What was it like on the night when Jesus was born? Shepherds and flocks of sheep in the hills. It’s at night, probably very dark. I wonder what kind of night it was? Was it particularly cold? Was there dew settled on the ground? Were the sheep loud that night or were they eerily silent? Was it like one of those nights that make you feel like a blanket of darkness is wrapped around you and you feel oddly safe in the failing light? I bet it was just like that. I bet there was a sense of anticipation in the air, like the moment before a storm, when everything is charged with energy and pressure.
Was there a wind blowing through the hills and valleys? Or was it totally still? Many were probably caught off guard completely, but I bet there was one or two who felt or knew deep down something special was about to happen. I’ve known people like that, they seem to have a sixth sense for how time and history play themselves out. Maybe there was a dreamer there that night. Maybe not.
The glory of God cuts forth into reality that night. And what’s the reaction of the shepherds? Total fear. They are so afraid. That’s the common reaction, fear and trembling at the incredible glory of God. They are shocked. I wonder what it was like. The glory of God is an interesting concept. It’s woven through the books of the Bible like a beautiful mystery. It seems to be the presence of God at least partially unvarnished.
Jesus came not in full glory, but in human form and there was nothing about him physically that distinguished him from other people. So the world didn’t recognize him. They couldn’t understand it. For many who did, they feared it, and they tried to kill him. But for others they celebrated his coming and welcomed it.
So the glory of God is the presence of God. God’s glory breaks into the night. Was it bright? What was it like? I’m not certain. I’ve witnessed parts of God’s glory, I think many of us have, when we hear a beautiful sermon, or during worship, or watching a beautiful sunset, or looking up at the moon at night, or hugging our children or husband or wife, but this expression of God’s glory seems to be a moment where God relays his own beauty to us. We feel a fuller expression of his own love for us.
Yet to experience the glory of God is to come face to face with God’s holiness, meaning the full just nature of God. It’s the realization of God’s perfection, how perfect he is in every way, how wonderfully just his system is.
This is both beautiful, and terrifying, because at that moment we both realize the incredible beauty of God’s perfect just nature and we also realize the incredible depths of how low we fall short and how filthy we are in own selfish attitudes and selfish ways of living and our own debased desires that seem to totally rule over us. When we see that glory of God we realize our accountability, and we realize God’s love for us and we also realize our own utter guilt before Him.
Baked into the gospel message there is both good news and bad news. Just like our own lives, it’s all about how we respond to it.
The good news is of course that Jesus came to save us. But is that enough to understand? Well, the big question remains, what is Jesus saving us from? That’s the bad news. The bad news of the gospel is, that we’re dead in our sins and trespasses and justly deserving of the wrath of God.
For me reading the bible early on, it was a hard book to read, because it tells you the hard part about yourself.
Good News, Jesus’ offers grace. Bad news, you have to admit you’re a sinner, and also be willing to stop sinning by the power of the Holy Spirit, to repent, and embrace a new way.
I know for me when examining the life of Jesus, I didn’t want the gospel at first because I knew I would have to change my behavior. I would have to stop living for myself first. I would have to live a different life in light of what Jesus had done.
That was bad news at first to me. But the good news is, Jesus offers a perfect way, where we find our true destiny, and we come to find who we truly are, and what we were always meant to be.
But it’s all about how we respond. For me what seemed mostly bad news, is now today something I understand as almost entirely good news.
But if you boil it down to it, it’s information. The gospel is information we receive and then decide what we’re going to do with it. We read this map, these directions saying, you’re a sinner, you deserve hell, you will go there without Jesus, but here’s what you do, come to Jesus and receive Him as your savior, and you’ll be born again and set on a course for a new world, a new paradise free from sin.
I’m worried today that some of you might be looking at the gospel, the map about how to receive Jesus and saying oh yes I agree with that. But you haven’t actually made Jesus Christ your personal savior and given your heart and your life to Him. You’re just agreeing that you like the idea of it.
It’s time to dive into the middle of this and give your entire life to Jesus, to cry out to Jesus to be your savior. Do it now. If you haven’t done that, stop listening and just spend the next few minutes crying out to Jesus who is here, to be your personal savior. Period.
So today, we’re going to examine the shepherds and how they connect with the messiah. We’ll look at their actions and how we can live a similar way. They faced both the fearful reality of God’s glory and the reality of a joyous hope.
From Luke chapter 2:8-20 “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
Average every day people. A dark night, full of stars, out in the country. They did not expect that anything special was about to happen, yet it did.
God often surprises us too, with unexpected turns in our lives. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. But, we embrace whatever God allows. We know it’s not all from God, we know we have an enemy, and we live in a sinful world. So God allows free will.
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 that will cause great joy for all the people.
The first response is fear. When we encounter God, it cuts very deep into our heart. And the holiness, the purity of God, scares us. Because we know we don’t live up to it.
There are several realities that exist. There is the reality we live in, the Earth realm. There is the kingdom of the air, this is where demons and angels battle each other. And there is the third heaven, which is where God is, as well as our deceased loved ones in Christ. Another reality is the realm of hell, where the lost dwell.
We see the third heaven breaching the Earth realm, which is a rare event, but it does happen from time to time.
The fear, turns to joy, because good news is being announced.
"11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” -Luke 2:11-12
They don’t even know that the king of the Earth was being born that very night. But they are told to go find this event and witness it. And they’re told, there will be a sign for you to know it’s the right place.
