Delivering Hope to Your World

Luke 2: 8-17 The Shepherds and the Angels

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

The Shepherds Respond

Respond with Thoughtfulness- They shared with one another the experience and together they took action. (Let us go…) The Shepherds were not commanded to go, this was a decision of the group.

Respond with Action- Go, Tell… They were not mere spectators in the first Christmas story. They were an active presence in it. The Shepherds took courage to leave their posts and go into the town, seeking out the child they had been told of. They had to seek out the clues told by the angels. We have no idea of the time it took to do this, but they did it in an atmosphere of immediate expectation (with haste)… they didn't want to miss a detail.

Respond with Relevance- The Shepherds shared the experience with others. It seems so simple. They told shared the message which gave meaning to the birth of the Christ child. They, and we, cannot separate the two parts of the Christmas story. We need to context the birth of Jesus with the message of the angels; ““Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Friend, we must, must tell the purpose of Jesus’ birth as the foundation of why we do Christmas. {According to Wikipedia, The first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome on December 25, AD 336.}

during the first two centuries of Christianity there was strong opposition to recognizing birthdays of martyrs or, for that matter, of Jesus. Numerous Church Fathers offered sarcastic comments about the pagan custom of celebrating birthdays when, in fact, saints and martyrs should be honoured on the days of their martyrdom—their true “birthdays,” from the church’s perspective. Christmas began to be widely celebrated with a specific liturgy in the 9th century (Britannica). Christmas wasn’t declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

The Shepherds Relate-

They took their experience story and connected it others. The shepherds were unaware of the Angel visits to Joseph & Mary. They only had their experience. They spoke of their story as if it were to be other people’s story. The people were prepared to hear them. God had gone on ahead (Mary & Joseph). It was their story to be added to other’s story. Their relating to others did not end with the holy couple. “ they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.” What was this saying? “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

The Shepherds Return-

The return was consistent with the leaving. Their return was one of action and then back to normal. They still had a job to do. They still had responsibilities. They have a new understanding of timing and context.

Reflect: Christmas Reminds us of Jesus Next Advent!This story part of the story, our part, is more challenging than theirs.

As we share the story of the Good News, the Christmas story, we must stay at the tasks of kingdom labor. As the shepherds returned to their duties, we too must stay at our tasks. What is this task? Making disciples. This is what Jesus commissioned the church to be about. Teaching them all that they had been commanded… learned.