Over the past few weeks we have been taking a new look at some of the figures of the Christmas story. We’ve taken some time to study the stories within the story. We’ve looked at the story of Mary, the teenaged girl that God chose to be the mother of His Son. Last week we discussed the story of Joseph, the carpenter that was chosen to be Jesus’ earthly father. And there has been a common question that keeps popping up. What in the world was it about these people that God saw to cause Him to choose them? I mean, really there is nothing extremely special about Mary, is there? She was a young girl from a bad town. She wasn’t famous. She wasn’t the child of anyone famous. She wasn’t rich. She wasn’t the daughter of a priest or anything like that. If it weren’t for the Christmas story we probably would never even have heard of Mary. What was so special about her that caused God to consider her highly favored among women? What was it that caused God to choose her to be the one to whom the Messiah would be entrusted? In her story we found what was so special. She was a woman or courage, purity, and faith.
And what of Joseph? What was so special about this poor carpenter? He wasn’t someone that the normal person would consider to be worthy of being God’s earthly father. He wasn’t a prince. He wasn’t a priest. He wasn’t a prophet. He was just a simple carpenter from a bad town. What was so extraordinary about him? Well, as we have come to understand, man looks on the outward, but God upon the heart. And when He looked into Joseph’s heart He saw that he was a man of character, mercy, and obedience. That’s what made him so special in God’s eyes.
Tonight I want us to again look to a story within the story and draw the lessons that we can from it. The story I want us to look at tonight is found in Luke 2:1-20…
As we look at the story of the shepherds I want to again ask you this question… What was so special about them? Why did God choose shepherds? I mean, think about it, you have the two extremes of Jewish society. You have the Messiah being born. The King of all kings. The Son of God. The Great I AM. And the first people to find out about it are a group of shepherds.
You would think that the first birth announcements would be given to the prestigious of the land. You would think that the first to be given invitations to come see the Christ would be the religious leaders or the political rulers or the rich and the powerful, maybe the war hero’s. At least to family members. But no, the first people to hear the good news were not the political or religious leaders or the rich or even the family. The first to hear the good news and receive invitations to come and see the newborn king were shepherds.
There’s nothing special about shepherds. In fact, in the days from which this story comes shepherds were looked upon like we would look upon gypsies. I realize we don’t have too many gypsies here, but in Eastern Europe they do. And gypsies are sort of the social outcasts. They are not trusted. They are looked upon as thieves. Their word is not trusted. They live secluded from the rest of society. They are poor. They are generally unclean. They are on the low end of the totem pole. They are viewed as the shepherds were viewed in Bible times.
Shepherds were the poorest of the poor. They had no education. They were ceremonially unclean so they were isolated from the rest of society. This lead to mistrust and contempt for them. They were the low ones on the Jewish totem pole.
So why did God choose to let them be the first to hear the news of the Messiah? Why were they the ones to whom the angelic choir was sent? What was so special about them? I think, just like the stories of Mary and Joseph, we can find the answer to that question within the verses we’ve just read. Let me try to point them out to you.
I. They Recognized The Savior
I think the first reason that God chose to reveal the news to the shepherds was because they were the ones who would recognize the Savior. Think about it… the first Christmas was just as busy as any other Christmas. I mean, the whole reason that Mary and Joseph were making their way to Bethlehem in the first place was because they, along with everyone else within the Roman empire, had to travel to their hometown in order to complete a census. The whole empire was hustling and bustling. Everyone was busy.
Just imagine with me that God is sitting up in heaven while Mary and Joseph are on their way to Bethlehem and He’s trying to determine who He should send His angels to share the good news. And He thinks, first of all, of the kings and political leaders. That would be a good place to start spreading the news. Who has better contacts than politicians? And besides, this is another King, well, this is the King that’s being born. Certainly the political leaders should be summoned to give honor to the King of all kings. But the news didn’t go to the politicians. I wonder if maybe God thought about it, but found them too busy. They had orders from Caesar to make sure this census went well. They had to do their job. They didn’t have time for anything else.
Or what if He thought about sending the news to the religious leaders? After all, this was their God that was being born. They had been the ones who had been preaching of the coming Messiah for centuries. Certainly they would be excited when they found out that He had finally come. Certainly they would be able to get the news out to those who were waiting for His arrival as well. But the news wasn’t proclaimed to the priests or rabbis. I wonder if maybe God considered it, but found them too caught up in the busyness of their responsibility. After all, they were the leaders of the temple. They had sacrifices to burn. They services to perform. They had work to do.
