and/or INVEST it for ESSENTIALS that we need in doing HIS WILL, finding each need met, and (d) use it under the oversight of the rightful Biblical leader involved!

Lesson: Since Mary and Joseph had HEEDED God's CALLING in their lives, He supplied all they NEEDED to FULFILL their callings, implying it be used under the lead of the head-of-household, Joseph, and saved for their emergency trip into Egypt versus expended for unnecessary items.

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

My wife and I found this message's lesson very applicable relative to last year's Christmas Eve gift that you as a Church gave us!

As you will recall, you gave us a huge gift of $6,000.00! Because of its sheer size, we were not at first sure how God expected us to use it! We felt a little of what Mary and Joseph must have felt when the magi gave their very costly royal gifts to Jesus!

Since just under half of the gift could address pressing needs, we directed it toward those needs, leaving $3,600 still unspent. Yes, we had long-term needs, but the remaining money was not enough to meet them all, so we decided to invest the money along with some other moneys so it might grow to meet all of our long-term needs.

Since then, one of the financial instruments we used in this investment grew to where the resulting total would now provide for our livelihood needs for three months, one month longer than Joseph, Mary and the Infant Jesus had to stay in Egypt! I have often read how financial planners suggest we should save up cash for such "rainy day" crises, and now we have been assigned of God to practice it!

Such a financial "shield" will not only serve our personal family needs well, but take pressure off of us all as a Church family: were there to be a financial crisis in the body, this "rainy day" fund will give time to adjust without producing undue hardship on anyone!



So, may we trust in Christ to be saved, and then yield our lives to do His will. Then, WHEN God supplies gifts or services to meet our needs so that we can do His will, may we like Mary and Joseph PRUDENTLY USE them following Biblical guidelines as to how to use them to meet the NEEDS that equip us to fulfill the assignments God has given us!