Introduction
      Earlier this month, I listened on the radio as the announcers said this December marks the 40^th anniversary of the airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas. It is that Christmas classic animated film which features the characters from the Peanuts comic strip. The announcers went on to say that when the show first aired 40 years ago, in 1965, there was a great deal of controversy among the network executives regarding the show. It seems there was one particular scene which many of the people in power at CBS and at Coca Cola, the major sponsor, found offensive and thought should be eliminated. They said it had to go. However, Charles Schultz responded, “The scene stays in, or the show doesn’t air. It’s just that simple.” 
      What was the scene? What was so controversial? It is the scene when Linus van Pelt recites the story of the birth of Christ from Luke 2 in the King James Version. Schulz wanted the film to have the religious meaning that was central to his own experience of Christmas, and so he insisted that the scene not be cut.
      Tonight I want us to study this amazing passage of Scripture Linus quoted which caused such a ruckus back in 1965. As we consider these things this evening, there are three matters that I want you to notice: 1) the visit of the angel; 2) the message of the angel; and 3) the response of the shepherds.

I.  The Visit of the Angel
      "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified!" (2:8,9).  The Bible records over 300 references to angels, but they only actually physically appear on very rare occasions in Scripture. Artists have rendered this scene of the angel appearing to the shepherds over the years in a variety of ways. On the screens you will see a number of paintings through the centuries that portray this supernatural event. 
      Have you ever noticed that whenever an angel shows up in the Bible, the first thing they say is, “Fear not!” It happened when the angel appeared to Zechariah to announce the birth of John the Baptist. It happened when Gabriel appeared to Mary in Luke 1:26. It happened when an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream in Matthew 1, and it happened when the angels appeared to the shepherds in the field.  Throughout the story of the birth of Christ, right and left we find angels saying, “Fear not!” Now, why in the world would these angels say, “Fear not!” unless that was the primary reaction of each of these people whenever they encountered an angel of the Lord?!
      There was once a little boy who was chosen to play the angel who appeared to the shepherds in the church Christmas pageant one year. He worked very hard to memorize his lines, but when it came time for his announcement during the play, he was so frightened by his assignment, instead of saying, “Fear not!” he said, “I’m scared to death!” That’s the way many people feel tonight. We find ourselves fearful this Christmas. The shepherds did that first Christmas.
      “Fear not!” It’s a word we all need to hear this evening. While most of us have never had an angel appear to us which left us shaking in our boots, there are a lot of things that cause us fear this Christmas. There is a war in Iraq. Osama bin Laden is still at large. Terrorism is a real threat. Our country is polarized by politics. The city of New Orleans is still digging out after the ravages of two hurricanes. The future is uncertain and unknown. There’s a lot to cause us fear and concern.    
      What fears are you battling tonight? In what ways are you fearful this evening?  Perhaps it is a fear of failure, or a fear of abandonment, or that your marriage isn’t going to make it. Maybe you’re afraid of getting laid off at work, or that your son or daughter is heading down the wrong path. You may be fearful that cancer might return. Perhaps you are fearful that if you really give over your life to Christ, He might take you in a whole different direction, and you are afraid to trust Him. Or maybe you’re just afraid of the credit card bill next month!
       The angel said to the shepherds, “Fear not!” It’s a word the Lord says to you this evening as well. Our God is an all-powerful God who is full of love and has our best interest at heart. He loves us with an everlasting love, and He wants the best for you and me. And while we don’t know what the future holds, we do know the One who holds that future. Hear the angel of the Lord when he says, “Fear not!”

