The Angels

Luke 2:8-14

     People have a lot of strange traditions, and we don’t really know why we do them. Especially around Christmas. For instance, why do people hang Christmas lights on their houses? I would like to think it is because Jesus is the light of the world, but I’m afraid that it is probably not. I love the Christmas tree but where did that come from? Most people believe that Martin Luther started the whole thing in sixteenth century, in Germany. I don’t think we really know for sure.

     But what I do know is; The whole world pauses and takes a moment to recognize Christmas. Even though most people don’t know why, they still do it. And when we look at the very first announcement of Christmas that came from heaven to earth, from the angel to the shepherds, were reminded of why we stop and recognize this time as special. Because Jesus brought peace to earth and good will toward man. And just like the angel in this story, we are messengers of God’s good news to the world. And that’s what we are going to talk about today.

     Luke 2:8-14, “In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

     But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.; For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you, you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger.”

     And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

     In our passage this morning we see the drama of Christmas unfold. And we see the invasion of earth by the infinite God. His purpose was to come and reveal Himself to us in Jesus. His purpose was to give Himself as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. Christ left the glory of heaven to become poor for the sake of man, so that we might become spiritually rich through Him.

     That is the Christmas story, that is the gospel message. God choose to announce that first, through an angel to shepherds out in a field, and that’s what I want to talk to you about today, just like the angel in this story, As Christians we are God’s messengers of good news to the world. But how are we God’s messengers? Well, it requires Visitation. Vs. 8-9

     In verse 8 we see the phrase, “In the same region.” This is talking about the region around Bethlehem. The place where Christ was born. The area where Joseph and Mary had to travel to register for the census of Caesar Augustus. While Joseph and Mary were in the city there were shepherds out in the fields.

     And it’s interesting to me is, that is where God sends His angel. He doesn’t send him into the city. He doesn’t send him to the important people of the world. He doesn’t send him to the merchants or laborers. He doesn’t send him to the soldiers who were overseeing the census. He doesn’t send him to the government officials, or the store owners, or inn keepers, but God choose to send His angel to the shepherds out in the fields.

     Maybe that is because God knew that those people in the city were just to busy for God. Maybe God knew they were too caught up in the hustle and bustle of life to care about what was going on. I mean the King of Glory came to Bethlehem, and they were too preoccupied to make room for Him, or even notice. And I can’t help but think about how it reminds me of the world we live in today. People are too preoccupied for God. We are too busy to care. We are just like the people of Bethlehem; we don’t have room for Him in our life.

     So, God choose to reveal Himself first to shepherds. Shepherds were among the lowest group of people on the economic scale in Israel. It wasn’t that they were despised, it was just that they were overlooked, unwanted, and uncared for. The very nature of their job meant that they were unclean and kept them from taking part in the religious traditions. So, the people did not think very highly of shepherds.

     And that’ s interesting because shepherds have a rich history in the nation of Israel. The very first family; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they were shepherds. The twelve tribes of Israel were all shepherds and King David began as a shepherd boy in Bethlehem. So, the very first visitation to announce God’s arrival, was to shepherds, the social outcasts of Israel.

     The lesson in this for us is that there are no insignificant people to God. God cares about you and what you are going through in your life. There is no social order or financial status in the plan of God for your life. And as Christians we called to visit the lost, the overlooked and the wounded people of the world.

     That is what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 25 when He said, “When I was hungry you gave me something to eat. When I was thirsty you gave Me something to drink. When I was a stranger you invited Me in. When I was naked you clothed Me. When I was sick you visited Me, and when I was in prison you came to me. And the righteous will say, “Lord when did we do these things?” And He says, “As much as you have done this for the least of these you have done this for me.” So, just like the angel in the story we are called to continue the work of Christ by reaching out to the least of these.

     I want you to notice what the shepherds were doing when the angel came to visit them.Vs. 8 says, “they were keeping watch over their flock by night.” In other words, these shepherds were working the night shift. They were doing their job, and it was a night like any other night until the glory of God shows up.

     I can’t help but think the same thing is true in our life.  God shows up when we least expect it. When we are doing the ordinary mundane things in life. God doesn’t wait until we are at church to do something special in our life. Most of the time it is when your trying to get something done at work, or when you learn a co-worker has a problem at home. Or maybe, it is when you are working in the yard and you realize you haven’t seen your neighbor in a while.

     That is when God steps in and begins to lay it on our heart to care about someone else for a change. It is at those moments when obedience to the command of God is the most rewarding in our life because we get to see God at work. We get to participate with Him. That’s what we see in this story. The shepherds were doing what they ordinarily do, when God comes to them and shares something amazing.

    Verse 9 tells us that “the Angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them.” When we read these stories about these faraway places, and these distant lands. We might begin to think that angels appearing before men were a common occurrence. But I want you to understand the only time we see this happening in the Bible: is at the birth of Jesus and at the resurrection of Jesus.

     Oh, angels exist today. The book of Hebrews tells us that, “some have entertained angels unaware.” In other words, there are times in our life when we are in the presence of angels, and we don’t even know it. But, that is not something you see happening all the time in the scriptures, except for when God became a man, and He came to earth in the form of a child, and as He rose from the grave. These are extraordinary events, and you would expect to see angelic activity taking place at that time.

     The word “angel” in the Greek is the word “messenger.” And that is what this angel was. He was a messenger from God. Today we are God’s messengers, because we are taking the good news of great joy to the world.

