And all who heard it were amazed….
Luke 2:18

Why would not the folks listening to the good news from a manger be “amazed”? These shepherd guys were nobodies! They held an unheralded place in the social strata of Israel. Who knows if they were even “religious”? I doubt if there was any status for men such as them in the local synagogue’s organizational structure. Were those “amazed” because of the great event at the manger, or “amazed” that they had the nerve to make up such a story?

This struck me as I read a commentary by Marlena Graves printed in Sojourner magazine (December 2021). Here is some of what she wrote, “I can not stop thinking about how a mass choir of angels unexpectedly appeared to the shepherds to announce Jesus’ birth…Why appear to those looked down upon as poor societal nobodies? Why parade through and light up the night sky in concert for those the world deemed to have little or no worth? …(W)hen we are where God has a habit of being, there is no doubt we will experience grace and find ourselves among a host of angels, seen and unseen. We will experience Advent.“

It is not our role to judge how and why the “least of these” seem to us to be victims of their mistakes and poor decisions. God, through Jesus Christ, has let us know that we can discover the meaning of this Advent as we renew our efforts to hear God speaking to us through today’s shepherds.

Thought for the Day: “When we are where God has a habit of being we will find the grace of Advent.”

Prayer: Gracious Lord, abide with us as we learn and grow from those whom You have sent to again experience the Good News. Amen

Douglas Denton,
Minister of Pastoral Care