Text:  Luke 2: 8-14

Sometimes we don’t think of it till later.  At first, it might not occur to us.  My dad wasn’t big on saying I love you.  In fact, the only time I can remember is right before he died.  My dad showed you his love.  He did stuff.  He got down on the cold garage floor and fixed your car in the middle of winter.  On one occasion, the brakes on my car all but failed.  I called my dad.  He made me take his car and drove mine home through New York city in the middle of the night.  It was ok for him to take that risk, but not me.  I didn’t really think about it at the time, but now that my dad is gone, I do.   In those things, his love was there, if only I was paying attention.

This is such a time.  We come together to celebrate Christmas.  For some of us it’s the latest in a long line of Christmas celebrations. Some in big churches, others small like ours.  But if God’s Word is part of your celebration, then there is always this opportunity no matter what is going on in your life.  For you to step back and know.

How God Must Love You!
I.  Look what He has done
II.  See the sign he gives
III.  Join the song of heaven

            There are so many places we could look on this wonderful day.  So many things to ponder as Mary did.  So take the time this season.  Go off by yourself away from your cell phone and computer.  Read through the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel.  You’ll be blessed.

But tonight I’d like us to join the shepherds of Bethlehem out in those fields.  Bethlehem was just miles away from the temple in Jerusalem. Perhaps these were the shepherds that kept the lambs for the annual Passover sacrifice.  If they were, how amazing that would be.  How amazing that the news of another Lamb, a lamb whose life would one day be given for us all, should come to these men who kept the Passover lambs.

Yet if they were, it didn’t make their job any easier or their working conditions any better.  They still lived out in the fields to make sure their sheep didn’t become dinner for some predator.  But ours is the God who brings down the proud and lifts up the humble.

It probably seemed like just another night.  Shepherds huddled around a fire trying to keep warm.  Maybe joking around to deal with the boredom.  You sleep, I’ll watch.  An ordinary night that suddenly became so much more.  ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

In the Greek , it says they feared a great fear.  And certainly they were startled and frightened by the sudden display of God’s glory.  But there is something more to their fear. Maybe I can explain it this way.  I attended a US military academy.  Unless you’ve lived under such a system, it’s hard to imagine.  The first year is like living under a microscope with the strictest of standards.  Well there was this upperclassmen. Just his presence made you want to hide.  You had this fear he was going to find something wrong.

This night a holy angel of God came among the shepherds- sinners like you and me.  And for one terrible moment his presence made these men fearfully aware.  Aware of what?  A sad truth we try to excuse or ignore.  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

How welcome then and appropriate the angel’s first words.  Do not be afraid.  This glory is not about a fearful end to your life.  Instead the angel says:  Behold.  We might say.  Pay attention now.  This is big.  I bring you good news of great joy.  But not just for you shepherds.  Not just for you people sitting here today.  This is for all. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  God’s people had waited a long time for that Today.  In a Garden called Eden that waiting began as two people yearning for hope heard a promise from God.  And all through the ages God kept pointing his people to that day.  And now the angel told them.  Their waiting was over-today.

In the town of David.  Every person raised in a Jewish home, knew where it would happen. In the town where King David was raised.  From  little Bethlehem would come a king from the line of King David-a king like no other.

A Savior.  Some people get offended  when you mention a Savior.  I don’t need to be saved!  You don’t.  You die, don’t you?  Can you save yourself from that?  Can you save yourself from the judgment we deserve?

Do you see why this is such good news?  This Child is the One God sent to save, to rescue us dying sinners and give us hope. A Savior has been born to you.  And we know what it would take.  Nails, spear shall pierce him through the cross he’ll bear for me for you.  How God must love you! 

For what Child is this?  He is Christ the Lord.  This Child born for you in Bethlehem is God in human flesh.  He is God become your brother to do for you what you could not do for yourself.  How God must love you!  Look what he has done.  

And see the sign he gives.  Think of these shepherds.  The angel has just told them this awesome news.  At long last, today, today, a Savior, God’s anointed king who is the Lord.

This will be a sign for you… Their ears perk up like the lambs they keep.  You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Huh?   a baby wrapped  in rags and lying in a feeding trough for animals. What kind of sign is that?  It’s hardly what they might have expected for so great a Child.

            But look again.  This sign tells us something so special about God’s love.  Think about it.  Years ago, after Bible class an elderly man stood up.  When he did, he suffered a humiliating accident on the carpet where he stood.  But then something happened.  Without hesitation another man got down on his hands and knees and cleaned up that disgusting mess.

Now think of the sign God gave.  It did more than tell these shepherds that’s the right baby.  To see him wrapped in rags and lying in that manger told them something.  This is the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Through him all things were made.  And yet he has stooped down all this way for you. To save you.  To make you God’s child.   How God must love you.

And here I want you think about something.  This is a time for gifts.  Hopefully not so many that you get slammed by next month’s credit card bills.  Well one thing I have noticed over the years is that some folks struggle, not with giving. They are very generous.  No they struggle with receiving.   To give them a gift, makes them feel obligated that they somehow have to repay you. But that’s not what a gift is all about. It’s not meant to be repaid.

It’s the same here.  What God has given us in Jesus is not something we can repay to God.  So don’t try.  Don’t put that burden on yourself.  It will steal your joy.  No this is a gift to be celebrated and enjoyed.  Oh yes, we can show our appreciation by the way we live.  By loving God and those around us.  But that comes naturally from a grateful heart – a heart that can look into that manger and say- How God must love me.

But we can’t repay God.  The only thing we can do is thank him and praise him.  And here the angels sure had the right idea.    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.”

Years from then this child now grown would come and stand among his disciples.  He was dead and now he stood there alive before them.  What were the first words of him who conquered our sin and death?  Peace be with you!  The same peace the angels sang about that night.  The same peace that is yours in the Child born to Mary.  How God must love you!  There is only one thing left for us to do. What we will do one day in pure joy.   Join the song of heaven.  Amen.