MAKE ROOM WEEK THREE

Call To Worship Scripture - PSALM 66:16-20

Advent Focus - LOVE READING JOHN 3:16-19

Good morning! Here we are with a few days before Christmas! Show of hands, how many of you are very early, like you have presents already under the tree wrapped and ready to go? (Have some fun with this, but be mindful to not ruin Santa and don’t say anything that would make Santa real). As yall know, I love watching Christmas shows and movies. I love the new ones like Elf. I can even be man enough to admit that I have watched a Hallmark Christmas Movie and didn’t hate it. I love the animated ones like:

Frosty The Snowman

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer

Mickey’s Christmas Carol

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Did you know that Disney made a nativity story about a Donkey who a little boy has to sell? It is called Small One. I loved watching it as a kid and recently rediscovered it as an adult.

But I also love the classics like:

A Christmas Story

White Christmas

It’s A Wonderful Life

I think that what I love about these is that there is some sort of a change that happens in the main character where they move from feeling hopeless to hopeful. For instance, George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life, comes to a point where he feels worthless, hopeless, and at the end of his rope. He is told by the villain in the movie that he is worth more dead than alive.

And then he is shown what his town and his loved ones’ lives would have been like without him, and he realizes just how important he is. How he matters, and when he makes room for that, his perspective changes.

Maybe for you, you resonate with George Bailey. You feel like there is no way that you matter. You may be here this morning and you feel like what difference do you make. Yet, the truth of it is that there is one who finds you of immense worth and value. And desires for you to share His story.

Over the past several weeks, we have been looking at different people that were involved in the Nativity Story and how they made room for God. Whether it was waiting on God’s promises like Simeon, or making room for God when life unexpectedly changes like Joseph, or even making room to follow God no matter what like Mary - we are reminded of the peace, comfort, and joy that comes from making room for God in our lives. How even in the hardest of situations, we can lean and depend on God, making room for Him in our lives.

Yet, following God is not just about leaning and trusting in Him. It also means that we are to go and tell. In the Nativity Story, there is a group of people who no one really would expect to be the bearer of big news. When companies or world leaders want people to know about something, they don’t go to just anybody. They go to people who can get the word out, people of influence and notoriety.

Yet, that isn’t how God works. Take your Bibles and turn to Luke 2:8-20. Today, we are going to look at a group of people who no one would expect to share the greatest news of all. As you turn there, I want to share some things about Luke. As I have said before, each Gospel writer presents Jesus in a different light. When you read the Gospels together, you see a fuller, more accurate vision of Jesus. For Luke, he wanted to share how Jesus was the Messiah for ALL, and that Jesus is the savior for all people. Luke’s Gospel is the most thematic of the four. Throughout Luke’s Gospel he follows the theme of Jesus being for everyone through his discussions of Jesus’ genealogy, where he goes all the way to Adam, and through Jesus’ teaching on how the Gospel is for all people. Even in the birth narrative we see Luke’s theme of Jesus being for everyone through the use of characters that are not of the elite or of Jewish descent.

We looked previously at how Luke opens with the pronouncement of John the Baptist and how Zechariah was a priest who didn’t believe the angel’s message and so he was made silent until John was born. And then Luke moves to Mary’s announcement by the angel who tells her that she will give birth to the Messiah and we got to read of her willingness to believe, saying “I am the Lord’s servant.” Mary goes and visits Elizabeth and they share the joy of the their miracle babies. Chapter one ends with John’s birth and when it came time to name the child, the family was going to name the child after Zechariah and was shocked when Elizabeth said that he would be named John. Zechariah intervened and wrote on a tablet that his name would be John. When he did that, he miraculously began to speak, shocking everyone there, and rejoiced that everything happened as the angel said. Zechariah prophesied about John saying that he would be the forerunner of the Messiah, preparing the way for the people to receive Him.

That brings us to chapter two. Mary and Joseph are married by this time and have returned to Bethlehem to be counted in a census decreed by Ceasar Augustus. Needless to say the town was bustling with people. It also came time for the baby to be born, and because there was nowhere else for them to stay, they end up in a stable with other animals along with their noises and smells. Mary gives birth to Jesus and she wraps Him in strips of cloth, and lays Him in a manger - a feeding trough for the animals.

It is here where our story takes place:

Luke 2:8–20 CSB

8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors! 15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. 17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.

Let’s pray.

Today, I want us to look at THREE truths:

THREE TRUTHS TO MAKE ROOM TO GO AND TELL:

Angelic Announcement to All

Savior Worthy of Worship

Come and See, and Go and Tell

1. Angelic Announcement to All

Luke 2:8–10 “8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:”

The angels appear to shepherds. Shepherds. Not the governing body in the area. Not the wealthy. Poor shepherds. To be a shepherd meant you spent every moment with your sheep. You slept outside with them. You were in the elements with them. It was not a glamorous job. The great scholar, R.C. Sproul in How Then Shall We Worship said this about the nature of being a shepherd:

“...the job of shepherding has always held very little status in Israel; this was so even in Jesus’s time. Shepherds were not even allowed to give testimony in court because they were considered utterly untrustworthy, the dregs of society. In other words, the shepherd was seen as just a bit above a slave. He was a lowly servant...shepherds had the lowest status in the culture of that time.”

