Influencers Weekly Devotional

Twas the Night Before Christmas

by

Rocky Fleming

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying,“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2: 8-14 Can we even imagine what it would have been like for those shepherds who saw, heard, and experienced this event that took place over 2,000 years ago? It will be hard to do unless we remove ourselves from the cultural norms we have grown up with, and look through the weary eyes of a man who was working in one of the lowest of work classes. The shepherds in that day, as it goes today for a man who mistakenly but normally defines himself by his work, would be the last people anyone would expect to be the first to receive this great news about the King of Kings being born. These shepherds would be equal only to tax collectors and dung sweepers. They were deprived of all civil rights, could not hold judicial office, and were a despised class officially designated as “sinners.” Therefore, if we could get into a man's perspective driven by such humiliating circumstances, and look through years of being spit on, cursed and regarded less than the sheep's wool they protected, maybe then, we could understand how great a privilege it was for these men to receive this news. The big question is, why would God start at the bottom of the pit of sinners, which included the religious privileged, to announce the birth of Jesus? If you haven't figured it out yet, you should…God does most everything counter to the ways of the world, even the way He delivered His Son to this planet. Consider if you will that Mary and Joseph were not much higher up the class chart than the shepherds, evidenced by where Jesus was birthed and Joseph's work. Jesus, the Christ, was born in a stinking stable among stinking animals. Remove from your thinking the glorified depictions we have seen in our churches and greeting cards. A stable is dirty and this was not a sterile environment. There was no doctor or midwife to walk Mary through the labor. She was likely no more than 15 years old or less. This was her first child, so she had no firsthand experience with the pain of childbirth, and the contractions her young body would go through. Joseph did what he could do for Mary in making her comfortable, but what would a carpenter know about childbirth? Some might say that God was unfair to make it so hard for Mary and Jesus to be born this way, unless we can see the hidden message being delivered in this humble setting. Why would God start at the bottom of the people of the world to announce His Son's birth, and He be born into such humble circumstances? It was because God was saying through this setting, as the angels said, what was happening would be “good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.” Did you catch the biggest of the big news? Jesus, the Savior, would be for “all people.” There were so many other hidden messages during the life of Jesus and our cultural ignorance keeps us from understanding how great this great news was. During His life, Jesus described Himself as the Good Shepherd. Can you imagine a 21stcentury equivalent of this description? How about a septic tank cleaner who calls himself good? How about a garbage collector? How about a nurse who cleans the rotting flesh of a leper? Can you think of any others? Probably not, for even those jobs are not despicable, only hard to do for most of us. But Jesus voluntarily identified Himself in a class of people that the people of that day looked down on, and in doing so, He lifted up the lowly, and brought down the arrogant. That is why He brought so much hope to the broken people of that day, and why He brings so much hope to the broken people of this day. I left out one other class of people that were considered the dregs of society in Christ's day, and it is the same today. They are a broken people. It is your typical prisoner locked up in the jails and prisons across this land. The last few months I have had some firsthand experience meeting with some prisoners in Chino and Cummins prisons, and have talked with men there who are going through The Journey. For many men and women within and outside of prisons, The Journey has been good news to them, as it is a process that delivers them into an intimate, abiding relationship with Christ. Can you imagine the good news it is to a man who has murdered a life or stolen property and been sentenced to be taken out of society to hear that God still values his soul and wants to have an intimate relationship with him? Can you imagine the message of grace and deliverance that the Good Shepherd gives to those men, versus a message of condemnation that the world gives them? Can you imagine what a privilege it is for those messengers who meet with these prisoners, and give them the “good news of a great joy that will be for all the people” which includes them? I can understand why the angels were having a party in the night time sky before the shepherds. They were excited about the hope these humble men were about to be given, and the hope that would be given to all the people of the world. It is exciting to declare this message of hope, and to be a messenger of God's word to a person without hope. That is why the angels were so exuberant. But, so can we also join in their celebration, if we will join in their message. As we prepare this week for the celebration of our Savior's birthday, could I ask you to also consider how you might get into the celebration the angels had over 2,000 years ago? It is easier than you might imagine, but it will require a little effort. Why not consider being an angel to someone this Christmas? You need to know that the word angel in Hebrew and Greek simply means messenger from God. Although you cannot be a member of the heavenly hosts, you can still be God's messenger, if you will declare that same good news declared 2,000 years ago. You can declare it to a child, or an elderly person in a nursing home. You can declare it to a homeless person or a multimillionaire. You can declare it to prisoners locked up in jails, or to prisoners not in jails and who are locked up in sin and self-condemnation. It is good news to all of these people, and they are likely within easy reach of you. Simply look around, and you will find them ready to receive the good news you can deliver to them. God bless you in your Christmas mission, angel of God. There are some very discouraged people who are waiting for you to bring them this great news. Now is the time to speak out. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS DEVOTIONAL