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"The Shepherd’s
Pilgrimage"
Luke 2:1-20
A Sermon Preached by The Rev. Douglas M. Donley
And in that region, there were
shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night, says Dr. Luke. In the cold hills, the shepherds were
watching their sheep. They were guarding
against predatory foxes and thieves bent on making a quick profit off of their
lambs.
They were keeping watch, like
anyone would. They were doing what they
had to do: keeping watch. They were on the lookout, perched on a hill,
aware of everything around them.
That’s why they heard the
angels. They heard them because they had
their ears pealed. They saw them because
they were accustomed to the dark. They
were at vigil and were attentive. They
saw through the disguises used by those in power. They saw the difference between those who
speak the right things and those who do the right thing.
It was to these cynical people that
the angel spoke. The angel didn’t speak
to Herod or any of the religious professionals.
The angels came to Mary, to Joseph, to
And lo the angel of the lord
appeared to them and the glory of the lord shone round about them and they were
sore afraid. Paul Tillich
says that the fear of God is the first step in faith. These people were afraid of God. God’s name had been used to terrify
them. They were under the thumb of those
in collusion with Herod and the other leaders—the occupying forces. They called themselves gods. They were to be feared, for they could demand
a sheep whenever they wanted. They could
deem their pastureland off limits to all but good tax-paying and Emperor
–obedient Hebrews.
But it was what the angel said that
gave them pause. And the words of the
angels are as important as the birth of Jesus, at least to the shepherds.
The angel said, “Be not afraid. I bring you good news of great joy which
shall be to all people. For unto you is born a savior, the Messiah. And the sign is that you will find him as a
ragged homeless bastard child. This is
your savior.”
Let’s unpack the words of the angel
to the shepherds.
Be not afraid.
This was the first subversive words of the Christmas story to the shepherds. The angels said, you don’t have to be afraid of God anymore. God is not some cosmic boogey-man who loathes you.
God is a compassionate deity who
loves you and wants the best for you and for the rest of the world. Be not afraid, said the angel.
Don’t believe the hype of, “unless
you do what the emperor says, you will burn in hell.” The emperor isn’t God.
Even if the coins say the emperor
is God’s son, there is another child of God coming tonight.
Be not afraid of God.
Be not afraid of the powers and
principalities of this world, because the angels are watching out for you.
Be not afraid.
The angels bring good news of great
joy. The opening words of Mark’s Gospel
are “the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God.” The good news is another way of saying the
Gospel. I am bringing you good
news. A new story. A new reality. It will be good news. Of great joy. It’s good news that will make you happy, even
if you have not been happy before.
Which shall be to all
people.
This story is not just for the
religious. It’s not just for the
righteous. It’s not for the red states
or the blue states. It’s for everyone. This universal truth is for everyone. God is working alongside people and showing
them the right way to go. This was a
radical thing back then. It’s a radical
thing even now. We fall all over
ourselves to say who is in and who is out of the dominion of God. But the angel says it’s for all the
people. It has not ifs or buts. It doesn’t say, it’s
for you if you believe. It doesn’t say
it’s for you if you make a personal commitment.
It’s for you, a free gift from God to humanity.
For unto you is
born a savior, the Messiah.
A savior is born who is the
messiah, the Christ. This is the leader,
not Quirinius or Herod or any of the other muckety-mucks. The
Messiah is born and there is a new kid on the block who is going to see things
differently. This new kid is going to
set us free and make it so that we no longer need to have our lives defined by
the Cesar Augustuses and Herods
of this world.
We are constantly awaiting the
coming of the messiah. We want there to
be a happy existence in this world and a respite from the chaos which we all
experience--and we want it on our terms. We want the days to finally be
accomplished.
I believe that God can and does
smuggle God's self into this world in the most unexpected times. God comes to us in the normalcy of our
routines, shaking us awake and proclaiming a new opportunity.
That's what happened that first
Christmas eve. Mary, Joseph, the
shepherds, all of the witnesses saw a miracle happen. And all of them wait for that very miracle to
be reborn in each of us each Christmas season.
And the sign
is that you will find him as a ragged homeless bastard child. This is your savior.
Do you see how radical this
is? This person who is the Messiah is a
poor homeless child with a questionable parentage from a hated town. This is the one who knows the truth and is
there to tell it to you.
This is the one who is not afraid,
brings good news of great joy to everyone.
This small defenseless little child. God is doing a new thing here.
The
shepherd’s didn’t know it at the time, but when Jesus grew up, he would
eventually become like one of them. A shepherd himself. Keeping watch over his
flock by night.
I imagine the shepherds perched up
on their stone seats, considering what to do next. The angel didn’t say that they had to do
anything. They weren’t instructed to go
to the stable and see Jesus. They
weren’t told that they had to give him anything. It didn’t take long, however, to realize what
they had to do. They had to begin a
pilgrimage to that stable
I like to think they went in shifts
when they finally got to the manger. Someone had to watch the sheep. Someone had to still take care of the lost
ones.
But they went down to see this
thing that had been made known to them by the angels. They went because it might mean something to
them.
And the trip to the stable was the
first step of their pilgrimage to believing and living the good news that the
angels had shared with them.
It was important that God was
smuggled into the world. For the coming
of God in human form was going to subvert and expand all previous knowledge of God. Christmas causes us to look at the world in a
new way. Christmas calls us to look at
God in a new way. Christmas causes us to
look at ourselves in a new way.
AMEN.