“The Wise Men’s Worship” – Matt. 2:1-12

You might find it interesting to know that when Queen Elizabeth first started her reign as queen, she often would drive her car out to the country by herself to find a little peace and to help her think. She obviously can’t do that anymore by herself, although she does still drive a little bit, but back then it wasn’t uncommon for her to be gone several hours just driving around and clearing her head.

The story goes that her car began to overheat one day out in the middle of nowhere, so she pulled over, turned the car off and just sat there to let it cool for a few minutes. As she sat there, she was startled by a little boy peering in the window. He lived in a house nearby and asked her what she was doing. She told him of her problem and he asked her if she wanted to come to his house to wait.

The boy’s house was just a short walk so she went with him. The boy, having no idea who the lady was, told her to wait at the door while he told his parents. He went in and announced that some woman wanted to come in. His mother was busy fixing dinner and the father was reading the paper. “Who is it?” asked the mom.

The little boy goes to the door and asked the queen her name. “Elizabeth…Queen of England” she said. When the little boy told his parents what she said, they of course, didn’t believe him. “Oh, good grief, I don’t have time for the Queen right now. Much too busy” said the mom. “I don’t even like that old hag! Can’t stand her. Tell her to go away, Billy” said the father.

So, the little boy goes back to the porch where the Queen of England stood and told her she couldn’t come in, but he told her that she could sit on the porch if she liked. The queen understood what was going on and just sat down and started playing marbles with the little boy, right there on the porch while her car cooled off.

They played for a few minutes and the queen admired the boy’s main marble called an aggie. She mentioned how pretty it was with all its bright colors and so when the queen started to leave, the boy gave her his favorite marble, the aggie, and thanked her for playing with him and the queen drove off.

A couple of weeks later a big car pulled into the driveway of the boy’s house and a well-dressed man knocked on the door and delivered a package addressed to the little boy. When he opened it, he found a velvet drawstring pouch with a bunch of marbles in it – each one with the royal crest of the Queen etched in it and the main, bigger marble, the aggie, had etched in it, “To William, From Queen Elizabeth.”

That little boy may not have understood who was playing marbles with him that day or the power she had but he believed her, accepted her and gave her a heartfelt gift and because he did, he received a unique and priceless gift in return. Now, if you turn to the book of Matthew, chapter two, you will, believe it or not, see a similar story.

You see, through all of time and even today, there have always been some people who are the enemies of God and some people accept God. Some are hostile to Him. Some don’t believe. Some just ignore Him. But some, while they don’t understand everything, just accept and believe. Just like little Billy didn’t completely understand who the Queen was but believed and accepted her while at the same time, his mom and dad were just a few feet away and responded completely different.

It’s the same with people today and our Savior, Jesus. There have always been some who believe, some hate and some ignore. Let’s see the evidence of that in scripture today and let’s see what it looks like and what we should do when we accept Him. As we read, look for the different reactions of the three groups of people: the Magi, the priests and King Herod.

Matthew 2:1-12 says, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.  4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.  5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Daniel was so excited he just had to tell his parents, “I learned in Sunday School today all about the very first Christmas. There wasn't a Santa Claus way back then, so these three guys on camels had to deliver all the toys.  And Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer with his nose so bright wasn't there yet, so they had to have this big light in the sky to find their way around.”

Now, I’ll be honest. I don’t know much more than Daniel does when it comes to this story. We just aren’t told a whole lot. We don’t get many details and that’s okay because as I have said before, if it’s not in there, then we don’t need to know. But we would like to know more about the Wise Men. Who were they? What star did they see? Where did they come from and especially, how did they know about Jesus and what did they know about Jesus?

We don’t know how many there were or what they rode or what they looked like. They were probably not Jews and yet were interested in and influenced by Jewish laws and customs. From what I have learned about them, it seems they were interested in and influenced by all kinds of religions and cultures. They were extremely knowledgeable. They were seekers of the truth in everything they did and I can appreciate that.

They may not have completely understood who this baby was who was born in Bethlehem and called the King of the Jews but they knew He was important and they wanted to know more. God blesses that kind of honest searching. I have an idea that when they saw the star and related it to the prophecy regarding the Messiah, they imagined that it would be easier to find the baby. Evidently, the star didn’t always shine and they assumed He would be in Jerusalem but couldn’t find Him there.

So, they started asking around and finally Herod got wind of it and asked his spiritual advisors, the chief priests, what was going on. Now, the chief priests were the upper crust of society, not just religiously but also politically as well. By New Testament times they had become little more than a group of corrupt, religiously-oriented politicians. (McArthur Commentary, pg. 32)

They knew the Old Testament scriptures. They knew the prophecies. They told the king what Micah 5:2 said. They had the answers. They just didn’t have the faith and weren’t interested in finding truth because that might mean their lives would have to change. They might lose some power and standing. That could be bad for their comfort and they didn’t want that.

They knew that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. They knew that the Magi were looking for Him because He had been born. But they were way too busy to actually go look for Him. I mean this baby, the God-child, the Son of God and son of man was a good five miles away all the way over there in Bethlehem. They couldn’t be expected to leave their important duties in the temple to go worship way over there, right? I mean, who’s gonna lead the people in their temple duties if they go worship Jesus? It was easier to just ignore Him.

Then there was Herod. He had a different reaction than the chief priests did and a way different reaction than the Magi. The Magi went to worship Jesus. The priests just ignored Him but Herod wanted Him dead. Oh, sure, he told the Magi he wanted to go worship but I’m pretty sure his pants caught on fire after saying that, if you know what I mean.

The other day I took the dogs for a walk and saw the two little boys across the street looking at something and talking so I walked over there and asked what they were doing. The little one said, “We’re seeing who can tell the biggest lie.” I asked why they were doing that and the older one said, “Well, we both found this golf ball at the same time and we decided that whoever could tell the biggest lie would get to keep it.” I said, “Boys, that’s awful. Why, when I was your age, I would never have dreamed of lying.” Then do you know what happened? They gave me the golf ball.

I’m here to tell you that Old King Herod wins the golf ball for the biggest lie of all time. He didn’t want to worship the baby Jesus. He was afraid of Him and wanted Him dead. He proved that by having all the baby boys in Bethlehem killed but, of course, Joseph, Mary and Jesus had already left before Jesus could be killed.

But why did Herod hate Jesus so much? A better question is why do people today hate Jesus so much? Oh, most people would never admit they hate Jesus. They would never say they hate Christians or the church or the Bible and yet, if you went home right now and turned on the TV, the radio, your computer; if you went to the store, or just drove through most towns, everywhere you looked you would be inundated with worldly ideas about what to wear, what to drink, who to live with and what to say and do.

Everywhere you look the world will tell you the absolute opposite of what Jesus taught. The world says not to drive drunk. That’s good advice, right? But the Word of God says don’t get drunk. The world says that love is love. Isn’t that pretty? But what they mean is that it doesn’t matter if a man marries a man or a woman or a child or a tree. Love is love. But the Word of God says that marriage is between one man and one woman for a lifetime.

The world says, “Don’t get mad. Get even.” Jesus said to turn the other cheek. I could stand here all day and tell you example after example from billboards to commercials to the football game on TV to your favorite radio personality, literally the whole world is trying to convince you to live contrary to what Jesus and all of scripture teaches.

And do you know what Jesus said about that? In Matthew chapter 12, He says, "Whoever is not with me is against me.” Let me ask you a question. Is there anybody here that has ever tried to have just a little bit of Jesus? You didn’t want to be a Jesus freak, of course, so you just dipped your toe into the whole Jesus / Bible / church thing. Anybody ever do that? How did that work out for you?

I’ll tell you how it worked out. It’s the worst of all worlds. There’s no peace, no joy, no fun, no security and nothing but rules you can’t follow. That’s religion for you. Want to know what Jesus thinks about people that are like that? He says it plainly in Revelation 3:16, “I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other! 16So because you are lukewarm— neither hot nor cold— I am about to vomit you out of My mouth!

You can’t have just a little bit of Jesus. You can’t have the world and God. It’s one or the other. And when you choose to go all in with Jesus you will do what the Wise Men, the Magi, did. Look at it again in verse 11. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Some people hate Him and some people ignore Him but neither of those kinds of people have a good realization of who Jesus is. They have never had Him revealed to them, never seen Him or known Him but the Magi saw Him, worshiped Him and gave Him gifts. That’s what happens when you truly have a picture of who Jesus is and who you are.

You come to Him in worship and say, “Lord, this is all I have. I give you a sacrifice of worship that includes my time, talent and treasure. Use it however you want.” The Wise Men gave gold because He is a King. They gave frankincense, which was an incense used in the temple when making sacrifices to God. They gave it to the baby because He is God. And they gave myrrh, which was a perfume used to prepare bodies for burial. That speaks of His sacrificial death.

He is King. He is God. He is Man. That’s a pretty good picture of Jesus right there. When you understand Jesus as King, God and Man and you see yourself as created by Him, for Him and in His image, you can’t just dip a toe or take a little sample of Jesus. You take all of Him and give Him all of you…and it will cost you.

It will cost you, as I mentioned, your time, talent and treasure but it may cost you more than that. What if it costs you your job because your boss doesn’t like your beliefs? What if costs you your friends because you don’t party with them anymore? What if someday it costs you your life because your government turns against God completely like is happening in China, Viet Nam and the Middle East?

Those are all very real scenarios. Add to all of that the fact that having a relationship with Jesus does not prevent you from having the normal struggles of this life and you may wonder why anybody ever becomes a Christian. I’ll tell you why. Job (14:1) said, “Man, born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.” Isn’t that the truth?

But he goes on to say that, “My flesh and my heart fails: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.” God is our strength and God gives us peace and joy in this life and when we go all in with Him, we know that He alone is the way to salvation, forgiveness and eternal life in Heaven. Make that commitment today. Invitation / Prayer What does it mean to go all in with Jesus? What does that look like in our everyday lives?

“Simeon’s Proclamation” – Luke 2:25-35

Do you like scary movies?  I don’t usually care for them because I don’t like being scared. Besides the fact that most of them aren’t watchable for any number of reasons, I just don’t care for them.  But obviously some people do because they come out with new ones all the time. Not only do I not want to be scared, most of the ones I’ve seen are too far-fetched.  You know what I mean.

The 18-year old girl sees a guy go into an abandoned building and says, “I wonder if he needs help.  I better go check.” He’s got a chainsaw, a peg leg and a hockey mask.  Obviously, he needs her help, right? Then, at some point in the movie, some girl is going to hear something in the basement and even though all her friends have been sliced open with a machete, she feels the need to go check. Call the police? No.  Get a gun? No.  Take a friend? No.

Just start walking down to the basement and what always happens? The light at the top of the stairs is burned out, right?  It’s pitch black and there may be a psycho serial killer down there but Muffy is going to check it out anyway and here’s how it goes.  The scary organ music starts playing.  She’s walking down the steps real slow, the music builds, the girl is squinting into the darkness and all of the sudden…a cat jumps in front of her and she breathes a big sigh of relief, starts back down the stairs with a smile right into the arms of the killer and his bloody machete.

Now, what one thing would have changed that outcome? We know they have to make movies but in real life, what one thing would have prevented her from going all the way down there? A light, of course.  If she had just had a flashlight or if the light bulb at the top of the stairs had not burned out, she could have made it to the end of the movie…maybe…except we know she would have been running through the woods away from the killer and she would have fallen, but whatever.

A light solves a lot of problems, doesn’t it? It reveals things that the darkness hides. It reveals the hidden killer or the hidden tree root that she tripped on or the way out of trouble that she almost found. I’m a big fan of shining light in the darkness.  I have all kinds of flashlights and lamps and spotlights and you can bet if I hear a noise downstairs, I’m turning on some kind of light.

I was looking at flashlights online the other day and you can spend a lot of money on just a flashlight.  Oh, you can buy a cheepo at Walmart for a dollar but you can also spend $200-300 for something with a lot more power and quality. The question is, how valuable is light to you when you need it most? How bad do you want the light to reveal what is hidden? Do you want to go in the right way or the wrong way? Do you want to see the truth instead of darkness? Do you want to live the right life or live a lie?

Those are some of life’s most important questions and they are answered, not with a flashlight or a lantern but with THE LIGHT; the light that IS the Way, the Truth and the Life; and that is, of course, Jesus. That is what Simeon called the baby Jesus in Luke chapter 2, verse 32.  He said Jesus was the light for revelation to the Gentiles.  Let’s look at that as we continue our study of this beautiful passage about the prophet Simeon when he first saw Jesus that day in the temple.

Turn to Luke 2 and let’s read verses 25-35 again as we finish up studying Simeon’s vision of Christmas and what it means to us all these years later.  Luke 2:25-35 says, “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Back in the days before electricity, a tightfisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task for carrying a lighted lantern when he went to call on his best girl. "Why," he exclaimed, "when I went a-courtin' I never carried one of them things. I always went in the dark." "Yes," the hired man said, "and look what you got!" (sermoncentral.com)

We all need a light for revelation in every aspect of our lives, from who we marry to where we go to church but the most important area of our lives that we need revelation is spiritually.  We know that light for revelation is Jesus just as Simeon prophesied. We know that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that is what you need a light to reveal, don’t you?  You need a light to reveal the right way to go. You need a light to reveal truth and you need light to reveal how to live your life.

