Acknowledgement – I found great value in a Christmas Sermon series by Darren Ethier – A fellow contributor to this site. His sermons are called “Christmas Perspectives Series.”
Do you see what I see?
Luke 2:8-20
If you will recall last week, we are looking at the perspectives of witnesses to the birth of Jesus. We are trying to see what they saw through their eyes, their views and even their fears and emotions. All this is to help us to see for ourselves the story that we hear every year to give it new life, to reawaken the wonder and meaning of the event.
Last week we looked through the eyes of Mary and Joseph. The perspective of the day would have been very embarrassing and even shameful. Their perspective seems to have been unusual for their day. My guess was it had something to do with the angels. When you receive a messenger from God, no matter what the form, it helps change the normal perspective. It is still pretty surprising to me how they could keep the focus when things got so hard. The trip - the stable.
Part of their message was that they had a special mission. They were helping to bring God’s son into the world. The messiah was almost there. God with Us. Immanuel. That was and is a pretty big concept.
You may also remember from last week we considered how our personal perspective influences how we see events and circumstances and even influences our actions.
From a father’s letter to a son in college: "Am enclosing $10 as you requested in your letter. Incidentally, $10 is spelled with one zero, not two." Often we have different perspectives with people, what we will do if asked differs with our point of view.
A pastor was visiting one of his parishioners, and as they were talking the conversation began to lag. The lady of the house, wanting to pick up the conversation, pointed out her window to her neighbor’s back yard where the wash was hanging on the line. She said: "See that lady next door and the wash she hangs out, see how dirty it is, she never hangs out a clean wash!" The pastor felt somewhat uncomfortable and tried to change the subject and quickly drew the visit to a close. AS he was departing from the house the lady of the house walked out on the front porch with him and again the wash next door was clearly visible to them. They both realized at the same time that this wash was sparkling white, just as white as any wash could ever be. The truth began to dawn on them that it was not the neighbor’s wash which was dirty, rather it was the window through which they viewed the wash.
Perspective is how we see things which is filtered through or experiences, ideas and our personal windows.
As we begin this morning’s message ask yourself this question – has your perspective of the Christmas story been polluted by a world that does not fully understand the reason for the season?
Luke 2:7-20 (NIV)
7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
I want you to imagine for a minute the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus and the announcement of His birth by an angel given to some shepherds.
Bethlehem at this particular time in history was a bustling, busy town. It is not far from Jerusalem, about 6 miles. It is known as the house of David because it was the birthplace of King David. It is the place he grew up and watched sheep and learned to fight off predators it was a place where he learned to be responsible. Bethlehem was a small town which had a connection to a much loved king and history and to the prophesies on which most of the Jews knew.
So our scripture tells us, a census had been called by Rome which meant that every man, woman and child had to be counted. The census was going on throughout the entire Roman Empire – which covered the entire world of that time is significant. But for the region of Judea it was even more amazing that this province which once was so resistant to the rule of the Roman Empire was now entering into the "registering" of its people as members of Rome and subjected to the administration of its emperor.
The act of compliance indicates that the people had stopped resisting Rome, at least outwardly.
It is recorded in verse three that every person went to his own town (the town of their ancestry) to register. Bethlehem, of course as the town of David would have been a very, very busy place because of this. The line of David was the royal line of Judea. The Roman Emperor would probably have made sure that everyone in this line registered so as to know their numbers and strength. The Romans also knew the prophesies, wither they really believed or not was less of an issue than if the people believed. They would want to crush anything that could successfully rile the people up. An attempt return of the line of David to leadership might just be one of those things.
You can almost picture this town in the days of the census. People didn’t have cars and planes back then. Many people would have traveled days or weeks to reach Bethlehem. You did not just fill out the forms and head for home. You stayed around and rested your animals, purchased supplies and that would take from a few days to a couple of weeks. Traveling was just different back then.
Of course the merchants, innkeepers, caravan drivers, buyers, sellers, businessmen, and entrepreneurs of the more shady professions would take advantage of this sudden boom of customers as the people arrived in Bethlehem.
I can just picture the residents of this small town rubbing their hands in anticipation of all the wealth that would come from this sudden flurry of activity.
Do you remember all the opportunities when the Olympics came to Atlanta? People rented their houses. Companies from all over and put travel packages together. We had people staying in homes in Rome and driving to Atlanta everyday to go the events. It was busy here but it was crazy the closer you got to Atlanta.
In Bethlehem, they were taking a hold of this event and milking it for all its worth.
Food prices were probably higher, room rates up some percentage. It is no different today whenever there is a special event someplace, some folks take advantage.
Perhaps there were even some visionaries who were petitioning Rome for a repeat of the census the following year! Maybe it could become an annual event!
So the census is being taken and a young man and woman found themselves a stable where they experienced the birth of a child. A very special child, a child that had been prophesied to be the Messiah, the coming King, the Saviour, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Son of God, Immanuel, God with us, Jesus. Yet the world did not know. Lying in a manger was a King. Yet the people in the town of Bethlehem were oblivious to His presence.
And then God announced the birth of His son! All of a sudden there were fireworks all over the sky – bright blues, reds and greens. Angels were sent to every household announcing the arrival of God’s son. There was much cheering and celebration….
Did this happen? NO, and yet it could have. Surely, the creator of the Universe would be capable of such a glorious entrance into the world? Surely this kind of announcement of the birth of Jesus would have been possible for the One who spoke the world into being? But this was not the way the birth of Jesus was announced. Instead an angel went to a bunch of anonymous shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem and to them announced the majestic birth in the city.
