Today, scripture reading is Luke chapter 2 verses 8 through 21. Amen. And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, fear not for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in smiling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly, there was an angel, a multitude of heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the things that had been told to them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered what the shepherds had told them, but Mary treaded up all these things pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for they all had heard and had seen as it had been told to them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading in the hearing of his words. Well, in our world, 24-hour news cycle information travels fast. News and social media outlets always are always clamoring to be the first to break the story. They strive to be the ones who get the inside information. They want their news vehicle to get the exclusive interview because of the dog eat dog nature of our news media. It has led many reporters to shortcut the process of information gathering. Vetting and establishing credible, the credibility of sources is sometimes thrown out the window in the name of being the first to report a breaking news. Sadly, this practice has led to fake news stories and even news media outlets having to correct misinformation that gets spread based upon their negligence. The credibility of your source witnesses is crucial to the process of reporting significant news. Now, I think it goes without saying that the news cycle in ancient Palestine was a little different than our news cycle today. But while there are no doubt differences, what remains the same is the importance of credible source witnesses with no cameras and no quick way to take notes, the credibility and the respect of the footies of your witnesses was essential, which makes our account of the birth announcement of Jesus, all the more remarkable. See, the shepherds who happen to be some of the prominent characters in our account were not considered to be of the upper class in Israel. It was not a profession that people aspired to. It was a difficult and dirty work and it required a lot of time. Shepherds were not people you went to if you were looking to get your message out. Maybe they weren't the first you would tap if you were looking to find a witness that people would respect. But here they were on the mountainside in the middle of the night about to be entrusted with the greatest news, the world has ever heard. After the intro from Pastor Tony last week regarding the people we will encounter in Luke's Gospel, we shouldn't be surprised. The lowly marginalized shepherds you do understand only show up in Luke's Gospel. The other synoptic mark makes no mention of the shepherds and neither does Matthew. This is in keeping with Luke's M.O. highlighting the least likely. Those others would look over. Shepherds, however, in Luke's account would be part of this extraordinary event in history. So Luke goes, I imagine, as he is putting together his book, his Gospel about the life of Jesus. He goes to these unlikely source witnesses and like a good historian and researcher, Luke must have asked the shepherds a bunch of questions to help him paint a picture of what took place that evening. I imagine two of the questions he would have asked them about that evening was shepherds. Tell me, what did you hear and what did you see? What did you hear and what did you see? And boy, did they have a story to tell? What did they hear? What did they hear? Luke and recounting the testimony of the shepherds says that while they were out on the hillside tending to the sheep, which was you do understand a common practice during this time of year. There were perhaps lambs being born and they would be there to tend to the lambs throughout the evening, probably trading off right one took a nap and slept. They'll have the other took kept watch over the sheep and then they would switch off as they watched protecting the sheep, protecting them from danger. But they're ordinary night. This is an ordinary night. But this ordinary night was about to get interrupted by an extraordinary event. Out of nowhere, the text says suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared to them. Just like God had sent an angel to Mary and to Joseph and to Zechariah, he sent an angel to the shepherds equipped with a message. But different than all the other encounters with angels thus far when this angel appeared, the glory of the Lord accompanied him. And it shone all around the angels and Luke says that they were immediately struck with fear. Imagine if you were on the hillside, you would be scared too. If you saw an angel and the glory of the Lord appeared, you would have been scared too. But perhaps not because of the angel. Because I want you to notice something, I don't think it was just the presence of the angel that caused them to fear. Listen, angels aren't by nature necessarily beings that should strike fear in us. Remember in Acts 8, an angel appeared to fill up and told him to go down to Jerusalem. But when we hear that account, we don't see fill up, cowering and fear of this angel. Or then later in Acts, in Acts 12, an angel of the Lord breaks Peter out of prison and there is nothing in that account that says Peter was afraid and fell down in fear of his life. Also, if this was supposed to be the normal response to angels when we encounter them, then we wouldn't have what we read in Hebrews 13 and two which says, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. Listen brothers and sisters, it wasn't just the angel who struck fear in the shepherd's kind of catching them off. It was the docks that surrounded them, the glory of the Lord enveloped them. They were surrounded by the glory of the Lord and it was the weight of the presence and holiness of God that struck fear in them.
The glory of the Lord says, shown all around them. You do understand that this is the glory that was revealed to Adam and Eve in the garden when God came walking in the cool of the day in the garden of Eden after they had sinned and they were afraid Adam and Eve were. This is the same glory that struck fear in the people of God as they stood on the banks of Mount Sinai, the glory of the Lord and think about what Peter and James and John experienced on the Mount of Transfiguration as Jesus unveiled his glory before them. The glory of the Lord enveloped them. That is the glory that they were experiencing that night. Brothers and sisters, the significance of the glory shining all around them was to communicate that this was no ordinary announcement. When we read about the glory of the Lord accompanying His messengers in the scriptures, it means God is in a sense amplifying the message with His divine presence. God Himself is speaking a divine edict. The message the angel was bringing to them was not just a message to the shepherds but it would be a message with cosmic ramifications.
