Date: 10.12.17
Text: Luke 2:1-20
Place: Sunday @ 6
Title: Truth is stranger than fiction
File: Luke 2a
Preacher: Stephen Taylor
Slide 1
Have you heard the phrase "Truth is stranger than fiction”? Sometimes the most bizarre things have not been dreamed up by some script writer for TV, they actually happened.
Let me give you a couple of examples:Slide 2
* To this day in Oklahoma, USA, there is a law that forbids giving alcohol to fish.
* On Greenberry Hill, London, in 1641, three men were hung for the murder of a local magistrate. By pure coincidence their surnames were Green, Berry &you guess it, Hill.
* In the mid 1700's a Russian peasant woman named Feodor Vassilyev gave birth to
69 children. In 27 separate pregnancies she had 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets.
* In Italy you can buy ready-made coffins that have beepers, two way speakers, a
torch, an oxygen tank and a sensor to detect a person's heartbeat just in case someone buries you before you are actually dead
* And in 1995, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, a woman named Vera Czermack was told by her husband that he was having a long standing affair with another woman. Vera just couldn't cope with this news and so she decided to end it all, by jumping out their third story window onto the pavement below. A few days later she jumped, but survived. She landed on a man walking by who was killed instantly. That man was her husband.
Slide 3
Believe it or not, these stories are all true. They are proof indeed that truth is stranger than fiction. But when we come to the story of the birth of Jesus we find another bizarre example of this stranger than fictionprinciple. Imagine you had to make up a story of God sending his son into the world. How would you start the story? What sort of a birth would you invent?
Slide 4
I reckon if it was going to happen today people would make it into the biggest international event ever. For starters they would make sure that it happened where lots of people were - London, New York, or maybe better still in Hollywood, then it would be sure to make the news all around the world. They would have the best doctors available, the best nursing staff there so that nothing went wrong. They would invite world leaders to officially welcome God's son to our planet. There would be a worldwide webcast. You would get the biggest brands in the world to sponsor the event. It would be absolutely HUGE!
But when you pick up the Bible, and read the story of the birth of God's Son, Jesus you see nothing like this. You don't see glamour, lights,cameras and action or long speeches. You don't see wealth or palaces or powerful men or women. You don't see anything that you would expect. It's strange. Very strange. For it’s a really simple story. Let’s have a look.
- A simple story (verses 1-7)
In those days Caesar Augustusissued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.2(This was the first census that took place whileQuirinius was governor of Syria.)3And everyone went to their own town to register.
Slide 6
We have already noted that Luke is writing history. He has been careful to make sure that he is reporting the facts. And here is further proof. Jesus birth happens during the reign of Caesar Augustus that means we are talking sometime between 27BC and 14 AD. While Quirinius was governor of Syria. History tells us that he held several posts in Syria around that time. And if we take into account that when Jesus was born Herod the Great was King in the land, it means we are talking somewhere between 6-4BC.
Slide 7
So Caesar calls a census, Quirinius conducts it and so everyone has to go back to their home town. What a hassle. Especially for Joseph for he has to travel from the north of the country Nazareth to the south Bethlehem. But it’s worse for his fiancé Mary. They are engaged, betrothed is the ancient word. Pledged to each other in a way where they are not yet married but it is so binding that to get out of it you must go through a divorce. But Mary is pregnant, through God’s Holy Spirit we saw that a couple of weeks ago.
Now Mary doesn’t have to come with Joseph. But I’m sure Joseph doesn’t want to leave her to the gossip mongers back home. I’m sure no one believed that angel story! As if! And yet he will be away for months & I’m sure he wants to look after her. So he brings her with him. And it is a good thing he does. Because while they are in Bethlehem, she gives birth to a son.
Slide 8
But where are they staying? The traditional Bible words are there was no room in the inn. But they didn’t have a whole stack of accommodation available for travellers in those days that you just looked up Stayz and found somewhere to sleep. There were a few inns but they were dangerous and rough places. Besides Joseph had relatives at Bethlehem so he would have expected to stay with one of them. But everyone else was expecting to stay with the exact same relatives! So when they turn up there was no room for them anywhere.
