WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.179 Let's turn back to Luke chapter 2, which we heard read earlier in the service. It's on page 857 of the Church Bibles. 00:00:10.580 --> 00:00:21.580 Do you know this year I'm actually quite looking forward to Christmas. I think the older you get maybe the more willing you are to sort of put up with the chintz and embrace the cheer. 00:00:21.579 --> 00:00:34.500 I might even get a Christmas jumper this year. But the thing is, what happens in a week or two when all of the fun is over, when all of the festivities finish for another year? 00:00:34.920 --> 00:00:48.119 What happens when the decorations have to come down? When the thrill of inviting people to carol services and seeing friends and family and the partying is over? 00:00:48.119 --> 00:00:58.699 The problem with having the best Christmas ever, whatever that is, is that the high never lasts, does it? January is coming. 00:01:00.259 --> 00:01:15.420 Ordinary life is far, far less twinkly. But Luke tells us this morning that the good news of a saviour born at Christmas is for the ordinary lives that we live. 00:01:15.420 --> 00:01:28.659 We're in the third of our little mini-series looking at three announcements from angels at the birth of Jesus and the people's lives, the people who respond to those announcements. 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:39.320 And we're with the shepherds this morning. And I want us to see how their story and their response help us in the ordinary things of life. 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:47.119 Luke shows us that the news they hear from the angels, firstly, is for ordinary people. 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:51.459 The good news of Christmas is for ordinary people. 00:01:52.459 --> 00:01:59.280 So far we've seen the angels announced to Zechariah, the priest, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:09.560 And so the difference between them and these shepherds is that for the first time the angels announced to people outside of the family circle. 00:02:09.740 --> 00:02:11.599 I've not noticed that until this week. 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:18.620 Zechariah and Elizabeth and Mary, they are all relatives, aren't they, to Jesus Christ. 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:23.740 But these shepherds have no family connections whatsoever. 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:28.480 They turn up at the maternity wing of the inn. 00:02:29.539 --> 00:02:34.020 And they are the random guys that gatecrash the intimate family get-together. 00:02:34.980 --> 00:02:37.659 That everyone assumes that somebody else is invited. 00:02:38.200 --> 00:02:39.939 They are the outsiders, really. 00:02:40.200 --> 00:02:41.180 They're not priests. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:42.620 They're not relatives. 00:02:42.620 --> 00:02:44.200 They're not important people. 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:49.759 You probably know that shepherds were pretty low on the social ladder at the time. 00:02:50.659 --> 00:03:01.259 It's no coincidence that Luke introduces them by beginning this chapter with a reference to the most powerful man in the Roman Empire, Caesar Augustus. 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:06.519 But the shepherds are about as different as you can get from him. 00:03:07.859 --> 00:03:12.179 Shepherds of the day probably would have been self-employed, often homeless peasants. 00:03:12.180 --> 00:03:22.460 And don't think of those cute pastoral scenes with middle-class hipsters chilling by the fire, cuddling lambs. 00:03:23.300 --> 00:03:29.080 These guys are hardened, thick-skinned, down-to-earth working men, sheep men. 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:34.760 And yet it's not Caesar who gets the news, is it? 00:03:36.020 --> 00:03:37.740 It's the ordinary people. 00:03:39.340 --> 00:03:40.400 It's the shepherds. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:45.280 It's the disconnected, isolated outsiders. 00:03:46.020 --> 00:03:53.500 By the end of this section, the shepherds praise God in verse 20, but after that, we never hear of them again. 00:03:54.900 --> 00:03:57.659 They disappear into obscurity in Luke. 00:03:58.740 --> 00:04:01.420 They're not key characters in Luke's gospel. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:05.700 They have a kind of cameo appearance at the beginning, but then that's it. 00:04:05.699 --> 00:04:11.139 They don't get a long song recorded like Mary or Zechariah do. 00:04:12.060 --> 00:04:16.639 But Luke's point is that they are exactly the kind of people that this news is for. 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:19.300 It's the ordinary people. 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:26.480 It's not Caesar who is esteemed by the angels, is it, in this chapter, but the shepherds. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:31.500 Only they get to see the angels appear in full force. 00:04:32.100 --> 00:04:35.480 Only the peasants get the royal treatment. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:40.020 And it's exactly what the angel says to them, isn't it? 