Good News For All People
Luke 2: 8-21
We’re in Luke chapter two, verse eight, and it’s feeling a lot like Christmas in October before Halloween, which is kind of off and weird, but it’s about Jesus, so it’s good. Before we get there, I had a moment earlier this week, where my daughters get home from school, and I’m in our little office area at our house doing some studying. And my youngest daughter walks in the room where I am, and she said, “Dad, I have to tell you about something I learned today at school. I learned something amazing at school today.” I said, “Oh, really? What’s that, darling?” She said, “Well, one of my friends told me that if you sit on the ground, and if you can get up off of the ground without using your hands or your knees or your elbows, you can just get up off the ground, “hat’s the sign that you’re in really good health. But if you can’t do it, you started to go downhill.” I said, “Hold on, let me get this straight. What you’re saying to me is if I can sit down on the floor right now, and can get up again without using my hands or my knees or my elbows, then that means I’m in good health?” She said, “Yep, that’s right.” I said, “Back up, girl, I got this.” And so I sit down on the ground, and I count to three, and after I counted to three, I tried to get up, and I couldn’t do it. And so I try it again, because I’ve been sitting in a chair most of the day, and I’m just not flexible right now. So I count to three again, and I still couldn’t do it. And at this point, my oldest daughter, Annabelle, walks in the room, and she sees me sitting in the floor, and she asks, “Dad, what are you doing?” And I said, “Well, apparently I’m making a fool out of myself. Because obviously, Madeline is playing a practical joke on me. She said that she heard today at school that if you can sit on the ground, and then get up off the ground without using your hands or your elbows or your knees, that means you’re in good health. But obviously, it’s impossible for this to be done. And that’s when my two daughters simultaneously sat down on the ground and popped back up with no effort. And so now I’m just frustrated and angry, because I’m wondering why in the world I can’t do this. This is not okay. So now I’m just thinking, “Forget the sermon, I’ve have to do this now. I’ve got priorities.” And so I sit down, and I try this again and again and again. I tried it 15 times. And finally, on the 15th time, I did it. Almost. So I got about 80% up off the ground, and that’s when I lost my balance, and I fell headfirst into the bookshelf. Now I’m on the floor, writhing in pain. I would love to be able to tell you that at this moment, my daughters ran over to me and said, “Daddy, how are you doing? Daddy, we care so much about you. Daddy, do you need an ambulance?” That’s not what happened. Instead, you know what my daughters did? They ran over, stood over my body, and laughed at me. That’s what happened. So, welcome to parenthood. Now, here’s the thing I’ve learned about myself over the past 44 years of my life. See if you can relate to this. I’ve learned about myself that being an idiot comes very naturally to me. It’s almost like a spiritual gift. I have to put no effort into it at all. For whatever reason, it’s very easy for me to do dumb things.
I was thinking about this this past week. No one ever had to teach me how to be dumb. I never took a class on it in college. There was no core class called “How to Be a Moron 101.” There’s no book I read, Being a Dummy for Dummies.” It’s just very easy for me to just be dumb, and I’m prone to do very dumb things. And I think if we’re honest, most of us would have to admit that we’re all like this. We all know what it’s like to say something dumb to somebody, right? At the moment, you don’t realize it’s dumb, but then you come to find out it was really dumb. Or we respond to someone in a very dumb way. Or how about this? You post something dumb on the socials. We all know what it’s like. We say something dumb, we respond in a dumb way, we act dumb. We do something dumb, post something dumb. This is just how we are. Stupid is as stupid does, and we all do stupid sometimes. So here’s the deal. When you consider that, it’s no wonder that over and over and over again in the Scriptures, the Lord is consistently referring to us as sheep. Have you noticed this? It’s this interesting thread that goes throughout the Bible. I’m talking about the Old and New Testaments. Here’s how you know God wants to get your attention, when he’s constantly repeating something. And you see this common theme repeated over and over again in the Scriptures, where the Lord is referring to us as sheep. It’s really fascinating. The Lord says that there’s an animal in the animal kingdom that you’re most like and it’s a sheep. God knows animals, because He created animals, and He knows how to define and compare. And He compares us to sheep. For example, Psalm 100:3 says this, “Know that the Lord, He is God. It is He who made us, and we are His. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Furthermore, Isaiah chapter 53, verse six, says, “All we like sheep have gone astray. We’ve turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him, Jesus, the iniquity of us all.” In Matthew chapter nine, verse 36, we’re told this about Jesus, “When Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless. They were like sheep without a shepherd.” So Jesus sees these crowds of people, and He feels compassion for them. He’s moved in His heart with compassion for these people, because they’re like sheep without a shepherd, and apparently sheep not having a shepherd to lead, guide, and direct them is a really bad, destructive thing. Put a pin there, we’re coming back to that one. John chapter 10, verse 11, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” And I’m telling you, we could go on and on and on and on, picking out just passages where the Lord, in his Word, refers to us as being like sheep. We’re compared to sheep, we’re referred to as sheep, and the question this forces all of us to ask is, “Why sheep?” You have all of the animals of the animal kingdom at your disposal, Lord, that you can compare us to, and you compare us to sheep. We’re like sheep. You’re like a sheep. I’m like a sheep. Why does it have to be sheep? Why couldn’t it be something different? Why couldn’t the Lord compare us to a cheetah? That’s good for the self-esteem, right? Yeah, I’m a cheetah, don’t mess with me, I’m a cheetah. Or maybe an elephant. They’re supposed to be mildly intelligent, right? An elephant, or a tiger, at least they’re fun to look at. Why does it have to be a sheep that we’re compared to over and over again in the Scriptures? The question is, what is it that you and I have in common with a sheep to the extent that God Himself, the Creator of the world, would go so far as to say that we’re all like sheep?
Sheep Are Dumb
A book was written years ago by this guy named Philip Keller, and he is an interesting dude. He wrote a book called A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. The fascinating thing about this guy, Philip Keller, is he actually grew up in Eastern Africa, and for years in East Africa, he worked as a shepherd. He took care of sheep all the time. It was his vocation, his job. And he wrote this book called A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 because the whole point of it was trying to explain to us why it’s so significant that God refers to us as sheep over and over again in the Scriptures. When you read this book, here’s what you discover and it’s really fascinating. He points out in the book that there are actually three very specific primary characteristics that cause sheep to be very unique in the animal kingdom. The first one is not very flattering. The first thing he points out in this book is that sheep are dumb. Doesn’t that make you feel good? If you ask any shepherd who’s ever taken care of sheep, what sheep are like, they’ll all agree that on the day that God was dispersing common sense, He skipped over the sheep. He just didn’t give the sheep any sense at all. And I found an example of this not too long ago. This real news story came out of Turkey a few years ago, and I want to read to you something that happened with shepherds and the sheep they were taking care of that gives us a little insight into sheep being a little slow on the uptake. It says in this article, “Hundreds of sheep followed their leader off a cliff in Eastern Turkey, plunging to their deaths this week, while shepherds looked on in dismay. 400 sheep fell 15 meters to their deaths in a ravine in Van Province near Iran, but broke the fall of another 1,100 animals who survived. Shepherds from a nearby village neglected the flock while eating breakfast, leaving the sheep to roam free. The loss to local farmers was estimated at $74,000.” So get this image in your mind. There’s this one sheep who walks over a cliff, falls to his death, and then immediately 1,400 other sheep are like, “Well, that looked fun. He just walked off, fell, and died. I’m going to give that a try.” And they just all fall. We sort of laugh at that and think, “That’s ridiculous.” But, does that not sound like our story? How many times do we see someone who blows up their life and think that we’ll try that thing, too. It’s fascinating that there are actually legitimate accounts of some sheep on occasion wandering willingly into an open fire. They just walk into the fire and catch fire. This is what sheep do. They’re not the brightest animals in the world.
