Reflection on Luke 2:8-20

 

Luke 2:8-20

8In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” 15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

 

“Good news of great joy!”  That is what the angels bring this night.  They bring the news that the Messiah, the Lord has come!  They bring the news that heavenly peace is now breaking into our world!  And, they bring all of this news with voices full of song, booming from the heavens and reverberating across the valleys of this earth.  What a great and glorious night!

If reveling in this celebration is where you are this evening; all the more power to you.  I hope that all of the carols and that the story of the Christ child coming for all people is more than enough to keep your spirits high like a reindeer on Christmas Eve. 

But, if today you cannot quite get the Christmas cheer started, like an old snow blower that refuses to operate in this bitter cold, the Bible has a message for you tonight too.  The truth is, the good news of great joy for all people did not descend on a joyful and celebratory world.  The good news of great joy, instead, chose to descend onto some pretty lowly people.

It was to some shepherds in a cold field, guys who did not just work in the field, but actually lived there, homeless guys just trying to scrape by in life, guys looked down upon by everyone else as having an almost worthless job, guys just trying to make it to the warmth of the day, it was upon them that the good news of the Lord chose to descend upon.  It was on these guys, who were in a dark place, upon whom the light of the world had chosen to shine. 

And, I just want to stop right there and stand in that moment, because people who have found themselves in dark places in life are the last people is this world who would expect to have some sort of special divine connection.  In fact, most people who find themselves in dark places kind of assume that they are in those dark places because God has completely forgotten and abandoned them.  I know that in my darkest moments, I have wondered on those sleepless, dark nights of the soul if God had chosen to walk out the door and slam it behind. 

Shepherds would not assume that they are blessed.  There would be no cheer on their lips.  There would be no songs of thankfulness and praise coming from their hearts.  Or, if there were, it would be probably be fake.  Their songs of joy just a façade, so as to cover up the existence of the darkness of their lives.

I am reminded of a seemingly cheerful soul at a Christmas party one year.  She was the one with the ugly Santa sweater where the beard extends down, falling from the front of the sweater.  The one where the Christmas tree behind the Santa on the shirt actually lights up and flashes color from across the room.  She was that person.  With joy on her lips and a smile that did not fail, she would move from person to person, spreading her Christmas cheer to all the guests while also spreading delicious, small bacon wrapped treats.  She was the one who called out to everyone that they needed to smile for the group selfie, a photo that she captured by lifting her phone high into the air.

But, away from the party, off in a secluded room away from the crowd, the cheer of her face broke as she revealed that it was all an act.  Her boyfriend did not come to her party.  He sent a text, telling her that his car broke down and he would not be making it.  He obviously had forgotten that she could clearly see his location on her phone.  He was driving around, just not to be with her. 

Her Christmas cheer was not real, it was a distraction from the truth.  The truth was that she had been brought to a very dark place.  The truth was that Christmas cheer was the furthest thing from her heart.  The truth was that people like her, people who have wound up wandering the dark places of this world, are the very people upon whom the Bible says that the light of the world has shined. 

“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…”  These lines of biblical poetry are recited so often that we might not notice just how powerful they are.  As I told you before, the shepherds were “living in the fields.”  It was before these homeless guys that “the angel of the Lord stood.”  And, “the glory of the Lord shone around them.”  In other words, God’s glory enveloped them, totally wrapping them in divinity and grace.  They may have been lowly, but they were not forgotten.  They may have been scorned by the world, but they have not been scorned by God.  Sometimes, when it seems like God is far, far away, God is actually very close, wrapping us in the Lord’s grace and glory.

And, just so that we do not miss that the Lord loves the lowly and cares for those who cannot fathom living in palaces and mansions, the Lord himself, Jesus Christ, chooses his first home to be a manger.  You cannot get lowlier than being born in the smells of a stable.  You cannot get lowlier than having your first crib a feeding trough.  You cannot possibly be more explicit in sharing to whom the good news is for.  It is the same message that Mary, his mother, sang just months before, “[The Lord] has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” 

Joy to the world, for the Lord has come to those who cannot sing words of joy.  The Lord has come to those who are in dark places.  The Lord has come to those who experience this season with tears of grief, or stomachs aching with worry, or hearts that cannot piece themselves together.  Joy to the world, the Lord has come to save a world filled with crosses and death.  Joy to the world, the Lord has come to you, enveloping you in glory and grace.  Joy to the world, the Lord has come to you.

“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

The Lord move your heart from darkness to praise this night, and every night.