Good News for The Outcasts
Jeffery Anselmi / General
Characters of Christmas / Birth of Jesus; Shepherds at Birth of Christ / Luke 2:8–20
INTRODUCTION
• Do you remember when you had a child, or when you got married or graduated from High School or College?
• What do we usually do when a significant event happens in our life or some great milestone?
• When we have some good news to share, we usually share it through and with the people we love.
• With the advent of social media, that has changed.
• If we do not put it on Facebook, it did not happen.
• Today, we will look at an interesting group with whom God shared are the Good News uniquely.
• God is going to share the Good News of the birth of Jesus through a group of men who, at the time, were social outcasts.
• Who are the social outcasts of today?
• Are there groups of people or people in your life with whom you would not share the Good News of Jesus Christ?
• Who are the outcasts you would walk to the other side of the street to avoid?
• God will choose a group of social outcasts to announce the birth of His Son into the world!
• The Jews living during the time of Jesus would have seen God's choosing the shepherds as unusual.
• Though Scripture is filled with numerous examples of the noble image of the shepherd—even God himself is depicted as a shepherd and Israel as his flock—over time, the cultural image of the shepherd changed for the Jews.
• By the time Jesus entered the world, the Jews did not have a high opinion of shepherds.
• It was quite the opposite.
• But that's what we learn from these characters of the Christmas story: that God's good news is for everyone: kings and shepherds alike.
• And by announcing the birth of Jesus first to the shepherds, God shows that everyone in society can play a pivotal role in helping to build his kingdom.
• The Big Idea for the message today is: God uses outcasts to announce Jesus's birth.
• We need to realize that the Good News of the Gospel is not just for those of us in the United States of a specific socio-economic class or race; the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus is meant for everyone, and we have to be ready; to share it with anyone!
• Let's turn to Luke 2; we will start with verses 8-11.
Luke 2:8–11 (CSB)
8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
SERMON
I. God entrusted His important announcement to outcasts.
• So the question one might ask is, Why Shepherds?
• Why not the religious leaders of the time?
• Why not the government officials?
• Why not the wealthy and connected?
• Luke moved to the fields nearby, outside the village from the dirty manger.
• It was night. Shepherds were there, keeping watch over their flocks.
• Among the occupations, shepherding had a lowly place.
• They were outcasts, not allowed in the city, and not trusted by the general public, for often, they were thieves.
• Luke gave this story about the shepherds for a reason.
• The most significant event in human history had just happened!
• The Messiah who would save the world had been born!
• The Jews waited for this moment for generations, yet who did God use to make the announcement?
• Jesus would come, not to the proud and powerful, but to the outcasts, the humble, those considered "last" on the social lists.
• God brought the first news of his Son's arrival to these men.
• The shepherd was not viewed favorably in Jesus' day.
• The religious authorities despised them.
• The religious authorities of the temple had such a strongly negative view of the shepherd that they kept them from participating in the religious ceremonies in Jerusalem (Craig Keener, IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament [Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014], 185)!
• Think about that: we're told that the first people to whom God announced the birth of the Messiah were those who could not enter the temple and worship God!
• The Mishnah (a transcription of Jewish oral tradition, authoritative for Jewish life) includes some unkind passages about shepherds.
• It says shepherds are incompetent and that if a shepherd falls into a pit, no one should feel obligated to rescue him (Randy Alcorn, "Shepherd Status," in Come Thou Long Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas, ed. Nancy Guthrie [Wheaton, IL: Good News Publisher, 2008], 87)!
• Imagine being a shepherd in a society where the religious leaders taught that if you were trapped and needed help, no one need feel obligated to help you.
• Pretend you are headed somewhere, and your tire blows out, and you find yourself stuck on the side of the road.
• But you know no one is going to help you because the leaders of your country have taught everyone that it's perfectly fine for them to pass right by someone like you.
• That was the social standing of the shepherds when the angels announced to them the birth of the Messiah.
• Indeed, the birth of Jesus is good news for all people: the young, the old, the rich, the poor, and the social outcasts.
• When we see that God used a poor family like Joseph and Mary to be the parents of His Son and now He uses the socially outcasts shepherd to announce the birth to the world, we should learn something from those choices.
• The Gospel is meant for all!
• Rich, poor, black, white, all people!
• If the Jewish leaders or even the everyday Jews were asked by God who shall be chosen to make the announcement, NO ONE would have picked the smelly, outcast shepherds!
