12-24-14 - Shepherds and Angels - and You

The stable wasn’t the only center of action that original Christmas Eve - God had a wider canvas in mind and a bigger cast. The holy child arrived, we fade out on the manger for awhile and shift focus to the fields outside Bethlehem, to a bunch of shepherds “keeping watch over their flocks by night.” Flocks were valuable assets, and nighttime was perilous – predators, thieves, all kinds of dangers lurked in the dark.

Sheep herding was not a glamorous profession in Jesus’ time. Shepherds represented the dregs of society, dirty, crude, unkempt, maybe the last group on earth you’d think would be the first to hear of a cataclysmic, world-transforming event. But our God of surprises doesn’t see in those categories. The least likely became the first – does that sound familiar?

And not only the first to hear; this bunch of low-lifes were the recipients of a celestial visit, a host of angels. The highest possible order of being, shining with the glory of the Lord, and rough-hewn riff-raff, brought together on that bright hillside to share joy.

“In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

Think God was up to something? Think God is still up to something? A group of people of whom no one expected anything good were entrusted with the best news of all – the birth of the Messiah, a savior, the Lord. It became their news to tell, backed up by the most amazing light show ever seen. To be the bearer of news everyone wants to hear – that’s a status upgrade right there.

Of the many messages in this strange tale we tell over and over, here is one: that no one, no kind of person, no category of person is insignificant in God’s eyes. In God’s Life the most marginalized become the center of the story. ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!’

Who is on the margins of your life, or your community’s life? Can you invite someone into the center tonight? Can you honor the least likely person by entrusting her with this amazing news? Maybe you feel like you are the least likely person. Know this: God has chosen you, to share God’s most precious gift. Can we acknowledge that we are that loved and share it with someone else?

For a little while that night, there was peace, there was joy, there was amazement and wonder, shared between shepherds and angels, earth and heaven. I pray that for us tonight as we hear or tell the Magnificent Story again, as we look for those at the edges and invite them into the center: 

Peace. Joy. Amazement. Wonder.

O come, let us adore him!

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