December 25, 2018
To read full passage click: Luke 2:8-20 …“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’” vs. 15
The shepherds in Luke’s story could have been content with hearing the good news from the angels and then going back to sleep. Instead, Luke reports that they decided to go into Bethlehem and see the thing that had been made known to them. Last night and this morning, worshippers all over the world have heard that same good news, and for many, that experience will have been enough. “We’ve heard the good news,” they think to themselves, “and now it’s back to the routine.” It’s an understandable reaction, but hearing is only the first step on what could be the journey of a lifetime. It’s in the “going” that we experience the glory and grace of the new life that is ours in Christ Jesus. Christmas calls us to go with the gospel and transform the lives of hurting people with unselfish deeds of love and affection.
St. Francis, who is widely credited with staging the first Nativity scene in 1223, prayed, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred let me sow love.” St. Francis got it! He knew that there was more to Christmas than hearing the story. Like the shepherds, he went with the gospel, and in the process, changed the world!
Thought with the Day: How can I change the world?
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