“Christmas: From Fear to Faith”
(Luke 2:8-20)
Christmas
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
First Baptist Henderson, KY
(12-20-09) (AM)
- Take your Bibles and join me in Luke, chapter 2.
We’ve been preaching through the Book of Romans, but we pause our study of that book in order to read a passage that is perhaps the most well-known passage this time of the year, a passage telling us about the birth of Jesus Christ. The chapter begins by telling us how God directed Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and, with stark simplicity Luke, the writer, tells us that Mary brought forth her firstborn Son, wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, or a feed trough, because there was no room for them in the inn. Then we read in verses 8 and following what happens next.
- Stand in honor of the reading of the Word of God.
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 “And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, 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, goodwill toward men!”
- Pray.
Introduction:
One of the fantastic things about studying Scripture is that there is no end to the new and fresh insights that God grants us as we read His Word. We can take any passage of Scripture and, no matter how familiar, God will often bless us with an application that we had not previously enjoyed.
This week as I studied this familiar passage I was struck by the first words from the mouth of the angel of the Lord to these shepherds who were keeping watch over their flocks by night. The very first thing this angel says is, “Do not be afraid” or, as many of us grew up hearing from the classic, King James version, “Fear not.” It’s the same phrase used by the angel of the Lord in chapter 1, back when the angel appeared to Zacharias in the temple, first thing out of the angel’s mouth, “Fear not (1:13).” And then again, when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, the first thing the angel said was, “Fear not (1:30).” So here we have it again in chapter 2, verse 10, “Fear not.”
The fact that Luke brings this out in his story suggests at least that the typical response to encountering something supernatural is to respond in fear. And while we usually think of fear as a bad thing, there is a kind of fear that is very good. In the Old Testament, for example, we read over 30 references to a healthy kind of fear, namely the fear of God. But this kind of fear is best understood in terms of reverence, worship, love, and awe. Solomon wrote, for example, in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” or in Proverbs 10:27, “The fear of the Lord adds length to life.”
But closely connected to this fear is another kind of fear, a fear usually associated with worry and anxiety over the future or a worry over a host of imagined possibilities, a kind of fear that often paralyzes us in its grip.
Now, I love Christmas movies. All in favor of Christmas movies? I love, “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Holiday Inn” and “Elf” and “Santa Claus” and all the others. But a family favorite of ours is a movie that came out in the 80s called, “A Christmas Story.” It’s about a kid named Ralphie who wants an official Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. How many of you have seen this movie? It’s probably been on TV a few times this month and probably will be again soon. I recommend the TV version of all movies, as they are usually cleaner. But those of you who have seen this movie, do you remember the scene where a boy named Flick is pressured to stick his tongue to the cold flagpole in the schoolyard? Another kid named Schwartz pressures Flick to do it. Schwartz warns that if he does it his tongue will stick to the pole. Flick says it won’t and the dare is on. How many of you want to see this clip? Let’s take a look.
**[Video Clip (1:58), Flagpole scene from “A Christmas Story”]
Poor Flick! He just couldn’t withstand the dares of Schwartz, the bratty little kid who went from “Double Dog Dare” to “Triple Dog Dare.” When you watch that scene you can just feel for Flick. When Schwartz “Triple Dog Dares” Flick into sticking his tongue to the flagpole, Flick’s mouth opens and his eyes get big and you can just tell his heart is beating faster. His spine stiffens, he wipes his brow, he shakes his head. He is full of fear! And there are so many fears running through his mind…fear of not being able to get out of this, fear of losing friends, fear of saving face…and fear of his tongue sticking to that pole! And so, he finally does what his conscience warns him is wrong and he gets his wet tongue stuck to that dry, cold pole.
We can all relate to deep-seated, feelings of fear. Fear takes on many forms and hits us in many ways. Perhaps the greatest of our fears is simply the fear of the unknown. We like security, predictability, safety, peace and comfort. We want to be reassured that these things will not be upset.
