Christmas Cards
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.
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.
This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and
lying in a manger.
(Luke 2:8-12)
(Luke 2:8-12)
Most everyone knows this passage, even if they’ve never cracked
open a Bible, because each December, in between scenes of the Grinch slithering
around Whoville, or George Bailey
being saved by Clarence (just as he’s about to jump off the Bedford Falls
bridge), or Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer running around the North Pole with
Herbie (an elf who wants to become a dentist. Yes, a dentist. I know), we have
Linus, who discovers the true meaning of Christmas in the gospel of Luke. Now,
don’t get me wrong. I love Linus as much as the next guy. But has popular
culture made this story .… ummmm …. well …. Just a little too familiar? Maybe.
You see, the story begins with God sending out a birth
announcement. In fact, there’s only one announcement of Christ’s birth recorded
in the Scriptures, and there’s only one invitation from God to anyone to come see
his newborn Son. And God puts the wrong address on the envelope – he sends the
announcement, first class, to a bunch of uneducated, smelly, low-class, social
and religious dropouts: shepherds. And they’re the last people you’d expect God
to have on his mailing list.
They were the religious outcasts of their day. According
to Jewish law, these men were always religiously unclean because their line of
work prevented them from going to church. But who was going to watch the sheep
while everyone else made the trip to Jerusalem to make sacrifices at the temple?
That didn’t matter. They were doing the dirty work so the churchy could pretend
to be holy. They were kind of like truckers, or maybe shift workers, whose jobs
keep them from regularly attending church. It wasn’t their fault, you know, but
who cares if you’re one of the pretty people.
Shepherds were also social outcasts. They were constantly
on the move and viewed with suspicion – kind of like how we might look at carnies.
They were often accused of thievery, and weren’t allowed to testify in court
since their word wasn’t considered trustworthy. (That’s a polite way of calling
them liars) Making matters worse, they had more contact with sheep than with people.
They didn’t even come home at night since they were with the sheep 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week. Worse yet, they slept in the sheep’s pen at night to guard
against theft and attack. In other words, you wouldn’t want your daughter to
marry a shepherd.
So, imagine you’re God and you want to announce the most
amazing, most incredible, most joyous news ever; an event that will change the
course of human history – the birth of the Savior, the one for whom the nation
of Israel had been waiting and hoping and praying for thousands of years to
arrive. So, who do you announce it to? Who do you tell? Who do you invite to
come and see? Probably not a shepherd.
When Princess Diana’s sons, Harry and William, were born,
they didn’t send a messenger down to the docks to break the news to the stevedores.
They didn’t issue personal invitations to a bunch of London cabbies to come see
Diana and her new infant at Windsor castle. If any announcements or invitations
were sent out, they were probably printed in gold leaf and hand delivered to
political leaders and foreign heads of state. And how ‘bout the next generation
- Kate Middleton and Prince William?
The point is that you would expect an event like the birth
of Christ to be announced to the most important people in the nation. You know,
the political, religious and military leaders. The hoi polloi. The media.
(Can’t forget the media) But none of them got the text, or the e-mail, or the
tweet, or the whatever. Oh, some foreign wise guys figured it out by following
the star to Bethlehem, and then they informed Herod of what they’d heard. But
they didn’t get an angelic messenger, or angel choir, or an invitation either.
Only the social and religious outcasts got the memo. It’s as if the Mormon
Tabernacle Choir rehearsed all year to perform Handel’s Messiah in front of a handful of street urchins sitting on the curb.
Why? Why did God send His angels to announce the birth of
Christ to a bunch of misfits? I mean, were the shepherds especially pious, or unusually
holy? Maybe they got the MVP for believers since they’d been locked out of
church by the church police. Or, maybe they were expecting this thing to
happen. Or, maybe they were part of the Occupy
Grasslands movement. The truth is they probably thought that God had no
idea who they were. And why would he? They don’t sacrifice at the temple; they don’t
show up for the feasts; they don’t go to church; and their deepest theological
discussions are with a bunch of sheep. So why them?
Maybe it was because God wanted to demonstrate, first to
the shepherds, that his love doesn’t discriminate on the basis of class, or
wealth, or social standing. God doesn’t discriminate on the basis of
intelligence, education, profession, political power, or any other quality that
we can think of. God doesn’t respect kings more than cabbies, or priests more
than pew potatoes. He’s kind of indiscriminate that way.
Paul makes the same point in his first letter to the Corinthians where he says, "My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn't think that may of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families. But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. he chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame. What the world thinks is worthless, useless, and nothing at all is what God has used to destroy what the world considers important. God did all this to keep anyone from bragging to him. You are God's children. He sent Christ Jesus to save us and to make us wise, acceptable, and holy. So if you want to brag, do what the Scriptures say and brag about the Lord." (1 Cor. 1:26-31)
I imagine that many nights, as the shepherds sat in those
cold, lonely fields, they looked out over the village and saw the lights of the
homes. They heard the faint sound of families, people laughing, and wished they
could be a part of that. Maybe you’ve felt that way too. Maybe you’re not one
of the “pretty people.” Maybe you’re not particularly wealthy, or powerful, or
influential. Maybe you’ll never see your name in the paper for some great
accomplishment. Maybe you’re on the fringes, either socially or religiously. And
when you compare your level of religious observance to others, the comparison doesn’t
stack up too well: spotty church attendance, little Bible reading, infrequent
prayer. You think that if God actually knows that you exist, he couldn’t be the
least bit impressed.
If this strikes a chord, then I’ve got good news. Great
news. The best news possible. God loves you – just like He loved those
shepherds. You’re special to him – just like those shepherds were special to him.
So special, in fact, that he gave them the incredible privilege of being the
first to hear of Christ’s birth and, other than Mary and Joseph, the first to
lay eyes on the Son of God.
God didn’t give those privileges to the Roman Caesar, or
to the Jewish high priest. He gave it to the shepherds. Not in spite of who
they were, but because of who they were: humble, ordinary people with few opinions
about themselves. Simple people who were willing to believe what God told them,
and when they heard the news they didn’t seek out the religious professionals
for a second opinion. When they were invited to visit Bethlehem to see the
newborn Messiah, they didn’t worry about who was going to watch the sheep. They
didn’t get bogged down in debates about how they were going to find such a small
baby in such a large town. They simply obeyed and went.
God likes to use the ordinary so that, like a mirror, his
power can be reflected in his creation. I know, I know. God didn’t send an
angel to give you the news, either. But, he sent Word. Haven’t you read the
invitation? Here’s what it says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life.” (John 3:16) Don’t let the simple yet profound message of
Christmas be lost on you this season: God knows you – and loves you anyway.
Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.
Grace,
Randy