Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] They'd be able to boast before God about how good and moral and religious they were and would not have a. They have a long list of good deeds as they stood before God that they could share with God to prove their credentials.
[00:00:15] Let's set the scene for the angels arrival.
[00:00:18] Shepherds are doing what shepherds do in the middle of the night.
[00:00:22] They keep watch over the sheep, protecting them from predators like wolves and bears and from potential thieves.
[00:00:29] It's an evening like so many that they experienced before.
[00:00:33] And then suddenly, out of nowhere, an angel of the Lord appears. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. And the brilliant light of the Lord's glory and perfection lit up the skies.
[00:00:44] And they responded as we all were. They were terrified.
[00:00:51] But the angel immediately tries to comfort them because he has an important announcement to share.
[00:00:56] He says, do not be afraid.
[00:00:59] Then he tells them, let me tell you why I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people today in the city of David, a savior was born to you. Who is the Messiah? The Lord.
[00:01:10] This will be the sign for you. You'll find a baby wrapped tightly in a cloth and lying in a manger. So let's break down that announcement phrase by phrase.
[00:01:20] And first the angel proclaims that there will be good news. And that's the gospel. That's God. Provision for forgiveness of sin and eternal life has come world in a baby.
[00:01:30] And he says it's going to be good news of great joy, which God's remedy for sin and death. His plan of redemption has been launched in the birth of this baby boy.
[00:01:39] A plan that will bring lasting joy to those who believe.
[00:01:44] And then he says it's for all the people. Not for a select few, but for everyone. Black and white, young and old, rich and poor. For everyone who realizes their need of a savior.
[00:01:54] His precious gift of grace found in this baby boy will be offered to all people who humbly accept it.
[00:02:02] Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
[00:02:10] And then the angel proclaims that it's Bethlehem, the city of David, and connects the Messiah in the line of David, a king of Israel, the one who was foretold he would reign on the throne of David forever.
[00:02:24] Then the baby is given three magnificent titles by the angel.
[00:02:28] The first is Savior, the one who rescues from sin. The second is Messiah, the anointed king of all kings. And the third is Lord, a title of divinity and absolute authority. This was God in human flesh, lying in a manger as a baby.
[00:02:48] The ultimate significance of the incarnation is emphasized by the utterly unremarkable nature of the event itself.
[00:02:56] The lack of a guest room and the resulting necessity of placing the newborn in a manger of feeding trough for animals is a key point.
[00:03:03] This is not just a sign of bad timing.
[00:03:06] It's a profound theological marker of the eternal Son of God that he came and put aside his glory, his rights, his privileges and his worship in heaven to enter our world as a humble servant who would lay his life down for us. Us.
[00:03:19] The Son of God took the lowest possible place for his entry into the world, and the manger becomes the distinctive sign for the shepherds, contrasting sharply with the pomp and luxury surrounding the birth of a Roman emperor.
[00:03:36] If one angel's appearance before these shepherds wasn't enough for them to endure, suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel praising God and saying glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth, the the people he favors.
[00:03:53] Worship breaks out in a shepherd's field at the arrival of this baby.
[00:04:01] Imagine the joy in the angels who stood at God's side in his presence since the beginning of time, who knew of God's plan and longed to see it unfold. The time is here, the time is now. And they gather in the presence of these lowly shepherds and they start a worship service in the field.
[00:04:18] How glorious. How wonderful. In that moment, wouldn't you have loved to have been one of those shepherds?
[00:04:26] Men who their entire lives probably wish they were someone or somewhere else, received the honor of being the first to hear the good news.
[00:04:35] And we need to see this entire event through the lens of God's sovereign will. He is the one who has orchestrated this all.
[00:04:45] I believe God had prepared the hearts of these shepherds to receive and act upon the good news that the Savior was born. These were men who no doubt had been beaten down by the circumstances of their lives. Endless hard and difficult work without much appreciation. Endless ridicule, mockery and distrust. Endless loneliness and isolation from society. They were society's outcasts, the nobodies of their culture, the unwanted, the rejected and scorned. It's only those who have been humbled by their own weakness, their own failings and the difficulties of life that are actually prepared to receive such good news, who are most able to see their need for a Savior.
