Shepherds: The Song of Joy

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"I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I'm not happy. I don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel." - Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Christmas Special, 1965

Charles Schulz was widely applauded for a long list of achievements. The creator of the Peanuts comic strip was a Pulitzer Prize nominee, and his comics earned him an Emmy, Peabody, and Congressional Gold Medal. Sixteen years after his death in 2000, Schulz is still the third top-earning deceased celebrity, trailing only Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. He even changed the way Americans talk, inserting phrases like “Good grief!” and “security blanket” into the national vocabulary.

But Schulz also revolutionized his industry by using his strip to subtly raise religious questions about the Bible, prayer, the nature of God, and the end of the world. Schulz was a devoted Christian. By mixing Snoopy with spirituality, Schulz’s most recognizable reference to religion occurs in the Charlie Brown holiday special exploring the “true meaning of Christmas.” Realizing that the holiday’s secular invasions did not form the essence of Christmas, Linus reads the story of Jesus’s birth directly from King James Version’s account in the Gospel of Luke. At the time, less than 9 percent of TV Christmas episodes or specials contained religious references. You can read also that the CBS network initially wanted this portion of the cartoon special to be removed, believing it would offend some. But alas, after just one night, it became an instant holiday classic. This special TV show became an annual reminder that Christmas time is here— and it quickly became a holiday tradition for many families— including mine.

It conjures in our memories a quaint, quiet evening… around a fire in the fireplace, presents are all wrapped and under the tree-- lights twinkling, kids all settled and playing so nicely together. Family is arriving from out of town-- the traffic was smooth as silk… The weather is brisk, but not too cold. Just a light dusting of snow to cover the ground. All creating a calm, joy to the world, sleep in heavenly peace Christmas.

It’s this joy that is sometimes fleeting— it evades us sometimes. It’s not dependable.

A tension is building for many of you-- the expectation of what you would want Christmas to be, versus what your reality actually is. This Christmas you may be facing any number of trials, pains, and hurts-- depressing, defeating, and disheartening losses. Some of you are not feeling "Joy to the World” at all-- you are actually losing your Joy.

I’m here today to rekindle some real, Godly Joy-- and I hope to reduce the tension between that “ideal” that we may have conjured up, with the actual truth of this real life- That this Christmas story is a real-life story. I don’t want us to seek a thin, temporary emotional happiness, but I want us to consider the deep and abiding JOY that the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus brings.

I want to remind us of a verse that would most likely have been in the minds even of those people we read about in this story:

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

A great starting point for having joy in your life?

God has a plan.

You realize that the first Christmas didn’t happen the way any of us would have planned? This, from a human perspective was complete chaos. Mary was very pregnant, had to travel 80 miles to Bethlehem-on foot or on that donkeys back- no room at the Inn-- the baby is born is a borrowed stable, and laid in a manger...

And this is where we pick our story up in Luke 2

A simple, quiet night— probably just like any other for these people working the 3rd shift. Shepherds in fields outside Bethlehem (v.8)… These were considered the low class people. They worked hard to produce sheep wool, and even lambs for others to sacrifice in Jerusalem. Not to be trusted, they were unclean, and looked down upon. History tells us that these shepherds were not even allowed to testify in the court system— they were that disrespected, distrusted, and dismissed. Yet as we read time and again,

God can and will use the lowest to shame the highest.

The WONDER IS REVEALED!

It’s as if God simply says “Knock Knock!”

The baby arrives and the message is communicated!

Angel appears to them and fear is the natural response! v.9

“Off to one side sits a group of shepherds. They sit silently on the floor, perhaps perplexed, perhaps in awe, no doubt in amazement. Their night watch had been interrupted by an explosion of light from heaven and a symphony of angels. God goes to those who have time to hear him- and so on this cloudless night he went to simple shepherds.” - Max Lucado, God Came Near: God’s Perfect Gift, p.8

Luke 2:10 ESV

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.

Joy is communicated through the angel-”You will find”- What a message “Savior, Christ, Lord”! v.10-12

Heavenly Host- Military image v.13 “plethos”

WORSHIP is the RESULT!

Worship by the angels first-- then quick obedience of the Shepherds!

Luke 2:14 (ESV)

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

What is their response? “Let’s go see” v.15

Intimacy with the moment v.16

For unto “you” a savior is born v.20

Pondering along with Mary v.19

Connecting so many dots! Prophecy, hurt, hopelessness.

WITNESS IS THE RESPONSE!

Go tell it on the Mountain, over the hills and everywhere!

Everyone that heard was AMAZED! v.18

Luke 2:18 ESV

18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

Luke 2:20 ESV

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

The testimony was true and undeniable.

A “Christmas Resolution”:

-Although this time of the year could be extremely busy, filled with planning, family trips or gatherings, food, presents, hustle-bustle-- we must reserve time and space in our “bandwidth” so we won’t miss the chance to “wonder” once again at the fact that God has written himself into the story. Pray that God would cut through all that distraction, make himself known to you once again, and show you his unconditional love this Christmas.

This Christmas, don’t miss the chance to just wonder at the birth of Jesus.

-We have an excellent opportunity this time of year to truly and deeply worship our savior-- simply, quietly, humbly. It’s not like other weeks in the year. Come as the shepherds did this Christmas. Honest, genuine, and humble.

Lets make it our intent to worship with humility and joy, just like the shepherds did.

-If you have experienced God writing himself into your story, be a witness to that. The joy and hope that these shepherds felt, paired with the message that they received, in the way they received it-- there was no way they could keep it to themselves! We have that same hope. We live in a world that is desperately seeking what we already know!

Look for opportunities to bear witness to what God has done in your life!

Dorothy Leigh Sayers (/sɛərz/;[1] 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was a student of classical and modern languages. She was honored to be the first female to graduate from Oxford University in England.

She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between the First and Second World Wars that feature English aristocrat and amateur Detective Lord Peter Wimsey, which remain popular to this day.

One feature of her work is the introduction of a certain character named Harriet Vane. Harriet was the first female Oxford graduate, a crime and mystery writer, and even physically resembled the author… She represented and radiated the essence of the Author at all times in the stories… You see Dorothy Sayers had fallen in love with the world that she created... She wrote herself into the story...

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that who so ever shall believe in him, shall not perish but have everlasting life!”

We are not unlike shepherds-- we too can experience the Wonder, the Worship, and the Witness of the Joy that we have received through Jesus Christ!

Wonder, Worship and Witness

“That’s what Christmas is really all about Charlie Brown.”