Please give your attention now to our New Testament reading from Luke chapter two. Luke chapter two, beginning with verse eight, and we'll read to verse 20. And as we look at this section, which is found on page 1,179 of the Bibles there in your rows, begin to contemplate how salvation is witnessed here. Luke chapter 2 beginning in verse 8. Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloth. lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherd said to one another, let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them. Thus far the reading of God's holy word. Remember the grass withers and the flower fades, but God's word abides forever. Amen. So what do you think makes a good news story? What do you think is needed in order for you to be able to hear something and go, now that bit of news stood out, whereas that, you heard it and it just passed on by you. Well, one individual, as he was sharing this information to various reporters, he highlighted a number of things. For example, he noted the idea of proximity. That means nearness. If an event is close by, it's gonna impact the audience more than if it was somewhere in another state or another country. The other important thing would be, is a well-known person, place, or event something that stands out in this story? It's one thing if an individual is simply just ho-hum, run-of-the-mill community member who's going to show up in a school and read to kids, it's another thing if it was Oprah or Elon Musk. The timeliness of the event. If I were to tell you about a winter storm and that in this storm it dropped four feet of snow, and I told you then this happened to me when I was a kid, you would go, oh, interesting. But if I told you we're gonna have four feet of snow next week, that has a whole different impact to it, doesn't it? Other issues can evolve if it's an odd situation. Think Florida Man or Darwin Awards. The impact that the event can have on the person who hears about it, Say, watching the news on Friday night and learning that the mall's in lockdown? Is there an issue of disagreement or argument? And there's a few other things too. Well, I'm here to tell you this morning that as we look at Luke chapter two, and as we consider all the various parts and pieces of what makes a good news story, you have all those pieces here. in Luke's gospel. And yet as we're looking at this, we don't want to just simply consider this in the context of the Jerusalem Gazette or the Bethlehem News, but rather we're looking at this in the context of God's work in cosmic history, whereby bringing forward to us the unfolding of the message of salvation that was promised basically at the dawn of time and then coming to fulfillment. and the gift of obeyed. As Dr. Koerner mentioned last week, we're beginning a series called The Word Became Flesh. And we heard last week how salvation was made real. We see that God then became flesh and dwelt among us. In Luke chapter two, we're seeing that the word became flesh and that salvation is actually witnessed. In other words, we don't just simply hear this account of what John tells us in John chapter one, and it's just fiction or fairy tale or fable, but rather this was a real deal. It was a real event, a real occurrence that had real witnesses with real individuals. And so this morning we want to consider how we see that God became flesh and that God's intended purpose is brought forth and witnessed by others. We want to see this in three ways. First, we want to see just simply ordinary people. And then we want to see unordinary news. And then lastly, the immediate response. Because if we reflect on the information that the shepherds had received and what they did with it, what it should invoke in us then is the recognition that the word truly has become flesh and the significance of that is so that we might then receive eternal life. And yet notice how this is brought to ordinary people. Luke tells us in verse 8, they were in the same country, shepherds, living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Notice who's not mentioned. No mention of the king, no reference to the priest in the temple, no identity of the wealthy or the prominent, the movers and shakers, those of importance in the context of society. It's not the social elite, but rather of all people, shepherds. Ordinary people in an ordinary job, on an ordinary evening that end up having an unordinary event. It's fascinating that God of all people would choose shepherds. Shepherds in the Old Testament weren't all bad. I mean, after all, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, they all served as shepherds the greatest psalm of comfort that people often go to in time of mourning and loss, the Lord is my shepherd. God notes the importance of those in leadership serving as the shepherds of his people. But if you were a shepherd during Jesus' day, that wasn't the job that you ascribed to. They wouldn't be identified in the school yearbook as most likely to succeed, as this is the position that you want, that you're working for, that you want to achieve. When I grow up, I want to be a... No. Shepherds were viewed with contempt and mistrust. They were seen as being dirty and filthy and smelly, even as the outcast. In Israel, they weren't able to uphold the ceremonial laws, and therefore people looked down on them and kept their distance. Not only that, but they were unreliable. After all, as they gathered their flock together, who knows if those sheep were all acquired in the right manner? But they're in their flock. They were one step above lepers. And yet God is willing of all groups and of all types of people to bring the message of the birth of Jesus to simple shepherds. Why? Because I think God is demonstrating to us Number one, just the manner in which Christ came and for whom he came. Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter one reminds us who it is that is called. He says, you see your calling brethren that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish things of this world to put to shame the wise. and God has chosen the weak things of this world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world and the things which are despised, God has chosen, and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence." God is bringing the message of salvation to these lowly shepherds in order to demonstrate that God is no respecter of persons and that His love and grace through His only begotten Son is available to any and to all who would believe. It's not contingent upon your social status. It's not dependent on your economic status. It's not impacted by your job. The only condition that you have is that you are an individual created in His image who has then been affected by sin. And your relationship with Him then has been distorted and disjointed because of that issue of sin. And God then is saying, the gift of my son, the word becoming flesh is for you. But there's something else that I think is really significant about this. And that is that God speaks to ordinary people. Some of you this morning may feel that God isn't aware of you or that God doesn't have a favorable opinion of you. That you are insignificant or of no importance to God. If God is willing to take His extraordinary message and give it to ordinary men, then He is saying that He is mindful of those who do not stand out in society. You are not insignificant to God. You're created in His image. You are His masterpiece with His signature written on your soul. And if God would reach out and call ordinary shepherds, where you're far better than a shepherd. And notice these individuals didn't have to clean themselves up as the angel came. They were exactly where they were doing the job that they were performing. There was no bath involved. There was no time to shave. There was nothing else to do. It was simply God's message through the angel coming to them. Some of you look at your lives and think that there is nothing of significance to it. And yet what you're attempting to do is, I want to take care of some things in my life before then I make things right with God and make things pleasant before Him. You need a Savior for that very reason. Because you are unclean. because you are down. The cleaning up and the lifting up happens by God through Christ, not by you. That really is amazing news for ordinary people. And that really leads us then into just what is this extraordinary news then? Notice what the angels say, or at least the angel said. Behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." This public announcement that is made to the shepherds, the angel himself says that these are good tidings of great joy. Now, it's not every day that individuals are meeting up with angels. I don't know, maybe we're not meeting up with shepherds all that much either. In terms of this particular event, it's the black of night, it's the middle of the night, and here then this being shines forth. This being stood out because it says, the glory of the Lord shone around him. This is the great glory of God. This is identified elsewhere as the Shekinah glory. This is the demonstration of the presence of God, as we heard last week, which invoked fear and caused the individuals to have to stay away. And yet here it is before these ordinary shepherds, and it invoked fear. And so the angel then says, don't be afraid. But beyond that, I've got great news. The word here, great, shows that it's magnificent, that it's wondrous, that it is extreme, that it is all the superlatives that you can think of demonstrating magnificence and might and that which is just big and large and wondrous. And notice what it is. It's not, I'm here to tell you that you won the lottery. You got a new job. You're gonna have a new house. There's all sorts of money in your bank account now. You're not gonna have any more health issues or problems or difficulties or challenge. You're gonna have a life of ease, that boat that you wanted. It's now nothing like that. The message to these individuals is a Savior who is Christ the Lord has been born this day. Three significant names. All linked together in one place. Savior. The acknowledgement of a Deliverer who will address the sins of His people. Christ, the promised one from the very beginning who would come and crush the head of the serpent. The one who fulfilled the role of prophet, priest, and king, who reveals God's will to us regarding our redemption, who then offers Himself as the sacrifice of redemption and intercedes on our behalf before a holy God, and one who then governs, defends, and preserves us in the very redemption that He has secured. For us, Lord, the Sovereign God, the Divine One who has sunk Himself into our flesh. The amazing declaration here is that in this one individual, the babe who is wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger is identified as God Himself who formed and made the world. The one who oversees all of life. The One who is able to do all that is needed in order to reconcile us to God and bring us to this Holy One. The One who dies to save us from all our sins and is the only name given among men by which we must be saved. The good tidings of great joy is that Almighty God has condescended, that he himself has humbled himself to come and save us so that we might then be the recipients of his love, of his grace, and of his mercy. These are good tidings of great joy. And notice, it's for any and all who would believe. Now as we hear this, there's an aside