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I'm going to finish reading the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke that we started
at the beginning of the service this morning.
I am aware that we had a sermon on this passage just a couple of months ago when we celebrated
Christmas in September, but I've just loved more and more as I've studied this, what God
is doing, particularly with the shepherds in this story.
Our text for this morning is verses 8 through 20 of Luke 2.
It's really their story, how Christmas and how God brings a Savior to them and it impacts
their hearts and their lives.
It's a great window into what Christmas means for people like us.
So notice the shepherds particularly as I read and notice how in this one day they move from
fear to joy.
Quickly, but very clearly from fear to joy.
Luke 2 at verse 8.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at
night.
An angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they
were terrified.
But the angel said to them, do not be afraid.
I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you.
He is Christ the Lord.
This will be a sign to you.
You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising God and saying,
glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about.
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger.
When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.
And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen,
which were just as they had been told.
Let's pray together.
Father, we thank you again for this familiar story.
We've heard it now many times probably just this Christmas season.
Would you write its truth on our hearts?
Would we know not merely that it really happened,
although that's a great, great joy.
But would we know what that means for us and for our lives.
Father, speak to us this morning, we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
We've been talking through the Christmas season about the impact of Christmas on our hearts.
How the incarnation of the Son of God Himself impacts our longing and hope.
Our grief and comfort.
Our apathy and awe.
Last night we talked about turmoil and peace in our hearts.
This morning I want to see briefly, almost as briefly as last night, kids.
Close to a homily.
I want us to see how it transforms our fear.
Now, fear is a pretty broad term, right?
There are lots of things that you can be afraid of.
See if you can think of something that you're afraid of.
When I was growing up, and yeah, still today it's snakes.
I'm so scared of snakes.
Anybody else afraid of snakes?
Tell me I'm not the only person.
Okay, good.
But that's not the kind of fear that I'm talking about this morning.
There are a lot of phobias out there.
A lot of people had a frightful night last night because they struggle with claustrophobia and heard that he was coming.
All right.
Yeah, wow is right.
It fit into the fear sermon, you know?
My family is leaving right now.
Terrible.
I am definitely not talking about that kind of fear this morning.
The kind of fear I want us to see Christmas address in our hearts is this persistent underlying fear,
this feeling that we have of discomfort in relating to God,
and having a close relationship with Him.
I'll say it this way for our purposes this morning,
that the fear I'm talking about is living with a deep sense that God is distant, dangerous, or dissatisfied.
Remember, I'm talking about a feeling that you have,
not necessarily something you believe intellectually.
You may not believe any of those things about God,
but this is how we relate to Him.
What are the things in our hearts that drive us to relate to God in these ways?
A lot of fear.
Fear is where we find the shepherds in this Christmas story, right?
The angel appears to them, verse 9, and they are terrified.
Some versions say filled with great fear.
Or my favorite one, they were sore afraid, right?
They encounter this heavenly messenger, this representative of God,
and fear is their immediate reaction.
Now, of course, there are very good reasons for that.
I mean, put yourself in their shoes, right?
Here they are, not expecting anything,
and all of a sudden, someone shows up like nothing they have ever seen before.
They didn't know what to expect from or how to relate to an angel.
But I think there's another reason behind their fear,
that shepherds also knew well to be afraid of a divine representative
because shepherds well understood in their culture they were religious outsiders.
They were unclean, unreliable, unavailable for religious matters.
Because of their crazy work schedules and the fact that they were often ceremonially unclean
from touching dead things or from the animals they were around,
they were usually absent from all things churchy, from religious stuff.
They were despised in the community, thought of as thieves and so mistrusted by others
they didn't even qualify as legal witnesses.
Of course they were afraid about what God thought about them, right?
What He might do to them when they encounter Him.
How do you relate to God?
Let's be clear as we start to talk about fear.
There's an appropriate fear of God, isn't there?
The Bible talks about living with the fear of God,
having a reverence and an awe before Him,
before His holiness and His glory bowing before Him and living that way.
