As we prepare to celebrate again the glad tidings of the birth of Jesus, I’ve another meditation for you today from my book No Ordinary Man. It focus on the shepherds, as they heard news of great joy, and it reminds us that whoever we are – high or low, rich or poor – the coming of Christ was, and continues to be, news of great joy for us all.
Reading
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; 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 Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’ Luke 2:8-14
The meditation of the shepherds
It was just an ordinary day, that’s what I can’t get over;
nothing special about it,
nothing different,
just another ordinary day.
And we were all just ordinary people,
that’s what made it even more puzzling;
not important,
not influential,
just plain ordinary shepherds out working in the fields.
Yet we apparently were the first,
singled out for special favour!
The first to know,
the first to see,
the first to celebrate,
the first to tell!
I’m still not sure what happened –
one moment night drawing in,
and the next bright as day;
one moment laughing and joking together,
and the next rooted to the spot in amazement;
one moment looking forward to getting home,
and the next hurrying down to Bethlehem.
There just aren’t words to express what we felt,
but we knew we had to respond,
had to go and see for ourselves.
Not that we expected to find anything mind you,
not if we were honest.
Well, you don’t, do you?
I mean, it’s not every day the Messiah arrives, is it?
And we’d always imagined when he finally did
it would be in a blaze of glory,
to a fanfare of trumpets,
with the maximum of publicity.
Yet do you know what?
When we got there
it was to find everything just as we had been told,
wonderfully special,
yet surprisingly ordinary.
Not Jerusalem but Bethlehem,
not a palace but a stable,
not a prince enthroned in splendour
but a baby lying in a manger.
We still find it hard to believe even now,
to think God chose to come
through that tiny vulnerable child.
But as the years have passed –
and we’ve seen not just his birth but his life,
and not just his life but his death,
and not just his death but his empty tomb,
his graveclothes, his joyful followers –
we’ve slowly came to realise it really was true.
God had chosen to come to us,
and more than that, to you –
to ordinary, everyday people,
in the most ordinary, everyday of ways.
How extraordinary!
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
it wasn’t those important in the eyes of the world
who first heard the Good News;
it wasn’t the religious elite or those specially gifted.
It was shepherds – ordinary, everyday people like each of us.
Teach us, through their story,
that whoever we are,
however insignificant we may feel,
you value each one of us
and want us to know you for ourselves.
I’m imagining the looks of amazement on the faces of the shepherds as the light suddenly broke into the darkness!
Another book for my wish-list. I’m considering opening a further bank account called ‘Nick Fawcett book account’. 😀
Now that sounds like an excellent plan, Lesley. Just so long as I don’t bankrupt you, that is.