CHRISTMAS

�� Dr. Luke is our primary source of information about the birth of Christ. Without his research and his Gospel we would know very little about the family and the background of our Lord. In this series of fifteen chapters we will explore the subjects that Dr. Luke calls to our attention. Some of them may seem trivial, but when it comes to the greatest story ever told, nothing is too small to consider as a valid subject for study. Each chapter is independent of the others. If you have an interest in a particular topic you can go directly to that chapter.

�� Thanks to Dr Luke, you will see that the Christmas message is� one that covers a lot of territory, and is filled with human interest topics. My hope is that by reading these chapters you will come to treasure more than ever what God did for us on that first Christmas.

��

�� CHAPTER ONE

1. AN ATMOSPHERE OF AMAZEMENT based on Luke 2:8-20

�� Human beings love to be amazed and filled with wonder.� That is why they travel the world over to see the 7 wonders of the world and the million and more lesser wonders of God and man.� That is why the constant craving for special effects in spectacular movies that take us out of dullsville into a world of wonder.�

�� The amazing is always popular.� Back near the turn of the century, Hodji Ali made his fortune by being amazing.� In full view of the audience he would swallow peach pits, pennies, rhinestone rings, watermelon seeds and a whole series of small objects.� Then he would bring up specific items at the request of the audience.� Like the great fish in the book of Jonah, he could vomit for a profit {prophet}.�

�� That was merely a warm up.� While his assistant set up a miniature castle, Ali drank a gallon of water and then a pint of kerosene.� The drum would begin to roll and he would spit out the� kerosene in a six foot arc across the stage, setting the castle on fire.� Then with the flames shooting high into the air, he would spit up the water and extinguish the blaze.� The people loved it, for it was amazing, and people love to be amazed.�

�� That is what the Christmas season is all about.� It is about being amazed.� The whole world, in shopping centers,� is changed to convey a sense of amazement.� The lights and decorations and colors are all changed to convey a sense of wonder.� We are expected to respond, how wonderful, how beautiful, how amazing it all is!� The world and the church cooperate once a year in an all out effort to create an atmosphere of amazement.�

�� It is very Biblical to do so, for that is the spirit that characterized the first Christmas.� After the shepherds had gone through the wonder-filled experience of hearing the angels and seeing the Christ-child for themselves, they spread the word, and we read in verse 18, "And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them."�

�� Amazement has three different levels very much like the three levels of heaven.� There is the atmospheric heaven of the birds and the clouds.� There is the astronomical heaven of sun, moon and stars.� There is the angelic heaven of all the heavenly hosts and the Trinity.� Human amazement begins on the highest level as the shepherds are confronted by the wonder of the angels.� But then the shepherds have to go back to tending their sheep, and day by day the wonder of it all would begin to fade.� The challenge for them and for us is to keep the wonder alive and on the highest level.� Let's look at the three stages of amazement, for just being aware of them will help us.

I.� THE RESPONSE OF AMAZEMENT.

�� This is the first and highest level where we are confronted by the mysterious and marvelous and feel a sense of awe.� Georgia Adams conveys a common experience of amazement in her poem Evening Awe.�

�I am filled with awesome wonder

� on moonlit, starlit nights;

Speechlessly I stand engrossed in

� Such an array of sights.

Like a rich black velvet curtain

�The sky hangs silently-

Studded with millions of diamonds

Shining so brilliantly.

Among the myriads of stars

�Flung into outer space,

The dipper so majestically

Appears to take its place.

Each whirling, twirling planet spins

Within its orbit there;

The silvery moon hangs deftly

Suspended in mid-air!

Ah yes, the spacious firmament

�In silent witness stands

To prove God holds this universe

Within His sovereign hands!

