Untarnished Glory
Advent – Week Two (Honoring the Overlooked)
Luke 2:8-20
Intro: “Flea market finds”, Terrie and I always get a kick out of watching home improvement shows on TV in the evening – probably because we enjoy watching people take what appears to be ordinary and turn it into something extra-ordinary. I especially like what are often called “flea-market finds”. What was someone else’s junk turns out to be a valuable treasure. The old corroded, tarnished jug is polished and revealed to be a priceless antique urn.
I wonder how many of you are often glued to the “Antique Road Show” waiting to see if something like you own shows up and your son’s college education is just paid for!
When something common is exposed as something glorious we are all amazed.
Trans: I believe that’s what happened that first Christmas night. Heaven was revealed in all its glory in the form of what appeared to be a common baby. But beyond the Christ child in the manger I believe the glory of the common was exposed in some other characters in our story. Read with me Luke’s account of that first Christmas night…
8That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened, 10but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! 11The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!” 13Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God: 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors.” 15When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Come on, let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16They ran to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said.
Untarnished Glory
“Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to all whom God favors”
At that moment in time God’s glory was revealed powerfully to a very tarnished world…
As we observe our second week of Advent: The Christmas Touch, today’s theme and this week’s challenge is to Honor the Overlooked.
I doubt there was any more overlooked than the shepherds that night in the hills outside Bethlehem. Shepherds were not what you would call the social elite; on the contrary, they were the forgotten, overlooked.
No father in Israel dreamed of his daughter marrying a sheepherder; maybe a sheep owner, but not the servants who tended the sheep. They were probably a rough lot – we know of one shepherd who killed a bear and a lion with little more than his hands and a sling-shot – they were a tough lot! These guys slept out in the cold – among the animals. When they came to town on market days it was probably difficult to smell the difference between the sheep and the sheepherder!
On top of that we can speculate that they were not the most refined of men either. There wasn’t much to look at. You didn’t go out of your way to get to know a shepherd. I doubt anyone aspired to be a shepherd.
Think of that first Christmas in Bethlehem. There were lots of people the angel army could have announced Christ’s birth to: elite Roman officials in town for the census, well-traveled caravans staying at the inn, how about the mayor of Bethlehem (he was a pretty high official in the community)? Why did the angels pass by all the crowded homes and inns and make their way to a dark, cold hillside filled with sheep and a few shepherds to make Jesus’ first birth announcement?
I personally think it comes down to what I call untarnished glory. Maybe they weren’t a flea market find – but they were a sheep market find! You see in the midst of this incredible story of God coming in human form to meet man’s deepest need – in the midst of the incarnation (God taking on a human body), God revealing His glory…
While the rest of the world sees common, ordinary, or despised, Jesus reveals the glory He placed in even the lowest of places and the so-called least of man. It’s something He started that night in Bethlehem and continued throughout His earthy ministry.
Early on Jesus was challenged for being a friend to “the worst sort of sinners” (Luke 7:34) but his answer was simply to refer back to the shepherds…
1Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such despicable people—even eating with them! 3So Jesus used this illustration: 4“If you had one hundred sheep, and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it? 5And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders. 6When you arrived, you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found. 7In the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! (Luke 15:1-7)
The truth was the Pharisees and teachers wouldn’t have had anything to do with either the sheep or the shepherds, but Jesus called Himself the “Good Shepherd” because He saw the value, the glory in even the lowliest of positions. He removed the tarnished image of the sheepherder and made it something glorious.
Here’s the point: Jesus didn’t rank people and He certainly didn’t ignore them. He had the God-ability to “un-tarnish” people. He knew how to truly honor the overlooked.
We have talked a great deal in the past about “agape” love: the love that places worth in something or someone and then is willing to act on that worth: God’s kind of love. That is exactly what “untarnished glory” is all about - being willing to see the worth of an individual in spite of first impressions or long standing prejudice, then acting on that worth.
Honoring the overlooked means acting on the value of the person.
