Announcing the birth of of the Lamb of God to nearby shepherds, the angels burst forth with ecstatic praises to God. What prevents our hearts from responding the same way at Christmas?

LEARNING FROM THE ANGELS
Christmastime can fill us with sense of wonder but for a lot of people there are no "visions of sugarplums" dancing in their heads. Holidays can be hard if you have no money, no job, no loved ones close by. If you’ve lost someone you love it often hits hardest at Christmas.

What’s the cure for holiday blues? For many of us, this isn’t a joyous time of year. Loss is what we feel at Christmas -- and the sadness that comes from loss.

We can feel down anytime of the year but there’s a cure – a cure that’s directly related to Christmas. It has the power to lift us right out of our blues and bring us into joy. I want to share it with you. It’s found in the Gospel of Luke chapter 2.

You know the story -- the shepherds are out in the fields, it’s night, they’re on guard in case predators come after the sheep.
Luke 2.8-15 “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. 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.”

I’ve read that story hundreds of times but it never hit me until recently that it contains the solution for holiday depression.

Here are these shepherds, just sitting around, probably bored out of their minds. It’s dead quiet. Nothing is happening. They’re no doubt ruminating on their problems just like most of us do when we have a little down time.

And then suddenly, the door of heaven bursts open, and the field is full of angels celebrating their hearts out, spreading glory around like confetti, singing at the top of their lungs. But something happens at that point that I’m not sure I’ve ever realized before: The shepherds become invested in what the angels are telling them. They shift their focus away from whatever had been preoccupying them before the angels appeared and let themselves be drafted into the celebration and glorious excitement of the heavenly hosts.

When we’re depressed, this is exactly what we need to do by the power of the Spirit. To go from depression to joy takes not just a shift of mood, but a shift of interest -- a shift of focus -- away from the things that are preoccupying us onto the things that preoccupy heaven.

The cure for depression is to learn to care about what the angels care about. To get interested in the things the angels are interested in. And to respond deeply to the things they are responding to so deeply. That’s what happened to the shepherds. They became invested in what God had done.

There’s no evidence the angels were the least bit seeker-sensitive when they brought their message – they didn’t try to address the felt needs of the shepherds -- cold night, boring job, no upward mobility, Roman taxes, maybe some personal things. The angels didn’t come to talk to them about the things the shepherds were interested in.
They came to get them interested in the things of God!
And they succeeded. The shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened that God has told us about.”
That’s the cure for depression, right there – to embrace the interests of heaven and to make them our interests. It will lift us right out of our gloom and allow the glory to shine around us.
So how do we get to know the interests of heaven and make them our interests? One way is to learn from the angels. So stay with me – we’re going to angel school.
The angels brought two lessons to the shepherds.
First, they brought them the message of heaven – the tidings God had sent them to bring.
Second, they gave them a glimpse of how heaven was responding to those tidings.
The message was: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
This is very good news. Anyone who knows the story, the great story of God’s redemption, the long saga, the promises, the centuries of waiting, anyone who knows the story knows that this is the best news the world could possibly hear. “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
Born at last!
But just in case the shepherds didn’t realize what good news this was, the angel told them very directly that this was “good news of great joy.” Great joy. They were getting a cue from the angel about how to respond appropriately to this news. Not with a yawn, not even with a smile but with great joy.

And then the shepherds got an audiovisual demonstration of what this joy is meant to look like. They got to see heavens perspective on this announcement that the Savior had been born. Suddenly the curtain that hides heaven from our eyes was parted and the shepherds got to see the revelry and celebration of heaven over this thing: a great company of the heavenly host appeared praising God. And why were they praising? What was the source of all that heavenly joy? Luke 2.14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
Heaven was overcome with joy because glory was coming to God and peace was coming to those on whom his favor rests.

So why don’t WE respond to this news with the same level of enthusiasm?

I think it’s because we aren’t as invested in the story as heaven is. The angels have been paying attention to the story and their attention spans aren’t as short as ours. They know that the great sorrow of earth is that it’s been lost to God. They understand that there is great warfare between God and man. This break has left the earth in a condition that cries out for something to be done.

From the human point of view the world seems to be crying out for God to relieve all the suffering of the world. You heard that kind of thing a lot after 9/11 --- and after any great disaster -- how could God allow this to happen?
But from the heavenly point of view, the earth is crying out for the rule of God. The world cries out to either be judged . . . or redeemed and restored to God. What the angels have been waiting for is for the human race to be brought back into a relationship of peace with her true Lord and King and for his Kingdom to begin.

When God calls us to himself through Jesus he’s calling us int his story. He’s not just coming into our story and making things better for us – he calling us into the big story that’s all about Jesus. He’s inviting us to get on board his great plan of redemption that he’s been unfolding since the world began -- to enter into the drama – to be a part of it. To feel the losses as our losses, to yearn for the solution with all of our heart, to make it our story.

When you start thinking about it that way -- then you can start to get on board what the angels are so excited about. The story is reaching its glorious climax. God has started to reign – he’s sent his Son. He’s finally taking action to bring matters under his control.

And the great good news for the world is that there will be peace for those he favors with peace. And if we put our faith in the Son, then we are in that group. Jesus has been born to us, the long promised Messiah, the Lord the earth has longed for all these long years. He’s come to bring us peace with God – a peace that cost him his life -- a peace we enjoy now as the sons of God.

That’s the cure for holiday depression - to enter into the unadulterated joy of heaven over the fact that Jesus has come at last and that he’s bringing the earth back under the rule of God. He’s begun the process of bringing God’s kingdom to earth as it is in heaven and, when we repent and take refuge in him, WE enter into that kingdom and all of its joy. Every time that happens, every time a sinner repents, Jesus tells us in Luke 15:7 there is great rejoicing in heaven.

And there will be great rejoicing in heaven when he finally comes again and swallows up all our pain and loss in and remakes the world. That’s the way the story is going to end – in a resurrection and in a new heavens and a new earth and we can rejoice in it even while we wait for it. The rest of the world isn’t waiting – they’re just going about their business and Jesus warns that the day of his return will close on them like unexpectedly like a trap. It will be a day of judgment. The final great judgment. But what a day of rejoicing it will be for those of us who are invested in the story – for those of us who are waiting for the final chapter with great anticipation and great hope.
This is what the apostle Paul wrote. He was a man who was fully invested in the great story and these were some of his final words:

2Timothy 4.6-8 “I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”