A Christmas "What-if"

I am including here a sermon/devotion that I shared for our Christmas Eve service. It asks, and gives a potential answer to the question of the shepherds the night Jesus was born.

Have you ever considered that the largest display of angels demonstrated in preparation for Jesus' birth was to a group of shepherds?

Here is the devotion with some added notes...


I hope you are open for an abnormal Christmas Eve devotion. Because I think we need some abnormal.

If you don't care for it, it is on me and please understand, I did not ask anyone ahead of time for permission.

If you do appreciate the thoughts this evening, then give the credit to God, and The staff here because they asked me to share it.

I am challenging you to change your Christmas greeting. "Merry Christmas" is really a shortened version of "Have a Merry Christmas" and Happy Holidays doesn't really count.

I challenge you to change it. It is kind of like when someone says how are you? Next time that happens, stop and actually tell them, and see what happens. It will freak them out.
This year try, "have an abnormal Christmas." And see what happens.

We have become too comfortable with a story that many of us have heard all our lives and picture in our minds from Christmas plays, cartoon specials, and Christmas songs.
This thought came to mind when my oldest son, back from college, asked when we were going to have a "normal" Christmas and we started to question what is normal. You see Christmas has become about what media and the songs tell us. This is not a “rant” on what Christmas has become; it is a challenge to our view of it all.

This Christmas we are getting set to pack-up our house, last Christmas I was in Afghanistan, the Christmas before that we were at Walter Reed delivering Christmas cards, the Christmas before that we were in Boise, ID with me getting set to head to South Carolina.
But the Christmas songs would have you believe that Christmas is about family coming together, eating far too much food, and one even suggests telling “scary ghost-stories.” I’m not sure about that one.

I’m not against family coming together of course,…

But it is only in the classic Christmas CAROLEs that we are reminded of Christ, and the gift He is, and the gift He desires.

When I was growing up we still did Christmas plays in public school. We watched a Charlie Brown Christmas every year, and you can almost picture the setting with all of the players and surroundings. But in the midst of all of it, I wonder if we have missed something.

Have you ever wondered about the shepherds in the story.

I would like for us to look at a little bit of history, and ask a “what-if”.

We may be missing a little bit of the story. There is significance to the presence of the angels, and why they came in mass to the shepherds.

--Appearances of the angels concerning the birth of Christ.
JOSEPH: Matt 1:18 -- The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
    20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins."
ZECHARIAH: Luke 1:8 -- When his division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 it happened that he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10 At the hour of incense the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. 11 An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and overcome with fear.
MARY: Luke 1:26 -- In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
SHEPHERDS: Luke 2:8 -- In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  10 But the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. 12 This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger."
    13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!
    15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."

Why the shepherds?

As is highlighted here, http://www.jesus.org/birth-of-jesus/shepherds-and-angels/why-did-the-angels-announce-jesuss-birth-to-shepherds.html these were very likely not your ordinary shepherds. According to other research that has been done, these were possibly shepherds who were tending to the temple flocks. This would be the sheep who were intended for the temple sacrifices. When the angel encourages these men to go and see the Child, he in essence is encouraging them to go and inspect the Lamb of God in the same way that they are tasked with inspecting the lambs for sacrifice.

It was a VERY ABNORMAL NIGHT. The message of the angels concluded with the clear message that this is a gift of God to those He favors. His favor rests on those who have given themselves to Christ, and accepted that gift.

Christ is truly the Lamb whose sacrifice covers our sins forever, if we know Him. Do not let Him stay as a baby in a manger. Recognize Him as the Savior and Lord of all. Do you know Him truly?