SEEKING A SAVIOR - Shepherds Seek a Lamb
December 2, 2018
Luke 2:8-20 (p. 716)
Introduction:
Routers reported that a 12 year old boy scout named Michael Aubrey from McGrady North Carolina went missing in the wilderness for 4 days…
He wandered away from his campsite because he was homesick and he planned on hitchhiking home.
Michael got lost and slept in tree branches, drank river water and prayed he wouldn’t get sick.
After 4 days a German Shepherd search dog named Gandolf came upon Michael’s scent…eventually tracking him about a mile and a half northeast of the campsite.
When they found Michael, Misha Marshall said, “He was a little disoriented and dehydrated, but he’s great.”
Michael’s first words on being found were…“I’m hungry…can I ride the helicopter out?”
Kent Aubrey, Michael’s dad said, “It’s a tremendous blessing to have him back safe…and we’re going to have that lecture about hitchhiking again.”
Lost sons need rescue…Wayward sheep need a shepherd who will search for them…even if it's a German shepherd named Gandolf.
Isaiah the prophet writes: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.” (Isaiah 53:6)
All!!! It’s universal. There has never been a person who has not taken their own path and gotten lost.
Adam and Eve stood at the foot of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they chose to take their own path and eat from its forbidden fruit. The serpent had laid out a different path…“You can be like God.” And they stepped off the path.
King David stood on the roof of his palace gazing at a beautiful woman bathing. He sent someone to find out who she was…Uriah’s wife was the answer. He could have walked away…He could have taken a different path…but he stepped away from God’s way…committed adultery and then tried to cover an unwanted pregnancy with murder.
Proverbs 14:12 says “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
It is no coincidence that God announces the birth of His son first to shepherds.
We all know the Christmas story…Mary, a virgin has become pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. She is engaged to a carpenter named Joseph…who when he finds out she’s pregnant seek a separation from Mary…but he’s a good man and wants to do it privately…but after an angelic visit in a dream he recommits to the marriage.
During this time, the Caesar of Rome issues an order…everyone should go to the town of their birth and register to pay taxes…Joseph is from Bethlehem…so he and his pregnant fiancé head there…a 90 mile journey…when they get there, there is no place to stay…and Mary goes into labor…she gives birth to Jesus in an animal shed…and his first crib is a manger.
And then we read…“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night.”
Sounds like a weird transition doesn’t it? From the humble birth of the Messiah to the pastures way outside town…it’s not if you consider God’s plan all along.
I. THE GOSPEL IS GOOD NEWS FOR ALL
Shepherds weren’t considered very high on the social scale…somewhat like the garbage men of society.
These men slept in the dirt and in caves near their sheep. They were actually unclean. They helped sheep give birth, and they buried the dead. They worked on the Sabbath as well as every other day…they could not follow the orthodox rules. Shepherds were viewed as a necessary part of society…but not one their fellow Jews wanted much to do with.
But God loves shepherds…Moses, David, Abraham, the most beautiful psalm we have is about a Shepherd and His sheep.
I believe God chose to reveal the “Good News” to shepherds first for two primary reasons…
One, God always seems to choose people no one else would choose!
Listen to 1 CORINTHIANS 1:27-29 (p. 793)
It’s never about how smart, good looking, charismatic, or popular the messenger is…It’s always about God and His message!
LUKE 2:9-11 (p. 716)
God’s angelic host invades the darkness of night in some pastures outside Bethlehem…His audience is some shepherds…and as anyone would be…they are terrified…
Can you imagine a more obscure place or more obscure people for God to publish the birth announcement for his Son?
And the second reason I believe God chose this setting and this people, shepherds, is
Two, “Because His Son was a Lamb destined for sacrifice.”
“I bring you good news the angel says. It will cause great joy for all the people. Today…in the city of David a Savior has been born to you…He is the Messiah…the Lord.”
The promise of a Savior…a Messiah, goes back to Adam and Eve…God tells the serpent…“He will crush your head…woman, he will bruise your heal.”
God would require the blood of many lambs to be sacrificed through the years…sin and it’s punishment would only be postponed through the shedding of the blood of these lambs the writer to these Hebrews said,
HEBREWS 10:1-4 (p. 842)
Many of these lambs being watched by those shepherds this night were destined for sacrifice. But none of those removed our sin…it just postponed the punishment…Their blood didn’t take away sin.
The Savior, Jesus…The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world said,
HEBREWS 10:5-10 (p. 842)
The Apostle Peter would look back at this sacrifice and say, “It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world.” (1 Peter 1:18-20)
Good news…for all people…God has delivered on His plan…A Savior to die for your sins…A Messiah to rescue and redeem you…He is the Lord…
And you’ll find him, lying in an animal feed trough…wrapped in old clothes.
He chose us…God became one of us to die for all of us…??It’s so amazing, the heavenly host breaks out in worship.
LUKE 2:13-14 (p. 716)
God in the highest heaven, sent the Prince of Peace to earth…Why? He loves us…His favor…His blessings rest on us.
What does that mean? The God of all creation chose US!!!
This is the message of Christmas
II. A MESSAGE THAT MUST BE SHARED
LUKE 2:15-20 (p. 716)
So the shepherds hurry to Bethlehem and they find just what the Lord has told them about.
Their focus is on Jesus…“When they had seen him they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.”
What had been told them…“He’s the Savior, He’s the Messiah, He’s the Lord.”
Mary treasures the memories in her heart…
But the shepherds are testifying…they are sharing the “Good News.”
They are praising and glorifying God as they return home from all they’ve seen and heard.
God’s plan for sharing the gospel…the good news about Jesus. His birth, His life, His death and His resurrection…is dependent on us…those who have seen and heard the Savior.
After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension back into heaven…with the promise to return…He told his followers… “You will be my witnesses.” GO INTO ALL THE WORLD AND MAKE DISCIPLES.”
Dr. Phillip Thrankill writes:
When Jesus ascended to heaven after his mission on earth, the angels asked him, “Did you accomplish your task?”
“Yes. All is finished.”
“We have a second question,” said the angels. “Has the whole world heard of you?”
“No,” he said, “not yet.”
“Then what is your plan?”
Jesus said, “I have left 12 men and some other followers to carry the message to the whole world.”
The angels looked at one another, down onto the earth, then back at him. “What is your Plan B?”
Friends, there is no Plan B. The church as a community of worship and witness, the church in all its various local manifestations is the God-ordained means for drawing people to Jesus Christ and into the force field of the kingdom of God.
We are a missions outpost and a training center where a divine transformation process takes people as we find them and by the alchemy of God’s grace transforms them into credible witnesses to the power of Jesus Christ. We are not a waiting room for heaven; we are not a religious club; we are not the last bastion of decency and values; we are not the society for the preservation of the way things used to be; we are not a memorial club for a dead hero; we are not a place to hide from the big, bad world - we are agents of a foreign government bent on winning this rebellious world back to its rightful ruler. We are agents of the kingdom of God, dropped behind enemy lines to announce, “The King is coming. Jesus is this world’s rightful ruler. Are you ready to receive King Jesus?” There is no Plan B. Jesus Christ has put all his eggs in one basket, and the label on that basket is church.
It’s almost unimaginable to think of the shepherds hearing from God, witnessing the birth of Jesus…and then quietly slinking home without a word.
But please let me ask you…Can you name a real person that you’ve shared the love of Jesus with this year…
Because it’s even more remarkable for us on the other side of the cross and the saving grace of His love to remain silent about it…
How will the world hear the gospel…Plan A…Through you and I…
By the way…there is no Plan B.