Sheep Are Directionless
The second thing that Keller points out in his book is that not only are sheep really dumb, but they’re also directionless. Sheep are directionless. In other words, sheep are prone to wander. They’re prone to want to do their own thing and just go their own way. Here’s the problem with that. Whenever a sheep decides to stray from the flock, bad things typically happen. When a sheep decides to stray from the shepherd and say, “I don’t need the shepherd and I’m going to do my own thing over here,” bad things occur to that sheep. When a sheep decides to bail on the shepherd, bad things happen. As a matter of fact, I was watching a video that a friend of mine shared with me not too long ago of a sheep that decided to get away from the shepherds and it ran away from the rest of the flock and it did its own thing. It gets into a little bit of a bind so the shepherd comes over and tries to help the sheep out. Is that not the story of our lives? Oh Lord, I’m in a bind. Oh Lord, I got myself in trouble. So, the Lord gets us out and then we jump back in. I mean, God kind of knows what he’s talking about, right? Sheep are directionless.
Sheep Are Defenseless
Now there’s a third characteristic that every sheep has and it’s this: sheep are defenseless. This is really important to spend time on. They’re defenseless or another way to say it would be left to themselves, sheep will not and cannot last very long. They just won’t because they’re defenseless. Sheep need a shepherd because the reality is without a shepherd to defend those sheep, they’re just not going to last long. Here’s what’s so fascinating. Most animals can last a pretty long time or at least a while in nature by themselves, but not sheep. If you put a sheep out in the wild by itself, all you did was just give all the other animals a tasty snack. Because sheep can’t defend themselves, they’re just not going to last very long. Typically there are three different ways that animals react whenever they encounter danger and encounter a predator. When an animal feels threatened or when it feels like it’s being attacked, there’s fight or there’s flight or there’s posture. This is typically the way that it happens with a sheep.. So for example, some animals will fight in order to defend themselves from a predator. They encounter danger and they fight. That’s their instantaneous response. But how is a sheep supposed to fight a bear? That’s a fight that’s not going to last very long, amen? It’s like Georgia Tech playing Georgia, there’s no hope. Sheep don’t have claws, sheep don’t have fangs, sheep don’t have venom, sheep don’t have long talons. Fighting really isn’t an option for a sheep at all, but neither is flight. How is a sheep supposed to get away from a bear? Sheep aren’t fast, sheep are slow. They don’t have wings, they can’t fly away, so they’re not really going to be able to escape from a predator on their own. And furthermore, posture isn’t an option either. Think about this for a second. Most animals, if they’re attacked, have some kind of posture they can take to try to ward off the attack. So for example, a dog when it encounters a threat, can growl, bark loudly, and show its little canine teeth. A rattlesnake can rattle, a lion can roar, a cat can be demonic like they always are and do their thing. But what’s a sheep supposed to do? What’s the best a sheep has to offer when the bear’s coming at it? Baaaaa, right? That’s not intimidating. What are you going to do, hit me with wool? Have you ever been hit with wool? It’s delightful, right? Hit me again. That’s wonderful. Incidentally, this is why no one ever buys a guard sheep for their home. You’re never going to see a big sign, “Beware of the lamb.” It’s just not intimidating at all. So here’s the point. Anyone who’s familiar with sheep will tell you that sheep are dumb and sheep are directionless and sheep are defenseless; but nevertheless, God goes on record repeatedly in the Scriptures and He calls us sheep.
We All Need a Good Shepherd
How are we supposed to respond to that? Are we supposed to be offended by this? God, how dare you call us sheep? We’re supposed to want to cancel them and say, Lord, I don’t like that, and how dare you hurt my self-esteem and call me a sheep? It’s supposed to make us angry, it’s supposed to be interpreted as insult. No. Let me explain something. Listen, when the Lord of all refers to us as sheep, it’s not meant to be an insult. He’s not saying, “Oh, you dumb sheep. Instead, it’s just a realistic assessment of who we actually are as sinful humans. The point that our heavenly Father in love and in mercy is trying to make to all of us here is this. In the same exact way that sheep desperately need a shepherd, we need a Good Shepherd. You need a Good Shepherd in this life, and I need a Good Shepherd in this life desperately. Because the fact is, without a Good Shepherd who will, in the midst of this dark, broken world, lead us and provide for us and nurture us and instruct us and teach us and love us and look out for us, we’re doomed.
