And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
My wife was the guest preacher at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Earlington this past Sunday, and part of her sermon had to do with some of the tells in Luke ... that we can probably assume that Jesus's family was poor because they brought two doves for sacrifice at the purification service (which could be substituted for a lamb if you were too poor, per Leviticus), for example. It was fascinating and wonderful.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I've thought about a lot during this season has been how open and alert Joseph and Mary were to seeing/hearing the divine even when they were amid really tedious life chores like going from town to town for some stupid census jive. Kept me thinking about Rube, Dr. Anonymous and their maby moving cross-country and how hard a thing that is.