[“The News” video]
We live in a world where there is certainly no shortage of news. We have ABC News, NBC News, CBS News and all their local affiliates. We have the Cable News Network and Fox News. We have the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the Arizona Daily Star. And then on top of that almost all those news organizations have their own websites where we can get the news right up to the minute 24 hours a day.
And while all of those news outlets are unique in some ways, they tend to share pretty much all the same news stories. And as the video we just saw shows, most of that news is not good news.
Over 2,000 years ago, none of those news organizations even existed. There was no TV, no radio, no internet, no newspapers. But in Palestine the news of the day, even though it was communicated much differently than today, was really not much better, especially for the people who belonged to the commonwealth of Israel. They had no country of their own. They lived under the harsh rule of the Roman Empire who was openly hostile to them and their religion. And Judea, in particular was ruled by a tyrannical client king named Herod who had been given the title “King of Judea” by the Roman Senate.
Although Herod generally supported traditional Jewish laws, he had angered the Jews with acts like replacing the high priests with men of his own choosing, combining pagan forms of worship with traditional Jewish worship practices and exacting confiscatory taxes in order to support his lavish lifestyle. So living as a Jew under those circumstances was no easy task.
It was into that world that God chose to bring good news – lasting good news that is still good news for us over 2,000 years later. And when He did that, He announced that good news in a completely unexpected manner. He didn’t go to the religious leaders or to the political leaders or to the rich and famous. He chose instead to make His announcement to some lowly shepherds as they tended to their flocks. Here is how Luke records that event in his gospel account:
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
(Luke 2:8-11 ESV)
Certainly we can all use some good news, so for the next three weeks leading up to Christmas I’m really excited that we’re going to be able to take some time to focus on various aspects of the good news of Christmas. As I was reading through the accounts of Jesus’ birth in the Scriptures a few months ago when I was planning this sermon series, I was struck by the fact that there are several themes of good news that seem to be woven throughout those birth narratives. So rather than just focusing on a specific passage each week, we’re going to step back and take a broader look at those themes.
This morning we’ll begin with the first aspect of the good news – one that was quite evident in the passage we just read. I’m going to enlist your help in identifying that theme. What were the first words the angel spoke to the shepherds? [Wait for answers. That’s right – “Fear not…”
That was certainly an appropriate message to those shepherds wasn’t it? Can you imagine what was going through their minds that night? They were just tending their sheep like they did every other night when an angel of the Lord appears to them. As we’re going to see this morning, that wasn’t the first time an angel had appeared to someone in connection with the birth of Jesus. And the appearance of angels in relation to His incarnation is certainly significant. There had been no accounts of anyone seeing an angel for over 500 years and now all of a sudden there are multiple accounts of angels appearing on the scene to proclaim the birth of the Messiah.
Although we are not told specifically, it seems likely that this is another appearance of the angel Gabriel, who had appeared previously to Zechariah and Mary. And all of a sudden, here he is with these shepherds. The word that the ESV translates “appeared” in verse 9 literally means “to stand near”. So here these shepherds are, tending to their flocks when out of nowhere there is an angel standing near them. I don’t know about you, but I would sure be scared in that situation.
But not only does this angel appear to the shepherds, he is accompanied by the glory of God coming down with him. This is no small event. These lowly shepherds are in the presence of the glory of the Almighty God of the universe. And we know from what we see in the Bible that the glory of God is always terrifying.
When Isaiah saw God in a vision he was certainly terrified and he cried out “Woe is me…I am lost.” When Ezekiel had a vision of God in Ezekiel 1, he fell on his face. When John saw the resurrected Jesus in Revelation 1, he fell at His feet as if he was dead. Even the veiled glory of God caused people to melt in fear. So I can only imagine how frightened these shepherds must have been.
Before we take a look at the good news of “fear not” in the birth narratives, let’s take a moment to think about why that is such welcome good news for us. In our culture, there are certainly valid reasons to fear.
• People are struggling financially. Even though the official unemployment numbers are down, we still have one of the lowest labor participation rates in our history, many people can only find part-time work and wages are stagnant.
• We face external enemies who are part of a religion that advocates the absolute destruction of all who do not hold to their faith.
• Internally we are being destroyed morally from within as our culture embraces lifestyles and behaviors that the Bible clearly defines as sin. No nation in history has ever survived that kind of rebellion against God in the long run.
• Our culture is increasingly hostile to followers of Jesus and those who hold firm to Biblical principles.
I’ve only hit a few of the highlights here. It wouldn’t be hard to spend our entire time this morning focusing on all the reasons we have to be afraid. But I’d rather use the time we have to focus instead on the good news that Christmas means we can fear not.
We began this morning looking at the angel’s message to the shepherds. He admonished them to fear not, because of the good news that a Savior had been born. But as I hinted at earlier, this was not the first time that the message to fear not had been proclaimed in relation to the birth of Jesus. Let’s take a look at each of those other instances and see what we can learn about why we can fear not because of Christmas.
