Today we
come to the end of our Christmas sermon series, “Angels Among Us”, looking at
the role angels played in the Christmas story. We talked about how the
angel Gabriel gave a message to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and
to Mary, the mother of Jesus. We talked about how an unnamed
angel--might’ve been Gabriel, might not--gave a message to Joseph. Now,
we come to the last appearance of an angel in the Christmas story, the story of
the shepherds.
This is one of the stranger things about the Christmas
story, that God would have the birth of the Savior be announced to a bunch of
shepherds. See, “shepherd” was not an occupation that was very well
thought of. In fact, shepherd was kind of down at the bottom of the list
as far as honorable professions were concerned. Nobody wanted to hear
their son say, “Dad, when I grow up, I want to be a shepherd.” Now don’t
get me wrong. It was honest work and it was important and necessary work.
But it was hard work, it was low pay, and it was not a job that very many
people wanted to have.
One of the reasons for that is that somebody had to watch
the sheep twenty-four/seven. Even in the middle of the night, you still
had to watch them. In fact, that may have been the time you had to watch
them the most, because night, of course, would be when animals would be on the
prowl to try to kill the sheep. So it was natural that, in the familiar
Bible phrase, shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night.
As far as the shepherds were concerned, of course, this
was going to be a night like any other night. They were out there,
keeping a lookout. They were probably a little tired. They were
probably kind of grimy, too, because you know, there was probably no good way
for them to keep themselves clean even if they wanted to. Then, as we
read, “an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone
around them, and they were terrified”.
We’ve talked about how everyone in the Christmas story
other than Joseph, was scared to death when they saw an angel. But I
think it’s more understandable for the shepherds. After all, they not
only saw an angel, but we’re told “the glory of the Lord shone around them”.
This is the first time in the Christmas story we’ve heard
about the glory of the Lord shining around someone. But there are other
places in the Bible that reference the glory of the Lord shining. We hear
about it in Exodus when Moses talks to God. We hear about it again at the
transfiguration, when Jesus meets with Moses and Elijah. We also hear
about it in Revelation, when John gives a description of heaven. It’s
described as this brilliant, dazzling, unearthly sort of light, brighter than
anything we can imagine.
Maybe it sounds like it’d be kind of cool to see that,
but the people who actually did see it did not think it was cool at all.
They were scared to death. And I think there’s a good reason why.
After all, think about this. Think about actually seeing the glory
of the Lord. It’d be awesome, but you know what it would do? It
would make us realize who we really are.
Most of us like to think we’re pretty good. I don’t
mean that in an arrogant way, necessarily. But most of us like to think
we’re doing okay. We know we’re not perfect, we know we have flaws, but
we don’t like to think about them too much. We know we have things to
work on, but by and large, we like to think we’re more or less all right.
And that’s not all bad. In fact, there’s an extent
to which it’s good. I’m not saying we should go around miserable and
depressed and beating ourselves up for our flaws all the time. That’d be
a pretty lousy way to live.
But
that’s why seeing the glory of the Lord is so frightening. Because when
we see the glory of the Lord, we realize how holy and awesome and perfect God
actually is. And when we see how holy and awesome and perfect God is, we
then see how unholy and wretched and imperfect we are. All those sins and
flaws and imperfections, all those things we’ve tried so hard to ignore, all of
a sudden those come forward in our minds as big as life, if not bigger.
The difference between us and God, that vast gulf between who we are and
who God is, comes to the forefront in such a way that we have to deal with it.
And it makes us miserable.
So take
that, and then think about being a shepherd. Think about not having a
very high opinion of yourself anyway, because society tells you all the time
how low you are. And then think about seeing the glory of the Lord, and
seeing that huge gulf between who you are and who God is. It’s no wonder
the shepherds felt the way they did.
And then,
the angel says those words. “Do not be afraid. I bring you good
news of great joy that will be for all the people.” All of the
people. Including you. You, as low as you are, are going to
get good news of great joy from an angel. “Today in the town of David a
Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a
sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a
manger.”
And while
you’re still trying to take all that in, all of a sudden “a great company of
the heavenly host” appears. More angels than you can even begin to count
are all around you. And they’re praising God, and they’re saying, “Glory
to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor
rests.”
And then
they leave. And you and the other shepherds just kind of look at each
other. “Did you see that?” “Uh--maybe.” “What do you mean,
‘maybe’?” “Well, what did you see?” “Well, I’m not sure, but it
looked kind of like an angel of the Lord.” “Yeah, I thought that, too.
And did you see the glory of the Lord shining?” “I think so.
And what about that other thing? Did you see that?” “You mean
that thing that looked like a heavenly host? Yeah, I saw that!”
“Yeah! Me, too!”
And the
more you talk about it, the more excited you get. Because you realize
that this was not just a dream. This was not just your imagination
playing tricks on you. It really happened. God really sent angels
to give an incredible message to you. You, the lowest of the low.
You, who have no business even thinking you could be anywhere near the
presence of God. God has sent a Savior to the world. To all of the
world. Including you. And God specifically wanted you to
know that.
And as
Linus says in the Charlie Brown Christmas special, that’s what Christmas is all
about. The Savior of the world coming into the world for you. Not
just for the rich. Not just for the powerful. Not just for the
popular. For you. And for me. As low and flawed and unworthy
as we all are. God has sent the Savior into the world for us. And
God specifically wants us to know that.
It really
is incredible. You and I have no business being in God’s presence.
And yet, we’re allowed by God to come into God’s presence. Not only
are we allowed in, we’re invited in. God wants us to come into God’s
presence. God is eager to have us come into God’s presence. There
is nothing that makes God happier than when we come into God’s presence.
Why?
Because God loves us. It’s a love that we don’t deserve. It’s
a love that we can never earn. But then, that’s what love is. Love,
real love, is never something we earn. Love is never something we
deserve. Real love is always a gift, a complete and total gift, given
with no expectation of anything in return.
God loves
us so much that, as unworthy as we are, God sent the Savior into the world to
save us. And then, God sent angels to make sure we all knew about it.
“For God
so loved the world that world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not
send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through
him.”
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