Good news and great joy
As Advent gathers pace we have been reflecting in our assemblies and through our Christmas productions on the words that the angel brought to the shepherds on the hillsides around Bethlehem. Shepherds were not exactly the most important people in these times, they were on the fringes of society and yet it is to these potential outcasts that the angel comes.
Luke 2:9-10 NIV
[9] An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. [10] But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
For them the good news was something that they had been waiting to see fulfilled for many generations. It is incredibly hard to even catch a glimpse of what this moment must have been like, they were clearly terrified, as I am sure we all would have been, and yet they received the good news and believed it, taking immediate action.
Luke 2:15 NIV
[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.”
The words of the angel still ring true today 'do not fear for I bring you good news'. This is not the news of the tabloids or the instant streaming of the Internet, a story that is there in front of us one minute and then fades away to be forgotten.
Instead it is the same good news as it was when the angel first spoke. God reaching out to all of us, who ever we are, seeking to bring joy into our lives and proclaiming His love for us through the birth of His son, the Christ child. The one that Mary laid in a manager and that the shepherds sought out that night many years ago.
