Unlikely Stewards of Joy: A Retelling of Luke 2:8-18

Photo Credit: AI generated

  (By Christina Bailey)

The men on the hillside – they were nobody of consequence. Most comfortable in wide open spaces with a few of their fellow sheep herders within shouting distance.

That night, when the sky suddenly opened and filled with an army of angels, more than one of them wondered if he were dead or about to be.

“Don’t be afraid,” The angel in charge said, and it was like the words came from within and without at the same time. The way you can feel thunder in the soles of your feet.

“I have glad tidings. The best news. For you and all who will believe. The kingdom is at hand. Messiah is born! Unto you.”

Eyes blinked in astonishment. Heads turned in wonder. “Us? Is this angel lost?” Surely such an announcement would be made to priests or kings, not lowborn men who herd sheep.

Before they could even come to grips with the angel’s prophecy, countless celestial beings began to sing. “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace!”

Tears flowed down leathery cheeks. And they who never cried hardly noticed. They simply sat back on their heels (for they had long ago fallen to their knees) and laughed. Words could not begin to describe all that filled their hearts and minds.

And then, just as suddenly as they appeared, the angels were gone. The night was silent again. The men, however, were not.

“What did we just see?”

“Did he say Messiah is a baby?”

“We must go now!”

Giddy as schoolboys, they wasted not a minute. They had a baby to find.

The Messiah had come. The Kingdom of God had broken through. Not only for that one night. Or to those few men keeping watch over their flocks.

But those shepherds, men whose names are lost to history, played a pivotal role precisely because they were common and ordinary. Just doing their jobs. Staying faithful in their quiet, small ways.

They didn’t dismiss what they had seen as a shared delusion or a crazy dream. No, they let their joy and awe propel them to obey. Heartily. Not the least reluctant to run through the dark night to find a baby.

And then, “when they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this Child” (Luke 2:17).

“Good news,” the angel said. In the Greek, euangelizō, from which we get our word “evangelize” (Strongs G2097). And that is exactly what those shepherds did.

For that night changed them. Changed everything. And it was too wonderful to keep to themselves.

As we come again to this holy season, so familiar as to be almost trite, I wonder, have we missed the point? Scurrying here and there, trying to manufacture Christmas magic, fighting crowds for a moment of merry.

And all the while, the Messiah is here! The Kingdom has broken through! May this truth break through to our weary souls this Christmas. And may we be so filled with awe, wonder, and great joy that we cannot help but run through the darkest night to seek out the Savior for ourselves.