Watch the original ACC video below that ties into the message

Today marks the start of a new series called Vintage Christmas. In each week of this series, we’re going to visit with the family you just met in our story. Each week we’re going to travel with them as they search for this elusive thing called Christmas.

This family is facing all the stresses and problems that we are. But as we visit with them over this next month, we’re going to discover that to truly understand Christmas, we’ve got to turn back the clock. The meaning of Christmas is easily lost in our contemporary culture. So we’re chasing after a Vintage Christmas. We’re turning back the clock to remember what this season is really all about.

In fact, we’re turning back the clock about 2,000 years. In this series, we’re traveling back to the very first Christmas, as described in Luke 2. It’s incredibly tough to capture the essence of Christmas in 2008. There are so many distractions. So many false messages. So many problems, stresses, and worries. But there is hope available in the Word of God. As we travel back a couple of millennia to the very first Christmas, we’ll be able to bring that Vintage Christmas back again. This could be the most meaningful, significant Christmas you’ve ever had. The prescription is found in God’s Word. Let’s pray and then we’re going to dive into God’s truth for us today.

In our story, Linda was feeling pressured. Frazzled. Stressed. Worried. She was feeling anything but joyful. Joy to the World might have been playing on the radio, but there was no joy in her world. Family tension and hectic schedules had choked the joy right out of her life.

A lot of us know the feeling, don’t we? Linda isn’t just a character in our story. There are a ton of Lindas here today. Your situation might be different, but the result is the same. Your circumstances have sucked the joy clean out of you.

So let’s chase after some hope. We’re going to travel back through the years to the very first Christmas. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and Luke 2 tells us all about it. Let the Vintage Christmas begin.

Starting in verse 8, the Bible tells us, “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.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. 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.” (Luke 2:8-11, NIV)

Good news of great what? Joy. Christmas is about joy. It always has been. These shepherds were the first people to learn about the birth of Jesus Christ. An angel appeared to them and delivered what could be equivalent to the very first Christmas card. From what we know about this culture, these shepherds were probably illiterate, so God sent them a verbal Christmas card. And the message on that card was joy. It doesn’t get any more “vintage” than this. Joy was the very first Christmas message ever delivered, because joy is at the heart of what Christmas is all about.

Now, let’s dig into this a little deeper. This message of joy was given to shepherds. That is incredibly significant. The story of the Christmas shepherds has been romanticized by Christmas songs and pageants, but the reality was anything but romantic.

Shepherds were despised in their culture. Jewish literature from this time period says that, “most of the time [shepherds] were dishonest and thieving; they led their herds onto other people's land and pilfered the produce of the land.”

These hireling shepherds would often go months at a time without supervision, so they were often accused of stealing and selling some of the lambs that were born into the flock. Because of that, people were warned not to buy wool, milk, or lambs from shepherds on the assumption that it was stolen property.

Shepherds were actively discriminated against. Shepherds were not allowed to hold political office. In fact, they weren’t even allowed to vote. Shepherds were not admitted in a court as witnesses. They weren’t even allowed to worship in the temple.

One early Jewish writer said, “There is no more disreputable occupation than that of a shepherd.” And yet God sent his angel to these outcasts and announced the birth of his Son. In fact, these loser shepherds were the very first people invited to come and see the Christ child.

When the angel appeared to the shepherds, he came to announce good news of great joy that will be for all people.

Christmas joy is for everyone. No exceptions. No exclusions. These shepherds were excluded from a lot of things in their society, but this joy that was announced by the angel was for all people, including them.

And that’s also great news for us. If this joy is really for all people, then that means that it’s for us, too. I imagine the shepherds really needed a shot of joy in their lives. From everything we know about first century shepherds, it was a joyless existence. And maybe that’s why God chose them as the first recipients of his joyful Christmas message.

Early in his ministry, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17, NIV)

Jesus didn’t come to save a bunch of people who already had it all together. He didn’t come for people who were healthy, but people who were sick. He came to give hope to the hopeless, significance to the forgotten, and joy to the joyless.

And this was evident from the very moment he was born. His birth announcement of joy was for all people. It was for a bunch of smelly, dirty, outcast shepherds. And it is for you and it is for me.

So why do so many of us still seem to miss it? Do you feel like the joy train has left the station, but you never got a ticket? In a season that is supposed to about joy for all people, do you feel like you’ve been left out in the cold?

We’re going to explore some reasons why this happens to so many of us, specifically at Christmastime. And we’re going to see how the shepherds handled these things in a way that brought the joy back into their lives.

One guaranteed way you can lose your joy this Christmas is to over commit yourself. This Christmas, a lot of us are going to stretch ourselves far too thin.

We’re going to over commit ourselves with our schedule. In the story at the beginning of the message, Linda was totally frustrated because her family’s schedule was so overbooked. It left her worried and stressed out…and with a complete lack of joy.

If you want to have a Christmas devoid of joy, over commit your schedule. Go into it thinking, “We’ve got to attend the gathering at our parents’ house. And you can’t leave the in-laws out. And then of course there’s the dinner at Aunt Martha’s. And we can’t forget to go to Uncle Bob’s house. And then there’s my company’s office party.” And on, and on, and on. Christmas just becomes a season that is marked by driving from one place to another, and another, and another. And it’s really hard to find joy when your schedule is that overbooked.

A lot of us are going to over commit ourselves with our schedule. A lot more of us are going to over commit ourselves with our spending this year.

After all, we’ve got to get mom and dad something really nice. But then there’s all the brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandpas, grandmas, and a great grandma to boot. And we just don’t have the money on hand to buy for everybody, so we’ll just put it on plastic.

It all comes down to prioritizing. You’ve got to decide which things are a “must do” and which things would simply be “nice to do.”

Let’s go back to the story of the shepherds. “The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. 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. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

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.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.” (Luke 2:10-16)

As soon as the angels left, the shepherds dropped everything and ran to Bethlehem. They broke the one cardinal rule for any shepherd: they left their flocks behind. The text doesn’t specifically say that they left their sheep, but it’s definitely implied. The Bible says that they “hurried off” to find the Christ child. Other Bible translations say that they “came with haste” or they “came in a hurry” to see the baby. You can’t lead a large group of sheep in a hurry. Sheep are notoriously stupid animals.

A couple of years ago, I videotaped part of a message standing in a pen with several sheep. These animals kept trying to knock me over. One kept biting me. Trust me… these are stupid animals that we’re talking about. They almost never do what you want them to do. So there’s no way that the shepherds in our story were able to hurry to Bethlehem dragging a bunch of sheep behind them. They did what a shepherd is never supposed to do…they left the sheep behind.

These shepherds made a judgment call about what was truly important. They prioritized their situation, and tending sheep wasn’t as important as going to find God who was lying in a manger in the form of a baby.

If you want to have a Vintage Christmas filled with joy that so many modern day celebrations are lacking, then you have to prioritize. You’ve got to decide what is most important.

When it comes to your schedule, give yourself the freedom to say, “no.” It’s still November. You’ve got some time now to decide where you’re going to go, and where you’re not going to go. It’s ok to say “no” to some good things in order to keep your sanity.

This can be especially tough for young couples. Dating couples or newlyweds often try to keep everybody happy by hitting every single gathering of family or friends. When Nicki and I were newly married, we would attend 6 family gatherings, usually in a two day span. It was insane. It created a stressful holiday. Not a joyful holiday.

You know how many family gatherings we attend now? Two. The other gatherings still happen, but they now happen without us. And that’s ok. It’s ok to say “no” to some things to create a more joyful holiday for you, your spouse, and your kids.

And by the way, if you have a young couple in your family who is really stressing out over how to get to every gathering this Christmas, you need to give them some grace and some understanding as they try to sort this thing out. The last thing they need from you is guilt. Be flexible. Be understanding. Help that young family to find joy by not adding stress to their holiday.

For those of us who are tempted to over commit with our spending, let me give you a simple, but liberating, truth: you don’t have to buy gifts for everyone.

Again, we used to do this in my family. Every sibling bought for every other sibling, along with all nieces and nephews. And that’s in addition to buying gifts for our parents. It got to be crazy. So we started drawing names among all the siblings. That meant we all only had to buy one gift. We did that for a few years. But this year, we’re not even doing that. We all talked about and agreed to stop buying gifts for one another altogether. Do we still love each other? Yeah. We just understand that love isn’t found in a package with a bow under a tree. And it’s helped us all because we’re not stretching our money further than it should go.

Set your budget for gifts this year and then live within it. See, you thought our money series ended last week, didn’t you? If you want to have a joyful holiday, then don’t buy for 100 people. Don’t rack up credit card debt. And most of all, don’t think that you can buy someone’s love with an expensive gift. There is beauty in simplicity. Keep your gift giving budget in check. Keep your shopping list simple. Stop over committing yourself and rediscover the joy that Christmas is really all about.

Another guaranteed way to lose your joy is to believe that joy is based on your circumstances.

Remember what Linda was doing in our story? She was over-analyzing the circumstances that her family was in. She allowed those circumstances to dominate her, and it robbed her of joy.

This looks different for every person here today. But if some of us step back and look at our current situation in life, it’s not a happy picture. And I’m not about to suggest that you have to be happy about an unhappy situation. But happiness and joy are two different things.