• But God did!
• Who are your shepherds, the people you would not choose to share the Good News with?
• Let's drop down to verses 15-19
Luke 2:15–19 (CSB)
15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."
16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. 17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.
II. The outcasts did not let God down.
• As soon as the Angels left, the shepherds took to their mission!
• I see a sense of urgency with the shepherds.
• These men could have said, wow, that was cool, ok, now back to it!
• They could have had the experience and then returned to life as usual.
• It does not appear as though the angel commanded the shepherds to go to Bethlehem, but rather these shepherds wanted to see what was happening for themselves.
• After the angel left, the shepherds left their flocks to the care of God and made a beeline to Bethlehem. The original text indicates they wasted NO time in going!
• As a matter of fact, they kept repeating to each other the need to go see this child with their own eyes.
• The enthusiasm which the shepherds possessed is something akin to what we feel when we come in contact with Jesus!
• They wasted no time going to Bethlehem!
• These men with little education did not sit and argue about the message; they simply received it and went to check it out.
• I wonder if the shepherds wasted no time because they felt honored to receive a message from God.
• Sometimes, I wonder if we take our salvation for granted?
• Have we lost the sense of urgency? Have we lost the joy and excitement of being saved by the blood of Jesus?
• Do we count it a privilege to be saved, or do we think we deserve it?
• I wonder if God had made the announcement to the religious leaders how long they would have discussed, dissected, and fought over the meaning, the words, and the attire the messenger wore.
• Jesus would have been crucified before the religious leaders would have done the task.
• These lowly shepherds did not know much, but they shared what they knew.
• We can learn a lesson from this; you may not know everything about Jesus but share what you know.
• These simple shepherds were willing to tell others what they knew. We, too, can do the same thing.
• Too many of us feel we do not know enough about Jesus to tell others about Him. That is so untrue; you knew enough to give your life to Him.
• I would encourage you to take the time to learn more, but do not wait for your Ph.D. before you start telling others about Jesus!
• The crowd could be summed up with one word, AMAZED. The crowd was amazed at what the Shepherds said, at the message they shared with all who would listen.
• Can you imagine being a part of the crowd, most likely those who were staying at the inn? These simple shepherds who came with a message and the integrity of the message lying right before them!
• These men were willing to face ridicule over their story possibly. Yet, they were so sure of the truth of the message they were willing to risk embarrassment and humiliation!
• One of the reasons we share the message is to help bring encouragement to others. So many people live in a dark world; they need the hope that Jesus brings to them.
• For Mary, this was yet another God shot!
• Mary treasured the shepherds' words in her heart, and she meditated on them!
• When you have drive, passion and are thankful for what God has done for you and what He has given you, you too will joyfully share the Good News!
• You can and will change lives!
• Let's finish with verse 20.
Luke 2:20 (CSB)
20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.
III. Outcasts are not outcasts to God.
• Those who we think are outcasts are not outcasts to God.
• If you have ever felt like an outcast, it is not a joyful or pleasant feeling.
• God took these outcasts and gave them a new purpose for life.
• The shepherds lived a life with not much joy; they were outcasts by society.
• People did not look at shepherds and tell their children to aspire to become a shepherd.
• Nevertheless, these shepherds did something else that is easy to overlook; they RETURNED to their world.
• These men went back to their ordinary lives after witnessing an extraordinary event.
• They returned to their lives with joy! They praised and glorified God. How long do you think they did that for?
• I suspect for a lifetime.
• When we encounter Jesus, we are called to live life glorifies and praises God.
• Our life is called to point others to Jesus!
CONCLUSION
• The angels described the birth of Jesus as good news of great joy, and Luke's Gospel, in particular, shows that Christ came to redeem people from all levels of society from the very beginning.
• This is the good news of Christmas: that no matter what season of life you find yourself in, you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God loves you and that He delights in you.
• Whether you're in your twilight years or are young and unsure of the future, God still can and will use you for eternal purposes.
› Our motivational point from today is: the birth of Jesus shows that everyone has an important role to play in the kingdom of God.
• Our new drive in life for you today is what role will you play in the Kingdom of God?
• The story of Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds proves to us that we are without excuse; we must play a part in the Kingdom of God!
• Christmas is about gifts; it is about giving the greatest gift of all, salvation through Jesus.
• Once again, I ask, what part are you playing in God's Kingdom?
