July 31, 2011
Preached as one of the shepherds Dear friends in Christ.
Glory to God in the Highest and on earth Peace to men on whom his favor rests! These, dear friends, are some of the most beautiful words I have ever heard, because these very words came to me from the Lord through his angel messengers who announced the birth of his Son, our salvation. But I’m getting ahead of myself; let me start at the beginning so that you can join me today and rejoice in the Lord’s Salvation.
I will always remember that amazing night when the angels appeared to us. It was during the time of the Census that Caesar Augustus had issued; the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. It was a busy time with people traveling here and there, traveling to their own towns; to the birthplace of their forefathers so that they could register and be counted. I remember how busy Bethlehem was. Though normally Bethlehem was a quite village in the hill country of Judea, because of all the people, Bethlehem was filled to capacity and beyond. About the best comparison I can think of is the small town of Sturgis in South Dakota. Though Sturgis is normally a quiet town of roughly 5,000 people, during the motorcycle rally, the population of Sturgis grows to more than 35,000 people. The same was true for Bethlehem! So many people had descended upon her to be counted that there was no room left anywhere. In short, she was filled beyond capacity and the people just kept coming. It kind of made me glad that I was out in the fields that night, keeping watch over my flocks with all the other shepherds. We were away from the hustle and bustle of the city. We didn’t have to worry about all the people coming and going or looking for a place to stay. All was quiet by us as we lay down with our sheep for the night, until suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared before us and the glory of the Lord shone around us, and we were terrified! (Luke 2:8-9)
Now, I know that you know my story like the back of your hand. I know that when you were little children in Sunday School you learned these very words from Luke 2 and you recited them during your Christmas service. I know that now you come to church each and every Christmas to hear your children and other children recite these familiar words, telling you about the angel of the Lord appeared to us and how terrified we were. But have you ever stopped to consider what these words are saying? Have you ever stopped to consider how you would have reacted if you saw what we did that night? Imagine for a moment that you are sitting on a hillside, watching over your sheep at night, getting ready to lie down and rest for the night when suddenly you see in the sky an angel from the Lord. Though it had been dark just a moment ago, in the same way that a flash of lightning lights up the sky, suddenly the sky is alight by the glory of the Lord which is shining around you from the angel that has appeared before you! But, unlike the lightning that simply flashes in the sky and then disappears, the light from the angel and the glory of the Lord keep on shining. Now, I don’t know how you would have reacted, but I was terrified. I was terrified because this was one of God’s holy angels, and I am a sinful man. I was terrified because the light that I saw all around me was the glory of the Lord, and I was nothing more than a shepherd; a person considered to be an uneducated, useless thief, who wasn’t worth anything to anybody. I was terrified because out in that quiet, Bethlehem night, the Lord had sent his angel to me and to my fellow shepherds who were also living in those fields, nearby. But even though we were terrified, that angel spoke to us some of the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard. He said, “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.” (Luke 2:10–12, NIV84)
Though we were shaking with fear, the angel essentially told us that there was no longer any reason to be afraid. There was no longer any reason to be afraid because the long awaited Savior had been born that day. The Savior whom the Lord had promised, who would wash away all our sins and make us pure and holy before the Lord our God; the Savior whose promise had been passed from generation to generation by father to son and mother to daughter was here on earth. He had been born this night. He wasn’t even that far away as he was lying in a manger with his mother and father right there. He was born! The Savior of the world was here! Our waiting was over! Our sins would be forgiven! Our Salvation was at hand! We would be right with the Lord, and we were the first people the Lord had chosen to tell! I don’t know about the rest of the guys but I was overwhelmed by the sight of the angel, the amazing message of salvation that he had just revealed to me, and then came the amazingly beautiful praises that I will never forget. For as soon as the angel was done telling us the good news, “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.” (Luke 2:13–14, NIV84)
Then, as quickly as the angels had appeared, they were gone. Yet their praises were still ringing in our ears causing us to rejoice in the Lord’s salvation. You know that feeling you get when you have just heard the greatest news imaginable, the very news you’ve been waiting for you, the news that you can barely believe unless you go and see it for yourself? That is exactly how we felt. After the angels left and went back into heaven we decided among ourselves that we would go to Bethlehem and see the Lord’s salvation with our own eyes. We hurried as fast as we could, leaving our flocks in the fields, and we found them, just as the angel had said. We found Mary and Joseph, and we found the baby Jesus, lying in the manger. Do you remember that feeling of awe and joy that flooded over you when you first saw your baby after he or she had been born? Do you remember that feeling of awe, joy, and wonder when you had the opportunity to hold your baby in your arms for the first time? That is the exactly what we felt when we saw him, our Savior, the Lord’s Salvation, lying there in that manger! There he was! Our salvation! Just as the angel had said! He had been born! He had come to earth! The Lord’s promise to Adam and Eve was being fulfilled, and we were witnesses of it!
