the dark night suddenly lit up with dazzling light.
An angel appears announcing God's special delivery in Bethlehem.
A special delivery clearly marked God's King and Saviour, Christ the Lord.
The salvation package which God had promised many, many years earlier had finally arrived.
Now, big breaking news stories gets a lot of coverage on our social media, our devices.
Pop-ups tell you this is a big story.
All the things that go around it, this is a big story, big news feed.
But nothing compares to this breaking news.
One angel is joined by what I've called before perhaps the first flash mob ever in history.
The sky is filled with angels behind the first angel just singing the praises of God.
Why?
Because of God's special delivery to his world.
Now, there's something really shocking, actually scandalous about this announcement.
The announcement was made to a bunch of shepherds.
Not to high society people who had power and influence, as we might expect a big announcement to be.
Not to them.
But God chose a bunch of shepherds.
Who, in Jesus' day, were actually a despised group of people.
Probably young blokes.
Certainly, they were religious outcasts.
The religious outcasts, because of their work, they couldn't actually fulfill the ceremonial law required for them.
And so they were on the outside of recognized Jewish religion, on the outside of the temple.
And they were social outcasts.
Mostly, they were just uneducated, rough, redneck types.
And yet, it's to these people that God made his special announcement.
Why such an exciting announcement to an unlikely audience?
Well, I don't think it's just because another baby's been born.
Quite literally, around the world that night, there would have been thousands of babies born, quite possibly.
And Luke does emphasize that this was a real baby.
A real human baby, born after a real pregnancy, in a real place, in a real time.
But that's not his focus.
What makes this so interesting is the identity of the baby.
This is an extraordinary baby.
And we'll see more about that in a minute.
So we're going to pause now, and then Chris is going to read the passages with that little bit of introduction.
And then we're going to have another part of the kids talk.
And then we'll sign.
No, we're not.
Okay.
Is that right?
All right.
Okay.
Well, whatever.
Just get on to it then.
I was going to say nobody tells me anything, but that's not true.
They did tell me.
I just haven't got it right.
If you haven't already got your word open or device open, it's Luke chapter 2, starting at verse 1.
And we're going to read 20 verses, not chapters.
So Luke chapter 2.
In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
And all went to be registered, each to his own town.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger,
because there was no place for them in the inn.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.
And they were filled with great fear.
And the angel said to them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a saviour, who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you.
You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.
And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning this child.
And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.
And it had been told to them.
And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus.
The name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
So we've got a sky full of angels and a bunch of shepherds.
And they're all just bursting forth in song because of what they'd heard about this announcement of,
the most amazing announcement ever of the arrival of Jesus, God's special package.
The second point I want to make is that this package comes with the most amazing gift wrapping ever.
Clothed in flesh and humility.
So we see the gifts before us.
The final touch, and this is one I'm not interested in really,
but the final touch on any gift is the gift wrapping.
I can see it with my girls.
They really, really see a gift as being extra special
when it's obvious to them, however that comes to them,
it's obvious to them that the gift wrapping
has been chosen as carefully as the gift itself.
The whole package speaks, therefore,
of the care and the knowledge and the intimacy of the person who gave the gift.
But the brutal reality against that is that after Christmas,
we see wheelie bins just overflowing with Christmas wrapping.
Most kids and many adults like me just rip the stuff off
because we're only interested in what's inside.
You might see some girls, adult females,
they might linger over the wrapping
and just delicately unpick all the little bits of sticky tape.
Everybody else in the room, come on, get on with it.
But they're savoring.
They're unwrapping, they're savoring,
and they want to keep it.
But for both groups,
the main event is on the inside,
the gift itself.
As the angel announced
the arrival of God's special delivery,
he also put special attention on the gift wrapping.
We're told that this gift comes to us in human flesh.
The sign, as Chris read to us,
would be a baby in a manger.
But in this case,
the gift wrapping was incredibly important.
Indeed, the gift wrapping is inseparable from the gift
and would never be discarded.
So the message of Christmas
is not just that Jesus was born into the world,
but that in Jesus,
God was born into the world
as an extraordinary baby
who was fully and completely God,
fully and completely human.
And this event happened,
we're celebrating this morning,
a bit over 2,000 years ago.
And it's in the wrapping
that God,
we see God's thoughtfulness,
we see God's care and attention,
we see God's knowledge of us
and how much he values us.
God chose a delicate mesh
of human fiber,
fragile,
needy,
unremarkable,
to make his gift
totally suited
to his people's needs.
Clothed in flesh
and humility,
God became
one of us.
That's the amazing part of Christmas,
that God became one of us.
He came to us
in our situation,
in our context.