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:45.860 That this is good news of great joy for all the people. 00:04:45.860 --> 00:04:56.420 At first, in the beginning, at Luke, God revealed himself to Zechariah in the temple, which is what we expect, isn't it? 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:05.300 The temple was the place where God would meet with his exclusive people, the Israelites, through priests. 00:05:05.300 --> 00:05:14.620 But now his revelation has burst out of the temple, and he's revealing himself to outsiders on a farm. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:18.460 Outside of a temple, to ordinary people. 00:05:18.459 --> 00:05:26.519 I wonder how many people in this room used to say, I'm not really a church kind of person. 00:05:27.739 --> 00:05:29.539 I don't do God. 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:35.560 As if there is a kind of person that God is not interested in. 00:05:36.039 --> 00:05:39.479 The kind of person who is not religious, or who is religious. 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:43.099 But Luke tells us that that's rubbish, doesn't it? 00:05:43.099 --> 00:05:46.879 He just tells us that this good news is for ordinary people. 00:05:48.459 --> 00:05:51.939 Who never thought they had anything to do with God in the first place. 00:05:53.579 --> 00:05:55.159 This good news is for ordinary people. 00:05:55.699 --> 00:05:59.459 Secondly, this good news is for ordinary life. 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:02.139 It's for ordinary life. 00:06:04.099 --> 00:06:11.399 You know, what struck me afresh about the shepherd's story this year is that with these huge displays of glory that they see, 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:15.299 there is a bit of an anti-climax. 00:06:15.300 --> 00:06:24.860 Arguably, none of the other people who receive messages from the angels get such a glorious display of angelic power. 00:06:25.660 --> 00:06:32.019 We're told that a multitude of the heavenly hosts are there praising God. 00:06:32.379 --> 00:06:36.540 They get this huge display of power and of glory. 00:06:36.540 --> 00:06:42.620 But the passage ends with maybe what feels like a bit of an anti-climax. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:46.140 Because at the end of the high, and of the experience, 00:06:46.700 --> 00:06:50.320 the shepherds don't get to carry on seeing the glory. 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:54.480 And remain in a state of spiritual euphoria. 00:06:55.460 --> 00:06:58.060 We know that because Luke includes some little details. 00:06:58.220 --> 00:06:59.240 Look at verse 15. 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:02.319 What happens at the end of this display? 00:07:02.960 --> 00:07:05.400 The angels went away from them. 00:07:06.060 --> 00:07:07.160 Back into heaven. 00:07:08.660 --> 00:07:10.540 And then, look at verse 20. 00:07:11.060 --> 00:07:13.460 There's a really important word in verse 20. 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:16.660 The shepherds returned. 00:07:18.139 --> 00:07:21.439 Glorifying and praising God for all they'd heard and seen. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:26.800 You might sense that, say, there's a bit of a sense of anti-climax. 00:07:27.540 --> 00:07:32.319 Where the visions of glory close and the angels go back to heaven. 00:07:33.259 --> 00:07:35.759 And the shepherds have to return. 00:07:36.980 --> 00:07:38.519 Back to earth, really. 00:07:39.699 --> 00:07:43.159 The glory has gone and they've got to go home. 00:07:44.339 --> 00:07:46.579 But amazingly, they embrace that. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:49.659 They do it glorifying and praising God. 00:07:49.660 --> 00:07:53.020 They understand that this good news that they hear 00:07:53.020 --> 00:07:57.360 is not supposed to remove them from the ordinary things of life. 00:07:57.939 --> 00:08:01.320 But to sustain them in the ordinary things. 00:08:01.980 --> 00:08:06.160 They are going back home to exult in monotony. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:09.000 As they go back to their day jobs. 00:08:11.060 --> 00:08:14.180 Many, many people would have loved to have seen what they saw. 00:08:15.200 --> 00:08:19.340 Many people longed for extraordinary signs in the ministry of Jesus. 00:08:19.660 --> 00:08:21.980 And he did give many, didn't he? 00:08:22.520 --> 00:08:25.300 And many people longed for those kind of signs today. 00:08:27.080 --> 00:08:30.980 But the shepherds understand that it was more glorious. 00:08:31.900 --> 00:08:34.600 Not that God delivers us from the ordinary. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:40.480 But he gives us a message and a saviour to preserve us in the ordinary. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:46.180 Who gives us a reason to praise and glorify God in the ordinary. 00:08:46.179 --> 00:08:50.179 Just think about what the shepherds have to return to. 00:08:51.459 --> 00:08:53.559 They've just seen all of this. 00:08:54.719 --> 00:08:57.819 They've met this baby who's wrapped in cloths. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:01.439 Who is confirmed as the Christ. 00:09:01.579 --> 00:09:04.679 As God's chosen king over the world. 00:09:04.959 --> 00:09:05.679 The Lord. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:11.500 But then the highs of that night's experience can't last. 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:14.079 Because the sheep still need feeding. 00:09:15.239 --> 00:09:17.199 The ewes still need milking. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:20.679 They've still got to be shepherds. 00:09:21.899 --> 00:09:23.359 And they've got to return. 00:09:24.719 --> 00:09:28.399 They've still got the strains of long, hard physical work ahead of them. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:34.360 And meeting the angels and the Lord Jesus doesn't change that. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:37.480 They've still got to go to bed and get up at the crack of dawn. 00:09:37.860 --> 00:09:39.419 They've still got to live with each other. 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:41.399 And forgive each other. 00:09:42.340 --> 00:09:44.779 They've still got to care for their elderly parents. 00:09:44.899 --> 00:09:48.000 They've still got to cope with all of life, with all of its problems. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:52.820 They've still got to put up with the same old, same old. 00:09:54.100 --> 00:09:55.799 Same old men of the field. 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:57.639 Same old patch of dirt. 00:09:58.379 --> 00:09:59.820 Same old animal smell. 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:01.259 Same old night shifts. 00:10:02.299 --> 00:10:07.879 When everyone else is asleep, they still have to keep watch for night after night after night. 00:10:09.980 --> 00:10:14.820 We imagine maybe they could have got so caught up with the emotion of it all that they missed the point. 00:10:14.820 --> 00:10:21.620 But they're not distracted by the razzmatazz, are they, of the glory of the messengers. 00:10:22.379 --> 00:10:27.500 By the quality of these riveting, heavenly preachers. 00:10:28.820 --> 00:10:33.340 But these down-to-earth men see how the message counts for ordinary life. 00:10:34.800 --> 00:10:38.480 And note that their reaction wasn't to dwell on the glory of the angels. 00:10:38.700 --> 00:10:40.700 They never actually talk about that, do they? 00:10:40.700 --> 00:10:44.980 But they get on and go to Bethlehem. 00:10:45.780 --> 00:10:50.140 To get to the nitty-gritty of where this Lord and Saviour actually was. 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:52.500 And afterwards they go back to their day jobs. 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:57.240 Just think, they could have monopolised on the experience. 00:10:58.259 --> 00:10:59.640 They could have been celebrities. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:02.759 The men who met the angels. 00:11:02.759 --> 00:11:05.460 They could have gone on tour. 00:11:06.299 --> 00:11:07.419 Selling merch. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:09.360 Telling their story. 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:11.159 Writing biographies. 00:11:11.299 --> 00:11:12.159 Writing blogs. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:16.319 But they didn't major on the means of the message. 00:11:17.419 --> 00:11:18.659 On the experience. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:21.319 But on the content of the message itself. 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:26.100 I guess we have a different temptation, don't we? 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:30.600 We could be tempted to major on the quality of the messengers. 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:33.280 And complain about the lack of it. 00:11:33.520 --> 00:11:34.400 Especially this morning. 00:11:35.280 --> 00:11:36.440 The same issue, isn't it? 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:37.280 But the flip side. 00:11:38.900 --> 00:11:41.300 One of the problems that we have. 00:11:41.400 --> 00:11:45.440 Is that the good news of Christmas is ignorable. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:51.800 It doesn't come to us through the deafening singing of an angelic army. 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:56.780 It comes to us in a means that we can ignore. 00:11:57.620 --> 00:11:59.000 Should we choose to. 00:11:59.460 --> 00:12:01.780 It comes through Luke's words. 00:12:01.900 --> 00:12:03.820 Written on a page in a Bible. 00:12:05.460 --> 00:12:07.460 It comes through preachers. 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:11.360 You're not likely to come to this church. 00:12:11.520 --> 00:12:13.500 And get a euphoric experience. 00:12:13.500 --> 00:12:15.480 It's certainly not like the one that they had. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:18.240 So this message could be ignorable. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:21.120 And you could dismiss it for that reason. 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:25.559 But it comes for ordinary people. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:27.960 In ordinary ways. 