Rejoice, It Could Be Worse

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You are God who caress about us and You care that we are filled with joy. You command us to rejoice in You, rejoice in the Lord, and rejoice in Him always. And I pray today that You'd fill our hearts with joy. Joy that isn't grounded or rooted in presence or circumstance or comfort, but a joy that's grounded in the facts of life. That You are our God and You sent Christ as our Savior. And because of Christ's work on the cross, His death, His burial, resurrection, we can have access to You and Your presence is joy. That's how we experience joys in Your presence. And I pray, bless our time today with Your Holy Spirit, Your holy presence. And Lord, help us focus on all the presence that You brought into the world, primarily salvation. We thank You for that. Bless our time the holy scriptures. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

Today we are in Luke 2, and the title of the sermon is Rejoice, It could Be Worse. And that's how my wife cheers me up. Whenever I'm bummed out a little, she's like, "Rejoice. It's commanded and it could be worse. Your struggle isn't to the blood yet." That's a Bible verse. And she always goes to this one. "You're not blind and you have two arms and two legs." I'm like, "Yeah, that's right." In fact, this is a helpful exercise because it helps us gain perspective. And gaining perspective means you transcend feelings for a moment and when you transcend the feelings, you can focus on the facts. And happiness is in the feelings. But joy, well joy is in the facts. It's grounded in the truth. If the truth is good, if the truest truth about you is the good news of Jesus Christ, because joy is grounded in Jesus Christ. He's the only one who can give us true joy.

Scripture tells us to rejoice, your names are written in heaven. Rejoice that God chose you before the foundation of the world. Rejoice that God loves you so much, that God Himself stooped down to become a child, to grow up to be holy, a perfect man who obeyed all of God's commandments, every single one of them from the heart, the only one to truly do God's will. And then this anointed messianic king, Jesus Christ, allows himself to be crucified by His subjects because that was the only way for His subjects to be saved from their sins.

So rejoice that God has provided a way for you to be saved from eternal judgment in hell. Rejoice that God offers you the gift of repentance. Rejoice that God gives you grace and mercy and faith. Rejoice that God gives you the Holy Spirit and the holy scriptures and he gives you a spiritual family, the church. And rejoice that you now have a mission, a purpose, a hope that's greater than yourself. Rejoice that you have eternal life and you will spend it in the presence of God. Rejoice that you have God. Rejoice in the Lord always, again, I will say. Rejoice.

Wouldn't you like to be more joyful? I think all of us would. We'd like to grow in joy. And joy isn't something that you can manufacture. It's not a personality trait. It's not like happiness. It's not like pleasure. Joy is opening your eyes to the deeper realities of life, away from the temporary to the eternal. And that's the only way to experience everlasting joy. And we all know this thing joy exists. We're all actively or passively, consciously or subconsciously, we're seeking it more than just pleasure, more than happiness. We want that joy and pleasure is felt in the body. Happiness is felt in the mind. And the feeling joy, it's felt in the soul, in the center of your being, the everlasting part of you.

Even the best moments of life and during the holidays we experience many of those moments, but even in the most delicious moment of life, we all know that there's a little asterisk, there's a little caveat. The caveat is that this moment will pass. And what I'm feeling now will I continue feeling that will this moment passes? We long for joy. And joy is a gift. It's something given by God's grace. And our only choice is will we receive the gift that God gives us? It's not achieved, it's received. Psalm 4:7, "You have put more joy in my heart than they had when their grain and wine abound." God putting the joy in will we receive.

It's a choice to rejoice. It's a choice to receive the input of joy from the Lord. Psalm 16:11, "You make known to me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy. And at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." So God is the one who offers us joy with His presence. Sometimes we have a joy leak and we need a refill. And that's what I hope the Lord does today so that we can be brimming with joy. Romans 15:13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."

Three points to frame up our time as we look at the first half of Luke 2. First, true joy is found swaddled in suffering. Second, true joy is receiving salvation from sin. And third, true joy is expressing songs to the Savior. First point is true joy is found swaddled in suffering. Would you look at Luke 2:1-7 with me. "In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 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, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 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 him in the inn."

The story begins with Caesar Augustus and his relentless arms stretching out to squeeze taxes tribute from every tiny village in the far end of the Mediterranean. Caesar Augustus Octavian was the ruler. The entire Roman world was all the inhabited world as they knew. This was an emperor who considered himself holy, considered himself revered. He was often described as the Savior of the whole world. And here comes the story of Jesus Christ, the true Savior of the world. And Luke, the historian and the theologian wants us to see the backdrop, the contrast between Jesus, the king of the universe, and Caesar who thinks he's the king of the universe. The contrast couldn't be greater.

