Good Tidings of Great Joy for All People

      The Angels proclaimed good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.  The first recipients of this Heavenly Breaking News were not members of royalty in their regal palaces or religious leaders in their ecclesiastical arenas, but shepherds, lowly shepherds, who were taking care of their flock by night.

        No one wanted to be a shepherd.  Life was hard and unrewarding.  People looked down on shepherds.  They were dirty, unpredictable, uneducated, and irreligious.  They were considered ritually unclean and they were: both liturgically and literally.  So it was quite a shock when the greatest news ever proclaimed came to these guys, the lowest of the low. 

        But the amazing thing is, the shepherds got it!   They left their sheep (their sole livelihood) and went running into Bethlehem to see this great sight, “which the Lord hath made known unto us.”   And later they returned to their fields praising God for all that had been revealed to them. 

        How many people really get it?   Sometimes I think it is still the lowly, the people in subservient roles who understand “good tidings of great joy” more than the rest of us.

        I was over at Baptist Hospital Tuesday morning visiting a church member when a young lady entered the room.  She introduced herself to the patient with a cheery smile and a concerned inquiry into her wellbeing.  When I was introduced as the minister, she said, “I have two children.  My four year old son is named “Blessing” and my 1 year old daughter is “Serenity.”   That’s how I see them.  God is good to me and has blessed me greatly.  Christmas is a time to rejoice in God’s goodness.”

        On the way out of the parking lot a friendly attendant recognized me and asked how I was doing.  When I thanked her and asked how she was doing she said, “I am so blessed.  God is good. . . all the time!”  

        I left Baptist Hospital realizing that I had been blessed by two individuals who have very little materially and serve the public in roles that most people would look down on.  But they get it!   They understand the good tidings of great joy. 

        “For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord!”