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:29.460 For ordinary life. 00:12:29.620 --> 00:12:31.159 For the same old, same old. 00:12:32.460 --> 00:12:33.960 And God gives us more. 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:37.279 Than a euphoric experience. 00:12:38.059 --> 00:12:39.740 Something that will evaporate. 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:41.980 Like the snow of a magical white Christmas. 00:12:41.980 --> 00:12:45.879 He gives us something that lasts long. 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:47.899 Into the monotony of February. 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:50.720 Because actually. 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:53.139 Whilst they are ordinary guys. 00:12:53.899 --> 00:12:56.620 Back to the same old ordinary lives. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:57.259 That they lead. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:00.060 They are not the same people anymore. 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:02.680 Are they? 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:06.220 It is a message for ordinary people. 00:13:06.920 --> 00:13:09.019 And it's a message for ordinary life. 00:13:09.019 --> 00:13:11.939 But he is the saviour of the ordinary. 00:13:13.199 --> 00:13:15.240 He is the saviour of the ordinary. 00:13:17.299 --> 00:13:19.179 It always shocks us. 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:19.960 Doesn't it? 00:13:20.019 --> 00:13:23.360 What do you think should be the sign. 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:26.759 Of the arrival of God into the world? 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:29.879 What should be the sign of that? 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:33.240 Of the king of God's kingdom. 00:13:33.980 --> 00:13:35.200 Infiltrating the world. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:37.399 One writer says. 00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:39.139 Maybe to mark the arrival. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:41.519 God would do something fitting. 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:43.639 Like creating a planet. 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:46.360 Or maybe God should. 00:13:46.819 --> 00:13:48.960 Create a second son. 00:13:49.620 --> 00:13:52.199 And hold it between his thumb and his forefinger. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:54.259 As a sign that he was coming. 00:13:55.220 --> 00:13:58.159 Surely that would be a sign worthy of it. 00:13:59.019 --> 00:14:00.879 Something out of the ordinary. 00:14:02.379 --> 00:14:03.919 Well look at verse 12. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:07.679 This will be a sign to you. 00:14:08.779 --> 00:14:12.179 A baby wrapped in swaddling cloths. 00:14:12.439 --> 00:14:13.620 Lying in a manger. 00:14:16.099 --> 00:14:18.059 So ordinary isn't it? 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:21.439 It's so ordinary. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:24.599 That actually it's extraordinary. 00:14:26.259 --> 00:14:28.379 There won't be a halo on his head. 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.360 Just find him where the animals are fed. 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:35.000 And compared to the glory. 00:14:35.860 --> 00:14:39.659 And the razzmatazz of the messengers of the king. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.700 The king himself is very ordinary. 00:14:43.879 --> 00:14:45.600 What you notice in the passage. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:47.779 Is the huge kind of come down. 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:48.180 Isn't it? 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:49.139 For the shepherds. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:53.060 In the contrast with the glory of the servants of the king. 00:14:53.139 --> 00:14:54.159 And the king himself. 00:14:56.620 --> 00:14:59.620 I think it helps to forget our preconceptions. 00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:01.320 Of what angels are like. 00:15:02.360 --> 00:15:05.779 Forget little cherubs playing on harps. 00:15:06.180 --> 00:15:07.560 We read don't we. 00:15:07.680 --> 00:15:09.360 That the heavenly host appears. 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:11.419 That word heavenly host. 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:13.460 It means heavenly armies. 00:15:14.700 --> 00:15:16.180 If this were a scene in a movie. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.000 It would be like the Lord of the Rings. 00:15:18.139 --> 00:15:21.300 This is kind of battle for middle earth sort of stuff. 00:15:22.279 --> 00:15:25.560 With a multitude of God's supernatural warriors. 00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:28.979 Arrayed for battle en masse. 00:15:29.579 --> 00:15:31.819 Singing glory to God in the highest. 00:15:31.820 --> 00:15:34.360 That's why the shepherds don't say. 00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:36.160 Oh this is so pretty isn't it? 00:15:36.800 --> 00:15:38.520 No they are so terrified. 