God in Christmas: God's Effect

Introduction

What life is the church inviting people into? Not long ago I was listening to a podcast when Kim said to me, “You must really enjoy that podcast.” “No,” I replied, “I don’t enjoy it, but, I am captivated by it.” Over the past six months, one of the hottest topics in Christian circles has been a podcast from Christianity Today, called the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. It’s the story of a church that started with a handful of people, then grew into a movement before collapsing almost overnight. 7 years after its collapse, we get the inside story of why it flourished, how it collapsed, and the carnage that was left in its wake. We also hear of how one man left, only to start the process all over again. As the story is told, the host asks many questions about faith, the church, and the gospel. One in particular has stood out to me, and it is something that each of us should reflect on, what life is the church inviting people into? Or, to put it a little bit differently for today, what life does Christ invite us into? How has Christ spoken to and deliver me from my deepest insecurities and fears?

English Standard Version (Chapter 2)

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Luke 2:8 (ESV)

Our story today starts with some hard workers on a normal workday. Or, in their case, work night. If you are new with us, you are joining us in week three in our Advent series on, God in Christmas, as we have looked at God’s hand throughout the Christmas today. Week one, we looked at God and Time. Week two, we looked at God’s intention. This week, we learn about God’s effect, as shepherds and teenagers play a starring role in God’s next act of redemption.

As we look to Luke 2, we discover the shepherds experiencing an encounter with God’s angels, which sends them running to Christ. And as we look at what God has done and is doing here, experiencing God should also draw us closer to Christ. But why should an experience like this draw us to Christ? we will see three different ways that an experience with God will transform our reaction to God. In other words, we will see the effect that God has on those who encounter him.

English Standard Version (Chapter 2)

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. Luke 2:9 (ESV)

R. C. Sproul writes, “Isn’t it fascinating that when God chose to announce the birth of the Messiah to the world, he didn’t inform the rich and powerful leaders of the day?” Instead of taking his message to movers and shakers of the day, God started with a group of hardworking shepherds on a normal work night. Prior to Jesus, there was a requirement for ritual cleansing in order to worship. But because of the nature of the work of shepherds, they were typically unclean. This meant that they were often cut off from participating in worship. The ironic part is that these sheep that they were tending were most likely raised to be sacrifices in Jewish worship. In other words, the very shepherds raising the sacrifices for Temple worship were generally outcast and cut off from the worship that they were raising their animals for. And it is to these outcasts that an angel of the Lord appeared to, and the glory of the Lord shone all around, leading to fear.

Nonetheless, God frequently is depicted as a Shepherd. David writes in Ps 23.1, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” In John 10:14-15 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Later on in Luke 2.16 we shepherds response to this experience with the angels. The verse says, “they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.” The shepherds responded to God because God revealed himself to them.

As I read of the experience of the angels and the shepherds, it makes me wonder, do we experience God this way? When we learn of how God works, of who God is, and what God has done, do we respond as the shepherds? As in, God is amazing! The first aspect of the Christian life that we learn here is,

Knowledge of God leads us to awe of God.

In Luke 2:10,

Luke 2:10 (ESV)

the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Initially, the shepherds were overcome with fear. After all, who wouldn’t be shocked in seeing an angel. Here’s a quick fun fact. We might think that angelic appears were pretty common. But, actually, across the 66 books of the Bible, there are only 26 instances of angels visiting. So it wasn’t exactly something they were used to, just like we’d probably be surprised as well. Seeing their fear, the angel says to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” This is a common response from God when people are overcome with fear. Fear not. As Craig Groeschel says, “Peace isn't the found in the absence of a storm. Peace is found in the presence of God.” In 2 Timothy 1:7 Paul writes, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

Phillip Yancey illustrates this through his time working at a saltwater aquarium. He discovered that it’s not as easy as it sounds. The job included running a portable chemical laboratory that monitored the nitrate levels and the ammonia content. He pumped in vitamins, antibiotics, sulfa drugs and other words I don’t know in order to make a rock grow. He had to filter the water through glass fibers and charcoal, then expose it to ultraviolet light. And yes, there was even more scientific procedures he had to perform that I also didn’t really understand what Yancey was talking about. So you would think in light of all his hard work, confusing procedures, and care, that the fish would be grateful. Not so. They are, after all, fish. Every time he loomed over the tank; they dove for cover. They showed only one emotion: fear. Although he gave them food on a regular schedule, three times a day, they responded to each visit as a sure sign that he wanted to torture them. He tried everything, but he could not convince them of his true concern for them. Similar to the angels in Luke or God on his throne in Isaiah, to the fish he was out of their world. He was too large for them. His actions were incomprehensible. His acts of care and mercy were interpreted by them as cruelty. The only way he could change their perceptions of him would be a form of incarnation, becoming a fish to connect with the fish.

