December 8, 2002
You can do this just about any day. Pick up the newspaper, or flip on CNN. Of the six prominent lead stories on the front page of the paper, five will have the following words:
"TRIAL....DANGEROUS...FRAUD...MURDER....DOWNTURN!"
It doesn’t get much better on the inside sections. We live with bad news these days. What’s worse is that we seem to be accepting that as the "way things are," or despairing that we have gone too far to ever change it.
I must confess that I began to ask myself recently, "Is there any GOOD news?" As soon as the words entered my head, I knew the answer....Of Course!!!! There is not only good news, there is GREAT news! And we have it. Today we study the first announcement to shepherds of the GREATEST NEWS EVER....
The shepherd of Jesus’ day was not what you’d call an "up and outer." Shepherds were despised by most society; especially the religious class. Those who cared for sheep had to do so 24 hours each day, 7 days each week. They had little time for observing all the rites and rituals of a good Jew. They didn’t wash often, nor did they observe the Sabbath. It was a hard life, with little financial reward, or prosperous outlook. Their children and children’s children would follow in the same path, often living with three to four generations under the same hut.
No doubt shepherds daydreamed. There was always lots of peace and quiet to spend on thinking. They dreamed of being clean, wearing fine clothing, and perhaps, going to the temple to worship and see people.
The night the angels came to them, they were probably engaged in the mundane tasks, chasing strays, keeping warm around the fire, telling jokes, and removing thorns from small hooves.
Suddenly there is a man standing before them; he glows!
And there is a strange message: GOOD NEWS!
Can you imagine the first thoughts, "Good news - here? Give me a break. Nothing ever changes. Nothing beyond dust, cold winters, endless bleating of these sheep, and death. What do you mean, good news?"
Just for emphasis chorales of angelic voices join the brilliant light; the hills really are ¡§alive with the sound of music." The shepherds look at one another, and immediately set-out to find the babe in a manger. Later, they’re back out in the hills, rejoicing over GOOD NEWS!
What caused the change? Consider the SIGHTS the shepherds saw that cold Judean night....
ANNOUNCEMENT 2:8-14
8In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10But 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; 11for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is „TChrist the Lord. 12¡§This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.¡¨ 13And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 ¡§Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men „Twith whom He is pleased.¡¨
Luke 2.8-14 (NASB)
The angel PROCLAIMED the message.
There is a reality here, that God never plays "hide and seek" with us. He was willing to disclose Himself to the small band of shepherds, the most commonplace, ordinary people of that day; He wants to be real to you today. Too many people express their concept of God as being "far off" and mysterious. Rather, the scriptures indicate He wants a close relationship with His children.
The angel proclaimed a POWERFUL message. To bring such light of hope into a world of incredibly great darkness, it would have to be a powerful beacon! I have always wanted one of those "zillion-watt" flashlights - the kind that lights the whole garage when my wife sends me out there late at night. (I’m not afraid of spiders and snakes, really!) I have wanted one of those lights ever since the first time I stubbed my bare toe in the darkness.
The power in the message was that people who walked, and stumbled-around in darkness would now be walking in a great light. Jesus would bring the forgiveness of sin, and a new birth of eternal life and joy. That is great light that dispels the darkness!
Besides proclamation and power, the message was PERSONAL. The angel said, "For unto YOU..." The question is always, "Has He been born in YOU." We sing the old spiritual, "It’s not my brother, nor my sister, but it’s ME, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer!"
And in this announcement there is the truth that it was a PERTINENT message. This angel came to this world of doubt and uncertainty from his home in the land of unclouded days, and unmasked secrets. He had the perfect knowledge, given him by God. The announcement was that the GOOD NEWS would be just that, to all people. The reason is that we all have great need. Someone once said, "If our greatest need had been information God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior."
Another SIGHT was
ACTION 15When 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.¡¨ 16So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. 17When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child Luke 2.15-17 (NASB)
The sequence of events is well-known.
They HEARD this message; meaning they understood it, and began to place their faith in it.
They made HASTE to the manger...they were men of action.
And they also HERALDED the message themselves, telling all who would listen the story of a baby-king.
They began to see in each other the verification of what they’d been told. Here was a group of rough, hardened shepherds, giving praise to God over the birth of a carpenter’s son. Instinctively, they began to place the slippery vagueness of faith into concrete actions in their own lives.
