The Shepherd’s Voice

Readings for Friday, December 24^th
Isaiah 9:2–7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11–14
Luke 2:1–14 [15–20]

How many of you have taken a trip with the family, with the Scouts, with Indian Maidens, or maybe a field trip with a youth group and have heard the question, ‘Are we there yet?’ It always seems like our children were impatient, we are impatient when it comes to getting there.

There was a little old lady who sat right behind the bus driver. Every ten minutes or so she’d pipe up, “Have we reached Oriskany Falls yet, sonny?”
“No, lady, not yet. I’ll let you know,” he replied, time after time.
The hours passed, the old woman kept asking for Oriskany Falls, and finally the little town came into view. Sighing with relief, the driver called out, “This is where you get out, lady.”
“Are we there yet, is this Oriskany Falls?”
“YES!” he bellowed. As he pulled up to the station he abruptly stopped and said, “Now get out!”
“Oh, I’m not leaving, I’m going all the way to Albany, sonny,” she explained sweetly. “It’s just that my daughter told me that when we got this far, I should take my blood pressure pill.”

Is the coming of Christ the end of our journey or is it an important marker along the way? Maybe there’s a better question for us to be asking than ‘Are we there yet?’

Mary and Joseph were on a journey in our Christmas text. They traveled from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he needed to register based on the decree from Emperor Augustus. You see Joseph was descended from the house and family of David.

This journey today would be about a 100-mile drive from Nazareth to Bethlehem and it may take two or three hours by car. But 2,000 years ago, this journey Mary and Joseph were on eight to ten days.
How many here like to tent camp? They likely didn’t even have a tent so they were subject to the elements. Of course the precise route for Mary and Joseph is not recorded biblically. However, the most likely route, said Wayne Ward, senior research professor of Christian theology at Southern Seminary, would have been straight through the Jordan Valley.
Are we there yet? I think I can hear Mary saying that, eight plus months with child. Regardless of the route they took it would have been difficult on foot or with camel or donkey with many ups and downs.
Our route through life through childhood, through school/college, through dating, through marriage, through a possible divorce, through end of life circumstances will have many ups and downs and maybe we ask ourselves the same question ‘Are we there yet?’ along the way.

Even though God called Mary into this unique circumstance, a baby to an unwed mother, we know she received encouragement from the angel, and we know she was accepted by Joseph, but the journey was hard none the less. ‘Are we there yet?’ may have been her question as well.

Has God called you into a relationship, a job, a family, a circumstance that is difficult? Out of frustration, out of a desire to be finished with this phase of your life are you asking ‘Are we there yet?’

Mary and Joseph may not have been the only ones asking ‘Are we there yet?’ The shepherds were keeping watch over their flock by night. Can you put yourself in their place tonight?

Shepherds in those days were usually young folks. At the time of this story, sheep farmers were shall we say low on the food chain, people valued little by other people. The sheep bred would likely have been used as sacrifice animals in the temple in near-by Jerusalem.

Do you have that calm piture in your mind. Some of the the folks were likely resting so they could take the later shift and some were sitting around sharing stories or quietly walking the boundaries watching for wolves. All at once, Bam! It happens, an angel appears. A bright light breaks the night.

Wouldn’t you be afraid, I’m not surprised they were afraid! I think I would have felt terrified.

I’ve heard some stories in my day about what some folks have thought to be an angelic appearance. Bright lights, being overpowered in the moment. When people have told me their stories I’m usually very skeptical, and yet, I usually get goose bumps as they explain what happened to them. I don’t know if it is true, but it changed their life, it altered how they were living. In the case of one gentleman, who was a Jew by birth, he committed his life to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Yes, on cold winter nights, when all you have to do is count sheep I’m sure you ask yourself, is it morning yet, is my shift over yet, ‘Are we there yet?’

These shepherds are jolted into a new realm, maybe some might say a time warp or a shift in consciousness. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”

Could God be calling you in a similar way? Could you be asking the question am I there yet, in my job, in my retirement, in my marriage, in my relationship with my mate?

The angel that spoke to the shepherds had good news for them and for all who ask ‘Are we there yet?’ The angel said, “Do not be afraid.” God’s message tonight, if we can hear it above all the clutter, the competing dialogues, the lies being foisted upon people of this world is both prophetic and profound, but in order to hear it, understand it we must change our question from ‘Are we there yet?’, to ‘Are we aware yet?’

In the Isaiah reading we heard the prophetic call of a Son to be born who would be:
Look at our reading from Isaiah 9:6-7
6For a child has (was to be) been born for us, a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.

These are NOT words of an endpoint, NOT words that answer are we there yet, they are words dealing with God’s everlasting process of calling us out of darkness into a new light.
During this Christmas season newspaper and television ads coax people into believing that they can give us a real Christmas by a festive shopping experience or by eating at trendy restaurants. These are attempts by our secular world to answer the question ‘Are we there yet?’

Dine here and you will have arrived. Buy this gift and it will end your emptiness, it doesn’t. Others believe that it’s the rituals at Christmas that make it alive. These things don’t change the question of ‘Are we there yet?’ or they don’t better answer the question Are we aware yet?’

When we left our shepherds they were just getting the good news. The news they didn’t really understand, they couldn’t understand, but they were curious. They said, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place.”

There story is NOT one of answering the question ‘Are we there yet?’ Their story is one of God breaking into the dullness of the day, the monotony of the moment and sending them on a life long journey of change. God entered their world and they would never be the same again.

The shepherds were eye witnesses to God’s miracle of incarnation. 17When they (the shepherds) saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Notice glorifying and praising, ongoing actions.

Just like our little old lady on the bus, when she was asking the question ‘Are we there yet?’ it wasn’t a question of final destination, it was a question of a benchmark along her journey. The shepherds didn’t see Jesus, worship him and leave as though they had reached a final destination. They went away glorifying and praising God.

Being aware of God at work requires a different set of eyes. Dr. John Rosen, a psychiatrist in New York City, is well known for his work with catatonic schizophrenics. Normally doctors remain separate and aloof from their patients. Dr. Rosen moves into the ward with them. He places his bed among their beds. He lives the life they must live. Day-to-day, he shares it. He loves them. If they don’t talk, he doesn’t talk either. It is as if he understands what is happening. His being there, being with them, communicates something that they haven’t experienced in years – God at work.

If you’re still asking the question in your own life, ‘Are we there yet?’ look at Isaiah’s prophetic word. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. These are NOT words of destination they are words of an endless journey, words of eternity words of eternal life.

God as a Wonderful Counselor means he speaks to us words of comfort along the way. Mighty God – has no beginning or end, Everlasting Father – continues with us, by our side, along the way, Prince of Peace – if God is the prince of peace that means peace is never ending.

Life as a follower of Christ is more about the eternal journey than the single destination. We must change the question in our lives from ‘Are we there yet?’ to Are we aware yet?’

Are you aware of God’s power to change our hearts? (Luke 1:1-3:22, 2 Cor 5:17)
Are you aware of God’s power to lift us up and save our souls? (Acts 16:31, 1 Peter 5:8-9)
Are you aware of God’s power to give us the peace that passes all understanding? (Rom 5:1, John 14:27)
When we are aware, we can say with confidence I am Glad each Christmas Eve. Amen