CAPITAL BIBLE CHURCH December 24, 2016 SERMON NOTES. PASTOR BILL HAKEN. A Christmas Touch. Touching the Overlooked. Luke 2:8 20

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1 CAPITAL BIBLE CHURCH December 24, 2016 SERMON NOTES. PASTOR BILL HAKEN A Christmas Touch Touching the Overlooked Luke 2:8 20 Big Idea: God uses ordinary people to do extra-ordinary things. 1. God used a humble village girl named Mary to bear His Son. Luke 1:47 How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! 48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. Mary and Joseph were poor, humble villagers from Nazareth, a town so despised that Nathaniel said later when Philip told him they found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? 2. God chose lowly shepherds to hear first the good news. Luke 2:8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Shepherds were the marginalized forgotten. They had no status in their culture. They were uneducated, smelled lousy, and were considered low-class. During Jesus time, being a shepherd was a dead-end job with no hope for advancement. They had little chance of doing anything different the rest of their life. They were people that were considered outcasts and misfits. Shepherds had a hard, thankless job, and it was dangerous. It was their responsibility to protect the sheep from robbers and wild animals. In the big scheme of things, they were not considered very important.. In spiritual matters, they were considered unclean. They couldn t even participate in feasts and holy days. In society matters, shepherds were infamous for thievery - they were not permitted to give testimony in legal proceedings. And on top of all that, they were misfits who really didn t have much contact with other people. Most of the time, they were living out in the fields. This was not a 40-hour a week job. They didn t come home at night. They were with the sheep 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. During the day, they led the sheep to grass and water. They watched while the sheep grazed. They kept an eye out for predators like wolves. And at night, they actually slept in the sheep pen with the sheep to guard against theft and animal attack. Folks let me make it plain Shepherds smelled like sheep.

2 Being a shepherd was lonely, wearisome, usually very boring and tedious, and sometimes extremely dangerous. It gave them a lot of contact with sheep, but very little exposure to people. They had hours and hours with nothing to do but watch sheep eat grass. [Does that make you feel any better about your job?]. Shepherds just didn t have much social contact. Truly were Overlooked. Here s the Amazing Wonder of the Grace of God. The message that the angels brought to this quiet pasture field was a message for all the people. Angels and Shepherds - together -The highest realms of heaven come to the lowest parts of earth - God s salvation would not be just for the elite, or for the privileged. He would come for all mankind- from the highest to the lowest - from the uttermost to the guttermost. We don t have to be perfect, or even presentable - We come as ourselves. Sometimes we re just a mess - But God excels at cleaning up messes- Like: Moses an upstart, on the run guy who couldn t talk very well deliverer of Israel. Joseph a persecuted, naïve, overprotected little boy God made him a man and second to Pharaoh! David a little shepherd boy of no account God made him King. Jesus disciples - fishermen, tax collectors, average ordinary Joe s to whom God gave the Commission! Zacheus - crooked tax collector Jesus went to his house, saved his soul and changed his life! The wonder of Christmas is in the heart of God - that He would look down upon sinners like we are - and send His only begotten Son that whosoever (that s us) believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. God sent angels to shepherds! (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." I like how Max Lucado expresses it in The Applause of Heaven: An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an extra on the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. The sheep would have been forgotten, and the shepherds would have slept the night away. But God dances amidst the common. And that night he did a waltz. The black sky exploded with brightness. Sheep that had been silent became a chorus of curiosity. One minute the shepherd was dead asleep, the next he was rubbing his eyes and staring into the face of an alien. The night was ordinary no more.