They were beginning to practice what they’d heard preached. It is easy to listen to a sermon (perhaps...if the seat is not too hard or soft, and the temperature is just right, and the preacher doesn’t put you to sleep...) But, what about when the angels go away, and the music dies down, and the service is over?
Are we people of action?
Do we go and see where the Christ-child is come?
Do we take Him into the marketplace...to our homes....into the streets....through our pocketbooks and check stubs....
Do we take Him from fantasy to fact, from an abstract, removed-ancient figure we read about in a Book, to Lord of my life on this Sunday morning, December 8, 2002?
Do we receive the announcement of life and become men and women of action?
Notice their
ASTONISHMENT
18And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. 19But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart
Luke 2:18-19 (NASB)
This was an INCREDIBLE message! May we be honest? You and I (as well as the shepherds) don’t expect laughter from God. The news that God had come, and He was pink, wrinkled and wearing a diaper, was the last thing anyone would expect.
We think of the God of the universe like Isaiah described, "high and lifted up." If anything, He would come in judgment, power, or mystery. At the very least, he would arrive with trumpets, and the parting of seas, and the quivering of all creation. But He came just like we arrived, vulnerable, and small - full of hope, and subject to hurts and disappointments.
He WASN’T TICKED; He was here to love us. What incredible news! There have been times as a child, when I thought I was going to get a tanning for something I’d done; then I was surprised when Mom or Dad would let me off. Talk about the laughter of the redeemed!
William was a young man. He’d messed-up his life so badly for just 32 years....He was going to commit suicide. He hired a coach to take him to the Thames River Bridge in London. He stood overlooking the river for what seemed like hours, trying to get up the courage to jump. He couldn’t do it. So he walked home, and took out a butcher’s knife, and attempted to fall on it...the blade broke off, and he didn’t get a scratch. So he took a rope and tried to hang himself in the kitchen...but only succeeded in losing enough oxygen to pass-out. The cleaning woman found him early the next morning, took him to the hospital, where he recovered quickly. Three times in one night William Cowper survived self-murder. He began to say, "God help me." He found the strength to have faith, to confess, to seek the will of God. He was saved, transformed, and became a great author. We sing a hymn that young William Cowper wrote not long after that experience,
"There is a fountain, filled with blood;
drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood;
Lose all their guilty stains."
This was true for William Cowper...it is available to all who will decide. Some of the people the shepherds told the GOOD NEWS were INDECISIVE MEN. You can’t be neutral with Jesus. He calls us to decision-making.
Finally, notice
ALTERATION
20The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them. Luke 2:20 (NASB)
Again, the details are known by anyone who has ever participated in a Christmas play.
The shepherds RETURNED to their fields. Christ wants ambassadors in every walk of life. The shepherds went back to work. But they went back differently than they’d been; they REJOICED over the astonishing news they’d witnessed. And the primary difference was in that they RETOLD the story then, and (we can be certain) often. A beggar who finds bread tells other beggars where the source is!
What change can the witness of a child in a manger make? We see in the life of the shepherds a transformation. Bret Harte, one of American literature’s great authors wrote about life on the American frontier. One of his most famous stories is about the baby of Roaring Mine Camp, about 80 miles out of Sacramento.
One woman of questionable repute lived in the camp, and she died, leaving a tiny baby. The rough and hard men said, "We have to do something with this baby." They had a wooden crate for a bed, but one decided that it wasn’t fit for a baby; so he sent to Sacramento for a rosewood cradle. The cradle was wonderful, but it highlighted the dirty clothes they’d dressed her in; so back to Sacramento for some nice clothes.
Then they saw that the floor was dirty, and they cleaned it; then the walls, windows, and the ceiling. And the baby had to have some rest, so the carousing, partying and drinking ceased...they said "The baby’s asleep, be quiet!"
When spring came, they took the child outside and up to the mine where they worked. But it was so bare, and dirty. So they began to clean up the litter, and one planted flowers to beautify it. Some of the men began to shave regularly, and even wash up. In short, the presence of one tiny baby transformed that old rough and wicked Roaring Mine Camp into a beautiful place of changed people.
This is what happens when Jesus comes to a life. When we give ourselves to Him that He might be Lord and Savior, there is a change to life. We begin to live differently...and the changes are seen. Our lives are different, because He makes a difference. That’s the GREATEST NEWS! Christmas means you can be born again....He can come into your heart....and change your world. We can say, "For unto ME a Savior is born..."
