When Joyce and I were expecting our first baby, Lydia, we spent nine months preparing for her arrival. We wanted to make sure she would come into a safe and welcoming home. We removed all hazardous items and carefully chose a crib. We bought baby clothes, diapers, and supplies. We even decorated her room with love, expectantly counting the days until her due date.
When we prepared for Lydia’s arrival, it wasn’t just the house that changed—our lives changed. We had to adjust our routines, our priorities, and even our future plans. Everything revolved around her needs and her presence. Her coming was not just a moment of joy; it was a moment of transformation.
Now imagine the arrival of Jesus—not just a baby, but the King of Kings. His coming doesn’t just cause small adjustments; it’s life-changing. Tim Keller compares the coming of Christ to “a life-quake.”
When a great big truck goes over a
tiny little bridge, sometimes there’s a bridge-quake, and when a big man goes
onto thin ice there’s an ice-quake. Whenever Jesus Christ comes down into a
person’s life, there’s a life-quake. Everything is reordered… any view, any
conviction, any idea, any behavior, any relationship. He may change it, He may
not change it, but at the beginning of the relationship you have to say, ‘In
everything He must have the supremacy.’
Jesus shakes the foundations of who we are and calls us to re-center our lives on Him. His quake might feel unsettling, even costly, but it eventually rebuilds us into something better and more aligned with God’s purpose.
Joseph and Mary
Joseph
was an ordinary man with ordinary plans—marry Mary, start a family, and live a
quiet, normal life. But then his plans were disrupted when he discovered Mary
was pregnant, and he knew the child wasn’t his. As a righteous man, Joseph
wanted to do the right thing. He decided to divorce her quietly, sparing her
public shame.
But then, in a dream, God sent him a message that completely disrupted his plans again: "Joseph, take Mary as your wife. The child she carries is from the Holy Spirit. He will save His people from their sins."
Imagine the weight of this command! Joseph had to let go of his future plans, his reputation, and his idea of a "normal" life. Yet, without hesitation, Joseph obeyed. He took Mary as his wife and embraced the responsibility of raising Jesus. He chose faith over uncertainty and obedience over complacency. He reoriented his life for the coming of Christ.
Then there’s Mary. She was a young woman—perhaps in her mid-teens—with her whole life ahead of her. When the angel Gabriel told her she would conceive a child by the Holy Spirit, her life was turned upside down. She must have understood the risk—how her family and community would consider her pregnancy adultery. According to Moses’ Law, she could have been stoned to death.
Yet, by faith, Mary said, "I am the Lord's servant. Let it be with me just as you have said." She willingly embraced the uncertainty, the risk, and the potential shame because she trusted God’s plan. Mary’s courage and obedience show us what it means to trust God, even when doing so could have cost her life.
No Little People
When
we think about those God used for His great plans in the Bible, most of them
were unlikely candidates. Jacob was a liar. Moses struggled with public
speaking. David was the youngest in his family. Jonah was racist. Peter was an
impulsive fisherman. Mary Magdalene carried a painful past. Timothy was timid.
From a human perspective, these would not be the first draft picks.
But they all had one thing in common: they were willing—willing to adjust, willing to make room for God, willing to give their whole selves to God.
Francis Schaeffer wrote: “There are no little people and no big people in the true spiritual sense, but only consecrated and unconsecrated people. The problem for each of us is applying this truth to ourselves.” Both Joseph and Mary were consecrated people. They were willing to take a leap of faith. They let go of their own plans, risk their reputations, and trust God completely. Then and now, God is looking for willing, consecrated people.
Harriet Tubman
Harriet
Tubman was an unlikely choice. She was born a slave in Maryland, subjected to
cruelty from an early age. At twelve, she suffered a severe head injury when a
slave master, intending to hit another person with an iron weight, missed the
target and struck her instead. The trauma caused migraines and seizures for the
rest of her life. Yet, as a teenager, Harriet began to receive visions and
dreams that she believed were from God. She was chosen and called.
If you were looking for a liberator to overthrow the evil of slavery, wouldn’t you pick someone powerful—a politician, a military leader, or a great intellect? But God chose Harriet—a woman with no status, no resources, and physical challenges. Why? Because she was willing.
Harriet first escaped slavery herself and then returned to Maryland thirteen times, smuggling over seventy enslaved individuals to freedom—some accounts estimate as many as three hundred. Those she liberated called her “Moses.” During the Civil War, she served as a nurse, scout, spy, and military leader. Later, she became an advocate for women’s rights and the elderly, serving faithfully in the Methodist church. Harriet once said, "God’s time is always near. He set the North Star in the heavens."
Like Harriet, God calls us not because we are extraordinary, but because He is extraordinary. What He asks of us is our willingness to say yes.
Making Room for Christ
Let
me share a story about a boy named Wally. Wally was in 7th grade, and life
hadn’t been easy for him. His mother had struggled with alcoholism when he was
born, which left Wally with some learning challenges. But Wally was a
kind-hearted boy.
One Christmas, his Sunday School class decided to put on a Nativity play. Everyone was excited to take on roles—Mary, Joseph, shepherds, wise men. But no one wanted to be the innkeeper. So the teacher picked Wally, partly because he was the tallest in the class. His job was simple: open the door, say, “There’s no room here!” and slam it shut.
The
big night arrived. The church was packed. When Mary and Joseph knocked on the
door of the inn, Wally opened it, just as rehearsed. Joseph said, “Please, sir, we need a place to
stay. My wife is about to have a baby!” Wally confidently replied, “There’s no
room here!” Joseph pleaded again, “Please, isn’t there anywhere we can stay?”
Wally froze. He forgot his next line. The teacher whispered from behind the
curtain, “No! Be gone!” Finally, Wally stammered, “No… be... gone.” Mary and
Joseph turned sadly to leave, but then Wally did something unexpected. He
called out, “Wait! Wait a minute!” The room went silent. Then, with tears in
his eyes, he said, “There’s no room here, but you can have my room!”
The Lord Is Near
Perhaps
one of the most beloved, most sung Christmas hymns would be "Joy to the
World." This song was written by Isaac Watts in 1719 inspired by Psalm 98.
When Rev. Watts wrote this song, his intention was to celebrate Jesus’
seconding coming as King rather than his birth.
Often we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come.” But actually, he wrote:
Watts was not just writing about the past – the birth of Jesus. He was writing about the future return of Jesus. In Revelation 22 Jesus said three times, “I am coming soon.” May we be found faithful. May we be ready for his coming, joining heaven and nature’s unending hymn with all our hearts, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” Amen.
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