Third Sunday of Advent: Angels and Shepherds - Extraordinary invades the Ordinary - Christmas

Hey, I'm Steve Holt, the senior pastor of The Road at Chapel Hills.

This is the Road Podcast.

Thanks for joining us.

My heart is to empower you to change the world.

I hope this message impacts you.

And I want to talk about this morning angels and shepherds.

And I gotta make an opening comment to say this is not the kind of angel that I'm talking about.

This is an interesting angel.

Very benign, very female-like, with wings, and a tilted head, and a little banner that says Gloria on it.

Nowhere in scripture is an angel described this way, but you gotta have an angel in the manger scene, so we've got one.

Okay?

But that's not what we're gonna be talking about.

Secondly, you'll notice that if you're observant, and when you're coming in with the crowd, it's hard to be observant of these things.

But two weeks ago, the magi, the wise men, were up in the mezzanine.

They were hanging out on the top if you looked back and saw them.

And then last week they were around the room.

Today we brought them up to the stage because as you know, on Christmas Day, there were no wise men, even though your manger scene has that.

They came some 30 days later.

That's what we have in the church here called Epiphany.

So this is a picture of a little bit of the way I grew up.

First of all, my mom hated the angels that were always in the manger scene.

She tossed it.

And then Jesus was actually not in the manger in the whole family.

So there was no manger.

It looked more like this through the four weeks of Advent, and she would hide Jesus.

So we would go all over the house looking for Jesus.

And when we find him, she'd put it back for about five minutes and it'd be gone again.

And she'd hide it.

But we still have Jesus in our manger here.

But, being the good Lutheran that she was in Epiphany, we didn't, the wise men were as far away as you could be on the first Sunday of Advent.

Even one time when we were in Huntsville, Alabama, they were in the yard.

So we woke up and there were little figures.

We were like, where are the wise men?

Because we're not, where's Jesus?

Where's the wise men?

We found them out in the backyard.

And each day they would move up closer.

So that's what we're doing.

We're getting the wise men a little closer so now you can see them.

And don't touch them or grab them like I did today because I decapitated one of them.

So I think I grabbed this guy wrong, but you should notice that.

So I don't know if he was already busted or not, but Andy, can you take care of that this morning?

Here's my thesis.

My thesis this morning is that Christmas is really about the extraordinary invading the ordinary.

And there's no better picture of that than the angels and the shepherds.

And even before that, the angel with Zacharias, the angel with Mary.

I mean, there's just this underlying plot to the whole Christmas story.

And really, quite frankly, it's the underlying plot of our faith.

From Genesis to Revelation, that God, who's so extraordinary and amazing, invades our world, invades a satanic, demonic world, and comes to ordinary people.

Rarely does God show up to kings.

Rarely does God show up to prime ministers.

Rarely does God show up to presidents.

He shows up to ordinary people, hardworking people, blue-collar people, people who really don't have any pedigree, and that's who he uses the most.

And so if you're in that category, you know, and nobody likes to think of this as an ordinary.

I mean, there's when you, you know, when I went through high school, you had most likely to succeed.

You had, well, I guess you did have class clown.

Um, but you had, you know, these kind of extraordinary titles, most successful, uh, highest GPA, whatever it is, but you didn't have Mr.

Ordinary or Miss Ordinary.

But yet that's what we are, really.

And God has this amazing way of taking the extraordinary and invading the ordinary and then making the ordinary extraordinary.

Isn't that amazing?

And so, really, the shepherds and the angels kind of depict that in a beautiful, beautiful way.

And so, turn to your Bibles, I want you to turn back to Luke chapter 1, which we looked at last week, and we're kind of working our way through the whole Jesus story, the birth of Christ story over these four weeks.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

And we're going to see this emphasis that we read last week.

But before we do that, because I want to start with angels, look at verse 8 of chapter 1, because this is Zacharias.

We've skipped this part until now.

And Zacharias is married to Elizabeth, who appears to be a cousin of sorts, to Mary.

So it was that while he was, this is Zacharias, was serving as a priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

And when Zachariah saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

This is this is the MO of everybody who meets an angel in the Bible, is fear falls upon them.

So they're awesome.

I mean, this, I seriously, guys.

This angel's not going to create any fear in anybody.

So, like, and I don't even know how you make a statue that's fearful looking, but we have this really cool angel that was made by this guy.

Maybe you've seen it before, but it's like, it's like this.

He's got a sword on his back.

I mean, it's like, he's kind of a bad dude.

Um, so it creates fear in Zacharias.

But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zacharias.

With your prayers heard.

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John, and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

So this angel shows up and makes this pronouncement to Zacharias.

Then look at verse 26, which we looked at last week.

And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David.

The virgin's name was Mary.

And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you.

Blessed are you among women.

When she saw him, she was troubled.

At his saying, and consider what manner of greeting this was.

Then the angel said to her, Don't be afraid.

That's what they always say, don't be afraid, because she's full of fear, Mary.

You have found favor with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb, bring forth the Son, and you should call his name Jesus.

So, whether the first angel who came is the same or not, the issue is when angels show up, they show up in some kind of a glorious way.

Hebrews calls them messengers of fire.

And actually, Gabriel means mighty man of God.

And so Gabriel shows up as an archangel.

And each case, it's kind of troubling to those who see these angels.

But the nature of angels is there's something extraordinary about them.

And I'm not going to talk about who's seen an angel or not, because I think what we've seen of angels on earth isn't necessarily what we're talking about here.

These angels are angels that are actually in their angelic form, and what we've seen on the earth most of the time, in most cases, is a form that is in a human form.

So, how many of you, I mean, you know, I'm going to backtrack a little.

How many of you feel like you've seen angels even in this sanctuary during worship?

Okay, just a few of you, but I have had testimony for many of that.

Let me give you angelic characteristics.

There's a lot we could say, but I want to give you five characteristics of angels.

Number one, angels are created beings, but unlike us, are not restricted by time and space continuum.

They're physical, but not confined by the laws of physics.

So angels can kind of move in and out, they can float in the air, they can be seen in the heavenly post.

They're seen in the heavenly realm.

Number two, angels are always masculine in Scripture, and they don't have wings.

Okay, they don't have wings.

Now the cherubim and the seraphim do, and you can see them in Revelation chapter 4 and 5.

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

But angels don't have wings.

I say that from the vantage point, though, that an angel in human form can be male or female, and again, don't have wings, but you you can't tell.

At least my experience has been, and the stories I've heard, is you can't tell you're actually in the presence of an angel when you're in the presence of an angel.

It's almost like in retrospect, you look back and you start putting two and two together, and it begins to add up to what was that?

Okay.

Number three, they have a free will.

Angels have a free will.

We know that one-third of them chose to rebel against God, became demons.

These spirits rebel with Lucifer, who is an archangel of the Lord.

That's in Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28.

Number four, it seems that some angels, even fallen angels, are demons who rule over nations.

So in Daniel chapter 10, you have the example of a prince of Persia that was opposing the angel that came to Daniel after 21 days, and a prince of Greece.

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

So I think it would go without saying it was probably a prince over America.

There's a demonic power in the hierarchy, the hierarchy of Lucifer over our country.

And over every country for that matter.

And it could be there's even an angel, that there's actually an American, an angel of America over that takes his cues from Christ.

I mean, I don't know.

This is kind of a little bit mystical, and I don't want to draw too many conclusions.

But here's what we do know from Daniel chapter 10 that there are angelic powers in the fourth dimension that have power over the three-dimensional world.

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

And, you know, I think that's why God comes in an extraordinary way to ordinary people.

Because it's really hard for people of power to believe and to obey God.

They've got there's too much investment.

There's too much power investment.

Most of them got the place that they are through intrigue, sometimes through manipulation, maybe through voting or something like that.

They're in that position.

So they've got a lot to lose if God's telling them to do something that's unpopular.

So it seems as though angels don't necessarily go to people like that in most cases, but they come to ordinary people and speak to us.

Well, by the same token, leaders, prime ministers, presidents of nations often are more available to demonic powers than to God's will.

Because there's power in that, and actually you're playing to the crowd more.

So I don't know how many of you have been in a reunion or something like that with your family, or maybe you've been at a party, even a Christmas party this December with your company.

