We'll talk about disappointment. I don't know if you saw this in the news last February, but if you were one of the 850 people who happened to be in Glasgow, Scotland, who had bought a ticket, $44 a piece, to go to the Willy Wonka experience, unlicensed, That was a fiasco, a huge disappointment. For those of you that didn't read that story or don't know what I'm talking about, it was the expectation of being able to take your children and go to this fantasy land of candy and chocolate. It would be an overwhelming experience, candy, all that you could eat. The advertisement showed that it looked exactly like what Roald Dahl describes in his book, and just this factory where you could eat everything in sight, and everything that you saw was just filled with color. That was the expectation. The reality, when people showed up, was that it was an empty warehouse, and they had maybe a handful of banners that were placed up on the walls. a couple of workers in half-hearted costumes. There was a bounce house. And every, not every kid, but some of the kids were able to walk away with a handful of jelly beans and a half cup of lemonade. So you can imagine how you would have felt in that moment. The police were called. They had to give refunds for everything. It was known as a total fiasco and a case study for the future of bad marketing. The whole thing we could describe as underwhelming. Not overwhelming, but underwhelming. The expectation was not met. And that's how the story of the birth of Jesus can seem at first. Now those of you that have grown up hearing it, you probably hear it and you think maybe a little bit differently, but imagine if you'd heard this the first time. And certainly the first people that were coming into contact with Jesus when He came into Jerusalem were not impressed with Him, or where He came from, or His people. We know that that's not the case, though. We know that the story of Jesus is not underwhelming. God begins this part of the story in chapter 2, verse 1, by moving the entire empire. at his will to fulfill his promises. You understand God didn't just take advantage of a census, but that God is sovereign over these things. He caused these things to happen so that a couple of people who normally would not have been in Bethlehem that night were able to be there. So look at verse one. In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. and all went to be registered, each to his own town." Again, the sovereignty of God at play, working all the way from Caesar to the governor, all the way down to the individuals that would go to their own town. This is God at work. And then in verses four through five, I wish I had time. I don't have time. We're focusing on the song, right? I wish I had time. There's so much prophecy fulfilled in just these couple of verses. Look at verses four and five. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. Those are two packed verses that are just filled, like I said. It's the Nazarenes, right, that Matthew tells us was prophesied that Jesus would be. They're coming to the city of David. We read in Micah that it is Bethlehem, the city of David, where the ruler was to be born. It's the descendants of David, as Matthew and Luke both tell us, that are coming. And Mary the betrothed is pregnant. She also happens to be a virgin. Like, there's just so much there that God is fulfilling. God is keeping his word. He is doing what he has promised for centuries. Don't pass over that. Look at it and be in awe. And then, here it is, the birth of Christ. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. I love the way that Luke said that 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 that's it. That's it. That's the birth story. Nobody else talks about this. Matthew doesn't say anything about this other than that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Mark and John don't talk about this. This is what we got. Now, just so you know, I like to tell my kids this every year, the picture that you might have of Mary and Joseph in a stable is probably not all that accurate. It probably is. The alternative reading there that it's a guest room, that they probably were staying in somebody's house. There wasn't any room in the typical guest room. They had to stay out in the common area where the animals would probably be. And it's this totally underwhelming situation. They get to the place, they don't even have a room, they got to sit with the animals, and they don't even have a place to put him. So they wrap him up and they put him in a feeding trough. And it's like, that's it? That's God come to earth? Like, I don't know about you, I know you've heard this story many times, but when I think about the idea of God becoming man, of God coming to earth and being born after all these prophecies, after all these angelic announcements, it seems like there should be something more. And there is, right? Because next we get the announcement. the announcement, and who would you expect to hear the announcement of such a momentous occasion? And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. On the one hand, it's quite underwhelming, isn't it? It's like shepherds? That's it? You're not going to go tell the priests in Jerusalem? You're not going to go tell the Sanhedrin? You're not going to go let Herod know? You're not going to let these other people know? I mean, you moved Caesar Augustus to have a census. Go tell him. Tell him why it happened. But no, all these people, of course, would eventually come to find out. But the people who were told that night were shepherds. So on the one hand, as I said, it's quite underwhelming. But on the other hand, it makes sense, doesn't it? It makes sense. I mean, look what we have on tap so far for the angelic announcements. We have a barren old couple. And we have a teenage girl from Nazareth and nobody. These are the people who've been given these angelic visits, who've been announced this is what's going to happen. And so it makes sense, doesn't it, that the next angelic announcement would be to just a handful of poor lowly shepherds at night. And it also makes sense from a whole Bible perspective, doesn't it? When you look throughout scripture and you think about this, and there's a lot of this pointing back to the promises fulfilled for David. Do you remember David's own anointing? When he was anointed to be his king. It wasn't some grand affair, was it? It wasn't a big thing. It was Samuel sneaking out to Jesse and not even telling anybody why he's there and having all of Jesse's sons come by. Jesse doesn't even think about his youngest son who happens to be out in his own field tending his own sheep. And it's a last kind of thought like, well, there's David, he's left if none of these are good enough for you. And then he's anointed and then Samuel runs away again back to Ramah. And it's not for years that David actually