Bringing Christmas into the New Year

Introduction

Lose weight. Volunteer more. Get fit. Manage debt. Become organized.

What are all of these things I’ve just mentioned? New Year Resolutions! This is the cusp of a new year, so resolutions are on our mind. We’ve moved past Silent Night and on to Auld Lang Syne (whatever that means.) Resolutions are an admission that not all is well with us. Resolutions reflect the reality that our lives aren’t right. As much as we want to deny it, something is amiss in our world. It’s a New Year, which brings hope that things can change, that we can change, we can have peace and joy in our lives here on earth. That’s our hope each year.

But before we move headlong into the New Year, I want us to head back to the time right after the birth of Christ. Let’s not be so hasty that we miss what God recorded as the response to Christ’s birth. This was a moment that changed history, and it’s easy to celebrate that, but miss how it changes us, how it gives us true hope.

Many people had a reaction to the birth of Christ, but only one group had a response recorded in scripture. So it’s important. It’s important enough that we should pause, look at it again, and see in it how God would have us respond to Christ’s coming, how Christ’s coming changes us, which is how we can bring Christmas into the New Year.

Let’s turn to a well-worn section of scripture and listen to it with new ears to hear how the recorded response to Christ’s birth changes our New Year.

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 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. 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. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

15 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.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. [1]

The One who made us can be pleased with us.

Originally I was going to title this message “Hear, Fear, and get it in Gear.” But not only am I unable to pull that off, as I studied this text, it’s clear that’s not the message. The message of how the birth of Jesus Christ changes us comes out in the response of the shepherds, in three ways. It’s so well-known it’s easy to miss it, forget it, move on from it.

The shepherds hear

The shepherds trust

The shepherds return…knowing the Father is pleased with them.

And this changes everything in their life, and can change ours as well.

The Shepherds Hear

If you were with us on December 15th, you heard lots of songs about the shepherds, and angels.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 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. 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. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

There is something very telling about the appearance of angels in Scripture. Whenever they show up, we fear. How do we know this? Because the first words out of angels mouth almost every time is “do not be afraid!”

We are afraid of angels and the glory of God. Why? Because we have something to be afraid of. Our flesh – all of us – is in a state of rebellion towards God. We act like we’re righteous, and maybe we are compared with other people. But when the angel shows up, we are suddenly confronted with actual holiness…and our vain attempts are shown as shadow and vapor.

But the shepherds – seeing the glory of God and greatly fearing – heard news that brought them great joy. Through the graciousness of God they got a message. The message was not “peace to all people, everywhere.” The message for the shepherds is “peace among those with whom He is pleased.” And this message is for us as well. And it is a message of great joy.

It is a bit unfair. As Tim Keller says “The shepherds got angels. We get shepherds!” How hard would it be for them to believe angels? It’s hard to believe shepherds! We are in the same situation as the shepherds, though. He is giving us a message…through His Word. It’s a message that most respond to in great fear – the Bible is God’s Word, and in it we see His holiness and tremble – but it is a message of great joy.

The Shepherds Trust

Let’s continue.

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.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger

The shepherds heard the message of great joy…and they trusted. They did not stay in their fear, but went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

Let’s back up for a moment. Why shepherds? And how did they know where to go? Most of us have heard various theories about the shepherds – they are the poor, the outcasts, the lowly, they weren’t to be trusted. All this may be true. But still does not answer the question “Why shepherds?” and how did they know where to go?

Bethlehem has a fascinating history in Israel. As little as it was, its shepherds had an important job. The same Rabbis which Herod consulted concerning the birth of the Messiah recorded that the shepherds in Bethlehem kept special sheep, in one flock. Sheep for the Temple in Jerusalem, destined for sacrifice. When it was time for these sheep to be born, they were taken to one place, a stall, and if the lamb was perfect and without blemish it would be wrapped in swaddling cloths.

Let’s go back to the angels. Why did they tell the shepherds “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”?

They told the shepherds this because the shepherds would see the significance. They would see the Messiah come as the perfect Lamb of God – the ultimate and once-for-all sacrifice. Their trust of what the angels told them allowed them to see the Father’s love for His people.

We hear the message; our trust allows us to see God’s wonder.

So what happened next? What was their reaction to beholding the lamb of God, who came to take away the sin of the world? Of their sin?

The Shepherds Return

Verse 20: And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them

This is the crux of the matter, for us, today. They returned, glorifying and praising God. They heard the angels proclaim peace with them, the chosen people of God. They trusted the Lord and saw that He had come…and they returned. To the fields. At night. Tending sheep. But glorifying and praising God in the middle of their ordinary existence!

Brothers and sisters, we far too often glorify those who have made fantastic resolutions and had the will to follow through with them. Losing weight, climbing mountains, reading the bible three times in one year.

These shepherds saw the Messiah, the promised one. In Hollywood, they would have taken up arms right then and thrown off the control of the Romans! But instead, they were controlled, as always, by the rhythm of sheep.

This is the reaction to Christ’s birth recorded for us. They heard, trusted, and returned…to normal life, but praising and glorifying and knowing that God was repairing His relationship with them, just as they had been promised. We don’t need to make fantastic resolutions to gain God’s peace and acceptance. We can never do anything to warrant a right relationship with our Creator. And yet He loved us enough to send His beloved, delighted-in son to die for us so we could live with Him in peace. (But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ ( ESV))

The response of the shepherds –lives full of adoration and wonder at the God they serve, reflected the deep and joyful truth of Christmas said by the angels:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.” ()

The One who made us can be pleased with us

The shepherds heard, then trusted, and returned knowing what the angels said was true: the great, amazing and joyful truth of Christmas:

The One who made us can be pleased with us. With us, but not because of us. He is pleased with us because we are united with Jesus, of whom he says “You are my beloved Son, in you I am well-pleased.” ()

Those of us with children understand we can love our children, but through their actions not be pleased with them. So we hear all the time in this culture that God loves us. This is true. But we are still sundered and torn in relationship with Him, we are in rebellion with our Father.

But what made the shepherds return glorifying and praising God was that they saw what had been long promised: The Messiah. If that long-awaited promise was true, what wouldn’t God now do? A soul in rebellion with the Father would be brought by the Holy Spirit into union with Christ. Once we have union with Christ, when the Father looks at us, His adopted children, He sees His beloved Son!

I am here to tell you that for Christians, nothing can change the Father’s love for us. We know this is true, because, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His begotten Son...” This is a very good reason to believe the Bible is all true. If only some of it is true, then how do we know that God the Father is pleased with us? If only some of the Bible is true, we may be wrong about this, and most pitied above all people.

But if all the Bible tells us is true, then this is true as well: the good news of Christmas is that Christ’s coming means that the Father can be pleased with us, our relationship healed, so that we will one day stand in the presence of our Father and have fullness of joy forevermore.

We are like the shepherds. We’ve heard God’s message. When we trust it, we will see the work that God is doing, then return to our lives glorifying and praising God.

Perhaps you are here this morning and you’ve truly heard for the first time that the One who made you can be pleased with you. Step out on faith and tell Him you will trust Him with your life. Or perhaps you have called yourself a believer for years but have held on to one aspect of your life you won’t trust Him in – job, a child, your marriage. Step out on faith and tell Him you trust him. Or maybe your trust has turned into duty, and you no longer act as the shepherds did, glorifying and praising God in your day-to-day life.

If so, as we sing, I’ll stay right here and we can pray together as the service closes. May the grace and peace of the One with whom the Father is pleased be with you now and always. Let’s sing.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), .