Christmas Day - The Big Announcement
Reading: Luke 2:1-20
You know when you hear some really good news or something wonderful happens you just want to tell everyone about it? It may be that your team won the rugby, it may be that you got into the university you were hoping to get into, or a loved one was sick and now they are better, it may be that on Christmas morning you opened that stocking and the Hawaiian shirt you’d always wanted was right there waiting for you. When something brilliant happens you just want to share it.
I remember when we had our first baby, Phoebe. It was all an exciting and overwhelming and intense blur. It felt like I discovered emotions I didn’t even know I had. We had her in the afternoon in CHCH hospital and then as it got late I went home to sleep and get some things. On the way home I went to pick up a curry for dinner and celebration. As I walked in and ordered my curry I remember loudly blurting out at the counter “I just had a baby girl….” “Here name is Phoebe…” I was super excited. But the man serving me just looked at me like “Ok, that’s nice.” Followed by “that will be $23 dollars please.”
I remember walking out feeling somewhat bemused and like he just didn’t get it. What had happened altered my life forever.
At Christmas time we celebrate another birth, the birth of Jesus.
Unlike my tame announcement at my local curry place to a disinterested man behind the counter, the birth of Jesus was accompanied by a much bigger announcement, an angelic announcement.
Unlike my story, this birth is good news not just for me but for all people, everywhere. This is the heart of the Christmas message.
The Angels and the Good News of Christianity.
In Luke’s Gospel we hear about some shepherds tending their flocks when suddenly, an angel stands before them and announces some good news to them.
“Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”
This is followed by the angels breaking out into a song:
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!”
I want to focus on this part of the Christmas story this morning as we consider what Christmas is all about.
The angels announce the good news to the shepherds and the message is loud and clear. The birth of Jesus is good news.
It is important to hear this very simple fact of the story – the angels come bearing good news.
Not good advice.
I meet many people both those who go to church and those who don’t who have the impression that Christianity is good advice.
“Do this” and you will be ok. “Follow these rules” and life will go well. “Be good” and God will give you what you want.
But the announcement of the angels helpfully reminds us that the Christian story is not telling us what we should do but first and foremost what God has done.
First and foremost, Christianity is good news.
We live in an age of good advice. If you walk into Whitcoulls you can find massive sections of books dedicated to giving you good advice about how you can be healthier, have better relationships, live a less stressed life. We look for technical solutions to the worlds problems wherever we can.
Lots of these are good and helpful, but after thousands of years it seems that we as humans keep on reliving the same stories of violence, greed, selfishness, broken and hurting communities.
The Christmas story admits that our world needs more than technical help, it needs saving.
What is the good news?
The good news is that the one born at Christmas, Jesus, is our Saviour.
In the wonderful carol “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” there is this line:
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
This is the heart of the good news.
Christmas is an announcement of peace, and it all starts with peace with God.
Sin is a word that has dropped out of our contemporary vocab in lots of ways but it is such a relevant word to describe what life is like in so many ways.
When we sin we run away from God and his intentions for our lives we push against the way things are meant to be, God’s desire for us and who we were created to be.
This manifests itself in selfish and destructive behaviour – greed, lust, violence, lying, stealing.
In the creation poem of Genesis, we hear about the first rebellion of humanity. Seeking independence from God, Adam and Eve refuse to do as God has told them and they go their own way. Naturally, life goes pear shaped for them because of this.
The Bible tells this story to remind us that their story is our story, we can identify with their propensity to stuff things up.
This is what sin is all about.
And it seems to me there is no technical fix. If we are honest with ourselves, we are all prone to it.
What our world needs is a saviour.
This is what Christmas is all about.
The angels announce that Jesus is the one who will come to save us. The Christmas story is just the beginning. The rest of the story unfolds, and Jesus comes announcing that we repent and believe the good news – that we turn around and follow him, trusting that he will save us.
As the New Testament story unfolds we see that Jesus became human so he could take on our sinful nature, and so that he could take on the consequences of it upon himself. The Bible teaches us that in his death and resurrection we can have peace with God. Paul in his letter to the Colossians says “God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
This is the good news – God loves us so much that when we run from him he comes after us, seeking to restore relationship. Our saviour Jesus comes to rescue us.
Yet we don’t always want to be rescued right?
We can spend much of our life in an attempt to make things right on our own. We have all kinds of ways of trying to find peace and salvation without God.
Let me tell you a slightly silly story about a retired greyhound racer. You’ll have to use your imagination somewhat.
This greyhound can talk you see.
The race dog had spent his entire life chasing a mechanical rabbit, and he had won lots of money for his owner and much fame for himself running competitively around a track. But one day the dog decided to retire. This was confusing to all as the dog had won his last five races and was at the top of his game. No one understood why the greyhound quit racing, so a reporter went to his home to interview him.
“Why did you quit?” the reporter asked, “are you out of steam?”
“No” replied the dog. “I still have some racing in me.”
“Did they treat you badly or something?” the reporter thought this might be the reason, but it wasn’t.
“Oh no” said the dog, “They treated us like kings as long as we were winning.
“I see”, said the reporter. “You must be injured?”
“No”, said the greyhound. “In fact, I am physically healthier and stronger than I’ve ever been.”
“I don’t understand” the reporter replied. “You were at the top of your game! Why would you quit racing at the height of your career?”
“I quit” the dog said, “the day I realized that what I was chasing was not a real rabbit. I spent so much of my life running, running, and running only to discover that the thing I was chasing wasn’t even real.”[1]
I love this story because it illustrates so well the nature of grace.
We can chase after al kinds of things to find peace and purpose and meaning but the Gospel message is that we can give up the chase because God is the one chasing us, the good news is Jesus comes to us as our saviour announcing peace with God through him.
Who is this good news for?
Is it just for some people? The good people? The people who have it all together? I hope that it is clear to you that this is not the case. The angels chose to announce their good news to shepherds, who in their own time were not considered anything special. They were ordinary people minding their own business when suddenly the good news cam to them.
The good news of Christmas is for all of us. There are no exceptions.
So, this Christmas may you know the good news that God loves you deeply. God loves you and I enough that he doesn’t leave us to fend for ourselves in a broken and hurting world. He comes to us offering good news – reconciliation and peace with God. What we are called to do is respond, to say yes, and like the shepherds to come to Him with grateful hearts for all he has done. Let us pray…
[1] Story attributed to Fred Craddock told in “Falling into Grace: Exploring our Inner Life with God” by John Newton.