Love Divine

Love Divine


(So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. John 1:14)

What does Christmas mean to a mother who has lost her husband, who must take care of 3 or 4 children, working every day, never quite getting everything done, never making ends meet? What does Christmas mean to her?

What does Christmas mean to the little man in Zimbabwe, 80 years old, living in a hut, who knows nothing of shopping malls or Christmas trees? What does Christmas mean to him?

What does it mean to little children with smudges on their cheeks, & sparkling eyes that look up as you walk past? What does Christmas mean to them?

What does it mean to missionaries who are half a world away from families & friends, who are sacrificing so much to take the precious gospel message to others who have never heard? What does it mean to them?

There is one thing we can be sure of: it means different things to different people.

To merchants it is the busiest time of the year. Stores stay open longer, & hire extra people to accommodate all the shoppers. It means more profit, hopefully enough profit to see them through lean times ahead.

For some employees it means a Christmas bonus, a little more money in their pockets to do things that they want to do.

For many teen-agers & adults it is a time of fun & parties. For children it is a time of impatience, with time seeming to pass so slowly, as they wait for Christmas morning.

But sometimes there is a feeling that we are like the folks who decided to throw a party to honor a very special friend. They sent out invitations, decorated the hall, & had the food catered. All the people came together at the designated time, but to their surprise, the guest of honor was not there.

Finally, they made the embarrassing discovery that no one had ever invited the guest of honor.

Do you suppose this may happens at Christmas time? Do we go through all the decorating, & buying presents, & preparing elaborate meals, but somehow forget whose birthday it really is?

One family tried to overcome that by putting an extra place at their Christmas table for Jesus, & calling Christmas, "His birthday party." When one of their daughters was asked if she got everything she wanted for Christmas, she answered by saying, "No, but then it’s not my birthday."

It isn’t our birthday, is it? It’s the Lord’s birthday & it’s a time to remember His birth & what it is supposed to mean to us.

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” (Luke 2:8-14)

The fact that God made the announcement to shepherds helps us to understand the real meaning of Christmas. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son," (John 3:16) & He chose to announce that to shepherds first of all.

Shepherds were at the opposite end of the social structure from King Herod & all the influential people of the day. They lived in the fields with their animals. They weren’t respected. They had no power or prestige. Yet, God’s angel came to them & said, " The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!" Unto shepherds a Savior was born.

In that one simple announcement God made known some very important truths.

First of all, it tells us, "No matter how insignificant we may think we are, God knows us, & we are important to Him."

All throughout scripture we see God honoring & using people & things that the world often overlooks or ignores.

The Apostle Paul writes, "26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the word things counted as nothing at all,..." (1 Cor. 1:26-28a).

A Jewish youth was sold into slavery by his brothers & carted off to Egypt. Yet, when God wanted to deliver a very special message to mighty Pharaoh, it was the slave, Joseph, who was brought out of the dungeon to interpret the message. God uses the lowly & despised to show His power.

Five thousand men, plus women & children, stayed late on a hillside one day, listening to Jesus. There was no food & the people were hungry. Well, that is not totally accurate. There was one little boy who had 2 fish & 5 little loaves. But it was enough, because God took that small amount & fed the many. He is always doing that, isn’t He?

So when God decided to select a mother for His Son, He went past the fashion salons & beauty parlors. He went past the furs & diamonds & gold, & went to an insignificant village called Nazareth. He found a peasant girl. She did not dress in designer clothes. She did not have a sophisticated education. But she was pure, & God selected her to be the mother of His only begotten Son.

So when the Christ comes, He is not born in Mt. Sinai Hospital in Jerusalem, surrounded by gynecologists, nurses & assistants. But rather, He is born in a stable. He is wrapped in swaddling clothes & laid in a manger.

The world looks down its nose & says, "That’s foolishness." But Paul says, "25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:25)

When God makes His announcement, it is delivered to shepherds. It is like Jesus saying in the Sermon on the mount, "If God cares about sparrows & lilies, then He cares about you." (Matthew 6:25-30) If God cares about shepherds, He cares about you!

We need to hear that, don’t we? Children 12 & 13 years old need to hear that in orphanages when they see younger children being adopted & realize that they probably never will be adopted. They need to hear that.

Mothers of children without a husband to help need to hear that. Lost souls on skid row who drink away their fears need to hear that. People who are lonely need to hear that. People who have lost their spouses in death need to hear that. Church people who feel useless & empty need to hear that.

We all need to hear that. All of us have known feelings of rejection. All of us have known feelings of being left out. Christmas comes. The light shines, & God says, "No! You’re wrong. I made the announcement to shepherds, & I make it to you. Unto you a Savior is born."

The second thing this passage teaches us is that life matters. Not only to us, but our life counts with God.

Can you imagine those shepherds sitting around their campfire on cold nights & wondering if life was really worthwhile or not. "What difference does it make if we watch the sheep or not?"

Maybe we wonder, too, "What difference does it make if I get up every morning or not? It seems as if my life is an endless cycle of things that really don’t mean anything. I just wonder if life is worth living at all?"

When God comes & makes His announcement to shepherds, He is also saying to us, "Your life is worthwhile. It is My gift to you. Therefore live every golden moment of it, because your life does matter to Me."

Every life matters. We should know that. It’s impossible to live, even for a few moments on this earth, & not influence somebody in one way or another. We are always influencing someone, either for good or for bad.

Life counts. Life matters. Your life & mine. Lives of shepherds & lives of kings, all are important to God.

Finally, this. our faith matters, too. Shepherds were men of faith. They probably had more faith than some of the scribes & Pharisees who went to the synagogue every day.

They believed in a Messiah. All of God’s chosen people believed in a Messiah. When things got especially hard, during times of poverty & enslavement & exile, they would think about the Messiah & God’s promise that one day the Messiah would come.

They prayed over & over again for hundreds of years that the promised Messiah would come.

There must have been many who quit praying, & quit having faith. But when the announcement came to shepherds, God was saying, "Your faith matters, & it is not in vain. I am a God who hears & who keeps His promises. Now the Messiah has come, & I have kept My promise."

How about us? Sometimes we become weary. There may be times when we wonder if it is worthwhile going to church. There are times when we wonder if it is worth sacrificing for God.

But one day He will come back. He will come for all of us, shepherds & kings, wise men & peasants. He will come for His people. He’ll dry our tears & take away our pain. There will be no more death, no more good-byes. Then we’ll say, "It was worth it. It was worth it all!"