And if you were to say, you know, in a gathering of people, Jesus is Lord, I'm sure people would just take out their note and want to just hear what else you have to say.

I mean, you're gonna feel the opposition, right?

You're just gonna feel it because this world is in the grips and in the control of Satan.

This is his world.

So we are these commissioned kingdom of God proclaimers and demonstrators called Jesus' disciples, that are always in opposition.

You're always opposed.

Right?

You're gonna go, I mean, nobody's gonna just roll out the red carpet excited that you're gonna be speaking of liberty and freedom on 200 South Cascade at Centennial Hall while the Board of Health meets.

But if you were talking about, oh, we, you know, we just love vaccine mandates and telling us what to do, you'd probably get a pretty good write-up in the Gazette the next day.

Because tyranny unopposed is Satan's way.

That's how he takes over nations.

So there's demonic powers that are often behind nations of the world.

Number five, good angels are messengers of God sent on assignments from the throne of God to the people of God in order to bring a message from God.

So let me repeat that.

Good angels are messengers of God sent on assignment from the throne of God to the people of God in order to bring a message from God.

So God uses angels in a mighty way to bring out his message to us.

What's important though to remember is that we are, in Scripture, Hebrews says, we are a little lower than the angels.

But yet we're going to rule over angels.

So we're the only created being made in the image of God.

So angels aren't created in the image of God.

We are.

And so we have an advantage because we have a soul.

We have the characteristics that are godlike that angels don't even have.

So now turn to Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

This is where I want to talk about shepherds and angels today.

Look at Luke 2, 8.

Now, there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

Now, based on Aristotle's writing, shepherds were the outcast of society.

That's actually not correct in Israel.

So at the time of this writing, at the time when Luke is giving us historical perspective, shepherds were still esteemed, though they were lower class.

So since David, a thousand years before, they had kind of fallen on more hard times because of the growth of cities.

So Bethlehem was a growing town, and Jerusalem was a growing city, and other parts of Israel and other parts of the world, more and more of those who had been shepherds were flocking to the cities for different kinds of jobs.

But it was a blue-collar, middle class job, and it was respected because Abraham had been a shepherd, Moses had been a shepherd.

And even the even if you were to go to a priest at the time of Christ, before Christ was born, you would quote, you could quote this prophetic word, and they would agree with you about the Messiah, this word, but you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.

So it was an esteemed job, but it was lower class, and even Jesus said, I am the good shepherd.

And so God sends his fiery agents, his fiery spirits, to ordinary people in a field to bring forth something that could only come from them.

Look at verse 9.

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

So again, the angel comes.

Angels seem to always come with glory.

I don't get that.

I don't know what that's like.

I've experienced the presence of the Lord in worship, presence of the Lord in prayer, but not maybe the glory.

Maybe it's might even call the Shekinah, glory of the Lord coming, and it creates fear in these men.

Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which I 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.

This will be a sign to you.

You'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Verse 13, and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God, saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men.

So one of the principal foundations of angels is they come praising the Lord.

It's like angels bring the atmosphere of heaven with them.

I think that's what Sunday morning should be about.

I think that's what worship should be about.

Is that you bring something of a heavenly presence with you for the rest of the week.

That's why we worship at home.

Hopefully you worship as a family.

You don't, you worship alone.

Bring that glory to your family.

Bring that glory to your work.

That's what angels do.

They bring that glory with them.

Psalm 148 says, praise him, praise him, all you angels, praise him, all you heavenly host.

Psalm 103, bless the Lord, all you his heavenly hosts, you who minister to his and do his good pleasure.

So that's what angels do.

They come with that kind of power and that kind of anointing upon them.

So it was, verse 15, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that 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.

And they came with haste.

They found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.

So, why didn't the angels appear to Herod?

Herod is considered the king of the Jews at that time.

Why didn't they come to Caesar Augustus?

Why didn't they come to the governor?

Why?

Well, I think right here you see the essence of the response that all of us should have.

It was immediate obedience.

They hear, they believe, they go do it.

I mean, it's an amazing story of obedience in their lives.

And I wanted to share a story.

I shared it last year, and we've grown so much.

I thought I'm gonna share it again, and then we were having uh prayer before the service with our group.

How many of you remember this story?

Some did, some didn't.

