Our message tonight will be on Luke 2, verses 8 through 20. It's on page 71 in the New Testament section of your Bibles. As we prepare to hear God's word, let's bow together in prayer. Eternal God, in tonight's reading of the scripture passage, may your word be heard. And in the meditations of our hearts, may your word be known. And in the faithfulness of our lives, may your word be shown. In the name of Christ, amen. Very familiar passage. Luke 2, we'll read verses 8 through 20. In that region, there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people. For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you. You will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth 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 heaven. and on earth peace among those whom he favors. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us. So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child. And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Well, congregation, this evening we continue our Advent journey that we have been walking as we make our way to Bethlehem, as the shepherds did. And soon we know we will be rejoicing alongside of them as we witness that amazing fulfillment of the promise made way back to Adam and Eve in the garden. When in the face of their sin, God said in speaking to the serpent, but a promise to us, I will put enmity between you and the woman. between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. The long story began. Generation after generation, struggling, sinning, repenting, being forgiven, but all the time waiting, looking, and hoping. But in that darkness, and if you take the time to read through the Old Testament, we're doing it in Gleaner's form right now, we're in Genesis for a second year, the darkness is striking. It's striking. The sin, over and over and over again, and it almost can bring us, too, to a point of hopelessness. There is so much darkness. But even there, the gospel is heard, because in the midst of the darkness and the silence, it is not totally silent, for God speaks. And He continues to speak. In the prophets of old, whose prophecies we've been focusing on in these last weeks, these prophets whose mouths were opened by the Holy Spirit to speak of a coming salvation. The coming salvation that God himself would accomplish. And we find ourselves standing next to them or before them. hearing those words as they gaze into that future that is often cloudy or hazy. The words come out, but they don't fully comprehend often the form that that fulfillment will take. They wonder, they long, and they hope for the fulfillment that was promised. Now we've received much fuller revelation. As we listen to the words of the prophets, we cannot help but hear them from the perspective of those who are in the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, who have the New Testament writings. So through that New Covenant word, we are able to stand by their side, but also to see that future more clearly. We begin to see how that prophecy and another is fulfilled. Things that they could only imagine. People sitting in darkness have seen a great light. Advent, no matter how many years we walk this journey, is a powerful experience. And for those of you who are older, doesn't mean older than me, but older than the average here. How many seasons of Advent have you walked? And yet, perhaps you have the same experience. It becomes more meaningful, more precious, more powerful year after year. And so it's good to gather and to hear God's word in this Advent season. But we do it in a context that is often confusing. Strange, maybe, is a better word. For we celebrate Advent and later Christmas in a culture which celebrates Christmas, as I said, in some very interesting but strange ways. In fact, there are those recently who say, well, we really ought not to talk about Christmas, we'll talk about the holidays, which always struck me as very strange, since holiday means holy day, but I guess they don't connect the dots always. Traditions. It's like Fiddler on the Roof. Why do you do it? Tradition. And this season, is filled with traditions. And many of those we participate in. I'm not sure there were poinsettias in Bethlehem, but we have them here. Year after year, it's a tradition. And many of these traditions are good. there's nothing wrong with them. It is a season in which we, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, should celebrate like no one else. Many of these traditions have been shaped over the last 2,000 years as the people of God in different cultures, speaking different languages, have reflected on the prophecies of old and the fulfillment in the birth of the Savior. And these practices arise and are often continued. But of course, many of the traditions in our current culture have not grown out of that soil, at least not very directly. We have Black Friday. That's important. Is that an Advent event? Maybe, perhaps not. No, this is the busiest shopping time of the year. That's important to many. Shop until you drop. It's one of the traditions. And there are many, many more of these traditions of our culture that are around us. As I said, Christians are not to be negative in that, well, we don't participate in anything at all. We can't celebrate. We're somber. We have every reason to celebrate. And as I think about this season of the year, perhaps like you, I think of time with family and friends. We take time to be together, to catch up, even the Christmas cards, which I detest writing. But I do. And after I write them, now you'll all be waiting for my card, I am not a Scott. But after I write them, I think, oh yes, I hadn't thought about him for quite a while. And then I get the cards, and the letters, and most of them I am very thankful for, a few not. These are good. These are ways in which we cement those bonds of fellowship in this time of the year. There are the tastes of the season that go back to our childhood, the smells of the Christmas tree, of meals, the treats that destroy diets, memories watching the children. Last Sunday afternoon, I loved it, all the children up here, and one who didn't want to go back. And that's the beauty of the family of God worshiping, celebrating the birth of Christ. But as I said, there are those things that are not so affirming of our faith, not so edifying. Helen had a practice, some of you may relate to this, of picking up Christmas cards after Christmas. You wouldn't believe how much money she saved. And so it was just this year that I had to go and buy some more cards. That was not easy. Well, here's Santa on the roof. Do I send that to the Monroe's? Probably not. What about this one? No, I don't think so. I finally went to Dort's bookstore and