The first of those occasions occurred in connection with the birth of John the Baptist when an angel comes to Zechariah:
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
(Luke 1:11-13 ESV)
The next time we see an angel bringing that same message is when Gabriel appears to Mary:
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
(Luke 1:26-30 ESV)
We also know that an angel appeared to Joseph with that same message:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
(Matthew 1:18-21 ESV)
These four events are certainly not the first time God has proclaimed the message to “fear not”. In fact, we first find God saying that to Abram in Genesis 15. We’re going to use the “Connections” time this morning to explore that message as it appears throughout the Old Testament. But in a sense everyone one of those messages to fear not in the Old Testament are looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus. So Christmas is really the beginning of the complete and final fulfillment of the promise by God that we do not need to fear.
There are two important things we need to do with these four passages this morning:
• First, we need to examine them so we can understand why we don’t need to fear.
• Second, we need to determine how we need to live in order to live a life that is free from fear.
WHY WE DON’T NEED TO FEAR
1. God is sovereign
In each of these four instances, the message of the angel reveals that God is in control. He not only knows what is occurring, but He is completely sovereign over each and every event:
• To Zechariah, the angel reveals that God has heard Zechariah’s prayers. Although he and Elizabeth were both advanced in years and still had no children, God was about to intervene in their lives on His schedule and grant their desire to have a child.
• To Mary, Gabriel reveals that God is with her and that she has found favor with God and that He has sovereignly ordained that she is to be the mother of the Messiah.
• To Joseph, the angel reassures him that Mary’s pregnancy is part of God’s plan to bring a savior into the world and that as part of that plan, God wants him to take Mary as his wife and have the privilege of being the earthly father of the Messiah.
• To the angels, God reveals that His plan to bring a savior into the world is now unfolding and that they get to be a part of that great event.
As we’re going to see in a bit, each one of these people were godly people who were seeking God. Every one of them lived in expectation of the coming of the Messiah. But God carried out that plan in a way that was completely unexpected for each of them. So God reassures them, through the messages of the angels, that this is indeed God’s sovereign plan and that He has chosen them to play an important role in that plan.
Whatever you may be experiencing in your life right now, you can be assured that God is not surprised at what is going on. He isn’t caught off guard. Because He is completely sovereign, He is completely control of your situation.
• If you’re experiencing financial problems, God knows what you’re going through and He is in control
• If you’re experiencing relationship problems, God knows what you’re going through and He is on control
• If you’re experiencing cancer or other health issues God knows what you’re going through and He is in control
• If you’re experiencing problems in your job God knows what you’re going through and He is in control.
While we might not be able to see it right now, God has a purpose in whatever difficulties we might be facing. And we can be assured that because God is sovereign, those trials are part of God’s plan, not just for us personally, but also part of God’s larger plan for all of His creation. And because we can be assured that God is sovereign, then there is certainly no reason to fear because God knows what He is doing.
2. God is gracious
Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and the shepherds all experienced the operation of God’s grace in their lives. While they were all godly people who were seeking God, there was nothing in their lives that merited God including them in His plan to bring a savior into the world. Each of them played a significant role in that plan only because of the operation of God’s grace in their lives.
Far too many people, even Christians, live in constant fear because they don’t understand the nature of God. While it is true that God is holy, righteous and just and that He must therefore judge sin, He is not, as many would portray Him, a God who delights in doing that. As Peter tells us, God is patient with us because He desires that everyone would repent and therefore avoid His judgment:
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
(2 Peter 3:9 ESV)
Christmas is good news because it is the embodiment of God’s grace toward us. As God carried out His sovereign plan that had been in place even before the creation by having His Son come to earth and be born as a baby, He extended to His grace to all people. That’s why the angel could proclaim to the shepherds that he was brining “good news of great joy that will be for all the people”.
Unfortunately, however, not all choose to embrace the grace that God offers. And without the operation of His grace in our lives, it is impossible to “fear not”. So if you constantly live in fear, then it is quite likely that you have never really fully embraced the grace of God by placing your faith in Jesus alone. If that’s the case, then God is offering you the best Christmas gift ever right now – the gift of His grace and a corresponding life that can be lived free from fear. And at the close of the message today, we’re going to give you a chance to accept that gift.
We don’t need to live in fear because God is sovereign and God is gracious. But we need to incorporate those aspects of God into our lives on a daily basis in order to live a life free from fear. Fortunately the examples of Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and the angels demonstrate…
HOW TO LIVE A LIFE FREE FROM FEAR
1. Seek God
In the case of Zechariah, the Bible reveals explicitly that he was seeking after God. We know he had been praying because the angel revealed that God had heard his prayers. Luke also reveals that he and Elizabeth were righteous before God and walked blamelessly. That obviously doesn’t mean they were perfect, but it does indicate they had a heart that desired to live a life that was pleasing to God. We also know that Zechariah was serving God in the Temple.
In the case of Mary, Joseph and the shepherds, their seeking after God is not quite as explicitly revealed in the Scriptures, but it is certainly implied in the way they respond to God. In fact, it seems pretty clear that the reason God choose to involve each of them in his plan for a savior is that they were the kind of people who were constantly seeking Him. That is certainly evidenced by their reaction to God’s revelation in their lives.
