.png)
The angels that foretold the coming of the Messiah, and then proclaimed His birth, didn’t stop speaking after Jesus was born. In Matthew’s gospel, we hear about angels who appear to Joseph two more times and give him directions on how to keep Jesus safe in the years after His birth. These angels came to Joseph after the Magi, or wisemen, came looking for a new king in Israel.
The Magi would have been considered scientists of their day. They were most likely a cross between an astronomer and an astrologer. They studied the skies and the placement of the stars and when they saw a new star appear in the sky it told them that a new king had been born in Israel. For a king’s birth to be proclaimed in the heavens, they knew this was going to be a great king, so they traveled to Israel to kneel before Him. Not knowing where the king was to be born, they first went to Jerusalem to ask the religious leaders. When they found out it was in Bethlehem, they followed the star there and found Jesus.
When Herod, the current king of Israel, heard about the Magi and the news that a new king had been born, he was not about to allow this king to come to power. Herod decreed that all the baby boys who were 2 years old and under, and living in Bethlehem, be killed. As this decree was taking place, an angel was giving another decree, a message to Joseph that he was to take Mary and their child and flee to Egypt. He needed to protect Jesus from Herod’s violence and the safest place at that moment would be in another country. So Joseph took Mary and Jesus and fled to Egypt.
Matthew 2:13-14. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt.
After Herod died and it was safe for Jesus to return to Israel, an angel again came to Joseph with these instructions.
Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. Matthew 2:19-23a
Joseph followed God’s word and took Mary and Jesus to Nazareth which would have been one of the safest places in Israel to raise Jesus because no one would believe that a king would come from Nazareth.
Just as angels prepared people to help bring the Messiah into the world, angels worked to protect the Messiah once He was here. Angels gave directions to Joseph and Mary to help them keep Jesus safe. These angels show us that God was not going to allow any darkness or evil to extinguish the light of God. At the beginning of John’s gospel says that Jesus is the light of the world and that light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. God was not going to allow His purpose and plan to be defeated, so He sent angels to give directions and guidance to keep Jesus safe.
These angels show us that there is no power that can stop God’s plan. The darkness of this world cannot overcome the light of God. The conflict we see in the world, the hardships and tragedies we see and experience around us cannot stop the plans God has for us. God truly is sovereign and works through all things for His purpose. What we might see as a setback in life might just be the steps we need to take in order to move forward. The struggle we see in the world might be the pathway for God’s greater good to take place. God does not bring about the evil and hardships to accomplish His purpose, and God does not take delight in conflict and trauma, but God can use those things to keep the light of His purpose and plan shining in the dark.
In the midst of the darkness that we might be facing in our own lives right now, we need to remember that there is no darkness that can overcome the light of God’s presence, power, and peace. Psalm 139:7-12 says,
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
There is no darkness that can overcome God’s light. There is nothing we have gone through, or will go through, that can separate us from God and the love He has for us. We can trust God to not only be with us in the darkness, but to guide us from darkness to light, from problems to answers, from hardship to safety and even success. That’s what God did for Mary and Joseph, He sent angels to give them a message that guided them to safety and life.
Mary and Joseph, however, had to be willing to listen and work with the angels. They had to trust God to be with them. They had to believe that God was watching over them, and providing for them, and they had to be willing to do their part to protect Jesus and keep Him safe. There is a message here for us. We have to be willing to listen and work with God if we are going to find His purpose and power and peace, and walking in the light of God, walking with Jesus, is not always going to be easy.
I often wonder what Mary and Joseph thought when they first found out that they were going to be parents to God’s Son. Did they think it was going to be easy? After all, it is God’s Son. God had a plan for the Messiah and God would clearly help make sure everything worked out according to the plan. If they thought it would be easy, what did they think when they were told they had to flee to Egypt? What did they think when they were told to return to Israel but that they could not go back to Judea? These were challenges for them. These were hardships and it may not have been what they expected when they first said yes to God. But they listened and responded.
Too often we get the idea that loving God, accepting Jesus, and saying yes to all God has for us means that everything should be easy. After all, God can make things easy if He wants to. If we are being faithful and obedient, why wouldn’t God bless us with an easy path forward? If God loves us, why wouldn’t God make everything easy? But it often isn’t like that, in fact, most often it isn’t like that.
There is still darkness in the world that tries to put out the light of Christ in us. There is the darkness of sin in our lives that pulls us away from what God has for us. There is the darkness of being disillusioned because following Jesus isn’t as easy as we thought it would be and we aren’t getting what we thought we’d get. There is the darkness of hardship or even tragedy and loss that make us question God’s power, or plan, and His love for us. So many things, so many dark things, try to extinguish the light of Christ in us, and like Mary and Joseph we have to work to keep that light shining. We have to work to protect and nurture our relationship with Jesus.
Every new year brings with it a sense of hope and light. It’s a clean slate, a fresh start, and we want our faith to grow and flourish. We make resolutions and create new practices that we hope will last beyond January14, and they can last if we tell ourselves today that it will take some work. Like Mary and Joseph, we have to work to nurture our relationship with Jesus and here are four ways we can do this.