It's like Isaiah, when we get a glimpse of God,
we should be reminded of our unworthiness
and that His purity should rightly make us just disintegrate into ashes before Him.
He's that holy and we're that unworthy.
But we also have an inappropriate fear of God in our hearts
that causes us to have unhealthy ways of relating to God.
For some of us, we have like the shepherds,
what I'll call the fear of the unknown.
We keep our distance from God as though He's some distant relative
that we never know what to expect from and we don't really trust.
Having a relationship with God is,
we don't even know what that would be like or feel like.
We've heard some things about Him, but we don't really know Him.
It's why we keep our distance from reading the Bible or praying much.
It seems too close to God.
Exposing my heart to Him just doesn't feel normal or right.
Maybe you can relate to that in your relationship with God.
For others of us, we live with this underlying feeling
that God is a cosmic hall monitor.
That He's always on the lookout for us to slip up.
To fail Him in some small way that He can get us back for
and balance the scales all the time
because that's what He's always doing.
I was volunteering in my daughter's first grade class a few weeks ago
and the teacher left the room for a few minutes
and she left one student in charge of the classroom.
He was in charge of watching all the other students
to make sure no one talked or got out of line
and he stood at the front with a dry erase marker
to write the name of any kid who spoke on the board.
I gotta tell you, I hadn't had that feeling since I was in school.
I was genuinely afraid He was gonna write my name on the board
and she was gonna come back in and think,
well, what did Mr. Spink do while I was gone?
That fear that there's someone watching,
that God sees everything and He's gonna catch you
when you mess up.
That He's gonna get you back.
Sometimes we live as though God is dangerous.
That He's out to get us.
He's really gonna make us feel it if we mess up.
And so we're just tightly wound all the time.
We're playing it safe.
In sports terms, you would call it playing not to lose.
I mean, you've got the lead, right?
You're supposed to be going to heaven.
Just play it safe and don't blow it.
As long as you don't mess it up enough,
you'll make it through and you'll get into heaven in the end.
Play it safe or else.
The final way this shows up in my life
is when serving God begins to feel like a drag.
One more sermon to write this week.
Another conference to attend, really?
Saturday?
I bet they're gonna want me to come back for church
on Christmas Day.
Golly.
Small group?
I did that years ago.
Jobs for life?
Nice idea, but who really has time for that kind of stuff?
I'm exhausted.
I'm worn out.
This unhealthy way of relating to God
is very prevalent among the most committed church members.
And it's hard to see in our lives
because we're doing so many godly things
that it seems like we've got a wonderful relationship with God,
but inside is this gnawing fear
that perhaps we're not doing quite enough.
We haven't done enough to wow God,
to impress Him.
It's like He's an Olympic judge
and He hasn't seen quite enough fantastic stuff
to give us that ten we want.
I mean, we're pretty good,
but we haven't impressed Him yet.
And the result of that is that serving God becomes drudgery
and leads to exhaustion.
I've always got to do more.
Could you see the shepherds feeling some of that kind of fear?
Based on their likely lack of religious awards
and recognition they had received?
An unhealthy fear of God
that leaves me cold and distant from Him.
Often tired.
Rarely joyful.
Does that describe you sometimes?
We all can slip into those feelings.
Even if it's not what we say we believe about God,
that He's distant or dangerous or dissatisfied.
We felt the drudgery,
the lack of joy,
the distance from God lately.
Often that comes from fear.
An aspect of fear in our hearts.
Well, the angel speaks into that terrified bunch of shepherds
the first Christmas
and he says to these very fearful shepherds,
fear not.
Verse 10, right?
The angel said to them,
Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
Today in the town of David,
a Savior has been born to you.
He is Christ the Lord.
Fearful people,
fear not.
Something is happening
that must transform your fear.
That makes something different.
Jesus comes to change the way we relate to God.
That these unhealthy, fear-driven approaches
would be replaced with joyful relationship.
Good news of great joy.
See, joy is, as we said with the kids,
not something you can open in a present, right?
