The recent tragic news of the SoCal fires and mass shootings has left many of us feeling weary. No doubt, there is plenty of domestic and international bad news to go around. The world has more than enough trouble. Trouble at the border, trouble in Washington, financial trouble, and relational trouble. As Bob Dylan once said, “There’s trouble, nothing but trouble.”
It was into a world of trouble when God interrupted a lowly group of shepherds thousands of years ago.
An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.“ But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” Luke 2:10-11
Unfortunately many have missed this good news along the way. The birth of Christ has been glossed over with every imaginable marketing plug, Santa, jingle bells, cute sayings, decorations and debt. Or maybe we’ve unintentionally been too busy getting prepared for the season or getting through it.
But Christmas is a story of contrasts.
As Luke says this good news is for the ‘all the people.’ You see God intended it for all, but it only makes sense and is only accessible for those who realize they need this good news.
The good news was proclaimed in such an unforgettable dramatic way it radically interrupted the shepherd’s daily routine. What does it take for God to interrupt you to get your attention? Is it an illness, a broken relationship, a broken heart or dream, the loss of a loved one?
Why did God reveal the good news to the shepherds? It had nothing to do with who they were. The shepherds were the bottom rung of Jesus’ day; they were those you didn’t want your daughter to marry. They had no position or reputation and didn’t even own the sheep. Don’t you love it? God came to those who others sized up as insignificant, but not God!
Maybe we’re not aware of it, but we’re like the shepherds. Yes, you and I.
The Apostle Paul spoke to the Corinthians about God’s utterly amazing grace that was given freely to those who responded to God’s good news.
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth…He chose the lowly things of this world to confound the wise. I Corinthians 1:26, 28
During this busy Christmas season slow down to reflect upon ‘the greatest news ever proclaimed.’
