Sabbath 12/19/15 Daytona SDB Church Pastor Wray sermon “The Shepherd’s Joy About Jesus” Luke 2:8-20
Most people identify with the shepherds seeing and being joyful about baby Jesus’ birth. The Christmas story is very familiar to most of us and we sentimentalize it. We get stressed about the shopping and all else we have to do during Christmas. Many forget about remembering the birth of Jesus. The Son of God being born gets forgotten or overlooked. The shepherds were excited and joyful of the news of a Savior being born. God chose to give the birth announcement to shepherds out in the fields.
Shepherding used to be a noble profession in the Old Testament of the Bible. Abraham, David and others were shepherds. In the New Testament shepherding had lost its luster and nobility. It was now a lowly profession to be a shepherd. We are Jesus’ sheep and He is our shepherd. God entrusted the message of Jesus’ birth to a bunch of smelly, lowly, despised shepherds. God always reaches out to the lowly, outcast people. Once his son Jesus got grown, He preached and reached out to the lowly, poor people too. He chose the lowly, despised people of the world so no one could boast. The Lord comes to the neglected, lowly people to show His Power. The shepherds hearing the good news first, shows that God has a message for sinners like us. The announcement of Jesus’ birth went out to a bunch of sinners and outcasts.
*** About the Shepherds:
Most people identify with the shepherds seeing and being joyful about baby Jesus’ birth. The Christmas story is very familiar to most of us and we sentimentalize it. We get stressed about the shopping and all else we have to do during Christmas. Many forget about remembering the birth of Jesus. The Son of God being born gets forgotten or overlooked. The shepherds were excited and joyful of the news of a Savior being born. God chose to give the birth announcement to shepherds out in the fields.
Shepherding used to be a noble profession in the Old Testament of the Bible. Abraham, David and others were shepherds. In the New Testament shepherding had lost its luster and nobility. It was now a lowly profession to be a shepherd. We are Jesus’ sheep and He is our shepherd. God entrusted the message of Jesus’ birth to a bunch of smelly, lowly, despised shepherds. God always reaches out to the lowly, outcast people. Once his son Jesus got grown, He preached and reached out to the lowly, poor people too. He chose the lowly, despised people of the world so no one could boast. The Lord comes to the neglected, lowly people to show His Power. The shepherds hearing the good news first, shows that God has a message for sinners like us. The announcement of Jesus’ birth went out to a bunch of sinners and outcasts.
*** About the Shepherds:
- Attentive to their jobs:
They were committed to their careers and never left their work. They were working 1st shift, 2nd shift and 3rd shifts with the sheep, watching over them. This is like Jesus, He is attentive to his job. He is looking after us 24/7 and He meets us right where we are. We too should be attentive to our jobs and what God has called us to do. We should work and do our jobs like we are working for God and not for men.
- Awed by the Sights they Saw:
The angels of the Lord appeared to them and they were awed. God meets us where we are and brings us to our knees. We should be awed by the love and power of God in our lives. The shepherds at first were scared then they stood in awe at the sight of angels. They also stood in awe at the sight of baby Jesus. We should stand in awe and bow to the Lord.
- Accepted-Feel Accepted by the Lord:
The shepherds felt accepted by the good news. The good news of acceptance and hope. The Lord had good news of great joy. God sent them a Savior who would lead them to salvation and great joy. The message is not for a few but for all people-the whole world! It must be deeply personal to each one of us. This is for you and me individually. The host of angels said it was good news for them. After they accepted it as the word of God, the shepherds went to go see the baby Jesus. We must accept the message of Jesus and let it be active in our lives.
4. Acted - Act on the Message: The shepherds acted on the message. They hurried off to find Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. They usually moved slowly thru the pastures. These shepherds hurried to find Jesus. The Bible is clear that acceptance must lead to action! Faith without works is dead! The shepherds moved and went out and saw baby Jesus. Then after they saw Jesus, they went out and told everybody about what they had heard and seen. They saw a baby lying in a manger full of hay. The shepherds published the whole matter of a Savior being born to all they could tell it to. They left and shared. We must share what we know about Jesus. The shepherds didn’t hang around the manger and pull up a chair. They hurried out to tell about Jesus! They spread the word of what had been told them about this child. We are here today because the shepherds could not be quiet!
5. Returned to their Same Place: We are to rejoice about Jesus right where we are. We are to go back to where we live or work and rejoice and be happy that we have Jesus. After Christmas when we go back to work, we should keep the Joy of Jesus with us. Praise God all the time for Jesus and all we have seen and heard. We need to be like the shepherds who were changed forever by what they saw. The shepherds personalized the good news. We must personalize the Christmas story too. It must become our story. Jesus must be our Savior, our Lord and He was born for each of us.
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