[00:05:24] A God who relates to you, a God who understands you, a God who is here for you.
[00:05:32] Upon the announcement of good news that would bring great joy, I believe these men understood this Messiah was for them that he loved them, that he came for them, that in him they. They are nobodies, but are somebody.
[00:05:46] Let's finish our text. In chapter two, verses 1520, When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let's go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened which the Lord has made known to us.
[00:06:09] They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph and the baby who were lying in a manger.
[00:06:13] After seeing them, they reported the message. They were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherd said to them. But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.
[00:06:24] Shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they were told.
[00:06:33] So appearing that on hearing the good news, the shepherds immediately leave everything that they're doing, and they even leave their sheep behind to go find the Savior.
[00:06:49] These are men who, no doubt, upon hearing the good news, realize that this was the answer to what ails them. This was the answer to what ails the world, that this was the answer to sin and evil and brokenness.
[00:07:05] So they left everything behind and went to find the baby.
[00:07:11] And as they found him, they saw that he was a source of true and lasting joy.
[00:07:18] All this wrapped up in a baby lying in a manger.
[00:07:22] And they just had to go out and tell others about the good news.
[00:07:26] There was no way they were going to keep this news to themselves.
[00:07:30] As the apostle Paul writes in Second Corinthians 5, he says, the love of Christ compels me to share the good news with others.
[00:07:36] Amazing love. How can it be that you, my King, would come in this world to die for me?
[00:07:43] When a person truly understands the great lengths that God went to save them and the depth of his love that earned that salvation for them, A God who would put everything on the line to lay his life down for their eternal good. A person can't keep that good news to themselves.
[00:07:59] You know, it saddens me a bit that we don't get to hear anymore about the shepherds.
[00:08:03] Did they continue on in the joy of the Lord?
[00:08:06] Did they continue in their passionate zeal to tell others the good news?
[00:08:11] Or did their hard lives over time snap the joy right out of them?
[00:08:16] How about you, as the joy of your Savior and His salvation remained an enduring quality of your life?
[00:08:24] Or over time, has it seeped out and disappeared?
[00:08:29] Much of that depends on the source and nature of your joy.
[00:08:33] Source of nature, I see. Four characteristics that are involved in enduring joy.
[00:08:40] Number one, it's God centered and spirit produced.
[00:08:44] You see, true joy is a gift from God. It's not something we can manufacture or conjure up on our own.
[00:08:50] It's listed as a fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5. 22.
[00:08:54] Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control.
[00:09:00] And the moment a person places their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, they're given the fullness of the Spirit and they're given the fullness of the fruit of the Spirit.
[00:09:10] But these fruit can diminish as we grieve or quench the spirit by how we live.
[00:09:17] Secondly, the source of joy is the lord himself.
[00:09:20] Nehemiah 8, 10 says, the joy of the Lord is your strength.
[00:09:24] And there's an old acronym that I used to think was kind of cheesy, but not anymore.
[00:09:29] I see it as a simple illustration of how joy becomes an enduring quality in your life.
[00:09:34] It involves your focus and your pursuits.
[00:09:37] And I think that's up on the screen. But if you did the word joy as a vertical acronym and joy O Y it stands for kind of the priority of our lives. And as we live our lives, that our joy comes first. The J is Jesus.
[00:09:53] And as Jesus is the focus of our life, and as Jesus is the source of our life. And as we connect with Jesus through life, it then comes down to others, which is the O stands for and finally yourself.
[00:10:06] And the order of priority is found in Matthew 22:37 40, when Jesus was asked, teacher, tell us what is the greatest commandment?
[00:10:15] He says, the first one is to love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and your strength. And the second is like it, to love your neighbor as yourself.
[00:10:24] And so in that we see that Jesus is setting a priority that is connected to our joy. As we live for Jesus and as Jesus abides in us, he overflows us to pass that on to others. And then our self comes after that.