Except where the animals were. It could have been a part of the house, it could have been a cave, maybe even a stable next to a house. We don’t know. But that was where Jesus was born. And they wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a feeding trough, a manger.
It’s a simple story of inconvenience. Of poverty, for this is how poor people lived. Of obscurity, this is happening in the back blocks of the mighty Roman Empire. Of rejection, there is no place for this young family to lay their heads. Yet we know from earlier on in Luke’s gospel that this baby is God Himself visiting the planet. How bizarre!
But doesn’t that tell us something about how God does things? The man who started Buddhism Siddhartha Gautama was a wealthy and powerful prince. The man who started Islam (Muhammad) was a renowned and fearsome warrior. But when God visited this planet his Son Jesus is born in a shed amongst the animals. Humble, ordinary, simple.
Slide 9
You see God is not distant. God doesn’t just make the world and then it work things out for itself. He joins us in the muck and mud of this life. He is placed in a feeding trough of all places. But in this simple start to the story we see that Caesar is not in control, nor is Quirinius, they are just pawns in God’s hands. For according to the OT the Messiah was always going to be born in Bethlehem and here we see God using world events, Caesar’s census as well as local events, the likely gossiping of the people of Nazareth to bring Jesus to where God had promised he would. Centuries before. Truth is stranger than fiction. But it
doesn’t end there.
Slide 10
- For next we come across A silly audience (verses 8-9)
Now when a child is born to a member of British royalty; for instance, when Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge Kate children George and Charlotte were born, they didn’t send a messenger down to the docks to break the news first to the fishmongers. They didn’t issue personal invitations to the cab drivers of London to come visit them at Windsor castle. I’m guessing that if any announcements or invitations were sent out, they were printed in gold leaf and hand delivered to political leaders and foreign heads of state.
The point is that you would expect an event like the birth of the Christ to be announced to the most important people in the nation. Political leaders – kings, governors, magistrates, even Caesar – might be invited to come and pay homage to the future ruler. Religious leaders – Priests, rabbis, synagogue officials – they would all be invited to worship their Messiah. Military leaders. Wealthy merchants. But none of them got the word. None of them were invited. Instead the announcement went firstly to some shepherds living in the fields nearby, watching their flocks at night.
Slide 11
Now when you think about the shepherds, they would be the last people you’d expect God to take notice of. First of all, they were religious outcasts. According to Jewish religious law, these men were unclean. Their line of work prevented them from participating in the feasts and holy days that made up the Jewish religious calendar. Why? Well, somebody had to watch the sheep. A modern day example might be a truckie or a shift worker, whose job keeps them from regularly attending church. It wasn’t really their fault. But they were looked down on from a religious point of view.
Not only that, but shepherds were borderline social outcasts. Since they were constantly on the move to find new pasture for their flocks, they were looked on with suspicion. Kind of the way people today might look at gypsies. They were often accused of being thieves. If something was missing – it must have been those good for nothing shepherds. They were not permitted to give testimony in a legal proceeding, because their word wasn’t considered trustworthy. And on top of all that, they really didn’t have much contact with other people. Because most of the time, they were “living out in the fields”.
But truth is stranger than fiction. So according to v9, An angelof the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” Of course they are terrified. I’m sure we would be too if an angel in all his glory was to come and visit us in the middle of the night as well! These are the last people that you would expect God to tell.
Slide 12
Yet there is probably another reason why God made the announcement of his sons to these shepherds.King David was a shepherd before he became the king of Israel and God promised to David that in the future he would send his people a Messiah, a Christ who would shepherd is people. You see what a shepherd does for his sheep, he knows them, he feeds them, he leads them, he protects them - that is what Jesus is going to do for his people. He will be their Good Shepherd. He will even lay down his life for his sheep.