�� -Georgia B. Adams

�� We have all been amazed at some time by gazing up into the sky. The wise men were more amazed that usual when they saw the Star of Bethlehem. In that state of wonder they were willing to give up a good chunk of their life to follow that star to the Christ-child.� When they arrived they no doubt had the emotions of those who sing, "I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene."��

�� We see an atmosphere of amazement everywhere in the New Testament when people confronted Jesus.� When Mary and Joseph found Jesus as a young boy in the temple talking with the scholars, they were amazed.� When Jesus began to teach, the people were amazed at His authority.� When He began to cast our evil spirits, they were amazed at His power.� When He healed people, they were amazed and they praised God.� When He stilled the storm His disciples were completely amazed.� The point is, there was an atmosphere of amazement that surrounded Jesus and His ministry, and we read in Mark 9:15, "As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet Him."� The response of amazement was the normal response of men when they had an encounter with Christ.� The next level we want to consider is-

II.� THE RETREAT OF AMAZEMENT.

�� This second stage is a lower level and is the inevitable direction we must go.� Just as Jesus did not permit Peter to build his three tabernacles on the Mt. of Transfiguration, and stay in that elevated atmosphere of amazement, so He does not permit anyone to go through life in perpetual wonder.� The disciples were often amazed at Jesus, but after living with Him for some time, they went from being, sometimes awe-filled, to being sometimes, awful.� They fought and bickered over issues of pride, and lost the sense of honor it was just to be in His presence.��

�� Judas retreated so far from the glory of his first response that he lost the light altogether.� But nobody� escapes the detour off the super highway of amazement.� That is just the way God made us.� The thing that amazes me is how fast we can retreat from the atmosphere of amazement.� Some years back, my parents visited us and we took them down town to see the sights.� It was new to all of us as we saw the flowing water and trees, and all sorts of plants inside a modern building.� It was truly amazing.� But years later when we returned to hopefully again be amazed, the novelty was gone. It was a boring journey for the atmosphere of amazement had vanished.� I experienced the retreat of amazement.

�� Amazement thrives on surprise and the unexpected.� It has a hard time surviving in an atmosphere where all is known.� I enjoyed the amazing surprises of the movie, Raiders Of The Lost Ark.� But when I watched the film again on television, I was no longer surprised by the unknown, and I lost a great deal of amazement.

�� Earl Stanley Gardner tells of the fascinating experience of a traffic officer who was patrolling the highway one hot summer day. He found a place in the shade to pull over and observe the traffic highway one hot summer day.� He found a place in the shade to pull over and observe the traffic. He saw a car which was acting strange, as a driver drove slowly along a creek road leading to the highway. He got his binoculars out, and to his surprise,� he recognized the driver as his next door neighbor. He observed him stop the car, and get a bag out of the trunk, and lay it in the shade by the stream. He then got back into the car and left.

�� The officer was curious, and drove to the spot, and checked it out. He discovered a mother cat and six kittens. He quickly picked them up and drove with his siren blaring at high speed to his neighbors house. He ran around the back of the house and put the cats on his porch. He never told his neighbor what had happened, but delighted in hearing him tell others of the impossible story of how his cat and six kittens beat him home, when he drove off to abandon them. His neighbor lived in perpetual amazement at finding these cats purring in the sunlight on his back porch. The point is, had the officer told him what had happened, the amazement would retreat rapidly into oblivion. It was kept alive by the mystery of the unknown

�� Children are amazed at the commonplace because to them it is the unknown. They love it for they enjoy wonder. A little boy was asked when his birthday was and he said he didn't know. When he was asked why he didn't ask his parents he said, "because I want it to be a surprise." Children long to be surprised and amazed, and it is a mistake to tell them they are silly. You can bring about the eclipse of wonder and the retreat of amazement by forcing a child to move to rapidly out of the world of play and fantasy into the world of work and reality. The retreat of amazement is sure enough without provoking it prematurely.

�� We need to recognize the reality of the retreat of amazement, so we can work at

�counteracting it. Christmas and communion have this is common-they are events which we repeat so often that they can lose their sense of wonder. They focus on the two great events of our faith-the birth and the death of Jesus. They are the beginning and the end of Him who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Because there is a retreat of amazement at these events of wonder, we need to look at the third stage-

III. THE RENEWAL OF AMAZEMENT.��

�� The key to wonder is to recognize that we only know in part, and we see through a glass darkly. There is so much more to the familiar than what we know. We lose our sense of wonder because we think there is nothing new. The childlike mind says there is always something new.� When I read Dr. Paul Brand's book, In His Image, I realized how little I knew about the wonders of the human body, and the fantastic intricate mechanism by which we live and breathe and have our being.� We take it for granted, but there are few things in this universe more filled with wonder than this body we live in.� After reading that book, I recognized just how true an insight St. Augustine had, when he wrote,"People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering."�

