Sermon: The Shepherds Quest

Text: Luke 2:8-20
(Chatham Citadel - December 17^th, 2000)
(Meet Me at the Manger # 3)

A few days before Christmas, two women stood looking into a department store window at a large display of the manger scene, with clay figures of the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, and the animals. With disgust written all over her face, one woman turned to the other and said, "Look at that! The church trying to horn in on Christmas!"[1]

Do you know people who might feel that way about the Christmas story? OK, so Jesus was not born on December 25^th. Yeah, the date was taken from the pagan celebration of the winter solstice. Sure, the presents and Santa Clause have to do with a man named Saint Nicholas who threw bags of gold through a window to help a poor man who had no dowry to marry off his daughters (and they happened to fall in their socks). But there can be no doubt that the celebration has become for us truly about the birth of Jesus. Why else would we call it "Christ-mas" – The Christ Mass, or celebration of Chris - or are you one of those who prefers to say "Happy Holidays".

Is that really how some people feel about the Christmas story? Is it an intrusion into all of the other things Christmas has become?

It is kind of like the two men who stood on the street corner in New York. One looked disgustedly at all the traffic (mostly Christmas shoppers madly rushing about to fill their Christmas lists), and commented to the other how Christmas has made everything so chaotic.

The other man looked at the first with a grin on his face and said, "It's really quite romantic. To think that a baby born two thousand years ago to poor parents in a squalid corner of a back woods town half way around the world could cause a traffic jam on fifth and main."

It didn't seem to bother the shepherds, however, when the angels horned in on their quiet evening out on the hills! God interrupted humanity - broke in with an angelic chorus - woke up the neighbours - and proclaimed the birth of a Savior for the world. And look where he chose to make the announcement… not in King Herod's court, or in Caesar's, but to humble shepherds out on the hillside; common people, who heard the call and answered; who responded with hearts full of praise and wonder.

God sent Jesus for all of us; not just for the rich, or those who consider themselves somehow special. As John 3:16 says, he came for the whosoever. God sent Jesus for the common man, and he began with those shepherds on the hillside - common people like us, and yes, even for those who consider him an intrusion into Christmas.

COMMON PEOPLE

In the verses following our scripture, we read about Jesus being presented at the temple to be circumcised. We meet Simeon and Anna, who we somehow figure must be part of the priesthood working in the temple, but it is not true. Simeon was a simple man - devout and righteous, but not a priest. He was a layperson who had been given a special promise and who hung out in the temple courts awaiting the fulfillment of that promise. Anna was a prophetess, yes, but she too was just a common person, a widow who had devoted her life to praising God in the temple. She too was a layperson.

Just like with the shepherds, Luke was making a point; God did not send Jesus for the scholars only. He sent his son to earth for everyone, because he considers everyone to be important in His kingdom. Jesus himself said "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17)

The Shepherds were common people - unschooled in theology, or homiletics or apologetics. He came for common folk like them, like you and like me. We are important to Him. We are all important to Him.

One time at a Christian conference, a woman, who was complimented on her homemade biscuits commented, "Just consider what goes into the making of these biscuits. The flour itself doesn't taste good, neither does the baking powder, nor the shortening, nor the other ingredients. However, when I mix then all together and put them in the oven, they come out just right."[2]

Many of us might consider our lives to be average, or even wrought with difficulties. We are different, and there are parts in all of our lives that perhaps do not "taste good", but God calls us all, because we are all part of the ingredients of his kingdom, the common and the uncommon.

James Cox comments: "Christianity my friends, has never been a religion of Priest and theologians, minister's and teachers; from the very beginning it has been a religion of devout men and women with no claim whatsoever to professional expertise about their faith. This is important to remember.

"God never intended the church to be an organization of ministers. What he did intend it to be is an organization of laypersons, all "righteous and devout" like old Simeon, all devoted to fasting and prayer like old Anna, and all ready, in simple faith, to receive his Kingdom and rejoice in it. Ministers, in Christianity, are expendable; good, simple folk are not!"[3]

So what is it that makes the common things so uncommon in God's eyes? It has to do with something called consecration, or holiness. In essence all that means is a devotion to God, completely and utterly. The shepherds, Simeon, Anna, the disciples, Mary Magdalene, St. Augustine, Booth, Billy Graham; they all heard the call and they all answered.

The disciples left everything and followed Him. The shepherds ran to his side. Booth gave up his position in the Methodist Church. All so that they could give themselves wholly to God. We know these people as uncommon people, but before they gave themselves wholly to God, they were no different from you or I. They too were just common people who came in contact with an uncommon Savior who changed their lives.

They all heard the call and they all answered.

COMMON PURSUIT

For the shepherds, there was no question, only a statement "Let us go…" They did not hesitate to seek out the new born baby - this "Savior" that the angels spoke of. Luke doesn't even tell us what they did with their sheep when they left, though anyone who has seen a shepherd working with sheep knows that Luke could not have used the verb "hurried" if the sheep had been with them!

Unlike the Magi, who had to search the scriptures and the skies to find the King of Kings, the shepherds knew with certainty what they would find - they believed. All they desired was to get a glimpse of this miracle they had been told about. Which are you more like? Are you like the Magi, are you searching spiritually and studying the scriptures deeply trying to find Jesus? Or are you more like the shepherds who simply heard, believed and accepted. Study is important, yes, but we do not need a deep understanding of theology before we can encounter the living God. It would be like us feeling we had to have an understanding of the complexities of biology before we could shake hands with someone.

What is more, we do not have to pursue God, because He is already pursued us!

One evening a woman was driving home when she noticed a huge truck behind her that was driving uncomfortably close. She stepped on the gas to gain some distance from the truck, but when she sped up, the truck did too. The faster she drove, the faster the truck did. She became more frightened and exited the freeway, but the truck stayed with her. She then turned up the main street, hoping to lose her pursuer in traffic. But the truck ran a red light and continued the chase. Reaching the point of panic, the woman whipped her car into a service station and bolted out of her car screaming for help. The truck driver sprang from his truck and ran toward her car. Yanking the back door open, the driver pulled out a man hidden in the back seat.

The woman was running from the wrong person. From his high vantage point, the truck driver had spotted a would-be rapist in the woman's car. The chase was not his effort to harm her, but to save her, even at the cost of his own safety. [4]

How like us that is. We think God is out to get us, he is the hound of heaven, chasing us and scaring us with His commandments, His call to righteousness and devotion, but all the time it is the other way around. He is pursuing us trying to help us avoid the one who really has evil in mind, and to rescue us from the hidden sins that endanger us.

There was no question in the Shepherds' mind. They heard the call, and they answered.

COMMON PROCLAMATION

There is not much detail about the Shepherds' actual quest. All we know for sure is that they left right away and "found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger." We also know they were absolutely thrilled by what they found. Here before them was a real baby, just as the angel had told them - wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

When they left the scene, they were amazed and could not contain themselves. They told everyone they came in contact with. And, that is how an encounter with God should be… If you have really touched him - if you have really felt His touch - it effects you so deeply that you can't help but let those around you know.

How many more people came to see the new baby because the Shepherds went and told them what to look for? How many more later followed the grown man, Jesus, because they remembered hearing the shepherds speak of him in their youth?

TODAY

Today - that is this day - we may not hear an angel choir singing "Glory to God in the highest", but the call to us is just as clear. "Come and see the baby who is born the Savior of the world - he is Christ, the Lord." Will you, like the shepherds answer that call? Will you run to the manger to see the baby? Will you leave with the same enthusiasm and proclaim it to your friends that God has reached down from heaven and touched us?

The Shepherds responded with their hearts full of praise and wonder. Our response need not be any less. They all heard the call, and answered, what about you?

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[1] Fredericksburg Bible Illustrator Supplements

[2] Leadership Magazine, Winter 1992, Greg Asimakoupoulos, Concord, California

[3] James W. Cox, The Minister's Manual 1995, New York: Harper, 1994, p. 275.

