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Gospel according to Luke 2: 15-21 (NIV)
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
Last week’s reflection ended thus:
“(S)hepherds (in the plural) received this vital word. What were they to do with this message, having received it?” And then I put the question: “What are we to do with this message, having received it?”
In the verses above, we learn what the shepherds did next. They discussed what they had seen and heard (and evidently all of them had seen and heard the angel and then had seen and heard the “heavenly host” of verse 13). We note that they did not claim that an angel had told them of a birth in Bethlehem, they used the expression, “which the Lord has told us about.”
They determined to go to Bethlehem. They “hurried off” and found Mary, Joseph and the baby of whom the angel had spoken. Significantly, they then “spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child” (verse 17). Those shepherds were the first eyewitnesses and the first evangelists!
The shepherds returned, presumably to where their flocks were being pastured, “glorifying and praising God”.
I repeat the question: “What are we to do with this message, having received it?”
Would it not be entirely appropriate for us to do exactly what the shepherds did? Should we not “spread the word”, all the while “glorifying and praising God”?
This is the time of year when our message is going to be heard. It is when so many are planning for a new beginning. A new year entices us to make resolutions to give up what is not working in our lives and to adopt habits which will be good for us and good for others. As we enter a new year, let us therefore resolve to be spreaders of the word, the good news, and glorifiers of God.