I don't know if you realize this, but pastors always struggle at this time of year. They struggle with what to preach and what to do. There are some people who always have written in their Bible exactly where the pastor preached and what passage and what date and what time. And I always thought, well, what do I do at Christmastime? Three of the four Gospels address it, one of them doesn't. So I asked Reverend Camming of this question the other one year, and he always reminded me, just preach the story, preach the story. So some of you will have Luke 2 written in your Bibles by Reverend Gordon a few times now. But we're going to go to Luke 2 tonight and we're going to look at this wonderful announcement of the shepherds and what is before us. I love Luke 2. It is a wonderful passage of the announcement of the birth of Christ. And we will read the first 20 verses. Luke 2, beginning at verse 1. Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 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. And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 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. 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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. 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. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. And there we'll read tonight. That'll be the end of the reading of God's Word. What a glorious announcement was just made in this passage that is before us, that born to you in the city of David is a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Your Messiah was just announced here. Your Messiah has come, dear shepherds. The Messiah. What I love about Luke, and I love about Luke's particular gospel and his emphases, is that the announcement comes here to these lowly shepherds. I've always marveled at that. I've always thought he could have come to anyone and made this announcement. He could have been in Caesar's palace. He could have been to all the royal officials. He could have come back. He could have come and announced all these things that Jesus had come to all the royal figures. But it's interesting that in Luke, he particularly captures these lowly shepherds who were really nobodies on the whole picture and scheme of things. What a glorious message. Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace toward men of his good pleasure. It's a glorious announcement, really picking up on election. God chooses. God chooses. And we're going to see this unfold here. The shepherds are evidence of God's choice. The shepherds are evidence. I wonder what they saw though. The remarkable truth that is announced here, when they came to the baby Jesus and they found the baby Jesus, what did they see? I want us to think about that for a little bit. I've often marveled and thought about this particular section that I think we read right over and miss some crucial things that are being said to us when they came and they looked upon the baby Jesus what do you think happened what were they looking at did they know was there a halo right there on his head were Christmas lights strung up all around him what was it was it a little nice cozy cot he was in and everyone was happy with smiles What was it that grabbed them? What did they see? And I think to answer that particular question, you have to think about what Luke's gospel does as a whole. Luke is telling one big giant story, and he is making connections for us. He was a brilliant theologian, and Luke understood what he was doing. The Spirit, of course, inspiring all of this. That when we look at Luke's gospel, there was a great aim in Luke's gospel that the Lord had the purpose of teaching people that he needed to open their understandings. This is a really big theme in Luke's gospel. The opening of understandings to perceive things, to see things correctly, to see things the way that they should be seen. What was the problem that Jesus dealt with after the resurrection? I think you'll see how this all ties so beautifully together of what Luke is particularly doing here tonight, that after the resurrection, you'll remember those very two disciples were troubled on the road to Emmaus, and Jesus came up and purposely blinded them so that they could not see him. And remember, he made them work through their problems, and they were distressed because Jesus was supposed to have risen and he still had not risen, and they were distressed over the whole thing. And Jesus then said something so powerful. Oh, foolish ones! And slow to understand and perceive all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and then enter into His glory? He should have. You should have known this. At the beginning of Moses and all the prophets, we have this one of my favorite statements in all the bible of the mission of jesus telling us what the mission of the church would be he then expounded in the scriptures not personal story time of all the other stories that we have he expounded in the scriptures the things concerning himself that's what he wanted done now the lord did two things for them uh the lord did something very wonderful luke says that right then and there as he was preaching the gospel to them their eyes were opened and they saw him then it said that he opened their understandings that they might comprehend the scriptures eyes open opens understandings now they had stood looking at him they could not see him the lord jesus had to open up the eyes of their understanding so that they might know what this is all about that that is what happened at the end of luke's gospel i believe that that whole theme is developed throughout the entirety of this book and we see it right at the beginning i want you to look at verse 17 and you'll see what i just rehearsed uh happened to these very shepherds that if you look in in verse 17 tonight something very wonderful is said and when they saw it they saw something they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child and then verse 18 and all who heard it so they saw and they heard all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. What did they see? What did they see? I hope you see where I'm going to go with this. I don't think it's very remarkable to just come see a child. Verse 20 seems to indicate that when they left this glorious scene, these guys were new men. These guys were leaping and praising and overjoyed. Something had really happened. Something had really changed. They were glorifying and praising God for all. Look at what it says. For all they had heard and seen. We're back to Luke 24. They heard it and they saw it. Their understandings had just been opened. What did they see? Did Jesus glow? Did they see on the thigh? Oh, there it is. king of kings and lord of lords like we studied in revelation what did they see so i think that challenges us tonight it challenges us as christians it challenges us on many levels challenges me as a pastor it challenges you even as to the basic little question of why you came here tonight was it to see children grandchildren or was it to worship god