The Celebration of Christmas
Luke 2:1-20
* One of my most favorite Christian Christmas Songs is entitled, “Come on ring those bells.” One of the reasons that I love it so much is that it focuses on the “Celebration” of the Christ Child. The second verse goes like this, “Celebrations come because of something good, celebrations we love to recall. Mary had a baby boy in Bethlehem, the greatest celebration of them all.” Today, I want us to think about that celebration. Let’s begin with the account by Dr. Luke found in Luke 2. (Read Text)
* Verse 20 gives us the appropriate climax to this story, “The shepherds returned”, that means they went back to the fields and the sheep. They were ‘glorifying & praising God,’ they understood this was a divine event. They were seeing something God had planned. But the best part is that everything had happened just like God said. I can only imagine their emotional outburst at all they had seen and heard. Jesus’ coming is exciting & deserves to be celebrated. Celebrate like Luke describes!
1. Sing Like the Angels –In the months preceding and around the birth of Jesus there was a flurry of angelic activity. In my divine imagination it seems that the closer His birth came, the more excitement was expressed among the angels. God was using them to announce the greatest event in history! It all culminated the night Jesus was born as they burst on the scene in the darkness to shepherds on the hillside. They announced and they sang! What a great combination! This should be our example.
a. Let us sing because we have someone to sing about. – The angels told the great & long awaited news that the savior, messiah, and Lord is here. What a great message to a people who had been looking for the promised one! He was HERE, on scene!! The angels were telling about the one who was spoken of as far back as Genesis and repeated by the prophets. Jesus, God’s promised one, His only Son, had now left heaven and came to earth through the womb of a little virgin girl. This is big news! SING!!
b. Let us sing because we have a message to share – The angels not only sang about the Savior, Messiah, and Lord, but they tell the story. This is the ‘good news of great joy for all people.’ Think about that, not just “GOOD NEWS” which would have been good stuff because we all ‘sure could use a little good news today.’ But this is one step beyond. This is Good news of “GREAT JOY.” Why? Because the people who had been walking in darkness, now have a light to show the way. It is the light of heaven, it is the light of Jesus, and it is the LIGHT OF LIGHTS!! Even today, this news is still good and great! The message of Christmas is “Immanuel” or “God with us” is a message for all people. It is a message for all times. It is a message for all places. The angels gave the message in word & songs which indicates to me they gave it with all that was in them.
c. Let us sing because we have people who need to know. – We tend to think that people know, but they don’t. Some people know snippets. Others know bits and pieces, but the whole story seems to not be told. We need to sing. Some of us say, “I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.” For this Celebration the word ‘sing’ can be symbolic. Think about it, when a criminal is apprehended they interrogate him and when he confesses they say, HE IS SINGING LIKE A BIRG which is police talk for HE IS TELLING ALL HE KNOWS!! We are indeed expected to tell all we know about the Savior in ‘swaddling clothes,’ the Christ in the crib, or the Messiah in a Manger. We know, people need to know, and the Father expects us to tell.
2. See Like the Parents – Have you ever considered the birth of Jesus from Mary & Joseph’s standpoint? Mary was a young teenager engaged to an ‘older’ man and came up pregnant. Of all the people on earth who knew without question that HE ‘WASN’T’ the Father of this baby, Joseph led the pack. I’ll submit that more than one time Mary & Joseph heard the hushed whispers from friends (& like family members) about what they had done. But Joseph knew better, had an angel tell him, and was at peace with the circumstances as they were. I submit at least 3 things we need to see;
a. Let us see God’s plan unfold – Consider the age of Mary, the visit of the Angel (Luke 1), & her response to this disturbing message. You say, “Pastor, why was this message from an angel ‘disturbing?’ She was told she was going to have a baby out of wedlock. She knew the implications for her reputation and perhaps for her upcoming marriage (which could have been several years away). Even when she said, “I am the Lord’s slave, let it be as He wants”, I suggest she was hoping the entire vision was simply a bad dream. Could this be why she headed to see her Aunt Elizabeth? It seems to me that when Elizabeth confirmed the message of the Angel that Mary began to truly see God’s hand at work. At this point, she sang the “Song of Mary”, ‘The Magnificat’ and watched God’s plan really begin to unfold in her life. God took an unsuspecting couple gave them an undeniable miracle, which resulted in a unbelievable outcome. This is what He will do for us.