[00:10:39] And it fulfills the vision that we have here as a church, where our vision is that as Jesus pours into us, he pours out of us to others.
[00:10:50] The joy of the Lord is sapped from our lives when our focus is most often on our wants, our desires, our needs, and what will make us happy.
[00:10:57] And in the end, those things fall short, always leaving us in a relentless search for joy that endures.
[00:11:03] That joy is found in Christ and giving your life away to others.
[00:11:09] Thirdly, enduring joy is independent of circumstances.
[00:11:13] Joy is distinctly different from Happiness.
[00:11:16] Happiness comes from the Latin word hap.
[00:11:19] It's a feeling and emotion that is dependent on what happens in your life.
[00:11:24] And it's linked to health and appearance and relationships and possessions, wealth and success.
[00:11:29] It's a spontaneous response to temporary pleasures or experiences.
[00:11:34] The biblical joy is deep. It's internal state of gladness and contentment that is present even in the midst of trials, suffering and grief.
[00:11:43] The apostle Peter, who walked with Jesus for three years in his ministry, was writing a letter, his first letter, to Christians who are experiencing trials. And he says this in 1st Peter 1:8.
[00:11:54] It says, though you have not seen God, you love him, though not seeing him now you believe in him. And you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy because you're receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
[00:12:10] Paul is saying, or Peter saying, that the ability for us to stand in the midst of trials and suffering in life comes from the nature of our salvation in Christ and the enduring promises that we have found in him.
[00:12:24] And I can see the evidence of sustaining joy and faith in many of you over the last few years who have suffered greatly but still have proclaimed the greatness of your God.
[00:12:34] And your lives are a testimony of the truth of this message, that joy can endure while suffering because it's based upon something weightier and with greater substance than our search for happiness.
[00:12:48] And fourthly, finally, biblical joy is not fleeting, but is enduring in full.
[00:12:55] In John chapter 15, Jesus speaks of the enduring love that he and the Father have for those who believe in him. And then he tells his disciples this in John 15:11, I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.
[00:13:09] Here Jesus promises his followers a joy that will be complete and that no one can take away. It's enduring because it is based on the enduring promises of God that come with salvation and a life in Christ. All things that Jesus has earned for the believer, not things you can earn or preserve for yourself, things that you can never lose because Christ earned them through his shed blood for you.
[00:13:31] So, in summary, a joy filled life is a spiritual response and a firm assurance that our life's quality is rooted not in our changing circumstances, but in the constant love, grace, forgiveness and hope offered by a faithful God through Jesus Christ.
[00:13:49] When I was thinking about how to close this sermon, my thoughts went to a story I read years ago in Max Lucado's book, God Came Near.
[00:13:58] And it's a true story about Max Lucado. When he was a college student attending a Lecture on the person of Jesus.
[00:14:05] The auditorium was full of students, and at the end the lecturer opened the remaining time up for questions and answers, and a young man stood up and asked, you mean to tell me God became a baby?
[00:14:18] The one posing the question was puzzled.
[00:14:21] And that he was born in a sheep stable.
[00:14:25] Young man looked as if he walked down from the adjacent Colorado mountains. Stocking cap down vest, hiking boots, and he found it as though he honestly didn't know if the story he heard was a mountain legend or gospel truth.
[00:14:38] Yes, that's what I mean to say, the lecturer responded.
[00:14:42] And then, after becoming a baby, he was raised in a blue collar home. He never wrote any books or held any offices, yet he called himself the Son of God.
[00:14:50] That's right.
[00:14:52] The one answering the question was Landon Saunders, the voice of the Heartbeat radio program. And I've never heard anyone tell the story of the Nazarene like Landon can.
[00:15:01] He never traveled outside of his own country, never studied at the university, never lived in a palace, and yet asked to be regarded as the creator of the universe.
[00:15:10] That's correct.
[00:15:12] As another student watching this all unfold, I was a bit unnerved by the dialogue. I was fresh out of college, gung ho, and enthusiastic about my faith.
[00:15:21] As a volunteer helper in the lecture series, I came with memorized verses and responses loaded in the chamber of my evangelistic six shooter.
