Title: GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY
Scripture: Luke 2: 8-12

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

Poetry:
From On the Morning of Christ's Nativity
by John Milton

The shepherds on the lawn,
Or ere the point of dawn,
 Sate simply chatting in a rustic row;
Full little thought they than
That the mighty Pan
         Was kindly come to live with them below:
Perhaps their loves, or else their sheep,
Was all that did their silly thoughts so busy keep;

When such music sweet
Their hearts and ears did greet,
         As never was by mortal finger strook,
Divinely warbled voice
Answering the stringed noise,
         As all their souls in blissful rapture took:
The air such pleasure loth to lose,
With thousand echoes still prolongs each heav'nly
     close.

Nature, that heard such sound
Beneath the hollow round
         Of Cynthia's seat, the Airy region thrilling,
Now was almost won
To think her part was done,
         And that her reign had here its last fulfilling:
She knew such harmony alone
Could hold all heav'n and earth in happier union.

At last surrounds their sight
A globe of circular light,
         That with long beams the shame-fac'd Night
               array'd;
The helmed Cherubim
And sworded Seraphim
         Are seen in glittering ranks with wings display'd,
Harping in loud and solemn quire,
With unexpressive notes to Heav'n's new-born Heir.

Such music (as 'tis said)
Before was never made,
         But when of old the sons of morning sung,
While the Creator great
His constellations set,
        And the well-balanc'd world on hinges hung,
And cast the dark foundations deep,
And bid the welt'ring waves their oozy channel keep.

Ring out ye crystal spheres!
Once bless our human ears
         (If ye have power to touch our senses so)
And let your silver chime
Move in melodious time,
         And let the bass of Heav'n's deep organ blow;
And with your ninefold harmony
Make up full consort to th'angelic symphony.

For if such holy song
Enwrap our fancy long,
         Time will run back and fetch the age of gold,
And speckl'd Vanity
Will sicken soon and die,
         And leprous Sin will melt from earthly mould;
And Hell itself will pass away,
And leave her dolorous mansions to the peering Day.

Yea, Truth and Justice then
Will down return to men,
         Orb'd in a rainbow; and, like glories wearing,
Mercy will sit between,
Thron'd in celestial sheen,
         With radiant feet the tissu'd clouds down
              steering;
And Heav'n, as at some festival,
Will open wide the gates of her high palace hall.

GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY

The shepherds did not expect to encounter the glory of God amid the bleating of lambs and crackling of tired fires. The night began unremarkably. They talked and laughed to ward off sleep, to stay alert for sounds of danger. The cadence and calming tones of their familiar voices soothed their restless flocks. Now and then, their eyes wandered to the east, searching for signs of the dawn that was still far off.

They did not know a greater dawn was so close at hand.

They did not think to look for God, for they were far from the temple. Their duties were mundane. Ceremonious washings and atoning sacrifices were far from their minds. The promised Messiah seemed less tangible than the people, plans, and demands of the coming day. They could not fathom being sought by the uncreated God amid their ordinary lives.

To these unassuming shepherds, the glory of the Lord appeared. Terror followed. Wide-eyed, trembling witnesses beheld nature join the angelic chorus as the night reverberated in triumphal praise. All questions, uncertainties, sufferings, divisions, and insecurities that had clamored for attention, for the moment, faded. Exposed to but a fraction of the Light shining forth from these heavenly heralds, they were conscious only of their smallness and frailty. But great fear transfigured into greater joy.

For the long-awaited One had arrived. Achings and groanings centuries old were answered at last—their consolation a babe who himself sought the consolation of his mother’s touch. The fullness of God embodied in the helpless form of an infant. The worship of the earth and heavens received by the newborn who now whimpered at the foreignness of the world outside the womb, still adjusting to the manger he’d accepted in place of his royal throne. The Mighty One made completely, utterly vulnerable.

When the shepherds met their Good Shepherd, how could they not fall down in worship? When chosen by the King to bear witness to his humble entrance, how could they not spread the joyous news? When dignified by the Creator who reigns on high, how could they not meet with loving, confident gaze the eyes of those whose faces were twisted in sneering rejection, who had not yet borne witness to the inbreaking Kingdom? 

Their good tidings are still for all men. The important and the cast aside. The earnest seekers and the flagrant sinners. The educated and the unlearned. The hopeful and those in despair. And most of all for those outside the city gate—for the oppressed, the poor, the sojourner, the orphaned, and all who are unhindered by their own sense of self-importance. For those in darkness have seen a great light. A Savior has come, who is Christ, the Lord.

Bless the Lord who crashes into the rhythms of the familiar, untethered by our expectations.

Bless the Lord whose glory, barely glimpsed, brings us to our knees in fear and longing and joy.

Bless the Lord who bids us come, whose presence draws our hearts to worship.

As creation trembles and erupts into song, may we join in and echo the chorus:

Glory! Glory! Glory to God in the highest!

***

Great are you, Lord, and greatly to be praised!

From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. When we consider your heavens, the works of your fingers, the earth, stars, and creatures you have made, who are we that you are mindful of us? Who are we that you should care for us?

Yet, you made your dwelling among us. You have revealed your glory and upended our expectations. You have mystified the wise and made wise the simple. You have not left us to ourselves, but intrude when our inattentive, idolatrous hearts grow distracted by lesser pursuits. You call us to exult in your praise, for you have made us for yourself.

So teach us to revel in your love. Teach us to notice where your glory is breaking in. Teach us to exalt those you exalt. And show us how to become like children, that we may enter the Kingdom of Heaven in humble dependence, just as you entered our world.
Amen.

Devotion Author:
Hannah Williamson
Alumna of Biola University and the Torrey Honors College
Content Creation Specialist at Michael Hyatt & Co.

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