I found some pretty good ones that actually had biblical messages. So all these interesting little traditions and ideas connected with this time of the year. Or think about your shopping experience. And you go into a store, and you have the beautiful Christmas music. I saw Mother kissing Santa Claus. That certainly picks up the themes of the biblical celebration. Or, maybe this one does a little more, the dogs barking out jingle bells. That's always been a crowd pleaser. A lot of strange things in this season. And as Christians, we find ourselves trying to think critically. To kind of test what is appropriate, what is not. And in it all, to keep our focus where it ought to be. To reverently and joyfully concentrate on the gift God gave us in His own Son. Because we are those who boldly say every day of the year, in Christ alone, my hope is found. Tonight we listen to the message of the angels to get oriented in the right way in this season. As I said, words so familiar. I actually, in working on this sermon, recalled memorizing it as a little boy for a Christmas program. And I'm sure many of you have too. It's so familiar to us. In fact, as I read it tonight, I could not help but picture in my mind, visualize images that probably were not very accurate to that actual event, but they were not bad, probably drawn from Christmas cards I had seen or paintings or drawings or Sunday school papers I colored. I don't know. But it's part of who we are. We are there on that hillside with the shepherds, and we visualize what took place there. The shepherds, a rough bunch, probably a rather boring job, and depending on the time of the year, it could be really hot or it could be kind of on the cool side in that area. And the sheep were a lot of work. Night after night, not the most exciting job. Tonight would be a night like every other night. No, it would not. That night, they were shaken. An angel appeared before them, an angel. But the angel said to them, as they were shaking in their boots. Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of a great joy for all the people. For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord, the one all Israel had been waiting for. And then that one angel is joined by an array of heavenly beings saying, glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among those whom he favors. There's so much in this account we could focus on, but this evening we're going to briefly examine that message of the angel I just read. Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors. When I was a boy, we used the King James Version in our church, and I remember my dad reading it, family devotions, and this familiar story, I remember that too. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. In fact, looking for Christmas cards, I found it on several. Our reading and the reading of most more modern translations, and on earth peace among those whom he favors. Interesting. I've taught New Testament Greek for many years, and so I was very tempted to take an extra half hour and talk about the different cases of nouns. But on second thought, I won't. The difference between the King James and the newer translations goes back to the manuscripts. Those are the early copies. The King James Version was commissioned in 1604. It goes way back. And the translation work was completed in 1611. And it was a real advance over the other English translations. They went back and looked for the old manuscripts, and they translated very carefully. And I must say, in spite of my comments in just a moment, it's a good, solid translation. It's not a bad version at all. It may not be as understandable to many in our culture, but overall it is a generally accurate translation. But after that, after 1611, Protestants really, the scholars, looked for the oldest manuscripts, the oldest copies of the New Testament that they could find, and they found many, many more. And in this particular passage, what came out is the really old ones consistently had a slightly different reading from the one that was used by the King James translators. One word was different, and in that one word, one letter was different. But in Greek, that one letter difference changes the case, how it functions in the sentence. So that one letter is kind of important, and that brings us to the translation that we have, and on earth peace among those whom he favors. Well, this is not earth-shattering news, but we live in a culture, in a society, which is really preoccupied with inclusion. I don't think I've heard that word in my entire life, up to maybe five years ago, three years ago, as much as I have since. Inclusion That is the mantra for the day. It's the most important thing, really, our society says. It's a world, a society in which the truth proclaimed is that really, you know, all religions have a validity to them. All views, all lifestyles are equally to be accepted and even celebrated. Without delving into this, of course, what that does is it excludes all those who proclaim there is one truth, there is one true God, there is one Savior, Jesus Christ, there is one written Word of God. Somehow, inclusion excludes such folks. Well, it would also exclude the clear teaching of Scripture here. Luke 2. does not participate in that notion of inclusion. Now understand that our culture is not just an idea out there, but the claim, the truth claim that the Bible clearly makes, that this is the revelation of the living God. who has redeemed fallen mankind through the one Savior, Jesus Christ. This unique event in our culture is an extremely offensive message. But equally offensive and part of that whole package is the Bible's clear teaching regarding human sin. that we all have sinned and come under the just judgment of a holy God. That salvation, if it is to be had, cannot come from us, but must come from the grace of this God. And that grace comes only through the Son of God, Jesus Christ, through the powerful working of the Holy Spirit. I've been in discussions with people who say, that's a preposterous idea. It's an arrogant idea. To think that God, if there is a God, would limit his revelation to one particular people, not an especially impressive people, long ago. While those cultures and peoples who had advanced societies, you are saying walked in ignorance? Walked contrary to the ways that this God has laid out? We can't accept that. The King James reading, on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Not translated that way because of this modern notion of inclusion and relativism, but because of a manuscript they were working from. But modern people might, perhaps, and maybe that's why it's on a lot of Christmas cards, might find this somewhat acceptable. If you want to believe