[4] Fredericksburg Bible Illustrator Supplements

Sermon: The Difficult Journey

Scripture: Luke 1:45-55, 2:1-7
(Series: Meet me at the Manger # 2)
(Chatham Citadel, December 10^th, 2000)
(Wallaceburg Corps, December 17^th, 2000)

A professor at Harvard once said to Rebecca Pippert (author and speaker on evangelism), "I admire the fact that you are devout, but in the end it doesn't make any difference whether you believe in God or not. Life is essentially the same for everyone. Don't Christians get cancer, get divorced, long for their children to do well? Don't Christians fail, morally?"

She answered yes, they do.

"You're proving my point," the man said. "God DOESN'T make a difference."

She explained to him that one of the difficulties is; Christians try to pin the difference in the wrong place. Sometimes we try to make it seem as if, when we follow Jesus, we are no longer human. So, what is the difference God makes?

It begins to show, Rebecca told him, in how we handle problems and personal failings - not in freedom from them. She understood there is nothing we do that does not contain some corruption, that does not have some self-serving motive. God shows us the problem of human nature and He gives us a diagnosis for our condition: SIN.

The professor interrupted at this point, "If I was that hard on myself, I'd be depressed! But you seem so joyful."

Then she told him the rest of the story: "That's because I've also been given a solution. It's the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to help me overcome."

"Has the cure worked?" the professor asked.

"I'm not a finished product, if that's what you mean. But I'm learning to live in recovery from sin and I'm growing in amazing grace, and that would make anyone joyful!"[1]

Our journey does not end when we meet Jesus, it only puts us on the right road.

That was Mary and Joseph's experience. One would think that meeting an angel would prove to be a life changing experience, and it was, but the young couple did not find their lives enriched and filled with ease when the angel left them. Rather, they found themselves thrown into hardships beyond belief. But they pressed on, because they trusted God. They trusted that he would ultimately bring redemption to the world, through that same Jesus who would be their son.

They knew God could work miracles, and they trusted that he was using them to fulfill his plan.

STIGMA

The first difficulty Mary and Joseph faced on the journey to the manger was the stinging judgment of their friends and relatives.

Even in the 21st century, being pregnant out of wedlock still holds some stigma, but not anything like in those first century days. Mary could well have been stoned to death for what appeared to everyone to be indiscretion.

Joseph was not immune either. By separating himself from his bride to be, Joseph would have been considered blameless, but he chose to stand by Mary's side, and so took on himself the same stigma. The illegitimate pregnancy would likely have been blamed on him by people who considered themselves wise. They would have raised their eyebrows and whispered knowingly to their cohorts, "aaah, so he is the father…"

But Mary and Joseph pressed on, because they trusted God. They trusted in the message he had given them and they trusted in God's ultimate providence, no matter what the hardships were along the way.

F.B. Meyer tells a story, of visiting a beekeeper who told him how young bees are nurtured. The queen lays her eggs in six-sided cells filled with pollen and honey - enough to feed them until they reach maturity. The top of the cell is sealed with a cap of wax. When the young bee has exhausted their supply, it is time to leave the cell, but to do so, they must fight their way through the wax seal. The opening is narrow, and the struggle is agony for the young bee. In the midst of the struggle, the bee rubs off a membrane that encases its wings, so that when the bee finally emerges, it is able to fly. But that is not the end of the story…

The beekeeper explained that once a moth got into the hive and ate all of the wax capsules. The young bees were able to crawl out without any effort at all. But they could not fly. They were unproductive, and eventually the mature bees instinctively stung them to death.[2]

Hardship is part of our existence in this world, but God in his wisdom has used even these hardships to benefit us. Romans 8:28 reads, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." That is why Joseph (that is, the Joseph with the coat of many colors), could say to his brothers after he had been through so many trials, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20). And why Paul could say to the Corinthians, after all he had endured, "I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." (1 Corinthians 9:23)

They pressed on, because they trusted God.

