Christmas Eve
Readings – Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20
Imagine this – the cave behind the inn in Bethlehem that served as a stable for the innkeeper’s ox, and cow with a few doves and mice. Also, there were the invited shepherds drawn into the town, searching for the newborn now nestled in a manger. They had to go from stable to stable to find the right one. And then there was all the commotion as all in the town witnessed the angels and the heavenly hosts swirling about and singing out for joy.
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace, goodwill toward all.
The heavenly chorus singing must have drawn all into the streets, looking heavenward. Inn keepers and shopkeepers, merchants and accountants, mothers and fathers who had just settled in for the night, rushed out of doors to see what was happening. Even the cohort of Roman soldiers who were tired after a day of enrolling young men stormed out to observe. And then, just as it suddenly began, it came to an end, and the night sky cleared.
Mary and Joseph, exhausted, stayed in quiet, sheltering the new born babe and each other. Scripture records that Mary “treasured all … and pondered them in her heart”.
And how about the shepherds? Turning again to scripture:
they returned [to the fields], glorifying and praising God for all
the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
Did the innkeeper share the momentous event of that night? No.
Did the town families who rushed out to view the heavenly chorus share the momentous event of that night? No.
Did the merchants and the shopkeepers share the momentous event of that night? No.
Did the Roman soldiers and accountants share the momentous event of that night? No.
It was the scruffy, illiterate, unwashed, semi-ruffian shepherds who “glorified and praised God” who continued the celebration.
It was the shepherds;
they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning
this child. And all they had heard it wondered at those things
which were told them by the shepherds.
They shared their Bethlehem experience with all. Without the shepherds, I wonder if Mary and Joseph would have shared about this most Holy Night we remember tonight.
So, in a way, we are here tonight because the shepherds were there that night. They were the most unlikely of evangelists, sharing the Good News.
And we are gathered here as their successors, as we glorify and praise God. We are now the ones who carry on their tradition; we are the shepherds’ legacy.
As God entrusted his only Son to Mary and Joseph, so God also entrusted to the shepherds the glorifying and praising of God. And now God has trusted to us the glorifying and praising of God.
They were such a motley crew, those shepherds. And let’s be honest, we, too, are a motley group, as congregations always are.
We are not the movers and shakers. We are not the rich and famous. We are not the high and mighty. We are not the brightest and best. We do not sing like angels. But, but, we are the people chosen by God, entrusted with the glory and the praise of God on this most Holy Night.
As God entrusted those shepherds on that first most Holy Night, so God entrusts us.
Please, let us do our part in our time to give glory and praise to God.
Please let us be faithful bearers of the Christ child in our hearts this night, and let us make known abroad the saying which was told [us] concerning this child.
Amen