The Birth of Jesus Is Compassionate
And this is exactly what brings us to verse eight of chapter two of the Gospel of Luke. Jesus, our great God and Savior, has just been born in a manger to Mary and Joseph in that little town of Bethlehem. And now we have this fascinating moment begin to unfold in verse eight. It’s this incredible act of foreshadowing; the fact that Jesus will ultimately be the Great Shepherd who will lay down his life for sheep like us, and in this foreshadowing of that reality of who Jesus is going to be and what Jesus is going to do for you and me, notice who the very first people in the history of the world were to learn about the birth of Jesus. Because this is not an accident, and it’s not just random. God’s up to something here, and it’s a foreshadowing of all that Jesus is going to do, all that Jesus is going to be for you and for me. Notice who the very first people to find out about the birth of Christ are.
Luke chapter two, verse eight, says this, “And in the same region [the region around Bethlehem], there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, 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.” They’re freaking out, they’re terrified. “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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, and this will be a sign for you. You’ll find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, and lying in a manger.’” And the very first thing we see in this text about the birth of Jesus, the coming of our great God and Savior, the incarnation of Christ, the second person of the Trinity, is that the birth of Jesus is compassionate. What we are seeing here in Luke chapter two is the compassion of God on display. It’s like a neon sign that’s brightened, and it’s shining and flashing in front of us. Here’s why. The very first people in the history of history to learn about the birth of Jesus were a bunch of roughneck, nasty shepherds living out in a random field, taking care of their sheep in the middle of the night. Why shepherds? Because it just sort of seems odd, a little weird, that out of all the potential people in the world, and in that region, for that matter, that God would choose shepherds. Why shepherds? Think about it. Wouldn’t it make sense to maybe choose religious leaders. You show up to the guys who have studied the Bible and read the Scriptures and the scrolls for their entire lives and have the whole thing memorized. Why not them? Why not seminary professors? They’re smart guys and use words like ecclesiology and know things about God and the Bible and stuff. They seem to anyway. Or why not people with lots of money and lots of influence? Why don’t the angels show up to somebody living in a palace in the middle of Jerusalem? Why shepherds? Why not the VIPs in the big city? Well, why were shepherds the very first people that God in the flesh chooses to reveal himself to at this moment?
The answer is twofold. Number one, on the one hand, this is a powerful foreshadowing of the fact that Jesus Christ is going to be the Good Shepherd, who will eventually lay down His life for a bunch of sinful broken sheep like us. That’s the first reason. But there’s also something else going on here. The Jesus we sing to today, the Jesus we worship today, the Jesus we’re making much of right now is compassionate. Our God is a God of compassion. Believe it or not, here’s what you need to know. Back in the first century, in this part of the world, shepherds were the bottom rung of society. We’ve romanticized shepherds today. We think of shepherds as cute because my third grade son was a shepherd in the little church pageant thing and dressed in the thing and had a little hook. We romanticize them in our culture. But contextually speaking, these were the guys who were the bottom rung of this culture. They were social outcasts, they were poor, they were uneducated. Again, they were total roughnecks. They were uncultured. They’re the guys you invite to dinner and then at some point during dinner, you regret that you invited them. Elbows on the table, burping in front of everybody, smacking their food, just not into etiquette. These guys lived out in the fields, took care of sheep all the time. They were religious outsiders, essentially. Here’s the truth, because the nature of their work was viewed ceremonially as being unclean, these brothers weren’t even allowed to participate in temple worship. As a matter of fact, even if they had been allowed to participate in temple worship, they would have never had the time to do it because they always had to be with these sheep and take care of them around the clock. And so consequently, these guys were viewed by society in the first century in Israel to be filthy, dirty, worthless, and above all, godless. It’s the kind of guys you pass by and hold your nose up at them and assume they’re not near to God. And yet what does God do? He intentionally announces the birth of Christ first and foremost to the outcast on the fringes of society who were looked down on by virtually everyone. And there’s a powerful lesson that we’re all supposed to learn from what God’s doing here. And it’s just this simple, yet powerful, transformational lesson right here. Jesus came for you. Have we gotten callous towards that incredible gospel truth? Jesus came for you. He came for you. And Jesus came for me. And what we’re learning from Luke chapter two is that no one is too low, and no one’s too insignificant, and no one’s too poor, and no one’s too unimportant, and no one’s too powerless, and no one’s too forgotten, and no one’s too uneducated, and no one on earth is ever too small for God to love them and pursue them all the way to a cross because He desires a relationship with them. This is the good news of the gospel. And so of course, God shows up first and foremost to the outcast of society because he chooses the foolish of this world and He shames the wise. Our God is a God who pursues those who no one else will pursue. This is the good news of the gospel. This is important to point out, especially for those of you who maybe this is your first time in church. And you think the people in church are the people who think they’re better than everybody else. Here’s the reality. That’s not true. It’s not true that we think we’re better than everybody else. I promise you, if we thought we were better than everybody else, we wouldn’t be here. We’d be at the lake or we’d be at Topgolf. We’d be doing something else. You know why we’re here? Because we realize the fact that we desperately need a Good Shepherd. We need Him.