How amazing is that?
The maker of the universe
becomes a small part of the universe.
A baby
lying in a cattle trough
in a dirty,
smelly,
nondescript
animal shelter.
And for all the grandeur
of Jesus' status
as the long-awaited Messiah,
and that's how he's described,
this baby is the Messiah,
God's King and Savior,
Lord.
For all the grandeur
of that,
for all the authority
that that baby had
vested in him
and in himself
to speak and act
in this world,
his story
begins with
a rather scandalous
display of humility.
It's shocking.
And yet we're told here
by the angel
that this would be
his signature tune.
This would be his mark.
This would be the measure
of his whole life,
and especially,
as we'll see later
in the story,
his death.
The mission of Jesus
was not just to come
into the world,
but the mission of Jesus
was to come into the world
to identify with us
and to serve us,
his people,
by doing for us
that which we cannot
do for ourselves,
establish peace with God.
My friends,
there's nothing sentimental
about that.
There's nothing silent
about that.
In fact,
as Jesus came into the world
in the most
inglorious
and humble manner,
God,
in a sense,
was screaming at his world
that this is my
thoughtful
saving commitment
to you,
my people,
who are so desperately
in need of my
thoughtful saving commitment.
We're going to pause again.
Just checking,
just checking.
All right,
so we've got the sky
full of angels,
a bunch of shepherds,
they're all just
overflowing with praise.
It's the most
amazing announcement,
the most special
gift wrapping,
and it's the most
amazing gift ever.
In Jesus,
at Christmas,
God gives us
himself.
When we get a gift,
it's always lovely,
or when we give a gift,
it's always lovely
to hear the response,
whoa,
that's the best
gift ever.
We actually struck
it rich with our
grandchildren this year.
I think we got
a complete agreement
that all our gifts
were actually cool,
which is very special
when you're our age.
But that's what you love
to hear,
isn't it?
People appreciate
that the gift
is just what they want.
This is exactly
what I need.
And when we hear
that response,
then we realize
that all the effort
we put into finding
that gift
has been worthwhile.
Well,
in the birth of Jesus,
we see how much effort
God has put into
getting us
just exactly
the gift we need.
He's described
as a Savior,
and that's good news.
Verse 11,
the angel strings together
a series of titles
from the Old Testament
which described
this newborn
extraordinary baby.
He is Savior,
Christ the Lord.
This apparently
fragile,
helpless baby
is God the Father's
firstborn son.
He has the Father's
full authority.
He's the expression
of the Father's
glory and power.
He's the fulfillment
of all God's promises
to act
or save
or deliver
His people
from their sin.
This baby Jesus
would be the one
who would sort out
the mess
that we have caused
in God's world,
the mess
of our own hearts
and the mess
that overflows
from our own hearts.
God would sort
that out in Jesus,
rescue people
from the power
of sin
and renew us.
Why?
So that we might
have new desire
to love
and serve
and honour
the Lord.
In other words,
Jesus would do
what all the other
prophets before Him
had failed to do
and were unable to do
and what we're unable
to do for ourselves.
Why can we be sure
of this?
Well, because
He is Lord God.
He has the power
and authority
He needs
to do the job
given to Him.
And all of that
is affirmed
in His mission
by display
of God's glory
at His birth.
This is something
the whole of heaven
is invested in.
In the most
important announcement
ever made
in our world,
both our need
is highlighted
and also
the solution
is spelled out.
We need
somebody like us
to sort out
the mess
we've caused.
And in Jesus,
we have somebody
who identifies
with us
but who is also
different from us.
He's not part
of the problem.
He's the solution.
Jesus has come
to reclaim,
to rescue
and renew.
So when we think
of baby Jesus,
we've got to think
humility,
frailty,
but we've also
got to think
grandeur and power
and authority.
And little wonder
therefore
is described
in verse 10
as good news.
Little wonder
verse 13,
all of heaven
bursts into
song of praise.
And we see that
in this series
over three weeks.
Every time we have
people who get
anything of a glimpse
of who Jesus is
and what he's about,
then they erupt
in song,
a song of praise,
a song of thanksgiving.
And heaven too
erupts
because heaven
had waited
for this moment,
for this saving moment,
for centuries.
And the direct result
of Jesus
being born a saviour
is that peace
would be established.
That's what the angel says.
Now,
at that point,
this idea has been
distorted
and trivialised
and sentimentalised
as peace and goodwill
to everybody.
That's what we hear
and it's cringeworthy,
isn't it?
It's a sentimental notion
that says,
well,
Christmas is all about
being nice to people
so you have to
make sure you don't
have a family argument
at least on Christmas Day
or, well,
actually,
at least just for the meal
anyway.
