He Is The Gift

Introduction

The Wrong Christmas Story

Tension

The best part about Christmas is the baby. Have you ever stopped to give that idea some play time in your thinking? A baby. Of course we know the rest of the story, right. We know how Jesus grew up to teach with authority, do great miracles that pointed to Him being the Son of God, and most importingly He willingly went to the cross to purchase our salvation - but all that started with Jesus coming into the world as a helpless baby. Unable to do really anything on his own. Everything that he needed had to be provided for him by other people. And who were these people charged with caring for the “Son of God” in such a fragile form?

Powerful Kings in Castles? Influential Religious or Cultural Leaders? People of incredible means and resources? No. None of that. A poor carpenter and his “soon to be” wife. We are most often entertained by the stories that go from “Rags to riches”, but God the has written His story as going from “Riches to rags”. From the complete power of heaven to the powerlessness of a human baby. I wonder why that is?

Could it be that God might want to show us something about those things that we seem to value most? That the greatest gifts maybe aren’t found where we might typically be looking? That the Power behind a King or President, or the wealth of a Tech Tycoon or the popularity of a Movie Star may not be the great gifts that we think they would be.

I think that is part of the beauty of the Christmas Story, that Jesus came to earth as an utterly helpless baby. If you read to the end of the book, you will see that Jesus is coming again in a way that could never be described as helpless - but at Christmas time we remember, consider and celebrate Jesus’ beginning as a human being just like you and me. He was born into this world completely helpless. Maybe even more helpless than us, being that he was born into a poor working class family who could not even secure a room for their family at an Inn, let alone the fancy and sterile hospital room that we were all born in.

I can’t help but think that this may be the point. That the Christmas story that captures us each December is God’s way of reminding us that it is not what we began with that counts, but how God wants to work in and through what He has given us that really matters. In this way the Christmas story can show us a whole new way of measuring what is really important.

That is what we are after this morning, so if you would open you Bibles with me to the classic Christmas Passage found in Luke 2, page 857 in the Bibles in the chairs, I’ll pray and we will seek together for the better perspective on the birth of Jesus into our world.

Truth

Luke 2:1–7 ESV

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Of course, we are somewhat jumping into the middle of the story here in chapter 2. At this point Mary has already been visited by the angel who explained how she was chosen for this important role and Joseph has already had his dream that assured him that Mary was still the wholesome girl that he knew her to be and that he too had an important role to play in the bringing up of this child that she was carrying.

While Mary spent most of her pregnancy months with her aging cousin Elizabeth who was also miraculously pregnant, at some point Mary returned to Joseph in Nazareth to receive the news along with everyone else that the “governing forces that be” have changed everyone’s plans for the near future. Something we all can especially relate to this year.

What might be helpful for us to remember is that inspite of the fact that this decree was issued to increase the tax burden on God’s people, God had a greater purpose in it. You see the Messiah, the Christ or Christos was prophesied to have been born in Bethlehem. Some 400 plus years before these events the Prophet Micah spoke God’s words when he said...

Micah 5:2 ESV

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

And let’s be honest…as pregnant as she was, none of us would have faulted Mary for choosing to stay behind. Right? I wonder if she had family that were lovingly encouraging her to do so. And who knows, If she had stayed behind, Joseph might even have been tempted to ignore the decree, not wanting the miss the birth and wanting to be there to support his wife, knowing how special this boy was…but the decree was no surprise to God - it was all a part of His perfect plan. So they set off on what could only be described as an uncomfortable journey.

30 years later as Jesus was teaching, ministering and doing many miracles among the people, they started to argue over who He might be. Some thought he could be the Christ, but others doubted. One aspect of their debate was about this prophecy in Micah, because Jesus was known to have been “from Nazareth in Galilee”. They didn’t realize that while Jesus did grow up in Nazareth, because of this decree, he was not born there. He was born in Bethlehem.

John 7:40–43 ESV

40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people over him.