The Birth of Jesus is Good News
Notice the second thing that we’re all learning about the birth of Jesus here. It’s seen in verse 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.’” All the people. This actually brings us to the second point for today, the birth of Jesus is good news. It’s good news. The birth of Jesus is good news. What we’re celebrating today is good news. What we’re singing about today is good news. The conversations we’re having today should be saturated with this good news. The reason we meet every single week in small groups, mission, or community is to celebrate the good news and acknowledge the good news and talk about how the good news applies to our lives. The reason we do student ministry and kids ministry, the reason we do anything around here is all centered around the good news. It’s good news. So get this. These angels appeared to these shepherds in Luke chapter two, and their message is clear. They said, “Hey, we have good news.” I love the fact that the angels appear, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And as Linus says in the Charlie Brown special, “…and they were sore afraid.” They’re terrified. These guys are freaking out over the fact that angels and the glory of God has shown up, which by the way, you would be too. If we’re in here right now, and I’m up here doing this little song and dance, and all of a sudden, the angels show up, and the glory of the Lord is shining around us, nobody in this room would just say, “Oh, that’s interesting. Go on, pastor.” No, nobody. We’re all hiding under chairs. We’re terrified about what’s about to happen, because we’ve never seen anything like it before. And notice what the angels say, ”Fear not.” They’re terrified, and the angels are like, “No, no, no, don’t do that. Don’t do that fear thing. This isn’t time for the fear thing. This is the time for the party thing, because I’m bringing you good news of great joy.”
The Bible Is Not Just Good Advice; It’s Good News
What does that mean that this is good news? Well, one of the things it means is that this is not just a good story. You know what else? It’s not just good theology, good doctrine. It isn’t just good material for a good sermon and it’s not just good advice. And can I just clarify that for a sec? Can we just pause in the church right now and make this totally clear? Listen, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not just good advice, and this book right here, the Bible, is not just good advice. This is good news. So here’s the deal. The difference between advice and good news is that good advice is counsel I give you for a decision you need to make in the future, but it has not happened yet. It’s about something that has not occurred as of yet. But good news is totally different, because good news is about something that’s already happened, an event that took place in history, and it’s a really good thing for you that it did. You see the difference? The birth of Jesus Christ is good news, meaning it’s something that happened, and it’s good that it happened for all of us, because there are some really good implications for us today because this event took place. I want you to think about this. How would you respond? Let me ask it this way. What would your response be to really, really good news if lyou heard it today. I’m talking about life-changing, life-altering, earth-shattering good news, transformative. The kind of good news that the moment you heard it, you never forget where you were when you heard that good news. You know what I’m talking about? One of those events that so marks you, that you never forget where you were when you heard about that thing for the first time. What would your response be to really good news? If you went home today after church, you picked up your tablet, or you turned on your television, and you just started watching some kind of news channel, and they made some breaking news announcement, and it was good news. Now, I get it. I understand no one does that. No news outlet ever reports good news. No one would watch that, right? We all want to be afraid, and scared, and freaked out. And that’s the stuff we watch. But let’s just pretend for a moment that we lived in a world where there was some amazing breaking news. How would you respond to that? Imagine going home today and there’s a news alert saying all of the people who drive slow in the fast lane on I-85 have had their licenses revoked forever. You’re welcome, America. How would you respond to that? We’d be high-fiving, right? We’d be driving down the road, honking at them while they’re walking. Or more seriously, think about this. Imagine a news alert comes on and a cure for cancer has been discovered. No one will ever die of cancer again. There’s a cure, there’s plenty for everybody, and you can get it at CVS right now. Could you imagine what your response would be? Here’s what I know about you, and I don’t even know a lot of you, but here’s what I know about you. At that moment, with that kind of news hitting you, I guarantee it doesn’t