It is understandable, then, why the angel of the Lord goes on to say to the startled shepherds, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.” That is, “You need not be frightened by my appearance. I have not appeared to paralyze you with worry and anxiety, quite the contrary I am bringing you some really good news. You won’t understand it all at once, but in time, you will. I am bringing you Good News in the form of a person. I am bringing you the Lord Jesus Christ, a Savior to all people.” And so, these shepherds move from fear to faith. And in their moving from fear to faith, we are encouraged to know that we too may not live paralyzed in anxiety and worry, but we too may move from fear to faith.
Let’s study these verses and then at the end of our study we’ll look at some practical applications that arise from this Christmas passage. I have arranged the material under three main headings: Christmas is about wonder, Christmas is about witness, and Christmas is about worship. Let’s look at these three sections. First:
I. Christmas is about Wonder (8-14)
We must never lose the wonder of Christmas! We should read this passage with the greatest sanctified imagination possible. This is a wondrous story. It does not require all the special effects of a blockbuster film. It is a powerful passage about a birth announcement. Did you send out birth announcements when your baby was born? Look at the birth announcement of Christ.
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. (I love these guys! They were blue-collar workers, working the night shift)
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
So would you be! So would I be! Angels in the Bible are not like these precious little figurines we buy in card shops. They are masculine in gender, they are usually huge in appearance, and when they appeared they usually scared the living daylights out of people! You’ve got this angel appearing and the brilliant white light of the glory of the Lord shining all over the place and so these tough old shepherds are shaking in their sandals.
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 “And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, 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, goodwill toward men!”
By the way, there in verse 14 we have the first Christmas carol ever sung. So we go from one angel in verse 9 to a whole multitude of the heavenly host in verse 13. I don’t know how many angels, but I suppose hundreds, if not thousands. And they’re all singing “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
That last phrase there is probably best translated, “And on earth peace among those with whom God is pleased,” or, “Peace to men on whom God’s favor rests.” It does not refer to a political peace or the absence of war. That is not the peace the angels are proclaiming. The angels are proclaiming a peace with God among those who know Him. This is a peace with God made possible through the work of this Savior who has come.
The angels are proclaiming a peace with God. And when you have peace with God, you will know the peace of God. Because of sin, we are separated from God. We are at war with God. We do not have peace with God. We are alienated from God because our sin, our original sin with which we are born, and the sin we do willingly and consciously. If we die in this state, we remain separated from God. But if our sins have been forgiven through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are at peace with God. This is precisely what the Apostle Paul has in mind when he refers to the doctrine of justification, the doctrine of being declared righteous by God through faith in Christ. Paul writes in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is the peace the angels proclaim in their wondrous announcement of the birth of Christ.
Here is the wonder of Christmas. Christmas is about wonder. Secondly:
II. Christmas is about Witness (15-17)
The shepherds witness this supernatural nighttime celebration in the sky and then they go to witness the birthplace of this child. They go to see the baby.
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 And they came with haste (the first “Christmas Rush” incidentally!) and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
When they witness the child, they then witness to others what they had seen. They share this good news about Jesus Christ.
17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
When we have encountered the Lord Jesus Christ, we naturally want to tell others about Him. They made “widely known the saying which was concerning this Child.” What was “the saying” they made widely known? It was “the saying which was told them concerning this Child.” What was that? Back up there in verses 10 and 11. “Fear not.” Why? Because, “I bring you good tidings—or good news—of great joy which will be to all people.” In what way is this good news? Verse 11, “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Here is why this story is the greatest story ever told. It is the greatest story ever told because it is the story of the greatest news ever heard. And what makes the news so great is that it is news which repairs our broken condition. Or, we might say it is the good news which answers the bad news. The bad news is that we are at war with God, alienated from God because of our sin. The bad news is that which makes the good news good. It’s a matter of perspective.
Maybe you heard about the young man at Christmastime who was writing home to his parents. It was his first semester away at college and he was writing to them just before the Christmas break, knowing he would be home for the break and, in anticipation of his soon being home with them, he wrote this letter:
Dear Mom and Dad,
I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch with you, but a number of things have happened and I wanted to let you know about them. First, my apartment burned to the ground and in seeking to rescue a few things from it, I broke my leg and ended up in the hospital. While I was in the hospital, I met a wonderful girl. She and I were married on Saturday afternoon. My friends assure me that it shouldn’t be an inhibition in any way to the development of our relationship that she is 20 years older than I and does not speak the English language. [paragraph break, start of new paragraph].
