December 13, 2006                                        Luke 2:8-20

 

             And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

            13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14  "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

            15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this word that has happened, which the Lord made known to us."

            16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

 

            Some of the most well known and greatest patriarchs of the Old Testament were shepherds.  Abraham shepherded a flock as he lived as a stranger in the Promised Land - years before his descendants ever owned one acre of land.  Jacob became an expert shepherd and used his skills to build a big flock under the deceptive practices of Laban.  The Israelites spent four hundred years in the land of Goshen taking care of their flocks - a practice that was detestable to the Egyptians.  When David was later anointed as the second king of Israel, he also came from tending the flocks of Jesse. 

            Since shepherding was such a popular practice among the Israelites - who happened to also be God’s chosen people - you would think that this profession would be an easy and a prosperous one.  Yet neither situation is the case.  Shepherding seemed to be both a difficult and poor way to live.  Today’s text has the shepherds not living in a palace or even a shack - but only in the fields with the stars and the clouds as their roof.  Instead of being able to sleep at night, they had to walk around with a shepherd’s staff and a club - trying to fend off any predators that may have come by.  David had to put his life on the line by fighting both the lion and the bear.  If I were to choose any profession, it would not be watching a bunch of scared and skiddish animals every night for little to no reward but a few lamb chops from time to time and maybe a nice wool coat. 

            Yet it’s this profession of shepherds which have been chosen to be the third candle for Advent - to shed an essential light on the Christmas to come.  What is so enlightening about the shepherds - that somebody has felt the need to dedicate a special candle them?  We’ll find out today as we how -

 

The Shepherds Shed Light

 

I.  On our inability to see the light

 

            Attempts have been made to set these shepherds apart - as if they were some sort of a special breed of shepherds.  Scholars have speculated that they had the special job of raising the lambs that were to be sacrificed in Jerusalem - since Bethlehem was not far from there. Why do they have to be special?  That’s my question.  I’ll tell you why.  It’s because human pride always has to look for some quality to make them worthy.  It is too offensive to think that God would appear to just your run of the mill shepherds.  Yet Luke does not say that these were super shepherds.  He simply calls them shepherds - living out in the fields nearby - keeping watch over their flocks by night.

            In looking at the shepherds then, it sheds some light on how God works.  He doesn’t base His choice on how high and mighty people are.  Romans 9:16 says, “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”  He does everything He does only because of His mercy.  You don’t have to “stand out” for God to notice you.  It doesn’t matter if you have a well renowned job or a dirty job.  The picture of the shepherds shows us that God doesn’t care about your status.  You don’t have to stand out or be at the top of your class.  The shepherds show us that God knows where everyone is in the world.  He is the All Seeing One.

            Here’s what really amazes me about the situation.  If God’s angels had not appeared to them - they would have had NO CLUE as to what was happening in the little village right next to them.  Here God was coming out of a virgin’s womb - and without the angels - nobody would have known.  Even if they did have faith in the coming Messiah, the shepherds were still UNABLE to know what was going on there - because Jesus’ birth was hidden under a most natural and humble birth in a cattle stall.  The miracle had to be DIRECTLY REVEALED to them by angels from heaven.

            This shows us how blind we are even to the greatest miracles.  Revelation 3:17 says, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”  We would like to envision life on this earth as maybe a bit hazy - but certainly not pitch black.  We like to think that the world is not really corrupted with sin - but just a little off base. “Follow your heart” is a common mantra - “and it will lead you to the truth.”  We are being told by John Edward and the Buddhists that the truth of revelation is only a matter of closing your eyes and listening to the voices within and trusting the instinct.  Christianity flavors it by saying, “Pray about it and the Holy Spirit will direct you in which way to go.”  The world buys all of this and imagines that we all live in the light and just need to discover our own individual hue.  So many people think they can find the light just by going through some form of meditation or by living out in the wilderness for a while.  It is all a bunch of bunk.

            There are far greater things that God has to reveal to us than sheep and stars in this universe.  Yet we often times don’t see it.  We get too wrapped up in our school and our jobs and our lives and we lose sleep working overtime to prepare for the Christmas season.  In the end we don’t open up our eyes and ask ourselves, “what is all of this for?  The job, the house, the car, the gifts - how long will they last?”  God’s Spirit has to reveal to us that it will all burn on Judgment Day - but we plow on and act as if it will last forever!  The sad part is that we have been revealed much more than the shepherds who were out in the field that night - yet we’re still living in the dark in many respects. 

            Open your eyes and look up at the angels this morning.  Listen to what they are saying to you.  There is something much greater in this Universe - and it’s right next to you - about to be celebrated on December 25th!  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.   See the miracles that are just next door - that are in the message of Christmas - and don’t lose sight of them.  They don’t seem any more majestic than the sheep - but underneath those strips of cloth and that baby’s flesh - is Christ the Lord.  Who would have known?  Christmas is not about a man who flies through the air in a sleigh and miraculously slips down a chimney.  It’s about an all powerful God who miraculously comes through time and place into a womb and takes on flesh.  It’s about the Lord who would allow Himself to be anointed as the scapegoat of the world - to be bathed in the sins of the world on a cross.  This baby was being anointed to die!  Think about this miracle of Christmas. 

            This is the way God reveals Himself and keeps on revealing Himself.  Look again!  Don’t forget about what a miracle it is when water is poured on an infants head in the name of the Triune God!  What a miracle takes place as the Holy Spirit actually transports Himself through time and eternity into that child’s heart and soul!  What a miracle takes place as you take the Lord’s Supper that Jesus actually physically enters your body and takes you faith back 2,000 years to the cross!  There are miracles right here in front of you!  The Holy Spirit is revealing it - opening your eyes to this marvelous light!  But if you don’t take the time to listen to the angels who give you the Word - if you’re too busy tending your sheep - you’re going to miss it - because the shepherds show us how blind we really can be!

           

II.  On where to see the light

 

            As focused as they were on their sheep, when a host of angels appear in the middle of a dark field, you have no choice but to pay attention.  Luke writes, “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.”  I just noticed something for the first time when I reviewed this text for this Shepherd’s Sunday.  The glory of the Lord shone around them - referring to the SHEPHERDS - not the angel.  Angel is singular at this point - prior to the appearance of the many angels who subsequently appeared.  The shepherds found themselves surrounded by the glory of the Lord - and it literally “lamped around” them.  The response was typical.  They feared a great fear.  When sinful men are in the presence of God’s glory - they get scared.  Suddenly they realize who THEY are - sinners - and who GOD is - holy - and it terrifies them.  This is a proper response. 

            Once again, this reaction of the shepherds is a sign of our own blindness - that we do not shake more than we do.  We go on about our business as if He were up in heaven - a million miles a way. When we take the Lord’s Supper we don’t pause at the awesome fact that the holy God is entering our mouths.  When we have a child baptized we don’t pause at the awesome prospect of the HOLY Spirit entering a child’s soul!  The shepherds response shows us the human condition of sin and the proper response - to shake! 

            So what it is that stops their shaking?  “A Savior has been born TO YOU.” This child was being born to save them from their sin!  The only message that can stop the shaking is the message of the Gospel.  When we take the Lord’s Supper - we recognize that this body and blood of the Holy Jesus was shed for us - to take away our sins.  It keeps us from shaking.  When the Holy Spirit enters a child in baptism, He gives the child faith to trust in the Savior who died for him.  He washes the sins away that made the child so detestable before the Holy God.  So, it is the WORD and PROMISE of the Almighty God that stops shaking knees. 

            Not only does it stop shaking knees - but the promise does even more.  The shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this word that has happened, which the Lord made known to us."   So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  In spite of their sinfulness - through this promise the shepherds found the courage to actually go and see this promise in the flesh.  Here these dirty run of the mill shepherds were the first ones to come and visit the Christ.  They wanted to see the Word made flesh. 