Sometimes honoring the overlooked means helping to create the shine!
Object ILL: Remember that silver tray some one you received on your 25th wedding anniversary? Terrie and I still have a couple of years to go before we celebrate ours, but we do have an anniversary tray. It belonged to Terrie’s parents. As you can see (show tray) it’s pretty tarnished. Does that lessen it’s value? Of course not. It doesn’t look very good at the moment, but with a little polish and some elbow grease you will see the difference (show reverse side shined).
That’s what happened that first Christmas night.
Mankind was tarnished with sin.
Because we had chosen to walk away from God’s glory and wallow in our own self-will our lives became corroded by the evil of this world. And it doesn’t matter if it was a little or a lot – the effect was the same – we could not reflect God’s glory.
Then the angel appears to these lowly shepherds and they were surrounded with the perfect glory of God. Then their own tarnished lives were changed forever.
Notice the progression with me…
First, God’s glory was presented all around them. When we determine to honor the overlooked what we are actually attempting is to show God’s glory. When you honor someone they see Jesus!
Second, their fear was dispelled. I’ve noticed at times that lonely people are often fearful people. It’s hard not to be afraid when you feel alone. In the case of the shepherds God had just intruded into their tarnished lives and they weren’t at all sure what that could mean.
When we honor the overlooked their response might be one of caution at first – but if they see you are genuine in your concern – their fear will dissolve.
Third, joy and peace will replace fear and helplessness. The angels address both problems “I bring you good news of great joy”… “peace on earth”. The words good news are the same ones we use today in our church’s mission statement “to share the Good News in a loving way to Lake County and our world”, to evangelize.
What brings the joy and peace that replaces the fear and helplessness: The Savior.
You want to honor the overlooked – bring them Jesus. Show them the way to the Savior. Which is exactly what the angels did that night.
Fourth, they understood the way to the Savior. After over twenty years as a Pastor I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the greatest need both believers and unbelievers have in their lives – they need to be shown the way to the Savior.
Some need to be shown the way to the Savior who will forgive them, save them from their lives apart from Him. They need to be shown the Savior who died, was buried and rose again to offer them forgiveness and eternal life.
Others who have accepted the forgiveness in Jesus Christ need to be shown the way to a live truly committed to Jesus and the peace that comes from living for Him without reservation.
In either case – you and I are the ones God has chosen to use to show the way to the Savior. That first Christmas night it was heavenly messengers – today you and I are those messengers.
God’s glory revealed through His messengers
Fear dispelled
Joy and peace replaced fear and helplessness
The way to the Savior is revealed
That’s the result of honoring the overlooked.
You and I have a unique opportunity to notice the true value of many who are often overlooked. Some are tarnished – as we were before we truly allowed Christ to work in our lives. Some will take a little extra effort to get the “glory” – not unlike those rough, ignored shepherds outside Bethlehem.
So who are the overlooked? Let me give you four “s” to think about…
(s) Look for the seniors. This time of year it’s the older members of our church and our community who slip between the cracks. It’s why we’re taking time this evening to go caroling at several of the convalescent homes here in town. Hopefully it will allow you the opportunity to show honor…
(s) Look for the singles. Christmas holidays can be both lonely and frustrating for singles – especially single parents and those whose family is far from here. Why not ask God to open your eyes to a single adult your family can encourage by inviting them to dinner – or maybe adopting for the season. Make them an active part of your family’s Advent celebrations.
(s) Look for the siblings. (that was the only word I could come up with for children) You may not realize now great an influence your simply conversation can have on a child this season. Greet them at church. Ask them about their holidays. Pray for children – not just your own kids.
(s) Look for the saints. There are a lot of Christian brothers and sisters sitting around you who need to be honored. As we shared last week, think of them as your neighbors and encourage them. Plan a time to have some of your church family into your home this season.
Who are the overlooked? You really need to simply look!
Un-tarnished glory. This Advent season we get the privilege of being agents of God’s glory in our world.
For information on this series or the PowerPoint presentation contact the author.
