Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries on Christmas Day, 25 December 2023 and 2024, by Major Michael Ramsay. This is the 2024 version.
To view the 2023 version click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2023/12/luke-21-20-light-shone-all-around.html
Luke 2:1-8: In those days Caesar
Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman
world. 2 (This was the first census that took place
while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And
everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of
Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he
belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went
there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was
expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the
time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave
birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a
manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in
the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An
angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around
them, and they were terrified.
Last
night, like every night, our shelter staff were working at the Bread of Life.
We are open all day everyday and all night every night. Our staff all has to
take their turn working over the holidays. They had a choice: they could work
last night or New Year’s Eve. The people need taking care of every night of the
year so we need to have our shelter workers working every night of the year!
This
is like the shepherds in our text today: they need to be working every night as
well. Just like we can’t leave people without supervision they can’t leave sheep
without supervision. The shepherds in our story today are working the night
shift. They have the job of protecting the lives of the sheep under their care from
predators just like our staff have the responsibility to protect the lives of
the homeless under their care from predators. Without our shelter, many of our
friends would not have a safe warm place to sleep. The shepherds were providing
a safe place for their sheep.
The
text says that an angel appeared and stood before them. The word angel just
means ‘messenger’ but the appearance of this messenger certainly means much
more. It says the “Glory of the Lord” shone all around him and the shepherds
were terrified. Now, I don’t know what the “Glory of the Lord” looks like, but
if someone or something suddenly appeared before me in the middle of the night
(or anytime) with something shining about him, I would probably be a little
terrified.
I can
only imagine how our staff would react – if it is after 1am the doors are
locked, our friends all tucked into their beds – there are rows and rows of
bunkbeds in our shelter. I picture it as if everyone has just gotten to sleep,
it is quiet; it is dark; our workers are settling down at the desk and then all
of a sudden someone shows up in the room or at the window, shining or with
something shining all around them. I imagine our staff would be quite startled!
Luke 2:10-12:10 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: 2:11 to you is born this day in the city of David a
Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 2:12 This will be a sign for you: you
will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger."
The
shepherds would look up startled for sure! They would wonder if they should
fear for their safety. They would wonder if they should fear for the safety of
their sheep. They would wonder if they should call the cops! (I always tell
them to cops when they need to, to keep their people safe!)
Luke 2:13 And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 2:14
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom
He favours!"
Can
you imagine? I am trying to picture it. If it was today, would all these angels
-or whatever the heavenly host is- appear right in the shelter? Or would they
light up the night sky like the auroras borealis? I imagine maybe mt staff see
the first angel and then poke their head out the door and see all these beings,
these creatures, these lights in the air.
What
if you were working the night shift at your work and all these people, angels,
host show up and are praising God all around you or up in the sky proclaiming
peace for all who are with God: all who find favour with Him. Put yourself then
in the place of the shepherds in Luke’s story. I imagine that your heart would
be beating pretty quickly. I imagine that you would be glad someone was there
to see the vision with you – so that you know that it was really happening,
that you hadn’t fallen asleep, that someone hadn’t slipped you something. This
it is not an hallucination. I imagine that, at this point, not only are you and
your co-workers wide awake but all those sheep under your care are too.
It
must have been a racket for the shepherds. I can only imagine the skittish
sheep singing, baa..ing along with the choir of angels. Like dogs howling or like
people singing badly along to the radio in their car! There must have been so
much activity; There must have been so much going through their heads as they
are so trying to figure out what they have just seen!
2:15 When the angels had left them and
gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to
Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made
known to us." 2:16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and
the child lying in the manger. 2:17 When they saw this, they made known what
had been told them about this child; 2:18 and all who heard it were amazed at
what the shepherds told them.
If it
was the staff at the shelter, I can see them standing outside with the people
who are staying the night – I think there was maybe 15 of them last night - listening
to the angel, mesmerized by the heavenly host, and then walking down the street
to see ‘this thing which has taken place’. I don’t think they would need to go
far – maybe just the distance to MVB, Boomerangs or something like that. They
would walk that distance together and I imagine all the sleepers and
supervisors making as much noise as the shepherds and sheep. Can you imagine
the excitement? The shepherds must be just buzzing retelling each other what
they had just seen and joking about one another’s reaction – and then I
imagine, as they get close to where the child is, they would all of a sudden
become very sober in thought and deed. I imagine they would come into the place
very humbly. And as they find the child and his parents, the shepherds
themselves would become angels in the sense that they are messengers; they tell
them and everyone else what the angels, the heavenly host, has told them.
Luke 2:20: “The shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been
told them.”
I am
sure the shepherds must have told everyone they knew and, like pet owners talk
to their pets, I am sure they even told the sheep who very probably took the
trip to the manger with them in the middle of the night.
Can
you imagine what it would be like for the shepherds? Every time they hear of
another miracle he performs or a controversy he is in the middle of, they would
tell their story about how they saw him when he was a baby and everything that
happened that night. I imagine a lot of people probably became interested in
Jesus or more interested in Jesus because of the testimony of these shepherds.
I imagine that when they heard the news years later of his death and
resurrection, if any of them were still alive, they would say, ‘huh… I guess
that all makes sense now.’
We do
know from the rest of the story that this baby is going to be killed and raised
from the dead 30 or so years later. And we know that after he was raised from
the dead he went away and that he is coming back and we know that when he comes
back, all upon who his favour rests will be at peace. He is the Prince of
Peace.
So
then, on this Xmas Day 2000 years closer to the return of the Prince of Peace,
I encourage you to be peaceful. Forgive those who harm you. Disarm your
attackers with kindness. Turn the other cheek when people strike you rather
than striking them back.
This
world can be a very non-peaceful place. There are many wars right now – and now
some of the countries we are attacking actually have the ability to strike back.
There is much violence in this world and in this country, this province, and
this town. Friends of our overdose and die violent deaths all too frequently. People
were stabbed the other day. Maybe someone was beaten with a pipe. A kettle volunteer
here was beaten and probably killed, not on shift, and unrelated to ringing the
bells. Randy Brown, infamous in this town, may be dead or dying in Victoria
from a brutal attack as I speak. There is much violence among our friends who
we dine with everyday at the soup kitchen, who stay with us at our shelter, who
we walk with everyday. There is so much! There is too much!
When
God sent His Only Begotten Son so that whosoever may have eternal life, it was
a violent world that the Prince of Peace was born into 2000 years ago. And he
brought his message of peace to people working the night shift. The angel said,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his
favour rests.”
My hope
today is for Peace - that when the world and our world and our lives and the
lives of our friends, families, and co-workers are filled with strife – which they
will be - that we will let the Glory of God’s peace shine through us. Even in
the midst of all our struggles, may people see the Glory of God’s peace all
around us. May we, like shepherds with their sheep point them to the Glory of
God’s peace that (surpasses all understanding and) can get us all through all
of life’s troubles. Today, as we celebrate the birth of Christ and the
certainly of eternal life, May God’s Peace be with you.
Let us pray.
Posts
