Good morning,
There is nothing quite like the excitement that comes with a trip to Grandma’s house for Christmas. Pulling in into the driveway and getting the “the talk” from your mom and dad about being thankful no matter what your gift was. Bursting in the door, giving Grandma a quick hug and then sprinting to the Christmas tree.
All the packages were wrapped of course, and each one had a name tag on. You would look at the boxes to figure out which one was yours. As a kid you were hoping for the really BIG boxes right? As you got older you realized that smaller boxes were OK too. But there was one box that you feared getting, because the size of it meant you were getting clothes. And as a kid that was your biggest fear regarding Christmas…that you would get clothes.
As an adult getting clothes is actually pretty cool! However, there is a new fear that many of us are dealing with. That is the fear of getting asked something like this:
“Hey, you aren’t one of those Christians that actually believes in this stuff, are you?”
“You’re not one of those Bible-believing Christians, right?”
“You don’t really believe that a baby was born to a virgin and the shepherds and the angels and all of that do you?”
“Haven’t you seen the documentaries that debunk the Christmas story? Don’t you know that stuff never happened?”
“How can you believe in an old book that’s nothing but a bunch of fairy tales?”
This fear is very real as Christians who believe that the Bible is the Word of God and is the sole authority for life are becoming less and less a part of the mainstream culture and being pushed more and more to the fringes. Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to meet a group of people that I think can relate.
When you read Luke 2:1-7 you might notice that when it comes to Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth we aren’t given a ton of details. Just 7 verses! The brevity of Luke’s account has resulted in 2 things happening. The first is that A LOT of tradition, Jewish culture of the day, and artistic license has been incorporated into the retelling of the Birth of Jesus within the Church. Just think about a typical Christmas pageant that is performed in churches. Mary often goes into labor the night that they arrive in Bethlehem. There is usually an innkeeper who tells them that there is no room in the inn. Jesus is born in a stable of some sort. None of this is necessarily wrong, but we do need to acknowledge that while the text allows for those traditions, it doesn’t specifically describe them either.
The 2nd thing that the brevity of Luke’s account has yielded is a good deal of criticism regarding the census, and some of the other details surrounding Christ’s birth outside of the Church. There are those TV shows and documentaries. There are those magazine articles and blog posts. “Debunking” Christmas is profitable.
If you have questions, I’d love to talk about them with you, but here is the deal: The Word of God was not written to satisfy our intellectual desire for information. The Word of God was written to completely meet our spiritual need for salvation! The Bible contains everything we need to live that life that is pleasing to God on this side of eternity and everything we need to assure that we will live with Him on the other side of eternity.
So that brings us to Luke 2:8-20 and his amazing account of the shepherds. Throughout the history of Israel, shepherding was a noble profession. Abel was the first to have this job, followed by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and of course, David. By the time we come to the first century however, shepherding has lost its luster. Shepherds made up the lowest class of people, coming in just ahead of the lepers. One of the teachings of the rabbis was “No help is to be given to heathen or shepherds.” Pretty mean stuff!
So why were the shepherds so disdained? One reason is that they were considered ceremonially unclean. Because of the nature of their work, they were unable to attend any religious services. They were also isolated and forgotten. Because their flocks needed to move around to find new grass and fresh water, they never stayed in one place for long. They were treated with contempt and mistrust. They were suspected of stealing from others and would often confuse “thine” with “mine.” Their testimony was never allowed in court because they were so unreliable. Shepherds were known to be brash and bold. Living out in the fields away from society made them unappealing to most people. We often picture shepherds as being docile, gentle, and passive men, but the truth is that they were rough and tumble outlaws of the day. Most of them had foul mouths and were ready to fight at the drop of a hat.
So, shepherds were once respected but now are they despised. They are considered untrustworthy, backwards and unintelligent. They are mistrusted, isolated, and mocked. Does this remind you of anyone today? I would suggest that this describes Bible-believing Christians in our culture!
And yet it is shepherds who first received the news of the birth of Jesus! That is amazing, but what is even more amazing was their response to the message of the angels. We’ll look at their response next week.
Here’s what’s happening:
- Don’t forget our Advent outreach project to help Solanco Neighborhood Ministries. We are collecting:
o Personal Care Items – Shampoo, toothpaste, facial tissues, and toilet tissue.
o Clothing – Socks and Underwear for all ages
o Household Goods – Laundry Detergent and Floor/Window/Surface cleaners
o Baby Items – Diapers (Size 4 and 5) and Wipes
- Junior Youth meets THIS SUNDAY after the worship service for their Christmas party.
- Senior High Youth meets again next Sunday, December 11, at 6:30 pm in the schoolhouse.
- Thanks to Dana Melrath and Devon Fite for updating our Christmas decorations!
- Christmas Caroling is set for Friday, December 16 at 6:15 pm. We will be gathering at the Kreider home before heading out and returning for a time of fellowship. Bring along your favorite holiday treat to share!
- Christmas Services – Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 7pm on the 24th. We will be having shortened services on Christmas Day and on New Years Day, at our usual 10 am timeslot. As a gift to our teachers, there will not be Sunday School either of those days.
This Sunday we begin our Advent sermon series by looking Joseph’s Christmas Story. Matthew 1:18 tells us that Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph. We will look at what that actually meant, how it is different from our engagement and marriage customs, and how the betrothal (or pledge) stage of marriage points to the relationship that Jesus wants with us! I am really excited to share this sermon series with you…it’s going to be a great morning of worship on Sunday. Invite a friend to join us!
PS – I’ll be reading from my NIV Bible for this sermon series, so if you have that translation you’ll want to bring it along with you.