Similarly, God will give us signs in our lives. Nudges from the Lord, so we know things are from Him, or from the enemy. But we must be very prayerful over the events in our lives, so we do not become deceived by the enemy.
If I’m uncertain, I pray. And God begins to make it clear what is the next right thing.
"13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” -Luke 2:13-14
Can you imagine how God’s angels have longed for this moment? They’ve been in heaven with God for thousands of years, since the fall of Adam and Eve, longing for the coming of the messiah. And now it’s finally happened. They rejoice, and the shepherds get to see this grand moment of millions of angels praising God.
Notice we’ve gotten two words so far proclaimed over the shepherds, peace and joy. That’s what we find in the birth of Jesus for us, both peace and joy.
"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 thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” -Luke 2:15
Do the shepherds say, wow, what a show, alright let’s go back to watching the sheep? No! They set off on a journey. They leave their flocks and go to find the child. Similarly, we must do more than just hear the gospel message is church, we must set off on the adventure of obeying it.
"16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger." -Luke 2:16
As a result, verse 16, they find the new born king of the world. And it was just as God told them, the sign was fulfilled.
They approached quietly and saw the baby in the manger, and they knew, this is the right one. It’s a sign that verifies that what they’ve seen was from God.
God will verify things for you as well. Sometimes he will simply ask you to trust Him, other times he will verify it for you, particularly if it’s a very challenging situation.
"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." -Luke 2:17-18
The anointed message goes out, and people believe it. The word the shepherds are given goes out in power. When God calls us to speak, we can trust that it will be anointed by Him. Do you understand what that word means, anointed?
If I read a book, or talk to someone about politics, or tell someone a news story, it’s just words. I may be passionate about it, but it’s just words.
But, when I speak the word of God, there is an anointing, which anointing is oil, an oil that makes it more powerful. You’ll notice this, God’s word is accompanied by power. And that’s why its hard to ignore.
Have you ever been told something by someone who had an anointing? And you knew you were meant to hear it from them. All of it was meant to happen. And there was power behind their words?
I’ll tell you this, I have things I like to write about and preach about, but, when I really am preaching or writing about what God wants me to share about, well, there is an anointing on it that is strong.
Why choose shepherds? Shepherds were not well thought of back in ancient middle eastern times. They were usually poor, uneducated and country people. Yet God chose them to speak his message, and it went out with power.
Don’t be surprised if God chooses you, even if you don’t expect that he ever would. It’s shocking that God chose me, yet he did.
Yet I think verse 19 is the most important of all here. It says…
"19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." -Luke 2:19
I want you to do the same every Sunday at church, and every time you read the word of God, and every time you see God do something in your life.
Treasure up these things. Store these moments as milestones of your life. You see me do that when I talk about my story, I’ve been sober 12 years. I remember that milestone. I got married 9 months ago, I treasure that milestone. I remember when my grandpa Bernie died, and my grandma Monica, and my grandma Pat and grandpa George. I keep those memories, even if they are hard memories. They are milestones.
And secondly, ponder these things in your heart. I hope you do that after the sermon on Sunday, and just think about, what is heaven like? I wonder if it’s like stars, or gold, or love or sweet smells. I wonder what it means for Jesus to love me. What does it mean for me to repent of sins in my life? Ponder things in your heart.
Lastly, verse 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.” -Luke 2:20
Did they stop being shepherds that night? No. They went back to their lives. But they had been changed. And their lives would never be the same. They saw the birth of Jesus. They saw the glory of God, and went back glorifying God.
Similarly, we’ve seen Jesus come into our lives and change us.
I remember I was renting out rooms at my moms old house when I was staying there and I talked to a guy, he was a bro. He worked, went to the bar and chased girls. He was a bro. But I talked to him about having a spiritual experience, looking for God in everyday events, praying about things, and almost instantly he began to see in that way, and he began to tell me that he was sensing these things, nudges, memories, a sense of destiny in his life. I don’t have any idea if he kept pursuing it. But we can experience that every day. Whether we see millions of angels praising God in the sky or not. We can experience life as a constant daily dialogue with God, and we can be led by Him, to do great things, to do the next right thing, if we’ll let Him lead us. It’s better that way, I promise you.
But recognize the power of information. Recognize that there is a war of information going on in our world. And people out there have a vested interest in manipulating your opinions and how you see things. Guard against that, praying to God for discernment, a vital tool, God’s gift of discernment, ask for that spiritual gift, to discern carefully the real truth of the times we’re in. Because there are so many webs of lies in this world.
But if you can fight past the distractions of this world, you’ll begin to experience God each day, and you’ll want to spread his gospel everywhere. Just like the shepherds who obeyed God by telling everyone they saw. They took the information they received, verified it, then took the message to others. That is the same job we have today.
Jesus said, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Applications:
A. The Glory of God is God’s Presence – you can experience it in your life through prayer, worship, and solitude
B. The Gospel is God’s Grace – but it also requires us to repent and stop sinning (by the Spirit’s power)
C. Surprises will come in Life – sometimes good ones, sometimes hard ones
D. Nudges from God – God will give us nudges and sometimes “signs” as well to guide us
E. Responding with Actions is key – God wants us to respond in how we actually live
F. God wants us to Testify to what He did for us – share your testimony of how God has changed your life
