TEXT: Luke 2:8-20
TITLE: God Show Me a Sign
Introduction
1. We live in a world where people still believe they need to be perfect before they can be seen by God.
2. But what if the sign comes before the cleanup?
3. This story tells us that the Kingdom’s message shows up in ordinary people, ordinary places, at extraordinary moments.
Point One – We Don’t Have to Be Clean to Get a Sign
★ The shepherds were considered ceremonially “unclean”—unable to enter temple worship. Yet God entered their field. God’s message found those whose hands were dirty.
★ God’s presence meets the marginalized where they labor, not just the sanctified where they linger.
★ Just like God met enslaved Africans in the hush arbors, away from the cathedrals of empire, God meets God’s people in the overlooked places. In the Black Church tradition, salvation reached us in cotton fields before pulpits.
★ Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, affirms: holiness is about availability, not pedigree. Stop scrubbing for perfection—show up, and watch God show out.
Point Two – We Don’t Have to Be Perfect to Get a Sign
★ The angel didn’t say, “Fear not, you who are flawless,” but “Fear not” to ordinary workers. The announcement of peace and joy came to imperfection, not achievement.
★ God redefines worth beyond societal status. In the same way, Jesus’ birth was a protest against power structures.
★ Oppression tells us we must prove our worth; the gospel reminds us we already have it. In Black history, people with “imperfect” backgrounds—Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Fannie Lou Hamer—received signs and became instruments of salvation and justice.
Point Three – The Sign Shouldn’t Be a Secret
★ The shepherds didn’t keep it to themselves; they went and told.
★ When God gives you a sign, it’s not yours to hoard — it’s yours to share. We need testimony in Black communities again — word-of-mouth faith that transforms the block.
★ Real discipleship = Sharing what you saw.
