Yesterday I gave a short message to the clients of Hope Housing about the Christmas story.
Christmas is a time for community, for connection, and for compassion.
Community
From the very beginning of the Christmas story we see that it is one of community. There are people all through the story who come together with one shared goal. For some it is to travel together. Others come together to find shelter and a place to stay. Others still come together to worship, to find something more important than themselves around which they can build a life, and in the Christmas story people find that something. Community is absolutely at the heart of the Christmas story and one great example is the shepherds.
These were people on the margin of society, sometimes very literally. They were people who frequently slept outside. They were people who were at the same time very visible in society because of what they did, and also at the same time invisible to some. Some people thought they were very important, others didn’t even notice that they existed. However, in the Christmas story we see that they are very much part of the community.
In fact, so much a part of the community were these people on the margins that the good news of Jesus’ birth was delivered to them first. It didn’t go to the rich, the powerful, or to kings and queens first, but to those outside raising sheep (sheep, interestingly, most likely for the temple). Not important and important at the same time, but definitely part of the community.
We read in Luke 2:
Now there were shepherds nearby living out in the field, keeping guard over their flock at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were absolutely terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Saviour is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!”
Connection
So the shepherds hear the good news of Jesus’ birth first. This group who maybe, possibly, knew one another a little bit already, like the people here today. Maybe they had worked together before, perhaps they had looked after sheep next to each other before, seen one another before, this group now has a wonderful and lifelong connection, and what do they do with it?
“When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord has made known to us.”
Let us go…us…there is now a very strong connection between them, they are together and they are connected, and they want to move forwards together.
Let’s go and see what all this is about,
Let’s go and see this thing that God, that the Lord, has made known to us.
They are using this connection that they have been given to move forwards, together.
Maybe they knew each other before this event, maybe this was the first time they had properly met, we don’t know, but, we do know that from this moment forward there is a connection between them that they can use or ignore, and, thankfully, they chose to use it.
Let’s go and see what all this is about…
Compassion
Then there is compassion in the story. There are people joined together to help one another, people who take seriously what others have to say and want to do something about it.
When the shepherds arrived, this is what they found:
“So they hurried off and located Mary and Joseph, and found the baby lying in a manger. When they saw him, they related what they had been told about this child, and all who heard it were astonished at what the shepherds said. But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering in her heart what they might mean. So the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; everything was just as they had been told.”
Here is a young girl, most probably still a teenager, who has had this wild, unbelievable to some, crazy set of events that have led to her having a baby in a place where people don’t have babies at her age and stage of life. Her life has been turned upside down and she was no doubt struggling to work out how this all had happened to her.
Things like this don’t happen to me.
Then some shepherds arrive. This connected community of people arrive into the midst of her struggle and they see her and they see her baby. They don’t point out all the potential problems, instead, they share what they were told, and we read that Mary
“…treasured up all these words, pondering in her heart what they might mean…”
With compassion, joining others in their struggle, the shepherds share what they have experienced to help Mary with what she is experiencing.
She, in turn, takes the help, learns from the experience, and we read that she treasured their words and is trying hard to piece it all together, pondering in her heart everything that has happened.
The idea of being part of a shared story is something that we are all, deep down, looking for.
Having a community around us is what we are made for.
Having connection with others is what we are made for.
And having compassion on others is what we are made for.
All of these things, the community, the connection, and the compassion, are found in the Christmas story, and I hope you find them this year.
James Travis 