Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Fifth Christmas Day
Luke 2:20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
BACK TO YOUR SHEEP
"Then the shepherds returned." They went back to their sheep. They went back to leading them, feeding them, finding them water. They went back to the daily tasks of their every-day lives.
They returned and so must we, to offices and homes, farms and fields, classes and studies. Life goes on day by day. But can we return as the shepherds did, glorifying and praising God? That depends upon what we have been doing at the stable in Bethlehem -- and what we see in the manger.
Is this all part of an annual ritual? Do we stuff the Christ-child back into the manger each year -- so that we can imagine that we were there and be strangely warmed by the tender scene? Do we gather together simply to recall, re-read, and retell a historical event almost 2000 years past? I pray not. This event and what it means involves far more than memory and imagination. Luther said, "We come to Christmas with open hearts. We listen not to history, but to a gift."
Like the shepherds, we can return to our daily lives rejoicing, because the Christ-child did not just come to Mary and Joseph or just to shepherds and wise men -- or even just to a sin-stricken world in general.
He came to us -- to you and to me.
He continues to come to us in His Word.
And through that Gospel He rules in our hearts and lives.
God keeps his promises, and the words of the angel to the stunned shepherds ring out to us also -- from Christmas to Christmas. "Fear not ... for unto YOU is born ... a Savior."
Since we have a Savior from sin we need not fear death
-- or whatever comes our way as part of this life.
We can go "on our way rejoicing" (Acts 8:39). 