Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20051204.htm

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS INTERLUDE
Gaining God's Christmas "Peace On Earth"
Part I: Gaining God's Peace On Earth' Over Oppressive Legalism
(Luke 2:8-17, 20)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

We Christians have long been taught that Christmas celebrates Christ's birth. For that reason, members of our Church have decorated our sanctuary with beautiful Christmas decorations this Sunday.

Yet, some claim we are wrong to decorate, sing carols and give gifts this time of the year due to errors associated with Christmas itself:

(a) The word, "Christmas" is a "derivative of Christ + Mass", a reference to the high Christmas mass in the Roman Catholic Church! [Zon. Pict. Ency. of the Bible, vol. One, p. 804]. Catholicism holds the elements in the cup and bread of its "Mass" become the real body and blood of Christ so that partaking of them helps provide salvation! This is a false "faith-plus-works" gospel opposed by Ephesians 2:8-9!

Hence, some Christians assert we should NOT celebrate "Christmas" to avoid promoting the error of the Roman Catholic Mass!

(b) The Catholic Online website reports that the carol, "The 12 Days of Christmas" originated in England when Roman Catholics were not allowed to practice their beliefs in public or in private. That song allegedly contains in coded form key beliefs Catholic parents could pass on to their children. For example, the "Seven Swans A-swiming" phrase represents the seven Sacraments that the Roman Catholic Church claims that, if observed, contribute toward one's salvation!

Thus, some claim celebrating Christmas promotes great error!

(c) Also, the ancient pagan Roman Feast of Saturnalia held "the 17th to the 24th of December . . . was marked by a spirit of merriment" and "gift giving to children . . . Gradually, early Christians replaced the pagan feast with the celebration of Christmas; but many of the traditions of this observance were assimilated and remain to this day a part of the celebration of Christmas." (Ibid., p. 804-805)

Since even pagan practices are behind "many" of the traditions we observe at Christmas, some would claim we sin by celebrating it!

We may now feel caught in a terrible dilemma! (1) On the one hand, trying to live up to the expectations of those who think Christmas is WRONG and NOT celebrate Christmas may seem OPPRESSIVE, for we have always thought Christmas honored the birth of Christ! (2) Yet, now that we hear error composes much of the traditions in Christmas, our CONSCIENCES may trouble us if we CONTINUE to celebrate it, so WHAT are we to DO NOW?!

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "Others have certain expectations of us this Christmas that seem oppressive, but expectations that may HAUNT our consciences if we FAIL to live up to them! How may we gain God's peace on earth' announced to the Bethlehem shepherds on this matter?!"
  1. The Bethlehem shepherds that first Christmas faced oppressive legalistic expectations from their religious leaders:
    1. The sheep that the Luke 2:8 shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem kept were used for the sacrifices in the nearby temple of God at Jerusalem:
      1. The Hebrew Mishnah forbade the keeping of livestock in Israel's crop lands to protect them from being stripped, H. Danby, The Mishnah, 1974, p. 342 (Nezikin ["Damages"]: Baba Kamma vii, 7). These animals were to be kept in foreign or barren lands, Ibid.
      2. Yet, the Jerusalem temple required sheep for sacrifice, so these sheep were kept in the fields of nearby Bethlehem, Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah , i, p. 187.
    2. Yet, the task of caring for these sheep caused the shepherds involved to miss many temple services, so they were excommunicated, Ibid.!
    3. Thus, the Luke 2:8 shepherds were oppressively, legalistically excommunicated from the temple by those who needed their services INSTEAD OF being HELPED so they COULD attend the services!
    4. [Jesus critiqued such oppression by these leaders in Matthew 23:1-4!]
  2. Yet, as God's angels revealed His Word and the shepherds HEEDED it, they gained victory over such oppressive legalism:
    1. God's angel revealed God's glory unto these shepherds, Luke 2:8-9a.
    2. God's angels announced His Word unto them regarding peace on earth and thus victory over their leaders' oppressive legalism, 2:9b-14:
      1. The appearance of God's angel left the shepherds terrified, 2:8-9!
      2. However, the angel said they were not to fear; he had brought them good tidings of great joy that would be for all of the people; Israel's long-awaited Messiah Who was also the Lord God had been born that day unto them in Bethlehem, Luke 2:10-11!
      3. Indeed, though banned from God's temple by their leaders, these shepherds were told they could personally meet their Messiah and God, for He lay in a Bethlehem manger wrapped up in swaddling clothes, Luke 2:12!
      4. Even in that era, this was a very unusual setting for a newborn (T.D.N.T., vol. VII, p. 231), so the shepherds who would have known all the town's mangers knew where they could find Him!
    3. Then, God's angels announced His Word about peace on earth, news that overcame their leader's oppressive legalism, Luke 2:10-14:
      1. After revealing where they could find the baby, the angel was joined by a host of God's heavenly angels, Luke 2:13.
      2. They all praised God, giving Him glory by claiming peace on the earth to men with whom God was pleased, Luke 2:14 NIV, ESV; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to Luke 2:14.
    4. When the shepherds BELIEVED and HEEDED God's Word from His angels, they gained God's great "PEACE on EARTH" that overcame the oppressive legalism of their leaders who had unfairly excommunicated them from God's temple, Luke 2:15, 16-17, 20:
      1. We know from Luke 7:50 that by faith, Christ's salvation and its blessings flowed unto those who believe God's Word.
      2. Thus, when the shepherds trusted and heeded the angel's message in making their trip to the manger, they were liberated from their religious leaders' oppressive legalism and its damage (as follows):
        1. The shepherds chose to trust and act on the message from God that was given to them by the angels; they left their flocks and hurried to Bethlehem to find their Messiah and God, 2:15-16.
        2. Realizing they had met God incarnate by invitation from His angels, a realization that countered the error and hurt from their oppressive excommunication, and in contrast to their initial fear of God's angel, the shepherds "made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child," Luke 2:17 KJV.
        3. Indeed, as they returned to their flocks, the shepherds glorified and praised God that WHAT had been TOLD them about meeting the Son of God by God's angels had COME TO PASS as they had TRUSTED and OBEYED His WORD, 2:20!
Application: If haunted by oppressive expectations, (1) may we trust in Christ as Savior from sin for salvation, John 3:16. (2) Then, like the Bethlehem shepherds that first Christmas, may we trust and heed Scripture to find God providing His great PEACE in our lives in liberating us from the oppressive legalism of man into the abundant joy of His edifying grace!

Lesson: For heeding God's Word unto them from the angels, the Bethlehem shepherds saw God overcome their religious leaders' errant, hurtful excommunication of them from God's temple with a personally arranged, abundantly rewarding meeting with God's Beloved, infant Son!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Like the Bethlehem shepherds that first Christmas, we can have peace on earth from oppressive legalism by heeding God's Word as it applies to the issue of the celebration of Christmas itself (as follows):

(1) Scripture reveals in John 10:22 that Jesus kept Hanukkah in memory of the cleansing of the temple by Judas Maccabeus! [Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to John 10:22] (2) Yet, like Christmas today, Hanukkah was affiliated with extensive error in Jesus' day! (a) Judas Maccabeus instituted the feast in 1 Maccabees 4:59 after 1 Maccabees 4:46 states there was no prophet at the time to give Israel God's word; Hanukkah was thus not begun by God! (b) Then, under this Judas, the rituals of the Feast of Tabernacles were borrowed for use in Hanukkah, including its 8 days of celebration, Ibid., Edersheim, ii, p. 227. Yet, Hanukkah later changed via a legend that circulated by Jesus' day; this legend held that when the temple was cleansed, a day's supply of oil for the temple candlestick miraculously lasted for 8 days, so the Jews added the tradition of lighting 8 candles during Hanukkah, Ibid.! (c) This legend so embarrassed Jewish historian, Josephus, he wrote "in hesitating language of the origin of the feast as connected with" it, Ibid., p. 226-227! (d) 2 Maccabees 12:43-45 then shows the man who started Hanukkah errantly prayed for the dead to "be delivered from sin" (The Apocrypha, Cam. Univ. Press, p. 153)! (e) Catholicism used this event as the basis of its belief in purgatory, the dreadful error that believers are purified in torment equal to hell before entering heaven! [Ibid., Z.P.E.B., v. Four, p. 6-16; Boettner, Rom. Cath., p. 218-228]

(3) Yet, though extensive error was affiliated with Hanukkah or the man who instituted it, Jesus still observed Hanukkah according to GOD'S WORD at John 10:22; to JESUS, that feast regardless of all the errors surrounding it still recalled the GOOD temple cleansing event, and was part of His culture, so He kept it!

(4) By application, as imperfect as the celebration of Christmas is today, it still recalls a GOOD event, the incarnation of Christ, and is part of our culture; we may celebrate it like Jesus observed Hanukkah!

SCRIPTURE at John 10:22 frees us to celebrate Christmas opposite oppressive legalistic expectations of others to the contrary, and that like God's Word via the angels joyfully freed Bethlehem's shepherds from their leaders' oppressive legalism!