Luke 2:6-9
It’s as if the sky opened up. In the middle of the night, there was a flash of light, an impossible light, which stirred even the drowsiest shepherd to alertness. They had heard of messengers coming from God, but the sight felt like too much to behold. What could it mean? They wondered, Why us?
Somewhere across town, Mary held her newborn close to her chest, skin to skin. The holy mystery of God made flesh. The upper room was crowded with relatives from out of town. The animals had been brought inside for the night. Into this chaos, Christ entered the world.
And the sky opened up. There is so much joy in heaven for this child’s birth. Joy that cannot be contained. Joy that must be shared. So why are the shepherds terrified?
Because when we come face to face with the glory of God, we don’t know what to expect. I can imagine the shepherds, their lives flashing before their eyes. Every mistake, every heartbreak, every wound and the life not yet lived. And this flash of light. A revelation of new birth. A promise not to destroy but to save. A proclamation of hope for all people. Hope in the tiny fingers and toes of a baby boy.
Truth be told, the miracle of this birth needs to be revealed from heaven. It defies our natural human understanding. If you are standing in fear with the shepherds tonight, hear the good news: This child Jesus was born for you. To know your pain. To know your fears. To face them with you. May each of us receive this promise by faith.
Almighty and ever-living God, we give thanks this morning for the night long ago when you drew so close to us that you truly became one of us. A child, reconciling the whole world, restoring what had been broken. Dwell with us here, be born in us, that we may be reconciled to you and to one another.
Be near to all who are hurting or in trouble, sick or dying, alone or afraid. Be near to the prisoner and the immigrant, the grieving and the rejected. Bring your justice, your healing, and your peace to your people here.
We pray for all those gathered here, and for our loved ones who we name now aloud or in the silence of our hearts. We put our trust in You, O Lord, for you alone are our hope and salvation. Amen.
Parkview is a member of the Presbyterian Church USA.
Last Updated: January 24, 2019 by Aart
Reflection December 23, Christmas Service
Luke :1-5: Context matters: then and now. This leads to:
by Veronica Gould
Luke 2:6-9
It’s as if the sky opened up. In the middle of the night, there was a flash of light, an impossible light, which stirred even the drowsiest shepherd to alertness. They had heard of messengers coming from God, but the sight felt like too much to behold. What could it mean? They wondered, Why us?
Somewhere across town, Mary held her newborn close to her chest, skin to skin. The holy mystery of God made flesh. The upper room was crowded with relatives from out of town. The animals had been brought inside for the night. Into this chaos, Christ entered the world.
And the sky opened up. There is so much joy in heaven for this child’s birth. Joy that cannot be contained. Joy that must be shared. So why are the shepherds terrified?
Because when we come face to face with the glory of God, we don’t know what to expect. I can imagine the shepherds, their lives flashing before their eyes. Every mistake, every heartbreak, every wound and the life not yet lived. And this flash of light. A revelation of new birth. A promise not to destroy but to save. A proclamation of hope for all people. Hope in the tiny fingers and toes of a baby boy.
Truth be told, the miracle of this birth needs to be revealed from heaven. It defies our natural human understanding. If you are standing in fear with the shepherds tonight, hear the good news: This child Jesus was born for you. To know your pain. To know your fears. To face them with you. May each of us receive this promise by faith.
Almighty and ever-living God, we give thanks this morning for the night long ago when you drew so close to us that you truly became one of us. A child, reconciling the whole world, restoring what had been broken. Dwell with us here, be born in us, that we may be reconciled to you and to one another.
Be near to all who are hurting or in trouble, sick or dying, alone or afraid. Be near to the prisoner and the immigrant, the grieving and the rejected. Bring your justice, your healing, and your peace to your people here.
We pray for all those gathered here, and for our loved ones who we name now aloud or in the silence of our hearts. We put our trust in You, O Lord, for you alone are our hope and salvation. Amen.
by Rola Al Ashkar
Luke 2: 10-15
The actual birth story is wrapped up in two short verses.
After four weeks of preparation, anticipation and the waiting, here it is finally, the actual birth celebration that we’ve been waiting for. And we would think the story ends here, as well it should. Isn’t the birth/the coming of Jesus the culmination of all the preparations? But it doesn’t seem like it. It seems like the story had just started.
There’s a whole Lot of details around the reactions to that birth.
I see that as Luke’s way of saying that God’s coming is like a thief in the night, it happens in the blink of an eye. Now how we respond to it makes the story a story.
Luke goes on to say that a great company of angels appeared and started praising God and announcing to the world a great message of peace and salvation. But then there is this narrative of shepherds who have heard the news and decided to act upon it and go examine it for themselves. We do not know if this cosmic event mattered at all to anyone else living in that area, but we know those shepherds cared enough to make that birth event part of their personal narrative. They said to one another: let’s go and see that thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about. Let’s go and see.
Friends, the truth is born and has dwelled among us. How do we respond it? Let us go and see the great things that God has brought into our lives.
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