Sermon Tone Analysis

There is an amazing Christmas tradition in Finland… It has been held almost every year since the 1300’s…

At noon every year on Christmas Eve, the city of Turku declares “Christmas Peace”!

During the ceremony the people gather in the town square and a city official is chosen to read the “Declaration of Christmas Peace.”

The Declaration reads:

Tomorrow, God willing, is the graceful celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour; and thus is declared a peaceful Christmas time to all, by advising devotion and to behave otherwise quietly and peacefully, because he who breaks this peace and violates the peace of Christmas by any illegal or improper behaviour shall under aggravating circumstances be guilty and punished according to what the law and statutes prescribe for each and every offence separately.

Finally, a joyous Christmas feast is wished to all inhabitants of the city.

What a great way to bring in Christmas!

What a reminder that Christ’s birth brought Peace into the world!

But… We don’t need Peace only during Christmas, do we?

We aren’t seeking a “false peace”… that only last for a short time… That kind of peace does not sustain us through the difficult times this world brings…

We need the true everlasting Peace that Christmas promises…

We need to rediscover the Peace that Christ brought when He was born into this dark world!

Let me ask you: When you think about Peace… When you think the Christmas story… What characters, or part comes to mind?

The Shepherds, right?!

For me when I think about Peace in the Christmas story, the first thing that comes to mind is the shepherds!

You know the story… They are tending their flocks… minding their own business… when suddenly an angel appears!

And what does he tell them?

— “Do not be afraid.

I bring you good tidings of great joy!”

It’s almost like he is telling them “Peace be with you… I have a message of joy!”

The shepherds were the unlikely recipients of God’s message of Peace!

Look at Luke 2:8-20

Some of us grew up watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” and we remember Linus reciting this passage during the Christmas pageant…

Do you remember what he said to Charlie Brown at the end?

“That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

Christmas is all about the birth of a Saviour… and not just any Saviour… the Saviour of ALL creation!

Christmas is about what Jesus came to do, what He did, and what He brought into this world!

This part of the Christmas narrative is awesome!!!!

Think about this passage (this part)… This is God’s “birth announcement” to the world… It’s His “big reveal”… and what a way to do it!!!!

This is the announcement of the birth of the Saviour that Israel had been waiting for… that the whole creation has “groaned” for…

This was the birth of the Messiah… the Christ… the Long Awaited One!

Yet this announcement happened in a really… odd… unexpected… way…

Simple shepherds were in their fields… tending their sheep… going about their daily lives… their routines…

The lights all over town were out… people rested… the sheep were safe… and (I like to think) the shepherds were grabbing a bit of rest themselves, while they could…

Suddenly!

An Angel appears… scaring them fully awake!

He has an announcement to make… But that’s not all…

Suddenly… the sky is filled with angels!

Praising God… Singing a song… declaring “Glory to God in heaven!”…

And What????

“Peace on earth to ALL humanity!”

We like to think of that night as peaceful… quiet… serene… BUT that sounds anything but!!!

It was loud… There was fanfare… There was pomp and circumstance… Celebration!

It was an exciting thing to witness!!!

But the audience… the witnesses… They were so unlikely…

You would think that an announcement of this magnitude would rate a grander audience!

It should have been a group of the most important VIP’s… the rich, famous,… you know, the important people…

The Kings and Queens… the “movers and shakers” of the world… The people who mattered… at least it should have been the religious leaders… right?!?

But No!

This message… this grand announcement… this vision of angels celebrating the work of God!

Was given to simple… lowly… unimportant… dirty old shepherds…

We need to understand this… These were completely ordinary… average-Joe… night shift… animal tenders… They were the most unlikely and unexpected recipients of this message of Peace… Wholeness… and Favor from God.

Let me tell you — It wasn’t the “smartest guys in the room” … who heard the message first… it was simple… shepherds…

Listen — The “message”… the “Good News” of Christmas… the Gospel… was never entrusted to the “smart guys”… or the “rich guys”… it was… and is… entrusted to simple, ordinary people.

It is entrusted to you and I.

This is yet another scene of how God perfectly “flips the script” on what we would expect and plan…

BUT… The question is: “Why Shepherds?”

I mean, “Why choose such a lowly, outcast group?”

Because… Shepherds tie many biblical threads together.

The shepherds remind us of the patriarchs of Isreal… They were shepherds.

They were nomadic people who tended their flocks… they were the “roaming ranchers” of the ancient world.

Look at Abraham, Issac, Jacob… they all lived in tents… they roamed… they traveled… taking their herds with them.

David… Israel’s first and greatest king… before Goliath… before he was King… was an ordinary shepherd!

Shepherds were common men… peasants… They were nothing special.

They had no entitlement… No pride or arrogance… No religious egos…

Who better to introduce God’s Messiah to the world?!?

Think about it… Mary and Joseph — a humble carpenter and a peasant girl — were chosen to be the parents of the Son of God!

Not only that… but the birth took place, not in a hospital surrounded by family, but… in a lowly stable… surrounded by animals and rough and rugged shepherds…

These were the “have-nots”… living on the edge of civilization…

God uses humble hearts… and lowly shepherds to turn the world as we know it on its head!

Look at the story…

Those considered by society to be the “most holy”… the “most perfect”… the “most together and capable” — the “rock star” preachers… the famous writers… the movie stars… the politicians… weren’t given a place in the stable!

They weren’t invited to witness the arrival of the Messiah!

Instead, dirty old “bikers” — those filthy, foul-mouthed, farmers — those shepherds… were!

The shepherds signify Jesus’s future ministry.

Jesus came to be the sacrificial Lamb of God…

Sheep are stupid animals… amen! (anyone who has watched them knows… [sheep video on FaceBook])

BUT… they were very special animals in Jewish culture.

The Passover Lamb was the sacrifice for the most important Jewish holiday.

Its blood was the atonement for Sin… It was the cost to be paid to restore a person with God.

Each time it was done… it was a reminder of how God rescued His people from Egypt.

(side note)

Do you know what that means?

— When Jesus called us “sheep”… knowing how silly and stupid they act… He is saying: “You Are Special Too!”

And just like He came into the world to bring salvation and Peace… He comes into our lives…

Jesus came into this world for us!!!

He came as the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God… He paid the price for our Sin… and that price was accepted…

Access to God is no longer denied!

(example: the priest entering the Holy of Holies…)

Jesus’s death eliminated the sacrifice… His resurrection made it possible for us to be restored in our relationship with God… His life brought to us the chance to experience shalom — true peace!

Shalom — “the completeness and wholeness of God’s original creation.”

What is God’s creation?

US!!!

— We were made in God’s image… to be COMPLETE through a relationship with Him.

That’s what Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden.

Jesus brings “Shalom” back into our lives.

This is what the angels meant when they proclaimed:

God’s “shalom” is His Presence… His Provision… His Grace, Mercy, and Love… poured out through a relationship with Him… No matter the circumstances!

God’s favor is not based on human standards.

His favor is on ALL those who humbly acknowledge Him… put their faith in Him… and accept His gifts of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.