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Happiness depends on right happenings, but even when things go wrong you can have joy.”

Happiness is directly tied to your circumstances. If things are good, you’re happy. If things are bad, you’re not happy. But you can have joy in all circumstances. The reason so many of us don’t have joy is because we’ve confused it with happiness. And so we believe that the only way we can have joy is if our circumstances change. That’s not what God’s Word says.

Go back to the story of the shepherds. They hurried to Bethlehem and found the Christ child. Then, look at what the Bible says in Luke 2:20.

“The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen…” (Luke 2:20, NASB)

Did you catch this? The shepherds “went back.” In some ways, the shepherd’s world didn’t change at all. They went back to their flocks. They went back to the dirty and dangerous job of herding sheep. They went back to being despised and rejected by almost everyone they met. Their circumstances hadn’t changed a bit. They went back to the same old life that they left when they went to find Jesus…with one major difference. They went back with joy.

If we’re honest, the Christmas holiday really doesn’t change our life situation, does it? When December 26 hits, you will go back to the same problems, issues, stresses, and challenges that you had before Christmas. Just like the shepherds, you will go back to your life. Your situation will be unchanged. But your mindset can be radically changed. Your outlook can be dramatically different than it was before.

The shepherds went back to the same old, same old…with one major difference. They went back “glorifying and praising God.” They went back to their lives with joy. That’s because joy is not based on your circumstances. Joy does not require your situation to change.

For a lot of people, Christmas actually seems to bring more sadness than happiness. A lot of us will spend time wishing our situation was different, longing for the days when things were better.

Christmas was so much better before the divorce.

Christmas was so much better when the kids were little. It just not the same now that they’re grown.

Christmas was so much better when that person that I loved was still alive. Now that they’re gone, it will never be the same.

You’re right. It won’t be the same. When our circumstances change for the worse, things are never the same again. Memories are fine. In fact, memories are wonderful gifts that God give us. But while memories are great, trying to live in the past is not.

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes, “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions.” (Ecclesiastes 7:10, NIV)

Memories of better days are wonderful. But the Bible warns us not to pine away for “the good old days.” Scripture says that it’s not wise to do that.

The reason it’s not wise is because it robs us of joy. If we’re so focused on the joy we used to have, we’ll miss the joy that God has in store for us now.

Was Christmas happier before your divorce? Yes. Was it more fun when the kids were little? Without a doubt. Was it better when your loved one was still alive? Absolutely.

But just because your situation isn’t as good as it used to be doesn’t mean you have to go through the Christmas season with no joy. Joy is not based on your circumstances.

Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV)

The life of a Christ-follower is marked with constant prayer, unending thanksgiving, and consistent joy. If we’re walking in lockstep with the Lord, we can have all of those things regardless of our circumstances.

In his book called Your Eternal Reward, Edwin Lutzer tells about a time he was bobbing up and down on a boat on the rough waters of Lake Michigan. When he began getting seasick, his friend told him to choose a building on the shore and keep his eyes fixed on it.

Edwin chose to fix his eyes on the Sears Tower. To his surprise, he started to feel better. His friend explained that the motion of a boat confuses our balance system if we focus on the object that is causing our movement. But we can handle the ups and downs if we fix our eyes on an object that doesn’t move.

It’s no coincidence that the Bible says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:2a, NIV)

You can have joy regardless of circumstances if your eyes are fixed on Jesus. Life will deal you ups and downs, but Jesus never moves. He is steadfast. He is sure.

The shepherds went back to the rotten circumstances of their lives, but they went with joy. And it all goes back to what the angel said to them.

“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. 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.’” (Luke 2:10-11, NIV)

The good news of great joy that is for all people is that Jesus has come! That’s the source of joy at Christmas, and every other day of our lives. Circumstances change. Sometimes for the better. Sometimes for the worse. But through it all, there is Jesus.

If you want this Christmas to be one of joy, don’t focus too much on your circumstances. Instead, focus on the one who supersedes your circumstances. Who is there for you in the good and the bad times. Who was born in a manger so that he could later die on a cross to save us from our sin.

Joy is found in knowing that your circumstances are temporary. Jesus gave his life so you could have eternal life. And the day will come when pain and hurt and heartache will come to an eternal end. The day will come when you will meet the one who was born in a manger, died on a cross, and then rose again to give you victory over sin and death and hell. That joy was given to bunch of scraggly shepherds, and it’s given to you and it’s given to me.

“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. 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.’” (Luke 2:10-11, NIV)

Mike Edmisten

Tags: Christmas, joy, Luke 2, Vintage Christmas