My Journey to Bethlehem, Luke 2:8-20

My Journey to Bethlehem
Luke 2:8-20


Pastor Brian
Fort Bend Community Church
December 24, 2011
Christmas Eve Service

Introduction

1.       Welcome to Bethlehem! Tonight we are going to take a journey back to the manger. I invite you to come along wherever you are and just as you are.

2.       Imagine that this is the manger of the first Christmas when Jesus was born. Most of us have never raise animals in our life. A manger is a feed box for the animals to eat from.

3.       The manger was most likely in a shepherd cave, not in a barn or a wooden structure.

4.       The time was August or September, when it was still warm for the shepherds in the field at night. December would be too cold. I am pretty sure that Jesus was not born on December 25.

The Journey of Joseph and Mary

1.       First, it was the journey of Joseph and Mary to the Manger. They took a 80-mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem because of the census order by the Emperor.

2.       God used the census decree to bring them back to this little town of Bethlehem to give birth to the Messiah, as foretold by the prophet Micah.

3.       “The hope and dreams of all the years are met in Bethlehem tonight.”

4.       The new born child lay in the manger is God’s favor toward all of us and for all mankind.

5.       The Bible says, “For God so love the world that He gave us His only begotten Son.” (John 3:6) The baby who lay in the manger is God’s love for all to see.

6.       By coming to the manger, you too can find the favor of God. You are loved by God’s everlasting love through the birth of this child.

The Quiet Arrival of God

1.       The second journey to Bethlehem was the quiet arrival of God. That night God quietly entered into human form to be with us.

2.       This was the journey God has planned before the foundation of the world. And at the manger He arrived quietly in human form.

3.       He is God incarnated, 100% God and 100% man.

4.       He came to die for us and saved us from sins and God’s wrath.

5.       He came to make God known to us. “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son of God has made Him known.” (John 1:!8)

The Third Journey: the Journey of the Shepherds

1.       The third journey was the journey of the Shepherds. On the first Christmas night, they were the first visitors to the manger.

2.       They were the first, not by no means, the last. You too invited to be here.

3.       You too are prompted to make the journey to the manger from wherever you are and just as you are.

4.       You are the important character in the Christmas story. The story is written for you. It has an invitation for all of us to enter into the story. It has a RSVP that awaits your response.

5.       In your hand, you should have a green response sheet and a pen. I encourage you to write your own story as you make your journey to the manger. I will give you a little more suggestions later on.

Reader Theater

Let us read about the Journey of the Shepherds from Luke 2:8-20.

• Narrator: Brian (English); William (Chinese)
• Angels: Ladies (English first; then Chinese) in yellow
• Shepherds: Gentlemen (English first; then Chinese) in blue. Sorry, gentlemen, you have only one line.

Who were the Shepherds? 
Look at this picture of the manger scene. What do you see? Mary and the baby are the only ones highlighted. They are the focal point. And I want you to focus on this picture tonight, imagining that you are part of the picture. How would you place yourself in the picture?

1.       This journey of the shepherds was a round trip of only a couple of miles. They shepherds traveled from the fields into Bethlehem, then they returned to fields, rejoicing and praising God. But what a night that was!

2.       Who were these shepherds?

3.       These shepherds were the lowest people in the socio-economic order of that day.

4.       Unless you have absolutely nothing better to do and you have no other choice, then you become a shepherd in those days.

5.       They worked long hours, day and night. Many did not have homes. They stayed with the sheep for days and months.

6.       They were a despised class with a bad reputation. Shepherds were often known as thieves stealing from people as they moved around.

7.       They were not allowed to give testimony in a Jewish court of law. Their work made it impossible for them to observe the Jewish ceremonial laws and temple rituals, so they were considered religiously unclean and unacceptable.

Today’s Shepherds

8.       These shepherds are like today’s 300 millions of migrant workers in China. Moving around to where the jobs are, don’t have a permanent home, poor, and lowly in their socio-economic status.

9.       These shepherds are like the working class with very little education.

10.    It is pretty amazing to think this heavenly invasion came to such social outcasts!

11.    The fact that God delivered the first gospel message to shepherds instead of a king tells us the good news is for all people, not just the wealthy or the educated.

God Welcomes You to the Manger

1.       You may feel like you were nobody just like the shepherd. I am just a teenager. Or I don’t have a job. You may think that God does not know nor care about you. But you are wrong. God cares for you and the first group of people He invited to the manger was people like the shepherds.

2.       God welcomes you to the manger. Listen to the invitation God said to these shepherds 2000 years ago, because He is saying the same things to us today.

3.       There are three things you need to hear from the invitation from the angels:

I. You don’t have to be afraid.

1.       The first thing the angel said to the shepherds was, “Do not be afraid.”

2.       Encountering an angel in the middle of the night tends to frighten people out of their wits. However, there are fearful people today who haven’t seen an angel; instead, they are looking at an uncertain future.

