Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
The Gift of Love
Luke 2:8-2:14 December 12, 2004
Christmas means different things to different people. To merchants, it is the busiest time of the
year. Stores stay open longer, and 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 what
they want to do. For many teenagers and adults it is a time of fun and parties. For children it is a
time of impatience, with time seeming to pass so slowly, as they wait for Christmas morning.
But sometimes I get the 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, and 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.
I wonder if that happens for many of us at Christmas? Do we go through all the decorating, and
buying presents, and 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, and
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 and it’s a time to remember His birth and what
it means to us.
Think about this: Our text tells us that God made the announce-ment of Jesus’ birth to the
shepherds. That should help us under-stand the real meaning of Christmas.
You see, it is all about love. John tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave his son.”
Christmas is about God’s love for you and me. God sends a clear message that He hopes you
and I will take to heart.
Think about it. It is all right there in the text. It begin with the shepherds. You see, the shepherds
were at the opposite end of the social strata from King Herod and 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 and said, "Unto you is born this day in the city of David,
a Savior who is Christ, the Lord."
In that one simple announcement God made known some very important truths. First of all, it
tells us, "No matter how insignificant you may think you are, God knows you, and loves you and
you are important to Him."
All throughout scripture we see God honoring and using people and things that the world often
overlooks or ignores.
The Apostle Paul writes, "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of
you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But
God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose weak things of the
world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things..." (1
Cor. 1:26-28a).
So when God decided to select a mother for His Son, He went past the fashion salons and beauty
parlors. He went past the furs and diamonds and gold, and went to an insignificant village called
Nazareth. He found a peasant girl and 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 and assistants. But rather, He is born in a stable. He is wrapped in
swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.
The world looks down its nose and says, "That’s foolishness." But Paul says, "The foolishness
of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s 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 and lilies, then He cares about you." If God
cares about shepherds, He cares about you!
We need to hear that, don’t we? 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. Husbands who have lost their wives in death need to hear that. Church people who
feel useless and 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, and God says, "No! You’re wrong.
I made the announcement to shepherds, and I make it to you. Unto you a Savior is born." This is
how much I love you.
The second thing this passage teaches us is that life matters. Not only you, but your life counts
with God.
I imagine those shepherds must have sat around the campfire many times and wondered 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 and makes His announcement to shepherds, He is also saying to us, "I love
you and your life has meaning. It is My gift to you. Take my love an share it with others. Live
every golden moment of it.
You see, every life matters. We should know that. It’s impossible to live, even for a few
moments on this earth, and not influence somebody in one way or another. We are always
influencing someone, either for good or for bad.
Do you remember Bubba Smith? He retired from professional football and started making beer
commercials. He was the guy who tore the top off of beer cans, and engaged in the argument
about whether it is less filling or tastes great.
In a magazine article about him, Bubba Smith said that he has never, ever drunk beer. Drinking
any kind of alcoholic beverage just isn’t a part of his life. But he advertised it and felt good about
his job. It was an easy job. It was an enjoyable job, and it paid a good salary.
Until one day when he went back to Michigan State, his alma mater, as the Grand Marshal of the
Homecoming Parade. As he was riding in the limousine at the head of the parade, he heard the
throngs of people on both sides of the parade route shouting. And what were they shouting? "Hail
to Michigan State?" No! One side was shouting, "Tastes great!" and the other side was shouting,
"Less filling!"
Bubba Smith suddenly realized that he and the beer commercials that he made had had a
tremendous impact on the students at Michigan State. And the message that they had gotten was
that "It is all right to drink light beer."
Later, Bubba was in Ft. Lauderdale during Spring Break, & he saw drunken college kids up &
down the beaches, shouting "Tastes great! Less filling!"
And when it came time to renew his contract, he refused to sign because he said that he didn’t
want his life to count for something like that. He said that there was a still, small voice in his
mind that kept saying, "Stop, Bubba. Stop."
You see, everybody’s life counts for something.
