Luke 2:8-20
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 that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, 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 heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
and on earth peace to those 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.
I love Christmas.
I know that’s nothing unusual; I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t love Christmas. Even the Grinch eventually came around!
I love the lights, the decorations, the cookies; I love getting up while it’s still dark and sitting in our family room enjoying the glow of our Christmas tree.
I think what I love most about Christmas is the joy; or more accurately, the anticipated joy.
I was blessed to grow up in a family where our Christmases were filled with love and joy; and with anticipated joy.
When my brothers and I were young my father developed an interesting tradition. Brightly wrapped gifts would begin to appear under the tree a week or so before Christmas. Our anticipation and excitement would grow day by day as we would pore over the gifts to see which ones were tagged for which one of us boys.
But my father would almost always save one gift; usually a gift that was for all of us; and usually a gift that would have been difficult to wrap – to put out unwrapped after we had gone to bed on Christmas Eve.
So on Christmas morning we would wake up almost trembling with anticipation, knowing that such an unwrapped treasure awaited our eyes as soon as we were allowed to go downstairs!
One particular Christmas morning, when I was about 12 years old, my brothers and I flew down the stairs, peered into the living room with the tree that glowed with multi-colored bulbs as well as the promise of riches untold, and, there it was: “Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots”. The most amazing toy known to human childhood!
“Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots” featured two plastic robot boxers, one red and one blue, who stood in a yellow plastic boxing ring. Each robot was connected to a plastic controller that had two buttons, one that moved each arm and fist. When you managed to punch the other robot right on the chin – his head would pop up with a resounding buzzing sound – indicating that you “knocked his block off” and that round was over.
My brother and I played with that toy non-stop until both robots heads had popped off so many times that they wouldn’t stay in place any more. It took less than 2 days if I remember right!
But the whole point of the unwrapped gift was to create joy -anticipated joy.
At the heart of the story that we have read and heard so many times is a gift intended to bring great joy.
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 that will cause great joy for all the people.
Notice the relationship of “good news” to “great joy.” I think many people in our culture, and sometimes even some of us who know, understand and believe the gospel, can miss the presence of the gospel in the story of Christ’s birth.
We know the part about the shepherds and the angels; we know the part about the baby in the manger; but we can miss the words the angel uses to describe the whole thing: “good news.”
The word Luke uses here is euongelizo, which can be translated “to bring good news,” or “to bring the gospel;” and is the word form which we get the English verb “to evangelize.”
So right at the heart of the Christmas story lies the gospel, the good news that God has provided salvation through Jesus Christ. And this good news is cause for great joy!
The whole point of giving gifts like “Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots” at Christmastime is to create joy. The whole point of the gospel is the same.
Joy to the world!
Brian Coffey
Brian Coffey
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