Peace in the Gospel Christmas Story

Odds are that most of us had a more dignified birth than Jesus. Most of us were born in a clean hospital room surrounded by doctors and nurses with everything we needed to be warm, safe, and healthy. Jesus was born in a dirty stable full of animals and placed into a feeding trough. The way our savior was born is a beautiful picture of God’s heart for the poor and lowly, right down to the humble shepherds in the field who were invited to be part of a cosmic worship service in the sky and celebrate the joy set before the world at the coming of Jesus.

This casual angelic concert in the sky is one of our favorite images from the Christmas story. Can you just imagine these guys out in the field, minding their own business, taking care of their sheep, and all of a sudden, they are blinded by the bright light of Glory? A celestial being is standing in front of them giving them (what must have felt like random) news about a baby in a manger, and now the sky is full of angels singing and shouting about peace on earth and the favor of God. It would have been a lot to take in. Why was this happening to them?

The shepherds in the Christmas story represent social poverty and humanity’s sinful nature, and yet it was to them that the angels appeared to impart “good news of great joy,” not politicians or priests. First century shepherds lived in a world that made it hard to make a living as they struggled and scraped along at minimum wages. They lived their lives with animals in a field, and they probably smelled bad. And it was for them that God rolled back the curtain of Heaven and said, “get a glimpse of what’s coming your way.”

God delights in honoring the humble, and this is good news and great joy for us. Many of us spend our days in lowly and humbling routines. We prepare meals, change diapers, mow the lawn, teach, build, sew, eat, sleep, and repeat. The shepherds in the Christmas story could be there to remind us that ever since the birth of Christ all those years ago, Heaven has been breaking in, and there is no person on earth too meek and mild to be part of the celebration. Christ was born in a stable to unimportant people. He did very ordinary things and walked with the humble and lowly for the entirety of his life on earth. This cosmic clash of the glory of Heaven and the dirt and grime of earth is a beautiful picture of the way God has chosen to embrace us. He became like us so that we could one day become like Him.