Today’s Advent Reflection is from Julie Hackney
Glory to God in the Highest
Luke 2:8-18
8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 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: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’
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.’ 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.
Reflection
For the shepherds watching their sheep on the hills outside Bethlehem, it was just another night. They had no idea that something incredible was about to happen that would change their lives, and the lives of millions of people throughout the ages, for ever.
When the Angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to them, surrounded by the amazing, golden light of God’s glory, they were, understandably, terrified. But they were told not to be afraid as the Angel said to them (in the words of the King James Bible), “Behold. I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.”
Who knows what they made of it all, let alone what was to come, as the Angel went on to tell them, that a baby was born in Bethlehem? A saviour. Christ the Lord.
And yet, it was to these shepherds that a sign was given. It was their mission, should they choose to accept it, to go and look for the baby who, the Angel said, would be wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. This was how the shepherds would know that they had found the right baby. There was to be no mistake. Then, just to underline the fact that this was what they should do, “a multitude of the heavenly host” joined the Angel to sing out these words that are at the very heart of the Christmas story, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill to all”.
The shepherds must have been reeling from all this but, after some discussion, they decided to do as they had been asked and set off into Bethlehem to find the baby. They had to know for sure; the Angel had given them all the clues and now they had to see for themselves if what they had been told was true.
This was a leap of faith on the part of the shepherds. But how they were rewarded.
And we are told that they “came with haste” and found Mary, Joseph and, as promised, the baby lying in a manger. After seeing all this for themselves, the shepherds went off to spread the Angel’s “tidings of great joy”, telling anyone who would listen what the Angel had said.
They had indeed been changed from the timid shepherds who had been so afraid when the angel first appeared. Now they were confidently going round “glorifying and praising God for all the things they’d seen”.
We don’t know what happened to the shepherds after they returned to their flocks, but it’s hard to imagine that they all went back to sitting in the fields night after night watching their sheep, maybe, now and again, one of them saying to the others, “Do you remember that night when…....”
And now, thousands of years later, the shepherds’ story resonates with us as 21st century Christians. It is Christmas Eve and, unlike the shepherds, we know that it is a momentous night and we know what we are waiting for: to celebrate the birth of Jesus, that baby that was found by the shepherds lying in a manger.
Everywhere we turn at Christmas we are reminded of the shepherds’ experience that night: Christmas cards featuring angels and shepherds, decorations on our Christmas trees, the words of carols such as “While Shepherds Watched” or “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”. But of greatest significance is the light. The light of God’s glory which shone all around.
At Christmas, lights are an integral part of our celebrations. We have been lighting our Advent candles each day whilst we make our preparations since the first of December. Candles continue to cast their soft, gentle glow in our living rooms and on our tables. The lights on our trees glisten against their branches, both inside and outside our houses. As we look at the sky on a clear night, stars pierce the darkness.
Tonight, we can be pretty certain that there won’t be a host of angels appearing in the sky, giving us instructions as to how to find the baby Jesus. But, fortunately we have already found him and we are reminded, especially at Christmas, that he is the light of the world, shining for us in the darkness.
Sometimes, and particularly perhaps during this challenging year, we may wonder about the Angel’s promise of peace and goodwill to all on earth. But we believe that this is God’s hope for his world and that there is a job which he has given to us, that is to work towards making it a reality in whatever way we can.
He wants us to be his light in the darkness.
The shepherds remind us that we can all play a part in spreading the Angel’s “tidings of joy”, just as they did on the night when Jesus was born.
They had faith, they followed the signs, they were afraid but went out into the world to declare what they knew, share the good news and bring joy.
Surely if they could, so can we.
Wishing you all a joyful Christmas filled with love and light.