00:15:40.100 --> 00:15:44.300 Anyone who gives their child the same name as one of the angels. 00:15:44.299 --> 00:15:47.639 And expects a passive quiet little cherub. 00:15:47.639 --> 00:15:48.639 Is in for a shot. 00:15:49.179 --> 00:15:50.359 Isn't that right Gabriel? 00:15:51.939 --> 00:15:53.359 They are impressive. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:54.519 Intimidating. 00:15:54.959 --> 00:15:56.459 Or inspiring beings. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:58.459 They are extraordinary aren't they? 00:15:58.460 --> 00:16:02.139 And yet the one they serve. 00:16:03.139 --> 00:16:04.040 Is so ordinary. 00:16:05.460 --> 00:16:11.100 The heavens erupt with praise for the saviour of the ordinary. 00:16:11.100 --> 00:16:14.279 Who comes into an ordinary world. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.820 In 1961 Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space. 00:16:20.300 --> 00:16:23.399 Khrushchev was the premier of the Soviet Union at the time. 00:16:24.060 --> 00:16:28.139 And he famously announced that Gagarin went into space. 00:16:29.019 --> 00:16:32.980 And the cosmonaut discovered that there was no God there. 00:16:34.540 --> 00:16:35.920 Clyde Staples Lewis. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:36.519 C.S. Lewis. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:39.540 He responded in an article called The Seeing Eye. 00:16:39.539 --> 00:16:41.599 And he said if God was there. 00:16:41.699 --> 00:16:44.620 We wouldn't discover him by going higher into the air. 00:16:45.419 --> 00:16:47.500 As if he relates to someone. 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:49.639 Like someone on the top floor. 00:16:49.939 --> 00:16:52.139 Relates to someone on the bottom floor. 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:57.559 Rather he relates to us more like Shakespeare relates to Hamlet. 00:16:59.079 --> 00:17:02.659 Because Shakespeare is the creator of Hamlet. 00:17:03.259 --> 00:17:05.019 And the world that he lives in. 00:17:05.019 --> 00:17:09.339 And the only way that Hamlet can know Shakespeare. 00:17:09.339 --> 00:17:10.299 His creator. 00:17:10.819 --> 00:17:14.500 Is if Shakespeare writes himself into the play. 00:17:15.619 --> 00:17:21.279 Only if the author reveals his own character in the story itself. 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:27.379 And the only way that the extraordinary God. 00:17:27.379 --> 00:17:29.980 Who created the angels. 00:17:30.379 --> 00:17:33.079 Who created the universe. 00:17:33.579 --> 00:17:36.299 Can be known by creatures. 00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:40.440 Is if he writes himself into the ordinary. 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:44.819 And the one who fills the universe. 00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:49.980 Simultaneously limits himself to an ordinary human body. 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:54.799 He writes himself into the drama of history. 00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:56.920 And of ordinary human life. 00:17:57.099 --> 00:17:58.899 And into an ordinary world. 00:17:59.259 --> 00:18:00.960 To rescue ordinary people. 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:04.539 And so he is so ordinary. 00:18:05.539 --> 00:18:07.579 It makes him extraordinary. 00:18:07.579 --> 00:18:13.139 There is nothing too ordinary for God to enter into. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:14.220 For him to redeem. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:16.980 For him to work his grace into. 00:18:18.699 --> 00:18:23.919 Do you know I think our problem is that we feel the demands of trying to be something that we're not. 00:18:24.439 --> 00:18:27.279 We feel the pressure of trying to be extraordinary. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:30.279 We want to be everywhere. 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:31.579 Doing everything. 00:18:32.259 --> 00:18:33.019 All of the time. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:33.899 To be unlimited. 00:18:33.900 --> 00:18:37.620 We want to sort of play out the Christmas story. 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:38.720 But in reverse. 00:18:39.540 --> 00:18:41.100 God comes down to us. 00:18:41.220 --> 00:18:43.000 And he contracts himself. 00:18:43.280 --> 00:18:44.420 To a human being. 00:18:44.820 --> 00:18:47.560 But we sinfully want to go up to heaven. 00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:48.980 And expand ourselves. 00:18:49.080 --> 00:18:50.000 To be like God. 00:18:51.620 --> 00:18:54.380 We feel the limits of our bodies all of the time. 00:18:54.500 --> 00:18:56.660 We feel our failures all of the time. 00:18:56.660 --> 00:19:00.820 And we strive and we strain to be superhuman. 00:19:02.820 --> 00:19:05.200 We have this fantasy don't we of a few days. 00:19:05.420 --> 00:19:07.220 The perfect Christmas dinner. 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:11.000 With children sat obediently round the table. 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:14.880 With family adoring you for the quality of your gravy. 