isn't that a fair question did you do this sentimentally or did you come with a worshipful spirit to say i'm coming before the king why'd you come churches abnormally full tonight i'm thankful to see all of you but what's your motivation what's your motivation do you understand what this is all about luke is showing us that just as these two men on the road to emmaus had the gospel proclaimed to them and then had their eyes of understandings opened so you need the same i need the same and that's what's needed just as much today in our day or else we just make this a cultural celebration a cultural celebration of coming and looking at nativity scenes as we drive around to do what what do people see when they look at nativity scenes i think that's a fair question isn't it what do they see if you see today as the shepherd saw well you're going to leave changed you're going to you know you would never be offended you would leave changed by the grace of god you would go home and you would be happy tonight praising god for what now you have come to see and to hear and now understand and that's exactly what happens tonight in this particular passage that we have essentially here the first sign being proclaimed by the angels and as we open up luke chapter 2 here are the shepherds out in the field the lowest class of people and as they're keeping watch over their flock by night all of a sudden the angel of the lord stands before them and then the glory of the lord shines around them this is a wonderful moment this was a light show but i can tell you they were deathly afraid the glory of the lord shone around them and it says that they were greatly afraid the angel silences them and then he starts to preach it's really a amazing moment in the gospels because we don't have angels preaching that much the lord reserved that for sinful people like me it's a remarkable thing but an angel's preaching to start this and this must have been some sermon let me tell you wouldn't you have loved to have heard it he says for there is born to you this day in the city of david a savior who is christ the lord he starts preaching jesus to them he brought good tidings that's that's that's preaching of gospel good tidings good news he brought good tidings of great joy to them so the gospel now is first being heralded by angels book of hebrews picks up on that uh it wouldn't be the pattern but it must have been one amazing sermon as the gospel is preached here is the messiah and they're preaching him now i'm focusing on verse 12 for a minute i can never get away from verse 12 as i i think about this section verse 12 seems to shine out to me the most this will be the sign to you you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger what is the sign it's a definite sign here that's being he speaks definitely he's not talking about a sign or some sign. He says something very powerful with the article. It is the sign. This is the sign. I noticed, you'll notice there that it says the baby is wrapped in swaddling cloths. I suppose that's a start. You've seen babies in swaddling cloths? I don't really care to anymore, I'll be honest with you. I'm done with that stage in life and I don't ever want to go back to it. No more diapers. I'm sorry for you guys still going through it. I remember when my children were born, the stacks of swaddling cloths in the birthing center, and they were just dishing these things out left and right. How many babies were born that night when our firstborn was born? It was just, I was overwhelmed by it. I couldn't believe all the babies I saw wrapped in swaddling cloth. I still come back to the nativity thought. What are we running around looking at at a nativity scene? And I kind of hate to burst a bubble tonight, but what if I said nothing? How would you feel? What if I said you're looking at nothing? Clearly, the most remarkable thing here is that the baby was wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And that was to be the sign. And I think the Scriptures are challenging us to see whether we are seeing and hearing. Whether we are seeing and understanding. What was the sign? Signs point to something, don't they? Signs point to something. Begs the question, what are we looking at? Verse 16 says, They came with haste. They rushed to see if this was so. They found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. So they walk in, and they find him. What's so remarkable? I'm still wrestling with it. Verse 17 gives us the impression that this had so overwhelmed them that as soon as they saw it, they went out everywhere and started telling everyone about it. You've never done that looking at a nativity scene, have you? You might because of the light show. But you never went and said, you wouldn't believe what I saw at the nativity scene. Everyone's marveling. This was something that just happened. Oh, they saw something. They saw something. They saw something much bigger than we know. What did they see in the sign? Well, there's been a lot of debate as to the manger, what the manger is. Our text says, you'll notice that, a manger wrapped in swaddling cloths, verse 12, and lying in a manger. You'll notice that some of your translations, if you have good study Bibles, will have a little number by that. And it'll say off on the side, this was a feeding trough. And that, I guess, starts to get us somewhere. A lot of emphasis is given. Sometimes people really emphasize the fact that Jesus came into a feeding trough. And I think that really starts to give some gravity to this. You start to really sense it because the Scriptures give us a powerful description of who came to us and what He came to do, and they use words to try to make us understand the indescribable gift, as Peter said, of what was given to us that night, that day. The King of kings and the Lord of lords through whom everything was made, who with the word of His mouth spoke, bringing things into existence. I want you to think about this for a minute. Here is what we call the incarnation. And He's in a feeding trough. It's almost unbearable to think about how low he's come for us paul would write for you know the grace of our lord jesus christ that though he was rich yet for your sake he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich i mean does a message ever get better than that here you see the love of god for you the apostles struggled even to explain it um when paul would write to the philippian church and said he emptied himself, obviously didn't empty himself of divinity, but he was saying was trying to describe for us him becoming nothing, that status, and taking on the form of a slave, becoming a slave for us, taking that status and dying on the cross for us. That's getting us somewhere tonight. But from the perspective of the shepherds, they're seeing more than just poverty. the sign of a baby in a feeding trough the gospel had just been proclaimed to them through the angel what the messiah would come to do uh what he would do for them the sign says the angel you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a feeding