I don’t remember how long we stayed. I would have loved to stay standing there forever, simply standing in the presence of my salvation, but the time came for us to leave and go back to our flocks. Yet, even as we were returning to our flocks we could not contain our joy over the birth of Jesus. As we went back to our flocks we continued rejoicing in the Lord’s salvation and spreading the news to everyone we met about this child. We were so full of joy that we were knocking on doors and telling everyone we could that their salvation was at hand because their Savior had been born on that very night! All the way back to our flocks we were rejoicing, praising God, giving thanks to him, and spreading the news that the Savior was born, just as the angel had told us.
Greater joy has never permeated my heart than the joy that filled me that night, and to this day I still cannot contain my joy at the birth of my Savior. To this day I must continue telling the good news of great joy that the angel revealed to us on that night that the Savior had been born to us! But what about you? Do you carry with you that same joy? Do you continually rejoice in the salvation that the Lord your God has bestowed upon you? Oh, I know that there are still roughly 5 months before you celebrate Christmas, but even now you can still live in Christmas joy, rejoicing in the Lord’s salvation. You can still live in the joy of the Lord’s salvation, because it is the Lord who has freed you form all your sins! While you were still his enemies, God sent his Son to be your Savior. In the fullness of time, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law. This is the salvation that the Lord provided for us in Jesus Christ, his Son, our Savior. In that little baby dwelt all the fullness of the Lord our God. In that little baby was God’s solution to our sins. And we know his story!
We know how he grew and how he lived his life. We know how he was baptized, how he was tempted, just like we were and yet was without sin. We know how he went throughout the land of Israel preaching and teaching the message of salvation through faith in him to all his people. And we know how he gave his life for us on the cross. Though he was the innocent Son of God, he willingly gave his life over to death to pay for our sins and was raised to life for our justification! This is the good news of great joy that is for all people. This is the message of salvation in which we rejoice today. This is the message that the other shepherds and I brought to the people of Bethlehem as we returned to our flocks, and this is the message of joy that you now carry with you to the world.
Just think about the joy that you have in the message of salvation that the Lord has revealed to you. It means that you have been forgiven of every single one of your sins. No matter what you may have done or even left undone, the Lord your God has forgiven it and forgotten it for Jesus sake. It means that when you fold your hands in prayer in the morning, in the evening, at meal times or any time, your prayers are heard by the Lord your God and they will be answered by him in his time. It means that as you live your life here on earth Christ lives and that he watches over you and protects you. It means that we have the sure and certain hope of eternal life waiting for us when the Lord decides that it is time for our lives on earth to come to an end, and it means that we are his ambassador to bring his message to the people who do not know.
Just think about the joy that the message of salvation brings you when you realize what the Lord has done for you, and then think about all the people you know and you love to spend time with. Do they know the same thing that you know? Are they already rejoicing in the message of salvation with you so that you can be certain that you will not only spend your life with them but you will spend eternity with them as well? Who do you know that may or may not know the message of salvation like you do? Think about all those people who do not yet know about the Lord their salvation. Think about all those who do not yet know that Jesus has been born. Think about the message of salvation in which you are rejoicing today and then go out and spread the message of salvation so that others might rejoice with you in the salvation that is theirs through faith in Jesus! This is the assignment that the Lord our God now gives us—to tell others about the reason for the hope that we have!
So as you go out that door, live in the joy of your salvation and rejoice in the Lord your salvation in the way that you live your life! Live your life so that it is clear that you are a man or a woman of faith. Live your life in the joy that comes from knowing that Jesus is your Savior and that you are his child. Live your life rejoicing in the salvation that is yours through faith! Then, as you live your life in that joy you will find people begin to notice that there is something different about you. People will begin to notice the joy that you have and will want to know why you have it, and before you know it, you will have the opportunity to share the reason for the hope you have and rejoice anew in the salvation the Lord has bestowed upon you as you become a witness of that salvation.
What greater joy could there be than the joy that comes from knowing the salvation that the Lord bestowed upon his people at the birth of his Son, our Savior. On that night, when the angels told us the amazing news, we could not help but go and see for ourselves and then spread the news concerning this child. I pray that the message of our Savior’s birth and the salvation that the Lord bestowed upon you continues to permeate your hearts so that you live your lives in joy and witness as you rejoice in the salvation of the Lord your God through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN
