Sunday message · A Weary World Rejoices series
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Message Summary
In the second message of A Weary World Rejoices, the church’s Advent series, Pastor Phillip Santillan turns to Matthew 1:18–25. Christmas can bring out the best in people, but also stress, from long lines to crowded stores. For some it stirs fear and anxiety, or grief over an empty seat. How can Christmas be good news when it does not feel like good news? Phil answers that the story of Jesus’ birth was itself full of unexpected circumstances that could have caused great fear.
Again and again in the Christmas story, angels have to say, “Do not be afraid”: to the shepherds, to Elizabeth‘s husband and to Mary. Having no fear, Phil says, is not a requirement for God to do amazing things. Matthew tells the story through the eyes of Joseph. In first-century Jewish custom, betrothal was binding, so the couple were already considered husband and wife, and ending it required a divorce. When Mary was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit, Joseph, a righteous man who did not want to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her quietly.
Joseph was a carpenter, someone who fits pieces together, measures twice and cuts once, and likes to see the plan. Now his plan was gone, and like many of us facing the unexpected, he tried to fix it. But the angel told him not to be afraid, because underneath his attempt at control was fear. Fear, Phil says, “results when we live in doubt of the reality of who God is.” Instead of trusting that God is in control and has our best in mind, we believe we must be, and fearful people often try to control or fix others too.
Phil shares an author’s imagined prayer in which Joseph realizes that this time he is not the builder but the tool in God’s hand. Joseph’s life was not random but orchestrated to fulfill what the prophet had spoken 700 years earlier: the virgin would bear a son called Emmanuel, God with us. It was not about Joseph protecting his reputation or fixing the situation, but about what God was doing. When Joseph woke, he did as the angel commanded, took Mary as his wife and named the child Jesus.
God invites us all to place our faith in him in the face of our fears, and Jesus says the same again and again, from telling Jairus not to be afraid but to believe (Luke 8:50) to assuring his little flock that it gives the Father great happiness to give them the kingdom (Luke 12:32). Our society assumes God is near the confident, but Scripture says he is near the brokenhearted. Phil closes with good news for anyone in a season of fear or uncertainty: Jesus is with you, and what feels like a setback can become the setup for God to display his grace. It is not about what we do, but about trusting the one who has done it all and promises never to leave us, Emmanuel, God with us.