II.  The Message of the Angel
      "But the angel said to them, ‘…I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord! And this will be a sign unto you; you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger" (2:10-12).  
      There were three parts to the message the angel(s) gave to the shepherds that first Christmas night. The first part of the message was, “I bring you good news of a great joy.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t see much joy in our world this Christmas. We are all so busy and rushed. We have lots of things, we are involved in lots of activities, we’re going to lots of parties, but we don’t seem to enjoy them very much. Every year it seems more and more difficult to find true joy at Christmas. 
      However, joy is one of the words we most often hear used at Christmastime. We lit a candle on the 4^th Sunday in Advent for Joy, and I’ve seen the word “joy” on many of the Christmas cards Lorie and I received this year. And yet, I think we often confuse joy with happiness. It’s easy to do. Outwardly, joy and happiness resemble one another, but they are actually very different. Happiness comes from the root word “hap”, which means “chance.” It suggests that good things might happen to us, but it’s really a matter of chance. Happiness is so dependent upon our outward circumstances. On the other hand, joy is the English translation of a word that at its root means “surprise.” C.S. Lewis picked up on this when he titled his autobiography Surprised by Joy. There Lewis tells us that he pursued joy for many years until he finally found it in Jesus Christ.     
      The angels declared to the shepherds that night that they had a story of “great joy” to tell. Megas charis – these two words appear together only five times in the whole Bible. The good news of great joy of which the angel spoke was the coming of the Savior into the world. You see, real joy only comes from a deep confidence in the ways of God in the world, trusting that He has a plan and He is causing everything to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Biblical joy comes not from our outward circumstances but from the presence of Christ in our lives. We can get it in no other way.
      Has joy left you this Christmas? Are you looking to the gifts under the tree to give you joy? Are you hoping your family will bring you joy? Are you counting on your job to offer you joy? Then you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Only Christ can bring the real joy you seek. He is the One who can buoy your soul, regardless of your circumstances.
      The second part of the angel's message was - the promise has been kept.  "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord" (2:11). The years of longing, the centuries of expectation were finally over. The Messiah had come! At just the right time, God fulfilled His promise of a Savior. For hundreds of years the people of Israel had looked for a Messiah, one who would deliver them, one who would rescue them. In the Old Testament from the book of Genesis all the way through Malachi, there appear over 300 prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah, and Jesus fulfilled every single one of them. Born of a woman (Gen. 3), born of a virgin (Is. 7:14), from the seed of Abraham (Gen. 22), of the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49), of the line of Jesse (Is. 11), of the house of David (Jer. 23), born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5), presented with gifts (Ps. 72) - all prophesied in the Old Testament. The list goes on and on. The apostle Paul writes, "But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son..." (Gal. 4:4).  The Lord kept His promise; He was true to His word.     
      Bethlehem was a backwater community crowded with people who were busy trying to pay their taxes and be counted in the census. It is a town six miles south of Jerusalem which stands on a gray limestone ridge, and the ridge has a rise or a summit at each end and a kind of saddle between. I remember visiting that little town in 1996 with other members of our church when we traveled to Israel. We saw the church of the Nativity and the grotto that is believed to be the birth place of Christ.
      Bethlehem was a small village, but it has a prominent place in biblical history.  It was there that Jacob buried his wife Rachel. It was there that Boaz and Ruth were married. And it was there that the greatest king in Israel's history, David, was born. And it was from this town of Bethlehem that God promised He would send the great deliverer of His people. The prophet Micah had foretold it, "But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me One who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times" (5:2).  Both Joseph and Mary were of the house and line of David, and so when the decree for a census went out from Caesar Augustus saying that all the people should return to their home city for registration, Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem.
      The third part of the angel's message was - here is a sign, you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. The Shepherds were instructed to go to Bethlehem, but perhaps there would be many babies in that town during the census. How would they know which baby was the one? The angel gave an additional sign that this special baby would be wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. It would be a newborn, but it would be resting in a most unusual place - a stable in a feeding trough for animals. I have seen the kind of manger used in Palestine at the time of Christ. It was usually made of stone, and a rectangular hole was hewn out of it. It was such an odd place to lay a baby, and yet it speaks of the lowliness of the birth of Jesus. It speaks of the humility of the coming of the Son of God. The Messiah began to break the mold of all the false expectations of His coming from the very beginning. He would be the suffering Servant, not the conquering hero so many were looking for. This was the message of the angel.
      After the heavenly messenger had completed its announcement, the angel was joined by the host of heaven which together proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)  Surprise follows upon surprise. First one angel, and then, all of a sudden, an entire army of angels descend. It must have been quite a spectacle to behold, and the angelic praise lit up the night sky of Palestine.