What was the message they were told by the angel? It was a message to them and it was a message that was to be proclaimed to the world. And here was the message. Fear not, Jesus is here. Fear not, Jesus is here. Brothers and sisters, I don't know if there is a more comforting message in all of the Bible for the people of God to hear. Whether they realized it or not, this news was going to comfort them in the current state of the stress. They were afraid because it caught them off guard. But like I said, I think they were also afraid because the glory of the Lord was shown around them and the holiness and the weightiness of God's presence was wearing them out because you do understand. When you are confronted with the glory of the Lord, you realize just how finite you are. You are less exposed and a chewly aware that God is holy and I am not like Isaiah 6 when he caught a glimpse of the glory of the Lord. He did in heaven. He says in Isaiah 6 and 5, war with me for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. My eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, when Moses was confronted by the glory of the Lord in Exodus 34 and he had to hide in the rock because he couldn't stand the glory. Or Peter in the boat hauling in a catch so big it was breaking his net and he recognized he was in the presence of glory and he declared the part for me for I am a sinner. That was the shepherds. That was the shepherds. They were cowering in fear at the presence of the angel and at the glory of the Lord. They were confronted with a heavenly being and were surrounded by God Almighty as they carried coward in fear, fearful because they had been left exposed before the holiness of God. Fearing that perhaps the God Almighty would take them out. They get a message. What we learned last week, God often sends his messengers to bring a word of comfort. That's the word that they would get. That is you do understand what good news does. It comforts you. When someone says I have bad news and good news, there is hope that after they give you the bad news you will be comforted by the good news that they give you. So the angel sees the shepherds cowering in fear and he says to the shepherds, fear not for I bring you good news. Fear not I bring you good news. Good news that is going to produce in you joy. It's not going to produce fear. Good news that is going to produce in you. Great joy. Good news is Jesus is here. But why is that good news? Why is that good news? Because Jesus is here means God is here. That's what it means. It means God is here. That is what the Bible tells us in Isaiah 7 and 14. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign, behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emanuel, which is what? God with us. God with us. That is what the angel told the shepherds. A child has been born in Bethlehem, but this is not just any child that is born. This was the long promise Messiah has been born in Bethlehem. God had promised his people that he was coming to make things right. The world was broken and he was coming a day when he would extend his righteous arm of salvation on behalf of his people and the shepherds is declaring that time has come. It's here. He is here. God has come down. He is now with us. What are you saying? He is here. Everything is going to be all right. Everything is going to be all right. I wish we would hear the comfort of that truth this morning. Everything is going to be all right. The struggle with anxiety and fear, brothers and sisters, everything is going to be all right. Not because I say so, but because the eternal son of God left heaven and entered into this world. Brothers and sisters, that means everything is going to be okay. The one who spoke the world into existence who created it has entered into the world to fix it. We need not fear anymore. Everything is going to be all right. What comfort? What comfort? What peace that brings? What peace that brings? The presence of Jesus, God with us, it signifies peace. Isaiah 9 and 6 for unto us a child is born. To us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful. The presence of Jesus meant that there was now no reason to fear. The angels were cowering in fear, but they told him fear not. I have got good news. Jesus was coming to bring peace between God and man. Where there was once enmity, Jesus was bringing harmony. Where there was once guilt and shame, Jesus was coming to take it away. Where there was once fear and judgment against sin, Jesus came to bring mercy. This was good news. Jesus was here. Jesus being here meant that God is here. Good news and He came bringing peace. But He also came bringing salvation. Jesus is here, means salvation is here. Salvation is here. You do understand peace is good and all, but peace just means the warfare is ended. The enmity and strife is gone. But salvation, salvation means so much more. Salvation means reconciliation. Jesus is here not just to end the warfare and strife. He has shown up to rescue us, redeem us and to take us home. Take us home. Salvation is here because Jesus is here. That is what the angel told Joseph in Matthew 1 and 21. She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. He will save them from their sins. And Peter then would later explain further what it meant for Jesus to save his people from their sins. First Peter 3.18 for Christ also suffered for sins. The righteous for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God. Reconciliation, not just peace but salvation. Salvation was here because that was God's plan from the beginning. To reconcile himself to those he created. And so when the angel appeared to the shepherds with this good news of great joy, he just confirmed what had long been promised. Luke 2.11 for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, a savior who was Christ the Lord. Salvation was here. Salvation is here. Our rescue, our deemer had come to save his people from their sin. Oh, that was you do understand good news, good news, the angel came to share. Jesus was here. He was here bringing peace and salvation for all people, people from every tribe and tongue could now trust in Jesus enabling them to have not just peace with God but even more amazing the ability to live with him forever. That is good news, that produces great joy, great joy, good news, a child, savior born