In John chapter 14, Jesus is talking to His disciples and He tells them that He is about to go away.  He knows He is about to be arrested and crucified, die and come back to life but that He will ultimately go back to Heaven to be with God the Father. He says in verse 1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going."

At this point, the minds of the disciples are starting to swirl.  Is Jesus being literal or figurative?  Where is going and then what are we going to do?  Then Thomas speaks up and says in verse 5, “LORD, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Thomas is saying he doesn’t have a light.  He doesn’t have a map.  He doesn’t have GPS. How is he supposed to know where Jesus is going?

Then Jesus speaks, in verse 6, some of the most definitive and beautiful words in all of scripture or the world. Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

I saw a motivational poster the other day, and by the way, this world has all the motivational posters it needs, if you ask me.  But this one said, “Keep your flame lit, and you will never feel darkness.” Really? Is that really helping anybody?  I don’t even know what it means, much less how to keep my own flame lit.  Do I even have a flame? I mean, I get heartburn sometimes but that’s not helping.  I don’t need my flame lit.  I need some other light to show me the right way to go. I don’t need my own flame lit. All I need is Jesus to show me the way.

But if we don’t know what that looks like then it doesn’t help us any more than a motivational poster.  What does it mean for Jesus to be the Way? Well, the Old Testament is full of places that talk about “the way”. The Jews referred to it often.  In Deuteronomy 5, it says, “You shall walk in all the ways the Lord your God has commanded you.”

It was the Psalmist’s prayer, “Teach me thy way, Oh Lord.” (Psalm 27) and in Isaiah 30:21, we see, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, this is the way. Walk in in it.”  Now, suppose you go to a strange town and you ask somebody for directions.  They say, “Well, all you do is take the next left, go down three streets, take a right. Go ¾ of a mile to where the old elm tree used to be and take a left and then two more rights and there you are.” Chances are, you’ll be lost before you get half way there.

But if you ask and they tell you they will show you the way, that changes everything.  Just follow them.  Then we would say that THEY are the way. That’s what Jesus does for us. He doesn’t just give advice and directions. He takes us by the hand and leads us; He strengthens us and guides us all the way. He doesn’t tell us about the way. He is the Way.

He is also the Truth. Simeon said Jesus would be a light and Jesus reveals that He is truth. Many men tell us the truth, but Jesus is the Truth. Have you ever watched the news and seen some guy who is a big crusader against something get busted for doing the very thing he rails against? Maybe it’s a congressman who introduces a bill to crack down on drunk driving and then two days later gets busted for DUI.

Or some preacher preaches against homosexuality and then you find out later, he has a boyfriend.  You know what I mean.  We can speak truth. We can preach truth and show other people what truth is but we are fallible. All men, all women, all people are sinners and prone to sin.  As believers, we don’t live in sin any more but even we can and will fall. But Jesus taught truth and lived truth. He is the Way and the Truth.

Morris and I met an interesting fellow a while back at the Wise County jail. He was in there, like we were, to teach a Bible study and before it got started, we struck up a conversation with this guy who believes that the earth is flat. I’m serious. I thought he was joking at first and Morris and I asked him some questions about how is it then that planes can fly east or west and still wind up in China, but he had crazy answers for all of it. He also didn’t believe in gravity and you can imagine we had some questions about that.

He said all of that was lies from NASA. That’s what NASA wants us to believe and there was no moon landing or space travel. It’s all a lie according to him and there was no convincing him otherwise. That’s the way some people are about Jesus. They can read the Bible and see all the prophecies in the Old Testament that came true in the New Testament and they will explain them away somehow.

They can see the way it has played out in the lives of good Christians and how they have peace and joy in the midst of difficulties and not believe it to be true. They can see things predicted in scripture that are coming true even today and just ignore it. That’s their prerogative. You can’t force them and you can’t prove it mathematically or scientifically so they don’t believe. But I believe. I have faith. I know that I know that I know that Jesus is truth. I have seen the light and I know the light. I have a relationship with Him and I have found every word in scripture to be true in my life and in my studies. He is the Way and the Truth.