They missed it! Because they didn’t know the Christmas story, the story of the baby Jesus…they missed who Jesus was. Do you see how important this part of Jesus’ story is? Even the decree of a self-serving King is important as it was the catalyst to fulfil the prophecy of Micah that pointed to Jesus as the Christ.

And while they were there (in Bethlehem, the city of David, just like Micah said), the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:6-7

This family, in this place, for these reasons, had this very special baby. It’s not just a good story, it’s a part of the Gospel story! And yet...

For many, the gift of Jesus’ birth goes unnoticed (Luke 2:1–7)

This was just as true in Jesus’ day as it is in ours. Just as people back then were busy trying to make their plans work in light of the new regulations of the government, we too can find ourselves distracted in our concerns over how to make plans in light of new regulations. We are working hard to figure out how our “Out-of-the-box” Christmas might look this year - but in all the scheduling, planing and preparing - let’s not allow the gift of Jesus birth to go unnoticed.

Secondly, we see in the Christmas story, and hopefully in our own that...

For others, the gift of Jesus’ birth offers the promise of peace (Luke 2:8–14).

Luke 2:8–14 ESV

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!”

What would the Christmas story be without the Shepherds?

For the past 7 years or so I have been a part of ministry called Harvest Home Farm where each Christmas they put on a live nativity of sorts. It is more than just people standing there in different scenes though, each year I get to play the fictitious role of an Inn Keeper who welcomes people to Bethlehem and tells them of the wonderful things that has happened here as I walk them to “my inn” telling them the story of Jesus’ birth along the way.

One of my favorite parts is when I lead the people over to this round pen where there are Shepherds around a campfire watching over a flock of real live sheep. And the last couple of years, some of our own people have been those Shepherds. Well...In my script I get to call these Shepherds “dirty smelly unwashed mountain people” and then question what they tell me because “Shepherds are not really know to be reputable sources of information”.

And while my character as an Inn Keeper is fictitious, the things I say about the reputation of Shepherds is not. These men did live out in the hills with their sheep, where there were limited opportunities for bathing and little reason to do so. As such, they were cultural outcasts, even considered ceremonially unclean. As they often traveled around between towns, they were not really known well by anyone else but other Shepherds, so they were not trusted even to the point that their testimony was not valid in a first century court room.

Think on that for a moment. God gave men who no one trusted as witnesses the gift of being the first witnesses for Jesus.

What does that tell us about how God chooses people for His assignments? He doesn’t necessarily choose the most powerful, the most influencial, the ones voted most likely to succeed. He chose a poor peasant family to raise his Son and “unwashed mountain people” to deliver the good news of His birth. It appears that God operates on a different value system then we do. Maybe God goes to those who seem small in our eyes, because it is there that He can show up so big?

That is probably what the Shepherds felt when the “multitude of heavenly host” appeared before them and made the highest declaration:

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

God gets the glory, and we get the peace. I wonder how a first century Shepherd understood this declaration of “peace”?

I can’t imagine that these burly guys saw peace as just some sort of transcendent mindset. Like the hippie culture who are “ just keeping it real man... just dancing through the lilly fields, looking for rainbows man”. Just some sort of declaration with little grounding to it.

No! These guys were hardened outdoorsmen who understood their responsibility to protect the sheep from predators, day or night. So on a typical night, when there was movement in the bushes they were not ignoring it in their desire for peace - they were up and rushing into the danger, fearlessly stepping between whatever might be there and the sheep they were charged to protect. Peace was not just a mindset for Shepherds, it was something they fought for

Truth is, I am not sure when Shepherds began to get their bad reputation, especially since many of Israels greatest leaders: Abraham, Moses and David were all Shepherds. But it seems to me that one of the best places to learn about a Shepherds idea of peace would be from the writings of David who often wrote about his experience as a Shepherd - even when He was a king.