in Bethlehem, that good news produces great joy. Listen, the birth of a child is always wonderful news isn't it? I love getting texts and calls from friends and family and church members when their babies finally arrive. What a blessing, praise God from whom all blessings, so what joy it brings. The anticipation after months of expecting hoping and finally waiting finally finally they are here by the system. If there is joy and celebration of the news at the news of a newborn after waiting nine months, how much more the joy and celebration of the news of the birth of the one who had been promised for centuries. God's people had been waiting and now the weight was over. Jesus was here. It was time to rejoice and celebrate. It was time to throw a party, it was time to sing before the people could celebrate. Oh, heaven was about to show out. As the shepherds were getting this news, all of the sudden it wasn't just one angel but they looked around and the whole mountain side was filled with a choir of angels and they began to sing glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. They were singing it and they were shouting it. Brothers and sisters, this was no ordinary night. All of history you do understand. They had been, whether they realized it or not, had been waiting for this very moment longing for it to come. The angels knew how significant the birth of Jesus was. That's why heaven was rejoicing. That is why the mountain side was filled with angels declaring the glory of God his plan, his power, his purposes were being fulfilled. Oh, they were singing. They were singing praise the Lord. They were singing. Oh, they were singing shout to the Lord all the earth. They were saying, oh, oh, what a happy day. Oh, what a day. What a happy day. Oh, they were singing. They were singing Gloria in Excelsisdale. That's what they were singing. Luke asked the shepherd again, hey, what did you guys hear? And I could imagine they said, oh, by the Luke, we heard a choir of angels singing and we had never heard anything more beautiful. It was sweet to our ears. Oh, it was a holy night. It was a glorious night. Oh, and then brother Luke asked, what did you guys, what did you guys do then? Oh, because of what we heard. Oh, we had to go and see it for ourselves. Oh, we had to go and see them. Brother Luke says, well then tell me, tell me what did you see, shepherd. Tell me, what did you see? And they began to testify to what they saw that evening. They went with haste to Bethlehem just as the angel said, they, they, they found Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus. They saw Jesus. It was all, it was all true. It was all true. The Savior had been born just as the scriptures foretold and just as the angels had said, I'm not sure exactly what the shepherd declared upon seeing Jesus but perhaps it sounded something like the song we sing often. It was explained in Job 42.5 Lord, my ears have heard of you but now my eyes have seen your worthy, your worthy, your worthy to be praised. It was all true. The Savior, the long promise Messiah had been born in Bethlehem and they could not help keep, but keep, they can help keep the new, but, but spread it. They couldn't keep it to themselves. They had to spread it. And so they began to tell and and and and all that they had heard and seen that night, just like the woman up at the well in John four, right? Remember so the woman left Jesus encounters the woman at the well and he tells her everything about her life. Now he's the Messiah and she says in John 428, so the woman left her jar and went away and the town into the town and said to the people, come, come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? She encountered Jesus. She heard him and saw him and she had to tell others the message and implore them to come and see him too. That's what the Shepherds did and look at what they said, the people said in the town when they themselves encountered Jesus, John 4 and 42. They said to the woman, it is no longer because of what you said that we believe for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this is indeed the savior of the world. Oh, it's one thing. It's one thing to hear about the message of Jesus the Savior. It's another thing to hear him. Excuse me to see him to see him. It's another thing to see him. Lots of people hear about Jesus but few see him. I'm not just talking about seeing him physically. I'm talking about seeing him spiritually, seeing him with the eyes of faith, seeing and fully grasping that the baby born in Bethlehem was not just any old baby but he was the Savior of the world but not just the Savior of the world, your Savior, your Savior. You need spiritual eyes to see that Jesus is the Savior. Have you seen him? Ask the question, have you seen him? Oh, I know you have heard about him because I just told you about him but the question is have you seen him? Can you say I've heard about him but now my eyes have seen the good news of great joy is that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He was born in Bethlehem to save you from your sins, to establish peace between you and God, the God you offended, to cover your guilt and your shame. This is the good news of great joy for you and for me. Oh, what we do is we respond to not only hearing Jesus but seeing Jesus like the shepherds did. Look at Luke 2 and 20 and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told to them. They heard the angel saying they saw Jesus and they rejoiced because Jesus was here and everything was going to be alright. God had come to fix his broken world. They rejoiced as Isaiah said they would when he prophesied in Isaiah 9, 2 and 3. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has light shown you have multiplied the nations you have increased its joy. They rejoiced before you as with joy at the harvest as they are glad when they divide the spoil. Now these shepherds encountered the angel but more importantly they encountered the baby Jesus who changed their lives forever. And they were just lowly shepherds. The first ones entrusted with the good news and you know what they did. They went and told it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere that Jesus Christ is born. All brothers and sisters Jesus is here. Have you heard? He's here. But more importantly, have you seen him? Have you seen him?