Introduction: Luke 2:7
1.The Christmas story is surrounded by greatness:
a)How about the astronomical witness of the star.
b)How about the angelic witness of the heavenly host.
c)How about the earthly parents of the King.
2.How about the role of animals at Jesus’ birth?
a)Animals also play a role in the greatest story ever told.
b)Being dumb, they could not sing of it or talk of it.
c)Nevertheless their role was very important.
2.How about the role animals play in our Christmas?
a)Where would Santa be without reindeer?
b)Where would a nativity scene be without stable animals?
c)How about the abombable snowman?
d)How about the Grinch?
e)Who did the angels appear to first? Shepherds and sheep.
f)How about the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
3.Animals play a giant role in biblical truths.
a)The old Jewish sacrificial system.
b)Jesus is call “The Lamb of God.”
c)How about Jesus in the wilderness before his ministry started.
d)Noah was commanded to gather animals to save
(Mark 1:13 KJV) And he was there in the wilderness forty days,
tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
e)Animals are greatly mentioned in the creation story.
Transitional Sentence:
Therefore, let us look at some lessons we can learn from the animals of Christmas.
[I] The animals of Christmas remind us that God desires service from you.
1. The example of a young donkey as carrier of the King.
(Luke 19:29-38 NKJV) And it came to pass, when He came near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, (30) saying, "Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here.
(31) "And if anyone asks you, ’Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ’Because the Lord has need of it.’" (32) So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. (33) But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?" (34) And they said, "The Lord has need of him." (35) Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. (36) And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road. (37) Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, (38) saying: " ’Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
a)This Donkey was young and inexperienced.
b)The donkey was usable because he was the Lord’s choice not because of the donkey’s ability.
c)God desires service from us not because of ability, but because we are usable by His power and His strength.
d)Brother’s and sisters, our Lord has need of thee will you submit to Him today?
2. The example of Balaam and his donkey:
a) Balak was king of the Moabites. He feared Israel and God.
Balaam was a Mesopotamian prophet. Balak wanted the prophet Balaam to put a curse on God’s people so Balak could defeat them.
(Num 22:7 NKJV) So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. God warned Balaam not to go and curse His people. Balaam went any way. (Numbers 22:23-35)
b)There are several points of interest in this passage.
1.The Donkey recognized God when Balaam did not.
2.The Donkey heeded to God when Balaam did not.
3.Man should have know better than the donkey but man’s greed and pride got in the way.
4.We must ask ourselves, “what is keeping me from obeying the Lord?” “What is hindering my service to the Lord?”
Doug Nichols, Bothell, Washington. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 2.
While serving with Operation Mobilization in India in 1967, tuberculosis forced me into a sanitarium for several months. I did not yet speak the language, but I tried to give Christian literature written in their language to the patients, doctors, and nurses. Everyone politely refused. I sensed many weren't happy about a rich American (to them all Americans are rich) being in a free, government-run sanitarium. (They didn't know I was just as broke as they were!)
The first few nights I woke around 2:00 A.M. coughing. One morning during my coughing spell, I noticed one of the older and sicker patients across the aisle trying to get out of bed. He would sit up on the edge of the bed and try to stand, but in weakness would fall back into bed. I didn't understand what he was trying to do. He finally fell back into bed exhausted. I heard him crying softly.
The next morning I realized what the man had been trying to do. He had been trying to get up and walk to the bathroom! The stench in our ward was awful. Other patients yelled insults at the man. Angry nurses moved him roughly from side to side as they cleaned up the mess. One nurse even slapped him. The old man curled into a ball and wept. The next night I again woke up coughing. I noticed the man across the aisle sit up and again try to stand. Like the night before, he fell back whimpering.
I don't like bad smells, and I didn't want to become involved, but I got out of bed and went over to him. When I touched his shoulder, his eyes opened wide with fear. I smiled, put my arms under him, and picked him up. He was very light due to old age and advanced TB. I carried him to the washroom, which was just a filthy, small room with a hole in the floor. I stood behind him with my arms under his armpits as he took care of himself. After he finished, I picked him up, and carried him back to his bed. As I laid him down, he kissed me on the cheek, smiled, and said something I couldn't understand.
Who can I serve this Christmas? It is through service that people sees Jesu in us.
[II] The animals of Christmas remind us that God desires sacrifice from you.
1.In the Old Covenant animals were sacrificed for sins.
(Heb 9:19-22 NKJV) For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, (20) saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you." (21) Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. (22) And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
To sacrifice is to lay down one’s life for the cause of the other. Jesus is our best example of sacrifice. How often do we lay down our lives for the cause of Christ. Is the abundance of our lives sacrifice when it comes to Christ, Christian living and the church?
In Man in the Mirror, Patrick Morley tells of a group of fishermen who landed in a secluded bay in Alaska and had a great day fishing for salmon. But when they returned to their sea plane, they found it aground because of the fluctuating tides. They waited until the next morning for the tides to comes in, but when they took off, they only got a few feet into the air before crashing back into the sea. Being aground the day before had punctured one of the pontoons, and it had filled up with water.
The sea plane slowly began to sink. The passengers, three men and a 12-year-old son of one of the men, prayed and then jumped into the icy cold waters to swim to shore. The riptide was strong, but two of the men reached the shore exhausted. They looked back, and saw the father with his arms around his son being swept out to sea.
The boy had not been strong enough to make it. The father was a strong swimmer, but he had chosen to die with his son rather than to live without him.
Can you say I would rather die with Christ then live without Him?
2.Adam and Eve’s refusal to sacrifice self-indulgence:
(Gen 3:21-24 NKJV) Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. (22) Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"; (23) therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. (24) So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Is God pleased with the sacrifice in our lives? Perhaps this Christmas we should pause and seek Him in our lives to see if indeed our sacrifice is pleasing to Him.
[III] The animals of Christmas remind us of a future glory:
1.Indeed we live in troubling times.
2.Christmas is the time to reflect on the gift that enables us to prepare so that we will live eternity in a better place.
3.God has promised to set up temporary residence here on earth. During this residing, things are going to be again like the original garden.
4. The promise from the book of Isaiah:
(Isa 65:19-25NKJV) I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying. (20) "No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. (21) They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. (22) They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. (23) They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD, And their offspring with them. (24) "It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear. (25) The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," Says the LORD.
(Isa 11:4-9 NKJV) But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. (5) Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist. (6) "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. (7) The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. (8) The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. (9) They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.
Conclusion:
As we view the animals of the nativity this Christmas, may we be reminded of the service God desires, the sacrifice God expects and the future glory God has promised. How has your service been this past year? Is your sacrificing pleasing to God? Are you prepared for the future promised glory?
