DECEMBER 24th, 2023 (6 & 11 pm) PASTOR DON PIEPER
This Christmas Promise Isaiah 9:2-7; Luke 2:1-20
“THIS CHILD'S FOR YOU!”
Any moms here tonight? Can you imagine traveling on the back of a donkey days before your due date? I read of a woman who didn't get to the hospital in time and delivered in an elevator. When the medical team arrived, they told her not to worry. 'Last year', they said, 'a woman delivered her baby on the lawn of the hospital.' She smiled and said, “Yes, I know. That was me, too!”
Mary didn't have it easy. Can you imagine, after that ride, her disappointment on discovering that there wasn't any open rooms in town anymore? So many travelers had already arrived, thanks to the census, that they couldn't get a room anywhere. Picturee the innkeeper, with Joseph and pregnant Mary standing in front of him, whispering to his wife: “She says she's a pregnant virgin, and he says he's her fiancée, but God is the father. Should I call the cops or put 'em in the stable?
That was probably the last time Mary left it up to Joseph to make the reservations. Now you know why it was a silent night...! Can you picture Joseph trying to encourage her? “Tripadisor.com gave this place a one-star rating! At least our son will be brought up in a...'stable' home!”
My guess is that wherever you ladies delivered your babies it was probably not in a stable filled with the odors of livestock and the noise of bleating sheep and braying donkeys. Luke tells us that it's “While they were there, (in the barn), the time came for her baby to be born. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available to them.”
(Luke 2:6-7)
Mary's story reminds us that God brings hope in unexpected ways. That would be the shepherds' experience as well. Their part in the story, brief as it may be, is saturated with significance.
Luke provides us with a one sentence introduction to these herders of sheep. He writes: “There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.” (Luke 2:8)
Of these shepherds there is much we don't know. We don't know where they were from or how many of them there were. We don't know if they were single or married, young or old. Luke doesn't even tell us their names, but what Luke does do is he provides us with five fun facts. One, they lived out in the fields. That is, they were outsiders. Shepherds back then generally were. They were dirty, smelly, low-income caretakers of someone else's sheep, living apart from respectable people who had the sense to live in homes, in town. They were outsiders – uncouth, unclean, unapt.
Second fact: they're out there in the hills keeping watch...at night. That is, theirs is a dangerous job. They've been hired to keep watch so that thieves and predators, like wolves and lions, don't snatch up and eat any of the sheep. Such predators, be they human or beast, are most active in the darkness of the night. Their's was a scary job. They lived out in the cold and dark in fear.
Ever been treated like an outsider? Ever feel like you've been left out in the cold? Ever been so chilled by the elements or by the indifference or judgment of others that you preferred being apart? Ever feel like you can't relate to the religious types? There's a bit of the shepherd in each one of us.
But here's the third fun fact: it isn't the religious types that the angels appear to with the scoop of the centuries, it's these shivering outsiders! As Luke reports: “The angel said to them: 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people!'” (Luke 2:10)
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That Good News comes with three cosmic Christmas gifts clearly intended for all people, the shepherds included, the first of which is at the heart of the song the heavenly choir of angels sing: #1: “Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those on whom God's favor rests.”
(Luke 2:14)
How we long for this peace – for the end of conflict and war. The prophets repeatedly point to God's promise of global peace that this new born Messiah will one day bring. As we heard earlier: “Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning and will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born...and he will be called..., Prince of Peace.”
(Isaiah 9:5-6)
But there's another peace being offered here as well, an inner peace, in which the angst that burns within and the disquiet that barks in our ears, is calmed and silenced by this Prince of Peace.
It was just five days before Christmas when ten-year-old, Chris Carrier was approached by a man claiming to be a friend of his father. He told Chris he wanted to buy his dad a gift and needed help picking something out. Eager to help, Chris climbed aboard the motor home parked up the street.
The driver took Chris to a remote field, claiming to be lost. Then, as Chris studied a map, he was stabbed in the back with an ice pick and shot in the left temple, before being left for dead.
Chris survived and was discovered six days later but was unable to identify his attacker. He lived thereafter in constant fear, deeply troubled and highly suspicious of others. Three years later Chris was befriended by a follower of Jesus who invited him to a retreat where Chris dedicated his life to Christ. For the first time, he felt confident and at peace rather than full of suspicion and fear.
It was some 20 years later when a detective called Chris to tell him that a man had confessed to the crime that had cost him his left eye. David McAllister had been hired by Chris' father to take care of his ailing uncle. When Chris' dad caught McAllister drinking on the job, he'd fired him. The senseless attack on Chris had been motivated by revenge. Now 77, David McAllister was in feeble condition himself. When Chris visited him in the nursing home, David apologized, to which Chris replied, “What you meant for evil, God has turned into a wonderful blessing”, and then explained how God had allowed his physical and inner wounds to open doors to sharing Christ with other victims.