In probably his most famous Psalm David Wrote:

Psalm 23 ESV

A Psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

This is a beautiful picture of peace to my thinking, because it takes a lot for sheep to lie down. They are easily spooked and scattered so to lie down the Shepherd has to lead the sheep into a place where they are truly at peace. And it is not just the green pasture and still water that brings this peace - it’s the presence of the Good Shepherd.

For them to lie down like David is saying here means that they wholly and completely trust in not only the desire of the Shepherd to keep them safe - but in his ability to do so.

That is what the promise of peace would have meant to a Shepherd. To be led by the Good Shepherd in such a way... “That goodness and mercy shall follow me” and “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever”.

For many, the gift of Jesus’ birth goes unnoticed (Luke 2:1–7)

For others, the gift of Jesus’ birth offers the promise of peace (Luke 2:8–14)

but

For all of us, Jesus’ birth demands a personal response (Luke 2:15–20)

Luke 2:15–20 ESV

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.

Three responses are recorded here in this part of the story: The response of the Shepherds, the response of the hearers and the response of Mary.

The Shepherds Testified

My wife was reading this story this week and she mentioned that we don’t really use the phrase “with haste” anymore. We do a lot of hurrying, but their just seems to be something more in the wording of “with haste”. It’s like an urgency, an eagerness or a deep drive not just to hurry after everything you have to do - but to be aimed at one thing that has now risen in your heart and mind over everything else. They went “with haste”, they were gonna find their Savior.

And when they found Him, they testified to what they had seen and heard. Lowly Shepherds, who weren’t even allowed to testify, were testifying to all that the messengers from God had told them concerning this child, and then what they had seen with their own eyes. That was their response. And then finally when their work was done, they returned to their sheep, continuing to testify of the goodness and glory of God for they had found their Savior.

And what of those they told? The hearers. What was their response?

The Hearers Wondered

I am not sure that “Wondered” is the perfect English word for the idea behind this Greek word θαυμάζω (thaumazo). It is not exactly inaccurate, but in English it sounds like they were questioning the Shepherds or arguing against them. They were not , “wondering” in that way, it was more like they were full of wonder. They were astonished or amazed over all that they were seeing and hearing. Unfortunately, that is as far as it went for them. They were “wowed” but they were not won...and they did not worship. They had a good story to tell, but they missed the glory of the gift.

But Mary Treasured

And finally we have Mary’s response. Mary treasured. The truth is that this part of the story is actually a side note. Luke, the writer of this account of the events was not there for them, so he set out as a researcher to get first hand accounts of all that took place. We believe that he learned of these events directly from Mary. So this is what we are reading here, a point in Luke’s telling of the story where he breaks away for just a moment to reflect on the one who is telling it to him.

So long after the angels visit, the pregnant journey the Bethelehem, the laying of him in the manger, the watching him grow up, the listening of Him teach the masses and doing many miracles and finally suffering with him as his body was beaten and then buried, and then experiencing the joy of resurection and ascension…after all of that…Mary is sitting with Dr. Luke recounting these wonderful things and he can see on her - now aged face that she is still treasuring up all these things and pondering them in her heart.

What will be your response to the gift of Jesus’ birth this year?

Will you be like the Shepherds and move “with haste” to tell others of the story of Jesus this Christmas? Who knows, maybe the interruptions of your typical Christmas traditions this year will place you exactly where God wants you to share the good news with someone you never expected. Go with haste!

Or maybe you are still content just being a hearer. Appreciating the “wonder” of the Christmas season, but allowing the gift of Jesus’ birth to go largely unnoticed.

Or maybe you, like Mary, have seen Jesus do so much in your life. Maybe this Christmas season is one when you should make plans to spend some time recounting all that God has done for you, treasuring and pondering these things in your heart.

How will you respond to this greatest gift this Christmas?

Landing

The Savior of the world was born in a manger, and we can find eternal peace through Him. Glory to God in the highest!

Let’s Pray.