Or what if He contemplated sending the angels to the business people of Bethlehem? The ones with the money. It was their town. Maybe they could throw a party for the newborn baby. Maybe their wives could get together and give Mary a shower. They could get the new family into a nice place to stay. The y could really help this young couple and their amazing child. But the news didn’t go to the townspeople of Bethlehem. I wonder if God considered it, but found them to be too wound up about all this new business that had arrived. Look at all the revenue that had walked into this small town of Bethlehem. They had to take advantage of it. It wasn’t every day they had the opportunity to make this much money so quickly. They had so much work to do in so little time. They couldn’t afford to stop and recognize the Messiah. We see this clearly in the life of the inn keeper. He was so busy taking care of his full hotel that he missed the opportunity to see that this baby was the Christ they had waited for.
God didn’t send the news to the politicians or the priest or the businessmen. He sent His choir of angels to visit a bunch of shepherds. Why? Well, I don’t know the whole reason. But I would have to say that part of it was because they were the ones who would actually appreciate the news. He told the shepherds because they would recognize the Savior. He sent the good news to the shepherds because they had the time to listen.
I like what Max Lucado says. Pg. 21, 23.
You know, I don’t think too much has changed since then. Christmas is still a very busy time. There are so many things to get done. So many things to be involved in. Christmas programs. Christmas shopping. Christmas cooking. Christmas decorating. Christmas cleaning. There are so many things to get caught up in. It’s so easy to get busy doing all the Christmas stuff while all the while forgetting the Christmas Child. I don’t want to be like that, do you? I don’t want to get so caught up in Christmas that I fail to consider the meaning of it all. I want to be like the shepherds. They recognized the Savior.
II. They Revered The Savior
I believe the second reason that God spoke to the shepherds first was because they would also revere the Savior. You see, not only did they take the time to recognize the Savior, but they took the time to worship Him as well. I think when you truly recognize the Savior of Christmas you will have no choice but to offer your worship and praise to Him.
Imagine the scene as these shepherds, who have just had their peaceful night disrupted by serenading angels, make their way to the stable. They are looking for this child wrapped in swaddling clothes. They look around. They ask around. And finally they stumble into a smelly animal shelter to find a tired carpenter and his young wife watching over their newborn child. Slowly they enter into the presence of this great little One. They quietly take off their sandals for they sense that they are on holy ground. They slip to their knees and bow their heads before this precious Gift. And they quietly worship. They adore the beauty of God incarnate. They stare in awe at Him.
Who knows how long they sat there? When you truly enter the presence of God often times you could be satisfied to stay there for hours. I don’t know how long they stayed in that stable, but the Bible tells us that they emerged rejoicing and praising God.
I wonder if perhaps they just couldn’t contain their joy any longer. They’d been silent long enough and now it was time to shout. I’ve met some people like that. It takes a lot of discipline for them to sit there and not shout their praises to God. I wonder if the shepherds just couldn’t sit their quietly anymore. They had to put their lips into action praising God for sending the Messiah. The joy couldn’t be contained any longer. That kind of excitement can only be held back for so long.
Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the Texan man who vacationed in England. While there, he attended a religious service and was amazed at how quiet and reserved it was. Not one word was spoken out of turn. All of a sudden he heard the minister say something he really liked. "Amen!" he shouted. Everyone in the church turned and stared, and the usher came running down the aisle. "You must not talk out loud," admonished the usher. "But I’ve got religion," the Texan protested. "Well, you did not get it here!" the usher replied.
These shepherds rejoiced and praised God. I would have to assume that it was out loud. But really, my point this evening is not that the shepherds were kneeling in quiet reverence or shouting in joyful praise. It really doesn’t matter either way. The point is that they did more than recognize the Savior, they worshipped Him. It wasn’t enough to walk into the stable and say, “Oh yeah, there’s that baby the angels were talking about.” When they truly recognized the Savior it was impossible for them not to fall to their knees or jump to their feet in worship.
You know, I think that we all too often forget the importance of worship to the Christ child. Yeah, we may try to take time to realize the meaning of Christmas. We read the Christmas story before we open up the gifts. We go to the Christmas eve candlelight service. We try to always remember that Jesus is the true Reason for the season. We try to make time for that. But we don’t go much further. We don’t take much time at all to really worship this King in a manger. We seem to find it easy to leave the glory out of the story.