in a God, then this God must be, at least we would expect him to be loving and accepting, and in an event like this, express his goodwill toward all human beings. But of course, we're not really all that interested in prevailing thinking. what you ought to think according to our culture. But what does the Word of God say? What were the angels announcing nearly 2,000 years ago? The translation we have in our few Bibles is a good one, but let me give you some alternative ways of bringing this same thing into English. The angels, in a very literal translation, are saying, and on earth peace to men characterized by God's good will or God's good pleasure. So that announcement of the angels that shook not only the shepherds but the world That announcement of peace is not a generic, worldwide peace for all humanity. The angels announced peace to those gathered into the kingdom by God through His Son, whose birth they announced. It was a limited peace for them. The birth in Bethlehem, the word become flesh, is the outcome of the glory of God. It's a revelation of His glory. The fullest revelation of God is now given to humanity. The hope of the ages, all of those prophecies of old fulfilled in that dark night. join the shepherds, all of us who have seen the Christ, all of us who are united to Him in faith, we respond like those shepherds, in awe, in awe, and join the chorus, glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace, among those whom he favors." It's not a sentimental well-wishing for all people regardless of what they believe, how they live. It is not some kind of a fairy tale hope in a God who, being a loving God, looks down on humanity kind of sizes us up and says, you know, they're not all that bad, I guess. Oh, they slip up now and then, but they're pretty good folks. And so I will pour out my blessings and peace upon them. That kind of anemic, unbiblical teaching, sadly, is fairly common. The creator, the sovereign ruler of all, the righteous one, The holy God, whose image-bearers rebelled against him, and whose every thought and action and word becomes rooted in evil, experienced salvation only in that baby born in Bethlehem. It comes from God entirely. And that's why the angels sing, glory to God. To God alone belongs honor. To him alone belongs glory. To him who is in the highest heaven, all praise, all honor, all worship must be given. Glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace among those whom he favors. That word peace, Pastor Curtis talked a bit about it, certainly, but it's not a word in English that conveys exactly what the Bible is teaching, or maybe a better way to put it is it's open to a lot of different meanings. It's a piece that's very different from the Pax Romana, the peace that Caesar claims to have brought to the world through his empire. And it's very different from the peace that the political elites speak of endlessly as they wage wars and promote injustice. It's not, first of all, an outward peace, but it begins much deeper than that. It is peace with our Creator against whom we rebelled. And that comes only through that baby of Bethlehem, the Savior Jesus Christ. In Him, and only in Him, are we restored to image Him who is the perfect image of the Father. Reconciliation. restoration as image bearers. That's how we know peace, salvation, healing to all our relationships. Because when that relationship to our Creator is restored, is healed, there is healing in our relationships with others and with the rest of creation. 1 John 3, 2, This morning, Pastor Kurt quoted it, Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. The message of the angels honors Jesus Christ. as the Prince of Peace. But that peace comes only to those who are in Christ, union with Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul talks about that in Ephesians 2 when he says, For by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of work, so that no one may boast. But what does that say about others, those not in Christ? Well, that peace eludes them. For all outside of Christ, this coming is not to be celebrated as long as they reject the Christ, because rejecting Him brings the full judgment of God. Every mighty redemptive act of God in the Bible, you can go back to the flood, has its redemptive side and its judgment side. Where do you stand in regard to this God and His Son? Those outside of Christ don't know this peace. They cannot. Their lives remain in a state of disorder. violence, strife, hopelessness. Listen to Luke 2, verses 29 through 35. You know the passage. The prophecy of Simeon, one who lived his entire life in hope of the coming Messiah and the full salvation that that would bring. Joseph and Mary bring Jesus to the temple. And he sees them, and he prophesies, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples. A light for the revelation, for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to the people of Israel. And then Luke records, and his father and mother, Mary and Joseph, marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and the rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is opposed. And then to Mary, he says, "...and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." The fall and the rising of many. In Christ, we join Simeon, the shepherds. We have seen the salvation of God in the birth of Jesus. And what can you do? You stand in awe. You fall to your knees. The profound mystery of the salvation God has accomplished in His Son. And we join with the angels, glory to God in highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom He favors. And falling before the living God who has wrought salvation, we have to go out like the shepherds and Simeon and share what God has done. So in this season we gather, we have good times, but we share this core of our faith with our families, certainly with our little ones. This is what it's all about. and certainly with those who are still stumbling about in the darkness. This is the joy of Jesus' birth. Fall on our knees before Him. Jesus, Son of the living God, hope of the nations, Prince of Peace, He has been born in Bethlehem. Come, let us adore Him. Will you pray with me? Father in Heaven, we fall to our knees before your glory revealed in our Savior Jesus Christ. The Word become flesh. In awe, we ponder the gospel that has been announced to us through those who preached good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. things into which the angels themselves long to look, the mystery of godliness through Christ. Blessed be your holy name, triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one eternal God. We join with the angels, with the hosts of heaven, with all creation in worshiping you. To you alone be the glory.