Similarly, experiencing God can often be interpreted as something to be afraid of. The angels scared the shepherds. At one point in the Old Testament, the Hebrews became scared to encounter God, so they had Moses alone go. But in a field outside of Bethlehem, on a normal work night for some hard working, yet outcast shepherds, fear became peace. A holy and transcendent God came in the form of a baby lying in a manger. After the baby grew to be a man, he says in John 15:4 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” The angels said, “Fear not,” not just for the shepherds but the same is true for us. The second aspect of the Christian life that we learn here is,

Abiding in God equals the peace of God.

The angels speak peace for men and glory to God, and we get the response of the shepherds in Luke 2:16, which says,

Luke 2:16 ESV

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

Encounters with God lead to a powerful response. Jesus encounters the woman at the well in John 4, and many Samaritans believed because of her testimony. Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, encounters an angel, and he is unable to speak until John the Baptist arrives. Mary encounters an angel who tells of the coming of Jesus. Mary visits with Elizabeth, and the two of them are excited for what is ahead of them. For the shepherds, they receive a proclamation from the angels. In verse 10, the angels say, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” The word for “good news” in Greek is, “euangelizzomai,” which the same word for, “Gospel.” And as they heard this good news, as they heard the Gospel proclamation of the Messiah’s arrival, what did they do? They look at one another and said, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” Then they dropped everything and hurried to Jesus.

Theologian R.C. Sproul once asked, have you ever seen the bumper sticker that says, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” It sounds like a grand and firm declaration of believing what God says. But there’s a big problem with it. You see, the middle portion is a little off. The truth of what God says doesn’t hinge on whether or not we believe it. A better bumper sticker would say, “God said it. That settles it.” Whether or not we believe it doesn’t change the accuracy of what God says. That is exactly what we see here. As soon as the angels left the shepherds, there was no discussion about what they next steps should be. There was no deliberation over whether or not the angels should be believed. They had seen something literally out of this world, and they went to Jesus.

In our own way, it should lead us to reflect on the ways that we try to hinge our response to God’s Word on whether or not you believe it? When a teaching of God’s is too uncomfortable, do we highlight the grace of God, while forgetting the part about being obedient to God? When we have something to forgive, do we highlight God’s forgiveness of us while ignoring the need within our own soul to forgive someone else?

God’s revelation leads to response.

So, what life does Christ invite us into? It’s a life in which the knowledge of God leads to the awe of God. Secondly, abiding in God equals the peace of God. Lastly, God’s revelation of himself to us leads to response.

During one of the many uprisings that have occurred in the Middle East, Ron and Joke Jones, who served with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, communicated the following in a prayer letter. They wrote, “The result of the fighting and killing has left a profound sense of discouragement that hovers over the country. Several times we have come into closer contact with this conflict than our comfort zone allowed. Yesterday a friend shared with us something she observed that was a delightful reminder of God’s care for us. She watched a shepherd caring for his flock near the area where guns are fired. Every time the shots rang out the sheep scattered in fright. The shepherd then touched each of them with his staff and spoke calmly to them, and the sheep settled down immediately because they trusted the shepherd. And then another shot sounded, and the same routine happened again. Each time, the sheep needed the shepherd to orient them again and to reassure them they were safe. We are like those sheep, and our Shepherd reaches out and touches us with his staff, speaking words of calm and comfort.”

Ironically, the message of Jesus’ birth started from on high to a group of outcast shepherds. And then, the one whose birth was first told to the shepherds became the Good Shepherd. And so, today as we celebrate the third Sunday of Advent, we come to the Good Shepherd with a need to respond to the Good Shepherd. Which brings us back to the question that we started at, what life does the Gospel invite us into? It should be a life characterized by growing in our knowledge of God, which is leads to Awe of God. Therefore, I conclude with this question, does our amazement and response to God reflect the amazement and response of the shepherds, as the angels declared, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”