            Some might question the faith of the shepherds.  If they really believed the message of the angels, why didn’t they just live by faith?  Why didn’t they just keep watching their flocks and simply trust the message of the angels?  Isn’t faith being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you don’t see?  Didn’t Jesus chastise Thomas for wanting to see the Father?  Here is the difference - the angels told the shepherds point blank where to find the Christ.  Do you not think that it still took faith to believe that this infant was the Christ?  Look at the clothes he was wearing - nothing more than strips of cloth.   Look at the bed he was laying in - a feeding trough for cows and donkeys!  Look at the family he was born into - just poor people!  Look at what the God of the Universe was wearing - HUMAN FLESH.  THIS is the Christ?  Perhaps their faith would have been better off not looking.  Yet the angels said - THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL FIND HIM.  It took faith to follow his lead and go.  With the promise of salvation in this child - they went.  At the risk of their flock - they went.  In spite of these obstacles - through faith in the signs - the shepherds went to see THEIR SHEPHERD and their Savior - a baby lying in a manger.  When they went, their faith was CONFIRMED - as all was just as the angels said. 

            The shepherds teach us an important lesson.  In spite of your sin - in spite of your fear - go and find Christ where the Word tells yoou to find Him.  The angels do not tell you to find Christ within a feeling you have - by just stirring up a spirit within.  The Word does not tell us to look for Christ in the stars or the fields of nature.  It tells us to take our shaking knees to the manger - and see the Christ in the flesh of this baby.  The Word tells us to find Christ in baptism.  The Word tells us to find salvation in the cross.  It tells us to find forgiveness in the body and blood of the Supper.  When you go to these simple places - which would seem to be the last places to find the Christ - your faith is strengthened and confirmed.  You recognize that God has become one of us - that He is forgiving, self sacrificing, loving and kind.  There is nothing wrong with taking time out from the sheep and the fields to find God in the flesh.  The Word bids us go there.  This is where our faith is founded. 

 

III.  On how to respond to the light

 

            When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.   Though the angel never told them to say a word, Luke tells us that the shepherds spontaneously spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.  They didn’t talk about the angels or the glory of the LORD that shone around them.  They talked about the WORD of the angels.  It wasn’t the VISION that they were excited about - but the MESSAGE!  The focus of Christmas - for them - was on the fact that a Savior had been born for them - Christ the Lord.  Imagine what an awesome thing it would have been to tell the people - “hey, we just saw the Christ!”  “Where was he?”  “In a cattle stall!”  “A what?”  “A cattle stall - and he was wearing just strips of cloth!”  “How do you know it was the Christ?”  Because an angel came and told us - and it was just as he said!”  Imagine the excitement in their voices!

            Out of all the things that get you excited over Christmas - the gifts, the relatives, the candy bags -- the Christmas service - isn’t it the message that is the most exciting thing?  Think about how many kids think that Christmas is about Santa Claus and how many gifts they can get.  How sad!  Isn’t it just great to hear our children get excited about singing Christmas songs.  Isn’t it a wonderful thing to know they don’t have to be bribed to come?  This Christmas Eve we get the opportunity to sing about Jesus.  It’s not just the fact that we love the tunes.  It’s not just the fact that we get to see our children “perform.”  We get to hear them profess their faith in Jesus!  Think about what a wonderful thing it will be to have the opportunity to join with our children in singing praises to Jesus this Christmas!   Think about what a wonderful message we have to tell!

            This is what the third Advent candle is all about.  The Advent candle for the shepherds is pink - not purple.  The reason for this is because pink is supposed to represent joy - whereas purple represents sorrow.   In order to prepare for Christ, we don’t only confess our sins.  We also celebrate the wonderful news - God is about to become man!  What a message of joy and hope!  The shepherds candle of pink reminds us to rejoice at the coming of Christ our King.  We know He’s coming for us. 

 

            Two thousand years ago God decided to completely change the lives of some simple shepherds in a single night.  This one night - this one moment in time would be so memorable that they would never forget it for the rest of their lives.  In studying the shepherds - it brings us some light - a different hue than that of the Bethlehem or the prophecy candle.  It shows us how blind we really are - how we are completely dependent on the LORD to reveal his miracles to us.  The story of the shepherds also shows us to go where the LORD says to find Him - even if it is the least glorious place in the world.  The response of these shepherds also shows how the message of the Gospel effects us.  The light of Christ made them light bearers - brought them joy.  This is why we also look forward to Christmas - we find joy in seeing the Savior be born to us - Christ the Lord - and we can’t wait to spread the Light - just like the shepherds.  Amen.