Isaiah 9:2-7 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-14(15-20) Psalm 96

The writer of Luke locates the birth narrative in its historical context, placed chronologically in the timeline of the rulers and civic requirements of the day.  These political realities have impacted Mary and Joseph; this is no charmed honeymoon scene for them.  Mary is heavily pregnant; traversing crowded Bethlehem amidst the unruly masses, her physical and emotional energy depleted; human comforts are scarce, and tensions are raw. Stepping back, we see this familiar scene in the light of its earthiness and human stuggle.

Other significant cast members of our account from Luke’s Gospel are the shepherds, men of the earth, nomads whose livelihood is dependent upon finding a source of water and fresh grasses and tolerable weather conditions for their flocks.  Shepherds are known for being dirty, rough, and rowdy, quite different from the baby-faced ones on our Christmas cards, and they are among the least respected of social classes – raw humanity struggling for survival against the earthly challenges of their vocation.

Nevertheless, it is these rustic earthy herdsmen, quite suddenly and frighteningly brought into our story, whom the angel alerts to the miracle that has taken place in Bethlehem.  

Sensing the miraculous, the shepherds follow the directions of their heavenly messenger and journey to Bethlehem.   Here they find Joseph and Mary and the babe in the manger just as they had been told.   And here, these ruddy men of the earth share with Mary the amazing heavenly message of the angel.

Luke tells us that Mary, the young virgin, treasured the words shared with her by the shepherds and pondered them in her heart.   This news was not new to Mary, but surely the message delivered by the shepherds brought comforting affirmation of her significant role in human destiny – human destiny transformed forever on this night that we have come to this place at this time to celebrate – this night, the night that upended the course of the world.

Luke sets the story for us in chronological time – the time by which we set our watches and schedule our appointments.  Christians and non-Christians alike would eventually begin living their lives by the Gregorian calendar based on this one event in the history of the world.  But, as this drama in the cattle stall unfolds, Luke’s most urgent message is that we have traversed earthly dates and times; human destiny has been catapulted in a new direction that is relevant for all time – God’s time – kairos. 

“The time came for her to deliver her child.”

The Eternal Word became flesh.  As we affirm our faith each time we come together to worship, “He (our one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God) came down from heaven and by the power of the Holy Spirit became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man.  [BCP p. 358]

What is this urgent and miraculous message that drew the lowly shepherds from their fields to the cattle shelter where the world was changed forever?  

That message is that God had come to earth in the human person of that babe in the manger.  This was not just a babe who would grow up to do great things – this babe was and is the Messiah, the Savior, Christ the Lord.  God had kept his promise for the redemption of the world – coming to earth in the person of Jesus Christ for the purpose of taking our sins upon himself, dying, and rising from death, overcoming death for our salvation.

The message is that God had come to earth not because we’re so good and deserving, but because God is so good.  God keeps his promises.  God wants only what is best for us.  God’s story is one story of unconditional love for the purpose of our redemption.  We humans had made such a mess of God’s creation, bringing sin and death into the world.  It would be necessary for a human being to live and die as one of us, and to rise again in order to vanquish this sin and death that we have created.  

The urgent message of this night is that heaven came to earth in the human person of Jesus Christ to affirm the holiness of our earthly humanness and to show us how we are to live in relationship with one another on earth as God intended.  Jesus’ coming did not abolish God’s laws sent down to Moses on Mt. Sinai centuries before.  Jesus came to clarify the message that God’s law is not meant to be a source of fear and punishment when we fall short of following the law.  The purpose of God’s law is to guide the faithful in our weakness to love God and our neighbor – loving and living continuously in relationship with God, our neighbor, and ourselves without fear – on earth as it is in heaven.

The message is that God came to earth in the human person of Jesus Christ to open the door for us into his presence – to equip us to seek him and find him in the true Christ who is fully human and fully divine – of earth and heaven.

My prayer for you this Christmas is that you hear the urgent message of the angels and feel the presence of the divine in the Word made flesh, particularly in these difficult earthly times as we continue our weary incessant journey in hopes of an end to the COVID pandemic.  God’s message is for each of us, here and now, just as it was for Mary – just as it was for the lowly shepherds.  

Hear the message and begin to grasp the deep and complicated mystery of the incarnation – the Eternal Word made flesh. 

Hear the message and, like the angel, be the messengers of the news that the world so desperately needs to hear – opening the doors of heaven for those who walk this earth in darkness.  

“Do not be afraid,” said the angel messenger. “For see– I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”