“While shepherds watched their flocks by night....”
Just doing their job. That’s what the shepherds were doing. They weren’t preparing a way for the Lord. They weren’t doing extraordinary things at all. They were doing the ordinary. Living life.
But their lives changed with the announcement of the angels. So much of what they knew as ordinary changed. Their workplace changes with the brightness and with the announcement of the angels. The announcement of a baby born in Bethlehem brought curiosity. The words of peace over fear struck a nerve and quieted them as well. Yes sir. They were given quite the announcement. They listened and....They acted.
“Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.” (Luke 2). Wouldn’t you be curious? If your world was rocked, would you just have to check out what angels said to you? How long did it take for them to respond? How did they respond? Grab their things and take off in the morning? They did have a job to do, right? Did they clean up those hills quickly and take off? No, their response doesn’t sound very pensive. “...they went with haste.” They hurried off to Bethlehem.
When they arrived to see this baby, they didn’t question what their eyes saw. Their faith filled eyes found exactly what the angels had announced. “You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” The angel's words were true. Exactly.
When they saw that the exciting news was true, these uneducated men became the educators, telling everyone what they heard and saw. No filter. Just gave their witness, their eye view. The response to their story? “All who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.”
Be like a shepherd this Christmas.
Listen and hear. Let those words of the Gospel ring in your ear. Let the Christmas hymns bring you the joy of the announcement of God made man in Bethlehem. Just be sure you hear it.
Those words from Micah, from Luke, from Matthew - they mean something. Your pastors will be angelic as they share the announcement of God’s grace to us through Jesus. You can guarantee it. They mean something, and check it out. Dig in. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
And then, be sure to share. Really. The shepherds did it. Rather ordinary folks. But they shared and those stories brought wonder.
For your gatherings, for your phone calls, for your various greetings of all kinds - share the wonder. Ponder what it means for God to come into this world, His world, for you.
Think about it. Talk about it. Pray about it. But Jesus, all about Jesus, is to listen to, to find out more, to share, to worship.
Make like a shepherd this Christmas.
Merry Christmas from us at The Lutheran Schools Partnership
