Birthdays. Everybody has them.
Some miscount them – me for example. Last year I was telling people I was 77, but Marlene and Keri convinced me that, until December 24, I was only 76.
Some make sure others remember their birthday.
Some people have two birthdays: one at the time they leave the womb and one at baptism. Hey! Even Pinocchio had a birthday. The wizard of Id and his wife are talking to him and she asked, "How old are you?" Pinocchio said, "I don't know." Wiz said, "He's twelve." Wife asked, "How do you know that?" Wiz replied, "I counted the rings."
Age may be counted in years, quantitatively or in terms of accomplishment, qualitatively. But usually birthdays are counted in terms of years lived.
There is a significant Birthday which all the world should recognize and celebrate, that of Jesus Christ, Son of Mary, Son of God. TODAY WE ARE CONSIDERING THE BIRTHDAY OF THE KING; LET’S HEAR LUKE’S ANNOUNCEMENT OF THAT BIRTH.
“Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.’ When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, ‘Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.” Luke 2:1-20 (NASB).
Normally, the one whose birthday it is, gets the gifts. Just the opposite with Jesus on the day of His birth He gave the gifts! And some of those gifts we remember as we celebrate The Birthday Of The King. Norm sang,
Humble birthplace
But O How much God gave to us that day!
From the manger bed what a path has led
What a perfect holy way.
Alleluia, O how the angels sang!
Alleluia, How it rang!
And the sky was bright
With a Holy light
'Twas the birthday of a King
Look back the text to see what He gave and still gives:
I. HE GIVES THE GIFT OF COMFORT:
A. “Do not be afraid,” said the angel.
1. The word afraid is the one from which we get phobic.
2. A phobia is an unreasoning, paralyzing panic fear.
B. The angelic assurance did not contradict the command to “fear God,” it was consolation from needless fear.
1. The fear the angels mentioned was a mind numbing, heart pounding, breath taking fear.
2. Fear of God is wholesome reverence, respect, honor, and awe.
C. Don’t cringe in cowardly timidity, but do stand in awe and Godly fear of Him to whom fear is due. In all reality, if we saw what the shepherds saw, we’d have the bejeebers scared out of us.
1. Manoah, Samson’s father did after he realized it was an angel who announced the future birth of Samson. We read, “So Manoah said to his wife, ‘We will surely die, for we have seen God.’” Judges 13:22 (NASB).
2. Isaiah did when he saw the vision of God on His Throne. Then he said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." Isaiah 6:5 (NASB).
D. There are things about which we should be more than afraid:
1. Rebelling against God and disobeying Him..
2. Minimizing or indulging sin.
3. Doubting God’s power, wisdom and love.
4. Forsaking and forgetting God and His grace.
E. In the midst of all our worst fears, He says, “Fear not!” It’s like a small girl waking from a nightmare. She dreamed about a gnarly old witch with talons for hands, reaching through the window to snag her. She runs, terrified to her parents’ bed where she is embraced and comforted and shown that the talons were branches on a tree outside which brushed the window pane when the breeze blew. That comforted her and calmed her fears.
Jesus gives the gift of comfort and
II. HE GIVES THE GIFT OF GOOD NEWS:
A. “The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’”
1. Everybody loves good news. The word for “good news” is otherwise translated as “Gospel” or evangelism.
2. This was truly Good news.
B. Check it out:
1. It is good news of great joy – not just joy but literally Mega-joy!
2. It is good news for all the people – red, yellow, black, white; old, young; rich, poor, learned and ignorant, innocent and jaded. You and me!
3. It is good news about the Savior – Christ the Lord.
C. Good news is not only pleasant it is healing:
1. “Like cold water to a weary soul, So is good news from a distant land.” Proverbs 25:25 (NASB).
2. “Bright eyes gladden the heart; Good news puts fat on the bones.” Proverbs 15 :30 (NASB). Judging by my midriff I must have had a ton of good news.
3. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, [the good news], for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16 (NASB).
D. The good news is that there is good news.
1. No matter how bad things get, we win.
2. No matter who opposes Christ and His church, we win.
3. No matter if they outlaw the Bible, remove “In God We Trust” from currency, pull down all the crosses, take the phrase. “One nation under God” out of the pledge, and ban the 10 Commandments, and forbid saying, “Merry Christmas!” the good news is that we win!
4. Here’s some good news / bad news. The good news is that when Herbie jumped out of the plane, he had a parachute; the bad news is that it failed to open. The good news is that Herbie was right above a huge hay stack; the bad news is there was a pitchfork in the haystack. The good news is that he missed the pitchfork; the bad news is that he also missed the haystack.
5. With Jesus the good news is that we get Heaven; the bad news is that without Him we get hell.
E. The good news is that “We win because we have a Savior.” When you have the all time, undefeated, unequaled, unmatched, undisputed Champion of the Universe on your side, you win! That’s GOOD NEWS! We recently received some good news of our own! Our new Great Granddaughter, Everleigh Ann Hussey, was born to Alisha and Chris. Alisha is Dean and Keri’s daughter. Eight Pounds and two ounces of pure good news! She was born on Dean and Keri’s 32nd anniversary. Keri became a wife, Dean a husband and both became grandparents on the same date – 32 years apart.
Jesus gives the gift of good news and
III. HE GIVES THE GIFT OF PEACE:
A. The angel said, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
1. Some say, “Where’s the peace?”
2. Quote the song I heard the bells:
And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men
Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor does He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.
3. But this peace is a “qualified peace” for those with whom God is pleased.
B. Who pleases Him?
1. People of faith because “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 (NASB).
2. People who walk by God’s Spirit: “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:6-8 (NASB).
3. People who live in harmony with those who see things differently than we do. Paul wrote, respecting dietary opinions, “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” Romans 14:17-19 (NASB).
4. People who live upright lives, “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” Colossians 1:9-12 (NASB).
C. So, if we please God, we can expect peace:
1. Solomon wrote, “When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Proverbs 16:7 (NASB). Not necessarily God’s enemies but our enemies.
2. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” John 14:27 (NASB).
3. Paul wrote, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-2 (NASB).
D. God bestows peace so that we might have peace and live in peace with others. You might say, “I’d be at peace with so and so if he’d apologize.” Paul said, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” Romans 12:18 (NASB).
E. In the movie, “Home Alone,” Kevin is a second grade boy whose parents flew off on Christmas vacation inadvertently leaving him home alone. A major theme is his battle of wits with two really inept burglars. But what I want to share is his sitting in a church listening to choir practice when his neighbor, Mr. Marley, comes to sit with him. The conversation flows around to family and Mr. Marley reveals that he and his son have been estranged for years. Kevin urges him to phone his son; he fears doing so because of anticipated rejection. But he makes the call and in the final scene, he is hugging his granddaughter and is reconciled to his son. God is in the reconciliation business: reconciling us to Him and us to others. He wants peace between all of us. We cannot fully enjoy peace with God or the Peace of God if there is hostility and alienation from someone we ought to love. Come to God’s peace, then go make peace with someone else.
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The Father sent His Son to banish our fear and replace it with Divine Comfort; Jesus gave us the gifts of comfort, good news and peace. Some will leave those gifts under the tree but others have and will gladly receive Him as did the shepherds. He gave His life, a gift for each of us, let us give ours to Him.
