1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,520 Alright, thank you Steve and band. I don't know, how many of you have played in a band 2 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:12,080 or an orchestra sometime in your life? Alright, not too many of you. I'm a little surprised 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,440 by that. Normally it's more than that. It's a real challenge actually to play when you 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:22,280 are separated like this as they are this morning, and they did a fine job. 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:26,840 Open your Bibles with me please to the Gospel of Luke in the second chapter, Luke chapter 6 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:36,000 2. The familiar words of this chapter describing to us the birth of Jesus. Luke chapter 2, 7 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,040 I'm going to pick up the reading in verse 6 where it says, and while they, Mary and 8 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:46,160 Joseph, were there in Bethlehem, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave 9 00:00:46,160 --> 00:00:52,560 birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because 10 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:58,600 there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields 11 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:05,080 nearby keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, 12 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:10,680 and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. And the angel said 13 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:17,720 to them, do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the 14 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:26,400 people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. 15 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:33,800 This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. 16 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:39,520 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and 17 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:48,200 saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. 18 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:53,560 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 19 00:01:53,560 --> 00:02:00,080 let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. 20 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:06,960 And so they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger. 21 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:13,640 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what they had been told about this 22 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:20,200 child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary 23 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:27,360 treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, 24 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:34,200 glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as 25 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,760 they had been told. 26 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:43,960 No screenwriter could imagine the details that are written here by Luke. They seem a 27 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:49,440 little odd, don't they? In fact, they're way out of the ordinary, almost bizarre. God 28 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:58,800 coming into the world as a baby. Now you could probably write scores of story lines to bring 29 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:05,640 about God into the world without ever thinking of God joining himself to humanity and then 30 00:03:05,640 --> 00:03:17,640 being birthed. And then a baby born to a virgin? The central figure of all of history, cradled 31 00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:26,440 away in a manger, no crib for his bed? I mean, this story is really something. It's unusual. 32 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:32,640 And as if that weren't enough, the supernatural announcement of his birth was not made to 33 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:40,800 kings and nobility of the world, or to the important, or to the newsmakers, but the announcement 34 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:49,600 was made to shepherds who were doing their work in a field nearby. As you probably know, 35 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:55,680 shepherds were considered in that day among the lowest of society. That may seem a little 36 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:01,080 strange to us because some of the most famous people of the Bible were shepherds, Jacob, 37 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:07,320 Moses, and David, for example. But in these days that we're reading about here, they were 38 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:15,760 ranked among the outcasts of polite society. It was a low class kind of job, a bottom of 39 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:23,840 the rung sort of position. Their work made them dirty and smelly. They possessed very 40 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:30,040 little of their own, although they took care of the wealth of those that they worked for. 41 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:36,600 They essentially lived with their flocks, leading them from pasture to pasture and water 42 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:44,680 supply to water supply, as well as guarding them against predators and thieves. And although 43 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:52,560 sheep, perhaps these flocks in particular, were used for sacred sacrifices in the temple 44 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:58,520 being near Jerusalem. And so these shepherds were caring for them. 45 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:06,560 One author suggests in a contemporized paraphrase these words to help perhaps more accurately 46 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:14,440 paint the picture to us today. The author says, and there were in the same country street 47 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:23,000 people huddled over a heating grate by night, passing around cheap wine in a paper sack. 48 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:28,680 Now that may sound a little extreme to you, but that's the picture of what the shepherds 49 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:39,080 were in that day. What in the world was God signaling when he first sent the gospel to 50 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:47,760 the shepherds? What was God signaling to the world when he did that? Well, he was saying 51 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:56,360 at least two amazing things about himself. Things that are so counterintuitive that we 52 00:05:56,360 --> 00:06:04,080 might not even accept them, except the fact that God tells us about this and here demonstrates 53 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:11,560 these truths about himself. The first thing is this, that his good news, 54 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:22,240 the gospel, is intended for everyone, most especially the outsider. There is no insider 55 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:30,000 club when it comes to the good news of God. God does not have favorites of race or of 56 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:39,760 position in society. The gospel of salvation is offered to everyone. The apostle Paul captures 57 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:45,120 this so well in Romans chapter 10 and verse 13 in quoting actually from the Old Testament 58 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:54,060 where it says, whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Whosoever. 