Luke 2:9-11 - An Angel Delivers the Real News of Christmas - December 25, 2021

Why do you think God chose an angel to deliver the news of the Savior’s birth in Bethlehem? Were there no prophets available? Were the priests and Levites all on vacation? Did the sheep and donkeys reject the task (Numbers 22:21-35)? Were all of the Bethlehem Bee reporters busy covering the aftermath of multi-camel pileup? No, I think God chose an angel to be his mouthpiece because he wanted those shepherds, the world and us to have a clear understanding of the real good news of Christmas.

Let’s imagine, for a moment, that we had to rely on today’s media to cover and communicate the real news of Christmas. The one thing that no one will argue about the priorities of the media is that “if it bleeds, it leads;” – meaning that the media tends to promote and even fabricate negative aspects of any given story. For example, if the media is reporting on a hurricane – even if no one is hurt and no property is damaged, the headline might be “Experts say that recent hurricane is sure sign of future catastrophic weather events.” A story on a booming sales season for Christmas retailers will close with, “But a slow January is expected to offset those gains,” or “A good 4th quarter can’t make up for a dismal 3rd quarter.” When it comes to Covid, media alarmism is probably more responsible for the fear and panic that remains out there more than the actual facts and science do.

Given the media’s tendency toward alarmism and negativity, just imagine how they would have reported the first Christmas: “Census Forces Thousands to Crowd Little Town of Bethlehem – Experts Warn of Super Spreader Event;” “Alleged “Virgin” Gives Birth – Sexual Assault being Investigated;” “Shepherds Claim to Have Witnessed a Multitude of Angels Singing God’s Praises – Drug Use Suspected;” “Newborn Infant Found in Feed Trough – Child Protective Services has Been Notified.”

If it was the media’s job to announce the birth of Jesus, they’d make his birth bad – or at least, tainted news. Do we ever do the same? We’ve spent weeks and maybe months planning our travel schedules, buying gifts, baking and cooking and celebrating with family and friends – and how many of us are, by today – which is actually the first day of the Christmas season, not the last – feeling a bit like Ebenezer Scrooge: just ready for it all to be over with. Is Christmas tainted because we are stressed out over the gift we forgot to buy or the cookies we forgot to bake or the card we forgot to send? When people ask us how our Christmas was, don’t we tend to highlight the negatives too: the sickness, the bad weather, the rate of inflation, the wrong-sized gift? The only possible reason a Christian would have for making the news of Christmas bad or tainted news is if we begin to believe that Christmas is about us.

If today’s media were reporting on the news from Bethlehem, not only would they make the news negative, they’d get the details wrong. If we’ve learned nothing else over the past several years, it’s that the media isn’t as interested in the facts as they are in forwarding a specific narrative. I could cite dozens of examples, but here’s just one: On November 22, CNN reported, “At Least 5 Killed After SUV Plows Into Wisconsin Holiday Parade” [1] No, an SUV didn’t just drive itself into a crowd of people. And that “holiday parade” was not celebrating Hanukkah or Kwanza, it was a “Christmas Parade.” [2] And that’s just one example of how our contemporary media cares less about factual accuracy than their politically correct narrative.

If today’s media were covering the first Christmas, I imagine that they’d get most of the details wrong. Instead of being born in Bethlehem, Jesus would have been born in Bethany. Instead of Jesus being placed in a manger they’d have placed him in the manager’s office of the inn. Instead of being wrapped in swaddling clothes they’d have wrapped him in a straight jacket – or something along those lines.

Well, we don’t do anything like that, do we? We would never skip over the factual details of Christmas in the interest of forwarding a false narrative, would we? Have we dropped some change into one of those red kettles outside the grocery store thinking we were doing something good when in truth we’re aiding and abetting a false-teaching church – John says the one who wishes him well shares in his wicked works (2 John 11)? How many of us have deceived our children with the work-righteous lie of “do good, get good” that lies at the heart of the fat man in the red suit and the elf on the shelf? How many of us deep down think that Christmas is really about family and being kinder to strangers? That’s getting the actually important details of Christmas wrong just as much as if you thought or taught that Jesus was born at the North Pole, wrapped in a stocking, and hung by the chimney.

If today’s media reported the news of Christmas, they would make it bad news, they’d screw up the details, and they’d ignore or censor the real good news. The real good news of Christmas is the miracle of the incarnation – and the media doesn’t report on miracles. Well, I shouldn’t say that. They will report on “reported” miracles – meaning that the media doesn’t actually believe that a miracle happened but that someone or some group believes that a miracle happened. Today’s media may report that “Today Christians Celebrate the Birth of Jesus Whom They Believe to Be Their Savior;” or “Today Christians Believe that a Virgin Conceived and Then Gave Birth to the Son of God.” In the eyes of the media, miracles never objectively happen. The media must locate miracles in the one who believes them.  

We Christians cannot and must not base Christmas on our faith or feelings. If we do, we lose the comfort of the objective Good News. If the Good News of Christmas depends on our believing, then all of the peripheral elements of Christmas must be perfect. Then it must be a white Christmas. Then the kids have to get along and absolutely love their presents. Then, if you happen to have family, work, health, or financial struggles – it’s impossible for Christmas to be genuinely good. If the good news of Christmas depends on whether you believe that it’s a good Christmas or not, then you’ll never find the real good news of Christmas.

Today’s news media would never report Christmas as being the greatest miracle God ever performed. According to them, virgins don’t give birth (although they will lobby for women to retain the right to murder their unborn babies) and angels don’t make public announcements (this angel probably would have had his Twitter account suspended today). “This can’t be anything more than the birth of another baby. Nothing special. God in human flesh? The Creator of everything a helpless baby in the arms of one of his creatures? The sinless Son of God going through the blood, sweat and tears of a sinner’s birth? Yeah, right, follow the science – miracles don’t happen. Some people may believe they do, but that doesn’t make them real.”

Here’s the thing: that last part is true. You and I confessing our faith in the virgin birth of the Son of God who came to suffer and die for the sins of the world doesn’t make it real. Neither did the shepherd’s quick-acting faith in and response to the angel’s announcement make the good news real. It would still have been true if they had just rolled over and went back to sleep in the fields with their flocks. Mary and Joseph’s obedience to the Lord’s command didn’t make Christmas real. It would have been just as real if Joseph had quietly divorced Mary and Mary didn’t ponder all these things in her heart. If the reality of the Christmas miracle depended on faith – ours or anyone else’s – then the angel would’ve said, “If you believe, then I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people;” or “If you trust me enough to leave your flocks and go to Bethlehem, then a Savior has been born for you.”

Here's the truth: the Good News does not rely on the media’s chosen narrative or even on our feelings or our faith. The Good News is in the facts. The Good News is that Jesus was born in the town of David – just as God had promised centuries earlier (Micah 5:2). The Good News is the angel telling the world do not be afraid – because Christmas proves that God didn’t come to destroy us but to save us (1 Timothy 2:3-4). The Good News is that the great joy of Christmas is for all people no matter who they are or what they’ve done – and that means you, too! The Good News is that Jesus came to die on a cross and suffer God’s wrath to save us from our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Good News is that Jesus can be our Savior because he is Christ the Lord – he is the one God anointed and appointed to save the human race from sin, death and the devil, and he is nothing less than the eternal God clothed in human flesh and blood (1 Peter 1:18-20).

The real news, the best news is that the Good News of Christmas happens outside of us; outside of our hearts, our heads, our experience and our circumstances. The Good News that the baby born to the virgin Mary in a stable in Bethlehem is the Son of God in human flesh, who came to live a perfect life of obedience to God’s holy Law, to suffer and die for our sins, to endure death and hell in our place, to rise again for our salvation, to ascend to his Father’s right hand in heaven where he lives and rules over all things – that’s all true no matter what we believe or feel, and no matter what our medical or financial or family circumstances are today.

Do you see now why God chose an angel to deliver the real news of Christmas? Not only would the media have distorted and corrupted the message – but the devil and our own sinful flesh would have been able to distort and corrupt it. The Good News is that it doesn’t matter what the media says, what your friends and family say, what your own heart and conscience say – because the real news of Christmas is exactly what the angel said it is: today in the town of David, a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. This is Christmas – and Christmas is all good news! Amen.

[1] https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/wisconsin-waukesha-christmas-parade-car-plow-11-22-21/index.html

[2] https://lakecountryfamilyfun.com/event/waukesha-christmas-parade/