Day Forty Five - Even for us

On that first Christmas there was a small group of people who were separated from the rest of society. While everyone else was gathering with family and friends, this group was off by themselves. Things were incredibly quiet and then they heard the word of God.

Who was this group? It was the shepherds - out on the hillsides of Bethlehem. Everyone else was having quite a party, it was tax time in Judea, and everyone had gone back to their hometowns, just as people go home for Christmas now. I’m sure there were all kinds of parties going on.

But not for the shepherds. They were off by themselves, in the hills with their sheep, missing the party in Bethlehem. Then, before that night was over, everything changed. We are told in Luke chapter 2 that an Angel of the Lord appeared to them with these, wonderful words: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

And so, these shepherds, considered to be unclean as they lived in the fields, the wanderers, the drifters of society, the people who no one trusted, were filled with real joy. Imagine their reaction, a Saviour had been born even for them, lowly shepherds.

Wouldn’t you like to have that kind of joy today? You don’t need to eat until you can’t eat anymore and sit around with presents and the tree and the Christmas music to experience Christmas joy. Those things make people happy, but it is a very temporary kind of happiness. Wouldn’t you like to feel joy this Christmas that lasts beyond the holidays?

The shepherds found the Messiah, born not in a palace surrounded by kings and priests, but in a stable and laid in a manger. After seeing all these things for themselves, all that the Angels had said, they were filled with true Christmas joy and returned to the hills glorifying and praising God.

There were no gifts, no tinsel, no trimmings and no parties for the shepherds on that first Christmas night, but they felt a true sense of joy that many of us miss. On the outside it didn’t look like they had much, but on the inside, they were the richest, happiest people in the world because they knew God had sent a Saviour for all people, even them.

Sometimes we might feel like the shepherds, we might feel lowly and insignificant, we may feel like outcasts, we all have fears and worries, but like the shepherds let the Christmas message speak to us. A Saviour has been born for us. God loves us and cares for us so much that he sent His Son to be our Saviour.

This is where we find joy that lasts beyond the holidays. It is true we can find joy in giving and receiving gifts. There is joy in decorating, joy in gathering with family and friends, joy in the things we eat. But there is deeper joy, a joy that lasts when all these other things fade away. To know that God came down to earth in the form of a baby – there you find joy that lasts. To know that this child is our Saviour – to know that no matter how lowly we are, no matter how sinful we are, no matter how young or old we are – we have a God who has sent His Son to save us. He is Christ the Lord. There we find joy, God’s kind of joy, the kind of joy that lasts forever.

Julie Burnett