So what more appropriate group of people to first witness this special birth? Their work tied
them in with the shepherding role of the Christ. Their poor and humble state pointed to the fact that God was not going to work through the powerful, the wise, the noble but through the poor, the foolish, the weak. A simple, event, a silly audience &
Slide 13
- A Strange Explanation. (verses 10-12)
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.11Today in the town of David a Saviourhas been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.12This will be a signto you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Slide 14
The angels says I bring you Good News. Good news. Now what would be good news for these shepherds? “You can take the night off and go back to your families and your own beds?” or “The boss has decided to give you a Christmas bonus?” Or maybe “God has decided to kick the Roman’s out of town so you can now be free men in your own country!” Now that would be good news, very good news.
But God has something even better to say to the shepherds than this! So the angels trumpet “Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born, he is Christ the Lord.” What is the good news? A Saviour has been born. Not really the sort of the thing that we would make a song and dance about today. Sure we want to know that the Federal government is about to lower our taxes. That’s good news. Or maybe the State government has given us an extra public holiday over the Christmas break. That’s really good news, but a Saviour being born?
Slide 15
A couple of weeks ago a retired lady from our Church got baptised and before she was baptised I asked Lorraine to give us her testimony. And she talked about how she used to go to Church when she was a teenager, that God had set a spark in her heart decades ago but that she had wandered away after that. Got a job, married, had kids, grandkids but over time she realised that something was missing. That she was lost. And that coming back to Church had changed everything because there she had been found by Jesus.
Slide 16
And the angels are saying to the shepherds that this Jesus has come to be a Savour for he will save people who are lost, lost in their sins. Now most Australians don’t think that they need a Saviour! They are basically good people living in a free country. Life may not be as good as it gets, but it’s not too bad. It’s not like I am out in the surf and I need a life Saver. Or that I’m in trouble and I need a knight in shining armour to save me from my troubles. After all God helps those who help themselves. I’m too independent to need a Saviour.
Don’t you think this is the big problem for the average Aussie when it comes to Christmas? They don’t think they need God to do anything for them! They have no concept of sin. They are blind to the fact that their relationship with God is in tatters. They are just trying to do their best in a crazy world and really God isn’t even on the horizon, let alone on a white horse ready to save me from this world!
But the angels are saying to us today that we are in so much trouble that we need saving, desperately need saving. And that is what God is intending to do for us in Jesus. He will save us from our sins. And so it is only when we realise the depth of our sin. It only when we understand that this baby has come into the world to pay the penalty for my sins that we
begin to see the good news. For truly it is good news of Great Joy.
Slide 17
This good news will result in great joy, actually the word is MEGA joy! This will not just make the shepherds happy, or relieve their boredom, this will give them a deep, lasting, fulfilling joy. God was going to do something to change their lives. God had stepped into human history and given them the gift of this child. God was sending them a chance of participating in Mega joy.
It was also great joy because it had been long anticipated. It was great joy because this was the Messiah, the Saviour. He was finally here! It was great joy to know that the all powerful, all knowing and omnipresent God of the universe was born into this world for people like the shepherds, even people like you and me. He was born for us. He lived for us. He died for us. He rose from the grave for us and today He even lives to make intercession for us! The angels wanted the shepherds to know the great joy in the birth of their Saviour.
Slide 18
Good news of great joy for all God’s people because the good news was not just for the shepherds, but for all men. It was not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles. It was not just for the men, but for the women and children.
So often we forget that this good news of great joy is for all God’s creatures. For we keep it to ourselves. We are nervous about seeming to be too politically incorrect. We don’t want to be labelled religious freaks. But if Jesus has come as our Saviour and our Lord and if Jesus has changed our lives and given us a deep seated joy down in our hearts, then we should be keen to share it with all of God’s creatures. Because it is as relevant to them as it is to us.So how do the people respond to this good news? Well that’s where Luke takes us next
Slide 19
- To some superb responses.
Well what did the shepherds do? “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.” 16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger”.
The shepherds respond in faith. They go. They do what the angels say. They hurry off to find Mary and Joseph. They drop everything in order to come to Jesus. What a great response. If what the angel says is true, really true. If a Saviour has been born to them, then they need to draw near to this Saviour. They need to put him first in all that they do. They need to respond to what the angels have said with faith and actions.