Links for today’s readings:
Read: Nehemiah 1 Listen: (2:06)
Read: Revelation 10 Listen: (1:59)
Scripture Focus: Luke 2:13-20
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Nehemiah 1:8-9
8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’”
Reflection: What about those Shepherds? — Joy of Advent
By Jon Polk
In Luke’s nativity narrative, an unlikely group of shepherds takes center stage. These poor guys are out in the middle of the night, minding their own business, doing what shepherds do night after night, guarding against wild animals and thieves.
Nothing. Exciting. Ever. Happened.
As for career choices, they were the blue-collar of the blue-collar. We romanticize shepherds as if they stepped out of a Thomas Kinkade painting, but reality was harsh.
Shepherding was a despised occupation. They were considered shifty and untrustworthy, often grazing their flocks on other people’s lands. If Mike Rowe had been around in the first century, shepherding would have been featured on Dirty Jobs Israel.
Not only were they social outcasts, but the nature of their work kept them ceremonially unclean according to Jewish laws.
So when the angel showed up in the middle of the night with a big proclamation, they were dumbfounded by what they were hearing.
It was customary in the Roman Empire for the birth of an emperor to be heralded by poets and orators declaring peace and prosperity across the land. These angelic messengers, however, proclaimed not a new emperor, but one they called Savior, Messiah, and Lord.
This royal birth announcement came not to the secular or religious rulers of the day, but out in the fields to the poor and lowly, to the most common of common folk.
Jesus would later inaugurate his own ministry by quoting from the prophecy of Isaiah:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners… (61:1)
Indeed, the good news was first announced to these poor shepherds, social outcasts of Jesus’ day.
There are many reasons to be unhappy at Christmastime. Financial difficulties, health issues, difficult job or family situations. It can be a dark and difficult world we live in. It’s not surprising that many people have difficulty with the holiday season.
Jesus came to bring hope, peace, and joy to the lowest of the low, the poorest of the poor, the saddest of the sad. Those shepherds remind us that no matter who we are or what we have experienced in this life, the good news is for us!
As the prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light!” (9:2).
Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. — Psalm 85.9
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.
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