But that's not
what it means here.
It's much more powerful.
The peace that's referred
to here
is something that's
granted
by God
through Jesus.
The peace here
is something that
Jesus secures
and it's not necessarily
something that
everyone will experience.
It is peace
among those
who are granted
peace
by God's grace,
by God's favour,
by God's generosity.
And that's what makes
Jesus really unique
in the world.
Jesus was born
into a period
of unprecedented
peace and prosperity.
It was called
the Pax Romana.
Now,
this peace and prosperity
was a political
sort of military
peace
and it was enforced
by the ruthless
brutality
of the Roman
legions
under Caesar
Augustus.
But interestingly,
even in those days,
a philosopher
of the day,
Epictetus,
pointed out how
limited Caesar's
peace really was
and he wrote,
while the emperor
may give peace
from war
on land
and sea,
he is unable
to give peace
from passion,
grief,
and envy.
Yeah,
he could enforce
a form of peace
from the outside in,
but that did nothing
to quell the hearts
that wants to erupt
from the inside out
and ultimately
cause the violence
and terrors
of our world.
He cannot give
peace of heart
for which
mankind yearns,
more even
than for outward
peace.
King Jesus
comes into
our world
to establish
spiritual peace,
peace between
God and man,
which means
freedom
from the fear
of rejection
by God,
confidence
that we have
a secure home
in heaven
waiting for us
at death.
And in contrast
to Caesar's peace,
this will not
be achieved
by violence
and ruthless
suppression
of those
who are their
enemies.
It will be
achieved by
Jesus becoming,
King Jesus
becoming the
Prince of Peace.
It will be
achieved as
God's own
Son absorbs
the wrath
that comes
from the Father
for our sin.
It comes
as Jesus
dies
the death
that we
deserve to
die
to secure
peace and
life for us,
his people,
with the
Father.
Imagine that.
We celebrate
Christmas
as the very
basis of
fear-free
living.
Behind every
fear,
ultimately,
I believe,
and psychologists
would believe,
is the fear
of being rejected
by God.
We see it
stepped right
up.
We fear
being rejected
by those
closest to us.
We fear
being rejected
by family.
We fear
being rejected
by community.
And so it
goes right up
the line.
And ultimately,
there's a deep-seated
fear that many
of us don't even
articulate,
fear of when
we die,
being rejected
by God.
The evidence
of that is we
spend so much
time trying to
assure ourselves
that when we do
die,
everything will
be fine.
Rest in
peace.
Jesus'
kingdom is not
about political
or military
power.
His greatness
is that he
identifies with
those who have
nothing going
for them.
And does for
them what they
could never do
for themselves.
That is,
he gives
restless,
fearful,
wandering
hearts,
the peace
they desperately
crave.
Little wonder
the angel says
I bring you
good news
of great joy
made available
to all people
and to you.
At present
opening time,
every child
and most
adults,
you can see
it this
morning,
they just
want the
best present
to be theirs.
You can see
it around the
family tree.
They're trying
very much to
be in the
moment with
their own
present,
but you can
see the eyes
going sideways
and you can
see them
evaluating,
is my present
as good as
my brother's
present?
They just
want their
present to be
the best.
Well,
God's
announcement
is clear.
God's gift
of himself
is as a
saviour for
you.
This
saviour is
hand-built,
as it were,
by the
Lord,
purpose-built,
individually
and specially
wrapped,
and it's for
you.
Hand-delivered
for you.
For you,
if you're
willing to
put your
hand out
and take
the gift
which God
offers you
with all
the promise
of delight
and peace
and satisfaction
and hope
that comes
with that
gift.
So,
I just
finish with
this challenge
on this
Christmas
morning.
It's really
over to
you.
God is
offering you
this morning
in Jesus
a wonderful
present.
himself,
wrapped
perfectly
as you
need it,
need him
to be
wrapped.
It
demonstrates
completely
God's
love for
you and
his
commitment
to giving
you the
peace that
you crave
in your
heart but
haven't been
able to
find in
anything
else outside
of Jesus.
Jesus
is the
gift
you've
always
needed
but
here's
the
rub.
He's
the
gift
you
may
not
always
have
longed
for.
But on
this
Christmas
morning
he's
the
gift
that's
before
you
one
more
time.
will
you
turn your
nose
up at
him
for
another
year
and
just
let
this
day
be
sentimentality
and a
big
feat
convinced
that you
might
still find
peace
in your
heart
in some
other
place
in our
world
or in
your
life
in some
other
relationship
or will
you take
God's
gift
enthusiastically?
Amen.