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Scripture for the day: Luke 2:10-14 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, 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, goodwill toward men!”
Thought for the day: I like word pictures. I like to be able to put myself in the story I’m reading or telling, almost as if I were in the scene that’s being played out. I don’t know why it’s so important, except that being able to put myself there helps me to better understand and absorb what’s happening and the many possible meanings behind it all. So let’s put ourselves on a hillside outside Bethlehem for a few minutes this morning.
You’re sitting on the ground on a rocky hillside a few miles outside the small village of Bethlehem. Nestled against the steepest part of the hill is a rough stone sheepfold where you and few of your closest friends have penned up your flocks for the night. After seeing them safely into the fold and piling rough Judean thorn bushes up in the entrance to discourage predators from getting in, you and your friends move up the hillside where you can keep an eye on the flocks through the night to protect them from marauding thieves, two-legged as well as those on four. You’re wearing a rough-sewn robe that reaches just below the knees and hand-made sandals on your feet. Strips of the same cloth that was used to make up your robe are wound around your legs and tied with strips of goatskin to keep out the cold (if you were particularly well-off you’d have an outer garment of heavier material to help keep you warm, but that would be very unusual for a shepherd). On your head is a small skull cap adorned with wide strips of cloth that can be wound around your head, again to help ward off the cold night air. You and your friends are huddled around a small fire fueled by thorny bushes and dried sheep dung you’ve collected from the nearby fields.
The night is clear and cold; the stars seem particularly bright because there’s no moon to outshine them. What talk there has been has centered around the sheep you’ve been entrusted with, their penchant for getting lost, the diseases you’ve been treating them for, the success you’ve had in helping their owner to develop a good-looking, healthy and profitable flock. Sometimes one or another of you sitting on that hillside begins to reminisce about other friends or family and each one grows a bit more introspective as the night wears on. Later, as the darkness sets in one of your group volunteers to take the first watch of the night and stay awake while the rest of you get some much needed rest. You loosen the girdle (a wide belt used for holding the cloak tightly to the body and for carrying money, weapons or tools) around your waste and get as comfortable as you can on the hard ground, moving as close to the fire and the other shepherds as you dare so as to take advantage of any heat available. The night will be long and cold, like so many others you’ve spent watching over the flock. You drift off to sleep wondering if the day will ever come when the sheep you watch will be your own and not belong to some wealthy merchant in the village.
Suddenly you’re sitting up and wide awake, shaken out of sleep by the screams of the man on guard. You reach for the staff that is always at your side and jump to your feet, ready to protect the flock from whatever danger has caused the panic you hear in your friend’s voice. Turning to look down over the hillside, your sight falls on a scene you could never have imagined in your wildest dreams and can’t fully comprehend now, even as it plays itself out, for there in front of you is a man all dressed in the most brilliantly white robe you’ve ever seen and standing suspended above the earth, unaffected by the laws of nature. Behind him, as far as you can see, all the way to the distant horizon and beyond, is an army of what you now realize are angels, all singing at the top of their voices: “Glory to God in the highest! And on earth, peace and good will to all whom He has chosen!”
You stand there with your mouth open in awe at the sight before you. Finally, as the angel gives you the news of the Messiah’s birth in nearby Bethlehem, you begin to understand what has happened this first Christmas night. Only later will you fully understand that somehow, out of all the people He could have shown His favor to, you and your friends were the very first to hear the Good News of the birth of the One who would save His people from their sins.
Now, how would you have felt had you been one of those shepherds? Don’t you think God sending an archangel and a heavenly choir to sing to a bunch of rough, poor, unknown shepherds sleeping out on a hillside might have been a bit extravagant – almost wasteful? Surely there were people in that area who would have had the education and social sophistication to appreciate such a magnificent performance much more than these ordinary shepherds. But could it be that the Lord God wanted to show the extent of His amazing grace, even at the very beginning of the Messiah’s journey through this life? Could it be that His great love compelled Him to lavish such a performance on the least of those He came to save?
And what does that say of His love and grace toward you and me this Advent season? Looking around you, poor and rich alike, can you see examples of His extravagant grace in your life? If not, take some time to look a little more closely.
Now go take on your world. - Bill