Hope in the darkness
Did your parents ever warn you, ‘Don’t run in the dark!’? This is one of those ‘common sense’ things we learn in childhood for our own safety. If you run in the dark, you will fall over and hurt yourself.
So why did the Bethlehem shepherds run in the dark? The scriptures tell us that after the appearance of the angels, singing ‘Glory to God in highest heaven’, ‘the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go and see this thing which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste’ (Luke 2:15,16). Haste means quickly.
Remember it was very dark as they had no streetlights or mobile phones with a torch in those days. Also, these shepherds were out in the fields and would have had to stumble their way back into town without a road.
These hard-working shepherds had been captured by God, graciously keeping the promise to send a Saviour. Their passion to ‘go and see’ was inspired by God’s sure word and promise. This was despite the darkness and the hazards ahead of them on the way back into Jerusalem.
The life of a Bethlehem shepherd in New Testament times was not an easy journey. They lived in a country ruled by an overseas power. A shepherd usually suffered poverty and had little opportunity to change their situation. But God surprised them with his good news, and God gathered them to the side of the manger to see Christ, their Lord.
There are always obstacles in our journey. We trip and fall. We struggle with uncertainty. We long for the light in dark places. Even in matters in the church, we are not sure about the way ahead.
But it is God’s sure word and promise that carries us forward. We are confronted with the good news of the manger and the cross, where God’s heart is revealed as gracious and merciful – slow to anger and abounding in love.
The shepherds ran to see Jesus. Let us go forward together, keeping our eyes fixed on the pioneer and perfecter of our faith: Jesus Christ.
After the shepherds had arrived at the manger, they became the first ‘evangelists’ of the good news of the incarnation. They told everyone about what had happened and of the promise fulfilled in the birth of Mary’s son.
Scripture tells us that those who heard the witness of the shepherds were amazed.
Two thousand years later, we are called to follow the example of the Bethlehem shepherds, to gather family and friends with us at the Christmas manger so God’s good news would amaze us all and make us all people of hope.
This is the time of year to invite family and friends to Christmas festivities – including inviting them to worship with you at church.
With Christmas 2023 drawing closer, you will have seen the shops filling up with Christmas stock, including ornaments and decorations.
I encourage you to be on the lookout for nativity scenes. If you see one in a store or in your local community centre, please consider finding out who the person in charge of that place is. Then, as you are able, please thank them for the display of a nativity scene. In doing this, you are celebrating with that person ‘the reason for the season’.
‘O holy child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in:
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Immanuel!’
From ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ by Phillips Brooks (1835–1893)
In Christ,
Bishop Paul Smith
This message was first published in Bishop Paul’s column ‘Because we bear your name’ in The Lutheran.
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