December 16 - The First Disciples of Christmas

The First Disciples of Christmas

“Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” Luke 2:15,16

Love is action.  Many people fall short here because they tend to believe that if they just believe what God has done, that is enough.  However, faith requires that it change the path that we are traveling.  James 2:17, 18 says, “Faith without works or action is no faith at all.” We must do what God asked and we must respond to the message He offers.  D. James Kennedy used to say, “Most people miss heaven by 12 inches…the distance from our heads to our hearts.”  Until our faith translates to our hearts and hands, it is really no faith at all.

In Luke 2:8-15, the angels give a message so that the shepherds will go.  Not so that they’ll have an interesting bit of information.  Not so that they will have the privilege of saying, “We knew first.”   It was so they would act on it.  We find that they didn’t mess around.  Luke 2:15,16 gives their response when they say, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.”

Imagine a scene where they didn’t go.  One says, “Did you see that?” The other, “What are we going to do about it?” Responses could have occurred where they could have missed out of the greatest message ever given.  Think about it.  “I could lose my job! I don’t want to cause any waves.  I don’t really believe it! I like my life how it is!”

    

Fortunately, they acted on what they knew.  This is not true of people who have never acted on the message of salvation.  Due to many different reasons, we excuse ourselves from needing what Christ has brought.  We are basically good people.  We are indifferent to the message. We are angry over something in the past.  We don’t like the idea of someone else being in charge of our lives.  Therefore, we hear the message each Christmas but refuse to act.  This can often be true of people who have at one time accepted Christ as well. 

Author Neil Anderson said, “Sadly, one of the common pictures of the Church today is a group of people with an assumed faith but little action.  We’re thankful that our sins are forgiven and that Jesus is preparing a place in heaven for us, but we’re basically cowering in fear and defeat in the world, just hanging around until the rapture.  We treat the Church as if it’s a hospital.  We get together to compare wounds and hold each other’s hands, yearning for Jesus to come take us away.  But is this picture of the church in the New Testament?  No way.  The church is not a hospital; it’s a military outpost under orders to storm the gates of hell.  Every believer is on active duty, called to take part in fulfilling the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19,20.  Thankfully the church has an infirmary where we can minister to the weak and wounded, and that ministry is necessary.  But we don’t exist for that.  Our real purpose is to be change agents in the world, taking a stand, living by faith and accomplishing something.  You can say you believe God and His Word.  But if you are not actively involved in His cause, you don’t believe.”

You might say, “The shepherd’s were the first New Testament disciples.” Long before Peter, James, John and the rest, they had been commissioned by God Himself.  You might even say they were the first New Testament missionaries as well.  They had a message to give and were willing to pass it on.  Once you realize what God has done for you, you can’t help but act on what He wants you to do for Him. 

Tony Campolo, Professor at Eastern College in Pennsylvania and noted speaker,  told a powerful story that helps us understand this better.  He would talk share, “A friend of mine was on a train traveling out of Victoria Station in London.  Across from him in the compartment were two men in their early thirties.  Twenty minutes out of the station, one of them had an epileptic seizure.  Perhaps you know how frightening a seizure can be.  The man stiffened and fell heavily out of his seat.  Immediately, his friend took off his own jacket, rolled it up and put it behind his friend’s head.  He blotted the beads of perspiration from his brow with his handkerchief, talked to the stricken man in a quiet manner and calmed him.  When the seizure was over, he lifted his friend gently back to his seat.  The man repositioned his friend.  Then he turned to my friend.  He said, ’Mister, please forgive us.  Sometimes this happens two or three times a day.’  He continued, ‘My buddy and I were in Vietnam together, and we were both wounded. I had bullets in both my legs and he had one in his shoulder.  The helicopter was supposed to come for us never came to pick us up.’  He said, ‘My friend picked me up, mister, and he carried me for three and a half days out of that jungle. The Vietcong were snipping at us the whole way.  He was in more agony than I was.  I begged him to drop me and save himself, but he wouldn’t let me go.’  He said, ‘He got me out of that jungle, mister.  He saved my life.  I don’t know now he did it and I don’t know why he did it.’ He concluded, ‘Four years ago, I found that he had this condition, so I sold my house in New York, took what money I had, and came over here to take care of him.’  Then he looked at his friend and said, ‘You see, mister, after what he did for me, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for Him.’” We need to understand that about Jesus

There are no better words to describe the Christmas message.  The shepherds understood, “After what we’ve been told, we have to act.” We need to say, “After what God has done for me, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for Him.” Gloria…in Excelsius Deo.”

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)   How does your heart feel this Christmas about the message of Christ’s birth?

2)   What action can you take to obey Christ?

Consider reading the Word today:

Copyright 2014- Terry Risser