Thus it came about that this village carpenter Joseph and his expectant teenage bride were forced to travel to his hometown to be registered for taxation. To this moment that it was a life of surprises, both Joseph and Mary grew up in homes where they were taught about obedience to the Lord, love for God, love for His word. And then God revealed His revelation to both Joseph and Mary. An angel came to Mary, an angel came to Joseph, revealed that Mary will be with child, the son of God. And Joseph is not to divorce her, not leave her, but to care for the son of God. And here the journey begins, and Mary's full term, which forced a slow rolling gait as she walked those 80 miles, perhaps they borrowed an animal to ride.

Seen through everyday logic, Joseph and Mary, they're nobodies. Nobodies from a nothing town. They were just peasants. They had nothing. They were poor, uneducated of no account, but they understood who God was and they understood the mission that God had for them. She understood, Mary did, the calling that God had upon her and she was young and she received that calling. She received it with joy. "Behold, I am your servant. May it be according to the word of the Lord." God had given her an impossible mission. No way that she could realize all the sacrifices that were to come. But she knew that God spoke to her. Early on after Mary learned she was pregnant with the son of the most high and met with Elizabeth, her relative, she sang her great Magnificat beginning with these words and to Luke 1:46.

"And Mary said, 'My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked on the humblest state of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.'" She's exalting God for choosing her, that God by His grace chose her for this incredible mission. A mission to do what? To give birth to the son of God, to raise the son of God. Will the mission be easy? No. It will be a life of suffering, a life of dishonor in many ways, a life of shame, a life of heartbreak.

One scholar says that it was probably a combination of two factors that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. First, the requirements of the tax registration and second, the gossiping tongues of Nazareth. And then when they go into the temple, Simeon prophesied over Mary in Luke 2:34, "Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 'Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.'" A sword will pierce through your soul. She rejoices nonetheless because the blessing of being chosen by God overwhelms the suffering, overwhelms the sacrifice. God my Savior, makes it all worth it.

And this way we learn about joy, true joy. Joy is a byproduct of faithful obedience to the Lord no matter the cost, no matter the cross that God calls us to take on a daily basis to place on our back and follow Him. And He says, "Take up your cross and follow Me daily." And this is true humility. True humility is Lord, whatever you called me to, whatever position in life I'm in, Lord I know your sovereign thy kingdom come, thy will be done in my life as it is in heaven. And Luke 1:51, she says, "He has shown strength with His arm. He has scattered the proud and the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate."

Twice she mentions the phrase humble estate. Humble estate that she recognized she's a nobody. "Lord, I'm nobody in the world. I humbled myself before You, but You have chosen me to the greatest mission in the history of the world." As is so often in life, things are not as they seem to the world. All the world sees is teenagers. She's pregnant, they're perhaps on a mule, on a donkey traveling 80 miles. But they know that they are doing God's will and they have no idea the ramifications of it. God spoke, they obey. They have no idea that 700 years earlier the prophet Micah had prophesied and Micah 5:2. "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans as Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be a ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient of days."

The poor couple is forced to journey to Bethlehem to pay taxes that would set the stage for the fulfillment of the messianic prophecy. Jesus had to be born here in Bethlehem. This was part of His prophecy, part of His prophetic resume. The baby Mary carried was not Caesar, a man who thought he was God, but a far greater wonder, a true God, the true God who became a man. And the journey left Mary increasingly weary as she trod those dusty miles to the south. When she and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, they were exhausted, especially Mary. And at that moment of greatest exhaustion after the journey, the pains begin. And we're all familiar with the haunting simplicity of Luke's description of the birth Luke 2:6. "And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth."

Bethlehem was a small town. Accommodations for travelers were primitive. Even in the nicest inns, they were the crudest of arrangements. And not even these little rooms, these little stalls were available. Despite the urgency, no one could make room for Jesus Christ. If we imagine that Jesus was a born freshly swept County Fair stable, we missed the whole point. He's born into wretchedness. He's born into filth, a stinking barnyard, just poverty all around, indifference of all the people, humiliation, a sense of utter helplessness. We feel from the text the earth was cold and hard, the smell of birth mixed with a stench of manure and acrid straw from the animal feed.

And you just think about how inhospitable the world was for God, for the king of kings. The king of kings has come. The Son of God. God, if you are being born in the world at any time, wouldn't you want to be born in 2023? It's a great year, Lord. 2024 we pray will be better. Wouldn't you want to be born in Boston? Wouldn't you want to be born in one of the hospitals with the medical professionals? Wouldn't you want to be born here with resources? No. He chose that time. It was the fullness of time. And Satan and demons did absolutely everything to make Jesus feel unwelcome. He came anyway. He took on flesh anyway. He chose to come to live in a world that had rejected Him. In love, He came anyway. And He came to save the world from their hostility toward God, to remove the enmity between us and God. How? By allowing His creation to inflict suffering upon Him.

So here we have the son of God, the Savior of the world, the true source of joy, and He's swaddled in suffering, circumstances of suffering. And here we can ask, well, can I experience joy and suffering? Yes, yes. Not happiness per se, not pleasure per se, but joy. We instinctively know that happiness and pleasure are not synonymous with joy. If they were, drug addicts will be the happiest people in the world. No, joy is deeper. Joy is found in the presence of the Son of God. And here He is swaddled and suffering. Verse 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."

So Jesus is born and Mary perhaps counted his fingers and the couple wiped Him clean as best as they could by the firelight and they wrap Him up in swaddling cloths. No child born in that world at that time had lower prospects. The son of God was born into the world not as a prince but as a pauper. And we see the swaddle Jesus lying in the feeding trough in the stable, the birthplace of common livestock. And this is the same God who created everything. We see the incredible humility of God coming into the world like this. This is the same God who spoke to Job in Job 38. "The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man. I will question you and you make it known to me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Or who shut the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds as garment and thick darkness its swaddling band.'"

The one who created everything is now in swaddling cloths, and it just shows the incredible, incredible humility of God Himself. The wonder of the incarnation that the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God becomes a baby. 1 Timothy 3:16, "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory." He was manifested in the flesh. And therefore we can, as James 1:2 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds." Jesus showed us the example and He gives us the spiritual strength to do it. Romans 5:3, "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance."

So true joy is found in suffering, swaddled and suffering and true joy is receiving salvation from sin. Verse 8, "And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were filled with great fear. 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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'"

So the next scene we see here is that we see shepherds in what is known as today the shepherd's fields about two miles from Bethlehem toward the Dead Sea. It was most likely in the same place where David, who later became king, but when he was a shepherd, he tended his father's flocks and fought off the lion and the bear and perhaps worked on his target practice with a sling. And the shepherds were just doing their jobs, just going about the regular work, mundane routine. And these men were probably temple shepherds. They were taking care of the unblemished lambs to be sacrificed to God in the morning and evening sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple not far away.

So the temple flock was pastured near the town of Bethlehem. Most likely it is around winter time when the rains had already come and the angel of Lord appears to them. It says, "The glory of the Lord shown around them." All of a sudden, the Shekinah glory that had not been seen for centuries, God hasn't shown His glory to the world in centuries. All of a sudden the angels see the splendor of the Lord blazed around them, as one translation says. It's as if a star had burst glorious light overpowered the night. And then all of a sudden the angel steps out and proclaims to them good news of great joy. This was the glory of God that Moses wanted to see. Moses begged God, "God, let me see your Shekinah glory. Let me see your face."

Exodus 24:16, "The glory of the Lord dwell on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it six days. On the seventh day, He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel." And Moses longed to see God's face. He longed to see the glory of God in the face of God. And God said, "No, I'm going to show you just a little bit, just a little glimpse. You're not ready for it." Until Jesus Christ had come. The angels come and all of a sudden the world erupts with Shekinah glory, the glory of God. And Jesus Christ in His ministry, He allowed His disciples the choices, once Peter, James, and John to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And He welcomed Moses as well. This was on the mountain of transfiguration in Matthew 17.

"And after six days, Jesus took with him Peter and James, the sons, and John His brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves and He was transfigured before them and His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as light. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Him. And Peter said to Jesus, 'Lord, it's good that we are here. If You wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.' And he was still speaking when behold a bright cloud overshadowed them and the voice from the cloud said, 'This is My beloved son, with whom I'm well pleased. Listen to Him.' When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them saying, 'Rise and have no fear.' And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only."

