Good News – Great Joy! Dec. 13, 2009
Are there any ‘news junkies’ out there today? News junkies are people who like to know what, where, why, when and how about all the things going on in the world around us, and indeed around the world.
How many of us read the newspaper when it comes to our house, or maybe at the office? This can be quite a ritual. Get the paper from the front door (does that count as exercise?), make some coffee, sit in your favourite spot and open the paper to the same section you usually do…sports, local news, stock prices, obituaries, classifieds, national news, etc. The only thing is, the paper is seems to be filled with more ads than actual news articles. Have you seen the number of ads in the paper lately? I brought just the last couple of week’s ads I pulled from the newspapers, and we only get the local free paper, not the Times Colonist. Look at this stack! And we are only one household. This is over 5 lbs of paper. Multiply that by all the homes in our area, in Victoria, and BC, and Canada, and North America, and…that’s a lot of paper!
Now, how many of us get our news from the radio or television? That’s where I like to get my news. Why? Because the paper is yesterday’s news; I like to know what’s happening NOW. We live in an age where we can find out almost instantly when something happens pretty much anywhere in the world. The alert of ‘breaking news’ will catch our attention in a heartbeat. What’s happening? What’s going on? Will I be delayed in getting home or to the mall because of a traffic accident? There are 24-hour news channels on TV and radio, broadcasting all the latest from sock quotes to celebrity relationship breakdowns. With the advent of satellite phones, we can even get a live feed from the middle of the Afghan desert by a journalist in the middle of the Middle East during a battle between local insurgents and an army made up of people from all over the world. It’s scary really.
We can get live pictures of people shooting at each other while at war or at a public school, stories of car bombs going off near a hotel where world leaders are gathered, flood victims watching their home destroyed before their eyes and ours, and live feeds from refugee camps of adults and children starving, hurting, sick and dying. It used to be that we would wait for days or weeks to get news from around the world, now we complain when the picture on the TV is a little fuzzy.
The thing with the news these days is that most of the time it’s the ‘bad news’ that gets our attention. It’s the terrible things that happen to people or by people that make us want to hear it, see it and be glad it’s not us in the news or that it’s not too close to home.
Sad really; it’s the shocking, brutal, disastrous, and awful stories that we can’t seem to pull away from, and that also get the big ratings for those who broadcast them first.
I’d like to see a newspaper or news program that was all about ‘good news’…the great things that happen each and every day all over the world, and even right here in the West Shore of Victoria. Why can’t good news be the thing that we want to hear over and over?
I’ve titled this little message ‘Good News, Great Joy’ and I’ve asked a special guest to recite today’s scripture. His name is Linus, perhaps you know him?
Video clip – Peanuts Christmas, Linus’ monologue
The Shepherds and the Angels Luke 2:1-8 (NIV)
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men"
Back in the day when this all happened, some 2000 years ago, there were no TV’s, I-Phones, cell phones, syndicated papers and radio news programs, Facebook status updates or Twitter ‘tweets’ to let people know about news. So how was God to tell everyone about the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ? Can you imagine if we received a ‘tweet’ from Yahweh, saying something like, ‘My Son was just born in a stable in Bethlehem, check it out.’ Or if God’s Facebook status was ‘God…was just born as a baby’. How many of us would click the ‘like’ button on that one?
No, God has a much cooler way of getting news to the world. He sends an angel. Angels are God’s messengers, bringing news from heaven to earth. An angel stayed Abraham’s hand as he was about to sacrifice his son. An angel came to Gideon telling him the plans God had for him to be a great warior though he was least in his tribe. And angel shut the lion’s mouths when Daniel was thrown into their den by Nebuchadnezzar. God sent an angel to tell Mary she would bear His child. God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream that he should not divorce Mary but marry her and raise the child growing inside her. And God sent an angle to the people of Bethlehem announcing Jesus’ birth. But God doesn’t send the angel to the mayor of Bethlehem, or the king of Jerusalem, or the pharaoh of Egypt, or the Emperor of Rome. No, God sends an angel to some lowly shepherds out in the fields who are watching their sheep. Shepherds, why them? Maybe they needed to hear some good news. Maybe because they were considered as lowly as the sheep they cared for. Maybe they needed some good news and perhaps great JOY?!
And maybe because they would be sure to spread the good news all over the country side about the wonderful news they just received! You have to picture the scene for a moment. A few lonely guys of all ages sitting around a little fire trying to stay warm. Maybe they are telling ba’a’a’a’a’d jokes. Maybe they feel a little sheepish about being with other people. But nobody can pull the wool over their eyes as an angel suddenly appears among them.
Now I can’t show you a picture of exactly what this may have looked like. I’ve seen pictures of a human-like person floating in the air with wings, flowing white robes, a halo and a harp. I don’t see that depicted in this passage. In other places in the bible, we read about angels walking around, appearing like men, coming into people’s homes and sharing meals, and things like that. So in my mind, I see this scene like this…the shepherds are sitting around on a calm night on the hills around the town of Bethlehem. It’s quiet…there are no cars driving around with their boom-boxes blaring, just the sound of snoring sheep…They’re telling stories of days gone by, dreaming of days ahead, just being real with each other. Then, all of a sudden, there’s another guy standing right in the middle of the group. He literally just appears!
