Be Like The Shepherds

Today I prayed for you, dear Ones of the Mountain Sky Conference, as we journeyed through Bethlehem. You were on my mind all day as we touched the place where Jesus was born and also stood underneath an Israeli security tower next to the Separation Wall. 

But it was as we visited the Shepherds Field that my prayers for you, for us, for our church, burned in my heart. While the lectionary is pushing us towards Lent, I am in Bethlehem, where every day is Christmas.

I kept thinking of those shepherds, out in their fields (THESE fields!) when their routine night of sheep tending was interrupted: God’s glory shone around them and an angel stood before them. This unexpected disturbance frightened them, but the angel told them not to be afraid, for the angel was bringing good news: “A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2)

The angel left them and instead of simply returning to their task of shepherding, they left for Bethlehem to see if what the angel said was true. Sure enough, they found Mary, Joseph and Jesus just as they had been told, and the shepherds told everyone the angel’s message. 

Mountain Sky Pilgrims in a cave in Shepherds Field

I am thinking about what happens when God breaks into our lives, how very disruptive the encounter is: shepherds left their fields, fishermen dropped their nets, Paul was even blinded for a bit. There is a great disturbance as what we think we know is challenged by this new thing God is doing in our lives and world.

“Do not be afraid.”

God invites us to a new life, a new way of seeing the world, a new spirit, a new perspective and it is very disruptive. We cling to the known and sure. To let go of what we know is frightening. Yet, the angel speaks to us as well, “Do not be afraid.”

Being in Bethlehem, I am reminded that every day really is Christmas. God desires to break into our hearts and offer Good News. Just as the shepherds had to leave what they knew and understood their lives and world to be, God invited them to participate in the ushering in of something so longed for yet too good to be true: God-Is-With-Us. Nothing can ever be the same again.

Do we let the Good News become the stale news? Do we become too comfortable with what is and not open ourselves to what God seeks to give birth to in our lives and communities? Are we too busy becoming mired in our routines that we fail to allow God to interrupt us and lead us into new ways that bring us Life?

Do not be afraid.

May you and your congregation have hearts open to God’s Good News. May you be willing to drop what you are doing (and perhaps have always been doing) so Christ can be born into our lives and world, again and again and again. May you have a shepherd’s willing spirit, even in the face of something fearful, to trust enough to follow the angel’s invitation.

May you not be afraid.