�� The value of having children around at Christmas time is that they help you keep wonder alive.� We need, not only the Christ-child in the center of Christmas, but we need other children around the circumference of Christmas, for without child like wonder you lose a lot of what Christmas is all about.� Kenneth Wilson wrote, "Take the wonder out of Christmas, and you take a star not only out of the skies but out of eyes.� Take away the soft edges of wonder, and you wind up only with hard questions.� Take away the angels, and you have to start looking for the angles.� Whatever else Christmas is, it is wonders response to something bigger than life.� Sometimes-and Christmas is one of the best times-the secret is not explain, explain, but enjoy, enjoy."�

�� That is what it means to be childlike.� The shepherds were adults, but they came in childlike wonder to behold the baby in a manger.� The wise men were adults, but they came in childlike wonder to bow before the Christ-child.� I see three ways to get on the road that leads to a renewal of amazement.�

1. Research-both shepherds and wise men said let's go see.� If you set out to see more and never be content with what you know, you can renew your sense of wonder.

2. Retelling-like the shepherds, share the message of Christmas with others.� Just to get a child to see the wonder of it all will rekindle your own childlike amazement.�

3 Remembering-the reason Jesus said to do this in remembrance of me is because He knew the rejuvenating power of memory.� We have all found old pictures that brought back the emotions of the past.� The past is never over, for by remembering it you can relive it in the present.�

�� The wonder of Christmas is that God would send His Son into the world as a infant.� We say you� don't send a boy to do a man's job, but God did, and the wonder of it is that the boy got the job done.� He did what all of history failed to do.� He reconciled God and man.� Gambling men would have put their money on Herod or Caesar, and big armies, and big budgets to solve the world's problems with evil.� But God used a baby to win this war of the ages.�

�� In Alex Haley's book, Roots, there is a scene where the slave Kunta Kinte drives his master to the big plantation house.� He parked the buggy, and settled down to wait.� He heard the music of the white folks as they danced, but then he heard other music coming from the slave quarters.� He got out of the buggy and went to the cabin, and there he found a man playing African music.� He remembered hearing this music as a child.� The man had come from his section of Africa, and they talked of home and the past.� That night when he got back to his cabin, he laid on the floor and wept, for he almost forgot who he was and where he was from. �The music had rekindled his memory, and he was restored to an attitude of amazement concerning his roots.� So, when we come to Christmas, we are to look back and remember what God did for us through this baby he sent into the world.� We are to remember that it was by means of this child that we gained the right to become children of God.� We are to make Christmas a time of the year when we enter into an atmosphere of amazement.

�� CHAPTER TWO

2. THE ANGELIC ANTHEM based on Luke 2:8-14

�� Louis Pasteur, the French chemist, was the first to suspect that man's major enemies were invisible. He advanced the theory that all disease is caused by microscopic organisms called germs. His theory was challenged because some diseases like rabies produced no germs. He concluded that these particular germs were just too small to be seen by the microscopes of that day. In other words, he was saying some invisible things are more invisible than others.

�� Thirty years later the Dutch botanist, Martinus Beijerinck, filtered out all the germs from a diseased tobacco plant's juices, and yet the juice still produced the disease in a healthy plant. He called this disease-causing liquid a virus, from the Latin word for poison. This term eventually came to designate these smaller than germs trouble makers.

�� In 1931, bacteriologist determined that these viruses were smaller than the smallest cells. They are so small they are on the borderline between something and nothing. Yet these invisible realities have become one of the biggest issues of modern times. Science, the media, the medical world and the masses all believe in the reality of these invisible creatures. You would have a hard time finding a person who is skeptical about the reality of the virus. Yet we live in an age where millions are skeptical about the reality of angels.

�� The small and invisible are acceptable, but the big and invisible are too much to swallow for the doubter. It is too great a paradox to be� large and still not be detectable to the senses of man. It makes sense to be hidden in minuteness, but to be hidden in hughness is illogical. And so, the non-believer writes off the whole world of the supernatural, which includes God and His angels. Modern man is not necessarily happy with this choice, however. Norman Gary in one of his novels says, "you got rid of God and isn't it funny, something is still missing."

�� There are many Christians who also feel uneasy about angels. They have a strange malady of angelophobia-the fear of angels. They are embarrassed by angels. But Christmas forces angels on us, and there is no escape from them.� They are in stores, on cards, on trees, on TV, in songs, and most of all, in God's revelation of the Christmas story.� Amidst this awesome avalanche of angels we are forced to acknowledge them, and somehow assimilate them into our world view.� We want to look at the angels and the Christmas story, and see just how relevant they are to the Christmas story, and thus to God's plan of salvation.� The first thing we want to focus on is-

I.� THE ANGELS APPEARANCE.

�� Verse 9 says, an angel of the Lord appeared to them.� You can find a lot of places where an angel of the Lord appears in the Bible, but you will have a hard time finding a text where the angel of the Lord is joined by a great company of the heavenly host.� Angels usually operate alone.� They are messengers, and like human messengers they are loners.� The messengers of ancient history were usually runners who ran alone, and not in a group.� The pony express did not send out a group of riders, but each covered his territory alone.� When God sent His messengers from heaven, one was a great plenty to get the job done.� But here on the first Christmas we see a very unusual event.� The angel of the Lord is not left to sing a solo, but is backed up by the� greatest angelic choir that ever appeared on earth.�

�� John heard this choir in heaven where they were praising God on their own turf.� But never had anyone ever heard this angelic choir on earth.� Heaven's music is breaking through the barrier between time and eternity, and men on earth are hearing heaven's sound.� The only other record of their performing was at creation.� There were no humans in existence to hear them at that time.� So their singing at Christmas is a once in a history exclusive performance.�

�� If some great singing group stopped their tour bus on a country road to sing for a few cow-hands in the field, that event would make big news.� Famous singing groups just don't do such things.� But here is the greatest singing group in all the universe making their first earthly appearance, not at Herod's castle, not in the temple, not in Rome, but in a field outside tiny Bethlehem.� There audience was not the dignitaries of the nation, but a handful of lowly shepherds.�

�� The real wonder is that they appeared at all.� The fact that they did makes it clear that from God's point of view the birth of His Son was the greatest event in human history.� This angelic anthem was a guarantee that this would be the most celebrated birthday the world had ever seen.�� There presence is just another factor in making this a one of a kind event.� Jesus was a one of a kind baby, born to a one of a kind mother, for a one of a kind plan of salvation.� It is fitting that the angels would at His birth make a one of a kind appearance.�

�� Some say the angels are not relevant.� They remind me of Whately who wrote about what he heard at the Grand Canyon, "Turning away from the sun set serenade of gorgeous colors bouncing off the Grand Canyon, a young woman said disdainfully to her companion, it just isn't relevant."� Whately had to agree that from a strictly survival point of view the sun set and the Grand Canyon are not relevant.� Violets and Orchids and most of the beauty of creation are not relevant to survival.� But man does not live by bread alone. There is more to life than food and clothing and money in the bank if that is what you mean by relevant.�

�� Man has more than a body to feed.� He has a mind and a soul, and he needs a diet that nourishes the whole man.� He needs mystery for the mind, and wonder for the soul, and this is where the angels become relevant.� Their presence in Christmas guarantees that it will never lose it's wonder, for they add the supernatural touch.� There is not much about Christmas that is wondrous if you just look at the earthly scene.� Stables are not known for their aesthetic value. The whole scene is very commonplace and earthly.� If it was not for the appearance of the angels, the only sign of heavenly involvement in this story would be the star.� They were the only living supernatural beings involved in the story.� They keep it in the realm of wonder.�

� ��One of my granddaughters favorite songs is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.� Some day she will be able to sing the more scientific version-

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

I don't wonder what you are.

What you are I know quite well

And your component parts can tell.

�� That loss of wonder will never happen with angels, because we can never analyze angels adequately.� They will be, until eternity, a source of mystery and wonder.� That is their role in God's plan.� They keep Christmas a day of mystery and wonder forever.� There was a good reason why God chose this event for the greatest angelic choir ever.� Albert Einstein once remarked that, " the most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.� It is the source of all true art and science.� He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder, and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead: His eyes are closed."� The appearance of the angels in the Christmas story assure us that there will always be wonder connected with this awesome event.

�� Dr. Luke tells us there were a multitude of the heavenly host. This was one of his favorite words. He used it 23 times. All other New Testament writers only used it 7 times altogether. He is making it clear that this was no trio or even a sextet- this was a great multitude of angels. He was trying to make an impression here. It was his style. He wants us to get a sense of the staggering involvement of heaven in this earthly event.

Angels and archangels gathered there

Cherubim and Seraphim thronged the air.

�� This never happened before, and will not likely ever happen again on earth. This was the greatest angelic appearance of all time. And because it is so, it helps to make Christmas the greatest time of wonder and celebration. Next, lets look at -

II. THE ANGEL'S ADORATION.��

�� The song of the angels sets the tone for all others who come on the stage of the Christmas drama. The angels adore Christ, and so we see the shepherds also adore Christ, and so do the wise men. To adore is to worship with intense devotion. Adoration is the key ingredient in the atmosphere of� Christmas. The angels add wonder, but they also lead the way in worship as well. There is no need to wonder about what Jesus most wants for His birthday. There is no gift we can give better than what the angels gave that first Christmas-adoration.

We may not have treasures of glory or gold,

�� Or perfumes to pour at His feet,

But, oh, if we knew of the worth of the Christ,

�� We would give Him our homage complete!

Our cherished desires we would open anew

�� And yield Him our hearts and our all;

As incense we'd offer our praises to Him,

�� Adoring, before Him would fall!

The Savior is worthy of all we can give,

�� Whatever our coffers may hold;

Oh, may we then pour out our treasures to Him

�� And worship as they did of old!

�� These angels do not even need salvation, for they are not lost, yet they are praising God for His gift as if they were part of the redeemed. This tells us a lot about how angels feel about man. Unlike the unseen virus which only has an interest in man's destruction, these unseen beings care about man and his salvation. They are not jealous that God has given His very best for man. They do not have envy, and fight the plan of God to populate heaven with these fallen beings. Instead, they sing as never before, with pure adoration of the love of God.

�� Angels are our friends, and they are on� the side of light against darkness. We are not alone in this universe. There are a vast host of intelligent un-fallen beings who care about our salvation, and lead the way in praising God for providing us with a Savior. If you want the true Christmas spirit, then listen to the angels. The very essence of Christmas is adoration. We do not know what Christmas is until we feel the need to praise God. To sing glory to God in the highest with the angels is where it is at. This means we need to have received God's gift, and taken His Son as our Savior. Only those who have done so can know the true spirit of adoration.

�� Giving and being generous, and having a great time in spreading cheer and happiness are all virtues, and we do not want to knock them, but we� need to see they fall short of the real spirit of Christmas. They are side effects of adoration. If you do not start where the angels started your Christmas can never be what God intended. We need to think-Glory to God. We need to feel-Glory to God. We need to sing-Glory to God. Horatius Bonar wrote-

�

�Glory be to Him who loved us

�� Washed us from each sinful stain;

�Glory be to Him who made us

�� Priests and kings with Him to reign;

�Glory, worship, laud, and blessing

�� To the Lamb who once was slain.

"Glory, worship, laud, and blessing"-

�� Thus the choir triumphant sings;��

�"Honour, riches, power, dominion"-

�� Thus its praise creation brings;

�Thou art worthy, Thou are worthy,

�� Lord of lords and King of kings.

Glory to the King of angels,

�� Glory to the Church's King,

Glory to the King of nations,

�� Heaven and earth His praises sing;

Glory ever and for ever

�� To the King of Glory bring.

�� Christmas means salvation to man, but it means Glory to God, and it is never complete unless God gets adoration. If you want to give God the very best you can give, then follow the angels and give Him adoration. We need songs to adequately express adoration. Love songs are so popular because love needs music for its highest expression. The loving heart needs a poem and a tune. Love needs to be sung. That is what adoration is. It is love expressed in a song. Phillips Brooks wrote long ago-

The earth has grown cold with its burden of care

But at Christmas it always is young,

The heart of the jewel burns lustrus and fair;

And its soul full of music breaks forth on the air,

When the song of the angels is sung.