Some years ago, a cartoon appeared in newspapers across the land. It pictured two farmers in
Kentucky, standing in a field as snow fell softly. One turned to the other & asked, "Anything
exciting happen today?" "Nah, nothing exciting," said the other farmer. "Oh, there was a baby
born over at Tom Lincoln’s home, but nothing exciting ever happens around here."
But that baby born in the home of Tom Lincoln one day became the President of the United
States. He changed the course of history & liberated the slaves. One life can make a difference!
I wonder if there were people in Bethlehem on that night so long ago, asking, "Anything exciting
happen today?" Maybe they were told, "No, nothing much. Oh, I hear some woman gave birth to
a baby in a stable, but nothing exciting ever happens around here." Except that a baby was born,
a baby that changed the world.
Because God loves you and me , our lives counts. Our lives matters. We have a blessing to own
and to share.
The truth is that God gave us the gift of His love on Christmas. And in that gift there was a
strong affirmation of our faith. You know, Shepherds were men of faith. They probably had
more faith than some of the scribes and Pharisees who went to the synagogue every day.
They believed in a Messiah. When things got especially hard, they would think about the Messiah
and God’s promise that one day the Messiah would come.
They prayed over and over again, "Let the Messiah come. Let Him come today!" They prayed
that prayer for hundreds of years, and they must have wondered, "Is our faith worth anything?
Does God hear our prayers? Does God keep His promises? Will the Messiah ever come?"
There must have been many who quit praying, and quit having faith. But when the announcement
came to shepherds, God was saying, "Your faith is not in vain. I am a God who hears and who
keeps His promises. Now the Messiah has come, and 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.
We wonder if our prayers are heard. We wonder if it is worth it all.
But as we look at that first Christmas we see that God does keep his promises and we know that
we can depend on him. After all, a sign of his love came to us at Christmas. It was truly the gift
of love wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Don’t let this Christmas pass thinking no one loves you. God does and his most precious gift
sings it out loud and clear.
Luke 2:8-2:14 December 12, 2004
Christmas means different things to different people. To merchants, it is the busiest time of the
year. Stores stay open longer, and 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 what
they want to do. For many teenagers and adults it is a time of fun and parties. For children it is a
time of impatience, with time seeming to pass so slowly, as they wait for Christmas morning.
But sometimes I get the 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, and 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.
I wonder if that happens for many of us at Christmas? Do we go through all the decorating, and
buying presents, and 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, and
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 and it’s a time to remember His birth and what
it means to us.
Think about this: Our text tells us that God made the announce-ment of Jesus’ birth to the
shepherds. That should help us under-stand the real meaning of Christmas.
You see, it is all about love. John tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave his son.”
Christmas is about God’s love for you and me. God sends a clear message that He hopes you
and I will take to heart.
Think about it. It is all right there in the text. It begin with the shepherds. You see, the shepherds
were at the opposite end of the social strata from King Herod and 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 and said, "Unto you is born this day in the city of David,
a Savior who is Christ, the Lord."
In that one simple announcement God made known some very important truths. First of all, it
tells us, "No matter how insignificant you may think you are, God knows you, and loves you and
you are important to Him."
All throughout scripture we see God honoring and using people and things that the world often
overlooks or ignores.
The Apostle Paul writes, "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of
you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But
God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose weak things of the
world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things..." (1
Cor. 1:26-28a).
So when God decided to select a mother for His Son, He went past the fashion salons and beauty
parlors. He went past the furs and diamonds and gold, and went to an insignificant village called
Nazareth. He found a peasant girl and 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 and assistants. But rather, He is born in a stable. He is wrapped in
swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.
The world looks down its nose and says, "That’s foolishness." But Paul says, "The foolishness
of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s 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 and lilies, then He cares about you." If God
cares about shepherds, He cares about you!
We need to hear that, don’t we? 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. Husbands who have lost their wives in death need to hear that. Church people who
feel useless and 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, and God says, "No! You’re wrong.
I made the announcement to shepherds, and I make it to you. Unto you a Savior is born." This is
how much I love you.
The second thing this passage teaches us is that life matters. Not only you, but your life counts
with God.
I imagine those shepherds must have sat around the campfire many times and wondered 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 and makes His announcement to shepherds, He is also saying to us, "I love
you and your life has meaning. It is My gift to you. Take my love an share it with others. Live
every golden moment of it.
You see, every life matters. We should know that. It’s impossible to live, even for a few
moments on this earth, and not influence somebody in one way or another. We are always
influencing someone, either for good or for bad.
Do you remember Bubba Smith? He retired from professional football and started making beer
commercials. He was the guy who tore the top off of beer cans, and engaged in the argument
about whether it is less filling or tastes great.
In a magazine article about him, Bubba Smith said that he has never, ever drunk beer. Drinking
any kind of alcoholic beverage just isn’t a part of his life. But he advertised it and felt good about
his job. It was an easy job. It was an enjoyable job, and it paid a good salary.
Until one day when he went back to Michigan State, his alma mater, as the Grand Marshal of the
Homecoming Parade. As he was riding in the limousine at the head of the parade, he heard the
throngs of people on both sides of the parade route shouting. And what were they shouting? "Hail
to Michigan State?" No! One side was shouting, "Tastes great!" and the other side was shouting,
"Less filling!"
Bubba Smith suddenly realized that he and the beer commercials that he made had had a
tremendous impact on the students at Michigan State. And the message that they had gotten was
that "It is all right to drink light beer."
Later, Bubba was in Ft. Lauderdale during Spring Break, & he saw drunken college kids up &
down the beaches, shouting "Tastes great! Less filling!"
And when it came time to renew his contract, he refused to sign because he said that he didn’t
want his life to count for something like that. He said that there was a still, small voice in his
mind that kept saying, "Stop, Bubba. Stop."
You see, everybody’s life counts for something.
Some years ago, a cartoon appeared in newspapers across the land. It pictured two farmers in
Kentucky, standing in a field as snow fell softly. One turned to the other & asked, "Anything
exciting happen today?" "Nah, nothing exciting," said the other farmer. "Oh, there was a baby
born over at Tom Lincoln’s home, but nothing exciting ever happens around here."
But that baby born in the home of Tom Lincoln one day became the President of the United
States. He changed the course of history & liberated the slaves. One life can make a difference!
I wonder if there were people in Bethlehem on that night so long ago, asking, "Anything exciting
happen today?" Maybe they were told, "No, nothing much. Oh, I hear some woman gave birth to
a baby in a stable, but nothing exciting ever happens around here." Except that a baby was born,
a baby that changed the world.
Because God loves you and me , our lives counts. Our lives matters. We have a blessing to own
and to share.
The truth is that God gave us the gift of His love on Christmas. And in that gift there was a
strong affirmation of our faith. You know, Shepherds were men of faith. They probably had
more faith than some of the scribes and Pharisees who went to the synagogue every day.
They believed in a Messiah. When things got especially hard, they would think about the Messiah
and God’s promise that one day the Messiah would come.
They prayed over and over again, "Let the Messiah come. Let Him come today!" They prayed
that prayer for hundreds of years, and they must have wondered, "Is our faith worth anything?
Does God hear our prayers? Does God keep His promises? Will the Messiah ever come?"
There must have been many who quit praying, and quit having faith. But when the announcement
came to shepherds, God was saying, "Your faith is not in vain. I am a God who hears and who
keeps His promises. Now the Messiah has come, and 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.
We wonder if our prayers are heard. We wonder if it is worth it all.
But as we look at that first Christmas we see that God does keep his promises and we know that
we can depend on him. After all, a sign of his love came to us at Christmas. It was truly the gift
of love wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Don’t let this Christmas pass thinking no one loves you. God does and his most precious gift
sings it out loud and clear.
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