matter how you were raised, it doesn’t matter who your family of origin was, it doesn’t matter if you grew up Baptist like I did, or you were Presbyterian, or Methodist, or one of those weird Episcopalians, or whatever. However you were raised, here’s what I know about you. You would at that moment lose your mind in celebration. Tears of joy, high fives, some of us thinking about people we know who have died of cancer, and we grieve for them, but we’re also overjoyed that no one will have to experience that. Again, there’d be laughter, there’d be parties, people would be hugging. How many of y’all would go from zero to Pentecost in like two seconds if you got that kind of news? Because that’s amazing news, that’s life-shaking news. And here’s what else I know about you. You would never be afraid to share that good news with people who didn’t know about that good news. Imagine you have a neighbor who says to you, “I just found out I’ve got cancer.” And they don’t know about the good news, because they don’t own a TV or tablets. They’re Amish, and they don’t know. I promise you at that moment you’re not thinking, “Well, I can’t say anything to them, because what if the relationship gets weird? What if it changes the dynamic here, and they don’t want to hang out anymore, because I told them about a cure for cancer?” Family, can I tell you something? You would never respond that way to a cure for cancer. There’s no way you wouldn’t tell about that. Here’s the reality, Luke chapter two is better news, a better joy than even a cure for cancer. Because as amazing as a cure for cancer is, a cure for cancer can never rescue you from hell. And a cure for cancer can’t ever give you peace with a holy God, and a cure for cancer can’t forgive you of your sins, and a cure for cancer can’t transform your heart forever. Only Jesus Christ can do that. There is no greater news than this. And my fear is that sometimes we get numb to it, and we get callous to it. And sometimes the danger is that we start to live as if we’re responding to Luke chapter two as if it’s more of a good story than good news. We become fans of good stories, but they don’t really transform or change our lives. Some of us are fans of talking about it at Christmas and doing the whole candle thing, and that’s great. But good news changes us forever.
Good News Is Meant To Be Proclaimed
I’m a fan of good stories. I’m reading “The Hobbit” right now and Bilbo Baggins is the man. But I haven’t asked Gandalf into my heart. I’m a huge fan of Gandalf, he’s a made-up wizard in a good story. But, the Bible is good news. This happened, this occurred, there are implications, this is changing everything. So the point is, good news is always meant to be proclaimed. Good news is always meant to be shared. And who exactly is supposed to hear this good news that the angels are telling the shepherds about? Who’s supposed to hear it? Well, we were told who’s supposed to hear it. Look at verse 10 again, “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.” This news is for everybody. Now notice for a second what the angels did not say. Is it fascinating they did not say, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for some of the people? They didn’t say, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for a few of the people? They didn’t even say, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for most of the people. They didn’t say just the shepherds’ favorite people. They didn’t say good news of great joy for just the Jewish people living in Israel, but instead, this is good news of great joy for all people. And I have to think when Luke’s writing this, his heart’s filled with joy, because what do we know about Luke? He isn’t Jewish, he’s Gentile. Good news of great joy for all people. Now here’s what’s so fascinating. I want you to think about this for a second. By giving this good news that’s for all of the people to only a few of the people, God has called those few people to now live on mission for Him. You ever thought about that? I don’t know that we’ve ever thought about that. This is the greatest news in the history of the world. How many of y’all believe that God can do anything he wants to do? And so it stands to reason that if God is God and He has the power to do anything He wants to do, because He’s omnipotent, then He could have had billions of angels and they could show up to every individual on the planet. I mean, let’s just be honest. God could have given everybody their own angel that night. It’d be like Oprah, you get an angel and you get an angel and you get an angel and you get an angel and everybody got an angel. And the angel at a simultaneous epic moment to everybody in the world could have said, “A Savior has been born to you in Bethlehem; you’re welcome.” But that’s not what God chooses to do. Isn’t that fascinating? But instead, what does God do? On this night, He intentionally entrusts the greatest news in all of history to a few shepherds living out in a field and He invites them to live now on mission for Him. You see