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.

            You would think that with the birth of the Saviour of the world, at least a few things would change.  Some of these changes are perhaps more obvious than others.  Any of you who have ever welcomed a baby into your family will know that a whole raft of things changed for Mary and Joseph.  For Mary, it was her first ever baby, and the entire pregnancy had been a serious challenge to her faith.  For Joseph, too, his assumptions about how God worked had been seriously challenged.  His betrothed was having a baby that Joseph knew was not his, and yet, an angel had appeared to him in a dream, assuring him that God was the cause of this birth, and he should still take Mary as his wife (Mt. 1:20).

         For the shepherds, too, everything changed.  In one night, they went from being the riff-raff of their society to being the first to hear the good news of the Saviour’s birth.  Religious leaders and faithful Jews alike would want nothing to do with most shepherds, who were considered to be thieves and were fundamentally untrustworthy.  And yet, when the glory of God is suddenly out in the fields rather than in the Temple, the shepherds are the first to witness it.

         The thing that changed that night for the shepherds was their relationship with God.  They discovered that they matter to God.  In fact, they matter so much that the Saviour is born in a place where shepherds will be allowed to enter – the place where the animals gather for food and shelter.  It seems that the things that Mary sang about when she visited her cousin Elizabeth are already coming to pass.  The lowly are being lifted up, and the powerful are being brought down from their thrones (Lk. 1:52).

         At the same time, however, it is not only lowly shepherds who get to witness the birth of the Saviour.  Many days later, the magi, or the wise ones, also come.  Not only do they have the means to travel far and bring gifts like gold and frankincense and myrrh, but they come as a different kind of outsider – Gentiles who would not have been welcome anywhere near the Temple.  God, it would seem, is widening the circle of who is to be included in the salvation that has come through Jesus.

         God has also changed the way in which God relates to us.  God is no longer to be found only in the Temple in Jerusalem or even in heaven.  Instead, God is with us.  God is with us in the fields and in the desert, in the city and in the countryside, whether we are rich or poor, and even in the midst of trials like oppressive rule or giving birth in the midst of strangers.  God is with us, not only in the Spirit, but also in the flesh, sharing our humanity in Jesus, that we might share his divinity.  God is with us in sorrow and in joy, in loneliness and in companionship, in times of scarcity and of abundance.  God is with us, empowering us by the Holy Spirit, showing us what really matters, and leading us into eternal life – and that changes everything!  Amen.

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

December 24, 2019

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

© 2019 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved