Title: The Wonder of Christmas
Theme: To bring us back to remembrance what the Wonder of Christmas really is
Text: Luke 2:8-18
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Why shepherds?
Shepherding was a despised profession. Mostly because they rarely attended service. The job they had took up so much time.
Yet Jesus came to the despised and the rejected. These are the very people who needed Him more. More than the religious. More than the righteous. He came to the sick. They were the ones who needed a doctor.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord (Shekinah glory, “always symbolizes God’s presence, What Moses saw on Mt. Sinai (Ex 24:16) What Isaiah saw? (Is 6:1-3)
(Isa 6:1-7) In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts."
MSG 5 I said, "Doom! It’s Doomsday! I’m as good as dead! Every word I’ve ever spoken is tainted-- blasphemous even! And the people I live with talk the same way, using words that corrupt and desecrate. And here I’ve looked God in the face! The King! GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies!"
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged."
shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
All around them was the glory of the Lord. What was their reaction? “They were afraid”. Just like Moses, just like Jacob (Dream, wrestling) Just like John on Patmos.
I believe that we lose the Wonder of Christmas in all our business. It has become so commercialized that we lose the essence of what Christmas is all about.
We don’t wonder any more.
10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
“Don’t be afraid”
Isn’t this the first message of Christmas. When we know Jesus we have no fear.
“good tidings” – Good News – The Gospel is the “Good News” Tell the World.
“great joy” – gladness, excitement. More than happiness. An inside change.
11 "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
“City of David” also known as the House of Bread. Now to be known as the birth place of the Messiah – Christ the Lord.
Savior – “deliver”
What “good tidings of great joy which will be to all people”? Or you could ask how?
“born to you” – Jesus came to all. “
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the WORLD”
12 "And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
13 And suddenly (immediately, in an instant) there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
This was the song that the angels had been waiting to proclaim. It was for them a burst of excitement.
Praise “Glory to God in the hightest”
Promise “Peace”
“goodwill toward men” – this is His desire. He only desires good will for men and toward men. As an alien comes to earth to seek peace. God came to earth to bring peace to all the World.
If we could only see that. He only wants what is best for us.
Psalms 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
1Timothy 2:3-4 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."
When you experience the presence of the Lord you can’t keep it to yourself. You have got to obey and go and see for yourself.
They left everything and went to see the babe. The good news.
16 And they came with haste (hurried, ran with excitement, Peter and John running to the tomb of Jesus) and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
Just as they had been told. It was true.
17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
This was a confirmation to Mary and Joseph. It seems that Mary pondered these things in her heart. As a mother.
Not only did they tell Mary and Joseph but the told everyone they come in contact with. They could not hold their excitement.
18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
People were amazed. At the excitement of the shephered. At the expectation of the Messiah.
Conclusion
Do you still carry the wonder, the excitement of Christmas? Do you still feel the joy? The peace?