Chris began making regular visits to David. On one visit, Chris led David to Christ. A few days later, David died peacefully in his sleep. “I saw his countenance change before my eyes. He was able to experience deep, inner peace just like I was.” Jesus said: “I'm giving you a gift – peace of mind and heart. This peace I give is a gift the world cannot give, so don't be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27)
The second Christmas gift the angels celebrated is the gift of joy. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy for all the people, for today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you!”
(Luke 2:10-11)
It's a theme revisited through Luke's gospel. We hear it from Mary's lips upon learning she is to bear God's Son: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!” (1:46-47)
It's at the heart of Jesus' message and ministry: “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy because great is your reward in heaven!” (6:23) Or as the people respond when Jesus restores a young man's life: “They were all filled with joy and praised God: 'God has come to help His people!'” (7:16) It's in fact Luke's final words on the impact of Jesus' life and ministry: “(Following his ascension), his disciples worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, meeting regularly to praise God.”
(Luke 24:52-53)
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Why so? Because they had experienced first-hand God's plan to transform our tears of sorrow into tears of joy. When we grasp, as Isaiah foretold, that that it's “for us that this child is born, to us God's son is given...”, it changes everything! We discover our true value, a worth that has nothing to do with what we're able to do, who likes us, what we look like but with a relationship with this son, showing all the world that we are among those upon whom God's favor rests! We embrace and pursue
he who declared: “I have come so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete!”
(John 14:11)
And therein we discover the third Christmas gift – that of a real and profound hope. With all the bad news we read about these days – from the wars in the Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza to the melting of the ice caps, the disappearance of one species and habitat after another, to the sad news of the death of a loved one or the inevitable losses that this life entails, we so desperately need hope. But we also, inwardly long for that day when we are no longer ruled by our mistakes, feelings andor hurt we inflict.
We are a people who need hope, hope of one who can save us from ourselves, and that's perhaps the best news the angel brings: “Today...a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord!”
(Luke 2:11)
There's a documentary on the devastating Himalayan 2015 earthquake near Nepal aptly called, “Earthshock”. The aftershocks caused a further loss of life and increasing terror. Skiers and locals found themselves trapped and a breakdown of trust grew. Three individuals were suspected of stealing from other victims. Animosity and anger began to grow. Despair and distrust made violence likely.
One witness reported what followed when a solitary helicopter descended on the group....
“Some guy jumped out of the helicopter in shorts and a T-shirt, and I'm looking for his gun, a means by which to exert control. Everyone quickly surrounded him, their faces full of anger and fear. We were all anxious and suspicious of him as well as of one another. We expected him to choose some to save while telling others they'd have to wait. What he said, I'll never forget.
'Hello,' he said, 'my name is J'oshua and I'm from Israel. I came to help everyone.' In one second, with one sentence, all of the tension dropped flat. Somehow, something in his voice and demeanor made everyone feel like we're all agoing to be rescued – we believed him. Suddenly there was nothing to fight about. 'Anyone who wants to leave, can leave,' he said. It didn't feel real that someone could just appear, just drop out of the sky, and have such an impact. It felt too simple and yet it was so very joyful! His means for pointing to outside help was more powerful than any gun, because it gave us hope. As J'oshua later said, 'I think to defuse a situation the best way is to have a very, very strong tool, and that tool is a profound and powerful hope.'” (from the documentary, Earthshock)
That's what we all need – a profound and powerful hope – and that is precisely what God has offered us from a straw-filled manger bed, an unlikely treasure discovered by outsiders for all people. Like that woman in the Himalayas realized to her great joy, God wants us all to be rescued! To some it may feel unreal, that someone, a baby even, could just drop out of the sky and have such an impact, but he has and he will. Something in his demeanor and in his voice makes us realize, we're saved!
And the key to that is simply this – that we believe in him! That takes us to the fourth fun fact about the shepherds. They made a decision! They decided to investigate the clues God had left for them: “Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which God has told us about!”
(Luke 2:15)
That's such a vital thing for us to do as well. It's why we continue to offer the Alpha Course, to give folks a place to investigate for themselves the clues God has provided, that we, like the shepherds, may “praise God for all the things (we've) seen and heard which were just as (we'd) been told.”
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And there's the fifth and final fun fact about the shepherds. They did something with all that joy and hope in their hearts. They made sure it didn't remain a silent night. They made some noise!
“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 told them.” (Luke 2:17)
It would eventually be a silent night, a holy night, but it wouldn't be silent until the shepherds finally returned to the fields late that night. In the meantime, they were busy stirring up quite the commotion, spread the good news, telling everyone how God had made good on his promises, had provided clues that led to the discovery of a life time, their lives to be sure, and made sure people knew
For those who are unsure..., the shepherds lead the way. Their example is worth imitating – get busy investigating! To those who are – the shepherds also lead the way! Don't just sit on this good news – get out there and make sure people know about it. Be people of peace, joy and hope in ways that are visible and tangible to those who as yet don't know: “(This is) Good News that'll cause great joy for all the people! A Savior has been born to you; he is the Christ, the Lord (God in the flesh)!”
(Luke 2:10-11)
The hope of all people, that brings joy and peace, has dropped out of the sky...for you!