LOVE DIVINE
Luke 2:8-14, Dec. 2, 2012
I wonder what Christmas means to a mother who has lost her husband or a man who has lost his wife and his children’s mother. Now a single mother or father who has the responsibility of not only making a living but also the care of small children and never getting everything done, what does Christmas mean to this person?
What does it mean to the little street children in Korea, dirty, bedraggled, hungry, and yet they look with wonder when you pass by. What does it mean to them?
Did you know that the streets of Korea are filled with little children who are born of American service men and Korean girls and nobody accepts them. Our daughter, Carol adopted one of them and he has been the delight of our hearts and now we have a great grandbaby who fills our hearts with joy.
I wonder what it means to our missionaries who are half a world away from families and friends, who are sacrificing so much to take the precious gospel to others who have never heard? What does it mean to them?
Oh, Christmas means different things to different people.
To the Merchants it is the busiest time of the year. Stores hire extra people to take care of all the shoppers. It means more profit, hopefully enough to see them through leaner times ahead.
To some it means a Christmas bonus or a time for parties. For children it is a time of impatience as the days to Christmas take forever to pass. I wonder some time if I ever felt that way and I know that I did, but now time just seems to flit away.
Let me tell you a little story!
Sometimes I get the feeling that we are like the folks who decided to throw a party to honor a very special person. They sent out invitations, decorated the hall, and had the food catered. All the people came together as the designated time, but to their surprise, the guest of honor was not there.
Finally, they discovered that no one had invited the guest of honor.
Please Lord, don’t let us be like that, with all our decorations and doing, please Lord, don’t let us leave you out.
READ LUKE 2:8-2:14
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Where we have thought of it or not, all heaven was preparing for a grand party. Heaven was on tiptoe, a baby was going to be born, the Savior of the world, and his name would be Jesus.
The fact that God made the announcement to shepherds helps us to understand the real meaning of Christmas:
“God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” and He choose to announce His birth first of all to the shepherds.
Shepherds were on the opposite ends of the social strata from King Herod and all the influential people of that day. They lived in the fields with their animals. They had no social status, they had no respect, they had no power or prestige. Yet, God’s angel came to them and said, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ, the Lord.”
Unto the shepherds a Savior was born.
In that one simple announcement the dimensions of God’s great love was revealed to us. It was love divine!
First of all, it tells us, “No matter how insignificant you may think you are, God knows you, & you are important.
All through the scripture we see God honoring and using people and things that the world often overlooks or ignores.
The Apostle Paul writes, “Brothers think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth, But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things....” I Cor. 1:26-28a
A Jewish youth was sold into slavery by his brothers & carted off to Egypt. Yet, when God wanted to deliver a very special message to the might Pharaoh, it was the
slave, Joseph, who was brought out of the dungeon to interpret the message. It was a young slave that God elevated to the highest position in Egypt’s Govt., next to Pharaoh, to save God’s chosen people, the Israelites.
So when God decided to select a mother for His Son, He went past the fashion saloons & beauty parlors. He went past the furs and diamonds & gold. He went to an insignificant village called Nazareth. There he found a peasant girl. A girl who did not dress in designer clothes, neither was she educated. The one thing that she did have was a pure heart and a deep faith. It was she that God selected to become the mother of His son Jesus.
On a beautiful sunny day, 5000 men plus women and children, somewhere in the neighborhood of 13,000 to 15,000 people sat and lounged on a hillside as they listened to this same Jesus speak. Suddenly, it was late. There was no food and the people were hungry. Well, that is not totally accurate. There was one little boy whose mom had thought ahead and had prepared him a lunch of 2 little fishes and 5 small loaves.
But, it was enough, because Jesus took that small amount & fed the many. He is always doing that, isn’t he?
So when Christ comes, He is not born in Mt. Sinai Hospital in Jerusalem surrounded by gynecologists, nurses and assistants. But rather , He is born in a stable. He is wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. When God made His announcement, It is delivered to shepherds. It is like Jesus saying in the Sermon on the Mount, “If God cares about sparrows and lilies, then He cares about you.
Little children need to hear that, adolescents who are struggling for identity and purpose need to hear that. Mothers trying to raise children without a father to help need to hear that. Husbands who have lost their wives in death need to hear that. Church people who feel useless and empty need to hear that. We all need to hear that. All of us have known feelings of rejection. All of us have known feeling of being left out. But Christmas comes and the light shines, & God says, “No you’re wrong. I made the announcement to lowly shepherds and I make it to you, “Unto you, listen where ever and whoever you are, unto you a Savior is born.” And He came in LOVE.
I imagine these shepherds must have set around the campfire many times and wondered if life was really worthwhile or not. They may have said, “What difference does it make if we watch the sheep?”
We may wonder too, “what difference does it make whether I get out of the bed in the morning or not? It seems to me that my life is and endless cycle of things that don’t mean anything.”
Well it does to Jesus, it matters enough to give his life’s blood on the Cross for you. No matter how insignificant any of us think that we are, remember, Jesus died that we might live. To Him Everybody counts!
Some years ago, a cartoon appeared in newspapers across the nation. It pictured two farmers, in a very primitive setting, talking across a rail fence. One asked the other, “Anything exciting happen today?” “Nah, nothing exciting,” said the other, “nothing but a baby born over at Tom Lincoln’s house, you know nothing exciting ever happens around here.”
But that baby, Abe Lincoln, born in the house of Tom Lincoln one day became president of the United States and changed the course of history and liberated the slaves. One life can make a difference.
Could it not have been on that night in the City of Bethlehem, someone asked, “Well, what exciting thing happened today?” And someone replied, “Nothing exciting ever happens around here, except a peasant girl gave birth to a child in one of the stables.” Terri sings about that in her song, “There’s a new kid in town”.
Listen, Beloved, because of the first advent there will be second advent. There was some discussion about this in our Wednesday night Bible study. Jesus is coming again. There are three different viewpoints for the time of His coming. The first is before the tribulation, the second is mid tribulation and the third is after the tribulation. The Nazarene Church does not take a stand on either of these. Because we just don’t know.
Sometimes when life seems just to heavy I pray, Lord, why don’t you come today? Why don’t you come and take us all home, out of our misery and pain. There will be no death, no more sad goodbyes. Then we will say, It was worth it all, it was worth it.
There is a beautiful song: that says,
“Love divine, all love excelling,
Joy of heav’n to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling,
All thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus thou art all compassion,
Pure, unbounded love thou art;
Visit us with thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.
Jesus is God’s love, and we are talking about Love this morning, Jesus is God’s love come down to dwell among us. We celebrate His birth and the great love that He brought to us. The Love of Jesus that compelled Him to the Cross.
Through His shed blood we now have life and life more abundantly. So in our celebration of the Christmas season let us see beyond the glamour and excitement of the Season to Jesus Christ who grew to manhood, taking upon Himself the sins of the whole world, died offering us forgiveness, salvation and peace Do you know Him today, Is He your savior? If not, will you come and give your heart to Him?