00:19:15.560 --> 00:19:17.400 With perfect presence. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:18.060 Perfect. 00:19:18.059 --> 00:19:21.559 It's the image we want for ourselves. 00:19:21.659 --> 00:19:23.599 It's the image that we want to project. 00:19:24.500 --> 00:19:26.740 When do you ever read a Facebook page. 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:27.799 Or a blog page. 00:19:27.899 --> 00:19:30.659 Or one of those family annual Christmas letters. 00:19:30.819 --> 00:19:32.539 With pictures of a kid saying actually. 00:19:32.899 --> 00:19:33.659 The truth is. 00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:35.919 Our Johnny is just very ordinary. 00:19:37.059 --> 00:19:39.480 He's had a very ordinary year at school. 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:42.039 And he's a very very ordinary boy. 00:19:43.659 --> 00:19:44.440 No we don't. 00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:46.639 We're attracted to the radical. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:47.840 And the extraordinary. 00:19:48.560 --> 00:19:49.800 To the ultimate. 00:19:50.180 --> 00:19:51.040 To the extreme. 00:19:52.860 --> 00:19:53.740 But with that. 00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:56.080 We're unsettled with our limits. 00:19:56.180 --> 00:19:57.540 And our ordinary gifts aren't we. 00:19:57.740 --> 00:19:58.920 We're worried about that. 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:00.259 And we're anxious about that. 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:05.080 We've become less able to deal with the ordinary. 00:20:06.380 --> 00:20:08.540 Always looking for the next thrill. 00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:11.660 Always wanting to unbox something new. 00:20:11.660 --> 00:20:13.480 To break the monotony. 00:20:14.940 --> 00:20:16.259 One Christian writer. 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:17.380 Rod Dreher. 00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:18.140 He writes. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:21.200 Do you know what my biggest problem is? 00:20:22.420 --> 00:20:24.300 My biggest problem is. 00:20:25.620 --> 00:20:26.140 Everydayness. 00:20:27.800 --> 00:20:28.540 He says. 00:20:28.759 --> 00:20:31.200 It's easy to think what I do in wartime. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:34.460 Or how I cope if a hurricane hit my house. 00:20:35.500 --> 00:20:36.640 It's easy to imagine. 00:20:37.020 --> 00:20:39.360 What I'd need to do if I won the lottery. 00:20:40.100 --> 00:20:42.500 Or if I could buy that thing I've always wanted. 00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:49.160 But it's a lot more difficult for me to figure out how I'm going to get through today. 00:20:50.220 --> 00:20:51.279 Without despair. 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:54.379 But do you see. 00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:55.539 With the shepherds. 00:20:55.539 --> 00:21:00.019 God has put the ordinary back on the agenda. 00:21:00.019 --> 00:21:05.519 Because all of God's extraordinary works. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:08.680 All of the amazing miracles that we've already seen in Luke. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:13.019 Have been done through very ordinary means. 00:21:13.019 --> 00:21:15.339 Jesus. 00:21:15.339 --> 00:21:15.619 Jesus. 00:21:16.420 --> 00:21:18.039 The God of the universe. 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:21.359 Was born in a very ordinary way. 00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:25.099 He grew for the full nine month term. 00:21:25.259 --> 00:21:25.460 Didn't he? 00:21:25.539 --> 00:21:26.900 And it all looked pretty ordinary. 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:28.500 For outsiders looking in it. 00:21:28.539 --> 00:21:29.559 It would have looked no different. 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:34.539 He assumed humanity from Mary in an ordinary way. 00:21:34.539 --> 00:21:38.659 The delivery we assume was pretty ordinary too. 00:21:39.639 --> 00:21:41.359 It was so ordinary actually. 00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:45.460 That Mary had to cope with putting her first born son in a manger. 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:46.799 In a feeding trough. 00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:47.779 It was that ordinary. 00:21:48.940 --> 00:21:50.759 And Jesus grows normally. 00:21:50.940 --> 00:21:51.159 We know. 00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:52.259 Luke tells us later. 00:21:52.399 --> 00:21:53.879 He learned in the ordinary way. 00:21:54.920 --> 00:21:57.920 Mary had the normal experience of bringing up a child. 00:21:58.759 --> 00:22:00.859 She and Joseph provide a normal home. 00:22:00.859 --> 00:22:01.960 They teach him. 00:22:02.279 --> 00:22:04.379 He learns and he gains wisdom. 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:06.119 They teach him the scriptures. 00:22:07.980 --> 00:22:11.759 He would have had a normal Galilean accent. 00:22:11.980 --> 00:22:12.299 Wouldn't he? 00:22:13.460 --> 00:22:16.819 He would have learned normal Israeli culture. