Stay Tuned For This Important Announcement
December 28, 2003
Luke 2:8-16
Luke 2:8 - Luke 2:16
(KJV) 8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the
field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon
them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore
afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For
unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in
swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 15And
it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the
shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this
thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16And
they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a
manger.
Christmas is over, the gifts are all
unwrapped, the turkey is history, and the batteries are dead. The crazy season
is over, and most of us are winding down these last few days of 2003. Yet the
announcement made in Luke chapter 2 continues to reverberate in our minds.
Most of the time we don’t like to
hear the words “Stay tuned for an important announcement” because
usually whatever follows is not news we want to hear. It’s like hearing
that emergency broadcast signal. You know that it is probably “just a
test” but there is always that chance that it is something more.
Let’s look a little bit this morning
at the Angel’s announcement.
- It was
personal
Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great
joy…
Can you imagine what the shepherds were thinking? The angels of heaven
were speaking personally to them. At first they were afraid, like most of us
would be. We, like the shepherds, are probably wondering why they were
chosen. The shepherds were hardly a prestigious audience. They weren’t
royalty or clergy, they weren’t necessarily movers and shakers in the
community, and they certainly weren’t dressed for such a regal
performance as the heavenly choir singing.
Yet they were chosen. From amongst all the people in Israel, these
simple shepherds were chosen, and the angels said that the message was for them
personally. This should give each one of us comfort, because it shows that the
Messiah was for ordinary people.
1 Corinthians 1:26 - 1
Corinthians 1:29 (KJV) 26For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27But God hath chosen the foolish things of
the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the
world to confound the things which are mighty; 28And base things of the world, and things
which are despised, hath God chosen, yea,
and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29That
no flesh should glory in his presence.
In these verses, Paul tells us that God
chooses the humble for the grand, and the ordinary for the extraordinary.
Sometimes our perspective changes when we encounter God:
C. S. Lewis recounts that when he first started going
to church he disliked the hymns, which he considered to be fifth-rate poems set
to sixth-rate music. But as he continued, he said, "I realized that the
hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with
devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew,
and then you realize that you aren't fit to clean those boots. It gets you out
of your solitary conceit."
·
Paul Brand, Fearfully and
Wonderfully Made
Centuries removed from that wonderful announcement to the shepherds we
still are able to hear the message as a personal message. It was delivered
personally to the most humble of beings, and today the message rings loud and
clear to each of us personally.
- It was Universal
… which shall be to
all people…
Not only was it personal, it was also
universal. See, the impact of the birth of the Messiah was for each of us on
an individual level, but it was universally applied. All people have an
opportunity to respond to God’s invitation.
"The best way to send an idea," said
scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, "is to wrap it up in a person." The
theological word for all of that is incarnation, meaning "in the
flesh." Jesus was the incarnation of God. Jesus was the way that God sent
His "idea" to humanity; there was and is no better way! One of the
early church fathers whose name was Ignatius explained that "by the
Incarnation, God broke His silence." Less scholarly as an explanation but
equally to the point was the remark of a little girl who said, "Some
people couldn't hear God's inside whisper and so He sent Jesus to tell them out
loud." The Gospel of John declares dramatically, "The Word became
flesh and dwelt among us." The Word, that living _expression_ of God, tells
out loud His truth and sees to it that we are in touch with the power and glory
at the heart of Creation. We are brought into the personal presence of the
lover of our souls. How great that blessing! How wonderful that gift!
·
Gene Bartlett
Today, God’s chosen people are those who choose to believe. The
incarnation should lead us to evangelize, to share the message with everyone
around us. It wasn’t a message just for you, or just for me, but it was
a message for all of mankind.
As we start a new year, who are we going to share this message with?
- It was timeless
People needed a savior.
The claim that Christianity makes for Christmas is that at a
particular time and place God came to be with us Himself. When Quirinius was
governor of Syria, in a town
called Bethlehem,
a child was born who, beyond the power of anyone to account for, was the high
and lofty One made low and helpless. The One who inhabits eternity comes to
dwell in time. The One whom none can look upon and live is delivered in a
stable under the soft, indifferent gaze of cattle. The Father of all mercies
puts Himself at our mercy.
Frederick Buechner
There is a small voice that penetrated the stillness of the night.
It comes from the bedroom across the hall. "Daddy, I'm scared!" Out of
your groggy, fuzzy state, you respond with, "Honey, don't be afraid,
Daddy's right across the hall." After a very brief pause the little voice
is heard again, "I'm still scared." Always quick with an insight you
respond, "You don't need to be afraid. God is with you. God loves
you." This time the pause is longer -- but the voice returns, "I
don't care about God, Daddy; I want someone with skin on!"
It seems like the logic used by the little child is precisely the
reason for the Incarnation. After thousands of years of being unsuccessful in
being able to convince his people that he really loved them, our Creator
realized that the best way to demonstrate his love for us was to send
"someone with skin on."
--James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 301.
We need this savior now. Christ is all people have needed throughout
history.
While it is proper to pay special attention to the incarnation in
December, they should remain important to us throughout the year. We should be
able to sing Joy To The World on any Sunday in the year because Christ brings
peace and joy.
