ADVENT 2017: Declaring the Coming of Messiah Shepherds Heard Luke 2:8-20 Layne Lebo December 17, 2017 Have you ever noticed that when good things happen to other people we say they re lucky or fortunate or blessed, but when good things happen to us we assume we ve earned it and attribute it to our hard work? It may seem like a silly example, but one of the areas where I struggle with this is in playing games with my family. I frequently feel like I ve been dealt bad cards or like the dice just don t roll my way. It seems it s human nature to have a sense that others have been given advantages we don t have. A word I kept noticing as I read the Christmas story in Luke chapters 1 & 2 this week was FAVOR. The word favor occurs 5x in those two chapters: Zechariah used it when he and his wife were blessed by God with a child in their old age after being barren their whole lives. He said, [God] has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace. (Luke 1:25) Twice the angel Gabriel assured Mary that she was favored when he appeared to her to tell her that she was going to give birth to God s Son. Gabriel said, Greetings you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you. (Luke 1:28) And, Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. (Luke 1:30) And John the Baptist s mother, Elizabeth, questioned why she deserved to have Mary visit her: Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (Luke 1:43) And in the passage we ll be looking at today, the angels used the word favor in speaking to the shepherds. Webster s on-line dictionary defines favor as: Friendly regard shown toward another especially by a superior. In the Bible, favor refers to gaining approval, acceptance or special benefits or blessings and it s closely associated with the words grace and mercy. We may not use the specific word, but the concept of favor is one with which we re very familiar. I m a sports fan and I especially enjoy watching my kids play sports. If you ve been around sports (and I m sure this is also true for other endeavors like music and theatre) the concept of one person being favored over another is referred to frequently. Maybe you ve heard (or said) comments like these, I don t understand why my daughter isn t a starter on the softball team, she s just as good as that player. The coach just doesn t seem to like her. Or, My 1
son should be getting a lot more playing time on the football team. He s better than that kid playing in front of him. But you know, that kid s dad is a good friend of the coach. The concept of favor can pop up anywhere at work, at school or in any activity in which we participate. When someone else excels or is given an opportunity, we view them as favored. As people we seem to carry around an innate sense that while others may experience favor, we re often excluded on the outside looking in. This sense that others are favored, while we re not, also applies to our relationship with God. Many of us live our lives with a sometimes gnawing, and at other times overwhelming, sense that we re not approved or accepted by God. We see this clearly in the Old Testament. The Israelites had been chosen and set apart as the people of God and God repeatedly communicated that truth to them through their priests, prophets and kings, yet they often complained that they were out of favor with God. Now, it s true that they regularly disobeyed God, ignoring his laws and his will and they experienced the consequences of their sins. But at that same time, God s love never wavered. As parents, we understand this concept. Our frustration and disappointment over our children s behavior doesn t change our love for them. And yet, it s difficult for kids to differentiate between disapproval for their actions and love for them as people. The time of Jesus birth was a time when God s people had an acute sense that they had fallen out of favor with God. Isaiah s prophecies about a coming Messiah had been given 700 years earlier and while imposters popped up regularly, Israel s true Savior still hadn t come. The last of the Minor Prophets, whose prophecies are recorded in our Bibles, had been gone for 400 years, and still the Israelites waited. The 400 years between the Minor Prophets and the coming of Jesus are known by Jews as the silent years, because God was rarely heard from and they really needed to hear from God. They were constantly mistreated by nations more powerful than them who ruled over them and as an oppressed people they struggled economically. Common sentiment among the Israelites seemed to be, If this is what it means to be God s children his chosen ones then, we might be better off if God chose someone else. But in the midst of this season of silence, whispers began to be heard. First, came the divine encounter Jesus uncle, Zechariah, had with the angel Gabriel, when he learned he and 2
his wife were going to have a son John the Baptist. Six months later Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she was going to give birth to God s Son. And then an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, Mary s fiancé, with the same message. And in each of those encounters the word favor kept recurring. Following their angelic encounters the Gospel writer Luke records prayers that Zechariah and Mary prayed, and their prayers highlighted a shift that they sensed was occurring the shift from being ignored by God to experiencing his favor. Listen to a portion of Mary s song found in Luke chapter 1 verses 46-55: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors. And just a few verses later, Luke records Zechariah s song: Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David as he said through his holy prophets of long ago, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. Luke 1:68-75 The words and phrases Mary and Zechariah used point to the idea of favor. Here are some of them: God has been mindful of us, generations will call me blessed, God s mercy extends to generations, God came to his people and redeemed them, God raised up a horn of 3
salvation, He remembered his covenant, He rescued us. Mary and Zechariah saw that the silent years were over and God was on the move. And that brings us to the people were focusing on today: the shepherds the first people to hear the news that the Savior, Jesus, was born in Bethlehem. Before I read the Luke chapter 2 passage where the shepherds learned of Jesus birth from the angels, I have a question for you. Have you ever thought about the similarities between the shepherds in Luke chapter 2 and the women who went to Jesus tomb in Luke chapter 24? There are similarities that I don t believe are coincidental surrounding the two most significant events in Jesus life. Women and shepherds weren t respected in the culture of that day. Women were perceived as less important than men and were viewed as the property of their fathers or husbands. Shepherds toiled at an occupation that was looked on with disdain by many young boys in Israel didn t grow up aspiring to become shepherds when they were older. Women and shepherds weren t viewed as reliable witnesses. They weren t seen as trustworthy. The testimony of women wasn t admissible in court and shepherds were typically very young, very poor or people of questionable character. If I were to draw a chart with groups of people placed in a hierarchy of importance, shepherds and women would be placed near the bottom. Women and shepherds weren t granted favor by anyone and they especially weren t thought to be favored by God. And yet when God chose to communicate the message that his Son, Jesus, was risen from the dead, He chose women at least one of whom had a very sketchy past to be his messengers of the Good News. And when God wanted to communicate that his Son, Jesus, was born in Bethlehem, He chose a scraggly band of shepherds on a hillside in a rural area outside of Bethlehem. Follow along as I read Luke chapter 2 verses 8-20, and I d like you to read aloud with me the words that are in bold: And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. 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. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, 4
they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:8-20 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. Peace to those on whom his favor rests that included the shepherds; it included the Israelites God s people who felt abandoned by Him; and, it includes you and me. I can t speak to your work situation and how your boss or co-workers may give advantages to others above you; I m not in the know about your child s athletic team and whether others are given preferential treatment over your son or daughter; and, students, I don t know how your teachers view you and treat you in relation to your classmates, but I can assure you that God favors you. In fact, you are his favorite. To demonstrate his favor most clearly, God sent his Son, Jesus, to be born as a baby, to live a sinless life, to give up his life on the cross and to be raised from the dead. He blesses you with his unconditional love, mercy, grace, forgiveness and salvation. Today is the day of God s favor. And I can say that with assurance, regardless of what s in your past, or of what you re currently walking through, or what your future may hold. All of us who walk with Jesus need to be reminded of God s favor, because it does seem we have some innate bent to believe lies that tell us God is distant, uncaring and unloving toward us. I also pray that the message of God s favor rings loud and clear to anyone here who doesn t know the reality of relationship with Jesus. Today is the day of God s favor and your Heavenly Father longs for you to know Him personally. If you d like to learn more about Jesus love and the salvation He provides I encourage you to talk with one our prayer team members or with one of staff. 5