Title: The Christmas Story
Text: Luke 2:1-20
Luke 2:1-20 Luke 2:1 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. 2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." 15 When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, 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." 16 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. 17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
I. The Story is true
II. The Story is miraculous
III. The Story is worth repeating
IV. The Story is worth Pondering
V. The Story is cause to celebrate
Before we get going I just want to say how much I appreciate Pastor Henry. His willingness to step back in and minister here has been a huge blessing to me, and to all of us. I am so grateful that he is willing to preach- although I really had to twist his arm to get him to preach again.
Please turn in your Bibles to the gospel of Luke, chapter 2.
How many of you have a Christmas tradition of watching A Christmas Story- that movie with Ralphie- ever year? Be honest? I love that movie. Why do we all love that story so much? I think it’s because on some level we can all relate. How many of you wanted, or had a BB-gun growing up? How many of you almost shot your eye out?
How many of you can relate with the dad cussing out the furnace? All of us had a dad like that… some of you might still be a dad like that. It wasn’t the furnace with my dad, but wallpaper. I still have images, and words seared into my memory from when my dad wallpapered the living room. I think my mom might have taken us out of the house when he wallpapered my room. To this day I have a fear and aversion to wallpaper.
Well today we’re not going to focus on A Christmas Story, but on The Christmas Story.
The Christmas story is a familiar one to most of us. We have heard it over and over again since we were young. It’s a story that we are so familiar with that sometimes we get a little tired of it. I had a pastor once who would preach from the epistles, or other random scriptures during Easter and Christmas. He had been preaching a long time and I guess had gotten bored with preaching from the gospels. But during those times of the year I really wanted to hear The Christmas Story.
So this morning I’m going to read The Christmas Story and remind us of some of the key aspects of this great passage of scripture.
Let’s start by looking at the first 7 verses in Luke 2…
The first thing we notice about this story is that it is true. Luke was a historian. His occupation was a physician, but his purpose in writing this account of Jesus’ life was to accurately and orderly describe the events as they happened. Look over a page at chapter 1 verse 3-4…
Luke 1:3-4 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
Luke wasn’t an eyewitness to all of these events himself, but he carefully investigated everything. He had access to people who where eyewitnesses. People like Jesus, and Mary. Luke isn’t writing a book of his own opinions about Jesus, or a collection of ancient folklore about Jesus, but he is writing an eyewitness account of the events of Jesus’ life, in chronological order, and with plenty of historical detail.
The reason that he mentions these minute details about a census and Quirinius being the governor of Syria was because these are all historical landmarks that people would be able to identify with. There are people and events that we can verify. We have confirmation from other non-biblical historians about these things.
Luke’s gospel is the longest, and the most detailed of the four gospels. His account is reliable. This story is a true story.
The story isn’t only true, it is also miraculous. Look at verses 8-14…
So far there have already been a number of miraculous aspects to this story. It wasn’t an ordinary conception. Over in chapter 1 Luke recounts the story of Mary being confronted with an angel and told that she will give birth to a child, even though she had never been with a man. This was no ordinary child. Mary understood that what was happening to here was a total miracle from God.
Here in Luke 2 we read about the first announcement of Jesus’ arrival here on earth. These common shepherds were tending the flocks out in a field nearby and all of a sudden an angel appears standing in front of them. It says that the glory of the Lord shone around them. Some kind of heavenly light accompanied the angel.
I’m not sure what that looked like, but it really freaked out these poor shepherds. There were terrified. The angels says, don’t freak, I’ve got good news. Today, in the City of David- just like the prophecy says- there has been born a savior, he is Christ, which is another word for the messiah.
The messiah was this leader, this king, that had been promised to the Jewish people. Even these lowly shepherds would have understood what the angels were saying. The promise has been fulfilled today! What we have been waiting for all these years is here!
The angels says…
12 "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
What a sight that must have been. These shepherds got a glimpse into heaven. They are treated to the very first Christmas choir! The angels sang- Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among men!
Everything about this birth was miraculous. It was miraculously foretold by prophets hundreds of years earlier. It was miraculously in who it was, in how he came, in how it was announced. It is a miraculous story. These are events that go far beyond the bounds of normal human activity. This is God with us. God intervening on our behalf. This is something unlike the world had ever seen before.
Because this story is miraculous it is also a story that is worth repeating. Let’s keep reading. Look at verses 15-18…
“15 When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, 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." 16 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. 17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.”
So as soon as the angels leave, the shepherd’s say, let’s go check this out. The angel gave them directions on how to get there, so clearly there was an expectation that they would go and see for themselves.
They found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby, just like the angel had told them. When they had seen him for themselves, they went out and told others what they had heard. The story was so amazing, the events were so earth shaking, they had to go and tell others. That’s not the kind of thing that happened to a person every day.