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:18.819 And customs from his parents. 00:22:20.019 --> 00:22:24.980 He would have had a personality that would have been formed in ordinary ways. 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:29.059 He was a real ordinary human being. 00:22:30.639 --> 00:22:34.059 Do you see the extraordinary things. 00:22:34.539 --> 00:22:35.500 That God was doing. 00:22:35.500 --> 00:22:37.619 He was doing through ordinary means. 00:22:38.460 --> 00:22:39.500 Redeeming the ordinary. 00:22:40.339 --> 00:22:43.460 At Christmas God didn't sort of bypass the ordinary. 00:22:44.500 --> 00:22:48.559 The human body of Jesus isn't created out of nothing. 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:49.960 Ex nihilo. 00:22:50.619 --> 00:22:52.379 But out of Mary. 00:22:53.099 --> 00:22:53.720 Ex Maria. 00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:53.799 Ex Maria. 00:22:55.180 --> 00:22:57.360 So it is a miracle of the Holy Spirit. 00:22:57.360 --> 00:22:58.960 Like she heard from the angel. 00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:02.940 But he uses the ordinary means of a woman's womb. 00:23:04.380 --> 00:23:07.819 And we know that Mary is with Jesus until the end of his life. 00:23:07.980 --> 00:23:12.059 There is this normal lifelong relationship between a mother and a son. 00:23:12.059 --> 00:23:16.359 God infiltrates human existence. 00:23:16.359 --> 00:23:22.460 To use normal events and normal people in ordinary situations to bring about extraordinary results. 00:23:22.460 --> 00:23:27.340 So we don't rise to his level of power. 00:23:27.340 --> 00:23:27.860 Do we? 00:23:28.819 --> 00:23:30.840 But he descends. 00:23:31.460 --> 00:23:33.559 And works through normal things. 00:23:35.259 --> 00:23:39.200 We feel the need all the time to be bigger and better than we are. 00:23:39.319 --> 00:23:40.180 To be extraordinary. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:41.380 But we can't. 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:45.360 But God has entered the ordinary. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:47.619 So that by yourself. 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:48.799 You don't have to be. 00:23:50.279 --> 00:23:53.079 We see a God who saves the ordinary. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:55.839 The first evangelists. 00:23:56.259 --> 00:23:57.339 After the birth of Jesus. 00:23:57.339 --> 00:23:58.519 Aren't prophets. 00:23:59.559 --> 00:24:01.500 They're not fully trained theologians. 00:24:01.779 --> 00:24:02.859 With PhDs. 00:24:03.339 --> 00:24:04.139 Or priests. 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:05.439 Or important people. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:06.619 They are the peasants. 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:07.819 His shepherds. 00:24:08.459 --> 00:24:09.619 Who tell people. 00:24:10.639 --> 00:24:12.279 They're the first to tell anyone else. 00:24:12.279 --> 00:24:15.819 I'm probably going to get his name wrong. 00:24:16.180 --> 00:24:17.099 Tell me afterwards. 00:24:18.119 --> 00:24:19.980 But Czeslaw Milosz. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:22.240 Was a Polish American poet. 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:23.379 In the 1980s. 00:24:23.399 --> 00:24:25.000 I was reading a bit about him this week. 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:26.619 And near the end of his career. 00:24:26.619 --> 00:24:30.440 He reflected on the limitations of his ability. 00:24:31.220 --> 00:24:32.579 To write work. 00:24:32.740 --> 00:24:34.779 And to reach a global audience. 00:24:34.940 --> 00:24:36.740 Under the restrictions of communism. 00:24:38.059 --> 00:24:40.779 Milosz was exiled from communist Poland. 00:24:40.779 --> 00:24:40.940 Poland. 00:24:41.940 --> 00:24:42.339 Eventually. 00:24:42.660 --> 00:24:46.359 And so he started writing little Polish poems. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:49.299 While living in France and America. 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:50.779 And he said. 00:24:50.859 --> 00:24:53.740 If I'm to nourish the hope of writing with a free hand. 00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:54.859 With joy. 00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:56.039 And not under pressure. 00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:57.319 Then I must proceed. 00:24:57.899 --> 00:25:01.500 By keeping only a few Polish readers in mind. 00:25:03.259 --> 00:25:04.039 Milosz went. 00:25:04.099 --> 00:25:04.859 He went local. 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:06.299 He went ordinary. 00:25:06.299 --> 00:25:10.279 It became his quiet little occupation. 00:25:10.899 --> 00:25:11.819 While in exile. 00:25:11.960 --> 00:25:13.779 To write to a handful of readers. 00:25:14.539 --> 00:25:15.180 That was all. 00:25:16.599 --> 00:25:17.619 He was an old man. 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:18.139 By the end. 00:25:18.279 --> 00:25:19.339 Scribbling little poems. 00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:20.460 On scraps of paper. 