Daily Devotion – December 23, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison

Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)
2:1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2:2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
2:3 All went to their own towns to be registered.
2:4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.
2:5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.
2:6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.
2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
2:8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
2:9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
2:10 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 Savior, 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.”
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 favors!”
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.
2:19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Those shepherds could have decided not to go to Bethlehem.

I wonder if our lives would be any different if they had not gone. Maybe the angels would just have kept looking for others to go and find the baby Jesus and his family.

And what if the shepherds were not the first to have been called by the angels. What if the angels sang to several other groups first but were dismissed or ignored (or, more likely, met with fear of the spectacle and the people they visited hid themselves until the angels went away and their own blood pressure recovered).

But those smelly, dirty, living-in-the-fields shepherds, God bless ‘em, were faithful and they answered the call of the angels, moved to go find the baby. And then they told everyone they met about it. And they amazed people. They got people’s attention. And they glorified God.

I wonder what ever happened to them. Did they meet Jesus again in his ministry? Did they know he was the baby they had been sent to find so long ago? Were they still glorifying and praising God for their nighttime visit by angels?

God found the right group to send, and they went. May the same be said of us.

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for sending the shepherds who went to find the baby Jesus and were glorifying and praising you afterward. Make us into similar fit servants for your work.  Amen.