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 Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’
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.
Luke 2:8-20
There were shepherds in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks, and they hear something – and all of a sudden they realise it’s an angel. And that’s where we meet the most common instruction in the Bible. It’s not “be good,” or “don’t misbehave” or “have faith” or anything like that. It’s quite simply “don’t be afraid.” And for that to be so common tells us something about human beings: it tells us we seem to spend quite a bit of time being scared. Certainly the first thing a visiting angel says is always “Do not be afraid” and we realise fear is always the immediate reaction to an angel turning up.
Out there on the hillside the shepherds are terrified because there’s an angel there, and the angel tells them that this is, in fact, good news. Good news of great joy for all the people. And coming at the end of a year that’s seen economic hardship, and health challenges for many people, and maybe the deaths of those close to us, we could do with some good news. And this is the good news of the birth of a Saviour – for even if we don’t imagine we need a saviour, we do know what it feels like to step in the messiness of life and walk away leaving dirty footprints. We realise something is broken in the world around us, and we don’t know how to fix it, but the thought that someone, somewhere, might is indeed good news.
The shepherds on the hillside get the good news, and are sent off to find a baby in a manger. Now this is more than somewhat unusual – but not nearly as unusual as who that baby was. For that baby was God, coming in search of us, coming into all the broken messiness of our world to find us and bring us home. That baby was Jesus, the one who came to bring love and forgiveness, and to turn our world upside down.
God came searching for us, wanting to find us and connect with us. Jesus came as a baby not only to show us what God is like but also to show us what human beings can be like, to show us how we can be, when we’re living as God intended us to live. Christmas is when we remember how heaven and earth, God and humanity, are forever linked because of Jesus. Something changed that night, and it was to a bunch of ordinary shepherds – country folk – that the news was first announced. And ever since then the news has been announced to ordinary people, and we hear it as good news of great joy. And when we hear it like that, then we somehow become a little less ordinary, a little more what God meant us to be. Because then we can go out and, like the shepherds, track down the baby in the manger who is God, and let him bring love and forgiveness and healing into our lives, and the lives of those around us. So do not be afraid, for Christ is born, and this is the best news of all.
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