JOURNEY

The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem is approximately 140 km long - around the distance along the 401 between Chatham and Woodstock. Not a long way by car, but can you imagine the trip walking, or on the back of a donkey - let alone being nine months pregnant at the time? It is a miracle that Mary made it to Bethlehem at all. Under normal conditions, the journey would have taken the better part of a week, but with Mary expecting at any moment, it may have taken much longer.

What is more, Mary was probably not even required to make the journey at all. As the head of the household, her husband, Joseph, could have gone alone to register, saving his pregnant wife the hardships of travel. So why did she go?

She may have went because she wanted Joseph at her side when the baby was born, but more likely she went because she could not continue to face the difficult questions, the ridicule and the scoffing of the people in Nazareth - not without Joseph with her.

That scoffing did not end. Almost thirty years later, at the commencement of Jesus' ministry, after reading from the scripture and prophesying, Jesus was almost thrown off a cliff by these same people.

The road was hard, the ridicule was difficult, but they pressed on, because they trusted God. They trusted that his promise was true - that they would be the earthly parents of the coming Messiah. They trusted that God would take care of things, no matter how terrible they looked at that moment.

INN

Even on reaching Bethlehem, the hardships did not end.

Some have conjectured that Joseph probably arranged a place for them to stay ahead of time, but the place where they were supposed to be that night was given to someone else before they got there - possibly because they were delayed on the journey.

We have no record of what the stable was like, we only know that Jesus was lain in a manger. The manger could have been in an open courtyard with the animals, or in a wooden shed as tradition has made it. Or it might have been in a cave, carved out of the stone, as was often the case in those days. Whatever the facts, however, it was not the most pleasant place to give birth, or to spend your first hours on earth.

Yet, Mary and Joseph endured it. They pressed on, because they trusted God. They trusted that even in these humble surroundings, God was working a miracle. They were focused on what God had in mind, and did not worry about the situation surrounding them.

In the early morning hours of July 4^th, 1952, a swimmer named Florence Chadwick made an attempt to become the first woman to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast, a 21 mile swim through shark-infested waters. The water became foggy that morning, and less than half a mile from shore, Chadwick had to be pulled from the water. It was not fatigue that defeated her. It was limited vision. "If I could have seen land, I might have made it." She said later.

After two months, she made another attempt. This time she kept a picture of the coast in her mind, overcame the despair, and reached her goal. (Wikipedia)

How many times over those nine months, and even in the months following Jesus' birth, must Mary and Joseph have despaired? But they pressed on, because they trusted God.

How many times do we despair at the difficulties life brings us - death, corruption, deceit, disappointment - they blind our vision of the goal.

What is the solution? Focus on Jesus - see your goal and press on. Trust in God.

PROMISE

There are difficulties in life, whether we have faith in God, or whether we do not. The difference is in how we approach those difficulties when we have accepted God's providence. Mary & Joseph faced ridicule, rejection, a difficult journey, and lowly accommodations at the end of that Journey. But they pressed on, because they trusted God.

Our hope is not in earthly things, but in heavenly. Our goal is not ease on earth, but joy in heaven. How else can we understand the words of Paul to the Philippians when he says:

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained." (Phil 3:10-16 NIV)

Let me close with this simple story: A father, who climbed the ladder of success by determination and hard work, told the dean of a college where he hoped to send his son to school, that he wanted to spare his son from the same hardship he had endured. He intended to give his son all the money he wanted.

The dean, after listening to the man's good intentions, suggested he send his son to another college. He told the good man, "Our College already has enough students on that road to perdition."

Are you facing struggles today? Are you not sure sometimes, if you can make it to the next day, past the next bill, through this difficult trial? Trusting God will not make those things go away, but it will change your heart. What others intend for harm, God will use for good. Press on, and trust in God.

 

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[1] When You Don't Have It All Together, Rebecca Pippert, Discipleship Journal #57, May 1990, page 17.