Not only that, the darkness of the night, which seemed to match their mood was suddenly pushed back by this light that seemed to come from everywhere virtually blinds them all. Have you ever been in a dark room watching a movie or something and the lights are suddenly turned on? It takes a moment to adjust doesn’t it? That’s what this would have been like, except MUCH more intense!
And this ‘guy’ is hyper…I mean, really excited about something. But before you have time to turn tail and run because, hey, you think you’ve been invaded by aliens or something, this guy says WAIT! Don’t be afraid. I’ve got some good news of GREAT JOY for you!
These guys are the lowest of the low in their day. To be shepherd is to sit out in the fields with a bunch of smelly sheep, warding off predators, being lonely, unwanted, unloved, unappreciated, possibly depressed, unfulfilled with life, feeling anything but joyful. The thought of someone bring some JOY into their lives is perhaps the most wonderful news they’ve ever heard.
Maybe that’s you here today? Maybe you feel a little unloved and lonely, depressed and forgotten. Maybe you feel like you are all alone, even among a crowd of people like we have here at church, or at your place of work, or even at home. There’s good news, there’s great joy. And it is for you! It’s the kind of joy that does not go away when the batteries wear out, or the clothes go out of style, or the ‘feeling’ goes away. This is the kind of joy that permeates every part of your person, every bit of your being, every breath that you breathe.
We have heard the story of the angels’ announcement many times. We have sung ‘angels we have heard on high’ every Christmas. But have we heard the news? The great news was about great joy, and it is for ALL people from all nations for all time!
And what’s that news? A Savior has been born! THE Savior has come. GOD has come to earth. He is Christ, Messiah, the Promised One, the Lion of Judah, the Prince of Peace, the Word made flesh, Emmanuel (God with us), the uncreated Creator, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God…born, a baby, in a manger, to a young virgin girl and her husband…just over their in that little town, wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough for cows. Now THAT’s some news!
The angel was so excited about this that one was not quite enough to tell it. Imagine the shepherds faces as not one, not two, not 100, but a GREAT multitude of angels appeared and started a worship set like none other heard on earth before, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men!’ They were in a bit of shock from the first angel, now there’s 1000’s all around; and the sound, imagine the sound! Maybe they did carry harps, and they started playing some kind of heavenly ho-down that the shepherds were drawn into. The music filled the evening pushing back the darkness like those concerts we see today…talk about a light show!!
This worship time goes on for who knows how long, and then, the music begins to fade and the light dims as the host of angels return to heaven. The shepherds, still bouncing from this encounter with heaven, filled with joy, go and check this news out for themselves, after all, they were just visited by angels who said…this guy we’re singing about, he’s over there…I think I’d want to go too! And everything is exactly like the angels said. Stable, Mary, Joseph, baby in a manger…it was no joke, God had come to earth! And those shepherds, now filled with great joy from what they had seen, they were going to tell everyone about this thing that had happened. There were no telephones, but there was the tell-a-shepherd system. This news was not going to stay in the area for long. Shepherds are good communicators, and they get the message out all over the countryside. Everyone was hearing the news about the little baby in Bethlehem, the Messiah, the Son of God, God with us.
This joy was real joy. Not because their situation as shepherds had changed. It was that God had kept His promise to send a Savior to the world, and this Savior would save them from their sin. They were still shepherds, but now, with faith and belief in what God had had done, and would do, they were saved shepherds, shepherds with a purpose (telling others about Jesus), shepherds with hope, shepherds with peace, shepherds with joy!
And the good news is the same today as it was then. God is with us. The news is written down in this wonderful gift from God, His Word, so we can read it over and over, to us and to our children, to our spouse, to our friends, to everyone. It never gets old. The facts never change. It’s as hot a story today as it was 2000 years ago. And people are still talking about it…this is good news. Good news lasts. Good news changes things. Good news makes us want to tell others. Like those shepherds did on that joyous night so long ago.
So let’s do that this Christmas. Let’s all be like the angels and shepherds and spread some joy around our family and community. Let’s remember that Jesus is the reason for everything that we do not just at Christmas time, but each and every day with every breath, with every part of our being.
Perhaps you don’t know this joy, this Savior, this Jesus. Perhaps Jesus is just a story to you, a figure in history. But maybe today, you hear his voice, calling you to respond to the good news by simply saying, I believe. You can do that, right here, right now. Why wait? Why go through today with no real hope for tomorrow? Why put off trusting in God when He is calling you to new life and new hope and great joy today? Put your trust in Jesus. He is the way and the truth and the life…real life, eternal life. Choose to receive the best gift of all, Jesus Christ this Christmas.
Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