3 The angel came in the night because that is when lights are best seen and that is when they are most needed. God comes into the common for the same reason. God often chooses to do his greatest work through people or things we normally think of as weak or unimportant. This is what Paul means in 1 Corinthians when he writes: 1 Corinthians 1:26 Brothers and sisters, look at what you were when God called you. Not many of you were wise in the way the world judges wisdom. Not many of you had great influence. Not many of you came from important families. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and he chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose what the world thinks is unimportant and what the world looks down on and thinks is nothing in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. To God, nobodies are somebodies who need to hear the good news. When the shepherds got the news about the birth of Jesus, I like the fact that they did not come casually. They moved on it. They hurried. This was such good news, one had to act on it immediately. They became the first guests to this miraculous birth. Something exciting was happening to a people that were usually overlooked. These social misfits were, by God s design and desire, the first to know and respond. But the truth that we must not miss is that God continues to identify with the poor. God absolutely insists that we reach out to the overlooked. For when we do, we reach out to Him. And when we do not, we resist Him. Remember what Jesus said: For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. (Matthew 25:35-36, 40). The overlooked today come in many categories. They are the elderly, outcast, and homeless. They are the unappreciated and challenged. They are the untouchable, the addicts, and the diseased.

4 They are infected with AIDS. They are convicted felons. They are the battered wives and neglected children. They are migrant workers. Essentially, the overlooked are the ones you are overlooking. When considering how to honor the overlooked, we usually don t need to look too far. Max Lucado muses about how lepers were treated in the Old Testament but illustrates how we do much the same thing today. He writes: Some years ago, NBA star David Robinson, who plays basketball in San Antonio, visited our church. He s not a member of our church, but he shows up occasionally. You can imagine the stir that occurred when that seven-foot, striking fellow walked in the auditorium. He came to the first service, and at the end of it, people mobbed him. The pandemonium finally settled down, and he went his way, and we began the second service. As I stood to do the announcements, a homeless person walked in the back of the auditorium. He came down the center aisle with his backpack, ratty jeans, and torn T-shirt. His face was unshaven, and he had a distinct odor. He walked down to the front and sat down. The contrast struck me. When David Robinson enters, he was immediately swamped. People wanted to touch him and be close to him. Nobody jumped up to sit next to the homeless man. After two or three awkward minutes, one of our elders got up from his seat and sat by the man and touched him. I was struck. The message I received in my heart that morning was, If you want to touch Jesus, whom do you touch? Jesus said, Whatever you ve done for the least of these, my brethren, you ve done also to me. And so, if we want to touch Jesus, we have a special use for our hands to touch people no one else wants to touch. We can find special purpose by seeking out the forgotten the ignored people like this man. We can seek out the untouched and touch them. God does not discriminate on the basis of intelligence, education, wealth, profession, political power, or social standing. Touch the overlooked ask God to give you compassion and passion to understand the needs, and then extend the loving arms of God around others. Touch the overlooked see God s face on those that are ignored; touch them with your eyes, your time and your love. And watch how God redeems them, like this poem The Touch of the Master s Hand Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer Thought it scarcely worth his while

5 To waste much time on the old violin, But held it up with a smile. What am I bidden, good folks, he cried, Who will start bidding for me? A dollar, a dollar then, Two! Only two? Two dollars, and who ll make it three? Three dollars, twice; Going for three But no, From the room, far back, a gray-haired man Came forward and picked up the bow; Then wiping the dust from the old violin, And tightening the loose strings. He played a melody pure and sweet As sweet as a caroling angel sings. The music ceased and the auctioneer With a voice that was quiet and low, Said what am I bidden for the old violin? And he held it up with the bow. A thousand dollars, and who ll make it two? Two thousand! And who ll make it three? Three thousand, once; three thousand twice; And going, and gone! said he. The people cheered, but some of them cried, We do not quite understand What changed its worth? Swift came the reply: The touch of the master s hand. And many a man with life out of tune, And battered and scattered with sin,

6 Is auctioned off cheap to the thoughtless crowd, Much like the old violin. A mess of pottage, a glass of wine; A game and he travels on. He s going once, and going twice, He s going and almost gone. But the Master comes and the foolish crowd Never quite understands The worth of a soul and the change that s wrought By the touch of the Master s hand.

Prodigal Son No. 81. B. In response to their sharp, scathing criticism Jesus uttered a parable saying. (Lk. 15:11-32).

Prodigal Son No. 81. B. In response to their sharp, scathing criticism Jesus uttered a parable saying. (Lk. 15:11-32). "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.lockman.org) Prodigal Son