becomes the king over Israel. And of course, David's own profession, right? What did he do for a living before he was drafted into Saul's household? He was a shepherd. And that's how he led his people. And that's one thing that made him different from the other kings, especially from Saul, was that he shepherded the people. Even as he was a general in the army, he cared for his people, he watched over them, he treated them as such. Not as a weakling, but as a shepherd who cares for his people, who cares for his sheep, and who protects them, and who is willing to kill bears, and lions, and wolves, and anything else that would come their way. God describes himself as a shepherd. David's arguably most famous psalm describes the Lord is my shepherd. And I don't need anything because he cares for me. And even the leaders of your church today, what do we call ourselves? In fact, what does the Bible call us? It calls us pastors, which is the word for shepherd, because that's what we are to do as well. So on that hand, it totally makes sense that the angels would come and they would visit the shepherds and tell them. And you can imagine they're sitting there at night. They're not, I can't imagine that they're all, maybe they're sleepy, I don't know. A lot of songs and stories will paint them that way. They're kind of nodding off. I don't think so, I'm more inclined to believe these shepherds are kind of on watch. They're paying attention, there are enemies, there are wolves and bears and lions and all kinds of things that would come and get the sheep, and they're watching. And they're watching for what's going to come, and the last thing that they expect comes, not from out of the trees or the darkness, it comes from above. And it's this an angel of the Lord appear to them and the glory of the Lord shown around them and they were filled with great fear. And then the angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. I love that angels always have to say fear not every time that they come on the scene. I think they just know. Like I've never been visited by an angel. I don't expect that I will, maybe, I don't know. But I know this, anytime you see in scripture an angel come along, it's a terrifying event. And they always have to say, hey, I know, I can imagine, I'm surrounded by these other angels, I'm in the presence of the Lord God Almighty. And so I recognize that you would be afraid of what you're seeing. So don't fear. I'm not here to kill you. I'm not here to strike you down. I'm here to bring you good news of great joy. And what is that good news? For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. Awesome. And I can imagine, again, because we see their response later, that it's so exciting. Wow, great. How will we know? What does it look like? What does he look like? Where is he? And the angel tells him, this will be a sign for you. And what are they expecting here? I don't know. What are you expecting here? You know the story, but imagine you didn't. Who would you be expecting after this huge Angelica announcement? What is it? You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. All expectations thrown out the window. What? Okay. He's in a manger. Again, we don't use that word. Probably more shocking to be like he's in a food bowl, right? He's in a trough. I don't know. What are the other things you feed your animals out of, you farmers? Right? Like the wood. That's where he is? That's the sign? Seems kind of underwhelming. And again, I don't know how you react to that sign, but here's what heaven and earth did in that moment after that announcement. 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 among those with whom he is pleased. And that, my friends, is an overwhelming response. That is something that you could not expect and we can hardly imagine. I wish I could paint it with words. I wish I could show you a picture, but none of those things would do it justice. Simply, the sky lit up and it was an army of angels. Just overwhelm them. I don't know that they were actually singing, it just says that they said. I'm persuaded that they were actually singing, but it's okay if you don't think that. Either way, they are praising God, and they are proclaiming this short carol, but an incredibly packed and powerful song to God. And it's curious, isn't it? Why would this multitude who surround God all day, praising Him, leave heaven and come to these shepherds? Right? Because they're already there praising God. We get pictures in different books of the Bible, you read in Revelation, and you see they're constantly surrounding the throne of God, praising Him. So why leave that? probably a multitude of reasons, can I give you at least two? Number one, it's because they long to look into such things. Do you understand that often when we are singing songs, we sing and we talk a lot about our own salvation. We have prayers of confession, we have assurance of pardon because we have salvation. Angels don't have such an experience. The angels do not sing the songs that we sing. Now we sing songs of praise as well, and we praise God for who he is, and we ought to, that's right. But they have no need of salvation. There were the angels that fell, but Jesus Christ did not come to die for angels. So the angels that have fallen are fallen. The angels that never fell, you're seeing what they're doing. So the angels long to look into such things. Look at 1 Peter 1 Peter 1 verses 10-12. This is fascinating. We don't know a whole lot about angels. I don't think it does good to speculate but we do have a couple of verses. In 1 Peter 1 Peter talks about the living hope that we have, that we've been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He's talking about our faith growing and the salvation that we have. And in verse 10, he says, concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. I don't understand it. But I know that the angels rejoice over things like this. They rejoice over one sinner who repents in heaven. They rejoice and long to look into the work that God is doing in the church. And so it makes sense that they would come and they would come to the shepherds and they would proclaim the glory of God. It also makes sense that because God has now been born. God has become man. God has been born on earth. That the angels would sing to these shepherds because because God has come to earth, he will be praised wherever he is. And so here they are. surrounding these shepherds, saying to them, the Lord is in your midst. He is here, and so we will glorify him. It's as if creation cannot help it. It's not the only place we see this. You see it in Luke chapter 19 as well, when Jesus comes to Jerusalem, the triumphal entry, right? We read in Luke 19, verses 37, through 40, as he was drawing near, already on the way down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. You hear a very similar language, isn't it? We're praising the one, the one true King, the one true God. And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. But he answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. There are just some times when it's as if they cannot help it. And I can only imagine That the multitude of angels at this moment, not only desire to look into salvation, but also could not help but praise the Lord in the midst of such a glorious announcement and such of a momentous event happening. They just have to proclaim the praise of God. Have you ever experienced that? Have you ever had a moment like that in your own life? Have you ever been overwhelmed by the Lord in such a way that it's like, I cannot help but sing his praise. I cannot help but pray. I cannot help but glorify him in my life. The angels sing to him, glory to God in the highest. As I said, we often praise God for his salvation, which is a good thing. We should continue. Continue to praise him for the salvation in your life. Continue to thank him. It will be a song that we sing throughout all of eternity. To the lamb who was slain, we will continue to talk about his sacrifice of salvation. But as the angels demonstrate, God rightly deserves praise regardless of his salvation. You understand the Lord is good. Always, he always was good. He always deserved praise. He always deserves our adoration. He is the supreme one who never changes. And yet. Peace on Earth. You understand, he he did not have to. Save us. But he chose to make peace with his people. God owes us nothing. God owes me nothing. And yet he chooses to love. By becoming like the enemy, and I don't mean Satan, I mean you and I mean me. Because as Paul tells us in Romans, while we were still enemies of God, that is when he sent his son to become like the enemy. Jesus made peace by the blood of his cross. And as Karl Pounds will tell you, because scripture tells him, that was the only way. Somewhere in Texas he's saying amen right now. And here's the overwhelming reality of it. That this peace is not for the strong. It's not for those who have it all together. It's not for those that think that they can please God. Or that maybe one day they can be good enough to please God. Do you know who God is pleased in? Luke tells us, just a few pages over in Luke chapter three, verses 21 and 22, another momentous occasion. Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were open and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove and a voice came from heaven. You are my beloved son with you. I am well pleased. And then consider this, because that's not the end of the story. Again, a familiar scripture in 2 Corinthians 5. And you'll have the benefit of having it up on the screen, don't you? Maybe you do, maybe not. 2 Corinthians 5, starting in verse 16. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ. He is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. All this is from God who, through Christ, reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. God making his appeal through us, we implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Do you see, beloved, that God is pleased in his Son and those that are in Christ who have repented of their sins, who have turned to him in faith, If you are in Christ, you have become the righteousness of God. You are a new creation and God is pleased with you. God is pleased in you. God is pleased through you. And so what would you do with such good news? What would you do if you were the shepherds? Well, we know that the shepherds were faithful, and I mean literally, they became full of faith. In verses 15 through 17, 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. So they came and they adored him. They came and they saw what had been told to them. And how did people respond to this message? And we read in the text at least three ways. One, they wondered. Look at verse 18, and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds had told them. Much like what they did with John, right? After he'd been named John, that's kind of weird. Zechariah has been dumb and maybe deaf too, we don't know. And he's suddenly opened up his mouth and he's praising God and they're wondering at all these things. Who is this? Similar here, there's a wonder, what is going on? Number two, though, in verse 19, but Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. So there's wonder and then there's treasure, she treasures these things. Which is why I'm convinced that Luke, as he's writing this message, he's getting it from Mary, that's my conviction. I think that's part of what God's doing is telling Mary these things, treasuring these things up in your heart because you're going to tell Luke one day, he's going to write it down and everybody's going to hear about all these things. So she treasures these things. And then there's thirdly, praise. Verse 20, and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. And all those responses are appropriate for you today too. You can wonder at the mystery, the divine mystery of God, God's incarnation. How does that work? Wonder at it. Ponder it. It's a good exercise. It's better than spending time on your phone. Treasure those things. That's a good thing for you to do too. Treasure these things up in your heart. Meditate on these things. Recognize that that's what they are. They are a treasure. These stories that we continually go back to and remind ourselves again and again we do so for a reason. Treasure them up in your heart and glorify and praise the Lord. Praise Him today. You've already got a chance to sing. Sing again. You've got an opportunity to glorify Him later on this afternoon as you talk with one another. You've got an opportunity to come back tonight and to sing and to read more scripture and glorify Him. And then we end in verse 21. Because just as with Elizabeth and Zachariah, there's a strange name given to this miracle baby. Not strange in the sense that we already know what the angel Gabriel told us, but strange in the sense that just like Elizabeth and Zachariah, this would have been unexpected by the family around them. And at the end of the eight days when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Now, as I said, what some might call underwhelming, I would call a divine mystery. How could God, who is eternal, unchangeable, who is spirit, who does not have a body like you and like me, how could he become a baby boy born in the poorest of conditions? How could he, the immutable one, which is a fancy word for he doesn't change, not for the better, not for the worse, he doesn't change because he's already perfect. How could he undergo suffering and shame and sorrow? I'll tell you the answer's a bit underwhelming. I don't know. That's the best I got. I'll tell you what I do know, though. I know that it's true. And since it is true, because it is true, let's come and adore him. Let's pray.