1 Luke 2:8-20 The message of Christmas How do you send messages? If you have a message to give someone who can t talk to you face to face, how would you get that message to them? As far as we can tell the first message ever left without face to face communication was 38,000 years ago. Thag left a message for his wife Bort that he was going out to kill dinner. That s pretty much all we had until about 4,000 years ago when envelopes and letters were delivered Then the brilliance of Carrier pigeons 776 BC News papers in 1650 Telegraph and morse code in 1835 Pony express in 1860 Telephone in 1876 Radio in 1902 Television in 1927 Mobile phones in 1983 The first text message in 1992 and the internet full blown in 1994 And now We have this and this And a million of these
2 How do you send your message? Snapchat We chat Whats app tango path Line whisper Telegraph IOS text talk
3 Messenger hangouts viber voxer Okay, so I only knew of half of these and I only have four of them on my phone and I have no idea why I have snap chat on there. Probably an effort to be cool. It didn t work The recipient of the message A couple thousand years ago, God wanted to send a message to a bunch of old men on a hillside. A bunch of shepherds. You can see them in Luke 2:8. NIV Luke 2:8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. (Luk 2:8 NIV) Now just a reminder about shepherds. They aren t great people. They could be beggars, pick pockets, outright thieves. They made almost no money, slept outside, and didn t take showers too often. These were the lower class, the outcasts, the ignored. And God had a message for them. By the way, I am guessing most of you have had a shower and you aren t thieves, but perhaps some of you here feel like you are second class, outcast and ignored. If you do, God has a message for you too. Of course, if God wants to send a message to shepherds on a hill, way outside of cell reception he has to have a plan. Who brings the message? The plan is verse 9.
4 An angel of the Lord appeared to them. Now I told you something about the shepherds, I should probably tell you something about these angels too. The Greek word Angelos just means messenger. The Hebrew word Malakim probably means the same. All the gods of the ANE had representatives who were to deliver messages for them. So of course, the God of all creation had them as well. Now there are all kinds of supernatural beings that the Bible talks about. There are Seraphim which have multiple faces and wings and were super freaky. There were cherubim which seem to have a sword in the garden to make sure no one can come back in. Maybe there were thrones and dominions and powers (some people say these are ranks of supernatural beings), but the word Angel just means messenger. They have been sent from the throne of God with a message of utmost importance. No I don t mean to say that these messengers weren t scary. Pretty much every time they appear to men, they start off with don t be afraid. Its right there in verse 10. And of course he needed to say that. Because when he appeared to them, look at verse 9, the glory of the Lord shone around them. So there is an angel standing next to them suddenly and the light emanating from this representative of God is lighting up the whole area and so yeah, they are terrified. So the angel says Do not be afraid. Sure angel, I won t be afraid. Right. What is the message? Okay, so we have the messenger an angel, and we have the recipient, the shepherds. But what is the message? He continues I bring you good news of great joy... Wait, of course I want you to hear the message, but slow down. Or maybe speed up Jump to the response first. I want you to see the reaction to the message. Reactions to the message Actually there are several different reactions to the message. Angels reaction The first one is in verse 13 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." (Luk 2:13-14 NIV) So after hearing the message, the angels show themselves. I am guessing they were there just waiting for the light to shine on the scrim and with the proclamation they can contain themselves no longer.
5 Suddenly they are there. They aren t flying or hovering or at least it doesn t say they are. I mean, come on, they don t even have wings at least it doesn t say they do. In fact, fun fact, angels don t have wings. WHAT!! I know. Everything you thought you knew has been destroyed by actually reading the Bible. There are creatures in the Bible that have wings, Cherubim sometimes do remember in Genesis 3 that Cherubim are guarding the way to the tree of life (no wings, sorry). But in Ezekiel 10 they had wings but they also had wheels and lots of eyes and weird faces. In Exod 25:20 on the ark of the covenant WINGS! Seraphim do, or at least they do in Isaiah, six sets of wings for covering feet and eyes and flying. But these aren t called angels. Angels, messengers, in the Bible don t have wings. Doesn t mean they can t hover, or fly, but whatever, who cares what the angels look like I want their reaction When the one angel gives the message, a great company of the heavenly army appears with him and they give praise to God and say (not sing another misperception) 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." They can t help but praise God for whatever this message is. They are so excited. Shepherds reaction The shepherds reaction isn t nearly as epic, but still, there is something there. Once the angels leave and they clean themselves up because you know they peed their pants. They decide to go to Bethlehem to see if what the angels said is true. Or maybe not to see if its true, but just to see. So verse 16, they hurried off. I think there is some serious excitement there. Because the message, whatever it was, was for them. It was for people in their circumstances, people who were lowly and outcast and ignored. An angel brought them a message So they hurry off, see what they came to see and then in verse 17 it says they spread the word concerning what had been told. Whatever they saw and heard compelled them to spread it. Other s reactions And everyone else, totally amazed. They heard the message from the shephereds that the angels gave them and they were amazed. Marvelled. Wowed Mary s reaction She treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
