by Kevin Burton
Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Savior of the world. We wrap it in things that don’t matter a whit. But Jesus is the whole story.
He’s the whole story all the time by the way, not just at Christmas.
The story of the birth of Christ is in the book of Luke. Today, as did the pastor of the church service we attended Sunday, I want to emphasize the reaction of some shepherds who were told about Jesus.
This is Luke 2: 7-18, KJV:
“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
“And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”
“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
“And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.”
“And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.”
“And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.”
Well it has been a minute since these things happened. But try to put yourself in the moment. You just got the news that the Savior has come.
In journalism we have a word I love called “reax.” It’s a sidebar to the main story. The big news happened, that’s the main story. and the side story is the reax, or reaction of people to the main story.
The pastor had a lot to say about the low standing of shepherds within their society. I hadn’t heard any of that before and I found that interesting. But my takeaway was what the shepherds did, their immediate reaction.
Note that in verse 15 after the angels leave, the shepherds say “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass.” Then in verse 16 “they came with haste and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.”
The emphasis there is mine of course. My question is this: How quickly and decisively do I react to the reality of the birth of the Savior and his death as a substitute for me, to forgive my sin and save me. What’s my reax?
Just after the “go-now, with-haste” part, the shepherds began to tell the story about the birth of the Christ child and what it means for mankind as a whole and for each individual who hears the news.
How quick am I to do these things?
These shepherds were working, making a living. They were not at some shepherds’ convention doing a SWOT analysis, looking over charts. They were busy.
Yet the news they got (and no doubt the way that they got it) caused them to scrap everything and go, right away.
The Christ child didn’t go to the top of their agenda, the Christ child became their whole agenda.
I hope some of us can shake free from our negative inertia and re-embark on a more heavenly trajectory.
So the big day is tomorrow. I’m wishing you and your family a happy, healthy and blessed Christmas. My prayer for all of us is we will have and keep our focus in the right place, on Jesus.
When people ask my mother how she celebrates Christmas, she says “I don’t celebrate Christmas, I celebrate Christ.”
Amen to that. Hang the stockings by the chimney with care, yes. But don’t forget the true reason we are celebrating.
Page 7 
Amen! I love your mother’s answer. 🙂
>
LikeLiked by 1 person