“The First Christmas Rushâ€
Luke 2:8-20
Introduction
Several weeks ago as the family and I were putting up the Christmas tree, I began wondering where did this all comes from? Why do we do all these things to celebrate the birth of Christ? There are so many things that we need to do to prepare for Christmas. Take out the advent wreath, put up the tree, put a wreath outside, decorate other parts of the house, make Christmas cookies. The list never ends. All these things not to mention, trying to go shopping in the midst of the Christmas rush. I needed to buy an ink cartridge for my computer printer the other day and had to stand in line for over twenty minutes just because of everyone who was shopping for Christmas. There are so many decisions that we have to make at this time of year, we wonder, “Did we do right?†We get so excited during the rush of Christmas. Yet now IS the time to be excited, Now IS the time for joy and praise to be on our hearts. Have you ever stopped to think everything we do on this day came from?
When Pope Julius I authorized December 25 to be celebrated as the birthday of Jesus in A.D. 353, who would have ever thought that it would become what it is today.
When Professor Charles Follen lit candles on the first Christmas tree in America in 1832, who would have ever thought that the decorations would become as elaborate as they are today.
It is a long time since 1832, longer still from 353, longer still from that dark night brightened by a special star in which Jesus the king was born. Yet, as we approach December 25 again, it gives us yet another opportunity to pause, and in the midst of all the excitement and elaborate decorations and expensive commercialization which surround Christmas today, to consider again the event of Christmas and the person whose birth we celebrate.
-- Brian L. Harbour, James W. Cox, The Minister’s Manual: 1994, San Fransico: Harper Collins, 1993, p. 254.
Situation – The shepherds were confronted with good news.
Our scripture today is the story of the shepherds and their experiences. I want us to see what it meant for the shepherds that were in the field. We also see the shepherds had an important decision to make that first Christmas night. More importantly we need to understand how the shepherds responded to the news of the Savior’s birth. Max Lucado sets the scene and brings to life the shepherds story in his book The Applause of Heaven. He writes:
Illustration
An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an "extra" on the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. The sheep would have been forgotten, and the shepherds would have slept the night away. But God dances amidst the common. And that night he did a waltz.
The black sky exploded with brightness. ... Sheep that had been silent became a chorus of curiosity. One minute the shepherd was dead asleep, the next he was rubbing his eyes and staring into the face of an alien. The night was ordinary no more. The angel came in the night because that is when lights are best seen and that is when they are most needed. God comes into the common for the same reason.
-- Max Lucado in The Applause of Heaven. Christianity Today, Vol. 41, no. 14.
Explanation
The shepherds were considered the simplest of people. Yet think of all the shepherds in the Bible. Able, Adam and Eve’s son was shepherd shole brought the right sacrifice to God. Other name include Abraham, the father of the Hebrew people, as well as Isaac and Jacob were shepherds. Even the greatest king, the man after God own heart, David was a shepherd in his youth. Then is any wonder that God would send this message to a group of shepherds.
The shepherds life was not an easy one. Their whole lives were spent in the pasture taking care of their sheep. In regards to society they were at the bottom. It is thought that these shepherds may even been taking care of the temple sheep that would have been kept for temple sacrifices. That however is only speculation on the account of theologians. What we know is that their job was to tend and protect the sheep from any predators. If the watch was late at night, there might have only been one or two of the shepherds awake. Luke hints that the angels spoke to more than one. They must not have had to travel too far, as they were to have arrived not long after the time of Christ’s birth.
With arrival of the angels the shepherds were terrified. But then there was this news about a Savior. They must have known the scriptures foretelling it. They might have even sat around the fire telling stories about a great king to come that would deliver them from the life that they lived. They might have told stories of great king who would come to rule the land and bring restoration to it.
Application
We are not much different than the shepherds. We are the hard working common folk of the field. We don’t hold any high offices, we are the normal people that work for a living. We long to be delivered from our menial work that we do. An up until the thirteenth of this month we were waiting to find who would be the leader of the country.
Can you imagine being however, being out in the middle of the pasture and having the multitude of angels appear? How could a person not be afraid? I have never had such an experience, but if would have to be frightening. When we come to church, or read the Bible we too are confronted with good news.
Complication – The shepherds were faced with a decision.
Explanation
The shepherds had a great decision to make. What should they do with what the news that the angels told them. The first thing they did was to get over their fear. For they were comforted by when the angels told them that it was good tidings that were brought., so they knew the news was good. They knew the news was sent from God, as it was delivered to them by holy messengers. They even found out that the news included them when the angel said it was for great joy for ALL people. They were given directions as to where to go and what to look for in finding the Christ child, now they were left with that decision, should we go?