trough you know what feeding troughs were feeding troughs in those days were little rectangular containers made of stone the sign the messiah will be wrapped in cloths in a stone-like structure remember um when everyone was asking jesus for a sign it agitated him he says i'm not going to give you anymore so i'm going to give you i'm only going to give you the sign the sign you know the sign is that just as jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish so the son of man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth there's one sign the sign is me says jesus going into the tomb if you look over at simeon he he raises this sign in verse 34 the sign is again referenced behold this child is destined for the fall and the rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against. And Mary, when this happens, it's going to pierce your soul. It's the sign of His death and His burial. Here come the shepherds and they're gazing at a child wrapped in cloths, lying in a tomb. A tomb. At the end of Luke's Gospel to bring it all together. We read that Joseph of Arimathea went and asked for the body of Jesus and he took it down and he wrapped it in cloths, in a linen cloth, and he placed it in a tomb cut into the rock. Luke is taking this imagery and using it to fill out the whole picture of what this is all about for us. The Gospel was preached to them. The sign was that they would see a child wrapped in grave clothes and put in a tomb. That's what they would see. And that He would do that and exist for them in that way to be their Savior. His whole life would be in those grave clothes. They wouldn't come off until the work was done of Him paying for our sins and saving us. I think this gives absolute effect now to everything that's happening here. And now you can understand what has changed their lives. What has changed them and made them born again by the Spirit. Behold, there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And then they break out in song. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace towards men of His good pleasure. Those who will hear this and those who see this and those who understand this and those who believe this. And where did this leave the shepherds? Well, you'll notice as soon as the angels left, they ran with haste to Him. And when they gazed their eyes on Him, notice it, they saw. That's what it says. They saw. That day, like the Emmaus Road, The eyes of their hearts were opened. Their understandings were opened. This is what all the Scriptures was always about. This is what all the Scriptures had proclaimed through all these years. And they went away in verse 20 glorifying God and praising God for the things that they had heard and they had finally seen. Gospel was proclaimed to them. They saw it finally. You know, you could be going through all these seasons of Christmas for all these years. You could have some affinity for what we're doing. You give yourself to the cultural celebration of it. It's nice, it's sweet. Jesus came and was a little baby. You could be here and you still may not know the peace that God brings by reconciling people to Himself through the blood of Jesus. Real peace. Peace that brings real joy. Peace that brings real happiness. People search for peace in everything, in a bottle, in drugs, in things, in family. That's not what brings peace. None of that will bring you peace. Any peace that's lasting. What brought peace to the life of the shepherds that day was an understanding of who came down from heaven for them. This was God incarnate. And He didn't come here for any other reason than to deal with yours and my, our most pressing need and problem in life. That we have wrecked our lives, as we heard this morning, and we're dying. Sin has separated us from God. Sin has alienated us from God. And God so loved the world that this is what He did to answer it. That's the best news could ever be given to you. That's the best gift that could ever be given to you so that Peter would say, thanks be to God for this indescribable gift. The shepherds saw the sign. Shepherds saw the sign. And they went away and believed and were justified. We're no different. The same gospel the angels preached that day was just preached to you. It's the same message. Same message. Think if all that God has done, all that God has given you, think of the greatest gift tonight. Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. That's what I'm giving you. Jesus preaches it to you Himself. Saying, I went under ultimate humiliation for you and took on your grave clothes. I took on your grave clothes. I suffered the wrath of God for you. I went into the grave so that you will never have to know that punishment and the severity of God's wrath and God takes sin very seriously. If you've understood the sign today that all of it has to do with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for you, then you know what Christmas is all about. You know what Christianity is all about. If it has come into your heart and your understandings have been opened, the response too will be the same, won't it? The response will be the same. You will desire to make Him widely known. You're going to leave leaping with joy. You're going to leave joyful and happy in the Lord, praising God for all that you have heard and you have seen. I know the Spirit has to give that to you. He's willing. He's willing. This is what Christmas celebration this year and always, this is what really matters. This is what really matters. And it's an added bonus that God has given us so rich a gift and then included our children into that family. He's been so good to us. Praise Him tonight and thank Him for His indescribable gift and you'll be celebrating Christmas in a way that pleases God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for such a gift that You've devoted to us. We don't deserve any of this. We deserve wrath. Instead, You've given us pardon and peace through His blood. And I'm overwhelmed as a pastor to be able to think that I get to stand and proclaim this. as the angels proclaimed it so many years ago. But you have to take stony hearts and give them hearts of flesh. It has to be that those who hear are men of your good pleasure and you demonstrate your loving kindness and your goodness. May everyone here tonight, may they all who have heard this message truly tonight can walk away saying, we have seen and we have heard and the Lord has opened our understandings, blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore, from the rising of the sun to its setting. May the name of the Lord be praised. Fill our hearts with admiration and praise for you. Give us to be a thankful people as we receive these things with childlike faith as the shepherds did and as we learned this morning Abraham was called to do. Bless us now as we get to hear these little ones sing. May that same faith be in them as they believe these things and that they, being covered by the blood of the Lamb, would sing from the heart and celebrate this indescribable gift. In Jesus' name we pray tonight. Amen.