Yet, who is it that God appears to? Shepherds. Those who others deem unimportant, God values them so much that He shares the hope of the greatest news of all with them first. That’s the thing with God. He doesn’t judge the way that the world around us judges. God doesn’t care about the outside of things, like status or reputation. This is the metric that God judges:

1 Samuel 16:7 CSB

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”

And here we have in this story people who the world found no value in, God finds the greatest value. You may be here and feel like no one cares or values you, like the way shepherds were valued. Guess what, just like God found the shepherd to be immensely valuable, He finds you to be just as valuable.

For those of us who are followers of Jesus, we all too often judge ourselves as being incapable of being used by God. We feel we aren’t good enough. Yall, that couldn’t be further from the truth. You are capable more than you give yourself credit for to be a witness and be a bearer of good news, just like the shepherds are about to be.

Not only does the passage reveal an angelic announcement for all, but it reveals the Savior worthy of worship.

2. Savior Worthy Of Worship

Luke 2:11–16 CSB

11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors! 15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.

To say that this is not your normal birth announcement is the understatement of the year. By the way, have you noticed how big birth announcements and gender reveals are anymore? Some of them are pretty crazy! (Have some fun with this - like point out how it just seems that if you don’t blow something up, you ain’t doing it right - not you but other people) I remember when Chrystal and I had Jonathan. That was when birth announcements started showing up on Facebook. So we took pictures. I had a red superman cape, and she had a pink one. Nowhere near the pyro technic display that happens today.

Yet as amazing as what those are, it fails in comparison to Christ’s birth announcement. The shepherds are the first to hear the good news of great joy - the Savior was born. The one who the Jews were longing for had finally arrived. Not only was the Savior born, but they were encouraged to go to Him, and they are told where to find him.

God wants us to make room for Him. To go and seek Him. He doesn’t care about who people say you are or what you have done. He cares simply about you. This is why we sing songs at Christmas about coming and adoring Christ the Lord. He is the Savior promised. The Savior who wants to save people, and restore them back to God. He alone brings hope and salvation.

For those of us who follow Christ, there are moments when we need reminding of this. It can be so easy to look at things around us and give in. It can be so tempting to give into the frustration of our schools, work, things happening in our families for us to feel left out and not valued. When we celebrate Christmas, we can be reminded of the One who is with us, and dwells with us. Maybe for you this morning, and the past couple of weeks, you have struggled to feel God’s presence. I want you to know that the God who calls the shepherds to go and see Him is the same God who this morning is saying to you to come and see Him at work in your life. He is at work! May he gives you eyes to see it.

I love what happens right after the shepherds are told the news of Jesus being born. In verse 13, we read: “13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!”

The angels engage in worship because of what has just happened. They are engaging in worship because of what God has done and what will happen because of the birth of His son. The creator and giver of life has come to heal and to make dead men alive. That’s how much God loves you and me. He was willing to send His Son so that through His Son’s death we may live. It is our hope when everything seems hopeless. Because of who God is, He is worthy of worship. It is only through Him that we can have peace. Lowly shepherds are revealed this message through worship and you are I are reminded of this as well. The message they receive is to see the Christ child who the angels worship in full display.

We have seen the Angelic Announcement for All, and have been reminded of how the Savior is worthy of worship. Yet there is one more thing that we are shown this morning as we make room: Come and See and Go and Tell.

3. Come and See and Go and Tell

Luke 2:15–20 CSB

15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. 17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.

I love how they hurried off. They don’t pray about it, they don’t discuss all the ins and outs of what just happened. (Have fun with this - say they don’t have a business meeting and form a committee) They make room and go. For us as believers, that should inspire us to do the same. Imagine what it would happen if we responded the way the shepherds did when God revealed something to us that we are to do. You ever thought about why they rushed to find Jesus?

Hope. The shepherds had a hope in the promise being fulfilled. They made room in their lives and ran. And when they found the child, They didn’t just stay there. They shared about what happened. And the people there were amazed.

But it wasn’t enough to tell the people there. They didn’t keep quiet about it - they went and told. They told everyone they came into contact with about what all they had seen. They made room to be willing to be used by God. The shepherds' encounter with Jesus turned them into the first evangelists, as they shared what they had seen and heard with others. They didn’t have degrees in theology or anything like that. They simply made room and shared their story. People who the world felt was worthless and not valued yet valued by the one who is worthy of it all.

Just like God values the shepherds, He values you. You are the most precious creation to Him. He loves you so much that He sent His Son to save you and I. That is a story not only to experience, but a story worth sharing. We are to make room and tell others what God has done.

When we encounter Christ, it is both our duty and our joy to observe His work and share His message with others, inspiring hope and faith in those around us. We don’t have to know all the in and outs, we simply need to make room and tell. Through our words and our actions.

Transition to invitation.