[00:15:29] However, I came to defend a lifestyle and not a savior.
[00:15:33] These questions were a bit too aggressive for my virgin faith and his crucifixion story. He was betrayed by his own people. No followers came to his defense. And then he was executed like a common junkyard thief. That's the gist of it.
[00:15:49] The authenticity of the questioner didn't allow you to regard him as a cynic or dismiss him as a show off. To the contrary, he seemed nervous and commanding such attention, but his desire to know was just an ounce or two heavier than his discomfort.
[00:16:03] He continued.
[00:16:05] And after the killing, he was buried in a borrowed grave.
[00:16:09] Yes, he had no grave of his own, no money to purchase one.
[00:16:14] The honesty of the dialogue kept the audience spellbound.
[00:16:17] I realized I was witnessing one of those rare times when two people were willing to question the holy.
[00:16:23] Here were two men standing on opposite sides of a deep chasm, one asking the other if the bridge stretched between them, could it actually be trusted?
[00:16:32] There was a hint of emotion in the student's voice as he carefully worded the next question.
[00:16:37] And according to what's written, after three days in the grave, he was resurrected and made appearances to over 500 people.
[00:16:44] Yes.
[00:16:46] And all this was to prove that God still loves us and provides a way for us to return to Him.
[00:16:51] That's right.
[00:16:53] I felt I knew what question was coming next.
[00:16:57] It could have gone without being asked. I was hoping he actually wouldn't ask it.
[00:17:01] Doesn't that all sound rather.
[00:17:04] He paused for a second, searching for the right word.
[00:17:07] Doesn't that all sound rather absurd?
[00:17:12] All the heads in the auditorium turned in perfect sync and looked at Landon.
[00:17:16] In that moment my head was spinning. I was being forced to look at Jesus from a new angle. Christianity absurd. The Incarnation absurd.
[00:17:23] Jesus on a cross absurd. The Resurrection absurd.
[00:17:28] Our Sunday school Jesus had been taken down from the flannel board.
[00:17:32] Landon's response was simple.
[00:17:35] Yes, yes, I suppose it does sound absurd, doesn't it?
[00:17:42] I didn't like the answer. I didn't like it at all.
[00:17:45] Diagram God's plan of redemption for Him. Present the hundred or so fulfilled prophecies. Explain how the Old Testament law was fulfilled in Jesus. Explain reconciliation, justification, redemption and adoption. Don't let him describe God's actions as absurd.
[00:18:02] Then it began to dawn on me what God did makes sense.
[00:18:08] It makes sense that Jesus would be our sacrifice because the sacrifice was needed to justify sinful man's presence before Holy God.
[00:18:16] It does make sense that we could never fulfill God's standard of perfection to be acceptable to Him. But there was one who lived a perfect sinless life fulfilling the requirements of God's law for us. That all makes sense.
[00:18:28] But why God did it is absolutely absurd.
[00:18:33] That type of love is not logical.
[00:18:36] Only God can love like that.
[00:18:39] We don't want a God after all. Making. We can't even come close to loving like that. Oh, we can love and we can serve and we can give for the good of others, but now willingly go to our death so that everyone else might be saved.
[00:18:52] And God's plan of redemption that begins with the birth of a baby in Bethlehem and through his life, death and resurrection. We see a King of glory living as a pauper, blood stained royalty, a God with tears, a Creator with a heart. God became, er, mockery to save his children. How absurd to think that such nobility would go to such poverty to share such a treasure with such thankful souls.
[00:19:18] But that's what he did.
[00:19:21] I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the city of David a savior was born to you.
[00:19:30] The only thing more absurd than the gift is our stubborn refusal to receive it.
[00:19:38] This morning I want to give you an opportunity to receive God's gifts of salvation through Jesus Christ.
[00:19:45] God's plan of redemption was determined before the world was created and was foretold by prophets for centuries before this baby was laid in a manger. That first Christmas was the official launch of Emmanuel. God with us.