Even an empty one, apparently.
It's not happiness.
It's not merely warm feelings
and positive vibes from life's circumstances.
No, joy, biblically, is a deep sense
that God is near,
safe,
and satisfied.
See, joy is relational.
Just like fear.
Having a deep sense of joy
comes from relating differently
to your Creator.
It's a relationship thing.
The message of Christmas,
the announcement of the angels
to the shepherds,
is that there's a change
in their relationship with God.
The angel says it this way.
Look at verse 11 again.
Today in the town of David,
a Savior has been born to you.
Christ the Lord.
God has come to be born
to be your Savior.
Notice what that means
for our relationship with God.
What God has done
to change our relationship with Him.
He's not distant.
He has come near.
This is Emmanuel,
God with us,
who insists on nothing
keeping Him from us.
He wants you to know Him,
to draw close to Him,
to share your heart with Him.
A Savior has been born to you.
God has become man.
He's come near.
Secondly, He's not dangerous,
out to harm you.
He's safe.
He comes to rescue you
and do you good.
I know some of my fellow C.S. Lewis fans
will be bothered
by God being called safe.
He's not safe.
He's good.
He's not a tame lion.
Listen,
what I mean by safe
is that He's safe to trust.
That He loves you
and has your best interest at heart.
John writes in John 3, 17
that God sent His only begotten Son
into the world
not to condemn the world,
not to catch you doing something wrong
so He can get you,
so that He can get back at you
and even things out.
But why?
He sent His Son in the world
to save the world,
to rescue you
in your mess.
He wasn't trying to catch you making it.
He wanted to rescue you
in the midst of it.
That's grace.
That's God's heart toward you.
Finally,
in Jesus,
God
is satisfied.
The need to perform
your way
into His good graces
is over.
Jesus has done it
and He now
dignifies you
with the abundant life
full and free,
finally living the way
God designed you
to live in the first place
without the fear
of His disappointment.
free,
full of joy
knowing your Father
is smiling on you
regardless of your performance
because of Jesus.
Do you hear why
the writers of Scripture
say our salvation
produces
an inexpressible
and glorious joy?
That's the result
of what God does
in fixing our relationship
with Him.
He gives us
an entirely new relationship
from the one
we naturally have.
free and full
relationship with God
of new approach
to all of life.
There's no more
distant relative.
No more cosmic
hall monitor.
No more frowning
Olympic judge.
We have a loving
heavenly Father.
This is why grace
produces joyful obedience
rather than drudgery
in relationship with God.
No more fear
of God's critical eye
having to be appeased
by a perfect performance.
Instead,
delighting in the
light burden
that is ours.
Following a Savior
who has come
and performed
perfectly in our place
brought us into
an entirely new
relationship
with God.
That's what a Savior
means.
What it would have meant
to the shepherds.
Look at the change
they experience
when they see
the Savior.
Verse 17.
When they'd seen Him
they spread the word
concerning what had
been told them
about this child
and all who heard it
were amazed
at what the shepherds
said to them.
Verse 20.
The shepherds returned
glorifying and
praising God
for all the things
they'd heard and seen
which were just
as they had been told.
How did they go
from fearful
outcasts
to those who are
praising and
rejoicing in God
and telling everybody
about Him
and talking with people
about this God.
What changed
the shepherds?
It was that they heard
and saw
a Savior.
It's that simple.
That's all that happens
in between.
They hear there's a Savior
they go see the Savior
and they're changed.
They let go of their fear.
They don't cower
before God anymore.
Now they praise Him
and rejoice
in Him.
This change
is portrayed
subtly
but beautifully
in a TV special
you may have seen
recently
called
Charlie Brown's
Christmas.
If you're not
a Peanuts aficionado
Linus
is a character.
Linus
is known
for always
having his blanket
with him.
He's somewhat
of a fearful
character
in the comic.
he's not able
to go anywhere
without that
security blanket.
Recently social media
has noticed
something about
Linus
and his blanket
on this special.
I want to show you
a short clip.