1. Read God’s word every day. The message of the angel’s was God’s word. It was that word that guided Mary and Joseph. The Bible remains one of the most powerful ways that God speaks to us. If we want to hear God’s message, then we need to open ourselves up to what God says here. God’s word is living and active and it has the ability to speak to our lives today. The practice of setting aside time to read God’s word every day is important, but it is not the end goal. Reading God’s word isn’t the end goal, living it out is.
One of the rhythms in our relationship with God is scripture but it’s not the discipline of reading scripture that is important, it’s allowing God’s word to direct our lives. Mary and Joseph allowed God’s word to direct their life. They didn’t just listen to the angels; they acted on what they heard. They allowed God’s word to guide them and that is what we need to do. But before God’s word can guide us, we have to hear it, we have to read it. A discipline for us to embrace in the new year is to read God’s word every day.
Once again, this year we will provide a reading plan so that if you want to read through the Bible in a year, you can have a plan to do it. I like the 5-day plan because there is always that day I miss for some reason and if I do, a 5-day plan is easy to get back on track. If you do the 5-day plan, don’t just skip the other two days, however, go back and reread something that spoke to you, or challenged you.
2. Worship every week. Make a commitment today to worship God every week. Worship helps us center our life on Jesus. Worship is like coming into the light of God’s presence after being in the darkness of the world. Worship can help ignite or nurture a passion for God that can help us keep Jesus at the center of all we do. Worship also places us in a community of believers where we can experience love.
One of the 3 Relationships we believe is important to our life and faith is a relationship with the church, God’s people. We were never meant to walk in faith alone. Mary and Joseph had each other. The first thing Jesus did in ministry was gather people around Him because He knew that community was important to a strong faith in God. we need the encouragement, the accountability, the inspiration, and love and support that comes from others who are walking with Jesus and being in worship together can bring all of that into our lives. Weekly worship will help nurture and protect our relationship with Jesus.
3. Serve every month. Find one way to serve God and others once a month. Service to God can be in and through the church, it can be sharing your faith or praying for the needs of others. Service is simply taking a moment to use the gifts God has given you to help care for someone else. The rhythm of service in our lives helps us become less self-centered and more Christ centered. Serving others also brings us joy, and the practice of serving God and others can reshape our thoughts and attitudes. I know counselors who ask people who are battling depression what they are doing to serve others because they believe that service can lift our hearts and minds. Serving others won’t solve all our problems, but it does bring some perspective and light into our lives.
4. Give every moment to God. While this seems daunting, scripture tells us that this is how we are to live. The Apostle Paul said, in Him we live and move and have our being. In God we are to live every moment of every day and so we need to think about how to honor God in all our actions. The Apostle Paul also said,
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:4-8
All our thoughts and attitudes should be given to God. We are to rejoice and give thanks in every moment and every situation. We are to reflect and think about only what is good and Godly. Every moment should be given to God. Every thought should be given to God. Every action should honor God. It is in God alone that we find the fullness of life and so every moment of life needs to be given to God.
As we begin a new year, I want to invite you to give yourself fully to God. We are going to close with a prayer that John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement, gave to the people. It is a prayer that we could use every day, but it is especially good on the first day of this new year. It is your prayer to give every moment to God, would you pray with me:
Almighty God,
I am not my own. I am Yours alone.
Make me into what You will.
Rank me with those You will.
Put me to use for You. Put me to suffering for You.
Let me be employed for You. Let me be laid aside for You.
Let me be lifted high for You. Let me be brought low for You.
Let me be full or let me be empty.
Let me have all things or let me have nothing.
With a willing heart,
I freely give everything to Your pleasure and disposal.
AMEN
Next Steps
Following the Angels Message in the New Year
Read Matthew 2:1-23
● Why did God keep speaking after the birth of Jesus?
● What were the angels’ messages to Joseph?
● What was his response?
What darkness is trying to put out the light of Christ in our world? In your life? Read Psalm 139.
4 steps to keep the light of Christ shining in our lives.
1. Read God’s word every day.
● Read through the Bible in 2023. Reading plans available
● Use a devotional or the Upper Room as a discipline for daily Bible Reading.
2. Worship every week.
● Commit to being in worship every week.
3. Serve every month.
● Find one way to serve God through Faith Church.
● Find one way to serve God in the community.
● Use prayer as a way of serving God and others.
4. Give every moment to God.
● Use John Wesley’s prayer to give God every moment.
Almighty God, I am not my own. I am Yours alone.
Make me into what You will. Rank me with those You will.
Put me to use for You. Put me to suffering for You.
Let me be employed for You. Let me be laid aside for You.
Let me be lifted high for You. Let me be brought low for You.
Let me be full or let me be empty.
Let me have all things or let me have nothing.
With a willing heart, I freely give everything to Your pleasure and disposal. AMEN
