Luke 2:8-11
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.11 Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; He is Christ, the Lord.
Luke 2:8-11 LISTENING FOR LOVE
Springford Baptist Church: December 19, 2021
(Christmas Sunday)
ADVENT CANDLE OF LOVE
It has been our gift of God’s grace throughout this year 2021 to be LISTENING FOR GOD. We are about to celebrate our second Christmas in the midst of this pandemic. On this Christmas Sunday, I wonder how the reality of all that we have experienced in this past year has affected our hearing. There have been many competing sounds when we have tried to listen for God. Some of the sounds have threatened to drown out the clear and compelling voice of God and His infinite love.
This morning our particular focus in LISTENING FOR GOD is LISTENING FOR LOVE.
What have you found most difficult in this year 2021? When has it been especially challenging to LISTEN FOR LOVE? Yet, although challenging, how have persistent expressions of God’s love for our world still been heard?
We can hear again the message of the angel, a message directly from God that was delivered to the shepherds. This message that we hear is a message saturated in love and we will examine why that is so.
The essence of what God says to the shepherds is contained in verse 11: 11 Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; He is Christ, the Lord.
As we are listening, this message is a loud declaration of love and here is why:
- There is no more waiting involved.
The word “today” signals that the promise of God has happened and Jesus, God’s Son has been born.
When we think about all of our waiting this year that has past, we can glimpse something of the heaviness of waiting for those who first received the news of Jesus’ arrival.
We have waited for vaccines to become available to combat Covid. We have waited to be eligible to book appointments. We have waited when trying to secure the time slots for the vaccinations. We have waited in line for the process followed when we have gone for our first 2 shots and then for some of us, our boosters. And now we find ourselves still waiting to see how this latest wave is going to crest. Of course, we wonder how much longer we will be dealing with the effects of this persistent Covid virus.
We long to hear, “Today, the virus is over.”
The shepherds heard that word “today” and for them it shouted of God’s love that the waiting was over and that God’s Son, their Saviour had been born.
2. The fact that Jesus comes to be our Saviour is a second evidence of the depth of God’s love.
God knew and God knows that we need saving and so His powerfully loving response is to send a Saviour into our world. How many times have you and I heard people say or we have said ourselves in these recent months, “Be safe” or “Stay safe”?
We have been keenly aware that measures need to be in place to ensure our safety and well being.
We are also well aware that some have rejected the fact that our safety is in jeopardy. Some have refused to accept the measures made available to keep people safe.
In a similar way, God knew that in our world tainted by sin that we needed a Saviour, but there are those who refuse to believe or consider that they need a Saviour.
When God put so much loving thought into sending Jesus to be our Saviour, it is hard to understand that some will reject Him or choose to keep living life on their own terms.
I think of God loving our world so much and knowing that we need to be saved from sin and the effects of sin. So out of His great love for us God chooses to send His own Son Jesus to be our Saviour. How could anyone not hear God’s love in the message of the angel?
As frustrated as we become with those who refuse safety measures against the Covid virus, God still expects us to respond with love. As difficult as it is for God to give everything He has to give to demonstrate His love and to have people reject our Saviour, we know that God keeps on loving.
- A third opportunity to hear God’s love as we LISTEN FOR LOVE in the words that He gave to the angel is in those two words, “to you”.
Yes, God so loved our world that He gave his only Son. God’s love becomes intensely personal when we receive the truth that the shepherds heard, “to you.” Jesus was born to them and for them. Jesus is born “to us” and for us. When I was talking about this with some of the residents at Ridgeview Long Term Care this week, I was describing how God knows each of us by name. Presents that are wrapped and put under the Christmas tree are labelled with our names. We experience love when we know that a gift was chosen especially for us and that we were thought of in the selecting of the gift. Can we ever grasp how much love was in the heart of God when He thought of us by name and chose Jesus to be born “to us” to become the priceless gift of being our Saviour?
- There is a fourth distinctive tone of love from God to hear in the message of the angel and it comes in the description of our Saviour at the end of verse 11.
“He is Christ the Lord”.
This means that Jesus is both Messiah and Master. Jesus is sent into our world to be the Messiah, the Promised and Anointed One we need. God in His wise love knew that we also need Someone to be Lord or Master of our lives. We do not make loving choices or admit our weaknesses on our own. We need Jesus to be Lord of our lives. He alone can guide our feet in a path of love. Jesus our Saviour and Lord can enable us to listen for love and to respond with love that reflects God’s love for us.
When we are eagerly and maybe even desperately LISTENING FOR LOVE this Christmas, we need look and listen no further than to the message God supplied through the angel, “Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!” (Luke 2:11)