THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS
#065 THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS
Scripture Luke 2:1-20 NIV Orig. 12/24/61
Rewr. 12/18/75, 12/9/76
Passage: In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 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 guest room available for them. 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 that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, 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 heaven,
and on earth peace to those 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.
Keywords: Christ Birth Christmas
Timeline/Series: Christmas
Introduction
One of the most beautiful of all of the stories that have to do with Christmas, is a story that many people have never heard. It is the story of The Shepherd Who Stayed. I don’t remember who wrote the story, or even where it can be found.
There was simply another shepherd who fell to his knees that night on the Judean hillside. A man who was moved with the glory of the moment. A man who, like other men, was overwhelmed at what he saw and heard. This shepherd, however, rejected the angels’ invitation to see. “You will find the babe,” the angel had said.
Our shepherd friend was keeper there in the Judean hills to only a hundred sheep, but they were his responsibility, and he intended to stay at his post. I hear more than words when he gives his reason for not going to “the City of David.” God is at work in Bethlehem, he reasoned, and one shepherd less would not make a difference. But a shepherd in the hills could make a great deal of difference before this magnificent night is over.
I. The Message of Christmas is One of Fearsome Revelation. 2:15 Let us . . . see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. It is beyond everything else, God’s message to his people. You remember that it was the Word of God that brought this universe into existence. “And God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light.”
You also remember that it was the same Word of God that adjudged the world. “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.”
It was God’s Word which introduced man to taint an otherwise perfect place. But this perfection meant nothing without someone being capable of comprehending it. It would have to be a being capable of destroying it. Now it is God’s Word seeking to redeem the earth’s most irredeemable subject. V11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
The Revelation becomes more fearsome when we discover that it is from the Sovereign. There is the evidence of authority. “The angel of the Lord came upon them.” “A multitude of the heavenly host praising God.” “The babe lying in the manger.”
There is the signature of design:
“There is no art without an artist, no building without a builder,
no history without a patriot and his dream.
“Nor can there be a planet without a planner, a plant without a planter,
nor even yet a man without a Maker of this scene.”
The revelation becomes burdensome if we acknowledge man’s accountability without God’s trustworthiness. Every individual capable of self-comprehension is responsible for his choices and his actions. One of the critiques of our age is upon the misuse of alcohol, drugs—prescription and otherwise, tobacco, sex, and the health burdens that are left in the wake of their use.
You may have heard about the emaciated man who went to his doctor about his general health. The only thing the doctor turned up was that he smoked too much. “You must follow my advice. Your trouble is your smoking. Cut out all cigarettes except after meals.” Two months later he was back for a checkup. He looked better. He had gained weight. “I don’t know how long I can eat 15 meals a day.”
This self-responsibility passes over into even those areas of stress that we do not control. There were reasons why the shepherds could be reassured by the angel: The teachings of their fathers; the physical accommodations of the evening; conversations that such a night invoked; a star like no other star. While they were stricken with fear, their stress was abated by what these men were before the angel appeared.
II. The Message of Christmas is One of Joyful Exultation. There was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Joyful exultation is the result of faith. They believed in a God of love whose purpose was to be known by his creation. It was in the disciples’ fear of the unknown that Jesus said in Matthew 10:26 “Fear not, therefore, there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, nothing hid that shall not be made known.”
It was acknowledging God’s sovereignty over the unknown which caused Paul to write in Ephesians 1:9 “Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.”
Joyful exultation in faith culminates in understanding. The story is told of Heinrich von Dannecker, great German sculptor of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In his early years he won a name for himself in sculpting Ariadne and other Greek goddesses. As he felt he was in his prime, he committed himself to what would be his major work. It would be a colossal piece featuring the Christ. He twice failed, but held to his purpose. Finally, the work of a lifetime was complete. It was all that he wanted it to be. He later was approached by Napoleon to do a statue of Venus for the Louvre. His answer was simple, “Sire, the hands that have carved the Christ can never again carve a heathen goddess.”
Similarly, Lew Wallace, Civil War general, later governor of New Mexico, began work on a novel. It was to contain an atheist’s view of Christ. The novel was Ben Hur. The author became a Christian in his efforts to write such a novel.
And understanding, when it is finished, brings fulfillment to the Christian life. V20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
The shepherds believed a believable word and acting on such faith were rewarded for it. They came to comprehend the involvement of God in the sameness of their lives. They knew that God had appropriated to Himself, a message that would change their lives. While they went back to the same sheep on the same hillside, their lives would never know sameness again.
There is likewise given to us a believable word, but the reward of faith awaits the believer’s response. How many of us have the gift of eternal life because we have believed? Romans 6:23 The gift of God is eternal life. John 1:12 As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. Matthew 7:11 If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Though near to faith, how many are there who are yet victims of self-condemnation because they have refused the believable WORD? John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
We have been given life that we might find the Saviour. The angelic light penetrates the blackness of our somber nights announcing, “Christ is born . . . go ye . . . and ye shall find . . . Glory to God. When they had seen it . . . they returned, glorifying and praising God.”
Closing
I was reminded a few days ago of the testimony of a young Japanese student who was at Southwestern when I was there. The war years had been tragic. His brother-in-law dead in a kamikaze (divine wind) raid. His sister takes her own life. His parents had been in diplomatic service in Europe, but would not survive the war. His conversion came as a student in Germany after the war, when he was given a portion of a German New Testament. He tells of the time, at the start of the war, when they were given one hour to pack one suitcase, to then be extradited to their homeland. He remembered watching his mother trying to make the decision about what to put in that suitcase. She would put in objects of gold and silver, then ancestor-honoring porcelain, of great worth. Finally she loaded the suitcase with woolens and foodstuffs.
*THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST*
REFLECTION, attached to this sermon in Rev. Skinner’s file
Henry W. Longfellow
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th’unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
Till, ringing, singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!