[2] Fredericksburg Bible Illustrator Supplements

Sermon: Angelic Announcement

Text: Matthew 1:18-25
(Series: Meet me at the Manger - Advent # 1)
(Chatham Citadel / Wallaceburg Corps - December 3^rd, 2000)

We all know the story of the first Christmas, and we all, to some degree, enter into the spirit of the holidays. But every year, I wonder do we really appreciate what a momentous occasion the birth of Jesus Christ was? Do we really understand how miraculous it was?

I am not just talking about the miracle of the virgin birth, or that a star could lead kings to a specific spot, or that angels would shout for joy in the presence of shepherds. I am talking about the miracle of God directly entering into his own creation.

Yes, we have dated our calendars by the incident, and we have marked and celebrated it as one of our longest standing holidays. Yes, at no other time can we say Love, Joy and Peace reign anywhere close to the way they do during the Christmas season, and, yes, Christmas is very special in our hearts, but do we really appreciate how cosmically significant the birth of Jesus on earth is?

The event was grand enough to warrant a visit from foreign kings. It was relevant enough to all of humankind that common Shepherds were also invited to come and see. At no other time on earth, in the Biblical record, are angels seen so frequently, or in such great numbers as at this point in history.

Prophecies were proclaimed about the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ, but interpretation was not clear enough for those who studied them to recognize the events when they occurred. If those who studied the coming of the Messiah could have missed it, how easy could it be for us to miss it even today? Perhaps that is why angels had to be sent to proclaim to the participants, and to the witnesses, that God was about to intervene in human affairs.

As we begin our journey through advent, I would like to remind all of us of the importance of the event. Perhaps we will not witness the angel chorus proclaiming "Glory to God in the highest," but we do not have to miss the significance. For a few minutes, let us look at three or four particular instances when angels delivered their proclamation from God. In each case, directly, or indirectly, those instances were related to the coming of Jesus Christ, and in every case, the message was given, not only to inform the recipients, but also to invite them to be participants in the event.

We, too, though it is some 2000 years later, are invited to be participants in the advent, and so, as we look at the angels' message, let us not forget that we are more than hearers of the good news. We too are invited to come and see Jesus.

ZECHARIAH

Luke takes us further back in the story of the nativity than any other Gospel. All of the gospels recognize John the Baptist, and his important role, near the beginning of their story, but only Luke explains the events of his birth, and remarkably, the first dialogue in Luke, following some preamble and stage setting, is spoken by an angel.

The circumstances surrounding John's birth were certainly not as miraculous as those surrounding Jesus' were, but they were definitely out of the ordinary. So much so, that Zechariah himself lacked confidence in the message. As a sign, the angel Gabriel struck him dumb so that he could not speak until the baby was born and it was time to name him. (Perhaps some of us men would have been better off if that happened to us while our wives were pregnant!…)

But the angel's message was not merely to tell Zechariah and Elizabeth they were going to have a son. The announcement brought some much more important news as well. Zechariah's son, John would be the Elijah prophesied in the Old Testament (Malachi 4:5-6), and he would precede the Messiah, the Christ - the Saviour of the world. If Zechariah was struck dumb because he could not believe that he would have a son, imagine what his reaction to this news must have been!

Zechariah was amazed at the news the angel brought - in spite of the fact he had been praying for a son.

Just like Zechariah, we often engross ourselves in our Christian "religion" and hold firmly to its doctrines, even pray fervently for a wide variety of things, but when God says he will answer our prayers, or our faith is tested in some way, we let go so easily.

Zechariah was not only invited to share in the miraculous answer to his prayers, but in the most miraculous event in history. If that kind of message is brought every time an angel appears, it is perhaps not any wonder that they seem to always be saying "do not be afraid!"

JOSEPH AND MARY

Six months later, after that first appearance to Zechariah, the same angel Gabriel traveled to Nazareth, and to Mary, who would become the mother of Jesus. Again, we hear the words "Do not be afraid."

This time, however, Mary has more to fear than the astonishing appearance of Gabriel. To be pregnant out of wedlock in those first-century days could easily have meant death for her. Yet, Mary was certain of her own uprightness before God. Apart from asking how such a thing could be possible - a much more rational and practical question coming from Mary, than it was from Zechariah - Mary is willing to serve God in whatever way she can. Mary knew what she was not guilty of. She had her own integrity to stand on, no matter how it might look to other people, she knew the truth and she seems to accept the matter with relative ease.

Mary's fiancé, Joseph, however, did not take it so lightly. I think we can all appreciate it is easier for a woman to know that there is no possible way she could have been impregnated in the normal way than for a man to know his wife has not been violated. It would take a more extreme step of faith for Joseph to believe than for Mary.

Joseph was a compassionate man, however, and he did not want to bring any harm, or disgrace, to the woman he had chosen to marry. So, he thought it best not to make a fuss over the matter. Instead, he would let her out of her nuptial commitment quietly and gracefully.

That was the rational thing to do, but this was an irrational situation. Joseph needed some divine intervention to boost his faith in Mary, and the story she was telling him. An angel visited him, too. And again the words "do not be afraid" are spoken. But this time in direct relation to the ridicule Joseph and Mary would face from those who simply could not, or would not understand.

Do we need an angel to visit us before we can believe the account lain out before us? Zechariah, Mary and Joseph all had that kind of support to their faith, but there are many that did not.

There is no account of John the Baptist ever having been visited supernaturally in any way we have not, and yet he proclaimed the coming of the Messiah boldly.

Some of us, like Mary and Joseph, are thrown into faith. The young couple did not seem to have any choice but to participate in the birth of Christ. Many of us have grown up in a Christian home and sometimes have the challenge of seeing the grit and grime of living faith - the day to day challenges - without having had the incredible conversion experience of those who have not know Christ until later in life. But whether we are thrust into faith, or come to it in some other way, a miracle is no less a miracle. The fact of God coming to earth is just as thrilling either way.

THE SHEPHERDS

The shepherds did not have the same kind of experience. They were not direct participants, but rather privileged witnesses to the event of Christ's birth. Imagine a quiet night in the fields minding the sheep, when all glory breaks out in the sky above you. Again we hear the words, "do not be afraid" and this time, it is definitely to calm some very shaken shepherd nerves.

Perhaps most of us can relate most closely to those herdsmen on the hillside. We are not the parents of the prophet John, or of the Saviour - we too are common people who live our lives in the daily grind of making a living. The message the angels spoke to those shepherds was one for us too: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior is born to you; he is Christ the Lord." And when the great company arrived - the back-up choir - they sang "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

There was no recorded conversation between the shepherds and those angels. Perhaps there were others who heard the same message that night. It was the shortest encounter of all those recorded in the nativity, but the message is the most far reaching. The Shepherds could not sit still after hearing it. Immediately they had to pick up their things and go - to find the Christ child.

YOU

This Christmas you will hear the message once again. Not the gruesome events of the crucifixion, or the challenging words of Jesus in his ministry; not the difficult task of following under persecution in Acts or toiling to grow a fledgling church in the epistles. Or any of the other times in the Bible when following faith is shown to be the difficult task that it is. The message we hear at Christmas is that of love. Of the love of a gracious God who went to the extreme of entering into his own creation so that it might be saved from its own corruption.

You too are invited to be a participant this Christmas in that message of love, and in the nativity. How will you answer the invitation? Will you be struck dumb like Zechariah? Will you try to quietly pass it off as a surviving urban legend as Joseph almost did? Will you accept the truth quietly and with confidence as Mary, or will you run to meet Jesus as the Shepherds did?

We know what that little baby became. We know what he means to us personally. Are you prepared to meet the savior in that lowly stable in that manger? The angelic announcement of his coming to earth has been proclaimed… will you come to meet him?

Sing with me again as we just as the words say; Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ, the new born King.