So if you heard it, bear with me, but it comes from our church.

This is from Tammy Mount, right here.

Married to Bill Mount, and she emailed this to me last year.

In 2009, my dad is a trucker and has been a trucker for the past 20 plus years.

He and my mom were raised Catholic and were married in the Catholic Church.

When I was two, they divorced and they were kicked out of the Catholic Church because of the divorce.

Both were convinced they were going to hell for their sin.

So that's my dad's background.

He had been driving all day and stopped at a truck stop to eat and sleep.

He sat at a table with another two truckers who were also there to eat and sleep.

They made small talk, and while they ate, during which another trucker came in and sat across from my dad.

He listened to their conversation, but he said nothing.

The other two truckers decided to leave, call it a night, got up and left.

After the two left, the man across from my dad said, You're being called as a witness.

My dad said he became instantly agitated with him and asked him, What do you mean, a witness for what?

Impatient with this person, my dad just got up, said goodnight, and went to bed.

He tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep, and decided to get up early and look for the man across from him.

He found the first two truckers having breakfast, but didn't see the third man.

When my dad asked the truckers if they had seen the third man, they said they had never seen anyone come in and sit across from my dad the night before.

Puzzled by all this, my dad decided to stop by a church.

Good call.

This church was known to cater to truckers by putting out CDs of the pastor's sermons.

Now, for all of you that are under 20, a CD is a.

His pastor would put out sermons on a weekly basis for truckers.

My dad picked up everything he could get his hands on.

Once he was back on the road, he put in one of the CDs.

In the middle of the sermon, there was a short message that said, call this 1-800 number.

He thought this to be odd, continued listening to the message, and then rewound the message to find out the 1-800 number again, and there was no call to call the 1-800 number, but he remembered the number.

But he called the 1-800 number, and a woman answered the phone.

He told her that he had no idea why he was calling this number, and she said, You're being called as a witness.

And he pulled off the road, sobbing, and he gave his life to the Lord.

That's an angel story, folks.

That's a pretty good one.

That's what angels do.

Now, why did they come to Tammy's father?

I don't know.

Why haven't they come to great people like us?

I don't know.

But God can do whatever he wants to do.

And the MO of angels is that the extraordinary invades the ordinary to get a message to us that in maybe in our cases there's no other way for us to get that.

And in verse 17, we see the response of the shepherds, and in our story, we see the response of Tammy's father.

Now, when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying, which told them concerning this child, and all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told by the shepherds.

So isn't it interesting, Tammy?

I find it interesting that here we are today, you know, last year also, a witness that comes from your dad that now thousands have heard.

It's a beautiful story.

So these shepherds, they go for it.

I mean, they go tell it on the mountain.

That's where the song came from.

And they just go out and they share.

So here's three things, three characteristics that I think we should have in our life that come from the shepherds.

Number one, they never question God's plan.

Men and women, God's got a plan for your life.

And if he's speaking to you, don't question that.

Obey it.

Walk in it.

Number two, they joyfully obey.

It's interesting.

Zacharias, the priest, questions the angel and goes mute for the next nine months.

Mary questions how this can be true, but only the shepherds just obey.

Instant obedience.

And then thirdly, because they didn't question God's plan, and because, number two, they obey, they got to enter into a great adventure.

Their names are now in the annals of Scripture.

So may it be for you this season.

Want to be a part of an adventure?

Go like this if you sort of want to.

Alright?

Because God's got a great adventure for your life.

And I don't know how many mistakes you made or how many times you haven't obeyed, but if you're like me, it's hundreds of times.

But may it be said that starting today, we made a fresh commitment.

The Lord, I want to hear your voice.

I want to obey your voice.

I want to enter into a joyful adventure with you.

Hey, thanks for listening to the Road Podcast.

It's been my joy to be a part of your life today.

And you know, that's part of what we do here at The Road, and this is what I do in having this Road Podcast is to empower people to change their world.

My passion and desire is that you would take God's word through the power of the Holy Spirit and make that relevant for your life.

You know, the reality is that God has placed your life here on this earth to make a difference.

And if you'd like more information about how to grow in Christ, if you need prayer, if you want more equipping in different areas of your life, go to theroad.org.

God bless you.