What Does Christmas Remind Us About God’s Love? (Luke 2:1-20)
GIST: God’s love is unconditional and changes everything.
Merry Christmas! I love this day so much. And I get that it’s busy. I have a young family I had to corral away from the Christmas tree this morning too. But there is just something so wonderful about a day set aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Today, we’re wrapping up our mini-series on how the advent themes hope, joy, peace, and love are developed in the Biblical account of Jesus’ birth. That means for the first time since I’ve been the pastor here, we’re actually going to read from Luke 2 on Christmas Day! I hope you’re all proud of me ☺️.
I want to read the first 20 verses of the chapter which is by far the most familiar “Christmas” passage. However, there are so many beautiful things happening here, so for the sake of focus, I want to just unpack two main observations about how these verses speak to the love of God. Let’s read the verses first→
“1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 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. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!" 15 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." 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”
Again, there is so much we could break-down in these verses, but our purpose today is to see if love is really something demonstrated in the birth of Christ, or if it’s just a cozy holiday kind of theme that seems appropriate to talk about this time of year. So, are driving question has to be: What does Christmas remind us about God’s love? And our gist is that, at the very least, we see in these verses that God’s love is unconditional and changes everything. Let’s dive straight into that!
I. God’s Love Is Unconditional
For the past few weeks, we’ve focused primarily on Mary’s interactions with learning she would be the earthly mother of Jesus…because that’s what Luke focused on. Again and again, we’ve noted that Mary is put forth not as an example of divinity, but as an incredible example of God’s grace working and faith, in turn, being lived out. In her story and in Joseph’s story we didn’t even get to this year, we see God’s unconditional love. They did not earn His favor. He poured out His love on them, and used them in His plan to pour out love on you.
However, most of this famous Christmas passage doesn’t focus on Mary. Our attention focuses to the response of another unlikely group—the shepherds. Try to picture this scenario for a second. It was dark in a way those of us who have only known an electrified world can hardly understand. It was also the end of a long day that bled into an equally long night. These shepherds were tired from hard labor, saturated by the stench which was their occupational hazard, and watching for dim cotton balls moseying lazily under a speckled sky. They weren’t looking for anything miraculous, but their expectations were completely shattered when glorious light burst through!
Their reaction? They… freaked out. What else could they do!? But that quickly changed when the angel of the Lord told them not to be afraid, but to rejoice because everything was about the change. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”. The Savior of the world had come… to them.
Most of us have heard that story retold many times, so it’s easy to become numb to what is a powerful expression of love. God did not have to tell the shepherds what was happening. He didn’t have to break into their lives and show them grace they weren’t looking for, but He did. What had they done? They weren’t prestigious. They didn’t hold strong cultural sway. We aren’t told they were especially Godly people either. They were people who needed grace, and He came to them in a big way.
I know this might feel like a takeaway, but let me just say it now incase I lose you to dreams of Christmas dinner→ Maybe you’re not looking for Him either because you’re stuck in monotony and darkness. You’re tired and squinting to keep your eyes on whatever task is at hand, but you’re not expecting anything extraordinary. For some, it’s worse. Their darkness is heavier than drudgery and routine because it feels like the world is working to rob them of all joy and hope. They’re alone under a sky whose stars even seem to be hiding. In all our circumstances, His love is working to burst through. Why? Because, like I said last week, Jesus didn’t come as a generic savior for a general populous. He came to rescue you from your brokenness, to reach into your hopelessness, and to give you abundant life!
After the shepherds experienced the glory of God proclaiming love incarnate, their lives were never the same…because→
II. God’s Love Changes Everything
They took His message seriously, went looking for this promise of love, experienced that, and “returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them” (Luke 2:20). Their lives were now defined by praise because they had come face-to-face with the great love of God. Let’s break down that reaction just a bit. I think we’ll see some clear implications for what this should mean for us if we’ve really experienced the love of God.
First, notice that they took God’s claims seriously. “15 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." 16 And they went with haste…” God sent them a message in staggering fashion, and they responded to it. I know it’s easy to look at this and just assume this has to be the natural response, right? But how many people in this world have heard the life-changing claims of Jesus and done nothing? Jesus came into this world and lived a sinless life. He claimed to be God, died to take the Hell we deserved, and rose again victorious over the sin which destroys us. All of human history has been impacted by these claims, and if they’re true (which I wholeheartedly believe they are—and I wholeheartedly believe there are reasons for that assurance) it should change absolutely everything about how we live. Nonetheless, so many are see the glorious message of light piercing their darkness, and go right back to squinting at sheep.
Not these shepherds. They took Him seriously, and then they found Him. “16b… and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.” We talked about this a bit last week, but it bears repeating. God tells us in Jeremiah 29:13 “13 You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.” Because the shepherds were driven by the message of love, they went looking for Jesus…and found Him. They got to be part of this incredible story because they did what He told them to do! Guys, that is 100% true for each one of us. Jesus is not done doing incredible things around us. Seek Him and you will find Him…at work all around you. That means, you get a chance to be part of what He’s doing!
They looked. They found. They shared widely! “17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.” Why? Because this was too good to keep to themselves. I think you see the implications for our lives here, right? Who are you sharing this good news with? They shared it with, well, anyone that could hear them!
And they shared impactfully. This is a point that struck me specifically this week while studying the passage. Look at verse 18 again: “18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.” Their witness made people stop and think. Their witness grabbed the attention of the people who heard it. There was something about their contagious excitement and this genuine response to the love of God that spoke volumes. Were they trained public speakers? No. Were they key members of society? No. Did they understand everything about the theological implications about what they’d witnessed? No. Did they know the savior of the world had come? Did they see the love of God on display for people who had done nothing to deserve it? Yes.
When people look at your lives, are they impacted by your love for Jesus? Is there something different and impactful about how His love has changed you or has it not really made a meaningful difference? Guys, it can. It’s meant to, and it will if you seek Him.
Once Christmas passes, it’s easy to hunker down and just… exist. We were made for more. Christmas reminds us Jesus loves enough to pierce our darkness and flood our sorrow with remarkable light.
Let’s just recap with some→
TAKEAWAYS
Remember His unconditional love.
Take His claims seriously.
See Him.
Share Him widely.
Share in a way that impacts the lives of those around you.
No comments:
Post a Comment