Watch the blue blanket
carefully.
Isn't there anyone
who knows
what Christmas
is all about?
Sure Charlie Brown
I can tell you
what Christmas
is all about.
Lights please.
And there were
in the same country
shepherds
abiding in the field
keeping watch
over their flock
by night
and lo
the angel
of the Lord
came upon them
and the glory
of the Lord
shone round about them
and they were
sore afraid
and the angel
said unto them
fear not
for behold
I bring you
tidings of great joy
which shall be
to all people
for unto you
is born this day
in the city of David
a savior
which is Christ the Lord
and this shall be
a sign unto you
you shall find
the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes
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
good will toward men
that's what Christmas
is all about
Charlie Brown
that's what Christmas
is all about
I know you know
what Christmas
is all about
did you notice
the blanket
did you notice
when he says
do not fear
what he's able
to let go of
what the angels
have announced
what the shepherds
witnessed
is something
that allows us
to let go
of our fears
you may know that
but have you actually
dropped
your blanket
have you let go
of other things
that you'd find
security in
in order to cling
to Jesus
has the truth
the angels announced
enabled you
to let go
of fearful
ways of
relating to God
and experience
the deep joy
of being
his beloved
child
what does it mean
to you
to have a savior
that's the question
I want you to
consider
as we close
this morning
what does a savior
change
in your
heart
and life
we're celebrating
him today
right
what difference
does it make
for you
I really want you
to write something
or something's
down
on your bulletin
what does a savior
mean
to you
what's the difference
in your life
I'll prime the pump
for you
while you're
thinking
it's good news
of great joy
for all people
so that includes
you and me
right
changes something
for us
so the fact
that you have
a savior
means all
these things
it means you
will never
be completely
alone
because God
is with us
you will never
face the fires
of hell
for your sin
never
it means no
failure in your
life will
cost you
God's
smile
no sin
you commit
can make
God stop
loving you
it means
there's nothing
you lack
for being
welcomed
into God's
family
it means
you're assured
of life
full and free
the way God
created and
designed you
to live
can you believe
that all of
those things
and many
many more
are true
all of that
because of
Christmas
because a savior
has been born
born to you
write something
in your own
words
what difference
does it make
in your life
that you
have a savior
I don't know
how you feel
this morning
but I can
assure you
you're not
worse off
or more
fearful
than those
shepherds
on the hillside
that night
who started
fearful
and ended
joyful
all because
of seeing
Jesus
can do that
for you
too
and you can
know the joy
of life
lived with
nothing
to lose
nothing to
protect
nothing to
hide
nothing to
fear
because you're
a beloved
child of the
king of the
universe
dancing
and preaching
and playing
and sacrificing
and serving
all freely
and knowing
that he's
smiling
having the
comfort of
your father's
smile
and his
perfect care
for you
if that were
really true
what might
you do
if you could
really live
like that
what might
you try
if you had
that kind
of comfort
and joy
there's
Christmas dinner
conversation
for you
kids let me
say it this
way to you
you can write
what having
a savior
means to you
in your own
words
doesn't have
to be long
Christmas
Jesus your
savior being
born for
you means
God loves
you even
when you have
a bad day
even when
you're bad
having a
savior means
you never
ever have
to be scared
of God
he loves
you
you can
trust him
kids having
a savior
means that
that no matter
how great a day
it is and this
might be a
great day
for many of you
that your best
day is always
ahead of you
there's always
a best day
coming in the
future when
when God makes
everything right
the way it
should be
that's something
to be excited
about
no matter what
gifts you get
or don't get
today
you have an
incredible gift
a savior
who's been
born to you
a wonderful
wonderful savior
amen
let's pray
father thank you
for that gift
thank you for
our savior
may our
hearts
rejoice
that we
have a
father
that we
live in his
presence and
under his
smile
and that that
will never
change
we know
that's only
possible not
because of
who we
are but
because of
who Jesus
is and
how much he
loves us
give us great
joy in that
today and
always we
ask in his
name
amen
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