In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town.4 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, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 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. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 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. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Things are becoming more and more clear…don’t you think? We have commented often that the Covid pandemic revealed much about our culture as well as revealing what is really true about the church and individual Christians; our fears and where our trust really lies.
In John Mark Comer’s book, Live No Lieshe chronicles in detail the tectonic shift in our culture toward Christians and Christianity. Here are his three points in summary.
Christians are no longer a majority in our culture but a minority. And according to research by George Barna, true “follow Jesus no matter what” Christians are less than 10% of the population, although 65% of people say they are Christians.
Comer concludes: The followers of Jesus, our worldview, value system, practices and social norms are increasingly at sharp odds with those of our culture. We face constant pressure to assimilate and follow the crowd.
Our brother Bernie Carbo told us men at Bible Study that as he speaks at churches around the country, which he has and continues to do quite a bit, the vast majority of pastors tell him, to not offend anyone…pressure to assimilate and follow the crowd.
Second, the place of Christians in the culture has gone from a place of honor to a place of shame. One example among many: To hold to Jesus’ view of sexuality in our day is perceived by our culture as immoral, bigoted and hateful worthy of societal excommunication or worse. And then third, there has been a shift from widespread tolerance of Christianity to a rising hostility of the Christian faith, at least hostility toward those who will not compromise the message or the life that the Bible sets forth for God’s people. The 10% of those who are serious about our faith are viewed as dangerous and a threat to our culture’s vision of human flourishing.
I believe all that is true as I believe that all of the nonsense that we are enduring has behind it diabolic designs to untether the church. So then how is it that we, the church, the 10% are rejoicing, celebrating, living joyfully, knowing what we know, seeing what we see and having to endure all of this? Why are we so excited to be alive, to love the Lord and one another, to serve our Savior with gladness?
Because like the shepherds, we believe what the angels said. We believe that the favor of the One and only true rests upon us…who have been loved by Him, love Him in return and live our lives for His glory and purposes in the world. That being true…that we are conquerors in Christ Jesus…why wouldn’t we celebrate!
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying any of this is easy…we are not pretending that the foundations of the culture are shaking mightily…it is just that those upon whom God delights, see it clearly.
Our text says that peace from heaven is for whom? For everyone? No. It is for those upon whom rests the favor of God! The redeemed…those who love the Lord and walk in His ways. I have reminded you of in past Advent’s listen closely to the lyrics of Christmas hymns that are in our hymnal. We see what Christ’s coming was really about and why we live victoriously. I listed some of them for you in your meditation, look there again!
“…as the Light of light descendeth from the realms of endless day that the powers of hellmay vanish as the darkness clears away…”
“O Come thou rod of Jesse free thine own from Satan’s tyranny, from depths of hell they people save and give them victory o’er the grave.”
“…speak ye to Jerusalem of the peace that waits for them, tell her that her sins I cover and her warfare now is over.”
“Fear not then said the angel let nothing you affright this day is born a Savior of a pure virgin bright, to free all those who trust in him from Satan’s power and might…”
And those are just a few. Christmas hymns speak of the reality of Satan’s and sin’s grip on the hearts of men, speaks of hell’s fury and might as being defeated and quenched for those who know and live in the favor of the Lord!
Let’s look at the shepherds, not to sentimentalize them but to really put ourselves in their place…to enter into the real reality of those who experienced the most amazing event in the history of the world.
But first an important theological point that needs to be underscored: The Biblical account of the birth of Jesus is obviously and intentionally rooted in ordinary history. These things happened when Augustus was the emperor and Quirinius was governor of that region of the Empire. The wonderful things that we celebrate happened in those days, under those rulers, when many other things were happening in the world. Jesus died during the reign of Tiberius, during the governorship of Pontius Pilate, while Caiaphas was high priest. These are all men known to history, we can read about them from sources other than the Bible.
While it is true that many people don’t WANT to believe these things happened as the Bible says they did and WHY the Bible says the did…nonetheless, there can be no mistaking the fact that the Gospel writers intended their readers to understand that these events occurred in precisely the same way that Augustus’ imperial reign or Herod’s so-called “rule” occurred.
Christ’s birth was a real event in the real world in the same way as your birth…and your place in the world happens in real history.
Into the everyday world of that time, into its population, its politics, and into its social currents, came suddenly and unexpectedly this mighty and wonderful interruption. The Christian faith is an historical faith, based on historical events!
To be continued…
Prayer: Father, may I proclaim to my own heart, to my brothers and sisters and to all the world the wonders of grace and the glories of Jesus Christ the King! Give me courage, wisdom and resolve to stand upon your Word in every area of my life and to encourage my family and church family to do the same. May I possess a holy abandon to live the wonders of the salvation of the living God and live in the power of the resurrection and the hope of the age to come, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Hymn: Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted