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Once upon a time, there was a young lady due to be married to the handsome woodworker.

They were about to journey to a distant land when Mary's angel godfather, Gabriel, came down and said,

Good news, you will bear a prince.

Joseph the woodworker and Mary set off to their distant hometown of Bethlehem

because the evil Romans had called a census.

And so everyone had to go to their hometown.

When they arrived, the town was full.

Not even people's guest rooms were free.

And Mary gave birth to the prince Jesus.

And they lay him in a manger with all the other talking and singing animals.

The shepherds, Bozo, Fopso and Greg, came to visit.

And the mysterious Magi came and gave gifts.

And everyone learnt a good lesson about love and sharing.

And that's the end of the story.

At least, that's how Christmas can seem.

It can seem like it's just a fairy tale.

And we all know that story.

And we all have a smile.

And it's all a bit lovely.

Because we do love a good fairy tale.

It seems our movies and TV shows are all full of fairy tales.

We read fairy tales to our kids.

We read them in our books.

And Christmas can often look like a fairy tale.

You know, that story I told a moment ago,

it's mostly the story of Christmas.

But what do we lose when Christmas is just a fairy tale?

What happens when we cut it out of the historical origins?

And what happens when we forget how amazing it is?

And forget the enormity that God became human?

So today, as we look at the old, old story of Christmas,

we're going to put that story back into its historical context.

And we're going to see how this story is part of the bigger picture

of God's story for salvation.

Please have your Bibles open.

We're a church who loves to read God's Word.

We're in the part of the Bible called Luke.

And we're in chapter 2 at the start.

If you need a Bible, just pop your hand up.

And one of our people in red vests would love to get you one.

If not, it'll be on the screen.

Luke chapter 2 from verse 1.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

At the start of Luke's telling of the birth of Jesus,

he grounds it in history.

In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree

that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.

This was the first census that took place

while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

And everyone went to their own town to register.

Caesar Augustus...

I keep saying Augustus like...

He's from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Augustus Gloop.

Should it be Augustus?

Yeah, thank you.

Is anybody particularly good in their Roman history?

Yes?

Some people?

Okay, thank you.

You can correct me.

Augustus?

Does that feel a little bit better?

Yeah, sorry.

Caesar Augustus.

He was actually called Octavian.

He was the son of Julius Caesar's nephew.

And he became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire

after he defeated Antony and Cleopatra.

And then he was given the title Augustus,

which means holy or majestic.

He was the first of the emperors

to really encourage people to worship him as God.

They had this cult of the emperor

where they would encourage people to see them as God.

And there was this fantastical story that went around

that he was miraculously conceived by a serpent.

And there's actually an inscription in the British Museum

from this time that says about Augustus,

it says,

He is God, the Son of God and Saviour,

bringer of peace and hope and good news.

Now this was all happening around five years,

five to ten years before Jesus was born.

And this was spread around about Octavius,

about Caesar Augustus,

as good news.

This was the gospel that went around.

That he is the Son of God and Saviour,

the bringer of peace and hope and good news.

And you know, if you were the emperor,

you'd really want people to believe this.

You know, you'd spread this around.

Yes, this gives me a mandate from heaven

to be in charge because I'm the Son of God.

I've taken over.

I'm in control.

Don't fight with me.

And at the very start of the story of Jesus,

it is no mistake that Luke reminds us

of who is in charge.

This man who had been going around,

spreading this fairy tale,

that he was the Son of God,

the Saviour, the bringer of peace and hope and good news.

And so while there's this story being spread around,

Luke is going to tell God's story of salvation,

which is no made up fairy tale.

And Luke brings a contrast between Augustus and a baby,

one who calls himself the Son of God

and one who will be called the Son of God by God himself.

And we'll see this contrast in a moment with the angel's message.

Joseph and his fiancée Mary,

they've headed to Bethlehem because of Augustus' census,

and they give birth after they arrive.

But there's no guest room,

so they place their baby Jesus into a manger.

And an angel brings good news of a Saviour.

Not Augustuses,

not a military Saviour,

but a true Saviour.

When we see angels in the Bible,

it often conjures up images,

well it does for me at least,

conjures up images of big fluffy wings,

halos.

Angels are often described as bright,

very shiny,

but angel just means messenger.

And so when they come,

they're delivering a message.

And here they have a message from God,

a message to counter the ruler

who set himself up with his own fairy tale

as the God and Saviour.

The angel speaks in verse 9.

An angel of the Lord appeared to them,

and the glory of the Lord shone around them,

and they were terrified.

But the angel said,

do not be afraid.

I bring you good news

that will cause great joy for all people.

Today in the town of David,

a Saviour has been born to you.

He is the Messiah, the Lord.

This will be a sign to you.

You will find a baby wrapped in cloths

and lying in a manger.

A Saviour.

The one and true Saviour has been born.

He is the Messiah,

which means,

Messiah means that he is chosen.

So it's not some upstart son of God,

Saviour.

It is God's chosen Saviour.

Wrapped and placed in a manger.

It is this beautiful contradiction.

The highest position,

God, the son of God,

placed in a manger

where animals would be eating their food.

This is God's story of salvation.

That salvation will come to a people

who are desperate to be saved.

God's story of salvation

is written in a way

that no fairy tale would be written.

Yes, there is a miraculous birth

to an unlikely mother

born in a town of

little to no importance or significance.

The good news sent by God

does not go to those

who can write songs about it.

It doesn't go to the ballads of the time

to sing songs and spread it around.

The good news doesn't go to those

who have the fastest horses

to spread the good news around.

The good news doesn't go to royalty.

God sends his messengers,

the angels,

to some shepherds

on a hill

in the middle of the night.

Shepherds were disliked,

dirty,

despised,

people of questionable taste

and character.

And they get visited

by an angel

and then a whole army

of angels.

As unlikely as the birth is,

the story continues.

The shepherds hear the angels

and they decide to go

and visit this baby.

And so they visit

and then after that

they are so joyous and excited

they continue to praise God

and spread the good news.

The good news about this saviour

has come to even

the lowliest of low.

Even these despised shepherds

have a place before God.

Even they have a role

to play in his kingdom.

God's story of salvation

continues after Jesus' birth

in ways that we again

would not write it.

the great God-man Jesus.

He never disobeys his father

and yet

he's ridiculed,

he is murdered,

he is shamed

before all people on a cross.

His best friends flee

and hide.

This salvation does not look

like a mighty Caesar's

salvation or victory.

It's not a triumphant tale

that we would tell

but it's Jesus' triumph.

It's God's story of salvation

shown in weakness.

His salvation is not a battle

won by a man

but by a man

humbly led to a tree.

This man was raised

three days later

but again,

if this was me

I would probably appear

to my enemies

and gloat

I'd be like

ha ha

you tried to kill me

it didn't work

and here I am to smite you

but Jesus doesn't do that.

His victory

isn't over

Pilate the governor

it isn't over

earthly powers

it is over

sin

and death.

This is not a story

that we would write

but this is how

the God of the universe

would intervene

and save his people.

The good news

is proclaimed

one quiet night

to shepherds

about a boy

that was born

who is our saviour.

Now at this point

we could leave it there

we could think

oh that's

that's a great story

sure

it's more than a fairy tale

it's history

it's truth

the angels came

and told truth

it's really interesting

I'm happy to come

and hear about it

once a year

but

why care?

maybe it's just

a 2000 year old

truth

and that's

all it needs to be

it is

God's

good news

to us today

because it's not

just an old

story of God's

it is a story

that continues

and he invites

us to be part

of his story

this is still

our story

and we need

this story

of God's salvation

yes a lot

has changed

in 2000 years

technology

has changed

life expectancy

has changed

the quality

of food

and housing

and education

has changed

but who we are

at our core

is still the same

people desperate

for a saviour

we've become

more advanced

but we're still

fighting wars

wars against

other countries

wars against

other ethnicities

wars within

our own families

each of us

writing our

own story

of what we

want to save

us

we want to be

in control

of our story

and have our

own version

of our saviour

I wonder

if you were

going to

write a story

today

you know

later on today

you get

a little bit

full

a little bit

sick of

spending time

with your

family

and you were

going to

write a fairy

tale

with yourself

in the middle

what would

your character

be

what kind

of fairy

tale

character

would you

be

would you

be

the strong

warrior

ready to

fight and

save your

people

would you

be the

princess

in the

high castle

waiting for

someone to

come and

save you

would you

be the

person in

charge of

everything

maybe you

feel that

way

you've got

Christmas

lunch coming

up and

you know

it has to

be particular

you have

to have

everybody

in the

right

spots

in the

kitchen

doing

the

right

thing

you have

to be

that

person

in

charge

but

these

are all

in a

sense

wish

fulfillment

we want

to have

value

and we

want

someone to

care enough

for us

that they

come and

slay a

dragon

we wish

we had

enough

power

to influence

a country

we want

to write

our own

fairy tales

with us

as the

hero

but

when we

do that

we're

pretty much

the same

as

Caesar

Augustus

who

wrote

our

story

has

already

been

written

and

it

is

part

of

God's

biggest

story

God's

story

of

salvation

is not

written

the way

that we

would

write

it

but we

need

this

Christmas

and each

Christmas

to remind

us

that we

are the

ones

who need

to be

saved

saved

from

making

life

all

about

us

saved

from

sin

and

from

death

in

God's

story

of

salvation

we

are

not

the

hero

we

are

not

the

princess

and the

reality

is we

are

most

like

the

shepherds

dirty

despised

despicable

people

of

questionable

character

because

to

God

we

are

damaged

and

sinful

and

dirty

but

the

angel

came

to

these

shepherds

first

and

he

told

them

the

good

news

that

Jesus

had

been

born

and

they

could

go

and

see

Jesus

himself

and

then

they

went

out

and

told

everybody

and

they

praised

God

we

don't

need

to

build

our

lives

up

into

a

fairy

tale

because

God

already

has

us

in

his

story

like

the

shepherds

God

shares

the

good

news

with

us

he

takes

us

to

see

the

birth

of

Jesus

here

we

are

again

dwelling

and

considering

the

birth

of

Jesus

not

because

we

are

special

or

that

we

are

the

hero

but

because

God

is

special

and

he

is

the

hero

and

he

invites

us

to be

part

of

his

story

I

love

how

the

shepherds

respond

to

meeting

baby

Jesus

in

verse

17

verse

17

they

spread

the

word

concerning

what

had

been

told

them

about

this

child

and

all

who

heard

it

were

amazed

at

what

the

shepherds

said

to

them

down

to

verse

20

the

shepherds

returned

glorifying

and

praising

God

for

all

the

things

they

had

heard

and

seen

the

shepherds

these

lowly

dirty

despised

despicable

people

get

invited

to

be

like

the

angels

the

angels

came

and

shared

God's

message

and

praised

and

sang

about

how

awesome

God

is

and

then

the

shepherds

visit

Jesus

and

then

go

off

and

share

his

message

and

praise

God

they

were

the

lowly

and

they

get

brought

into

God's

story

of

salvation

they

had

the

chance

to

see

it

and

spread

God's

story

with

great

joy

we

are

invited

into

God's

story

of

salvation

just

like

the

shepherds

and

we're

invited

to

share

God's

good

news

with

the

rest

of

the

world

and

we

can

be

praising

God

like

the

shepherds

praising

him

because

he

is

awesome

and

mighty

and

he

has

cared

for

us

who

are

lowly

as

we

speak

of

fairy

tales

at

Christmas

I

couldn't

help

but

remember

the

most

common

fairy

tale

going

around

at

Christmas

time

for the

last

couple

of

years

talking

about

Star

Wars

of

course

I

am

not

sure

if

you

are

Star

Wars

fans

is

anybody

a

Star

Wars

fan

here

yes

well

done

it's

nice

to see

there's

some

wise

people

here

years

ago

when

these

movies

were

being

made

in

Sydney

a

friend

of

mine

had

the

chance

to

go

and

do

work

experience

on

the

set

of

one

of

the

Star

Wars

movies

I

tell

you

what

we

were

stories

that

millions

of

people

have

seen

now

11

movies

long

he

got

to be

part

he

wasn't

in

the

movie

he

didn't

have

a

cameo

or

anything

he

was

just

there

when

it

was

being

made

he

got

to

be

part

of

that

amazing

story

the

shepherds

were

invited

to

come

and

to

see

Jesus

to

be

part

of

something

bigger

than

themselves

something

far

more

important

than

sheep

and

God

invites

far

more

impressive

and

more

life

changing

story

than

Star

Wars

and

God

calls

us

to

follow

this

baby

this

man

who

would

grow

up

to

die

for

us

who

is

going

to

return

and

when

we

do

God

has

a

part

for

all

of

us

in

his

story

to

praise

God

which

we've

been

doing

this

morning

in

song

to

reflect

on

how

amazing

he

is

and

to

go

and

tell

other

people

what

he

has

done

so

let

me

encourage

you

at

some

point

Christmas

day

boxing

day

the next

couple

of

days

which

all

kind

of

blur

into

one

long

mass

of

food

and

napping

take

a

moment

to

dwell

on

how

amazing

it

is

that

Jesus

came

and

that

we

get

to

be

part

of

this

story

of

God's

story

and

share

it

with

other

people

Amen

for

if