[00:19:58] God leaving heaven on a rescue mission for you and for me. He came to solve the problem for us all. Our sin separates us from a holy God and no amount of good works or religious observance and erase the stain of that sin.
[00:20:13] Romans 3:23 says that for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
[00:20:18] And that means we miss the mark of his perfection.
[00:20:22] And sin is things that we can readily admit that we do in life. It's the things that are improper and appropriate that we think in our thought life, or that we gaze upon with our eyes, or the words that come from our mouth, or the attitudes of our heart, or our actions and behavior. And we all know quite easily that we're sinners.
[00:20:43] In Romans 6:23, it says that the consequences of that sin is death. And that means more than a physical death. It also means a spiritual death. It means a separation from God, that because he is perfectly holy and he cannot accept sin into his presence, that we're separated from him.
[00:20:59] Ephesians 2:8 9 says, for it is by grace you've been saved through faith. This is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one will boast. And so that creates quite a dilemma for us.
[00:21:10] Our sin separates us from a holy God. But it says right there that there's no amount of good works that will erase that stain of sin and remedy the problem of that separation.
[00:21:22] John 3:16 says that for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting Life.
[00:21:31] And John 1:12 says that to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gives them the right to become children of God.
[00:21:39] And then in 1 John 5, 11, 13, it says, God has given us his testimony that he's given us life in His Son.
[00:21:46] And those who believe in His Son have life. Those who do not believe in the Son of God do not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. You see, I walked through life the first two 23 years of my life, and I thought this whole thing was a crapshoot. And if I died on any given day and I stood before God the Father. I'd have to wonder, did I do enough good things?
[00:22:09] Was I religious enough?
[00:22:11] Did I not do enough bad things? Will he accept me into his presence?
[00:22:15] And that scriptures in the Bible makes it very clear that that's never what it's been all about.
[00:22:20] Because he says right here that if you have the Son of God, you have life.
[00:22:25] He says, I write these things to you, believe in the name of the Son of God so that you can know that you have eternal life. You can know and walk through life securely, believing that on the day you pass from this world, God will accept you into his heavenly kingdom forever. And it's based on your faith in His Son, Jesus, and not in whether you're a good person or you're religious or you do a bunch of good things.
[00:22:49] It's time for everyone to stop thinking that you're too bad to receive God's acceptance that you've done too many wrong things.
[00:22:57] There was a thief on a cross that hung next to Jesus, who was a lifetime criminal. And because he witnessed how Jesus died on a cross and ended up believing that he was actually God, he said, jesus, remember me when you come into your paradise. And Jesus says, you will be with me this day.
[00:23:17] He lived the whole entire life of bad stuff because he placed his faith in Jesus on a what we could call a deathbed confession.
[00:23:27] Jesus says, I'll accept you forever into my kingdom because of your faith in me.
[00:23:33] There's not a amount of bad things that you can do that will ever cause God not to permanently reject you. But there's never enough good things that you can do either.
[00:23:44] Otherwise, Jesus going to the cross and dying makes no sense whatsoever.
[00:23:54] In this moment. I'm going to say a prayer out loud, and it's a prayer of salvation.
[00:24:00] And if you want to put your faith in Jesus today, pray these words quietly to yourself.
[00:24:06] It's not a prayer that saves you, but it's your faith in Jesus that saves you. And you're believing that he's God and what he's done for you on the cross.
[00:24:15] Let's all close our eyes and bow our heads in this moment.
[00:24:21] And if for the first time you're actually saying, I'm placing my faith in Jesus, pray these words quietly with me to yourself.
[00:24:30] Dear Jesus, I believe you are God, and I believe that you came in human flesh to die for my sin.
[00:24:40] Jesus, forgive me for all that I've done wrong.
[00:24:44] Thank you for taking the punishment that I deserved.
[00:24:49] Right now, Jesus, I'm placing my faith in you for my salvation.
[00:24:55] Come into my life, Jesus. Be my savior.
[00:25:03] If you prayed that prayer this morning, it's not the prayer that saves you.
[00:25:09] It's your faith placing your faith in Jesus Christ.