3.       Fear is one of the biggest problems we face.

• We are afraid that we don’t have enough.
• We are afraid that when we get old, nobody is going to take care of us.
• We are afraid that we will never find a mate.
• We are afraid that God does not like us.
• We are afraid of the future.
• We are afraid even of ourselves.
• We are even afraid of God.

Illustration:

1.       Did you know 30 years ago, the most popular dog in the United States was the poodle? At that time, there were less than 1,000 Rottweilers (guard dogs). By 1994, the number of registered poodles had fallen by more than half, but Rottweilers had multiplied a hundredfold to more than 100,000; so now there are more Rottweilers than poodles. What does that tell you about how afraid people are today?

2.       God has invaded human history. He has arrived. Some of us have this fear of God. We are so comfortable about this physical and material world which you can control and we are so fearful of anything about God.

3.       God has shown up in Bethlehem and He is saying to you, “You don’t need to be afraid. I love you.”

4.       “Don’t be afraid. Whatever happens to you, I am not going to leave you or forsake you.” Some of you need to hear His voice of assurance right now.

II. The Good News is for You.

1.       Next, God said through the angel, “Today a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.”

2.       God didn’t say, “Today a Savior has been born to Mary…” He said, “A Savior born to you and for you.”

3.       He is the Savior of the world. He saves us from our sins.

4.       Second, the angel called Jesus, “Christ,” which means “Messiah.” It is a Jewish word. He identified Jesus as the long-awaited King of the Jews.

5.       Third, he also called Him “Lord” which means “Master.” This is his title.

6.       From the very first day of His human birth, Jesus was called Savior, Messiah and Lord. God invaded this planet in the fragile form a little baby. He had to become like us so we could relate to Him. This is the Good News of Christmas

III. You are invited to the Manger.

1.       The third point in the angel’s message is an invitation to come into God’s presence.

2.       The angel invited the shepherds to travel into Bethlehem to investigate and confirm this message. He said they would recognize this Savior/Messiah/King in an unusual way. He would be lying in a manger.

3.       You too are invited to the manger.

The Shepherds Made the Journey

1.       After the angels left, the shepherds said, “Let’s go into Bethlehem to see this thing the Lord has told us about” (v. 15).

2.       They heard God’s invitation, and by their own choice they accepted His invitation and traveled into the town to find the baby.

3.       They hurried into town asking everyone they met if they had heard of a baby being born and placed in a manger.

4.       Finally they arrived at the correct location and saw Mary, Joseph and little baby Jesus.

5.       The baby was wrapped tightly in strips of cloth and resting in a manger. The angel was right: The Savior, the Messiah, the Lord had arrived!

6.       They not only heard the announcement; they came into His presence and met Him.

Holding the Perfect Lamb

1.       I wonder what happed after they told Mary and Joseph the story of the angels.

2.       The Bible doesn’t say, but perhaps Mary did what many new mothers say to me when I visit them in the hospital. “Would you like to hold him?” Can’t you see one of those shepherds tenderly taking the baby into his arms?

3.       There is some evidence that the sheep the shepherds attended were being raised to use in the sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem 5 miles away.

4.       There, an unblemished lamb was slain every morning and evening as an offering to the Lord.

5.       These shepherds who daily handled the spotless lambs that would be used for the temple sacrifice were holding the spotless lamb of God.

6.       Now the angel was about to inform the shepherds that the Lamb of God who would take away their sins by the shedding of His own blood had just been born.

RSVP

1.       I don’t know if Mary invited them to hold baby Jesus, but I do know God is inviting you to receive Him into your heart.

2.       Like the shepherds, you have heard the good news, and now God simply invites you to come to Jesus and enter His presence and receive His forgiveness. It is time for you to RSVP.

3.       Have you ever gotten an invitation to attend a special occasion and seen RSVP on the card? You probably know it means “Please respond.” If means a reply is expected, and to ignore the invitation is an insult.

4.       God has addressed a special invitation to you; it has your name on it. He invites you to come into His presence and receive the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He has added RSVP to your invitation. Have you insulted God by not responding?

5.       Come and take the journey yourself and you won’t be the same.

The Changes

1.       So these shepherds traveled into the little town and met the baby Jesus. They were so excited—verse 17 says, “They spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.”

2.       That means they became the very first evangelists for Jesus. I believe each of those men was changed after they had visited the manger.

3.       They couldn’t keep quiet about what had happened to them since they met Jesus. They were joyfully skipping along, sharing the good news with everyone they encountered.

4.       Verse 18 says,” and all who heard it were amazed.” Once you meet Jesus, you can’t stay the same. The birth of this little baby made all the difference in the world.

5.       The contrast of before and after:

• Before they were small and insignificant; now they were the eyewitness of the climax of history.
• Before they were afraid; now they were joyful and couldn’t stop talking.
• Before they were the outcast; now they were the servants of the King.
• Before they had no hope; now they had the hope for all generations.

Illustration

The Luck of Roaring Camp is a short story first published in 1868.

1.       It is about a small struggling mining town located in the foothills of the California Mountains at the time of the gold rush. Roaring Camp was supposed to be, according to the story, the meanest, toughest mining town in the entire West.

2.       More murders, more thefts—it was a terrible place inhabited entirely by men and one woman who tried to serve them all. Her name was Cherokee Sal. She died while giving birth.

3.       Well, the men took the baby and put him in a box. They named the boy, Thomas Luck. He is the first newborn the camp has seen for ages. With the birth of “Luck” comes a new sense of hope.

4.       When they looked at the baby, they decided that it didn’t look right. So they sent one of the men 80 miles to buy a rosewood cradle.

5.       He brought it back, and they put the rags and the baby in the rosewood cradle. The rags didn’t look right. So they sent another of their members to Sacramento, and he came back with some beautiful silk and lace blankets. They put the baby, wrapped with those blankets, in the rosewood cradle.

6.       It looked fine until someone happened to notice the floor was filthy. So these hardened, tough men go down on their hands and knees; and with their hardened hands they scrubbed the floor until it was very clean.

7.       Of course, what that did was make the walls, ceiling and curtain-less windows look absolutely terrible. So they washed the walls and ceiling, and they put curtains on the windows.

8.       They had to give up a lot of their fighting because they baby slept a lot; and babies can’t sleep during a brawl. So the whole temperature of Roaring Camp seemed to go down.

9.       They used to take him out and set him by the entrance to the mine in his rosewood cradle so they could see him when they came up.

10.    Then somebody noticed what a dirty place that was, so they planted flowers and made a very nice garden there. It looked quite beautiful.

11.    They would bring him shiny little stones and things they find in the mine, but when they put their hands down next to his, their hands looked so dirty. Pretty soon the general store was all sold out of soap, shaving gear, cologne and those kinds of things.

12.    Before long, the men were a totally different bunch of guys—the baby changed everything.

Has Jesus changed your life?

1.       Have you ever met Jesus? He will change your life, too.

2.       One of the ways you can tell is that you will be telling everyone you meet that your life is different. When was the last time you acted as one of those shepherds and informed everyone you know that you met Jesus and things are different in your life?

3.       “What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought, since Jesus came into my heart… Floods of joy over my soul like the sea billows roll, since Jesus came into my heart.”

4.       It should be more than words to a song; it should be our daily testimony:

5.       Perhaps you can write down the answer on your response card on question #1: How does the Christmas story affect your life?

How would you identify yourself in the Christmas story?

1.       Or you can answer the second question. How would you identify yourself in the Christmas narrative? Write your story as part of the Christmas story as you make your journey to meet Jesus.

2.       I recently read a story of a missionary team that had been invited to Russia to teach Christianity. It was Christmastime, and as they taught the story of Christ’s birth at an orphanage, everyone listened in amazement. None of the kids or the staff had heard it before.

3.       One of the missionaries wrote: “We gave the children some materials and instructed them to create the manger scene they had just heard about.

4.       All went well until I got to ne table where little Misha sat; he looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy’s manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger.

5.       I called for a translator to ask why. Looking at his completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story accurately, until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib his own ending to the story.

6.       He said, “When Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay.

7.       I told him I have no mama and no papa, so I don’t have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him.

8.       So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and told me I could stay with Him forever.”

9.       Putting his hand over his face, Misha’s head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. For the first time in his life, he had found someone who never would abandon or abuse him, someone who would stay with him forever.”

Conclusion

1.       My friends, God had delivered a good news invitation to you today. He says, “Come to Me all you are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Your name is engraved on the invitation. He says, “I love you, and I want you to live with me forever.” He has added RSVP to the invitation. Now, what is your response?

2.       Would you come for the journey?

3.       May be you are like the inn manager! So busy with all the customers and you have no place for the Savior! You have turned him away.

4.       May be you feel like you are the shepherd who was left behind to watch over the sheep! You did not make the journey. But you feel like you don’t have a choice. You have a job to do!

5.       What would happen to you if you are in the story? Would you like to be one of the shepherds to greet the new born Child? Make up your own story. Put your own situation in the story. Be creative and be reflective. Spend the next 5 minutes to write. You can answer Question 1 or Question 2, or both.

6.       When you are done, make a journey to the manager in the middle. Put your story into the manager. If you want us to read it and get back to you, write down your name and contact information. We love to talk to you about your journey.

Let us pray before you starting writing.

Response card

1.       What do you want to change when you see the baby Jesus in the manger?

2.       Write your story in the Christmas story. What would you like to add yourself into the manger scene?

The Process of Preparing This Sermon and the Feedback

By Pastor Brian

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