He is also the Life. In John 10:10, Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Some translations say, “abundant life”. What does it mean to have “abundant” life? Does it mean busy or rich? I don’t think so; not like the world thinks of busy and rich, at least.  I think a full life is like a full belly after a meal.  I’m satisfied. I don’t need anything else. Sure, I can overeat, but it doesn’t bring any more real satisfaction.

A full life is a contented life.  Paul said in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Jesus brings contentment. Isn’t that what everybody really wants. It’s not found in stuff or money or fame. There’s nothing wrong with any of that in and of itself but it doesn’t bring a satisfied life. Jesus is the Life.

In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." I wonder if He was thinking about what Simeon said about Him all those years before when Simeon said Jesus would be a “light for revelation to the Gentiles.” That light reveals to us that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no man comes to the Father except through Him.

Do you have that faith today? What better time to come to truly know Jesus than when we celebrate His birthday? Do it today. Turn away from your sin and accept God’s forgiveness and truly turn your life over to Him and let Jesus be Lord of your life. Allow Him to give you peace and joy in this life; this full and abundant life today and the hope of eternal life with Him in Heaven. Do that now as the music plays.

“Hank the Shepherd” – Luke 2

Have you ever had a crazy dream? A dream that seems so real but too crazy to have really happened? I want to tell you about a night I thought I must surely be dreaming, but it really happened. My name is Hank. Hank the shepherd. I’m one of the shepherds mentioned in the second chapter of the book of Luke, verses eight through twenty. My name is not in the Bible and I’m not terribly important in the scheme of things and yet I had something wonderful happen to me many years ago. Allow me to tell that story in my own words.

Being a shepherd is hardly glamorous work. It is long hours and low pay and we are generally looked down upon by most people. I do not have much education nor much money and most of the time I smell like a sheep. One can see that with all of that going for me that I do not have many close friends. There have been a few of us shepherds to go on to bigger and better things with our lives. King David is probably the most notable example. But most shepherds live and die in poverty and obscurity and to be honest that was fine with me. I never expected anything of note to ever happen in my life. I had gone to work when I was very young to support my mother when my father died and shepherding was the only thing I could do.

They were not even my own sheep. A man hired me to take care of his sheep but I took my job very seriously. During the day we would let the sheep graze on open land but at night we would round them up and put them in a makeshift corral and we would guard them there. Nighttime was when thieves and wolves would come out so we would sit in the doorway of the corral and protect the sheep with our bodies. The secret was to have another shepherd there with you at night to talk to you. Not only did it keep you from getting bored and falling asleep but the noise kept away the thieves and wolves.

The other shepherds and I would talk about anything and everything during the night as one can imagine. Some of the other guys liked to talk about God and religion But I was not much into that. I had a hard time believing that there was more to this life than eating, sleeping and sheep. The ironic thing about this one special night was that some of the other guys and I had just been discussing some of the prophecy in scripture about the coming of the Christ. They had been sharing with me that several prophets had predicted Christ’s birth. Moses, Micah and Isaiah had all predicted the coming of the Christ and that could be something I could get excited about if only I could really believe it.

They told me about the passage in Isaiah chapter seven that says, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Also, Isaiah chapter nine says, A child will be born to us. A son will be given to us. He will rule over us. And he will be called Wonderful Adviser and Mighty God. He will also be called Father Who Lives Forever and Prince Who Brings Peace. The authority of his rule will continue to grow. The peace he brings will never end. He will rule on David's throne and over his kingdom. He will make the kingdom strong and secure. His rule will be based on what is fair and right. It will last forever. The Lord's great love will make sure that happens. He rules over all.

That passage says that Christ will reign on David’s throne! I like that. I can relate somewhat to David because he was a shepherd - a lowly shepherd. Then in the fifth chapter of Micah it says that the baby will be born in Bethlehem . That is where I am from. That is my hometown! I started to feel some hope where previously there had been just despair. We were, in fact, camped just outside of Bethlehem that night. I will never forget it. It was a beautiful, quiet, starry night. Some of the others were talking and I heard a noise. It started out like a low hum and gradually built up to a sound like a huge herd of horses were stampeding across the hills.

My first concern was for the sheep and so I stood up and listened and waited. On a typical night the most exciting thing to happen might be a shooting star so one can imagine how shocked I was when a bright light flashed and an angel was right in front of me. I thought it must surely mean I was about to die! My heart was pounding, my knees almost failed to hold me up. I thought I should avert my eyes but I could not quit staring at this incredible creature.
The first thing out of his mouth was, “Do not be afraid!” Easy for him to say! One minute I am counting stars and the next minute I am face to face with Gabriel himself. And yet, while he was an intimidating and exciting creature, huge, powerful and stunning, he was at the same time strangely calming. He was like a good military commander who knows what is going on and knows what to do. I felt immediately like I could trust him.

He said, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people”. He could have stopped right there. He could have said no more and I would have been thrilled! “For all the people” included me! Nobody had ever included me and here I am being included to an invitation by no less than an angel of the Lord!  The angel continued, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Before I could catch my breath, and to my continued amazement, more and more angels appeared. Millions and millions of angels dressed all in white and with a glow like the sun spread from one horizon to the other and they began singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” They were the brightest, loudest most perfect celestial choir and I was the audience. Over and over again they sang “Glory to God in the highest!” Gloria in excelsis deo! “Glory to God, Glory to God!” I cried. I laughed. I sang with them! I worshipped. I hoped it would never end.

It felt like a dream but it was real. When the angels left I could not wait to accept Gabriel’s invitation to find the baby so we all left the sheep and ran into Bethlehem. I think I expected it to be easier to find the baby. After the unplanned angelic choir program I expected there to be long lines of people crowding to see a baby king laying in purple robes with bright lights and flying angels but there was none of that.

When we finally found the baby he was just…a baby. His parents were pleasant but looked a bit overwhelmed like every parent feels the first day and when we told them everything that had happened to us I was afraid they might not believe it. Joseph thanked us and Mary smiled with a mix of pride and gratefulness.

There is another passage in Isaiah chapter 61 that says, The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn.
I feel like that passage might have been written about me. I could not keep from telling other people about what I had seen and heard that day. I wanted everyone to know about the Christ. I did not know much about this baby Jesus but I knew that he was the savior and I needed a savior. I needed the Prince of peace in my life.

The time in which I lived was undergoing what they called the ”pax Romana” or Roman peace which was a good thing in that we were not involved in any war at the time but I had no peace in my own heart. In the quiet times in the field with my sheep I often felt like there must be more to this life! The starry nights and snow-covered mountains fairly screamed of a divine creator but I had no joy and no peace in my heart until I met Jesus.

One more passage from the book of Isaiah chapter forty: He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
Being a shepherd has its rewards sometimes. Sheep often stray off and are easily in danger of wild animals or malicious people but when I find them safe and bring them back to the herd I know it is for their good. It lets me relate to other shepherds like David but I now realize I have a greater connection with the Good Shepherd since that special night in Bethlehem all those years ago.

I will never know why God chose to reveal himself to me the way He did or why He wants me to have a relationship with Him like He does but I know now that I have that peace and joy that He promises as well as life forever with Him in Heaven and I will continue to celebrate that as the true meaning of Christmas and the meaning of my life every day.

Mary’s Trust – Luke 1

I want some mothers to tell real briefly about how they heard the news that they were pregnant for the first time.  Did you take a home pregnancy test? Did the doc tell you?  Or did you just know?  Or maybe your husband just told you, “Hey, you’re getting fat.” How did you feel when you heard the news?  Were you scared, excited, worried?

A little boy went to his dad and said, “Daddy, where did I come from?”  The dad, not wanting to get into all that with such a young kid, said, “Your mother hatched you from an egg in a nest.” He went to his mama and asked her where SHE came from.  His mother said, “Well, the stork brought me.” So, he goes to grandma and asks her where SHE came from and his grandmother told him that God had formed her. The little boy goes back to one of his little friends and says, “You know, there hasn’t been a normal birth in our family in 3 generations.”

Is there such a thing as a “normal” birth?  Oh, sure, doctors see it every day.  It’s no big deal to them. But to me, every birth is a crazy miracle.  And the birth may turn out like the doctor expected it to, but there’s not much that is normal when you give birth to a baby.  Your version of “normal” just changed forever.  It’s no over-statement to say that a baby changes everything.

When you are around a pregnant woman, what does she want to talk about?  The sky may be falling and the grass is turning blue but the question on her mind is, “Which stroller is safest?  What should I be eating?  How many diapers should I buy?  How long before that husband of mine brings me some chocolate???”

And there is not only the physical aspect of pregnancy but I don’t know how mothers do it mentally.  It would freak me out knowing I had to take care of myself and the baby when there are so many decisions to make.  What to eat, what to drink, what to wear, where to go, when to go, is the baby gonna be normal, what to name him, what color is the nursery going to be?

It’s a miracle anybody ever gets through it, much less the baby.  But the birth of a baby is one of the greatest miracles God has ever done.  And like I said, it happens every day.  But what if you were to be…THE mother?  What if your child was to be THE Child?  What if you were carrying…the Christ child?  No pressure there, right?

How did Mary not just freak smooth out when she found out?  And, oh, how she found out!  She didn’t have a doctor to do a blood test.  The rabbit didn’t die for Mary.  No, she had none other than the angel Gabriel come to her house and say, “Hey, how ya doing?  I’m Gabriel, sent from God, to tell you that you are the one chosen from all women in creation to carry the baby Jesus.  But don’t worry about anything, ok?  Have a good day!”

What would be your response?  How would you handle that kind of news?  Well, let’s look at Luke chapter 1 to see what Mary’s response was. I like Luke’s account of the story.  I read a commentary that said Luke was a good person to tell this story because he was a doctor and would know full well how babies were born.  Well…I’m pretty sure you don’t have to be a doctor to understand the fundamentals but Luke is very thorough like you would expect of a doctor.  So, let’s turn to Luke 1:26-38.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

I’m quite sure that no first-time mother has ever been completely prepared for what motherhood would bring.  Nobody could ever be completely prepared for the joy and the heartache that it brings.  Nobody could prepare for the laughter and the tears or be ready to have their heart broken or be prepared for their child’s heart to be broken like all mothers experience.

How much more those things, the wild pendulum of emotions that would soon come to Mary?  Probably just a teenager, Mary had yet to experience a lot of things in life and yet now she is to be the caretaker for the Savior of the world.  And yet here we see young Mary had faithful obedience to what God had planned for her life.

I want to look closer at that phrase “faithful obedience” this morning.  We would all like to think that we had faithful obedience to God but what does it really mean?  What does it look like to have faithful obedience as a mother…as a person? Mary truly was, in the literal sense of that first word, full of faith.  She was faithful. 

See this? It’s a leaf.  There is nothing special about this leaf.  It looks just like all the others.  But I want to ask you a question.  Do you believe that God made this leaf?  Sure you do.  Even a little child can understand that God made the leaves. Have you ever made a leaf?  Have you ever made a real leaf out of nothing?  Have you ever truly created anything out of nothing, especially something as beautiful as a leaf?  If you had all of the resources known to man and money was no object and you had all the scientific knowledge in the world, could you make one leaf out of nothing?  Of course not.

And yet, how many leaves are on one tree?  How many trees are there in the world?  And we believe that God made them all and yet so many people get hung up on the virgin birth.  If God can make a leaf; if He can make a tree and a mountain and a sunrise and sunset; if He can part the Red Sea, make a donkey talk and float an axe head and even sell the Runaway Bay property, then why would you think that He can’t make a baby in an unconventionally miraculous way?

One of my Bible commentaries is written by a very smart man that I go to a lot to help understand different passages.  And when I opened it to the part of Luke chapter one where it talks about the angel coming to Mary, he says that this is not to be taken literally.  It is just “a beautiful way of stressing the presence of the Spirit of God in family life.” (Barclay, Family Study Bible Series)

He goes on to explain all the reasons he thinks so.  I was amazed!  Toward the end of the book he says with confidence that Jesus died on the cross but was raised again and lives today.  He didn’t have any problem with that!  But virgin birth?  That couldn’t happen.

But look at Mary’s response to Gabriel.  Of all the people who should be skeptical; only she knew for sure that she was a virgin.  Only she was there to see the angel.  Of all people she should have doubted and yet look at what she says in verse 34.  “How will this be since I am a virgin?”  She’s not doubting like Zechariah did in verse 18. She just needs a little clarification and the angel knows that so he tells her simply that the Holy Spirit is going to be in control of all that.  And that’s all she needs to hear.  She didn’t ask the obvious questions that must have flooded her mind.  “What am I going to tell Joseph?  What will my family think?  What will the neighbors think?”  There is no way that she understood it all.  And yet she was full of faith.

And do you know what faith brings?  When God tells you to do something, He rarely tells you the whole story.  He just tells you what to do and when you, full of faith, just do what He says, do you know what always comes with that faith?  Peace comes with that faith.  Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In Mark 5:34, Jesus tells the bleeding woman who touched Him, “Dear woman, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”  There is a direct connection between faith and peace.  Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”  And one of those rewards is peace.  And we know that Mary had peace.  “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.”  She didn’t understand.  She just believed.

