Message for THE LORD'S DAY EVENING, December 14, 2014 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TOPIC: Christmas The Simplicity of Christmas Luke 2:8-20 (NKJV) Please turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2. And let's read verses 8-20. LUKE 2:8-20 (NKJV) 8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men! 15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
I N T R O D U C T I O N Remember how simple Christmas was when we were kids? Hardly anyone had an artificial Christmas tree in those days, did they? No, our homes were filled with that heavenly scent of a fresh-cut Christmas tree decorated with those huge multi-colored Christmas lights and silver icicles draped across the branches. And remember how the whole family would get their jammies on and watch Perry Como...and Andy Williams...and The Bob Hope Christmas Special to entertain our military troops? And remember that last half day of school before Christmas break when your class exchanged gifts and the teacher gave everybody in the class one of those little gift boxes with five rolls of lifesavers and a small bag of hard Christmas candy. Then when you got on the bus to go home that day, the school bus driver would give you a bag full of candy and an apple or orange. Once Christmas break began, basically all we had to do was wait. And boy didn't those days of waiting seem like an eternity? But then finally the big day would arrive and we would open what few presents we got and we were perfectly content.
It was all so simple back then, wasn't it? And it was that simplicity that made Christmas so magical when we were kids. Christmas just hasn't been the same since we became adults has it? While we still look forward to Christmas and enjoy the Christmas season, it doesn't have the same magic it did when we were kids. And maybe a lot of that is because Christmas isn't simple any more. By the time we get all our Christmas decorations up...and all our Christmas shopping done...and all our Christmas cards in the mail... and go to all our Christmas program practices...and all our Christmas programs and Christmas parties, when Christmas finally gets here most of us are so frazzled and stressed out we can hardly even enjoy ourselves. Perhaps some of you have come here this evening completely worn out from all the things you are trying to do to get ready for Christmas. Perhaps you are feeling the pressure of having so much still to do and so little time left to get it all done. This evening let's all catch our breath for a few minutes as we go back and relive the simplicity of that very first Christmas, there are three things that grab our attention.
First of all... I. Christmas Is About Simple MEN (v.8) v. 8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night. 1. Imagine with me how different the Christmas story would be if this eighth verse read like this... Now there were in the same country Scribes and Pharisees, keeping watch over their scrolls and religious rituals by night. 2. Or imagine how different the Christmas story would be if this eighth verse read... Now there were in the same country Kings and Princes keeping watch over their Palaces by night. 3. The fact that GOD chose simple shepherds to be the very first to know about the birth of the Savior, is one of the things that attracts us to the true story. 4. While shepherds had once been held in very high esteem among God's people, at the time of Christ's birth they were unwanted and rejected by the Jewish society.
5. Shepherds were filthy people. They smelled like sheep. They slept on the ground. Their jobs made them very little if any money at all. Shepherds were on the bottom rung of the ladder when it came to occupations. Shepherds were considered ignorant ignorant and unlearned unlearned men. Spiritually, because of their filth they were viewed as ceremonially unclean to come into a public place of worship. 6. And so one has to ask, why was the message of Christ's birth revealed to a bunch of nobodies out in the middle of nowhere? 7. In a very real way, shepherds epitomized all of sinful humanity...filthy... dirty... unclean... and unworthy. 8. If GOD had chosen to first announce His Son's birth to the INTELLECTUAL SCHOLARS of that day, man could have boasted that he was chosen on the basis of HIS OWN INTELLECT. If GOD had chosen to first announce His Son's birth to THE RELIGIOUS ELITE man could have boasted that he was chosen on the basis of HIS OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS.
9. But you see, by announcing the birth of His Son to a bunch of humble, simple sheep-herders, God in essence put The Bread of Life on the lowest shelf so the lowliest of all men could reach Him. 10. The rich...the powerful...the proud...the arrogant... the self-righteous...and those who are wise in their own eyes of JESUS' day believed it was beneath them to believe that a humble baby laid in Bethlehem's manger could be their Savior. But the lowly shepherds believed it! By simple, child-like faith THEY BELIEVED IT! 11. And the message of Christmas is that Christ is still available to the lowliest of men today. ********************************************************************
Secondly... II. Christmas Is About A Simple MESSAGE (v.9-12) 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. 1. Now get the picture here: The simple shepherds are in out in the fields watching over their flock of sheep. They were doing what they did night after night, and perhaps except for occasionally having to fight off some approaching wolves or coyotes, their nights were pretty mundane and boring. 2. But all the sudden, what had been a routine night up to that point suddenly took a dramatic turn. All the sudden they look up and there standing before them is an ANGEL, radiating with the glory of the LORD! And Luke tells us, They were greatly afraid! Of course they were afraid! Who wouldn't be? At that moment the shepherds didn't know but what the angel hadn't been sent to harm them or destroy them.
3. But then the angels speaks these comforting and consoling words: Do not be afraid! In other words, the angel was reassuring the shepherds he wasn't there to harm them or destroy them, but rather to bring them the greatest news ever given to man. Then in one concise statement the angel delivers this simple message: v. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, Who is Christ the LORD. 4. In that one simple statement the angel uses three different titles for Jesus. (a) The first title is SAVIOR. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, A SAVIOR.. (v.11) The word Savior means one who delivers another from an ENEMY. The idea of a Savior was one the Jewish people had been familiar with throughout their history. Many times the Israelites found themselves oppressed by the enemy nations that surrounded them. And each time GOD would raise up a savior or someone who would deliver them from the hands of the enemy. When the angel announced to the shepherds that A SAVIOR IS BORN he was of course referring to Jesus, the One who would save mankind from Satan, sin, and eternal death.
(B) The second title is CHRIST. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is CHRIST... The title CHRIST in the New Testament is the same as MESSIAH in the Old Testament. The name Christ or Messiah means anointed One. And so the angel was telling the shepherds, The One who is anointed by God to be the Savior is born this night in the city of David. (C) The third title is LORD. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, A SAVIOR...who is CHRIST...THE LORD. The title LORD in Jewish culture was one reserved for GOD HIMSELF. And so the angel was telling the shepherds that the One who is born this day isn't just the LORD over Israel, He is the LORD OVER ALL CREATION. Christmas is about SIMPLE MEN. Christmas is about A SIMPLE MESSAGE.
And thirdly... III. Christmas Is About A Simple MISSION (vs.15-18) 15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 1. There is a very simple truth here that we often overlook. The night Christ was born, those simple shepherds were privileged to hear the good news of Christ's birth. And that night, they had the privilege of coming into the presence of JESUS... the SAVIOR, the CHRIST-CHILD, THE LORD OF ALL CREATION. 2. And having been given that wonderful privilege, the shepherds left the stable that night and set out on A SIMPLE MISSION and that was to go out and tell everyone the good news that GOD has sent us a Savior!
3. Just like the shepherds, you and I have been privileged to hear the good news... the gospel. And just like the shepherds, you and I acccepted the invitation to come into the very presence of JESUS by receiving Him as our LORD and SAVIOR. 4. And now we have both the privilege and the obligation to tell everyone we can the good news that GOD has sent us a Savior. *************************************************** C O N C L U S I O N Whenever you feel stressed out and overwhelmed at Christmas time, go back to the word of GOD and take a fresh new look at what Christmas is really all about. Christmas is about SIMPLE MEN who heard THE SIMPLE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL, who then set out on A SIMPLE MISSION to tell everyone the good news about the Savior. May that be OUR MISSION this Christmas and all through the year!