Merry Christmas, roadkill man (a sermon from the Gospel of Luke 2:8-20)

Photo by David Trinks on Unsplash

A reading from the Gospel of Luke 2:8 - 20:

Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and 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 heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

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.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.

Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.

For whom is this good news of great joy?

The people.

Which people?

All the people.

Who does the Breath of God exhaling Holy Scripture mean by “all the people”?

Everyone.

Every. One.

Just to make the point so that you can’t miss it, the Gospel (literally) shines the light on the shepherds.

This is key.

Maybe you don’t know any shepherds or know much about what they do. So, instead, think of dirty jobs where you live. Jobs so dirty that they fall to folks who can’t get hired to do anything else. Jobs so dirty that nobody even wants to be around the people who do them.

I once knew of a guy whose job was to pick up roadkill.

What kind of character, what kind of issues, what kind of rap sheet, made it so that that job was the only one anyone would pay him to do?

Now picture this: When night falls and he starts unloading the rotting carcasses from his truck, the host of heaven appears to him. The host of heaven announces to him–of all people!–that a new world was just born into the old one not too far from where he is covered in the stink of death. Yes! That just now starts the cleansing and sanctification of all broken and corrupted systems, the healing of all disabilities, diseases, and wounds, the lavishing of family intimacy and love on all loneliness, the reconciliation of all conflicts and estrangements, the reparation and restitution of all thefts, the righting of all wrongs, and even the resurrection of the dead. Yes, all of it is born just now, the genesis of the whole new world that will grow up right in the middle of the old one.

This is the news the heavenly host announces to that man who, to the world, is little better than the roadkill he shovels into the incinerator in the middle of the night.

Now why would the host of heaven announce such cosmic, seismic, volcanic news for all the people to the last person anyone would ever believe or even let get close enough to share the news?

The Gospel makes the recipients of the message into the message itself!

Is there anyone under heaven who needs the announcement of peace on Earth–shalom–all-is-forgiven-ness, all-is-right-ness, all-is-well-ness than those who eke out their existence in the darkest, dirtiest, loneliest places?

The shepherds being the first to hear the birth announcement is good news of great joy for all of us because it shows, once again, that God makes God’s home in broken people and places (see Psalm 34:18). Whatever we think excludes us from God’s favor and peace, we may, with the shepherds, rest assured that this good news of great joy is, indeed, for us.

Before we leave the scene, let us go with the shepherds to see “this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”

Yes, they do find the child in the manger, but what does this mean? What about this one birth is so amazing? So worth treasuring and pondering in our hearts?

This birth fulfills the first command in the Bible: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it” (Book of Genesis 1:28). This birth, however, is fruitful in a whole new way. For this birth bears the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Because of the birth that the shepherds–and all of us with them–witness in Bethlehem, these are not the characteristics that a few pious people cultivate through discipline and practice.

No, the birth of the Christ is the birth of a new God-breathed destiny for all creation. In the Christ, the fruit of the Spirit are born into the world and begin their slow but sure multiplication so that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control subdue the earth in their new dominion.

This is good news of great joy for all the people for all people are part of God’s creation that is being born again…starting at Christmas.

The angels invite us to join the shepherds as they go see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us. Will we join them in glorifying and praising God?

Merry Christmas.