III.  The Response of the Shepherds
      The passage tells us that there were three ways in which the shepherds responded. First, they responded with faith. "When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.'" (2:15).  They seized the opportunity God made available to them to witness the amazing events of the night, and they went at once to Bethlehem. They could have remained on the hillside; they could have questioned the supernatural occurrence and doubted what had just happened. They could have written off the experience as an illusion or attributed it to some bad wine. They could have complained about fatigue and reasoned that they needed their sleep. But they did none of these things. Rather, they responded in faith, and they went at once to Bethlehem.
      How often do you and I hesitate when God gives us an invitation to behold His great work in the world? How often do we hold back and come up with excuses? We’re too busy, we’re too tired, we can’t afford it, it’s inconvenient. These shepherds didn't say things like that. Their faith led them to drop what they were doing and share in an experience which would change their lives forever. How might God be calling you to drop the excuses and drop what you’re doing to respond in faith to Him this Christmas?
      Second, the shepherds responded with witness. "When they had seen Him, 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." (2:17,18).  They could not contain their enthusiasm, and they told everyone they met about the amazing things that had happened to them. They had to tell others the good news they discovered for themselves. When you've got good news, you shouldn’t keep it to yourself.
      In the book of 2 Kings chapter 7, there is a story of four lepers in Samaria who in desperation went over to the Aramean army to surrender. The Arameans had laid siege to Samaria, which was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel at the time, and the result was a severe famine. The lepers figured if they stayed in Samaria they would die by starvation, and the worst the Arameans could do would be to kill them. They hoped the Arameans would have pity on them and give them something to eat.
      When the lepers arrived at the camp, however, they found it deserted. It seems that the Lord had caused the Aramean army to scatter the night before by a miraculous disturbance, and they thought they were being attacked. When the lepers discovered the camp deserted, they went from tent to tent eating to their hearts' content and collecting items of silver and gold. Just then one of the four lepers said, "We are not doing right. This is a day of good news, and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight punishment will overtake us. Let us go at once and report this to the royal palace" (2 Kings 7:9).
      My friends, you and I have been given some very good news about the love of God in Christ. Are we keeping it to ourselves, or are we sharing it with others?  We should take time to tell people the reason for the season at Christmas and throughout the year.
      The last way the shepherds' responded was with praise. The text tells us, "The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told" (2:20).  Praising God is the only adequate response when we behold His goodness when He showers His love and favor on our lives. Is praise a mark of your celebration of Christmas this year?  Or are you like Scrooge, grumping around saying, “Bah, humbug.” Take time tomorrow to praise God for His good gifts, and glory in the miracle of the Incarnation as if for the first time.

Conclusion     
      When the story of the birth of Christ was told in the 1^st Century, it created quite a stir. When Charles Schulz insisted that it be included in A Charlie Brown Christmas, the controversy continued. And whenever we make attempts to keep the Christ in Christmas, we should never be surprised that it brings an offence.
      Christmas may indeed be controversial, but when you strip everything else away in life, it is the message of Christmas to which we will cling in our times of desperation. I close with this; Capt. Gerald Coffee was a prisoner of war in Viet Nam. He spent Christmas of 1968 in a North Vietnamese prison. It was his third Christmas in that tiny cell after his plane had been shot down over enemy territory. On his third Christmas in captivity, he was given some candy bars which were wrapped in a silver paper. He decided to get into the Christmas spirit by shaping the wrappers into a small star. He made three of them and attached each of the three stars to straws and watched them in the light of the single bulb that lit his cramped cell. He remembers with gratitude the brightening of his Christmas with the candy wrappers and describes what he felt: 

      My friend, may this be the most significant Christmas ever for you and me as we join with the angels and the shepherds in praising God for the gift of His Son, even Jesus Christ who was born long ago. Amen.