The God Who Gives the Message
Notes
Transcript
God Gives - We Receive
God Gives - We Receive
On A Night Like No Other
On A Night Like No Other
You have heard over and over again how this goes. It’s part of our faith in God working miracles for mankind that we know the story so well.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
A couple who had traveled for days (to meet a government deadline) found themselves seeking shelter in the part of the house where the animals were normally kept. There just wasn’t a place left in town to share a room or rent a corner to bed down.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
A Child was born in Bethlehem
A Child was born in Bethlehem
Which by itself was normal; That was the “what” of this news. But the when, the where, the why and the who were what made this different.
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
A young woman gave birth to the firstborn from her womb which was also the firstborn of the Father in Heaven.
There is just a bit what we expect from the partner who has been supporting what’s been going on inside the woman’s womb. God is involved in every conception, every process of building a human being from the cells and dna and nutrients and strength of the mother. But this time was different from all other births. This time, it was personal. This time, it was the Son of God who was born.
And, because of this, the proud Father wasn’t about to keep it private.
God Has a Message to Give
God Has a Message to Give
because this is the news of the millennia, not just the centuries.
It comes without warning
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
The Shepherds were doing what shepherds had been doing for thousands of years. Making sure that the flocks who were so important for the community’s food and clothing were safe overnight from the wolves or lions or bears or rustlers that would take advantage of the relatively defenseless domesticated flocks.
Shepherds, in the field, keeping watch, at night. What they had always done.
The Shepherds were keeping the sheep in the pasture — that’s why there was some room for the couple from Nazareth where the animals usually were kept during the winter.
God has a message to give, and he chose to give the message not to kings, prophets, priests, mayors of centurions, but to shepherds. Next to the leather tanners, these were among the lowest caste of the Mediterranean region. They were the grunts, doing grunt work, for the benefit of those who owned the sheep.
On a night like no other, when it seemed to them like it would be a night like every other night, the quiet of the night was interrupted by a being of unimaginable presence.
If I were the shepherd on watch in that hour, I can imagine my beating chest trying to send a message to my brain that would make some sense.
Pretty much, it would be:
Whoa, What’s This??
Whoa, What’s This??
Just like God chose a young woman in a small town away from the center of things to receive the seed of the Savior, God chose these men of low status to receive his message. And he sent one of his special messengers from the seat of glory to the shepherds in the dark of night, and suddenly it wasn’t dark anymore.
9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
Angels are really good at scaring the socks off of whomever they show up to, when its about a special assignment from the Almighty God.
But,
The Good News
The Good News
is that this is good news
10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
The message is that
God Gave a Savior
God Gave a Savior
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
OK, that’s good news alright—but what are we supposed to do about it?
God Gave a Sign
God Gave a Sign
12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
When God Gave Jesus, he gave
Reason for Heaven to Praise
Reason for Heaven to Praise
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
OK. We’re awake now. No more sleeping tonight!
These shepherds had
Good Reason to Go and See
Good Reason to Go and See
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
The search is on. These shepherds were going into their town, overstuffed with visitors, with only the news that there would be a newborn wrapped up and in a feeding box.
There was no star to guide them. They were there because of the Angel’s announcement.
There was no address given to them. They weren’t looking for a cave, or an outdoor shelter, or a campsite. This wasn’t about a donkey parked outside with a visitor sticker on its rump.
Truth is, they had to make a search—almost door to door. Every house was full.
Most family homes in a village like Bethlehem kept their household livestock on the ground floor. The family slept upstairs, or in the second half of the ground floor, with a wall between.
The chickens, the milk goat—most couldn’t afford a cow—, a few sheep when they were home, stayed within the gated basement. Inside would be the straw for bedding, the feed for the livestock, and a manger usually built into the wall.
The manger was a trough or a box-shaped depression, off the floor. At feeding time, the right amount of feed was put there for whichever animal was being fed.
I’m thinking the shepherds had to make a plan how to find the one manger in all of Bethlehem that had a newborn in it.
Finally, one of them runs through the lanes of Bethlehem to find his buddies and show them his...
Success in the Search
Success in the Search
16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.
Explaining Their Presence
Explaining Their Presence
17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
Their God-given message wasn’t just about telling Mary and Joseph in the presence of newborn Jesus. This is part of the story that everyone they met was going to hear. Doesn’t seem like such a quiet, family birth event anymore.
To begin with, there were a bunch of gawking shepherds here in the middle of the night, with tales of an Angel of God and a sky full of praise after they were told this child would be found in a manger in Bethlehem.
Mary Soaks It In
Mary Soaks It In
19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
God Gives the Message
God Gives the Message
Through the Angel, through the Heavenly Host, through the young woman Mary, through the circumstances of birth, through the child laying in a manger, to a group of low-caste shepherds from a small village of Ephraim, and that message began to make its way through time and space and eternity because of whom he gave it to and what they did with it.
The Shepherds Were the First Evangelists
The Shepherds Were the First Evangelists
17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Tell me again, Jehudah, that story about the angel and the baby!
It would be more than 30 years before the end result of this birth would be made clear through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I wonder if a few aging shepherds were among the more than 500 who saw the resurrected Jesus before he ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven to receive the name that is above every other name?