Sometimes we think of the biblical times as a period of time when all kinds of supernatural stuff happened to people every day. But that wasn’t the case. In fact supernatural events are relatively uncommon throughout human history. There are little hot spots of activity, like the time of Moses, or the miracles that Elijah and Elisha preformed, or the events surrounding Jesus. However, the experiences that these shepherd’s had was something uncommon and worth telling about.
The story is still supernatural and special and worth repeating. The events that took place that night are still amazing and life changing. It says here that those who heard wondered at the things the shepherds told them.
Maybe a better word for wondered would be marveled. They were amazed. They couldn’t believe it. When people heard the story they were in awe. A lot of people probably didn’t believe them. But my guess is that the story spread from person to person like wildfire.
The story of Jesus’ birth is worth repeating. It is worth revisiting year after year. It is worth talking about and studying. It is worth hearing about. It is a story that changes everything.
A lot of us have been believers for a long time. But can you think back to the time you first heard and really understood who Jesus was and what He offered? When we first come to faith in Christ, when it all finally clicks for us, there is an amazing enthusiasm. I know it was that way for me. It’s like solving a Rubik’s Cube.
I was a child of the 80’s, so I had a Rubik’s Cube growing up, I could figure out one side, and sometimes even two, but I could never figure the whole thing out. If I did I guarantee that I would have shown it to everyone I knew.
That’s the way it is for a new Christian. Because every single human has a weird God-shaped whole in their heart. We all have something that we are searching for. We are all looking for meaning and purpose and an answer to the biggest questions of life. We all try and solve that puzzle in different ways. But when we finally figure out that it’s God that belongs there- we want try and help everyone we know to understand it too.
The story of Jesus’ miraculous birth, and his ministry, and his death, and his resurrection is worth repeating. It is a story that is worth telling to anyone who will listen, because it is the key to solving humanities biggest riddle. It is the key to peace with God, freedom from sin, and salvation from hell.
The Shepherd’s might not have understood everything there is to know about theology or religion, but they simply repeated what they did know. They told their own story. And those who heard it were amazed.
Verse 19 gives us a contrast to the shepherd’s response. This is probably one of my favorite verses in this whole section of scripture. To me this one verse speaks volumes. Verse 19 says… “19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
This is a story that is worth pondering. It is worth dwelling on. It is worth our serious consideration.
The shepherd’s went out and told people about what they had seen and heard, but Mary treasured these things, pondering them in her heart.
The word treasured here literally means to keep close; to preserve them; to cherish them. She probably knew more about what was happening than anyone, but she kept it all close to the vest.
She pondered them in her heart. She thought about what it all meant. She considered what the future might hold. She spent time dwelling on the weight of it all.
It is hard to imagine what she has going through. She had been chosen to give birth to the long awaited messiah, and it turns out that this was no ordinary king; this was no less than the son of God. How exciting, and frightening, and confusing, and overwhelming. Mary dealt with the news by treasuring what she had, and pondering it in her heart.
She didn’t take this responsibility lightly. She didn’t take the news flippantly. She gave it some serious thought.
It is a story that deserves some serious thought on our part as well. Just think what that birth means- Emmanuel- God with us! It’s just too amazing to fully understand. God taking on human flesh. Living with us, suffering with us, being tempted with us, and ultimately dying for us. Wow! What amazing love.
Paul spent time pondering the wonder of Jesus’ birth. In Philippians he encourages us to have humility and selflessness like Christ…
Philippians 2:5-11 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen
Finally, this is a story that is worth celebrating. “20 The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.”
This story gives us reason to sing, and to celebrate. Even with Santa, and presents, and trees, and all the other stuff that can often cloud the reason for the celebration, the month of December is still a month long party. In this country, and all over the world, people of every faith, and people with no faith at all, celebrate Christmas time. It is a season of joy, and peace, and good will, and singing, and office parties, and celebration.
For us as Christians, it is even better because we know why we are celebrating. We know who the party is for. We can’t help but glorify and praise God for all that we have heard and seen.
In a couple of nights we will have our annual Christmas Eve service. It is a time of fellowship, singing, and praising God. It is probably one of the best attended services we have all year, because it is a pure, complete, celebration of Christmas.
It is one of my absolute favorite services. Because the story of the birth of Jesus Christ is cause for celebration. It is that special, that unique, that miraculous. It is a birthday that is so significant that thousands of years later people are still celebrating it.
One of my favorite Christmas carols has always been “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!”
Jana got these little books for all the members of the choir who preformed last week. They are brief descriptions of classic Christmas Carols. Here’s what it has to say about “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”…
What an amazing story! Praise God for sending us His son!
