December 20, 2012 - Luke 2:8-9

            “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.”  Luke 2:8-9.

            The shepherds were doing what they always did: they stayed close to and cared for their flocks of sheep.  Shepherds were gritty people of the earth who spent all of their time caring for their animals.  Of all the people God could have chosen, it was the shepherds who were given the honor of witnessing the appearance of angels proclaiming the birth of the Messiah.  It wasn’t the richest or most influential ones who received the message.  Instead, it was the lowly shepherds, and they witnessed angels.  God had come in the flesh, not as a king, but as a peasant; not born in a palace, but born in a lowly stable; not laid in a throne-like crib, but in an animal’s feeding trough; not among the rich and famous, but among the hurting, the menial, and the downcast: not to a royal family, but to a poor, young teenage girl.

            As I reflect on this Christmas and the tragic events in Connecticut, I remember that God identified with and entered into our darkness by coming at a very dark moment in history.  Jesus’ people were oppressed and treated cruelly by the Romans.  He was born in a dark and dirty stable.  His father and mother had to take him out of the country to save Him from the killing of the babies by Herod’s wrathful hands.  God came in Jesus to identify with whatever horrible condition we, humans, find ourselves in.  He entered our messiness.  The shepherds responded to the angels’ message and came to worship at the makeshift crib of the new born Messiah.  In this dark time, I hope that we remember that, like the shepherds, we hear God’s voice calling us to a remembrance of His invasion of Jesus, His Only Son, against the darkness of this world.  We are called to go into the darkness and represent God’s kingdom to this lost, dark, and dying world. 

            Questions to consider? How have you experienced the presence of God in this dark world?  How will you celebrate the coming of the Messiah?  What are you doing as a result of His coming?

            Prayer: Father, like those shepherds, who experienced the coming of the angels, I would like to be more aware of Your presence around and with me.  May Your kingdom come in me, and may Your will be done in me.  Amen.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!