Everything you have just read is untrue so don’t worry. However, what is true is that I have failed my exams badly. And since I wanted you to be able to get this in some kind of perspective, I have written the letter as is.
Perspective helps, doesn’t it?! We can only appreciate the Good News of the season when we fully appreciate the bad news of our sin. We cannot fully appreciate what it means to be forgiven until we know we stand in need of forgiveness.
Christmas is about witness. It is our about our coming to terms with God, “making our peace with God,” if you will and then urging others to do the same. Christmas is about telling others about Jesus. It’s about wonder, it’s about witness. Thirdly:
III. Christmas is about Worship (18-20)
18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
What a contrast there between those two verses! “All those who heard it—the good news about Christ—marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” To marvel is a good thing, but it does not mean anything more than that they marveled. In other words, as the shepherds witnessed to others the good news about Jesus, the Gospel, all those who heard it “marveled.” In essence, they said, “Wow, isn’t that wonderful?!” Well, it is, wonderful.
But understand that when many people hear the good news of the Gospel, they only marvel. They come to a nice Christmas service at church and they marvel: “Wasn’t the music wonderful? Wasn’t the sermon delivered well? Weren’t the little children so cute?”
We can be moved, but remain lost. To be emotionally stirred only is not to be saved and forgiven of our sin. Verse 19 says that Mary, however, kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” There is here, on the part of Mary, an internalizing of the Good News. I don’t mean to press this too much, but at the very least we see that Mary received subjectively what she had heard reported objectively. She heard the News, the Gospel, and she received these truths into her heart. This is true worship. And it is evidenced also in the shepherds:
20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
It is really quite remarkable! These shepherds go from fear at the beginning of the passage, to faith at the end of the passage. They move from fear to faith. And what makes all the difference is an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. An encounter with Christ can move us from fear to faith.
In my study I wrote down this phrase, “I am fearful when…” I have it up here as a slide:
**I am Fearful when…
And I wrote down a few things that I fear or I hear that others fear. Maybe you’ll think of some, too. These aren’t on the wall, but they’re in my notes. Here’s what I wrote down: “I am fearful when I think God may be angry with me.” Then, I wrote down, “I am fearful when I am worried about the future.” That is, the unknowns. What’s going to happen if–? Or, What will I do when–? I also wrote down, “I am fearful when I feel all alone and nobody cares.”
As I thought about this passage and I thought about our fears, it seemed to me that all of our fears can essentially be overcome by three main actions. Let me give these to you and I hope they help you. Maybe you can write these down if they help you.
**How I Can Overcome My Fear:
- Know God (knowing God’s forgiveness removes the fear of His being angry)
- Trust God (trusting God means believing that He is guiding perfectly future events)
- Worship God (rather than turning inward, I am turning upward, loving God)
When the shepherds encountered Jesus they moved from fear to faith and so can we. We preachers and teachers of the Bible often point out that the shepherds were among the lowest of persons on the social ladder. Their work rendered them ceremonially unclean for worship at the temple and they were usually people who were not thought of too highly in society. Their testimony was not permitted in court and they were sometimes considered shady characters. It’s so like God to announce the birth of Christ to these shepherds! I mean, God doesn’t communicate the Gospel today through angels, but He continues to rely on shepherds, imperfect people, broken people, sometimes even shady people, shepherds like you and I. We too must tell the story, the greatest story ever told. We must witness to others the story of the Gospel.
Here’s my Christmas challenge to you. Tell this story this week. It’s the greatest story every told. Watch this clip and then we’ll pray.
**[Video Clip (1:50), “The Greatest Story Ever Told”]
Let me challenge you to read the story to your children and to your grandchildren. Dads, lead your families. Get out the Bible and open to Luke 2 and read. Take some time this week. It will only take a few minutes and it will serve to re-focus your family and yourself on the spiritual priorities of Christmas.
- Stand for prayer.
We’ve a story to tell to the nations,
that the Lord who reigneth above
hath sent us his Son to save us,
and show us that God is love,
For the darkness shall turn to dawning,
and the dawning to noonday bright;
and Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth,
the kingdom of love and light.
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