Things Aren’t Always What They Seem
Luke 2:1-2:20 Christmas 2006
His name was William Spurling. He was big for his age, and he was a little slow mentally. But he was a good kid, and all the other kids in the 7th grade liked him.
In the school play, he wanted to play a shepherd, but the teacher said he was too big, and he should play the grumpy old innkeeper. The night came and they were all on stage, and the audience was sitting there ready for it to begin. During the part of the play when Mary and Joseph came to the door to ask for a place to sleep, William, in a gruff voice said, “There is no room in the inn.”
Joseph asked again, and instead of saying the same line, William forgot his line and there was a very long pause. It was the kind of pause that embarrasses the audience as well as everyone on stage. Then, from behind the curtain, William heard the teacher whisper, “We have no room at the inn, now away with you!” So, he repeated the line and the rejected Mary and Joseph turned to go away. Being the good kid that William was, his heart began to break because he had said something that hurt them, so he yelled out, “Wait a minute! Come back! You can have my room and I will sleep in the shed!”
William actually displayed the real meaning of Christmas? He was willing to give up his own room to help someone else.
I. It’s tough to live in the shadow of fame.
A. Jerusalem was the epicenter of all that was Jewish
1. Where the pilgrims came for the annual religious festivals.
2. And the little village named Bethlehem, about 5 miles south, south-west, was small, and
overshadowed.
3. Its biggest claim to fame was that a long-ago resident from there – a shepherd boy - had
done good.
4. And so Bethlehem became known - because of that shepherd boy - as, “The City of
David.”
5. Even so, important didn’t come to mind when thinking of Bethlehem of Judah. It was just a
sleepy little village.
B. How could the prophet Micah have ever written this about that no-account little town:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you
will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient
times.” (Micah 5:2)
1. Wouldn’t a ruler, whose origins are from old, from ancient times, choose an important
place to be born – a place like Rome, or Antioch or maybe even Jerusalem?
2. Could Micah have been asleep at the wheel when he penned this prophecy?
3. Maybe the old boy misunderstood what God was telling him to write.
4. No! It’s just that things aren’t always what they seem.
In 1884 a young man died, and after the funeral his grieving parents decided to establish a memorial to him. With that in mind they met with Charles Eliot, president of Harvard University. Eliot received the unpretentious couple into his office and asked what he could do. After they expressed their desire to fund a memorial, Eliot impatiently said, “Perhaps you have in mind a scholarship.” “We were thinking of something more substantial than that... perhaps a building,” the woman replied. In a patronizing tone, Eliot brushed aside the idea as being too expensive and the couple departed. The next year, Eliot learned that this plain pair had gone elsewhere and established a $26 million memorial named Leland Stanford Junior University, better known today as Stanford! A simple, unpretentious couple… things aren’t always what they seem.
II. A Pagan Emperor issued a decree
A. 700 years after the prophet Micah wrote, a pagan emperor issued a decree that every citizen
of the empire be counted.
1. Because Bethlehem had been the home of the shepherd boy who done good, David’s
ancestors had to make the trip to Bethlehem to be counted.
2. Among the ancestors who made the trip, a very pregnant young woman and her husband,
a poor, simple carpenter.
3. The emperor thought that he was counting citizens. This young couple thought that they
were traveling to a town to be counted. But things aren’t always what they seem!
If you have ever read the Peanuts comic strip, you will remember the animosity between Charlie Brown and Lucy. For that matter, it was animosity between Lucy and just about everyone else, actually. Well, one Christmas Lucy comes to Charlie Brown and says, “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown. This is the season of peace on earth and good will toward men. Therefore, I suggest we forget all about our differences and love one another.” Charlie Brown’s face lights up like a Christmas tree, and says, “That’s great, Lucy, but can’t we continue to do that all year long?” And Lucy replies, “What are you, nuts?”
B. That poor young couple had traveled to Bethlehem all the way from Nazareth.
1. Because so many people were there for the census, the city’s inn was full.
2. And while there, the young woman went into labor.
3. They had to find a place for her to give birth.
4. The only place was in a stable. Some think that it was actually a cave that was used as a
stable.
6And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. 7And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
5. In that lowly, dank place, in the company of barnyard animals, this poor peasant girl gave
birth to a baby boy.
6. She wrapped him in strips of cloth, and laid him down to rest in the feeding trough from
which the animals ate. Seems like a stable and a feeding trough are a fitting nursery for
the offspring of peasants.
But things aren’t always what they seem.
C. Out in the fields near that little no-account village were a few shepherds guarding their flocks.
Things were pretty rough for them.
1. Shepherds were considered “less than human" by other people.
2. They were always out with their sheep, they smelled just like the sheep - and sheep really
stink.
Back in the early days of the American west, cattle farmers would actually start range wars with sheep farmers because they considered the sheep as filthy, unwanted animals. It was common for Raqnchers to ride out in the dead of night to go kill sheep. So, shepherds stayed with their sheep. They actually lived with them. And, like I said, they smelled like them.
3. They spent their time outdoors. I can’t begin to imagine how cold it was on some nights. But
they endured. They stayed the course.
4. Their lives were very hard, and there wasn’t any sign of things ever getting better, either.
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their
flock by night.
5. Then, on one very glorious night, an angel from God appeared to them and told said, “Unto you
is born this day, in the City of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” Then, a great company
from Heaven joined the angel to praise God and sing, “Peace on earth, good will toward men.”
D. And suddenly, everything was changed!
1. God had been this entity they had always “heard about”, became very real to the
shepherds.
2. He had come to save them. come to bring peace, and to bring good will to men!”
3. They now had something to hang on to! They had something that would help them get
through the rough times in their lives.
4. That same gift God gave to them is available to each of you today. God is just as real to
each of us as He was to those cold, lonely poor shepherds, who sat in the fields with their
sheep on the night our Savior was born.
But things aren’t always what they seem.
9And £behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around
them, and they were greatly afraid(terrified-filled with terror-).
2. The Shepherds was terrified of what was happening around them. An Angel appeared and
talked to them and then heavenly hosts appear to them.
15So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
3. They hurry to Bethlehem to find the Lord to worship him… That was the shepherds.
D. Then there were the Magi, the wise men. They were very powerful authority figures who may
have represented kings in their lands. And they brought treasures with them to offer the Christ- child.
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise
men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the
Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
1. And, as much as they had, there was still a vast emptiness in their lives.
2. And, when they saw the star, they knew that they had to follow, because that star would
lead them to something more important than had ever been before.
3. GOD GAVES US A HOPE FOR OUR FUTURE
A. What kept the shepherds going? It was hope.
1. God had made a promise to their people. That He would send a Messiah some day. That
hope was burned into the hearts & lives of each Israelite.
2. It was hope kept the Magi going. Every night, they would go outside and search the sky
for the star of promise. They knew that when they saw it, they would have to follow it
wherever it might lead them, because it was a sign from God, and it promised the birth of
a king..
3. What Keeps us going?
a. We all have troubles in life. But we have that Blessed Hope that the Lord Gave us.
b. And, through the birth of Jesus, God brings us hope. JEREMIAH 29:18 tells us,
“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
PSALM 130:5 says, “I am counting on the Lord ……… I have put my hope in His Word.”
In JOHN 10:9, Jesus told us, “Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through Me will be
saved.”
We celebrate Christmas, not because it just happens to be a holiday.
We celebrate Christmas because it is the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
Without the birth, there would have been no Savior.
Without the Savior, there would be no hope
