“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” (Isaiah 9:2) Thus begins the prophet Isaiah’s description of the Messiah. When the Messiah comes, those who feel like they’ve been walking around in the dark will be bathed in light, such as the brightness of day. I wonder if that’s what the shepherds felt like on that first Christmas night.
There were no city lights to pollute that star-lit sky that night. Take a drive through the country on the evening of a new moon, and you’ll get a glimpse of just how dark “dark” can be. Perhaps you’ve encountered a wild animal during an expedition of such a dark night. That’s the work environment for a shepherd. Just because it gets dark doesn’t mean that the shepherd can punch out his timecard and go home. Tending sheep is a 24 hour job, seven days a week. And, more than likely, the shepherds don’t own the sheep that they are tending. If someone is wealthy enough to own sheep then they are wealthy enough to hire someone to take care of them.
Perhaps the shepherds felt like they were “in the dark” in other ways. Being a shepherd wasn’t all that desirable of an occupation: First of all there’s the smell and dirt that comes along with raising sheep. Second, sheep aren’t always known for their brilliance and common sense. Shepherds often had to go chasing after sheep that had gone astray and gotten themselves into dangerous situations. Next, being a shepherd meant being away from home for a great deal of time, as you moved the sheep around the countryside in search of green pastures and still waters. Then there’s the reputation issue. Shepherds weren’t usually the most upstanding of citizens. The Judean hillside could be a pretty good place to “disappear” if you were on the run from the law, and so shepherds were often seen by society as outcasts, thieves, criminals, or at least people of shady intentions. Even if you were a shepherd of good moral character, most people would still look at you as though you were a bandit, and would want to spend as little time with you as possible. And that can be a difficult load to bear.
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." Into the midst of the darkness of that night on Bethlehem’s countryside, God’s angelic light shone. The angels came to proclaim the good news that Christ the Savior is born. But they didn’t take their message to the high and mighty ones. The angel of the Lord didn’t appear to Emperor Augustus or to Quirinius, governor of Syria. Instead, God chose this bunch of outsiders to be the first to hear the Good News that the Savior was born.
And “They went with haste to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord made known to them.” The shepherds couldn’t just sit there and take the heavenly news for granted. They had to go and see this good news for themselves. And go they did. The went with haste. They weren’t about to run the risk the possibility that this joyous occasion would end before they could see it. They beat feet to get to the manger bed.
And when they reached the place where Jesus lay, they were moved to share their good news. “You’ll never believe what we saw!” “…They made known what had been told them about this child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.” (Luke 2:17-18) They experienced the Christ child, and they shared what they had heard and seen.
But the shepherd’s proclamation didn’t stop there! As they left, they continued to spread their good news: “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” (Luke 2:20)
These shepherds could be seen as the first Christian evangelists, the first Christian preachers. God simply plucked them out of the fields and sent them to work. They hadn’t attended years of seminary or received a doctor’s degree in preaching. Their only credential was their experience. They had been invited to experience the Christ child. They went with haste and had a life-changing encounter with Jesus, their Lord. And in response to their encounter with the Savior, they were compelled to tell others. Luke tells us “they returned.” Most likely what they returned to was their shepherding. They went back to their work and the places they were familiar with. Most likely they returned to the same hills outside of Bethlehem, and went back to work, but for this bunch of shepherds, it wasn’t business as usual. Their lives were forever changed by that angelic visit, by their trip to see the Christ child, where they shared their story of God’s acting in their lives.
As we celebrate our Lord’s birth, we can learn a lesson from the shepherds. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” We are here tonight because we have seen a great light. The light of Christ has shone into the darkness of our lives. Maybe raised in the church, maybe we’re here for the first time, because someone invited us. But we have heard the message, we have seen the light shining in the darkness, and we have come with haste to meet the Christ child tonight. We have heard the invitation, and have come to experience the infant savior for ourselves.
Tonight we meet God in Word and Sacrament. Each reading of the Christmas narrative invites us to find something new, to see ourselves within the drama of that first Christmas night. Perhaps you see yourself standing with the shepherds, feeling on the outskirts of life, but still being confronted with Gods amazing news. Maybe you see yourself among the ranks of angels, proclaiming to all that “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Christ, the Lord.” Or perhaps you relate most to Joseph and Mary, who are no doubt still trying to soak in the full impact of this amazing act. God has changed their lives forever, but they are only beginning to understand the full impact of what God has in store. “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19). As we hear the word of our Lord, God meets us where we’re at, inviting us into a stronger relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Tonight our Lord also meets us at the table, in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. It is not through Jesus’ miraculous birth that God’s desire for all creation is fulfilled, but it is through his death and resurrection. Jesus gave of himself, all the way to the giving of his life, so that we may know the depth of God’s love for each one of us. God raised Jesus from the dead, so that nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God our Creator and Redeemer. At the table of the Lord, Jesus feeds us with the very bread of life, offering us forgiveness, and makes us one with the body of Christ, the church of every time and place.
God reaches to us from the future to invite us into that same future, to live life like the shepherds, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. (Luke 2:20) When we gather as the church, we are the body of Christ in this time and place. We come together to share the good news with one another, and to support each other in our walk of faith and our lives of discipleship.
We are also sent out, returning to the places where we work, play, live, meet and eat. But it’s not business as usual. We have seen the light. Our lives are changed because we have met Jesus our Lord in this place. Because of the Babe of Bethlehem, our lives will never be the same. We can have hope when surrounded by life’s dark times. We can dare to rejoice in the midst of our sufferings, telling all that God has done for us. And we can even wrestle with our faith, knowing that the love of God will never let us go. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”
You may not have sheep at home, but you are a shepherd, called to a life of evangelism, shepherd style. “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” (Luke 2:20) God’s richest blessings to you in this Christmas season, and always. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)