     Verse 9 tells us that the angel appeared before the shepherds and the glory of the Lord shone about them. I think it is important we understand that the Bible describes the glory of God in a number of ways. All we know is that it is an attribute of God and it is sometimes described as a cloud that fills the earth. It is sometimes described by His works He does. But this time it was revealed to the shepherds. But it defies definition. You cannot explain what the glory of God is.

     I can only imagine what the shepherds saw that night. I imagine the fields must have become bright as day, as though they were staring into the face of the sun.  I cannot begin to tell you what that looked like, all we know is that they were terrified by it.

     By “terribly frightened,” Luke means they were in reverent awe! They were blown away and speechless by what they saw. I am reminded of the Apostle John in the book of revelation when he hears the Lord speak behind him and he turns and looks at Him, he falls on his face as though he were dead. And just like John these shepherds out in the field, were staring into the holiness of God.

     Just like the angel in this story, as followers of Jesus Christ we are God’s messengers of good news to the world. That requires visitation, but it also requires proclamation. Vs. 10-12

     “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.; For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you, you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger.”

     While the shepherds were still terrified about what was taking place around them the angel immediately relieves their tension, and he tells them, “Do not be afraid.” He says, I’ve got good news for you. I have something that will bring great joy to you.  I am here to tell you about this amazing thing God is doing in the world right now.

     The “good news” is the English translation of the Greek “evangelion.” That’s what we call the gospel, and it is where we get the word evangelize from. In the New Testament it is always used to describe what God has done in the world through Jesus Christ. And that Is what the angel is doing here. He is announcing the good news. He is announcing the Gospel, and it is like the band Mercy Me sings: it’s not only good news, it‘s the best news ever.

     Amazon is always looking for better ways to deliver products to the people. They are never satisfied with the status quo. They make deliveries using UPS and FedEx. They have gotten with the Federal Aviation Administration and asked for permission to deliver packages by drones. In big cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York they deliver by taxi cabs.. They are never satisfied.

As believers we could learn a lot from Amazon. We need to always be looking for new and different ways to deliver the gospel. Just like the Apostle Paul who said, “I become all things to all men that I might win some to Christ.”  We shouldn’t allow anything to stop us from telling people about Jesus.

     The angel said to the shepherds, “Today a Savior is born who is the Christ.” You know I actually had a Pastor tell me that we shouldn’t use the word Savior anymore or tell someone they need to be saved. It’s to offensive. He said we should use the word deliverer or to be delivered instead. Because after all, that’s what a savior is; a deliverer.

     But I feel like that is just bowing down to the conventional wisdom of the world. I feel like that is just making the church more and more man-centered, instead of being Christ centered.  The Bible uses the word Saved, so I think that is the way I will continue to explain it.

     Jesus is the Savior of the world because He died on a cross for our sin to satisfy the wrath of God. God’s justice demands punishment for our sin and Jesus was the perfect substitute for the punishment we deserve. So, Jesus is our Savior. He is the Christ the Messiah. The anointed One of God.

     But the angel also gave them a sign, he told them what to look for so they could find the Savior in Vs. 12 it says, you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger.” The word manger here, literally means feeding trough.  I am certain that there were many babies born in Bethlehem that night, but only one of them was the King of the world, and yet He was the only one that ended up in a feeding trough.

     And how fitting is that? That He would be born that way. And the cloths He was wrapped in, were actually burial cloths. Burial cloths were a common household item in those days because there was no medicine and there were no hospitals. So, they were accustomed to people dying suddenly. How ironic is it that the Savior of the world, who would die for our sins, and would be born into the world in grave clothes?

     I want you to notice in Vs. 11-12 The angel proclaims the Gospel in three ways that are important to us; he told them who He was (Christ,) what His purpose would be (Savior,) and where they could find Him (lying in a manger). As the messengers of God’s good news to the world we want to do the same.  We want to tell people who Jesus is, what His purpose is in their life and how to find Him.

     That requires proclamation, but it also requires Adoration, and we see that in vs. 13-14. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

     A heavenly choir erupted at that moment. As if all of heaven and earth could not be held back anymore and the shepherds are given a glimpse into the glory of God. But what did it look like? It looked like praise and adoration. The angels longed to see the salvation of the Lord. They longed to see God vindicated over Satan and here it was. And they praised Him.

     They shouted peace on earth and good will toward man.  His goodness had come down into the world, and now man could live in peace with God. They no longer have to fear hell and death. Our relationship with God was restored because of this child that was born.

     I want you to notice who the peace on earth among men is given to; Those in whom He is well pleased. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to Him must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” So, those who God is pleased with, are those who have faith.

     The lesson in this for us is, as the children of God we are supposed to praise Him. We praise Him for He is worthy. We praise Him for He is good. We praise Him for who He is and we praise for what He has done. Psalm 150 says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”

     Praise and adoration is critical in our life because it sends a message to the world that there is peace and joy. That all can be right in the world by having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We might not be able to pull back the heavens and reveal a heavenly host singing glory to God in the highest, but we can bring glory to God with our lives.

     So, like the angel we are God’s messengers of good news to the world, and we do that with visitation, proclamation, and adoration. As Christians we are called to visit the lost, the overlooked and the wounded people of the world, and to share the good news. Were called to tell people who God is, what His purpose is for their life and how to find Him.

     Always remembering there are no insignificant people to God. And we praise Him. We praise Him because He is worthy. We praise Him because He is good. We praise Him for who He is, and we praise Him for what He has done. Just like Psalm 150, which puts the exclamation point on the book of Psalms, we say, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”