Word of Salvation – Vol. 36 No. 47 – December 1992

The Greatest News Ever Told

Sermon by Rev. W. Wiersma on Luke 2:8-12

Reading: Matt. 1:18-25, Luke 2:8-15, 1Cor.1:20-31, Matt.2:1-11

Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Today we celebrate the most important event that has ever taken place on this earth.  We celebrate the birth of the person who has done more for mankind than any other person has done or ever will do.

We celebrate the arrival of the Messiah who transforms the lives of those who place themselves under his care and treatment.  We celebrate the birth of the man who has become the most powerful ruler the world will ever see.  Yes, I am talking about celebrating the birth of Jesus, the son of Mary.  And I want you to know why Jesus' birth is worth celebrating.  I want you to know who Jesus is, so that you will believe in him and enjoy all the good things he has come to be, and to do, for poor people in desperate need.

It makes me sad to think that so many people have been listening to and singing all kinds of Christmas carols – they have bought and received Christmas presents – but they do not believe in Jesus.  Jesus is just like Santa Claus to them, a fairy tale for children.  So many people think that they ought to be happy and kind at Christmas, but they do not know what they ought to be happy about.  It's as if there is a very important law which says, be happy at Christmas, but nobody knows the reason for that law anymore.  Nobody knows why we ought to be happy or what there is to be happy about.

That's why on this Christmas morning I want to remind you of the message which the angel brought to the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem.  God sent that angel to make sure that the shepherds and all the people of Israel, and we too, would know what happened in Bethlehem when Mary gave birth to Jesus.

I think God also wanted to show us how happy the angels in heaven are with what Jesus came to do.

Didn't the Lord Jesus himself once say that there is great joy in heaven when one sinner repents?  The angels praised God at the thought of Jesus doing everything necessary to bring many, many sinners to repentance and back to God.

But I am running ahead of myself.  I was going to say, isn't it amazing that the angels came to bring the great news of Jesus' birth to poor simple shepherds?

It was not to the teachers of the law and religion that the angel told the great news.  It seems that they would have been the last to believe the angel's message, judging by the way they treated Jesus when he grew up.

No, it was shepherds who were the first to hear the greatest news ever heard on this earth - the shepherds were the first to see the wonderful baby of Mary.  It seems that these shepherds were actually expecting the Saviour whom God had promised through his prophets long ago.  They believed God's word and expected God to do something.  And when the angel told these simple workmen that the promised Saviour had come, they believed it and at once went to see him.

And what did they see?  What did they see when they went to look for Jesus, of whom the angel said, “He is Saviour, Christ the Lord.”  The shepherds saw 'A baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.'  That was the sign they were to look for, said the angel.  That's what the shepherds found and saw.  A baby in the poorest of circumstances.  A baby in rags.  Far away from the home of his parents.  Far away from the cot which father Joseph had made for him.  Jesus was lying in an animal feeding box, in a stable where his mother had to sleep on the floor.

No, Jesus did not look much like a Messiah, or a prince or the Lord.  He looked so ordinary, as small and helpless as any other baby.  You couldn't possibly see that he was God.  So how could the shepherds be sure that this was the child the angels said such great things about?  The only thing they had to go by was that they found Jesus just as the angel had said they would, wrapped in strips of old material and lying in a feeding trough in a stable.  That was the sign.  That was their certainty.

What a place for the Son of God to come to.  But that was part of his mission - to become poor.  To put up with the poverty and suffering which so many people on this earth have to put up with and suffer.  The Saviour had to become a human being in every way to experience all the things we experience, have all the feelings and hurts that we feel.  He had to experience weakness, uncertainty, misunderstanding, disappointment, loneliness, hatred and rejection.  He became like us in every way, except for only one thing, sin.  He had to experience all the pain and horror brought about by sins of people in this world.  He would even have to die.

And as he lived his life on this earth many would not have seen any more in Jesus than just an ordinary man.  He was so much one of us.

But the angel of God said to the shepherds: Today, in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you.  He is Christ, the Lord.  A messenger from God tells shepherds who this little baby really is.  A descendant of David – the king of David's line – whose kingdom will be forever and ever.  Jesus is the Saviour-king who would rescue God's people from their enemies.

And Jesus came and showed us who those enemies are.  They are not people.  Our greatest enemies are not other people.  Our real enemies are the thoughts and desires of our own heart.  We are all our own worst enemies.  You know that expression, don't you?  We say of someone who is always complaining of how hard he is done by, or how hard she is done by, we say that such a person is his or her own worst enemy.  They make life difficult for themselves while they think the problem is caused by someone else.

And I say to you this morning, as those who need the Saviour, we are all our own worst enemies.  You are your own worst enemy.  And Jesus has come to save us from that enemy.  Jesus has come to save us from ourselves, from our sins, from our sinful and destructive attitudes, from our false notions, ideas and from our pride, Jesus has come to save us.  By his suffering he will show what evil we are capable of.  What hatred and deceit lurks in our hearts.  And by his death he will bring us to our knees.

He is the Saviour.

Christ the Lord.

Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed of God whom all men are called to honour and obey.  The one of whom God said:
            I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.
            Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
            Be warned, O rulers of the earth.
            Serve the Lord with fear,
            With trembling kiss his feet,
            Or he will be angry
            And you will perish in the way.  (Ps.2:6,10,11)

Yes, marvellous things are said of Jesus.
But the shepherds saw only a baby.  A poor baby at that.

We are 2000 years further down history's track.  We have the Gospels.  We know of Jesus' death, his resurrection and ascension.  We have the story of the Acts of the Apostles and the book of the Revelation given to John.  But in a sense we are where the shepherds were.  We too do not see the glory of Jesus the Messiah, the Lord.  And as somebody said, we would all be terribly surprised if we saw what we believed.  And perhaps we would be like the shepherds, terribly frightened, if we saw what the Bible says about Jesus.  But the angel says: Fear not, for it is good news that I bring you.  For this glorious Jesus is Saviour.  And God has sent him not to condemn you, as you know you deserve, but that you might have eternal life.

The angel told the greatest news that was ever told.  And you have now heard it.  The shepherds believed it and went to Jesus.  No, I know you cannot go to Bethlehem.  We cannot go to that stable and see Jesus as a baby.  Even if we all flew over there this morning.  He would not be there in Bethlehem.  For the baby grew up to be a man, and went back to his Father in heaven.  The only way we can go to Jesus now is in faith and by prayer.  But I do want to ask you, do you believe the news like the shepherds did?  Will you go to Jesus and worship him today?  If you believe the angel then you are already there, in the presence of Jesus.  For that is what we are here for, isn't it?  To worship Jesus, our Saviour and our God.  That's what we come here for every Sunday.  To meet with Jesus and to say 'thank you God' for giving the greatest gift that was ever given.  And for that gift and with that gift we are happy, aren't we?  Isn't that what we are celebrating today?

AMEN