Rev. George Miller
Dec 25, 2024
Luke 2:8-20
Today we gather on this special moment-
Christmas Morning.
Mary has bravely accepted the invitation
from Garbriel to give birth to the Son of God.
Joseph has stayed by her side and together
they made the pilgrimage to Bethlehem where she gave birth to the Holiest of
Children, and lovingly swaddled him in cloth.
The babe in the manger is here, and with
his birth is the promise of a new kind of life, a life eternal, a life of
peace, in which nothing is impossible with the Lord.
Christmas Day is here, and we are gathered
to celebrate, to remember, to look at what God has done.
And what God has done does not involve a
child born to an earthly king, or the son of a wealthy CEO, or a gladiator with
an iron sword.
But a child, a baby, so delicate, so
vulnerable.
As psychoanalyst Carl Jung states
“Anything new, any promising beginning, is in a fragile condition and needs
special care and special protection.”
And that is just what Baby Jesus is, and care
is exactly what he receives from Mary and Joseph.
Since Jesus, the Son of God, arrives to us
so fragile, so in need to protection, it makes sense that angels would appear
to the shepherds to give them the good news of the Messiah’s birth.
For as watches over the flocks, they knew
exactly what it meant to watch over and care for that which is vulnerable and
fragile, as they cared for the sheep and their lambs late at night, when they
were easy victims to predators, marauders, and the elements.
But also- the shepherds themselves were
vulnerable. Back then, they would be
seen as one of the lowest members of society.
They were the nightshift workers who did
the job that not many wanted to do, out in the cold, surrounded by dark, often
alone and without human company.
They were the physical laborers, the ones whose
job went unappreciated, who most people would never listen to for wisdom or
advice.
And yet- the shepherds are who God chooses
to reveal the Christmas News to.
They are the ones who the multitude of
angels appear, sing and bedazzle with their words “Glory to God in the highest
heaven. And on earth peace and good will
among people.”
And the shepherds, these hard-working
night shift workers are the ones who are told to go where the baby is wrapped
in bands of cloth.
The shepherds are the ones who get to the
manger, see the Christ-child laying there, who get to tell Mary and Joseph all
they know.
What’s so fascinating is that back in
their day, if the emperor had a child, there would be poets and public speakers
at the palace to sings their songs and offer their praises to the royal infant.
But here, in the humble manger, with very
humble parents, these late night, hardworking, often looked down upon and
underappreciated shepherds are the ones who get to stand before the son of God.
They are the ones who get to speak and
share the words they heard the angels sing.
In doing so, the shepherds become the
first Evangelizers of our faith, and our world will never be the same.
Today is Christmas, and we get to be in
this moment, once again, realizing just how much Jesus came to change our
world.
How Mary, as a woman, became the first to
participate knowingly and willingly in God’s future announced to her.
How the shepherds, who were so often
looked down upon and feared, were the ones to first evangelize.
How the Son of God did not come to us as
the child of an emperor or a warrior or a famous celebrity, but that Jesus came
just as we all did-
Fragile, vulnerable, in need of care. And for that, we can say “Amen.”
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