�� If the heavenly host sang as never before, and they were not even saved by the Savior they sang of, how much more ought we, who are saved by Him, be filled with songs of adoration? Let us remember that the appearance of the angels tells us Christmas is the greatest day of wonder in history. The adoration of the angels tells us, the best we can give to God in response to His gift to us, is the gift of worship and praise. Let us learn from these invisible friends that a true celebration of Christmas will involve wonder and worship. This is the message of the angelic anthem.

�

�� CHAPTER THREE

3. CHRISTMAS ANIMALS based on Luke 2:1-20

�� The angels, the shepherds, and the wise men, along with Mary and Joseph, dominate the scene around the Christ-child, who gave the world the gift of Christmas.� But animals also play a role in the greatest story ever told.� Being dumb, they could not sing of it or talk of it, and the result is their silence leaves them the most neglected creatures connected with the Incarnation.� We usually look at the astronomical witness of the star, or the angelic witness of the heavenly host, but we seldom to never notice the animal witness to the advent of Christ.�

�� There is no escaping the facts, however.� In His birth our Lord Jesus identified with the animal kingdom.� He was born in a stable meant for the shelter of animals.� He was laid in a manger meant for the feeding of animals.� The first sounds baby Jesus heard could have been the sound of animals.� He was first announced to the shepherds whose whole life revolved around the care, feeding, and protection of animals.� The wise men, who represented the Gentile world, made their journey to worship Him on animals.� They were likely camels, although horses were not impossible.� Mary likely made it to Bethlehem riding on a donkey.� Later in His life, Jesus was in a context where He related both to the angels and animals.� Mark 1:13 says, "He was with the wild animals, and angels attended Him."� This was during His forty days in the wilderness.� Angels and animals have this in common, they are both servants of God and man.� They are both a part of the Christmas story.�

�� The result of all� these facts is a world of Christian art and poetry full of Christmas animals.� The famous nativity scenes through the ages include the ox, donkey, sheep, camels, and often the dove.� One of our most famous Christmas hymns, Away In A Manger, says, "The cattle are lowing the poor baby wakes but little Lord Jesus no crying He makes."

�� The emphasis on animals in the birth scene is not part of our contemporary life-style because the majority of people no longer live with animals.� Back in the 12th century when everybody had a daily contact with their farm animals, they sang songs that stressed the role of the friendly beast in Christmas.� They sang,��

Jesus our brother kind and good

Was humbly born in a stable rude

And the friendly beasts around Him stood.

�� This song, sung over 800 years ago by Christians, reveals just how carefully they had thought through the role of animals in the Christmas story.� They had each animal tell of what they contributed-

Thus every beast by some good spell

In the stable dark was glad to tell

Of the gift He gave Immanuel.

I said the donkey shaggy and brown

Carried his mother uphill and down��

I carried her safely to Bethlehem town.

I said the cow all white and red

Gave her my manger for His bed.

I gave Him my hay to pillow His head.

I said the sheep with curly horn

Gave Him my wool for His blanket warm.

He wore my coat on Christmas morn.

I said the dove, from the rafters high,

I cooed Him to sleep that He should not cry.

We cooed Him to sleep, my mate and I.

I said the camel yellow and black

Over the desert upon my back.

I brought Him a gift in the wise man's pack.

�� All of this may seem superficial and sentimental to us as city people, but keep in mind God did not send His angels to announce Christ's birth to city people.� He sent them to people who lived daily in relationship to animals.� The Bible world was a very animal oriented world.�

�� I think it is safe to say, every great leader of Israel, male or female, had a life strongly involved with the animal kingdom.� Look at just a few highlights.�

1.� Adam and Eve dwelt in a perfect relationship with animals, and Adam even named them all.

2.� All of the Patriarchs had animals for their wealth, and the story of their lives could not be told without reference to the animal kingdom.�

3.� Moses was a shepherd when God met him at the burning bush.�

4.� David was a shepherd when called to be the king of Israel.�

5.� Job was an owner of great herds of animals.