Corner Post Messages
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Corner Post Messages......
from the Coordinator of Parish Ministries
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An Angelic Chorus
December 21, 2008 - Volume 1, Number 18 |
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The past few weeks I've attended a lot of choral and band concerts. Some were to hear friends and former students share their musical gifts, and other events I attended because friends invited me to join them. Some of the musical occasions were filled with songs that spoke to my heart. Sometimes I saw joy in the faces of the carolers as they sang songs because the message they were sharing had a personal meaning and they wished to relay that joy to the audience. Other times, as I prepared to brave the frigid winter winds, I knew I was walking away from a concert that had shared pleasant sounding melodies, but the message didn't speak to my heart, and I left feeling empty.
Another concert was given around 2000 years ago to a group of men working the night shift. This group of men didn't have to purchase tickets, scramble for a good seat, inquire about a program, or concern themselves with parking. They didn't look in their closet beforehand for the perfect sweater to wear, or even take time to bathe and comb their hair! The choral event they would attend wasn't one they had marked on their calendars and anticipated. Instead, they were members of an elite audience who walked away with hearts full of joy and wonder.
Luke tells us that shepherds, a despised group of people, were in the pastures dotting the landscape around Bethlehem, doing what shepherds do during the night; watching the sheep and the goats. The animals entrusted in their care, were probably bedded down in a "u" shaped pen they had been constructed earlier out of rocks or brush. The shepherds, as they were lying around the opening were conversing with one another. I imagine their conversations were very similar to ones farmers have today, centered on the day's events and the weather. Can you imagine their conversations concerning the clearness of the sky and wondering about that one star in the sky that seemed particularly bright?
And as they were peering into a sky, it was suddenly filled with a multitude of angels floating in the air as they sang praises to God. Did they first think they were dreaming, an illusion after eating too many sheep jerky sticks? Did they wonder if anyone else had seen what they had just witnessed? Luke doesn't tell us what the entire discussion was after the heavenly chorus, we just know that they decided to go and see. And I'm sure they were not disappointed at the site, a babe, our Savior, lying in a manger.
Every day we have a choice, to react the way the shepherds did, to go, see, and share the news. We can be a shepherd to the sheep around us, being a primary source of the great news, or we can stay on the hillside, ignoring the call and doing something we think is safe, but brings no lasting joy. My prayer is that you chose to be the shepherd to the sheep you daily encounter, sharing the good news as the angels did one night long ago.
Enjoying the ride,
Jane
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