How to Have A Merry Christmas

Open with Charlie Brown Christmas illustration

How can we battle against the secularization of Christmas. How can we truly have a “Merry Christmas?” The Shepherds are going to show us.

They allowed Jesus to interrupt their lives. (8-12)

The Shepherds were involved in the normal routine of their life.

They didn’t have the best job. In fact, it stunk. shepherds were pretty common, lots of them. They were the lower class of people. You didn’t have to have a lot of skills to be one. They were ceremonially unclean because they came into contact with diseased and dead or “unclean” animals on a regular basis. It was a boring job too. There’s a reason people count sheep to go to sleep. It’s boring. Most excitement they could hope for was a wolf or some other predator. Kid’s didn’t say “When I grow up I want to be a shepherd”

This was an otherwise normal night. Fighting back sleep, shooting the breeze, herding sheep. Doing what they always did. Life can become very routine. Very boring. I remember a boring job I had at a grocery store working all night stocking shelves. Didn’t take much to impress us. Someone stole a bottle of scope, drank it and passed out in the bathroom. A streaker runs through the store. Not much going on at 3:30 in the morning. Boring jobs have a way of reminding us how boring our lives are.

The Lord invaded their lives. (9-10) Suddenly the night sky lit up with the glory of the Lord. Imagine them covering their eyes, scared to death. A voice from heaven “I’m bringing YOU “Good tidings”! You’ve been getting bad news your whole life! “Great joy!” You have had sorrow your whole life. “For all people” You have felt insignificant your whole life, I will start with you!

They were introduced to the Christmas Child.

They were given a sign. This would be a Child they could relate to. Look at the sign in verse 12. The baby would be found lying in a manger. That means the baby would be in a stable! They had been in a lot of stables! Two things about the stable: 1) Where else should a Lamb be born? 2) Symbolizes that there is no place so dirty that Christ is not willing to make His home.

He was introduced as a Savior. (11) He would take away their sins.

He was introduced as Christ (11). He is the promised Messiah- no need to keep looking for truth.

He is introduced as Lord. (11) He is the Sovereign ruler of the earth.

He removes all sins, fulfills all Scripture, rules all the earth!

The Shepherds didn’t think Christmas was about the season. They would be confused with a lot of what we do at Christmas.

The world has exalted winter instead of Jesus. Our songs- “Frosty the Snowman” “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” “Jingle Bells” To most of us those songs make no sense, they don’t relate to someone growing up in the South. Jesus makes sense if you live in the desert or Antarctica.

The season can be depressing. More people are sick, more people die, families are arguing, loneliness is more of a reality.

We spend Christmas overly busy. God says “I have a gift for you” so the world suddenly runs out and starts buying gifts for everyone else. We get into arguments about who we should buy for, how much we should spend. Sometimes we find out someone got us a gift and we didn’t get them one. The season will stress you out! But the shepherd weren’t running down to the Jerusalem mall to pick out gifts. They weren’t trying to impress God! Christmas is a time when we are to remember the gift God has given to us not be stressed out about the gifts we are giving to others.

Allow Jesus to interrupt your life. Let Him shock you out of the materialism our world puts forth. Sit back and meditate on the wonderful gift God has given you.

They praised the Lord Jesus (13-14)

Christmas is about God becoming a man. It’s not my birthday, or your birthday. It’s the day that we remember that God became a man.

God is glorified because we know so much more about Him now (14). We know what God looks like, His character because of the life of Christ. We know things we could have never known because God became man. Mainly we know He cares. No one praises God like Christians do because no one knows God like Christians do. We know what He is like!!

Christ brought glory to God in heaven as well. The angels now know things about God they didn’t know (1 Peter 1:12) and heaven is even more glorious because God became man “In my Father’s house are many mansions” He has built mansions for us in heaven.

Jesus brings peace to earth (14).

He has settled the war between God and man.

He brings assurance that trials will pass.

Jesus brings good will toward men (14).

God has chosen to look upon us with favor. He could have easily judged us as He did Sodom and Gomorrah or Noah’s generation. But Christmas is God’s grace toward us. It’s HIS good will!

We should use the Christmas season to praise God for His decision to send His Son into the world so we could experience his peace and His good will.

They saw Jesus for themselves. (15-16)

The shepherds went to see Jesus for themselves.

They hurried to see Him (16). They could have said “We’ll wait until morning.”

They knew He was worth it. They left their flocks.

They found Him (16).If you seek Him you will find Him.

To many, Jesus is just a stranger in a manger.

Too preoccupied to come to Him. Many will celebrate 75 Christmases but will have never come to Jesus.

Too afraid to come to Him. Don’t want to give up all they have, relationships.

Too proud to come to Him. Don’t want to be identified with that bunch.

Christmas means nothing until you see Jesus for yourself.

To many it’s about family, food and gifts. So sad.

It’s not enough to sing Christmas carols, decorate your home and open presents on Dec. 25. We must come to Christ personally. We must experience Him through the new birth.

When we see Jesus for ourselves Christmas takes on a whole new meaning. You need to open God’s gift to you.

Tell others about Jesus (17-18)

The shepherds became the first evangelists.

It was immediate. They didn’t need a course on witnessing.

It was natural. They just told what they had seen and heard.