59 00:06:54,060 --> 00:07:00,960 One author writes, by choosing the outcasts of society, God declared that there is no 60 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:12,680 one beyond the bounds of his love. No one is too dirty, too sinful, too despised. There 61 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:23,640 is no place too ugly for his presence, whether a sheep pasture or a cross. The common mistake 62 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:31,600 a lot of people make is thinking to themselves, I am too sinful. I have done too much in my 63 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:39,920 life for God ever to forgive me. God could never love somebody like me. 64 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:50,400 Amazingly, God specializes in people like that. God specializes in those who think of 65 00:07:50,400 --> 00:08:02,400 themselves as the outcasts. God specializes in those that society despises. He forgave 66 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:11,320 prostitutes who came to him. He called to be one of his own disciples a tax collector, 67 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:18,160 a Jew who had turned against his own people and was working for Rome. He was considered 68 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:27,680 a traitor. He touched a man who was dying with leprosy in order to heal him and to give 69 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:37,360 him eternal life. He himself forgave a thief who was so guilty of his crimes that he was 70 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:41,720 being crucified alongside him. 71 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:48,220 I believe when you and I get to heaven, we may well find out that there are far more 72 00:08:48,220 --> 00:08:56,720 outcasts in heaven than there are people who are in-crows in this world. You see, the gospel 73 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:04,320 of Jesus Christ is intended for everyone, but most especially for the outsider. The 74 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:12,680 second thing we learn about God is this. His good news can be shared by anyone, most notably 75 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:19,320 the ordinary. What I'm saying here is that you don't have to be a theologian or a saint 76 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:27,920 or Billy Graham to tell others about Jesus. God uses people. As that song said, just ordinary 77 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:36,960 people, people just like you and me who are willing to do what he commands. He appears 78 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:47,800 to the shepherds as the angel of the Lord. Those shepherds then become the first evangelists 79 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:53,480 of the gospel that the Savior has been born. 80 00:09:53,480 --> 00:10:01,720 The contemporary songwriter has penned these words, I looked in the mirror, I saw average. 81 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:10,000 You looked down from heaven, you saw a gift. Still can't figure out why you loved me so, 82 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:17,360 but that's what makes you God. I'll never know, because I'm just ordinary people who 83 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:23,880 found extraordinary love. Sometimes it's hard to believe that God keeps loving me so 84 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:31,680 much. There are so many people I look up to, used to tell them I want to be like you. Then 85 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:40,720 God took ordinary me and gave me a chance, and every day I got to thank him for where 86 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:41,720 I am. 87 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:50,040 Isn't it great to know that any of us can share God news, and most notably, the most 88 00:10:50,040 --> 00:11:02,320 ordinary of us can do that? God uses ordinary things. He used fish. He used bread. He used 89 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:15,240 spittle in dust. He used nails driven into a piece of wood. God uses ordinary people 90 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:21,320 to do extraordinary things when we give ourselves to him and allow his Spirit to fill us and 91 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:23,960 to use us. 92 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:29,080 This season God wants to use you in that extraordinary way to share the good news, just like the 93 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:39,120 shepherds did. Our friend Christmas is a miracle, and Christmas can be your miracle. How? By 94 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:45,920 doing what the shepherds did. It can be your miracle first by responding to the good news 95 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:53,500 in faith. They did. And their faith was exemplified by the fact they said, let's go, let's go 96 00:11:53,500 --> 00:12:00,880 to Bethlehem and see this which God has spoken to us. And they came to where Mary, Joseph, 97 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,920 and the baby Jesus were. 98 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:12,720 Respond as they did to the good news by believing God's Word. And like them you'll experience 99 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:19,960 for yourself that this miracle of Christmas is for you, that you can know peace with God. 100 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:25,840 You can know the forgiveness of your sins. You can be lifted out of the depression of 101 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:34,320 your life and lifted and set upon the rock of God. You can know that this Christmas. 102 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:37,240 That can be your miracle. 103 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:45,820 But you can also do what the shepherds did and repeat the good news to others. Like they, 104 00:12:45,820 --> 00:12:53,700 you can tell what God does. What he's doing in the world. What he's done in your own life. 105 00:12:53,700 --> 00:13:00,660 How many of you are familiar with the greatest Christmas pageant? You've seen that? It's 106 00:13:00,660 --> 00:13:06,800 probably 20 years old now. But it's the story of the herdmen's, who are, as it says on the 107 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:15,680 jacket cover of the video, are the meanest, nastiest group of six unruly siblings in town. 108 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:25,280 And these children, who are the outcasts of the town, show up for a practice of the Christmas 109 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:33,360 pageant at a particular church. And everyone is aghast that they would be there. And when 110 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:37,840 it came time to select people for parts, they looked for volunteers. And who do you think 111 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:44,480 stepped forward first? Not the usual ones who did it every year. No. The herdmen stepped 112 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:52,800 forward. I'll be Mary. I'll be the wise man. I'll be a shepherd. I'll be the angel. And 113 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:57,480 of course, once they had volunteered, what can you do? And so they worked with these 114 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:03,600 children. And they, well let's just say, brought a lot of interest and humor and not a little 115 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:09,560 bit of sentiment to the Christmas pageant once it came off. But perhaps my favorite 116 00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:16,440 line in the whole video is the very last thing. For one of the herdmen girls, her name is 117 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:24,960 Gladys, with her smudged face and her dirty clothes, comes running with the star still 118 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:34,020 in her hand that she had held up as the angel. And she says, listen, listen, unto you a child 119 00:14:34,020 --> 00:14:43,320 is born. And the most ordinary little girl had heard for the first time what Christmas 120 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:51,240 was about. And she immediately began to tell the people. My friend, that's what God wants 121 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:56,800 you to do. That's the Christmas miracle that God wants to perform through you today that 122 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:07,600 others also may know that unto us a Savior has been born. He is Christ the Lord. Claim 123 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:14,840 the Christmas miracle for yourself. Let's pray together. And with our heads bowed and 124 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:21,440 our eyes closed, what is the miracle that God wants to do in your heart this Christmas? 125 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:28,600 Is it the miracle of the new birth? Is it the miracle of responding in faith and receiving 126 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:36,800 Jesus the Christ as your own personal Savior? You can do that right now, you know. Right 127 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:41,680 where you're seated. It's just the attitude of your heart, turning away from what you've 128 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:51,000 trusted in before to receive Jesus. Will you do that right now? And may all of us who have 129 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:58,880 been down that path, who follow the shepherds, and who have experienced the reality of Christ, 130 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:06,620 may we see the Christmas miracle as we tell others as they did regarding what we have 131 00:16:06,620 --> 00:16:22,200 seen and heard and know of Jesus. Amen.