May the words of my mouth and the meditation of each heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer.  Amen.

            There they are, just going about their daily (or shall we say, nightly) routine, when all of a sudden, God shows up.  Not God in person, you understand, but one of God’s angels, and the glory of the Lord shining everywhere, which somehow has been let out of the Temple!  As you can well understand, they were terrified, and some of the sheep ran away. However, as many angels seem to do, the message started with “Do not be afraid” (Lk. 2:10).  Easy for an angel to say, of course.  However, the shepherds didn’t run away (perhaps because they were frozen to the spot), and they got to hear the rest of the message.

         It was “good news of great joy for all the people.”  In fact, it was a birth announcement:  a Saviour, the Messiah, the Lord.  When they heard this, they immediately wondered if the Romans knew about it. After all, the Romans were proclaiming “good news” or “gospels” all the time, whether it was the birth of a new Emperor or the conquest of another nation.  The Emperors were also referred to as Saviour and Lord.  However, this Messiah bit and the city of David sounded more like a Jewish thing.  Could it be that the long-awaited Messiah had finally come?

         The shepherds are given a sign to look for – “a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger” (Lk. 2:12).  Of course, a sign is very helpful, but they had so many questions!  Why would anybody put their baby in a feed box, especially if he is the Messiah?  Why would an angel come and give the message to shepherds?  After all, everybody knows that shepherds are untrustworthy and pretty low down in the pecking order, if you get what I mean.  And really, did the Romans know about this?

         However, before they could even think of all of their questions, the entire heavenly army seemed to appear – singing, of all things.  It was a song that reached from the highest heaven right down to earth, giving glory to God and singing about peace among God’s people on earth.  This was totally different from those Roman gospels, and it seemed that God’s message was actually for them– and not just for them, but for all people!

         Well, pretty soon all of the angels disappeared, and the shining light was gone, and once their eyes had adjusted, they could see the stars again.  It was clear to them that they had actually seen the glory of God and had not died.  What a good reason to go into Bethlehem and look for this child in a manger.  Soon they found Mary and Joseph and the baby, all of whom knew nothing about what had been going on out in the fields.  And so the shepherds told them, and Mary pondered it all in her heart.  And once the shepherds had left again, they went about telling anybody who would listen all that they had heard and seen.

         It tells us a lot about our God when God’s Son is born to ordinary people in an out of the way place among the animals.  It also tells us a lot when lowly shepherds – people who have never even met Mary or Joseph – are the first to hear the good news.  After all, isn’t it usually immediate family who are the first to see the baby? (After, in our case, the doctors and nurses or midwives?)  This child, however, will bring people together who were never together before.  This child will bring many people into God’s family, which will become more important than other family relationships.

         This is because, when it comes to the giver of all life and health and salvation, there is nothing more important than our relationship with the Lord of heaven and earth.  For he brings not just forgiveness and salvation, but gifts of love and joy and peace, even in the midst of our fear.  Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift. Amen.

Nativity of Our Lord – Christmas Eve       Luke 2:1-20

December 24, 2018

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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