it? Isn’t this always how our God works? Isn’t that fascinating? God is sovereign and He can save anybody He wants to whenever He wants to. That’s what God does and God chooses us to be the means by which His message, His good news, goes out. Think about that. He could do it any way He wants to and this is the way He chooses to do it. He uses His people to advance His good news to all people. And you know why he does it? He doesn’t do it because he needs us. How many of y’all know God does not need you? He doesn’t need me. God doesn’t need you and he doesn’t need me. You know why He invites us to participate in his mission? It’s simple. He loves you. See, here’s what God’s like. God’s a lot like a good daddy who loves his kid and so he takes his kid to bring your kid to work day. How many of you dads ever took your kid to work with you? Anybody? We don’t do that because we need them. You’re not sitting around thinking “Well, I can’t fix this carburetor. Little Billy, you give it a try. Here’s the wrench.” You don’t need them. It’s the joy in participating and really, here’s the thing. It’s God that does all the work. It’s God that does the saving. It’s God that prepares hearts. It’s God that plants the seed. It’s God that causes the seed to grow. It’s God that does all the work and yet He invites us to participate with Him in this work and He does it because He loves us. Think about that. We’ve been entrusted by God with the greatest message in the world to take it to all people because He loves us and it’s a message that can save the world.
Now watch what happens next. Look at verse 11. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” You want to know something interesting? It’s the only verse in the Scriptures where those three words are in the same verse, “Savior, Christ, Lord.” I’m going to make this real clear who Jesus is. “And this will be a sign for you. You’ll find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.’ 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.’” You know what’s interesting? In Matthew chapter two, Herod goes to the religious leaders and asks them, “Hey, what’s going on? Where’s the Christ supposed to be born? Because these guys said the Christ was just born. Where’s the Christ supposed to be born?” And they said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, that’s where.” And you know what’s fascinating? The religious leaders who had been reading their Bibles forever and going to church all the time didn’t make the trip to Bethlehem to see. It was the roughneck outcast shepherds who said, “This isn’t just good theology, we have to go see. We have to experience this.” So they go to Bethlehem, verse 16, “And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them, but Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” I want to be clear about something. Here’s the reality. We read this most Christmases, and we light candles and we sing songs and that’s great, but if familiarity doesn’t breed contempt, sometimes it can at least breed callousness. And I think we need to remember that at this moment as we read this incredible story in Luke chapter two, the reality is that this good news is by far the greatest and most significant event that has ever happened to you. There’s nothing that compares or comes close when it comes to the significance and the greatness of this event in your life and in my life. The entire reason Emmaus Church is even a thing is because of Luke chapter two and this thing right here. Think about that. The entire reason we’re here right now doing this is because of what’s going on in Luke chapter two, that we have good news. We have been given good news, angels say good news for you, good news for you and for all people. We’ve been given good news of great joy that is for all people that Jesus Christ has come to rescue us from sin to be our Savior Christ and Lord as it says right here. Think about that family. We’ve received good news that we can be rescued from hell and that great gospel message is what we’ve been preaching here and proclaiming here and yelling about and making noise about for the past 12 years since Emmaus Church has been a thing and by God’s grace, we’re going to keep preaching this and screaming about this until He returns or we die. This Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of those who believe. This is what it’s all about. There’s no news that’s greater than this and this is what we’ll continue to preach as we follow Jesus into this next season that He’s leading us into as a church.
We’re on mission together, just like the shepherds. We’ve been entrusted with a message. We’re the few to take the message to the all. Share the gospel with the people around you. At the end of the day, this is about the good news of Jesus. You have neighbors, you have friends, you have coworkers, you have people in your circle of influence who desperately need Jesus, and our God’s a sovereign God who’s in control of everything, and the fact that you have a relationship with those people is not an accident.