Amen. Turn to Luke 2. It's printed for you there in your bulletin. Luke 2, verses 8-20. I'm not going to re-read that, since we just heard a good reading of it in Luke 2, verses 8-20. Last week, in this same passage, we focused on the peace that the angel proclaimed. Today our focus is on the joy that the shepherds received because of the angels' proclamation. But before we jump into the passage, let's take just a moment to review the context. There are some very fascinating, very interesting theories about the shepherds. One view is that these shepherds were watching over the flocks that were used in the temple sacrifices. Now, there's no clear biblical evidence of that. It's an interesting theory, and it's likely, it is possible that these shepherds were the ones who were watching over the lambs that were used in the temple sacrifices, and they got to see the Lamb of God. Again, it's an interesting theory, but we can't prove it biblically, but it's fascinating, isn't it, to consider that, that they could have been the very ones. More importantly, as the Holy Spirit inspired Luke, who was very detailed in his writing style, the Holy Spirit emphasized Christ, not the shepherds, not the sheep. but Christ. And yet it is significant that the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to record that it was the shepherds who were the first people to whom God proclaimed the birth of his son. The shepherds were ordinary people doing an ordinary job when God himself made himself known through his messenger, the angel, in an extraordinary way. Luke tells us that in the same region of Bethlehem there were shepherds out on the field keeping watch over their flock by night. This was an ordinary job being done by ordinary men. But then the extraordinary happened. An angel of the Lord appeared to them as they were watching their sheep, protecting them from the predators that could be lurking in the darkness of night. The moon and the stars completely lost their brilliance as the glory of the Lord shone around them. And last week we saw that the shepherds were terrified. They were filled with fear. But the angel reassured them that he was sent to bring peace by giving them a message of good news. A message of good news that would bring them tremendous joy. And so today I want us to see the immediate effect that the angel's message had upon the shepherds. They were indeed filled with joy, a jubilant joy, because of the good news that they received. Now unfortunately, we don't always get such a reaction to good news, do we? Most of us, maybe even all of us, have had an experience that we consider to be good news, and we share it with somebody else, and they don't share our joy. I remember when I sent Scott's call to leave the youth ministry to be a senior pastor, and I told the youth group, and they didn't share my joy. It was good news for me. I was excited. It was great news for me, but not so much for them. So what makes the angel's message good news for all the people? Did you notice that? Look again at verse 10. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Did the angel mean all people everywhere? No. There's a little word added there that changes this, that makes it distinct. Notice that when Luke says, the people, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. When he added the definite article, the, it qualifies it. That was a very common way of referring to the Jewish people, to God's people, the people of God. Now, eventually, of course, the blessings would be extended to the Gentiles, clearly. But at this time, the announcement was for the Jews first. your Messiah has come. This is good news that would produce great joy for my people. The wait is over. God has come." Now, there's one more interesting thing to note before we look at the effect of their newfound joy. When the angel said that this baby was born unto you, It takes us back to Isaiah 9, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given. In his commentary, Philip Rikin wrote this about that phrase. He said, these words are like the tag on a Christmas present that says to and from. The angels were placing a tag on the manger that said to the shepherds, from God. In other words, when the angel said that this baby was to be born unto them, he meant that this baby was born for them, for their salvation. There's no better news, is there, that the shepherds could have received but that God became man for them. Yes, this news was good news that produced a jubilant joy because the shepherds understood. that God became man for them. So let's consider then the effect of this good news, that God became man. First, because God became man, the shepherds joyfully obeyed Him. In verse 15, we're told that after the angels left, The shepherds said to one another, let's go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." Now, did the angel tell them to go to Bethlehem? Not explicitly. But he did say that God became man for them. And so the implication then is, go and see for yourselves. They immediately, it says in verse 16, they went with haste. and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. The shepherds didn't wait around. They didn't wait until morning light to go. They made haste. They went immediately to Bethlehem. It raises a lot of questions. What happened to their flock? It's possible that they put them in the sheepfold and hoped that they would be saved. Also possible that they left a shepherd behind to