God Became Low (Advent Message 12/23/18)
ATTN: When Prince George Alexander Louis was born on july 22, 2013, to Prince Willam and Kate Middleton, The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, wearing full dress uniform, rode past Buckingham Palace to Green Park where they staged a 41-gun royal salute. 71 horses pulled six First World War-era 13-pounder field guns into position for the royal salute. The Honourable Royal Horse Artillery fired a 62-gun salute from the Tower of London at the same time. A full peal of bells have also began at Westminister Abbey, and will last for three hours. There were celebrations across Britain and messages of congratulations were sent from leading figures across the world. Twitter descended into a royal baby frenzy when, at its peak, 25,000 tweets a minute were sent discussing his arrival. That is for the baby who is third in line to the throne of a tiny nation called England.
But when the only Son of God, the King of the universe was born, only a few shepherds were invited, and animals if you want to count them. And not in a royal palace suitable for kings but in a stable suitable for animals.
TRANS: So, I want to share with you today what the original Christmas meant to the shepherds. Answer: God is for and with the lowly.
1) God is for the lowly (God is for the underdog)
In the East, if you are crippled, or if any unfortunate event happens to you, they assume it’s because the gods have rejected them. I grew up in S. Korea. I remember when a crippled beggar begged for money on the street, passers-by will curse and even spit at him saying, “bad luck.” The reason is because they believe “cursed is the lowly.” In the West, where we live, we believe the same thing except we see it as glass half-full and think, “blessed are the high class” For example, we say things like, “He has God-given talent, God blessed her with good looks, or God must have spent a little more time on her”” We generally believe blessed are those who are good-looking, smart, athletic, wealthy and come from a good family background. But that’s not the God of the Bible. God consistently prefers the underdog, those who are rejected, considered no use to the society, inferior, hopeless, weak, ugly.
Some examples: God chose Jacob, the second-born, rather than Esau the first-born, when in ancient culture, it was always the first-born that was preferred.
God chose Leah the ugly sister over her beautiful sister Rachel.
God picked the tiny nation Israel over much grander and impressive nations like Egypt, Babylon, or Romans.
God picked David, the youngest of 8 brothers whom even his father forgot about when prophet Samuel came looking for him. And there is that famous line when God said, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Sam 16:13
And here, we see God making the grandest of all announcements, the arrival of the Messiah, the most significant event in history only to the lowly shepherds. Who were they? 1) They were religious outcasts. Why? According to Jewish religious law, these men were unclean. You see, while other people went to worship God at the temple and synagogue, b/c of their work, they couldn’t participate in the worship. Therefore, they were considered pagans when the word pagan meant something derogatory.
2) They were also social outcasts. Since they were constantly on the move to find new pasture for their flocks, they were looked on with suspicion. They were often accused of being thieves. If something came up missing – it must have been those shepherds. They were not permitted to give testimony in a legal proceeding, because their word wasn’t considered trustworthy. They would go days without washing themselves and sleeping out on the field with the sheep, often fighting off the wolves and wild animals, they’d be dirty, smelly, and very unattractive.
As you can probably guess, when a Hebrew child was asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up,” no Hebrew child would answer, “ I want to be a shepherd.” However, these shepherds were the only ones invited to witness the most significant birth the earth has ever known.
ILL: Seattle Symphony performs Beethoven’s 9th symphony, probably the greatest piece of music ever composed, at the end of the year every year. An average ticket costs $90 per person. Imagine Beethoven himself came back alive to conduct the orchestra. but they made it into a private event and the only ones invited the this privileged concert were the homeless that were sleeping in front of the Benaroya Hall!
That is what God has done with the most significant event in history – the birth of His Son Jesus Christ.
APP: So, if you are one of the lowlies, or you feel like it. You are not really invited anywhere this holiday season while everyone else seems to be. You are perhaps disabled and feeling like your are just using up everyone else’s resources, or you are down on hard times and you feel like even God forgot about you along with the rest of the world. Know that God is for the lowly. He does not look at the things man looks at. He looks at the heart and sympathizes. That is what Christmas has meant for the shepherds.
TRANS: But God is not only for the lowly, but He is also WITH the lowly.
2) God is with the lowly.
Christmas means not only that God is for us, but that He is also with us. Emmanuelle – God with us. But it is how He came to be with us that is unfathomable. In the Old Testament, God was with the Israelites in the desert through a pillar of fire and a pillar of clouds. He let them know that He was with them through His judges, prophets, and kings. In other words, through substitutes, indirectly. But in the New Testament, He came be with with us by becoming us – directly! He became a human being! I believe one of the reasons why the pharisees and scribes during Jesus’ time had such a hard time accepting Jesus was that He equated Himself with God. It was such an unfathomable thought that God would become a man! They outright dismissed it and Jesus along with it. But God always exceeds our expectations and does the unthinkable. That’s why we sing of amazing grace. “How can it be that thou my God shouldst die for me,” Charles Wesley sang 300 years ago…
J C Ryles, an 19th century Anglican Bishop writes, “Had my Savior been God only I might perhaps have trusted Him, but I never could have come near to Him without fear. Had my Savior been Man only, I might have loved Him, but I never could have felt sure that He was able to take away my sins. But blessed be God, my Savior is God as well as Man, and Man as well as God – God, and so able to deliver me – Man, and so able to feel with me. Almighty power and deepest sympathy are met together in one glorious Person, Jesus Christ, my Lord.”
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15
- Are you poor and needy? So also was Jesus. The foxes have holes and the birds of the air had nest, but the Son of man had nowhere to lay His head (Matt. 8:20)
- Are you alone in the world, and neglected by those who ought to love you? So also was Jesus. He came unto His own, and they received Him not. (John 1:11) His own brothers rejected Him!
- Are you misunderstood, misrepresented, slandered and persecuted? So also was Jesus. He was called a glutton and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans, a samaritan, a madman, and a devil. (Luke 7:34)
- Does Satan tempt you, and offer you horrid suggestions to your mind? So also did he tempt Jesus.
- Do you ever feel great agony and conflict of mind? Do you feel in darkness, as if God had left you? So did Jesus when He cried out on the cross, “My god, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46)
God came to be with us by becoming one of us – the lowly!
But what if you are not a lowly? What if you are a middle-class american whose household income is 6 figures? The poor in heart is what we are going for. You can be poor and be proud, or you can be rich and be poor in heart – in other words, humble. You are poor in heart when you know you are in need – perhaps not a financial need but a spiritual and emotional need. You may have money in your bank and own your house outright, but you still feel empty like something is missing. And you know that nothing in this world can satisfy it. You know that your life isn’t what it ought to be. And you need help, and that help lies outside of you because you are not strong enough to cut it. You need God and you know it. Then, you are lowly in heart and soul. You are dependent entirely upon God to provide you what you need – be it meaning, love, fulfilment, wonder, “without you, I’m nothing. Without you, my life has no meaning.”
ILL: Long ago, there ruled in Persia a wise and good king. He loved his people. He wanted to know how they lived. He wanted to know about their hardships. Often he dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar, and went to the homes of the poor. No one whom he visited thought that he was their ruler. One time he visited a very poor man who lived in a cellar. He ate the coarse food the poor man ate. He spoke cheerful, kind words to him. Then he left. Later he visited the poor man again and disclosed his identity by saying, “I am your king!” and showing his insignia. The king thought the man would surely ask for some gift or favor, but he didn’t. Instead he said, “You left your palace and your glory to visit me in this dark, dreary place. You ate the course food I ate. You brought gladness to my heart! To others you have given your rich gifts. To me you have given yourself!”
God is for and with the lowly in heart. If you are a lowly, would you believe on this God? He is for you and will be with you if you will let Him. Would you receive this gracious God as your Savior, Lord, and best Friend?
0 Comments