“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”
The life of the shepherd is not an easy life; but it is a simple life. Shepherds don’t eat fine food, or wear fancy clothing. They don’t have access to a wide variety of entertainment or diversion; they don’t sleep in soft, comfortable beds. Their food and their clothing are simple; their entertainment, likewise, simple – and their bed is the ground. Shepherds also do not live in the midst of a number of people, nor among the delights – and temptations – of cities and towns. Rather, they live apart from the world, and from all the ways of the world. All around them are the works of God in nature, especially at night, as they behold the glories of the heavens, where God is also revealed.
As a result of living simply, and apart from the world in the midst of God’s creation, shepherds tend to be without guile; and so it is that, when our Lord is born, the angels appear to the shepherds, in a divine vision, revealing to these simple and humble men the good news of His birth. And the shepherds say to each other, “Let us go and see what has come to pass”; and, having seen, they leave rejoicing, glorifying God, and they themselves become heralds, as were the angels to them, telling everyone the good tidings of great joy for all people – the Savior is born; God is with us.
There aren’t too many of us who live a simple life away from the world – so we should not be surprised not to see visions of angels. Even so, God, in His mercy, has brought us to His house, and entrusted to us the good tidings of His presence with us, and that He has come to save us from sin and death. We may not live according to the circumstances that helped prepare the shepherds to receive the divine vision; but we can pursue simplicity and a life apart from the ways of the world, even as we dwell in the world, and not in the wilderness. We can pray, and fast; we can give, and we can struggle against our passions and the sinful impulses and desires that arise from them. We can study the words of Scripture, and the lives of the saints, and the teachings of the fathers – and we can live with humility, peace and love – love for God, for each other, and for those who have yet to hear the good news, those who are not yet members of the household of God.
Brothers and sisters: Let us celebrate the joyous Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ by giving thanks and praise to God for the hope of our salvation; and let us labor to bring forth in our own lives the testimony of the reality of His presence by letting Him be seen in us – in what we say, and in what we do, in what we think and feel, and in who we are. Having come to where He is, and been in His presence, let us go forth rejoicing to tell all the world that God is with us, and that the Savior has come, to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.
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