Living Worthy of Christmas

Grandma Ruby found buying presents for family and friends a bit much at Christmas now that she was in her 90's, so this time she wrote out checks for all of her kids and grandkids and great… to put in their Christmas cards. In each card she carefully wrote, "Buy your own present" and then sent them off.

After the Christmas festivities were over and she was cleaning up all the Christmas decorations, she found the checks which were supposed to have gone in the Christmas cards, under a pile of papers on her desk. So everyone on her gift list had received a beautiful Christmas card from her with "Buy your own present" written inside -- without the check! 

Occasionally, we all make mistakes about Christmas.  We sometimes miss the point.  We sometimes get caught up in the hoopla of Christmas and miss the hooray of Christmas. 
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Throughout this year we have been discussing Living Worthy.  This week and next and the theme is over.  But, I want to tie our theme of Living Worthy into today being Christmas Eve.  The question I want to wrestle with today is, “What does it mean to live worthy of Christmas?”   I think there is a clue in Luke’s story of Christmas. 

Luke 2:6-20   While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  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."  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."  So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. 

If you or I were in charge of getting the news out about the birth of Jesus; the coming of God to this world in human form; the Incarnation, the most significant event of all history- up to that point - we would not have thought to ask shepherds to spread the news.  We would have called the press, we would have had talked to the wise, the educated, the sophisticated, the important, the powerful, the people who mattered.  But God did it God’s way. He told shepherds and that is a clue about Living Worthy of Christmas.

The shepherds were (and still are today) those who lived on the edge of town and on the edge of society. They wandered around, locating and utilizing the best of the available grass for the sheep. They were not the cleanest guys around—but it wasn't their fault. The job of watching a flock of sheep does not permit one to enjoy everyday benefits that others enjoy, such as a daily bath. They were not educated folks. They had one job, watch over the sheep. They didn’t own the sheep; they were hired to watch over them. They were simple men; close to the bottom of the social pecking order of their day.  

But, the Angel announced to these men the good news of Christmas, FIRST! He then left them in charge of getting the word out!  Why did God designate shepherds to introduce his Son, Jesus, to the world? Why shepherds and not priests or governors or scholars or Pharisees or heads of state? Why shepherds?  I think if we can answer, “Why shepherds?” we can answer, “How do we live worthy of Christmas?”
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It struck me while messing with this thought how much God loves the shepherd metaphor. 

Psalm 23:1-6  The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,  3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Isaiah 40:11  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.

John 10:11  "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

One of the reasons shepherds were the first to witness and tell the story of the birth of Jesus was because God’s Son would some day refer to himself as a shepherd—the “Good Shepherd.”  God’s plan was for His Son to be a shepherd.  Not of literal sheep but of each of us as his sheep. The angel did not take the message to the rich or powerful because Jesus was to be none of those when he grew to manhood? As the poet said, “He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.”

Those who watch over the church are referred to as shepherds. Blessed is the church that has a shepherd to lead them--one with a pastor's heart. Blessed are those who follow the “Good Shepherd,” who know the joy of being part of the flock of God!

Acts 20:28   Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

God loves the shepherd metaphor but why?

God loves to do things backwards.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-- and the things that are not-- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

Shepherds were neither wise nor mighty. But they did the job.  They went and told everyone what they had seen and heard.  Isn’t it odd that God loves to do things the opposite of human wisdom?  Whatever we think is the opposite of how God acts.  He loves to do it backwards. Why? 

It is all about heart. 
Since God’s son was to have a shepherd’s heart someday, what better audience to hear the angel announce his birth, than shepherds—simple, humble, receptive men. The shepherds in the field were men who couldn’t pass up an opportunity to believe, to follow, and worship. They gave the glory to God because they had the right heart.

Luke 2:20   The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told

I guess that is the bottom line.  To live worthy of Christmas we must have a shepherd’s heart.  A heart that is open to wonder. A heart that is able to believe.  A heart that is ready to praise God. 

How do we live worthy of Christmas?  We live lives of wonder at a God who is our shepherd; at a God who does things backwards; at a God who loves the praising heart. Let’s don’t be cynical, or hard, or critical.  Let’s be simple.  Let’s be open.  Let’s have hearts which are anxious to praise. Let me close with a story that illustrates this.

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Once upon a time there was a man who was kind, decent, mostly good man.  He was not a scrooge.  He was generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn't believe all that stuff about Jesus and Christmas.  It just didn't make sense.  If there was a God why didn’t he just tell him what to do?  Why the round about way of sending Jesus to earth. He was too honest to pretend otherwise. So, he just ignored all that church stuff. 

One Christmas Eve his wife asked him, for her sake, would he go to church with her?  It was Christmas Eve and it would be so nice to have the whole family in church together. "I'm really sorry," he told his wife, "but I'm not going to be a hypocrite.” That he'd much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another, and then another. At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. Who in the world would be throwing snowballs at his window this late at night?

But when he went to the front door to investigate he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They'd been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window. Over and over they had tried to fly through the glass to get to the warmth.  Well, he couldn't let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to go to it.

Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. They only saw the fire through his landscape window. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs. They weren’t hungry they were cold. So they continued to flap around helplessly in the snow, longing for his fireplace. 

He tried catching them. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms. Instead, the scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn. And then, he realized that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me -- I am not trying to hurt them but to help them. But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him.

"If only I could be a bird," he thought to himself, "and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to safe, warm . . . to the safe warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand."

At that moment, as thoughts of being a bird ran through his head, a miracle occurred.  The church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells; listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas; of God becoming one of us. And he sank to his knees in the snow. He got it and he worshipped God.  

Matthew 1:18-23 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.  Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.   But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." 

Let’s not make a mistake about Christmas.  Let’s celebrate the hooray of Christmas.