How Should We Celebrate The Christmas ——————————————————— Lesson 2 But now, assuming that you have believed on Him and that you are a Christian, what can you add to this in order to properly celebrate Christmas? At this point our Bible text comes in, for it is a report of how those who witnessed the first Christmas observed it. The passage begins by speaking of the shepherds. 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 (Luke 2:17-20 emphasis added). This passage suggests four ways of celebrating Christmas: • Tell others about it. • Be amazed at the event itself. • Ponder on its meaning. • Glorify and praise God for what was done that first Christmas. We need to think about each of these ways. In the first place, we are told that the shepherds, after they had come to Bethlehem and had seen the infant Jesus, spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.... In other words, the shepherds became witnesses of the event. The reasons why they became witnesses are that there was an event, a great event, and that others very much needed to hear of it. Can we doubt that the shepherds had something worth telling? Hardly! For if their story was not worth telling, then no story that has ever been told is worth telling and life has no joy or meaning. What had happened to these men? Well, they had been out in the fields of Bethlehem in the middle of the night, watching over their sheep as they had for many hundreds of nights previously and as their fathers undoubtedly had before them. They had no thought about spiritual things — at least we are not told that they did — and they certainly didnt expect the miracle. But then, suddenly, an angel appeared with the message: 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 ( Luke 2:10-11 ). After the angel spoke a host of angels appeared, all praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests (Luke 2:14 ). When the angels had departed, the shepherds decided to go to Bethlehem. So they left their flocks and came and found Jesus, precisely as the angels had indicated. In other words, what they had been told coincided with their own experience, and they could not resist speaking of such things. These men, poor shepherds though they were, had seen God incarnate. They had heard the music of heaven. They had seen the angels and had come to worship the angels King. How could their tongues be silent when they had heard such music? How could they refuse to tell what they had seen? Not only did these men have something to tell, as we do, they also knew of a world that needed desperately to hear their message. It was a sad world in their time. It was lost, confused, dying. It was lost because it lacked direction, primarily spiritual direction. It was confused because it lacked revelation and, therefore, also an awareness of truth. It was dying because it had no adequate cause for which to live. The world of the shepherds day was much like our world today, in which the lamps of knowledge and culture seem to be slowly flickering out. But over against this dying world was Jesus. Who was He really? Well, later in His life He would speak of Himself in terms that spoke to precisely the worlds condition. He would say that He was the way — for a world that was lost. He would say that He was the truth — for a world that was dreadfully confused. He would say that He was the life — for a world that was dying. The Way! The Truth! The Life! The shepherds took this message, in the only form they knew, to their contemporaries. This is the perfect combination — a knowledge of the Good News and men who need to hear it. This combination, when truly grasped, produces witnesses. Would anyone want to say that these men were not authorized to spread such a message? Will anyone argue that they were uneducated? Or that they had not been endorsed by the temple authorities? If anyone would argue in this way, he should notice that the shepherds had the most important authorization of all — possession of good news which had been revealed to them by God. Anybody who knows good news is authorized to tell it, particularly when it is news that will be the means of salvation of others. The Scriptures say, And let him who hears say, Come! (Revelation 22:17 ). In other words, the only ultimate essential for proclaiming the gospel is a knowledge of it. So everyone who knows of Christ and has become a Christian can tell others of Him. Here then is the first lesson Luke teaches us on celebrating Christmas. Imitate the shepherds in spreading the word concerning what you know about the Christ child. We also can celebrate Christmas by being amazed at it — And all who heard it were amazed... ( Luke 2:18 ). There are two kinds of amazement. There is one kind of amazement which is merely a tickling of the fancy. It is the kind of amazement we associate with special effects in a movie or with an Olympic gold medal winner. It is a temporary fascination with something unusual. After this type of amazement has run its course nobody gives the cause of it a second thought. The other kind of amazement is a holy wonder in response to those acts of God which are beyond human comprehension. This holy amazement is closely melded to adoration.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 12:06:54 +0000
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