This glorious Jesus, this glorious son of God that when He shows just the glimpse of His glory, His disciples fall. This is the one who becomes a child. This is the one who stoops down to become one of us, to represent us, to go to the cross on behalf of us, to pay the penalty that we deserved to pay. So for over 500 years, the people of Israel had not seen the visible manifestation of God's glory. And now God reveals it and He reveals it to whom? He doesn't reveal it to the Sadducees. He doesn't reveal the glory, Shekinah glory of God to the Pharisees. He's not revealing it to Caesar or the governors or the magistrates, not to Herod, not the military leaders. To whom does God reveal His glory? Glory that hasn't been seen for 500 years? To shepherds, to just shepherds. And shepherds, I like shepherds. I'm a big fan of shepherds. I wish I could be a shepherd. I'm a pastor. I'm a shepherd in many ways. I'll get to the sheep part in just a bit.

But the shepherds in that culture, they weren't respected. They weren't considered good. According to the missionary, shepherds were actually considered in the same class as thieves, as people who were religiously unclean. They were the sinners of the sinners. The only people lower than the shepherds in the societal stratum we're the lepers. Scripture says, "There's only one announcement of Christ's birth recorded in scriptures. There's only one invitation from God to anyone to come visit Mary and Joseph and the infant Jesus. And the invitation goes to the lowest of the low, a bunch of shepherds, uneducated, smelly, low class social and religious outcasts."

God sends the angels to sinners, to sinners who knew they were sinners. To sinners that they couldn't even make up an excuse of self-righteousness. They knew they were sinners. They knew there were rebels. They knew that they had broken commandments, they had broken laws. They knew they deserved judgment and they understood what judgment took as they cared for these sheep, as they cared for the Passover lambs, the unblemished lambs, they knew that the penalty for breaking a commandment of God was death. It was the shedding of blood. And they understood substitutionary atonement. They knew that someone had to die in the place of the sinners to be freed.

So God sends His angel, He sends His Shekinah glory and He sends His glorious angels, a choir of angels that commonly sing glory to God in the highest. And God loves to pick those that the world would never pick. And this shows us that salvation is not on the basis of pedigree. It's not on the basis of society. It's not on the basis of how religious your family was. It's not on the basis of anything. It's not even on the basis of morality. Salvation is on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ, by grace through faith and by grace alone. He says, "I bring you, it's personal, good news of great joy. It's positive for all the people." It's universal. Anyone that would believe in Jesus Christ can be saved.

So this reminds us that God does love people and he loves even shepherds. He loves even us. And this also reminds us some of the greatest leaders in biblical history were shepherds. Abel was the first acceptable worshiper after the fall. He was a shepherd. Moses was a shepherd. King David was a shepherd boy. Isaiah 40:11 prophesied that the Messiah himself will be a shepherd. "He will tend his flock like a shepherd and he will gather the lambs in his arms." And this is what Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd." Meaning He leads us. We need a shepherd. We need someone to lead us. And meaning that this isn't a compliment. When the scripture calls us sheep, that's not a compliment.

Sheep are notoriously stupid. One of my favorite things to do is watching YouTube videos about sheep doing really dumb things. If they don't have a sheep dog, if they don't have a shepherd, they die. In scripture when God calls us sheep, this isn't flattering. They're dumb, they're helpless, they're slow, they're defenseless. No one's ever been scared of a sheep. They lack a sense of direction. They mindlessly follow each other, the blind leading the blind. And this is what God calls us and he calls us sheep, my little sheep, so that we recognize our need for Him and recognize our need to be led by Him. And for this to happen, we need humility. Lord, lead me. Lord, what do your scriptures say? Lord, what is your will? Lord, speak and I long to do your will. And even if I don't have the power to do it, I ask for your grace. This is how God views us as helpless sheep, too proud to realize we need to be saved from our own folly.

And these shepherds also knew about God's plan of the sacrificial system. They knew that sin was so awful in God's sight that it did require shedding of blood. They knew what it meant. That Jesus the Messiah would be the lamb of God led to the slaughter. The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, even their sins, even our sins if we so ask. Luke 2:10, "And the angels said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'" The Savior and Lord is born. He is the one at the center of the good news. He's the one that brings the great joy. This is the first time in scripture that the Messiah is specifically called the Savior. In the Old Testament, God was the Savior and here the baby who's born is called the Savior to show us He's not just a baby. He's not just human.

In Matthew's account also we read that the coming king will save His people from their sins. And the identity of the baby is being disclosed piece by piece. He's born in the city of David, the city of Bethlehem, the one the prophet Micah spoke about. And the Messiah, He's called, the anointed one, the anointed of God. And the commendation of Christ the Lord occurs only here in the New Testament. He's anointed, but He's also the Lord. A word that's used for Yahweh, meaning He's not just human. He is the God of the Old Testament. The anointed one is the embodiment of God, the undiminished deity, as Paul tells us, "For in Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form."

And He's born. How is the pre-existent Christ the one that's always existed, will always exist, how is He born? Well, this is the paradox, the seeming contradiction that He was and is eternal God but has been born. He's taken on flesh. "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given and He is God. He is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." And the angel says there's objective evidence. If you don't believe what I've said, here's the objective evidence. Go and see Christ yourself. And the objective evidence is in verse 12. "And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

How will you be able to identify Him? Well, go to Bethlehem, go to the city of David, the shepherds are told. And you're going to find a baby born and wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a cow trough. Jesus perhaps wasn't the only baby born in Bethlehem that night, but he was definitely the only baby that was found in a feeding trough. And the shepherds were told, "Go see because the spotless lamb will be born, the spotless lamb who will offer us a joy that is impervious to circumstances." In John 6:22, Christ says, "So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full."

Jesus Christ, the son of God. He is omnipotent, He is immutable, therefore unchanging. Therefore, He offers us a joy that is also impervious relentless, a circumstance defying joy. And He tells the disciples, "I'm offering you this joy and it's a joy that is from above." If you look back to the shepherds and you say, "How did the life of the shepherds change from this moment? They saw Christ, they saw the baby, they heard the revelation of the angels. Did their circumstances change? Did their job change? Did their financial situation change? Did their health change?" No. But an underlying fact of their existence changed. They now have met the Savior of the world. They understand that this is good news of great joy because a Savior has come to offer the shepherd salvation from sin, salvation from condemnation. Therefore, they rejoice. 1 Thessalonians 5:16, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

And third, true joy is expressing songs to the Savior. Verse 13. "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.'" So all of a sudden there was one angel and now there was a whole choir of angels. And the word here for host or multitude is an army of angels. One commentator says perhaps all of the angels that ever existed, they're here for this moment to announce and they announce it in glory and in glorious light and they announce it in song. And this is why at Christmastime we sing. And this is as Christians, we should be singing all the time. We sing every Sunday. We sing on Christmas Sunday. We're going to sing next Sunday and the Sunday...

The reason why we sing is because the Lord fills our hearts with joy. This joy of that He has changed our eternal destiny. And the Christmas message of this passage should make us be a people that sing year round. Can you celebrate with the angels? Can you celebrate the true meaning of Christmas? Have you given Christ your whole heart? Do you have the integrity of heart to both sing but sing because your heart is in sync with the tune, the melody? Do you know the deep, intimate peace of God that no matter what happens, I have a peace, a tranquility that transcends all understanding? Can you sing and praise and glorify His name? And you can, you know you can if you know that Jesus Christ is the only way to peace with God. There's no salvation. There's salvation and no one else for there's no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

This message should cause our hearts to sing out with the angels, Gloria in Excelsis Deo. It's a hymn of praise to the Lord, that the Lord was so gracious that He becomes one of us. He was born in this muck in order to save us. He's held in highest opinion and esteem and therefore He deserves all praise, honor, and glory. The substance of the angel's song is instructive. They say, "Glory to God in the highest." It's upward and then they pronounce peace. God's offering His peace with whom He is well pleased. Peace among whom? Well, it's not just peace with everybody. It's peace among those with whom He is pleased. And the question is with whom is the Lord pleased? This peace, this shalom is upon those whom God's favor rests. Well, who? With whom is God at peace? With the humble, with those who like the shepherds receive this message.

Yes, this is good news. This is good news for me, for me personally, that the Savior is born. My Savior. That the Lord is born. He's my Lord. That the king is born. He's my king. He's come to suffer on behalf of me in my place on the cross. Therefore, there's no more hostility. There's no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Make no mistake, God's peace does not rest on every single human being. God's peace rests among those with whom He is pleased. Well, how can we please God if we're sinners? How can we please God if we have transgressed His commandments? Well, there's one that has come. One in whom the Lord, the Father's completely at peace and delight. And that's Jesus Christ. He said, "This is my son in whom I'm well pleased." Well, his son led that perfect life instead of us on our behalf.

