When Heaven Invaded Earth: The Shepherds' Story Reimagined

Good morning, everybody. You can take a seat. You were singing very loudly today

to the point where I was trying to get dad that whole time to look at me and turn it up.

So thank you for singing so loudly. It's probably a bit too loud now, dad. Yeah.

It's always so good to sing these carols together. And yeah,

it's a joy to be with you today.

If you don't know me, I'm Josh. I'm his son. I'm her son.

And yeah, we're High Life Church. And if you're unfamiliar with what church

is like, then really we're about worshipping Jesus and bringing Him praise.

And I believe that Christmas time is the best time to do that.

It's the greatest time to do that. And so I'm going to start by just reading

the first line of, I mean, I'm going to say my favourite Christmas carol,

but it's everybody's favourite Christmas carol, O Holy Night.

And it goes, O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining. These are our makeshift stars tonight.

And I really want to try and take you back in time About 2,000 years ago,

There's going to be some passages from the Bible coming up on the screen behind

me But I want you to use your imaginations with me a little bit today Because

I actually think that we,

as God's children Are firmly planted in that story of Jesus' birth More than we realize,

So I'm going to take you back 2,000 years ago There's a group of ordinary shepherds

They're looking after their sheep,

they're tired, it's been a long day And they're tending their flock of sheep

in Roman-controlled Judea There's been an influx of people recently as well

Because Caesar Augustus has declared that everybody had to go back to their

hometown to be registered Think Beryl and the time of the Tulip Festival, influx of tourists,

But unbeknownst to these shepherds, these lowly shepherds who are normal, average people,

unbeknownst to them and I'm probably going to cry a child has just been born

and laid in a manger not far from them in this bay sorry.

So this baby's mother, who is Mary, was a virgin. She was engaged to Joseph.

And she'd recently been, hear this, she'd recently been visited by the archangel Gabriel.

Okay, so quite a momentous moment for this lady. And Gabriel had said to her,

Gabriel's at the back there as well.

Gabriel had said to her that she was going to be giving birth to a baby and

that she should call him Jesus.

And that he would be great and the son of the most high.

He would be holy and the Son of God There's a special significance to that name, Son,

That we're going to revisit later So we're still using our imagination It's

the mildness of the evening,

We're under the Middle Eastern stars And rather suddenly, this group of shepherds

Have their own encounter It comes from Luke Luke chapter 2 states And an angel

Luke 2 · chapter mention

of the Lord appeared to them Can you stop looking at me?

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around

them, and they were filled with great fear.

And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news.

We've just sung about this.

I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David, who was one of Jesus' ancestors,

a saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths

And lying in a manger And suddenly there was with the angel Think about this,

we're with our imagination still Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly

hosts Praising God and saying glory to God in the highest,

Peace on earth among those with whom he is pleased And I've reflected on this.

A lot over this last week. In fact, I wrote the bulk of my message last night.

That was when it was downloaded to me.

But it's been a process. And the more I've come, the more I've reflected on

this story, the more I've come to realize that we're the shepherds.

You and I are the shepherds.

We're the outsiders. We're the clueless ones.

You know, we're the ones simply going about our routines. We're the ones who

go to work, look after our children. We do our thing.

But we've received the gift and two

things jumped out to me about this passage first of

all it was who was told about jesus's birth first obviously it was mary but

if we go to the second person that was told after mary was these shepherds so

the shepherds were told about jesus's birth and they were also told about what

they were invited to do which was to come and see him Come and have a look at him.

I have a limited imagination, but I cannot begin to imagine how supernatural this moment was.

There's this group of lowly shepherds. You and I, they were visited by a multitude of angels.

Heaven literally invaded earth to the point where they were terrified.

And I don't think they were terrified of God's glory because he was terrifying.

I like to imagine that they were simply overcome by his goodness,

his otherworldly perfection.

These shepherds who were exhausted after a long day were visited by a superior

realm with no earthly parallel.

Everything about Jesus' birth is special and significant, saturated with a tangible glory.

It was the holiest of holy nights.

And the reason for that is interesting. And this is what it is for me,

that the Holiest part of that night Obviously he was the son of God Born of

a virgin And obviously heaven Sung about it and sung about this event But,

The holiest part for me is the focus on the shepherds. The focus is that fact

that after the birth of the Son of God, the whole pivotal moment of the Bible

was put upon these ordinary people who he created and who he loved.

This is more miraculous to me. This is a big statement. This is more miraculous

to me than the heavenly choir appearing in front of the shepherds.

The holiness of this God that we worship is the promise of who he is to us today.

It's the promise of who he is to us today.

You know, one of the most quoted scriptures in the Bible is the Lord's Prayer.

And it includes the line, your kingdom come.

And my goodness, that kingdom came for those shepherds. But I believe that if

you know Christ, if you don't know Christ, if you've been in church,

you haven't been in church, there is an opportunity for you to come and meet this,

I won't say child because he grew up, but meet this man named Jesus.

And my prayer for you this Christmas is that God's kingdom would be made manifest in your life.

Not in a terrifying way, but suddenly. I think a sudden, unexpected invasion

of heaven is what we all need.

And a side note would be, for those of us who know the Bible,

a little known man named David, a few years before this, had written a psalm

that began with, the Lord is my shepherd.

And who got told about Jesus second? The shepherds.

And I just think that that narrative design is intentional.

Jesus was the fulfillment of that, of David's cry from his heart.

Now, there's a moment in the story of Jesus, which some of us are actually going

to be partaking in, in a few weeks' time.

It's about 30 years after what I've just spoken to you about,

where heaven invaded earth another time.

And so we're going to fast forward to this moment. I know we're singing about

Jesus' birth today, and that's a wonderful thing.

But I also want to include another birth moment of sorts. When he was a little

bit younger than me, a little bit younger than Sam here, about George's age, he was about 30.

This event takes place in the town of Bethany on the banks of the Jordan River near Jericho.

Here Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.

He was immersed in the river and came out the other side. And once again,

the Bible describes it. We know this.

It's the most miraculous, supernatural event. Matthew 3, 16-17 says,

And as Jesus rose up out of the water,

the heavenly realm opened up over him, and he saw the Holy Spirit descend out

of the heavens and rest upon him in the form of a dove.

Then suddenly the voice of the Father shouted from the sky, saying,

This is my Son, the Beloved. My greatest delight is in Him.

There it is again, that name's Son.

So when we, I was talking to Sue about this a few weeks ago,

when we celebrate Christmas, we rightfully celebrate the Son of God.

We rightfully celebrate Jesus.

But I believe that this baptismal moment is also evidence for us that we should

be celebrating the Father too and the Holy Spirit.

This is a moment, not a rare moment, but it's a unique moment of Scripture where

the whole Godhead appeared.

The whole Trinity appeared. We had the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And in that moment, I think it's a reminder to us that we celebrate the beautiful Son of Jesus.

We celebrate the Father who orchestrated that moment in history.

And we celebrate the Holy Spirit who conceived Him and anointed Jesus and who filled Him.

And there's a There's a paradox to the glory of Jesus.

There's a paradox to it because on the one hand, it's so otherworldly and it's

so unknown and it's so holy and magnificent that we can probably feel a little

bit like we can't access it.

The paradox is the fact that Jesus' glory is for us. It's for all of us.

And it's in his presence that we can experience that.

It doesn't make him distant from us.

And we see this in the story of the shepherds from earlier, which is one of

my new favorite stories in the whole Bible.

They were invited into the heavenly invasion and they witnessed the glowing

glory of God. And it's so easy.

I'm guilty of this as well. It's so easy to talk about glory and angels and

divine visitations and choirs,

etc., etc., to fall into the trap of feeling just very small and insignificant

next to the grandeur of this King of Kings.

And though he is that, Jesus is also the epitome of humility.

He's the suffering servant of all. He's a man of sorrows. And he's the darling

of heaven who was crucified.

So this is the part where I'll probably cry more. But this was the easiest message

to put together because I knew that all I had to do was tell you about Jesus.

And he's a very important person in my life.

He's my friend. He's my support. He's my counselor. He's my greatest love.

He was born amidst the sounds of heaven shouts on that evening in Bethlehem,

but he's also a personal and close savior.

And I want to invite you today to receive him, if you would like to.

I encourage you to reflect upon who Jesus is to you. Do you even know him?

There's so much power in us declaring that he is, not was, but is the son of God.

Jesus, you are the son of the most high God. And I'm going to read a longer

passage now. It's going to come up on the screen. It's from Hebrews.

This is talking about the glory that Jesus has. The son is the radiance.

This is from the amplified version.

The sun is the radiance and the only expression of the glory of our awesome

God, reflecting God's Shekinah glory, the light being the brilliant light of the divine.

And the exact representation and perfect imprint of his Father's essence,

and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things, the entire physical

and spiritual universe by his powerful word,

carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal.

When he himself and no other Had by offering himself on the cross as a sacrifice

for sin Accomplished purifications from sins And established our freedom from guilt He sat down,

revealing his completed work At the right hand of the majesty on high Revealing

his divine authority Having become as much superior to angels Since he has inherited

A more excellent and glorious name than they That is Son, the name above all names,

Jesus' glory can't be comprehended by our limited minds I believe I've experienced a fraction.

The tiniest fraction of Jesus' glory And that's enough for me on this earth I'll take more,

But when we're talking about the glory of God, this word Shekinah came up.

This isn't in the Bible directly, but it's a word that's used by Christians

and Jews to describe this visible presence of God, this tangible presence of

God. Think things like the burning bush.

Think about the cloud and the pillar of fire.

Think about the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant where the presence dwelt.

Think about what we read, the angelic hosts appearing in front of the shepherds.

And my prayer this Christmas is that we would all experience a taste of the

Shekinah glory of God, because it's better than life itself.

It's better than anything this world has to offer.

It's better than therapy. It's better than yoga.

It's better than medication.

Everything. So I'm going to try to list some of the things that I've experienced

about Jesus that have given me a taste of his Shekinah glory.

And some of these things have already been mentioned in this service Jesus is

the light of the world And in him there is no darkness You know Psalms says

that darkness isn't even dark to God.

He lives outside our realm of comprehension and logic. It doesn't make sense.

And the Bible says in Revelation that heaven, my home, many people's home here,

has no need for a sun or moon because the glory of God is what lights it up.

Recently, in my own personal Bible reading, I've come to absolutely love one quality of God.

I love all his qualities, but one that's really jumped out to me is his kindness.

Jesus is always kind. He's kind. He's compassionate. ever loving, ever faithful.

And I think some people, even myself, I was presented with a version of religion

in my younger years that actually distanced me a little bit.

And some of you have had hurt from church and you've had hurt from religious people.

And I would say to you, don't judge Jesus off what people have said about him.

His glory is His and His alone. And if you've ever been presented with something

that's harsh or cruel or judgmental or exclusionary, that's not the Jesus of the Bible.

It's not the Jesus that I've just read to you about.

He is compassionate and loving. He's intimate.

Psalm 139 says, Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down, when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar.

And then this same psalm says that there's nowhere where you can't find his presence.

And it also says that the thoughts he has about you outnumber the sand of the earth.

You know, you might have noticed today that my sister is pregnant. Due any day.

We were praying it wouldn't happen in the service.

True. You know, childbearing is not just a biological process.

Talking about the intimacy of Jesus. It's this supernatural knitting together of a new creation.

You are all created. I'm created and loved by God and Jesus who reflects his

Father, and he wants a relationship with you.

Psalm 8 verse 1 says, Oh Lord, our Lord, this is one of my favorites.

Psalms 8:1

Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

The name of Jesus is majestic. He's superior to all other names.

He has no match or comparison. Christians like to use the terms good versus

evil There is no good versus evil with Jesus It's just good He is always victorious

He has no match or comparison His glory is intrinsically his and his alone He's forever king,

Glorified in heaven at the right hand of the father Isaiah says of the greatness

of his government and peace There will be no end.

And lastly, I want to talk to you about the fact that Jesus is as real today

as he was lying in the middle of that manger 2,000 plus years ago.

We can forget this as we can't see him face to face this side of eternity.

But Jesus is waiting to receive you in heaven.

When you pray, you can be assured that that prayer is being heard by Jesus.

I'm going to call him a man because he did come as a human. It's being heard

by a physical being who exists and who is alive and who is sitting at the right hand of his Father.

And I don't know about you, but every single attribute that I've just listed

just speaks to the fact that the glory of Jesus is the fact that he is close

to us and that he's accessible to us.

And I just wanted to share with you why I love him so much and why I'm so lucky

that I've always lived in a country that's enabled me to have that religion

and I've grown up in a family that has meant that I've known Jesus my whole life.

But in these closing moments of our service today, we've only got a few songs to go.

I want to invite you to accept Jesus' invitation to having a relationship with him.

He's not going to push his way into your life, but he will and can be found

by you if you look for him with your whole heart.

I heard someone say recently that Jesus doesn't ask for much, only everything.

He's the Savior of the world. And if you let Him in, He will be your personal Savior.

I could get every member of High Life Church to come up here in a line and talk

about what He means to them.

He will be your personal Savior, friend, support, your greatest encouragement

and love. He'll go with you when you're having a tough day.

He'll watch over you while you sleep. He'll protect you. He will always be with you.

And in time, you will experience, especially if you don't know him currently,

you will experience, as I do, a daily presence that is unlike any other.

In him and him alone, there is fullness of joy, hope, and great love.

Nothing on earth can compare to the presence of Jesus, the presence of the Holy

Spirit, who will take up residence in your spirit.

If you accept the invitation to follow Jesus, you will experience a second birth,

not too dissimilar to the invasion of heaven that happened when Jesus was born

and when he was baptized.

You'll have a place in the kingdom of heaven.

Which will be your eternal home. So I'm going to pray a prayer.

I'm finally through it so I can stop crying.

I'm going to pray a prayer. And if you want Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,

I would invite you to repeat the words after me.

And if you are already a Christian, if you already know Jesus,

then you're invited to recommit to Him.

And I want to emphasize that this isn't a prayer you say once and then move on.

You've got to let it change your life and the way you act and think.

I know for me, it's not a bother, but it's an awareness for me all the time

that no matter what I'm doing,

whatever I'm doing at work, whatever I'm doing when I'm interacting with the

people around me, I've always got in the back of my mind the fact that Jesus

is in my spirit, and that's a high calling.

And so if you pray this prayer, which I hope and pray you do,

because it's the greatest Christmas miracle that there is, I also would encourage

you to reflect on what that means for your life going forward.

It's Jesus's glory was terrifying to those shepherds.

But if you look past the terrifying nature of it, you'll see an intimate savior and an intimate friend.

And if you spend time with him each day, you'll begin to know him personally.

I can testify of this. He will change your life.

So this is our most special. This is the most special and reverent part of the

service today. I'd invite you to close your eyes.

And if you'd like to invite Jesus to be your Lord and savior,

Please repeat after me Father in heaven Thank you for the gift of Jesus Thank

you for sending your beloved Son.

Fully God and fully human, to save this broken world.

I receive Jesus as Lord, as friend, as Savior, as King.

Jesus, I want to know you, love you, and be loved by you. I want to walk in step with your Spirit.

I ask for forgiveness of my sins, the things of this world that cannot stand next to your glory.

I declare that I belong to you And I will live the rest of my days To bring

you glory You are King of kings,

Lord of lords You are the beginning and the end I am your workmanship,

Created by you Fill me with your spirit Your joy and your love.

Thank you, Father, that I am now a new creation, born again from my old ways.

In Jesus' name, amen. If you prayed that prayer today,

then it's no exaggeration of me to say that that's more miraculous than the

angels joining those shepherds that night in Israel.

That is the greatest Christmas miracle. And I would invite you that if that

was you, come and share it with one of us.

Share it with me if you'd like. Share it with dad. Share it with mom.

Because we would like to equip you with a Bible, with some guidance,

especially if you don't know, if this is unfamiliar to you.

If you want me to pray for you after the service and for anything at all in

any way, I will do that. Come down the front.

But I just sensed as we were praying that. I sensed the rejoicing in heaven.

I did. I sensed a real presence in the fact that children are coming home because

there really is nothing greater than that.

We're going to sing a song. I'm going to attempt to sing a song now called Angels

We Have Heard on High. You might know it.

I'm happy for you to sit, if you're happy to sit.

And then we're also going to sing Oh Holy Night, which I think you'll want to jump on your feet for.