Luke 2:15-20 The Day After Christmas Now What?

Luke 2:15–20 NLT

15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

We don’t generally have an issue with Christmas day or the days leading up to Christmas. I actually titled today’s message “The Day After Christmas, Now What?” I realize that Christmas day has not passed as of yet…but we won’t meet again until after Christmas and since we are doing the Christmas story tonight I wanted to talk a little bit about the after effect of the Holiday Season. During the Christmas season we are all a little nicer, we all smile a little more, we all like to think we are more joyful and light hearted, we might pray a little more or even go to church for more than just a couple of Sunday’s in December....but what about the day after Christmas? What do we do then? Is all that just gone? Do we suddenly take a deep breath and almost like Superman or Batman change back into who we were before the Christmas Season arrived?

I want to do something a little bit different this morning. I don’t want to talk about Jesus being born per se’. Now some of ya’ll might think that is strange but in reality its not really. See for us as believers since Jesus has been born, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to pay for our sins…we all should be celebrating like it is Christmas all year long. The group that God chose to share the good news with were shepherds. Not just any shepherds they were working the night shift. Shepherds were considered a lowly class of people. As you can imagine living out in the brush day in day out not to mention the close company of animals the smells and what not.....there guys were the night shift guys. Now I don’t know the theory behind this but when I worked nights for 18 years the guys working for me were typically the guys nobody wanted on days. Not always but sometimes. The whole world just changed for the better and the first group that God chose to share the news with was a group that everyone else looked down on and he chose to do it at night.

In our passage this morning we start out by meeting some guys who had been keeping sheep. Not only were they keeping sheep they were keeping sheep at night. As I said they were not just lowly shepherds they were the lowest of that group because they were working the night shift and they were the first ones to find out that the world just changed for the better. They were lowly shepherds just trying to do a good job and watch these sheep and suddenly something happened that shook them to the core. They were visited by angels and given a message that was for all the world to hear. The angels showed up gave them the message and just left them standing on the dark prairie. Now the message they were given was to go and find this baby that was born in Bethlehem.

We see in verse 15 as soon as the angels were gone they headed straight to Bethlehem to see the baby they were told about. They were obedient they were told to go and they went. They did what they were told to do. Now we can sit here all day and talk about whether or not they were sent but I believe if we were talking and I told you exactly how to find something and what that something would look like when you found it..you would know that you were supposed to go looking for it.

How many times do we seek God out throughout the year? How many times other than Christmas are we looking for God? When God tells us to go and do something we want concrete directions and a map to where God is calling us to. We want God to just spell it out completely so that we don’t have to put any effort at all into the game. We don’t want to have to search or dig to try and get there, in truth because most times we don’t really want to go to start with. These shepherds were not given concrete directions. “Go to Bethlehem and find a kid that was born in a stable and laid in a manger. Now when you get there he is gonna be in a manger wrapped up in a blanket.” The shepherds said “Baby in a barn in a blanket laying in a manger…got it. Let’s roll guys.” They immediately took off looking for this baby.

We are good at finding God around Christmas time because thanks to advertisements…He is everywhere. Everything you read and on every corner there is someone proclaiming that Jesus Christ was born and is alive and well. Sorry that is not finding God that is someone hitting you over the head with a Bible going “look here at Jesus.” If we are truly searching for God we would be looking just as hard in February as we are in December. We would not need ads on TV and folks on corners telling us, believers, the good news that we already know and by the way that would not aggravate us either, we would be stopping to pray for their ministry that God would continue using them to get the word out. That is why I preach like I do…that is why I evangelize the way I do…If I have to drag someone kicking and screaming to search for God then they are not searching for God I am dragging them along on a ride they really don’t want to be on and my faith can’t save anyone but me. My thirst for God ain’t gonna satisfy their desire to go to heaven. They have to seek God for themselves. Just like these shepherds when God says go or speaks they either go or listen.

If we are truly seeking God we would feel as good all year long as we do at Christmas time. That feeling would not go away. We unlike the shepherds are often times not obedient. We don’t go when we are sent. We don’t prioritize our walk with the Lord. We put it on the back burner and then wonder why we are stuggling with sin. We are stuggling because we are not obedient to God. We want to make excuses like “Well I have trouble talking to people. I struggle with _____fill in the blank.” The shepherds were the lowest of the low class they were told to find a baby and they went.

Now they have found the baby and his mother just like the angels told them they would. Verse 17 says they told everyone about it. Luke 2:17

Luke 2:17 NLT

17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.

They told everyone. They couldn’t keep it to themselves. They were so happy they were included in this news that was for all men..everyone they passed they told. This is after Christmas day folks the baby has already been born. They are out telling everyone about Jesus. They aren’t talking about how happy they are that its over. How life can go back to normal since the celebration has ended.

We treat the day after Christmas like its more important that Christmas day. We are moving into the new year we want to get that celebration over so we can go back to normal. We need a break from all the Christmasy stuff. We want to just kick back and relax till about October next year and then we will get cranked up again. The shepherds were out sharing the good news about Jesus.

We like Christmas but who do we tell? How many times in our lives have we been just as joyful and just as nice and just as carefree as we are in December? How many times when I wake up on Dec 26th am I as happy to be serving God as I am on Dec 25th? How many times do I say “I can’t wait till all this is over so I can slow down.” Are we out there on the 26th telling the world the good news about the baby that was born in Bethlehem so that we could all be free from sin. Christmas comes everyday for believers.

Luke 2:18–19 NLT

18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.

Everybody that heard the story was astonished....not only was this story amazing but God revealed it to shepherds first. Notice what it says about Mary. Have you ever wondered what this verse means. It is almost like an after thought here that she just kept kinda quiet and just thought about what was going on.

She started reflecting in her heart on all that God was doing in her life and what He was gonna do through her little boy. She was pondering or meditating on them.. as some translations might say. Has God ever revealed something to you in Scripture or maybe through your prayer time and you just stopped and started thinking deeply about it. I mean really just mulling it over and trying to get a handle on it so that it makes more sense to you. Do you ever stop and wonder why we are not as happy all year long as we are during the Christmas season.

God had just done something miraculous in her life and she was taking it all in. When God does amazing things in our lives do we reflect on it like Mary did in this verse? Mary is making sure she doesn’t miss something that God is doing. She is taking time to remember every detail about what is happening to her and through her. When God does something in our life do we take the time to sit down and really remember what God has done for us. Is it just in the month of December that we reflect on our blessings. Do I think all year long about the miracle that God performed so that sinners like me could be set free from sin forever.

In verse 20 we find the shepherds returned to their duties but with a catch. Look at verse 20 with me.

Luke 2:20 NLT

20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

They went back to work glorifying and praising God for all they heard and saw. God blessed them and life did not stop they went back to work but they were changed by the experience they had. They were now telling everyone and they were praising God and glorifying God. They were not shy about telling everyone how good God was and how happy they were just to have been blessed with being able to be there.

Why is it I can praise God and give Him glory all the way up to Dec 25th but on the 26th I am back to being the same old me that I was before. Nothing has changed in my life, yea I had a good Christmas and stuff but man that’s done it’s time to go back to work. I put my head down and suddenly I am not joyful any longer I am now sad that I have to go back to work…back to normal....God blessed me abundantly through Christmas but now my blessings are done. I put them in the closet with the decorations and ornaments. Just like all my Christmas stuff that looks really good... on the outside....my faith and my joy get boxed up and put away until I need it next year. Now about August I’ll start getting the bug to be joyful and start getting geared up to tell someone about Jesus being born but right now Christmas is over.

See our faith to lot of folks is a just like my Christmas stuff it looks good on the outside but it don’t really change the inside that much. My house is still the same I decorate it and make it look good for a time but when that season is past I change it back to how I like it. How I am comfortable. Christmas is over on the 26th and I don’t want people looking at me thinking there is something wrong with me for continuing to celebrate the greatest gift this world was ever given. I can’t tell anybody about Jesus after Christmas they might call me a Jesus freak…or a holy roller....or a Bible thumper..

I got news for you..you can call me whatever you want to call me but my Heavenly Father He calls me redeemed. He call me a child of God. He calls me by my name and knows me better than I know myself. See I am a believer all year long. From Dec 26, 2024 until the last Dec 26 God lets me see.

Christmas is not something a believer celebrates on Dec 25th it something that is celebrated everyday of every year because praise be to God Jesus came and set me free. That baby that was born in that stable and laid in that manger…that’s my Jesus…that’s my Savior…that’s my Lord. I celebrate Him all year long and I go when and where sent and I tell everyone the good news about Him being born 365 days a year not just on December 25th. Don’t let Christmas stop for you the day after Christmas…remember the miracle and the sacrifice that was made on our behalf…go out and tell everyone about that baby boy that was born to take the sins of the world upon himself so that the world could be set free.

Invitation.....