And the good news is, when you trust in Jesus Christ, when you repent of your sin, when you accept God's grace, He gives you salvation from condemnation. And now there's peace between you and God no matter what you've done, no matter how many sins you've committed, no matter how many commandments you've transgressed. So today, friends, if you're not sure, accept this peace. Say, "Lord, I want this peace in my life. Lord, I want you to be pleased with me. Lord, I repent and I believe in Jesus Christ." And the unmistakable implication is that there are people with whom God is not pleased. And I pray that each one of us will be people with whom God is pleased, on whom God's favor rests. And that's what the humble, the repentant, those who accept His grace.

Verse 15, "When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.' And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of the eight days when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb."

The shepherds get the good news, the shepherds then go and confirm the good news. And then what do they do? They want to tell everybody. They want to tell everyone the great news. They are here presented as the first evangelists, sharing the good news. That's what we do as Christians. That's our evangelism. It's just sharing the good news of great joy. Do you wish to know whether God's favor rests upon you? Do you want to know if when the angels sang their glory to the shepherds, they were bringing good news to you as well? Do you want to know if God is pleased with you?

There is only one way to know. There's only one way to be certain. And you got to ask yourself, do you see yourself among the shepherds? Can I see myself doing what they did? I could totally see myself. I'd be sprinting faster than any of them. I could totally see myself. You're telling me Jesus is born. This is awesome. I want to go see Him and I want to tell everybody about. And this is what grace does to you. When you meet the Lord, you can't express your joy and share this good news with others. The shepherds here are an example of believers. Were they religious? No. Did they go to the temple? No. Did they even know scripture? No. All they knew was we know that this is true. We have seen the Savior.

The uniqueness of the Christian faith is that each individual, each human being must come to an intimate personal relationship with Christ on their own. No one else's faith can count for you. Your mother or your father may have been faithful Christians, they may have gone to church. But the question is, do you believe? Their faith will not save you. Your relative's faith does not save you. Even though Jesus Christ went to the cross and died in your place to pay your sin debt, it's not applied to you until you accept it, until you ask for forgiveness, until you repent, until you ask for the gift of eternal life. Eternal life is a free gift, but it's not automatic and it's not universal. It takes personal faith in Christ to save you.

The Savior is Christ the Lord. There is none other. And today he's no longer a baby. He's no longer confined in a trough. Today Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God and He knows us intimately. He knows our most inner attitudes and actions toward Him. And He today is calling us to receive the grace of God and to worship the Lord in response. When a Jewish father had a son born, it was a joyous occasion and he'd hire a band. He'd say, "I have a son. Everyone come and celebrate." He'd hire the band, had a good time. And that's what God the Father's doing here. He's announcing to the world. He's got His best band and the angels and He's calling us to repentance to accept this great gift of salvation.

And God rejoices when even one sinner repents. In Luke 15:6, it says, "When He comes home, He calls together His friends and His neighbors saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance." And why did Jesus Christ do all this? Why did He come into this world? Why did He live a perfect life? Why did He go to the cross? Well, He did it all for joy. He did it for the joy that He would experience in saving people. And He did it for the joy that He offers us.

Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Christmas is about Christ breaking into the world. And it's also about God breaking into our hard stony hearts. He came as He did to be what He was, sinless. He was what He was to do what He did, and that was die for us. He did what He did, that we might be who we are, redeemed sinners. He was born of a virgin that I might be born again, that you might be born again. He became a son of man that I might become a son of God. He came to earth that we might go to heaven. So there's much to rejoice about on this Christmas Eve day. Philippians 4:4, our close with, "Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I will say rejoice." Amen. Let us pray.

Lord God, we thank You for the holy scriptures. And Lord God, we thank You that You are with us and You are with us because of the work of your son, Jesus Christ. And Jesus, we remember Your birth. We remember Your suffering in Your birth, which led to suffering in Your life, which led to suffering in Your death. And You showed us in many ways the way of life, the way of following You is a life full of suffering.

But it's suffering even in the middle of which we can experience an expressible, ineffable joy. Joy that's impervious to circumstance, a joy that is supernatural, joy that comes from You because it's a joy that is a byproduct of having peace with You, a relationship with You, intimacy with You. So we pray for more of Your presence in our lives and our church, and we pray that You make us like the shepherds who receive the good news and then go and share the good news with anyone who would hear. And Lord, continue to bless our worship service. Accept our worship now as a fragrant offering. We worship You because You are glorious and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.