Christmas or Indigestion? The Savior is Born!

“Glory to God in the Highest Heaven, and on earth peace to people whom He favors.” This is the message of the angles that came to announce the birth of Jesus, the savior of the world, who was on Christmas night born in a barn of all places. It is a message of hope and wonder, and it makes a much better Christmas card than the message of John the Baptist, “Repent you brood of vipers!” Yes, one is a hallmark moment and the other is not.

But, in their own way, each is announcing something wondrous. Something so unexpected and so strange, that shepherds came to see if it was true. Was the Son of God, this Jesus really lying in a barn, or had the dried sheep meet they had eaten for supper gone bad, leaving them with a hallucination that was both astonishing and terrible to behold? Chances are good that they were betting on the bad dinner.

These shepherds in the field were as an unsavory lot 2000 years ago as they tend to be now. Oh, not bad guys mind you, but they did things in a very earthy way. They spoke with earthy language, using words that were not polite. They had an earthy aroma about them and they were known to drink too much and fight with knives. To me, sounds like business as usual on the range in Montana. Nevertheless, having an angle appear to you has an unsettling effect, no matter how tough you are. Assurances of, “Be not afraid,” tend to sound a bit hollow when you are seeing the glory of the Lord. Such times probably call to mind all the sins you have been committing gleefully in the last month or so… maybe even longer. But instead of the smiting with lightning, or burning with fire or something a person in such a situation might expect; (after all God is suddenly paying personal attention to you, and that cant be good right?) the news is good. A savior is born. The shepherds were blessed.

How odd indeed. Not the priests, not the city council or some other important people, but shepherds are told that God has come to earth to save us. Odder still, He is born in the barn between here and the next town over. What could you do but go find out if it was true or if it was simply dinner food digesting badly?

We all know how the story goes, the shepherds get to the barn and the whole thing turns out to be true. They are so baffled that they tell everyone that will listen what happened to them. Mary treasured the words of their story and they praised God. After all, who couldn’t?

We can be sure that none of them really had any idea what it would all mean, but one thing was for sure, God was doing something and it was something unexpected. Things were going to be different now. God was born in a barn and talking to shepherds, yes, the world was going to be in for a shock. Christ had come and right away, He was changing everything. If God favored shepherds, then things were going to be ok. Merry Christmas, for Christ has come to bless us all, and He is changing everything.