She believed that if God brought her to it, He would bring her through it.  She believed because she had read the old scriptures where God had proven Himself faithful for all those years and because God was faithful, she could be full of faith.  So why worry if God is in control?  All she had to do is be obedient.  Ah!  But that was the trick, right?

It’s one thing to say we believe; to say we have faith.  We might say we are the Lord’s servant…”but how, but why, but when?  I’m going to have to fix this.”  I gotta do something.  But obedience is a combination of us doing what we are supposed to do and then just allowing God to do what He wants to do.  Do you know what obedience is not?

Obedience is not worry.  Philippians 4:6 says not to be anxious about anything and so that makes worry a sin.  Worry is not obedience.  Do you know what obedience is?  Obedience is prayer.  The rest of that beautiful verse in Philippians says, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  So, obedience is not worry.  Obedience is prayer and even thanksgiving to God.

Obedience says, “I don’t understand this.  I don’t know how this is going to work out.  It doesn’t make any sense to me.  But, Lord, I have faith in you.  I have faith in you in spite of my circumstances.  And I give you thanks in spite of my circumstances.  In fact, I give you thanks FOR my circumstances.”

A.W. Tozer said, “The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are opposite sides of the same coin.”  And do you know what obedience brings?  We saw that faith brings peace.  Well, when you have done everything you are supposed to do; when you have prayed and thanked God for what you are going through, and you haven’t been worrying, then you can just relax and have joy.  Obedience always brings joy.

Several years ago I decided I was going to find out how to get joy.  I wanted to know what the Bible said about how to get it and how to keep it.  So, I scoured the Bible.  I looked at the people who had joy.  I read what it said about joy.  I did word studies, book studies, people studies and everything I read led me to one thing.  To have joy, you have to be obedient.

Anytime you see somebody in the Bible with true joy, you look close and you will see that they were being obedient.  Paul – obedient Paul, right? – Paul, probably more than anybody else talks about joy.  Paul, who had more physical problems and struggles than anybody else -even more than you - says in 2 Corinthians 7:4, “I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.”

The world would say that is impossible because for the world, joy and happiness are the same thing.  Their state of mind fluctuates with their circumstances.  When things are bad, they are depressed but Paul knew what Mary knew what some of you know that when you are obedient to God; when you are doing what He has told you to do and no more and no less then you can just relax and have joy because the one who made the leaves is in control and He loves you!

Dr. B.J. Miller once said, "It is a great deal easier to do that which God gives us to do, no matter how hard it is, than to face the responsibilities of not doing it."  (Today In The Word, November, 1989, p.11.)  Have you ever had to face the responsibility of not doing what God has told you to do?  It’s miserable, isn’t it?

I’ve told you before that there was a period in my life that I spent away from God.  I went were I wanted to go, I did what I wanted to do and I said what I wanted to say.  And I have never wanted to die any more than I did back then.  I had no joy.  I had no peace.  Because I was not faithful and I was not obedient.

Look, we are making this harder than it has to be.  Do you want joy and peace?  Then go where God wants you to go, do what He wants you to do and say what He wants you to say.  And you don’t have to worry about the consequences because you are not in control.  God is.

But the reason this is harder than it has to be is because the world doesn’t want us to live that way.  The world wants us to live like them.  Misery loves company.  And so everywhere you go there is someone or something trying to distract you.  “Hey, look over here.  Something shiny!”

Look one more time at how Mary answered the angel in verse 38.  “I am the Lord’s servant.  May your word to me be fulfilled.”  How refreshing that must be for God to hear.  She didn’t say what we usually say.  “But God, I can’t because…  But God, I won’t because…  That’s not fair.  I don’t understand.  I can’t afford it.  What will the neighbors say?”

No.  She simply said with faithful obedience, “I am the Lord’s servant.”  That’s what God wants to hear from you today as well.  Honestly tell Him that you are His servant and He will give to you the peace and the joy you have been looking for.  Let’s do that right now.  As the music plays…

Please remember that sweet little baby in a manger came to this earth for one reason. He was born to die for you on a cruel cross as a substitution for you. His perfect life and His death paid the penalty that God requires for your sin and all you have to do is believe in Him and ask Him for forgiveness and allow Him to come into your life and change you and He will.

And with that comes peace and joy in this life and eternal peace and joy with Him in Heaven. Make that decision today. We aren’t guaranteed another breath.