who ya gonna tell?

When you get good news who do you tell?   Do you call your wife, or your mom, or your neighbor, or your best friend?  Who is it?

In the Christmas story the first people to hear about Jesus being born were the shepherds.  That is not the normal birth announcement for a king or anybody of influence.  Maybe that would be more like the announcement of "hey, I just took a bath" or something like "dudes, I think one of my sheep is pregnant" and not "the son of God was just born".  You might miss my point here.  But keep listening if you will.

Read the Christmas story, especially the part where the shepherds hear about Jesus.  I am amazed at the words that ring in my head after I let them settle in just a bit.  Something about peace and God sending us a gift.  It goes deeper than that.  Listen in:

Luke 2:8-15 NLT

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. ⁹ Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified, ¹⁰ but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. ¹¹ The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! ¹² And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." ¹³ Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, ¹⁴ "Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased." ¹⁵ When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem! Let's see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

Can you see this or even hear what is happening?  These men are out doing the normal thing that shepherds do one night.  And bam.  Right there in front of them are angels.  Not a normal happening, at least I don't think.

The angels said this is "good news that will bring joy to all people".  I get that, but who will believe these rag-tag shepherds?  They were hearing about "The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord".  Now, they had heard this would happen one day but not in Bethlehem or anywhere near where they were.  Can you feel this yet?

My two favorite pieces this morning ringing in ears and bouncing around my heart have to go with the "Glory to God in the highest" taking place all around these people and the "peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased".  That is a word for us all.  Back then and now Jesus brings real peace.  Many people we know, even us, need that kind of peace.  Listen, when Heaven gets excited about something happening, we ought to get excited about something happening.

Who ya gonna tell?  It's Christmas.  Yes, this holiday comes around every 365 days, and it is a cool time of the year.  I love the time with family and sharing.  I love and enjoy the time we have been able to spend celebrating with friends.  But who is missing out on the story?  Who is out in some proverbial field somewhere doing their own thing that needs to hear some good news?

Maybe it is the guy serving you today or the lady at the checkout stand there at the store.  Maybe it is the neighbor who is alone or who lost a loved one.  Maybe, just maybe it is that person you live with that you are not on the best of terms with right now.  Who needs to hear ... who needs to feel ... who needs to know Jesus who brings peace and gives good news?  Think about it.

Who ya gonna tell?