6 Shepherds reaction... again Oh and the shepherds again. Verse 20. 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. (Luk 2:20 NIV) So their final response is the same response as the army of angels praising and glorifying God. Six things in the message But why? Why was Mary so contemplative? Why was everyone so amazed? Why were the shepherds hurrying and praising and glorifying Why were the angels forced out of hiding at the very thought of the proclamation? What was the news? Of course you already know the news, but look back at verse 10. the good news of great joy is for all people. This is key. It s for ALL people. It s not for Israel. It s not for the rich. It s not for the elite Hear me shepherds. This is for ALL people. It s even for you. You have been treated like crap, but I have good news which brings joy. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luk 2:11 NIV) That is the message that sent the angels into a tizzy and made the shepherds sprint off and amazed everyone. That today... Today! Something that had been talked about for generations was now happening. Today in the town of David. In Bethlehem. A son of David. Let me explain what they hear when they hear this A KING! A savior. I know what you think of when you hear this. You think of him saving you from your sins. A personal savior who comes into your heart and makes you feel better. Let me tell you what they hear. They hear a redeemer. They hear a warrior. They hear someone who comes to right wrongs and bring justice. Someone who fights for the little guy, who fights for shepherds. They heard a KING! He is Christ. You hear the nice last name of Jesus. They heard, the anointed one. The KING! The Lord You hear a title for God, they heard, the master, the one to be followed. A KING! Summarize the good news
7 What is the gospel? What is the good news? The King had been born. And the King would make everything right. He would make everything right for poor shepherds. For All people Is it any wonder they would hurry off? Any wonder that the angels couldn t stay hidden any longer? Any wonder that Mary would think deeply about this and that the people would be amazed? Put yourself in their shoes Put yourself in their shoes. You are a Palestinian in an occupied West Bank. And someone came to tell you that today we have set in motion a plan that in a few short years, you would be free. Your children would be free. Everything you dreamed of was coming true. You are a Japanese man right after World War II and imprisoned because of your race. And you hear, Today, today a plan takes place that will put someone else in control. Someone who will free you. You are living in a poor African American community in Baltimore and you are selling drugs just to feed your family. And someone says, today I want to show you the blueprint of a plan that will have you working in this office tower and putting away some money every week for retirement. What is your reaction? What kind of reaction would you have? It seems to me if this was truly the culmination of all your hopes and dreams your reaction would be something incredible. Like Mary s? I guess it could be simple like Mary s. Contemplative, considering, pondering. What does this really mean? Can this really be what we have hoped and dreamed of? If this is the King, what changes? How does today look different because the King is here? How does the week before Christmas look if we are celebrating a king? Because that has to put a different spin on the stress and obligations you have taken on. How does 2017 with a new President, that I am sure half of you voted for, but none of you were particularly thrilled with. And others are downright scared. What does hearing the news about a new king do? Like the people s Are you amazed like the people? Are you hearing this and the shock is still not wearing off? This one born is here to make everything right. Everything that is wrong in the world empires that kill because God is on their side (and I am not only talking about Moslems), disease ridden
8 countries because of lack of food and water, people being forced to live far from loved ones, homelessness, cancer, back pain, depression all of this, he comes to fix. Like the shepherds? Are you like the shepherds? Almost giddy in your response. We have to go see. We have to go talk about this. Hurry up. This is the biggest news EVER! Jacob, Mathias grab the sheep and lets go. Stop just standing there. Forget the stupid little drummer boy. People need to hear. Come on! Like the Angels? Are you like the angels. Silently listening to the proclamation invisible in this realm and then cant hold back any longer. I just cant stand in the background any longer. Did you hear what he said. The King is born, in the city of David, a child who is Christ the Lord. I have to sing. We have to sing. What messages should you be listening to? What is your response this Christmas, to the truly glorious news that a King has come? Perhaps you arent as moved by it because its been 2000 years. Christians, let us never grow cold. Let us never grow lax, never be bored, never be indifferent. Let us never be less than excited and eager and thrilled and exhilerated and electrified and enthusiasict and overjoyed. This is good news for us too. Even now. Maybe especially now The King reigns. No political situation need worry us No economic situation need concern us No family pain can sway us No disease can overcome us No sin can separate us Stop listening to the messages all around you that tell you how bad things are. Shut out everything that makes you feel hopeless no news telling you about war and poverty, no commercials reminding you that you don t have what you deserve, no movies that tell you how unattractive you are in comparison, no parents or siblings or spouses convincing you that you are not valuable, no bullies or popular people reminding you where you fit into the pecking order Shut it all out and hear the message of Christmas. There is no baby Jesus anymore. That time came and went. This child grew to be a man and he conquered death and sin and empires and bullies and war and poverty. Yes its all still here, but the movement has begun and we await the culmination. There is no doubt of its end though. Be joyful Christians, the King has come.
9 Dear Family, Every day we receive millions of messages. Messages reminding us to pay our bill or to come see the boss. Messages from our spouse to pick up milk, from a politician telling us their way is best, from a commercial encouraging us to buy their brand. We get emails, letters, sticky notes on the fridge and maybe even crop circle messages from outer space. And boy do we listen to them. Some tell us to pamper ourselves because we are worth it. Some tell us we have no value at all. Some tell us that its all going to get better. Some tell us we are doomed. But there was a message 2,000 years ago that was delivered by angels to some shepherds. It s a message that has continued to inspire for centuries. It s a message that without it, we would have no reason to hope. I wonder what your reaction is to the message 2000 years later. Why don t you read Luke 2:8-20 and start thinking about what you reaction should be. Because this message brings hope still. I can t wait to see you Sunday Pastor Jace