Illustration: The Shepherd and his grandson
Dr. Clovis Chappell imagines one of the shepherds who had been a youth on the first Christmas night and has now become old. His grandson sits on his knee as he recalls: "A long, long time ago, when I was little more than a boy, I was out on the Judean hills, one night with some other shepherds, keeping watch over the flock. And the angel of the Lord came upon us and the glory of the Lord shone roundabout us. And we were sore afraid, But the angel said, ’Fear not . . .for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. . . .You shall find the babe in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
The old man’s lips cease to move, and there is silence. Then the lad turns and looks with wide, puzzled eyes into his grandfather’s face and says: "But, granddaddy, is that all? What did you do when you heard the good news? Was what the angel said really true? Was the Christ Child ever really born?"
The old shepherd sadly shakes his white head and answers: "I never knew. I never went to see. Some say that it is all a myth. Others say they found in Him the light of God, the power for life. But for me, I could never be quite sure. I never did go to see." (Allen and Wallis, CHRISTMAS p. 54-55) (Dwight Gunter II, “The Journey of the Shepherds†- Sermon Central.com)
Application
We too have a decision to make as well. When Christmas comes, what are we to do with the news about Jesus? What are our options? We can not do anything. Just sit at home and watch television and pretend it is like any other day of the year. We can get caught up in what commercialism believes Christmas to be. We can go overboard with the lights, decorations, gift buying, etc. What other options are there?
Resolution – The shepherds reacted with haste to the news.
Explanation
I believe the shepherds acted accordingly to the news of the saviors birth. The Bible said that, Luke 2:15 So 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." 2:16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
When the shepherds realized the importance of this day they immediately went with haste to find Jesus. We do not use the word haste very often anymore but it means that this was a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry, it meant that they rushed to find the Christ child.
Much to the amazement to the shepherds when they found Jesus they knew that this was a momentous day. How they must have rambled in excitement about what the angels had said. And here the child lay in the manger. The lives of the shepherds were to never be the same, the Christ child, was here in front of them, and they were filled with the joy of life that only God can give. The common were made holy.
Illustration
Did you ever read Bret Harte’s story The Luck of Roaring Camp? Roaring Camp was supposed to be, according to he story, the meanest, toughest mining town in all of the West. More murders, more thefts--it was a terrible place inhabited entirely by men, and one woman who tried to serve them all. Her name was Cherokee Sal. She died while giving birth to a baby.
Well, the men took the baby, and they put her in a box with some old rags under her. When they looked at her, they decided that didn’t look right, so they sent one of the men eighty miles to buy a rosewood cradle. He brought it back, and they put the rags and the baby in the rosewood cradle. And the rags didn’t look right there. So they sent another of their number to Sacramento, and he came back with some beautiful silk and lace blankets. And they put the baby, wrapped around with those blankets, in the rosewood cradle.
It looked fine until someone happened to notice that the floor was so filthy. So these hardened, tough men got down on their hands and knees, and with their hardened and horny hands they scrubbed that floor until it was very clean. Of course, what that did was to make the walls and the ceiling and the dirty windows without curtains look absolutely terrible. So they washed down the walls and the ceiling, and they put curtains at the windows. And now things were beginning to look as they thought they should look. But of course, they had to give up a lot of their fighting, because the baby slept a lot, and babies can’t sleep during a brawl.
So the whole temperature of Roaring Camp seemed to go down. They used to take her out and set her by the entrance to the mine in her rosewood cradle so they could see her when they came up. Then somebody noticed what a dirty place that was, so they planted flowers, and they made a very nice garden there. It looked quite beautiful. And they would bring her, oh, shiny little stones and things that they would find in the mine. But when they would put their hands down next to hers, their hands looked so dirty. Pretty soon the general store was all sold out of soap and shaving gear and perfume and those kinds ... the baby changed everything.
That’s the way it is for those of good will. That’s the way it is for those who please God. The baby enters into their lives, and he slips into every crevice of their experience, until they say "Hark! Listen, the herald angels sing! God is for us. And Christmas is forever." -- Bruce W. Thielemann, "Hark! The Herald Angels," Preaching Today, Tape No. 63.
Application / Conclusion
Stuart Briscoe wrote in his book Meet Him at the Manger: The spirit of Christmas needs to be superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world. --Stuart Briscoe in Meet Him at the Manger. Christianity Today, Vol. 41, no. 14.
Today is the day you have been given good news of the birth of Christ our Lord. This is exciting news. It is the kind of new that will change you life. Will you act appropriately as the shepherds did to go in haste to see the Him? When you leave after your encounter, will you glorify and praise God for the things you heard and saw. When all is done we will have to go back to the field to work, but we will not be unchanged. When we go home, we can continue to praise and glorify God the whole year through.