Although Mary is skeptical at first, once all is revealed by Gabriel, her response is, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
Likewise, Joseph immediately did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him to do and he took Mary as his wife and remained celibate until after the birth of Jesus.
And as soon as the angel finished his message to the shepherds, they immediately went to see the baby Jesus and then they worshipped God for what they had just experienced.
The reaction of these four to the birth of Jesus was in stark contrast to those who were not seeking God. In particular, I have always been amazed at the reaction of the religious leaders in Jerusalem. When the magi come asking them about the birth of the Messiah, they immediately quote the Scriptures that predict his birth, but then apparently they do nothing in response. We find no record that they sought to find Jesus so they could worship Him. I’m convinced that is because they weren’t genuinely seeking God.
And certainly Herod wasn’t seeking God either. All he cared about was his own power. So when hears that a new “king of the Jews” has been born, Matthew records that he was “troubled, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matthew 2:3).
It seems that because the religious leaders and Herod weren’t seeking God they experienced fear in their life – primarily the fear of losing their own power.
So if I want to live a life that is free from fear, I must constantly be seeking after God. I do that primarily through His Word, where He reveals Himself to me. But I can also seek God, like Zechariah, through prayer. One of the other important ways we week God is by gathering together with other believers in corporate worship, just as we are doing this morning.
2. Be humble
When God put into action His plan to bring a savior into the world, He didn’t choose to use the people we would expect.
He didn’t choose the high priest to be the father of John the Baptist, who would prepare the way for Jesus. Instead, He chose an old couple who just served Him faithfully.
He didn’t pick earthy parents who were rich or famous or powerful. He chose instead a young teenage girl and a carpenter.
He didn’t announce the birth to kings or religious leaders. Instead, He chose some lowly shepherds.
And what we find with each of these people is that they were very humble. They just served God the very best they knew how with no expectation whatsoever that somehow God owed them for that service. They didn’t believe that they were somehow entitled to the place of responsibility God entrusted to each of them. In fact, they seem quite surprised that God would choose to make them such an important part of His plan.
Humble people are able to live lives that are free from fear because they are willing to trust completely in God, never feeling like God owes them something for being faithful to Him. They are willing to yield their own desires and wishes to those of God and therefore learn to be content in spite of the circumstances.
On the other hand, the proud and the arrogant tend to have many fears. They may not always show that on the outside, but on the inside they tend to always be afraid that they aren’t going to measure up – to their own expectations, to the expectations of others, and certainly not to God’s standards.
But the good news of Christmas is that we don’t have to measure up to those things on our own. If we are willing to humble ourselves and submit our lives to Jesus as our Lord, our master, then God considers us to be righteous based on what His Son, Jesus, did for us on the cross. And knowing that does away with so many of our fears.
3. Join in where God is already at work
This probably sounds familiar to any of you who are familiar with Henry Blackaby’s “Experiencing God” study. And the four examples we’ve looked at this morning certainly confirm that this is a Biblical approach.
Neither Zechariah, nor Mary, nor Joseph, nor the angels thought to themselves, “I think that I’ll devise a plan for God to bring a savior into the world and then I’ll decide how to carry that plan out and what part I’m going to play in that process and then I’ll ask God to bless my plan” I think we would all agree that would have been pretty absurd, right?
While all of them were seeking God and looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, I don’t think any of them even imagined they were going to play such a significant role in the process of God carrying out His plan. But because they were humble, God was able to use them. As God revealed His plan, or at least a portion of His plan to each of them, Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and the angels just joined in where God was already at work. None of them even knew the plan in whole, but they were just obedient to do their part.
To me, this is how we demonstrate in a tangible way that we believe God is sovereign. When we’re just obedient to join God in what He is already doing by being obedient to what He has revealed to us, we’re in effect saying to God, “I trust you, even though I can’t possibly see how my small part fits into Your grand plans.” And when we live like that, it is possible to live a life free from fear.
Conversely, when we merely develop our own plans and then ask God to bless them, that is a very scary way to live.
Although Christmas is indeed good news, it is not good news for everyone.
For those who are proud and who choose to live their lives on their own terms, Christmas is nothing more than the celebration of a god of their own making. You see, most people don’t have any problem at all with a god who is merely a helpless baby in a manger who can be manipulated and controlled for their own selfish purposes rather than the sovereign God of the universe.
But frankly, those people should live in fear because one day they are going to have to stand before God and give an account of their life. And apart from the grace of God which is accepted through faith in His Son, Jesus, they are going to live a life of fear on earth right now as well as for eternity after they die.
But for those who are willing to humbly seek God and join in where He is already at work, Christmas is indeed good news that means we can live, both now and forever, a life free from fear because God is sovereign and God is gracious.
If you’ve never made that choice then we invite you to do that this morning. In a moment, when we bow our heads and pray I’m going to ask those of you who would like to make Christmas good news by placing your faith in Jesus to raise your hand so that we can rejoice with you in that decision and come alongside you to help you mature in your relationship with Jesus.
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