stay there. We don't know because Luke doesn't tell us. He simply says they went with haste back to Bethlehem. But how do they know where to go? Well, Luke has already clearly said they were not very far away. They were in the region of Bethlehem. And the Scriptures in Matthew also tell us that God guided the wise men hundreds of miles away by the use of a star. God clearly could have guided the shepherds a few miles into Bethlehem to find them. There's really no mystery to that. There's no reason to speculate about how He did it. He simply did it. He guided them and they found Mary and Joseph. The point here is not how the shepherds found Jesus. It's simply that they joyfully obeyed God. The shepherds did not accept and enjoy the message and that was the end of it. No, they acted on it. They obeyed God. The Bible is clear that acceptance of His message without action is pointless. In James 2, it says, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. It's not real faith. If it doesn't produce works, it's not real. The shepherds could have doubted. They could have delayed. But instead, they decided to act. They moved with haste. Now, the application for us is obvious, isn't it? If God became man for us, and He did, will we joyfully obey Him? God has never been pleased with empty, ritualistic obedience. He has always wanted a heart. I've reminded you of that in several different times, the different calls to worship when it comes to the Psalms and David proclaims that God doesn't want sacrifice, He wants the heart. Isn't that a strange thing for David to proclaim in the midst of a sacrificial system? The point is that God always wanted the heart, not an empty ritual, but the heart. The shepherds joyfully obeyed God. When the heart is right, our obedience will be out of joy. But that's not all they did, right? Secondly, because God became man, the shepherds joyfully spread the good news. In verse 17, we read, when they saw it, now what's it referred to? Well, it goes back to the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger, just as the angel said. That's the sign that you will find. They made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child." Now, the appropriate response is obvious. Of course they would tell people what they had been told. An angel appeared to them in glorious splendor. Of course they would tell others what the angel told them. Look at verse 18 and 19. After they made known what they had been told, It's interesting that it says, all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in their heart. So who did they tell? Who did they tell about what they had been told? Obviously, they told Mary, and we can presume Joseph was there, clearly. But doesn't it imply that there were others there as well? who heard it wondered, but Mary treasured up these things." It's not until verse 20 that it says that they returned to their flocks. Now, we have no idea who else was present, but apparently by the time the shepherds got there, others were there. Now, again, there's no point in speculating who else may have been there. The point is that the shepherds joyfully spread the news. They were willing and ready to tell anyone about what had happened to them, what they had been told, and now what they had seen. Swift obedience included the proclamation of the good news. Now, also, the word translated, made known, it means that they make it known in such a way that it can be understood. That's, I think, part of the benefit of personal experience. I mean, it's difficult to make something known if you've only read about it, if you only heard someone talk about it, but if you have personally experienced it, you can explain it in much greater depth and detail so they can understand it, too. The shepherds made known what they had been told, and now what they see with their own eyes. Now, it's also important to make note of what Luke says, that they made known. I'm sure that they told people about the angel. That was remarkable. But the emphasis here by Luke is on Jesus. They made known what they were told about Jesus. He's the Messiah. He is God in the flesh. So again, the application is, what is God calling us to do? It's not enough to say that you have faith or to feel good about something. There comes a time after seeing and hearing that you have to share. We must be involved with telling people the good news. The shepherds were filled with jubilant joy that caused them to immediately obey God and to proclaim the good news about what they heard and saw. But there's more. I think it's very interesting, at least it's interesting to me, that the shepherds left the stable and they went back. I mean, if it was me, I'm not sure that I would want to leave the stable. I'd want to stick around. I'd want to follow Mary and Joseph and see what's going to happen with this baby. I'm not sure that I'd want to leave. But they do. And so thirdly, because God became man, the shepherds joyfully worshiped Him. The shepherds went back to their same jobs, but they weren't the same on the inside, clearly. They returned to where they started, and they were attentive again to their sheep. But with a new joy, God has come, and we have seen Him. And they glorified Him and praised Him. After Christmas, we have to go back, don't we? Some of you have already started some vacations. Some of you are looking forward to your days off. And when they come, you'll enjoy them with your family. It'll be great times