--ILL>Without question, the funniest thing I ever saw on television was years ago on an episode of “Candid Camera,” where Allen Funt and the Candid crew pulled a colossal hoax on some of the smartest and groomed for success college students in America. Having put together a supposed aptitude and career assessment survey that was taken by several hundred students at one of America’s Ivy League schools, the students were called in to have their results interpreted for them by an “expert,” but of course the “expert” was actually Allen Funt posing as the expert. A group of four young men were brought in to hear their results. They were the cream of the crop in American undergraduates...future Senators, Presidents, brain surgeons, etc. They were being groomed to be world class leaders, and were well on their way there. Allen Funt began by really building them up: “Gentlemen, I’m honored to be in your presence. You truly excelled in this aptitude survey.” The young men were looking quite self-pleased, and were excitedly anticipating what else they were about to hear from the “expert.” Funt continued, “Gentlemen, out of all those who took this survey, you scored way above all the rest...” (The young men were becoming noticeably excited about what they were hearing), and then came the kicker... “Gentlemen, you above all the others who have taken the survey have shown a remarkable aptitude for becoming...” (The men were moving to the edge of their seats. They were waiting to hear “C.E.O.s” or “Astronauts,” or “Ambassadors, Congressmen, or Scientists.” Instead, Funt finished his sentence, declaring them to be most qualified to become... “Shepherds!” -- The reaction was hilarious: at first the guys weren’t sure they had heard the “expert” right. “Shepherds?,” they asked. “Did you say shepherds?” One of them asked, “Are there still people doing that stuff?” Another said, “I hate being around animals!” Another responded, “I’m allergic to wool!” Ultimately they figured out that something wasn’t quite right, and Funt had them look into the hidden camera and encouraged them to “Smile! You’re on Candid Camera!”
--The truth is that shepherds are not held in very high esteem in our country. We’re not familiar with them at all, but our view of them is that for the most part they are guys who are uneducated, unsophisticated, and are probably pretty dirty, even stinky most of the time.
--The same low regard was also the view of the first century population.
--Shepherds were not accepted in “respectable” circles.
--Boys who really were on a path to success back then never set out to become shepherds.
<>But God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.
---It’s interesting to note that all through the Bible the lowly, the unpopular folks are deemed special to God.
--->The first to see Jesus after His resurrection was Mary Magdalene, a woman with a notorious past, someone shunned by the high society crowd of that day.
--->Likewise, other than Mary and Joseph, the first people to see the baby Jesus were the unsophisticated, uneducated, and society-shunned shepherds of Bethlehem.
<>While the world slept on that silent night, the Shepherds’ lives were forever changed, and their night was anything but silent.
--I invite you to open a Bible and turn again to Luke, chapter 2.
<>Although shunned by society, the shepherds of Bethlehem were actually a very special group of men.
---->History tells us the sheep used for sacrifices in the temple at Jerusalem were provided by shepherds around Jerusalem, most notably the shepherds of Bethlehem.
---->They were diligent workers, even working into the night to watch and protect their “investment.”
<>But one night their lives were changed forever.
---->They were greeted by angels, messengers from heaven, who interrupted their otherwise silent night.
---->And what they were told of a new Lamb who had been born stirred their hearts so much they decided to check it out.
<>They came quickly to a venue they were very familiar with ... a stable.
---->And with the information given to them by the angels they knew how to identify this special Lamb:
--------He’d be lying in the feeding trough.
--------And he’d be wrapped in strips of cloth by his poor mother and earthly father.
<>Today, as we move closer to the celebration of Christmas, I want us to learn from the shepherds of Bethlehem, who provide us with a model to follow, through their actions, what they perceived, and what they said.
---->We need to emulate what they did in how we handle Christmas.
THIS CHRISTMAS WE SHOULD DO WHAT THE SHEPHERDS DID...
1) THEY FOCUSED ON THE GIFT.
--<>Their focus was where our should be also...on Jesus!
------Luke 2:15 -- “The shepherds began saying to one another, ‘Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.’”
--->Every year it seems to get harder and harder to keep the peripheral things surrounding Christmas from taking over and diverting out attention away from Jesus:
-------What kind of Christmas tree will we get? Real or artificial? Green or flocked? Icicles or no icicles on the branches?
-------Family traditions: Who buys for who? Who shops? Who wraps? What’s the menu for Christmas dinner?
-------Even church traditions: Christmas program? Christmas caroling? Candlelight service? Nativity scene?
--->But the shepherds got it right.
-------They put their focus on Jesus, coming to where He was, “connecting” with Him.
2) THEY ADJUSTED TO THE FATHER’S ACTIVITY.
--<>Their urgency was as ours should be.
------Luke 2:16 -- “And they came in haste, and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.”
--<>They let God determined their schedule.
------They put His work ahead of their own.
------They stopped what they were doing, and came straight to Bethlehem.
--<>And they came in haste.
------They were urgent about joining God in what He was doing.
------Coming into town in the middle of the night was not on their “to do” list that day...but they came immediately.
-----ILL>I’m reminded of the African American preacher who understood how we’re to always be flexible and ready to follow God wherever He leads us. He prayed at the beginning of the morning worship service, “Lord, let something happen today that isn’t in the bulletin.”
--<>Question: Would YOU be as flexible as the shepherds were?
------If God shows you something He wants you to do, are you ready and willing to give it the highest priority?
------Would you be willing to bump something off your list in order to move what it is He wants done to the top of the list?
--<>They came to Jesus, and they came in haste.
--<>BUT NOTICE WHAT THEY SAW WHEN THEY GOT THERE:
------a) The Child of Promise.
------------Luke 2:11 -- “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord.”
------------Isaiah 9:2 -- “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.”
------------Isaiah 9:6 -- “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
------------Micah 9:2 -- “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth from Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”
--------ILL>In his book, “Science Speaks,” Peter Stoner applies the modern science of probability to just eight prophecies regarding Christ. He says, “The chance that any man might have...fulfilled all eight prophecies is one in ten to the seventeenth. That would be 100,000,000,000,000,000 or one quadrillion.” Stoner suggests that to get a picture of that improbability in your mind, it would be as if you were to cover the whole state of Texas with silver dollars...one hundred quadrillion of them would cover every square inch of the state and be two feet deep! Then, mark one, and only one, of those silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly. Then, blindfold a man and tell him he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up that one marked silver dollar alone. What chance would have of getting the right one? The same chance that prophets would have had in writing those eight prophecies and having them all come true in one man...if they had written them in their own wisdom.
--------<>Just as declared from the throne room of God, Jesus is the only begotten of the Father.
--------<>Just as promised, He was the only human ever born of a virgin.
------------<>Just as promised, He was the only human being ever to live a perfect life.
------b) The Giver of Joy.
-----------Luke 2:10 -- “...Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people.”
---------<>They came and told Mary and Joseph what they had seen and heard from the angels...good news of a great joy!
------c) The Lamb of God.
-----------John 1:29 -- “The next day (John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’”
---------<>They were used to seeing lambs meant for sacrifice.
---------<>They were used to seeing lambs being cared for, watched over by people who stayed up late at night.
---------<>They were familiar with the role He would take on as the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.
3) THEY REPORTED THE GOOD NEWS.
---<>They openly, publicly, and enthusiastically spoke about Jesus.
------Luke 2:17-18 -- “And when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.”
--------ILL>In December, 1903, after many attempts, the Wright brothers were successful in getting their “flying machine” off the ground. Thrilled, they telegraphed this message to their sister, Katherine: “We have actually flown 120 feet. We will be home for Christmas.” Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. The next day the headline the editor wrote as a result in his newspaper said, “Local boys will be home for Christmas.” -- He totally missed the big news: man had flown!
---->The shepherds got it right, though.
--<>The Bible tells us they went and “made known THE STATEMENT which had been told them about this Child.”
------>The “statement” from the angels was and still is profound...and the shepherds passed it along to all who would hear.
--<>WHAT THE SHEPHERDS SAID...
------a) Jesus saves.
-----------Luke 2:11 -- “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior...”
---------<>A savior has to get into the battle.
-------------He has to go face to face with the enemy.
-------------He goes into the enemy’s territory...and rescues the person needing to be saved.
---------<>But while the Jews thought the Savior would battle Rome and save them militarily, Jesus came to earth, and entered the battlefield of our sin.
-------------His battle, His victory over our enemy took place in the spiritual realm.
-------------He saved us from the clutches of sin.
-----------ILL>Clifford Stewart once sent his parents a microwave oven for Christmas. They were so excited, he explains, that now they too could be a part of the instant generation. However, when his dad unpacked the microwave and plugged it in, literally within seconds the microwave transformed two smiles into frowns! Even after reading the directions, they couldn’t make it work. Two days later, Stewart’s mother was playing bridge with a friend and confessed her inability to get that microwave to even boil water. “To get this darn thing to work,” she said, “I really don’t need better directions; I just needed my son to come along with the gift!”
---------<>When God gave the gift of salvation He didn’t send a set of complicated instructions for us to figure out; He sent His Son.
------b) Jesus is the Messiah.
-----------Luke 2:11 -- “For today in the city of David there ahs been born for you a Savior, Who is Christ...”
---------<>While the rest of the world was expecting an adult Messiah, the angels told the shepherds and the shepherds became the first to proclaim that the Messiah came as a child...He would experience life as we experience it.
------c) Jesus is God.
-----------Luke 2:11 -- “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord.”
----------ILL>There was once a man who didn’t believe in God, and he didn’t hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments. One snowy evening, his wife was taking their children to a worship service in the farm community in which they lived. They were going to talk about Jesus’ birth. She asked her husband to come, but again he refused. “That story is nonsense!,” he exclaimed. “Why would God lower Himself to come to earth as a man? That’s ridiculous!” So she and the children left, and he stayed home. A while later the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out his window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire that evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. He looked out, but couldn’t see more than a few feet. When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn’t go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window. The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It’s warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn’t seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them, and they moved further away. He went into the house and came back with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread crumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn’t catch on. Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe. He said to himself, “Why don’t they follow me? Can’t they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?” Then he thought for a moment and realized they just wouldn’t follow a human. They would only understand it if he could somehow become one of them. Suddenly he understood why Christ had come. He came to us as one of us in order to show us the way...and lead us to safety. Years of doubt vanished away, and he fell to his knees in the snow, and prayer his first prayer: “Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm.”
---------<>You see, Jesus was more than just a virgin-born baby...as remarkable as that fact is.
---------<>Jesus is God with skin on! -- He’s EMMANUEL, God with us.
--<>Notice what they DIDN’T REPORT...
------They didn’t tell any stories about frosty snowmen they saw that night...no winter wonderland talk either.
------Their report didn’t include any talk about special decorations on the cave...no boughs of holly or beautiful candles, lights.
------Their message wasn’t about chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
------They didn’t have sugar plums dancing in their heads.
------Their message wasn’t about silver bells or seeing shoppers rushing home with their treasures.
------They didn’t report anything about a little drummer boy...or jolly old St. Nick...or Father Winter...or a red-nosed reindeer.
BRINGING IT HOME...
--<>Their report was what ours needs to be this Christmas...
------Joy has come to the world, the Lord is come.
--<>Their actions were what ours need to be...
------They went and told it on the mountain, over the fields, and everywhere!
--<>And their focus was where our focus needs to be this Christmas...
------We need to BEHOLD THE LAMB.
