THOSE SHEPHERDS AND THOSE ANGELS

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” —Luke 2:9, 10

We tell this story in hushed tones every Christmas: The quiet and chilly evening outside Bethlehem, the sounds of animals and murmured conversations around a small fire, complaints about the influx of visitors to their small town, the rough shepherds as unlikely recipients about to receive a startling interruption, a world-changing announcement, and an angel choir. For many years, I have been part of a large-scale reenactment of this story for the community in our part of the city each December. Every year, I feel again the sense of wonder that is part of the story, but also that such an unlikely story is still being retold more than 2,000 years later—and that somehow we believe that this obscure historical moment changed everything. But there is also an undertow of danger and fear in the story.

Empires and rulers were concerned with any claims to a new king or a different kind of kingdom. As such, the angel’s “Do not be afraid” was not only for those shepherds startled from their evening drowsiness but was also to be a message of “great joy for all the people.” It was for all who would hear or read the story in the centuries to come, inhabiting a world of fear and threat but hoping to believe that this baby changed their story and would offer a different way to live with one another and with God. Afterward, the shepherds followed the angel’s instructions, found the baby, and went back to their sheep, praising God.

There was a powerful effect on those who first heard the remarkable story—“all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them” (Luke 2:18).