I wonder if we realize how much of the Christmas story focuses on worship. So many characters within the story spend time in real worship once they recognize the meaning of Christmas. Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, after he was given his voice back immediately began praising God. He said, “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people.” The angels who appeared to the shepherds, after bringing the good news, began praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest.” The shepherds returned to their fields rejoicing and praising God. Praise and worship is very much a part of the Christmas story.
But how much a part of our Christmas is it? Do we take time to kneel before the manger? Do we take time to rejoice and praise God? Do we go beyond the recognition of Christ and really give Him the worship He deserves?
III. They Relayed The News Of The Savior
Lastly this evening, not only did the shepherds recognize the Savior and revere the Savior, but they also relayed the news of the Savior. Verse 17 tells us that “when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.” They spread the good news.
You know, there’s just something about good news that just makes you want to spread it. Even when you’re supposed to be keeping it quiet, it’s hard to keep it contained. For instance, Cora’s dad has been working hard to get his buck this season. He’s been walking through the woods doing all the things that hunters do. He wanted to shoot a deer. Well, he finally did. And sure enough, we got a call about it. Why? Because he wanted to spread the news.
I’m not much of a hunter, but if I happen to go out and have a good golf game, boy I just can’t seem to quit talking about it. Granted, I haven’t had much opportunity to spread good news about my golf game. But once or twice I’ve been fairly proud of myself and I haven’t been able to just walk into the house and not say anything to Cora about my great day. I have to share it with someone. There’s just something about good news that lends itself to sharing. You’ve got to tell someone about it.
When Cora first showed me the pregnancy test that showed positive there was so much excitement and so much joy that I just wanted to tell everyone. Cora didn’t want us to tell our parents right away, just in case something would go wrong in the very early stages, or by chance we were to find out that we really weren’t pregnant at all. But you don’t know how hard it was for me to keep that in. I knew my parents would be glad to hear that news. They had waited a long time for me to tell them they would be grandparents. It was hard for me to wait. It was hard for me to hold it in to myself.
You know, all these things are great, but I have to admit that I haven’t shown that same type of intensity and desire to share Jesus with others. Whereas I find it so easy to share with others about a good golf game or about my beautiful baby girl, I find it tragically difficult sometimes to share with them about the Savior.
The shepherds weren’t so shy. They got out of that stable and began sharing the news with everybody. They didn’t care what people thought. They didn’t care if they sounded like idiots. They wanted to get the news out. The Messiah is born. They knew people would be glad to hear the news. They knew people had waited a long time to hear that Messiah had come. And they couldn’t hold it in. He was here. They had seen Him. The prophecies are true. He’s here. And not everyone responded positively to them. Not everyone accepted their witness as true. But that didn’t stop their excitement.
If we could only get that excited. If we could only get that uncomfortable with the silence. If we could only find it that hard to share the news of Jesus today. Sure, we won’t get a positive response from everyone we tell. We may be considered idiotic at times. But that should not stop us. Because the message of the Savior needs to be told. And we’re the ones who have been commissioned to tell it. Who else was going to spread that news? Was God going to send angels walking up and down the streets of that town knocking on doors? No, the shepherds were the ones who would spread it.
And today, who else is going to spread the news of the meaning of Christmas? If we Christians don’t do it, how do we expect the news to get out? Is God going to send angels knocking on all the doors in Clinton? I seriously doubt it. We’ve been commissioned to spread the news of Jesus. We are the witnesses to the true Reason for the season. We know what it’s all about. We’ve seen the Savior. We’ve met Him. We know He’s real and He’s alive. And we must share the news. And what better opportunity to share the message of Jesus than Christmas? What other time of the year to radio stations play music about our Savior? What other time of the year do people have their attention drawn to the manger? Christmas is a great opportunity to spread the message of the Savior.
And the thing is, your personality type may not lend to you knocking on all the doors throughout Bethlehem. But you can share the news somehow. There’s some way that you can spread the Gospel. You just have to be willing to spread it. And I believe that if you really recognize the Savior, and if you are really drawn into a spirit of praise and worship to Him, it is only natural for the joy inside of you to push the limitations of your containment. I think it’s only natural for the joy inside of you to make it nearly impossible for you to keep your mouth shut. I think that excitement of knowing the Savior will cause you to have a deep desire to share the news with someone.
This Christmas, I challenge you to take a lesson from the shepherds’ example. I challenge you to take the time to recognize the Savior, revere Him, and relay the news of Him to others.
