Announcing the birth

A birth is exciting news. A birth has to be announced, because everyone is waiting with anticipation for the birth of this child. My first son came into this world three weeks after his due date and so we know all about having to wait!

Back when I was a kid, a birth was announced in the local newspaper (or in the national paper if you were proper posh!) I still have the cutting announcing my birth. I imagine my Dad rang round close friends and family but everyone would have to wait for the announcement in the paper.

When we had our sons, we sent out a card announcing the birth to all our friends and relatives. We’d designed it on the computer before they were born ready to slot in the details. We’d even designed one card for a boy and one card for a girl – my second son was to have been called Erin Charlotte! We were fully prepared.

Nowadays of course, it’s different. Everyone knows all the details immediately. We messaged all those closest to us with this photo just minutes after my granddaughter was born. The next morning, the news was all over Facebook and the comments of congratulation soon started flooding in.

What hasn’t changed is the excitement that the announcement of a birth generates. Every time a baby is born, it feels like a miracle. Even with one born every minute, the excitement is fresh every single time. Babies are designed to make our hearts melt, but it’s more than that. In that moment. we’re confronted full on with the wonder of new life and the awesomeness of creation. Looking in wonder upon a baby is entirely natural reaction.

The Bible doesn’t mention the people in the house where Joseph and Mary were staying. This birth will not have gone unnoticed. People will have gathered around to catch sight of this newborn child. Women will have been around to advise this young girl on how to care for her tiny baby. Bethlehem was a bustling place at this time, we’ve seen that already. A baby draws a crowd. And this was not just any baby.

The Bible gives the following account of the announcement of the news of this extra special birth. No specific details about time and place. But plenty of indicators as to God’s ongoing relationship with the human race. Plenty of significance for us to learn from. We’ll spend a couple of days on this familiar story that may have lost its impact through its very familiarity. ‘While shepherds washed their socks by night’ and all that.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 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. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’

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.’

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:8-20

Actually, reading that through now, I’m pretty sure we’re going to need more than a couple of days to unpack all that!

Today we’re focusing on the announcement of the birth. God has no need to rely on technology. He has His own divine messenger service. He can choose to announce the birth whenever and wherever and to whoever He chooses. He could have chosen the movers and shakers of the day, the people with influence, the people who could have been trusted to spread the message of this divine birth far and wide.

And yet He chose shepherds.

Really?

Yes, shepherds. We’ll look at the significance of that tomorrow.

The Messenger appears with this announcement of the birth.

Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

The details are there. A little sketchy maybe but enough. This baby is a Saviour, the Messiah, the Lord. And he is a tiny baby, wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. What kind of madness is this? Someone so important lying in such lowly circumstances? What was God thinking? (I ask that a lot when I study the Christmas story. I find myself thinking ‘I wouldn’t have done it like that’. But maybe – probably – my version of the story would not have endured the way this one has because this one is so wacky and out there – and steeped in significance).

Sit with that for a moment. The God of the universe in human form. A Saviour appearing as a tiny baby. The Messiah wrapped in cloths. The Lord in a manger.

Sit with it a moment more. Try to take it in. Let this miracle works its magic in your heart.

Let your whole being respond.

The response in this account is worship. The feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity (dictionary definition). 

The angels set the tone. They show the shepherds how it’s done.

‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’

They give the glory back to God. Our hearts overflow with gratitude and wonder at the birth of any child, but imagine how much more gratitude and wonder is due for the birth of the most special child in the whole of time!

And so the shepherds’ response is to go and see. To trust and obey. To leave their daily lives and responsibilities to seek out the wonder of this incredible moment in history for themselves. To take the time not to let this moment slip by.

O come let us adore Him.

O come let us adore Him.

O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

I guess that’s what I’m urging us to think about today: our personal reaction to this incredible news.

It’s such a familiar story that it can easily lose its impact. It’s such a busy time that we can lose track of the reason for the season. Whatever you love about Christmas, this is better. Whatever excites you about Christmas, this is better.

There is nothing better than this good news.

Take the time. Make the time. Don’t let another Christmas go by, leaving you feeling empty and bloated and exhausted and in debt and disappointed that it wasn’t what you hoped it would be.

Oh, now carry me to Bethlehem
To see the Lord appear to men…  Calypso Carol

This is where the magic of Christmas truly lies.

O come let us adore Him.