b. Let us see God’s provision uncovered – The outcome of God’s working in the life of both Mary & Joseph brought for exactly what was needed. They watched the baby being born, knowing that this YOUNG MAN was a divine gift from God. He was the promised one, God’s answer to the evil in this world. Readers of the Old Testament knew the time was close when God would send “THE ONE” to provide light, hope, and help for all of humanity and it all came packaged in this baby. God had promised one to come & save His people from their sin. Now, in the hands of Mary & Joseph this one has come. He was God’s provision for us all.
c. Let us see God’s presence unveiled – Let’s once again, see like they saw. They were privy to the angel’s message that Mary’s pregnancy were by the Holy Spirit of God and they knew the prophecy of Isaiah which called Him IMMANUEL which meant “God is with us.’ Until this point the people saw God as ‘far off’ up in heaven and now God had come to earth. Please don’t miss that in the baby Jesus the physical presence of God was now experience here on earth. Mary and Joseph were the first ones to experience this. We could walk through the Bible naming ‘firsts’ and none would measure up to the ‘First one’ in your family who experienced the presence of God in their life. To experience God’s presence is to become a changed person. No one walks into the presence of Jehovah and leaves the same as they came. I submit that the wise men were changed, Mary & Joseph were changed, Moses, Enoch, Peter, and the list goes on. Can you see the presence of God being unveiled in this baby? Mary & Joseph could, the wise men could, and even the shepherds could.
3. Share like the Shepherds – There is much to be said about the experiences of the Shepherds. They were singled out by ‘heaven’ to receive the first announcement. They set aside time to seek out the truth of what they had seen & heard on that hillside. It appears they believed what they heard because they “IMMEDIATELY” “STRAIGHWAY” &“WITHOUT HESITATION” left their routine to check it out. I wonder if herein lays our problem. Instead of responding to HIM, we listen (kind of) & then try to figure it out. The shepherds heard, responded, and then were rewarded. They were the seemingly the first ones on scene. In emergency work, the first “on scene” generally has control of the flow of information. The shepherd took this to heart. Here is the message for the day. They celebrated!! They returned to life – but they had a song in their heart and on their lips. So here is our encouragement for this Christmas.
a. Let us share what we know. – The shepherds certainly did. They heard, checked it out for themselves, and let everyone know. The story of Christmas is an exciting story of life, of hope, of good news, & God coming down. Here’s the story; because of the sin in the garden we are infected with the disease of sin. This disease is terminal & everyone has it. The only cure for this disease is blood. In the Old Testament blood sacrifices were offered, when Jesus came – HE became the ultimate sacrifice for sin. An individual must respond to the promptings of Holy God to be cured & cleaned. Only in this way can one find eternal life. And having received the offer of salvation, we are charged to tell what we know. It is the greatest story of all. Jesus left heaven, came to earth, gave His life, rose from the dead, and now is seated by God in heaven interceding for you and me. He loves us so much that He made a way & we need to share.
b. Let us share who we know – Too many today seem to be ‘leaving out’ the Lord Jesus. They get tied up in all kind of other theological & doctrinal arguments until the question I always ask is, “Where is Jesus in all of this?” Most will mumble, “Well He there,” but for me HE remains unnamed. How do we not name the very one who bore our pain. Leaving heaven He bore the pain of coming as a human. As a human, He bore the pain of living like a human complete with all the part of growing up as we encounter. He even died the most horrific death imaginable and now HE LIVES – He Loves – He lifts – He lightens – it’s all about Jesus.
c. Let us share everywhere we go. – Think with me about the life of Christ, the calling of His disciples, and even His ascension back to heaven. We see two sides of our Lord about this matter of telling others. Early In His ministry, He told people NOT TO TELL and as He moved toward the cross He compelled all to tell about what God had done for them. Here’s the truth; He told many to NOT TELL – and those folks told everyone! Today, we have His command to TELL – and seem to tell NO ONE. The only way the others know is that those who know, have experience, and enjoy a relationship with Christ, TELL IT where ever we go. Of all the things we do, the song we sing, the music we enjoy, or the parties we have, the greatest celebration comes when we tell and others respond.
Have you responded to Him? Have you sing, seen, and shared like these first century witnesses.