I want to make. And this is to the youth. Marlon told me, if you ever want to get the parents' attention, mention the kids. So kids, you have these three titles brought forward. Can you think of any place we might hear about this or learn about this? Can you think of any place where we might make this declaration week after week after week after week? In the Apostles' Creed, where we confess that we believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, our Lord. And think about this, that as you grow up and as you hear about this in the church from week to week, but furthermore, as you learn of these things when you enter into confirmation class, this is an opportunity for you to connect with this passage so that you might rightly understand. who Jesus is, the role and responsibility that he takes up, and furthermore than the divinity, that is his, so that he then might be the one who saves us from all of our sins. And so, children, do never, never, never, never take for granted the privilege and opportunity that is yours. to not just simply have these words read from Luke 2, but to be able to confess this with your mouth from week to week and to be able to learn and have the opportunity to understand what these things mean so that salvation might be a reality for you. And yet as the shepherds heard this extraordinary message, how did they know the validity or the truth of it? Notice what the angel said, this is the sign. You'll find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloth and lying in a manger. Think about that for a moment. The significance, as it were, of the nativity isn't so that we could have artists or photographers or someone else there capturing the moment and placing it on cards or being able to make lawn ornaments for us during the season. The significance of the nativity is the affirmation and the confirmation of the message that the angel had given, the sign to the shepherds. was the babe wrapped and in the manger. The testimony to you and I that Jesus is Lord, Savior, Christ is the fact that salvation was witnessed by these angels and by these shepherds in order to be able to see firsthand that what God had promised was a reality and was true. You see, we celebrate this time of year, we celebrate this event as noted in Luke chapter 2, so that we have this testimony to us that salvation was made real. Notice then, these ordinary men who receive an extraordinary message, it elicits a response. Notice what the shepherds do. After the angels go away, the shepherds said to one another, let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." Would you respond that way? I mean, think about this for a moment. You just had an angel surrounded with the glory of God communicate to you, and then beyond that, the sky was lit up with who knows how many angels, all then making some declaration of praise, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill to men. Luke almost seems to convey to us that the moment the event was done that the shepherds just look at each other and say, well, let's go check this out. I think I'd have to clean myself up a little bit first and just kind of get my senses together. Because that was quite an event. And yet, you know what? The message of salvation comes every Lord's Day. The message of Christ comes every time we read his word. And yet, what is the response? Some deliberate. They analyze whether it's real or not and whether things actually happen, or they may come up with reasons as to why not. After all, we've got a job here. We've got all these sheep we're taking care of. Who's going to take care of the sheep? Or in the middle of the field, we just got a good spot. Do we really want to leave this? Who knows if someone else is going to take it? How far do we have to travel in the middle of the night just to be able to go see a little babe? And we don't even know what house or what place they really are. Others may doubt. That really wasn't real. That didn't really happen. Look at the other shepherd. What did you put in our food tonight? Man, that was some crazy trip. This just couldn't have really happened. The shepherds could have denied it. They could have said, well, no, I'm a shepherd. I've done some pretty bad stuff. Or I don't need a savior, or at least not right now or at this moment. Deliberation, doubting, denial. Are any of you dealing with that this morning? You have this time of year, you may have certain events or struggles in your life, you hear the message that God has sought to reconcile Himself to sinners through the gift of His Son, and you then begin to wonder, is it too good to be true? Is it real? Is it for me at this time? What do I have to give up? or I've just been through some pretty awful rotten stuff that I don't think I want. Ordinary men had the message confirmed simply because they went. And notice this, they didn't say, let's see if it's true. There is no element of doubt. The moment they heard the angel, they heard the message, they heard the confirmation of the angelic host. When it's all done, notice what they say. Let us now go. This is the expression of faith. Their lives had been completely and totally changed. And the power of this wasn't simply the angels, but what the angels had declared. The good tidings of great joy for any and all that born this day is a Savior, Christ the Lord. Listen. The witness of salvation is brought forward to you this day. And it's yours. The call is set before you to come and to hear the Lord Jesus Christ. And as you've heard of Him this morning, to embrace Him with a believing heart, to acknowledge that He is the only Savior, that He is God who has come into this world. And through His work, He provides the free gift of eternal life that is yours if