00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:22.659 And he was pretty obscure. 00:25:23.460 --> 00:25:24.539 He was pretty ordinary. 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:27.319 But in 1980. 00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:28.539 Milosz was discovered. 00:25:29.299 --> 00:25:30.500 And he was awarded. 00:25:30.500 --> 00:25:32.500 The Nobel Prize in literature. 00:25:32.500 --> 00:25:36.839 He wanted to have an international impact. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:38.720 And ironically. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:40.500 It happened when he embraced. 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:41.319 The local. 00:25:41.539 --> 00:25:42.140 And the ordinary. 00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:45.619 Sometimes we think. 00:25:45.779 --> 00:25:45.960 Don't we. 00:25:46.019 --> 00:25:46.940 I'll pray to God. 00:25:47.059 --> 00:25:48.579 Send me wherever you want me. 00:25:48.700 --> 00:25:49.380 I'll go anywhere. 00:25:50.940 --> 00:25:53.500 I'll travel across the seven seas. 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:54.339 Wherever you want me. 00:25:54.380 --> 00:25:55.119 I'll be a missionary. 00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:58.059 But for most of us. 00:25:58.119 --> 00:25:58.739 God replies. 00:25:58.819 --> 00:25:59.099 Okay. 00:25:59.219 --> 00:26:00.459 I'll send you. 00:26:01.059 --> 00:26:02.199 To where you are. 00:26:04.379 --> 00:26:05.559 It's been said before. 00:26:05.719 --> 00:26:07.119 That since we get little. 00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:08.199 Out of the ordinary. 00:26:08.919 --> 00:26:09.919 We assume. 00:26:10.059 --> 00:26:11.719 That there's no value in it. 00:26:13.559 --> 00:26:15.219 But the shepherd's story. 00:26:15.419 --> 00:26:15.819 Shows. 00:26:16.259 --> 00:26:17.359 Extraordinary things. 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:18.359 Are not without. 00:26:18.500 --> 00:26:19.559 Ordinary means. 00:26:20.819 --> 00:26:21.839 And big differences. 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:23.759 Come from small people. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:25.079 In small places. 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:27.519 Extraordinary. 00:26:27.699 --> 00:26:28.339 Implications. 00:26:28.459 --> 00:26:30.199 Come from the ordinary things. 00:26:30.819 --> 00:26:31.719 Of God. 00:26:32.279 --> 00:26:33.799 Becoming a little baby. 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:36.179 Of shepherds. 00:26:37.099 --> 00:26:38.599 And of ordinary fishermen. 00:26:39.819 --> 00:26:41.000 And of apostles. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:43.959 And of crosses. 00:26:45.459 --> 00:26:46.799 And of little you. 00:26:46.959 --> 00:26:47.959 And little me. 00:26:49.339 --> 00:26:50.699 As far as the story goes. 00:26:50.699 --> 00:26:51.379 They disappear. 00:26:51.539 --> 00:26:52.379 They're lost in a sea. 00:26:52.500 --> 00:26:53.819 Of all the other ordinary people. 00:26:53.819 --> 00:26:57.339 But the fact that we're talking about them now. 00:26:57.500 --> 00:26:58.720 Two thousand years later. 00:26:58.859 --> 00:26:59.759 Proves the point. 00:27:01.079 --> 00:27:03.339 They went back to their ordinary lives. 00:27:03.460 --> 00:27:05.779 But God did extraordinary things. 00:27:06.220 --> 00:27:07.460 In and with them. 00:27:09.559 --> 00:27:10.039 So. 00:27:10.399 --> 00:27:12.819 God has put ordinary back on the table. 00:27:13.859 --> 00:27:14.879 For your life. 00:27:14.980 --> 00:27:16.559 And for this church. 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:17.559 He does not remove us. 00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:18.940 He does not remove us from normality. 00:27:20.099 --> 00:27:22.859 But uses and sustains us in it. 00:27:24.119 --> 00:27:26.599 And his kingdom will grow. 00:27:27.740 --> 00:27:30.500 One ordinary sermon at a time. 00:27:31.500 --> 00:27:32.960 One Bible reading at a time. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:33.899 One conversation. 00:27:34.579 --> 00:27:36.200 One meal after another. 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:39.799 One ordinary cup of tea at a time. 00:27:39.799 --> 00:27:40.799 One meal after another. 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:41.799 One meal after another. 00:27:41.799 --> 00:27:43.139 So like the shepherds. 00:27:43.259 --> 00:27:45.799 Let us exalt in monotony. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:49.960 Let us return to our homes. 00:27:50.119 --> 00:27:52.659 Let us return to our normal lives. 00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:54.639 In January and February and beyond. 00:27:55.539 --> 00:27:57.339 Glorifying this God of the ordinary. 00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:01.079 Because he is the saviour of ordinary people. 00:28:01.220 --> 00:28:02.200 With ordinary lives. 00:28:03.240 --> 00:28:04.819 And he is the saviour of the ordinary. 00:28:06.539 --> 00:28:07.639 Let's pray together. 00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:37.620 Let us pray together.