The people in Bethlehem were unaware of the story unfolding in the fields outside of the city – they were unaware of the events taking place in their own yard. But are they really to blame? Was it their fault that they were oblivious to these events? Perhaps not – and yet, through the perspective of the shepherds we can find some reasons for God’s choice to make his announcement to them instead of those dwelling in the city.
The scriptures record that when the angel appeared to the shepherds they were terrified. Why is the angel here? What is the angel going to do? We’re not presentable. We’re not ready. All these thoughts and more were probably going through the shepherd’s minds. And yet the angel’s first words to the shepherds were, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news…"
The message of the angels to the shepherds was that there was Good News! We like good news. We certainly don’t like bad news.
A father came home from a very rugged day at work and said to his wife, "I’ve had a bad day. Please! If you have any bad news tonight, keep it to yourself." To which she replied, "O.K. NO bad news. Now for the Good News. Remember our four children? Well, three of them didn’t break an arm today."
Their perspective would have been that they knew their place. The Shepard normally did not own anything except the clothes on his back and his staff. Many times they were boys hired to do the work. Mom and day got the payment and they got the work. They were not allowed to use the sheep for food and if they lost any there would be a reduction in their pay. Some were children of the owners and may have has a few extra privileges, but is not likely. Everyone had job to do and when they were old enough they were given their place.
Shepard’s were despised people and most were considered to be dishonest and even thieves. The general reputation of a shepherd made them ineligible to give evidence in court. They were not welcome in the synagogue because they rarely had the opportunity to go through the purification rituals.
In this scripture God sends the messengers to announce the arrival of His Son to Shepard’s. I want you to file that away as being important. That God did not send the messengers to the kings, the rich merchants, the synagogue leaders He sent them to Shepard’s.
A brief look at the pages of the Bible bears witness to this. Look at the people whom God called to do His work! Abraham, the leader of a small band of rovers; Jacob, a liar and a shepherd; Joseph, a slave and prisoner; Moses, an outcast and shepherd; Gideon, a simple farmer; Saul, a man looking for his donkey; David, the youngest son and a shepherd; most of the prophets were either farmers or shepherds – Elijah, Elisha, Amos; Esther, an orphan; Joseph, a carpenter and Mary, a virgin; and now the first ones called to spread the GOOD NEWS of the Messiah’s birth, the shepherds near Bethlehem.
The lowest worker in the village was invited to the party first. If people sat down to make a guest list for the day the Messiah would arrive. These young men would not have made the maybe list.
How many important parties have you been invited to this year? You know the Who’s – who kind of mover and shakers. The places that politicians, Doctors and Lawyers are invited.
I am not trying to be negative here this morning or make you feel down. I don’t know but one person that would be called a Shepard in this room and we all know what they are like, I just told you. But not many of us would rate being invited to the parties this year. Sometimes our perspective is that we are not worthy of being seen at the best places.
-- Did you know that God wants to use you this Christmas?
That he extends His grace to you? That it doesn’t matter what position you are in life that He can USE YOU? That He WANTS TO?
Can you imagine how the shepherds felt when they first heard this? They were terrified, probably prostrate on their faces before the angel. And then as they heard the angel speak of this "good news" they probably began to look at each other as they slowly rose to their feet – their fear turning to joy as they realized the privilege of hearing about God’s grace – marveling that God would even think of them!
The Shepard’s got a surprise that night. Holy messengers told them about the arrival and a celebration. They could have ignored it. It would be easy to have the perspective that the message was not for them. That they just over heard it. Perhaps they might think that everybody for miles around got he same message.
If not, who would believe them and what they were told! Everybody knows what Sheppard’s are like.
This Christmas remember that when Christ was born God was not only thinking of the world as a whole but He was also thinking of you!
Isn’t that what we learn when we read the scriptures. Isn’t that whay we revisit the arrival of Jesus and celebrate his birthday?
Look through the eyes and feelings of he first Shepard and realize that we are being invited to the birthday celebration of the king.
WOW…….!
That is big! That is important! That means something!
In our busy culture most are getting ready for Christmas. Too many have lost the real reason for the celebration and see the momentary happiness of stuff. The real disappointment is that they may not hear the message over all the noise of life. They are looking to the earthly proof of personal worth. And they believe this is found when you measure the worldly things.
God’s message about Christmas is just the opposite. It is not what you can give but what you receive. What you are willing to receive.
The Shepard’s believed that if they went into town they would find this baby, wrapped in cloths and laying in a manger. The king of the Jews the messiah had come.
They responded with excitement and wonder and I would only guess that later they ended up wondering why Us. Why tell us with all the good people around. I doubt that their humility let them see the importance of God’s approach to the lowly and poor. The ones that the god people said were horrible sinners.
Are you keeping watch over the important things this year? Are you too busy to listen to the Good news that is mixed in all the noise and danger of the world?
Does your perspective let you go through the rituals but knot look for the gift of Jesus?
I hope you are not too prosperous. I hope you have needs that you can’t find a way to fix. I hope that you are searching for something and you are delighted when you find it or more likely when it finds you.
The Bible doesn’t mention an innkeeper – only that there was no room at the inn when Mary and Joseph were looking for a place to stay. Yet, there very well might have been. What might have been his words if he was to speak to us today?
I only did what you have done
A thousand times or more
When Joseph came to Bethlehem
And knocked upon my door
I did not turn the Christ away
With alibi so deft.
Like you, I simply gave to Him
Whatever I had left.
What are you giving Jesus for his birthday this year?
If you let it depend on what he has given you I don’t think you can compete. When God sent the message – The good news t the Shepherds he expected a response. He expected joy, happiness, he expected a group of people that would talk about the arrival of a special child.
God does not sent his word of gifts or blessing so that we can be happy and not share what is going on. Will does your experience and place in this world let you believe about Jesus Christ.
What will you give Jesus this year?
All Glory be to God!