of celebration, of rest. You're looking forward to those days off. But then you have to go back, back into the rhythm and the routine. But you don't have to go back with the same attitude toward the mundane. You can go with joy. You can go rejoicing that God has become man, that He is your God, that He was born unto you. Verse 20, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. They don't just wonder about what they saw. They worship Him. When we are genuinely converted, when we genuinely believe that Jesus Christ is whom God has proclaimed Him to be, we are to obey Him immediately with joyful hearts. We are to proclaim Him, not keep it to ourselves. And we are to worship Him, to praise Him, and worship is another way of saying to serve Him with our whole life. It's not simply an act that we go through on Sunday morning. It is a whole life change of service unto Him. We won't take the time to go back into Genesis now, but back when Abraham was called by God, and then when he was given his son, Isaac, and God told him to go and offer his son Isaac on that altar up on the mountain, and Abraham obeyed God and took Isaac up on the mountain, but before he took him, he told his servants below that they were going to go up and worship God, and then they would come back. Now, there's a lot in that to unpack, but he uses the word worship. I think Abraham mentioned it in at least a couple of different ways. One, he was going to offer a sacrifice. He was going to worship God. But he didn't mean that he was going to go up and sing the Christmas carols and have a song fest up on top of the mountain. It simply meant that he was going to obey God and offer a sacrifice. Now in the New Testament, we know that Christ has satisfied the sacrifices. He has fully made Himself our sacrifice. And Paul says, as a result, we are now living sacrifices unto God. So our worship isn't merely now, today, during this period of time. It's our whole life, every day, offering ourselves to God in an act of worship, as service unto Him, in new obedience and a joyful obedience unto Him. This is what the shepherds did already. They returned back to their jobs, but were glorifying and praising God, now serving Him with newness, with joy. We can return to our same jobs next week, but we don't have to return as the same person. Once again, listen to verse 11. For unto you, very personal to the shepherds, personal to us, unto us, is born this day in the city of David. That's an identification of the prophets have been fulfilled. They said that he would be born in Bethlehem, and he is. Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior. He's one who forgives sins. He's our Savior, who is Christ. He's the long-awaited Messiah, just as God promised. He's the Savior, He's the Christ, and He's the Lord. What a fascinating statement, that this baby, wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger, is the Lord, your Master, your Leader." So we must consider those three titles and recognize they are really questions that are a matter of life or death. Is He your Savior? Are you relying on God for forgiveness or are you hoping that your good works will get you into heaven? Is He your Savior? Have you recognized that He died in your place so that you can be forgiven? Is He Christ? Do you recognize that Jesus is the one God promised to send? He is the Deliverer, the one who would rescue you and reign as the King of kings? Is He your Lord? Are you willing to joyfully obey Him? to immediately do whatever He commands with a joyful heart. We must recognize that we can't acknowledge Him as Savior if He's not our Lord. It's just a little semantic thing, but it always gets under my skin when people say it. We don't make Him Lord of our life either. He is Lord. We recognize His Lordship and we submit to Him as Lord, but we as these frail human beings don't make Him anything. He is Lord. Do we recognize that? Does our life reflect it? Corrie ten Boom was a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. And I love what she said about Jesus' birth. She said, if Jesus were born a thousand times in Bethlehem and not in me, then I would still be lost. It's time to make sure that Jesus is born in you, unto you. You can do that right now as we close in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us. even when we recognize how sinful we are. Father, it's hard for us to understand how you can accept us when we know we don't measure up. So Father, we confess that we are sinners, that we need you as our Savior. We acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Son of the living God. He is the Messiah, the one who was sent to deliver us from our sin. Father, we acknowledge that we want to live under your Lordship for the rest of our lives. Thank you for sending your Son, not only to be born, but even more importantly, for dying in our place. and rising again so that we can be born all over again. Thank you for giving us the gift of salvation. Thank you for forgiving our sins, for making us into the people that you want us to be as a family. And thank you for giving us the strength to walk in new obedience, to walk in a manner which we know to be true Father, we pray that you would enable us to continue to walk in you for the rest of our lives. May we be filled with jubilant joy, even when life in this world seems to point everything toward despair. Father, in the name of Emmanuel, the baby in Bethlehem, We pray in His name. Amen.