you would only embrace and accept it with a believing heart. And I want you to see that it changes individuals forever. All those who are believers in this room here this morning can witness and testify to this. They can share with you the way in which God has been at work, not easy, at times not pleasant, at times not simple. but all the while the acknowledgement of the peace of God that allows them to know they have been reconciled to Him and strengthened to walk in His path forevermore. But look at the change that occurred in these men. After they see these things, what do they then do? Verse 17. They made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child, and all who heard it marveled at those things which were told by the shepherds. Then they returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them. The response is a response of belief. But then how is that belief reflected? How is salvation then to be witnessed today? Through you as people. Through you, his people, as you praise and glorify God in your ordinary work and lives. Think about that. It's witnessed through you, His people, as you glorify and praise God in your ordinary lives. Notice what these individuals did. They saw these things and they couldn't help but be quiet. And notice what they shared. Not the event of the night, not the sight of the angels, but rather the promise of God was true. They made known what they had seen and heard. The outcast who was unacceptable, who was despised and rejected had been changed because God had said, you're not an outcast to me. You're accepted in my sight through my son and therefore I receive you in my family. They made known what was told regarding the child. There's a pastor friend of mine who says that Reformed Christians, in terms of their view of evangelism and witnessing, what we believe in that is we take the pray and pay approach. We'll pray for missions and we'll give our money. The shepherds didn't do that. Theirs was the say approach. They told. They shared, they expressed what they had seen and heard. Dear believer. Those of you who have grown up in the Reformed tradition your whole life, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You already have the gospel committed here and also here. What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. That's the gospel! That's the good news declared! That we have a Savior who is Christ, the Lord! How easy it is to simply walk up to someone and go, what's your only comfort in life and in death? They're going to give you the different strokes approach. What are you talking about, Willis? Kids, that's a reference for your parents. What I'm talking about is what gives you strength? What gives you encouragement? What gives you help? Here's what it is for me. And here is how God has done this for me. Ordinary men share as they express praise and glory to God. Notice the impact that this makes on their life. They return glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen. Christians are to be joyful. I don't mean something that's fake. I don't mean that you have to get a really great joke book and be able to then share a joke at the right time when it's quiet or something of that sort. I'm not saying that it has to be manifest in this huge exuberance that you're going to start dancing and clapping and so forth. Some of you may. But whatever it is that you show excitement, in whatever way you reflect joy, in the manner that is consistent with your personality to express praise and glory, that is going to be in you. A discouraged Christian is a contradiction. A gloomy Christian is a contradiction. Because if we have good tidings of great joy, which is for us, how can it not have an impact in our lives through the expression of joy? And notice this, they go back to the ordinary. These individuals didn't say, man, now that this has happened, let's reach out to the newspaper. Let's sign a deal so that we can publicize our book. Let's call the TV. Let's throw this on X or on Snapchat or Twitter. Well, there's no Twitter anymore. But you get the point. They didn't set themselves up on some media site so that they garner all this attention so that they get movie rights and book deals and other things. They went back to their lives changed, full of all that had happened so that all they came in contact with could see. and feel the impact of the message that they had heard. They went to the ordinary, but their lives were never again ordinary. Dear believer, if salvation has been witnessed, which it has, then it means something for you. It means that you have a position, you have a place, that God has shown His affection to you through His Son, that He's calling you to come and to believe and to rest and to be encouraged and strengthened from your place and your position so that you might go forth as His child, reflecting Him and sharing to others. the work of Jesus Christ through you is that tremendous new story that notes human interest, that reflects an impact, that has a proximity to all, that allows there to be a timeliness and a consequence so that others may also come to hear and to believe and see salvation witnessed. May God use you accordingly. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, as you have given us the gift of your Son, and as you have demonstrated to us that the Word has become flesh and that it is a reality that is ours, help us to embrace with a believing heart the truth and the riches and the joy that is ours, overcome our doubts, our discouragements, our fears, our frustrations, and direct our hearts accordingly to believe on the Lord Jesus and to express this to those around us. And this we ask in faith, even as we pray, saying, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.